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Speaker 1: I moved to Bellweather three years ago after my mother passed.

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It wasn't a decision so much as inertia. Her house

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was paid off, and I didn't have anywhere else to be.

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It was one of those towns where people wave when

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they drive past, even when they don't know you where

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The dinerstaffs still remember your order, even if you've only

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been there once. I'd been picking up work where I

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could substitute teaching, mostly sometimes weekend shifts at the library

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when the high schooler's flake. No One asked many questions.

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They liked that I was dependable. I liked that they

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didn't pry. There was a quiet stillness to this place,

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a hush that settled behind the curtains. Half the houses

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were empty, the other half held people who seemed to

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have calcified their routines. Church on Sunday, groceries on Wednesday,

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yard work until the first frost, and then radio silence

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until spring. Sometimes I think the town is like a

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snow globe someone shook a long time ago. Now all

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the glitter had settled, and we were just sitting in

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the stillness, pretending it was still beautiful. That's what made

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the painting so strange. They held the town's art competition

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in the converted church hall, same place we used for weddings, funerals,

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polling days, and bake sails. You could still see the

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old crucifix outline on the far wall, faded where the

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sun used to hit it before someone painted over it

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with a coat of beige. I wasn't supposed to be judging.

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I filled in because the usual guy came down with shingles,

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and someone remembered I taught high school art for one

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semester before they cut the budget. They said I had

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a good eye, which is a polite way of saying

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I'm quiet and not prone to arguing. Most of the

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entries were what you'd expect, oil landscapes of fields following

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a Bob Ross's tutorial, water color portraits of dogs that

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all looked like they were melting. A kid submitted a

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clay sculpture that collapsed in the box on the way in.

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I liked that one best, at least it was honest.

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Then I noticed the butterfly just hanging there. It hadn't

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been there before, Maybe it was snuck in during the

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bustle of the event. It was dead center, no name

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or frame just canvas and a butterfly. I've seen photo

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realistic paintings before, hyperrealism, surrealism, digital rendering. This wasn't that.

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It wasn't just real looking. It was real feeling. That's

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the only way I can describe it. It looked like

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it had been pinned there while breathing, and the instant

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the brush touched it, it forgot how Its wings were open,

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blue so deep it made black look loud. The body

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was textured in a way that made you think about

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words you hadn't used in years, velvet, bone, oil. Nothing

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behind it, just a blank, white void, like it had

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been painted unto the idea of a canvas instead of

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the thing itself. People started crying, not everyone, but most,

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just here and there. People sniffled behind me. A woman

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put a hand over her mouth. Even the mayor, the

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one who always made a point to say how he

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didn't get art, stood with his hat in his hands, nodding.

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I stood in front of it for ten, maybe fifteen minutes,

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trying to see what they saw, but nothing came. I

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felt fine. I wasn't moved like the others were. I

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felt outside it, like I never got the memo. Eventually

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I muttered something I think it was incredible work or

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nice piece, and drifted back toward the refreshment table to

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get some air. That's when I saw Alice. She was

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standing a few feet from the painting, Pale, maybe seventeen, hoody,

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with stretched sleeves, scuffed sneakers. She was motionless, eyes locked

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onto the b to fly. She looked like she'd forgotten

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how to blink. I watched her longer than I should have.

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At first, I thought she might have fallen asleep standing up.

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Then I thought she might be crying. She wasn't doing either,

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just staring with the same expression I'd seen on a

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man at his wife's funeral. Not grief exactly, but reverence,

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like something old was ending and she'd finally accepted it.

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I cleared my throat as I approached, Hey, you're right.

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For a moment, she stayed silent, blinking slowly. Then she

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looked at me, really looked, and said softly. I didn't

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know he could feel like this. I thought I missed

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my chance. Then she turned back to the butterfly, and

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I just stood there, not knowing what the hell to say.

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In the days after the art show, the town felt lighter,

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that's the only word I could think of. There was

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no energy in the air, as if someone had gone

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around in the night and loosened some invisible knot in

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everyone's chest. People who spent years avoiding each other were

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suddenly talking again. I saw two brothers, the Wickcomb boys,

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hugging in the middle of main Street, like one of

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them had come back from war. Missus Halpin brought a

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pie to her ex husband's place, and he cried on

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the porch until she hugged him. The Hendersons, who'd barely

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spoken since Christmas, were holding hands at the grocery store,

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smiling like teenagers. Everything felt softened. The whole town had

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been washed in warm water, kindness blooming everywhere, fast and quiet,

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like the way mold creeps into dry wall, spreading before

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you notice it's there. But I wasn't feeling any of it.

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I kept waiting for whatever hit everyone else to catch

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up with me, some sense of clarity or relief, or

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even just a nudge. Instead, it all passed through me

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like I was made of glass. Even Jacob was different,

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and he's about as stubborn as they come. I stopped

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by the garage one afternoon to say ay, and found

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him leaning back in a lawn chair outside the bay doors,

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eyes closed, smiling at the sky, as if some one

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was telling him a story only he could hear. Hey,

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I said, nudging his boot. You're right, He blinked, like

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I pulled him out of a dream. Never better. He said,

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feels good, you know, like something finally broke loose. What

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did I asked? He just laughed, a small, private laugh

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that made me feel like I'd missed the joke. When

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I asked him about the painting, he smiled again and

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said it was something, wasn't it. He looked past me,

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like something across the street was calling him. I turned

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to look, nothing was there. I walked home feeling hollow.

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It wasn't just the painting that bothered me. Now, it

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was me. Why hadn't I reacted like everyone else? What

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was wrong with me? I could look at that thing,

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a thing everyone else treated like a revelation, and feel

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absolutely nothing. That question kept bothering me long after I

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got home. Later that evening, as I was locking up

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the school after a PTA meeting, I heard footsteps echoing

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down the hall. It was Alice, wearing the same hoodie

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with the same distant stare, but this time her cheeks

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were flushed and her eyes had that shimmering look I'd

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seen on half the town. She stopped in front of me,

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breathing like she'd run all the way here. I didn't

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think you would choose me, she whispered. Her hands were trembling,

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but she didn't seem scared, more like she was overwhelmed.

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I haven't even told her I love her yet? Who

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I asked? She glanced past me toward the doorway. Another girl,

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tall blonde, one of the basketball kids, was standing there,

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staring into the dim hallway with the same dreamy, softened

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expression most of the town I'd been wearing. Alice didn't

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answer my question. She didn't need to. She just smiled,

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small and shaking, and said again, I didn't think it

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would choose me. I started noticing the gaps. That's how

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it felt, like blank spaces in a song everyone else

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had learned the lyrics to. People would speaking low, tender tones,

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like they were sharing something sacred. But every so often

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i'd see someone watching from a distance, unmoved out of

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step like me. The first was the man in the

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rusted car behind the hardware store. I'd seen him before, sure,

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just one of those forgotten fixtures you stop noticing until

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you have a reason to. He never begged or spoke,

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just sat in the front seat of that sun bleached buick,

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windows fogged from the inside, watching the world pass After

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the painting, the town shifted, softened like over ripe fruit,

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but he didn't change at all. He just sat there,

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a statue in denim and dust. Once I passed close

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enough to catch his eyes through the glass, he was

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staring straight ahead, unblinking, as if waiting for a radio

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signal only he could hear. I raised a hand in

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an awkward half wave. He didn't return it, just kept staring.

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There was the widow, missus Laurie, who walked the cemetery

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each morning before dawn, always the same path, the same

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three headstones, her husband, her son, and someone else I

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didn't recognize. Most mornings, I saw her from my kitchen window,

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dark coat trailing behind her like smoke, and buried deep

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in her sleeves. After the butterfly showed up, I started

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watching more closely, wondering if, like everyone else, she'd stop

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to stare at strangers with those new gentle smiles. But

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she didn't. She moved the same way, slow and rigialistic.

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She never looked up. I tried catching her eye one morning,

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brought a coffee in a paper cup. She didn't take it,

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just looked at me like I was interrupting a conversation

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I couldn't hear. And then there was Nathan. He ran

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the post office, usually polite, efficient and dry as toast.

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I didn't know much about him beyond the story. Every

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one knew he had been alone his whole life, never

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found a partner in this small town. In the week

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after the painting, when couples danced barefoot in the park

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and strangers confessed decades of buried affection, Nathan still walked

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his usual loop, with mail tugged tight to his chest,

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jaw locks shot, like he was keeping something from escaping.

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I thought, for a second there might be something between us,

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some shared understanding, like warvette who never served in the

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same war but still recognize the look in each other's eyes.

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I tried to speak to him once and throw a

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line about how strange everything had gotten. He paused, nodded once,

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and wore away. The others didn't speak at all, barely

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above the bare minimum for conversation. I wondered if this

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is how I looked the whole time I was here.

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To me, I was laying low, being inoffensive. Was I

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just as sour as the others not chosen? I kept

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wondering if it was a coincidence, or if we were

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all missing the same piece, something simple, something everyone else

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had that made them worthy of whatever this was. Eventually

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I stopped one morning when I saw missus Lorry sitting

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in the church pews. She wasn't praying, just sitting facing

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the blank wall where the painting had been. I sat

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a few rows behind her at the silence stretched between

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us until I couldn't take it anymore. Why aren't you

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like the others? I asked, my voice barely carried across

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the empty room. She didn't look back, just shifted a

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gaze slightly upward toward the ceiling beam because she said softly,

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there's no one left for me. It wasn't bitter, wasn't

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sad even. It was just the truth. And suddenly the

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space inside my chest felt colder than it had all weak.

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It started with the lights, people standing on their porches,

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faces lit by candles they hadn't held. Seconds before I

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saw the first group from my window around midnight, six

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of them walking single file down Main Street. They weren't speaking,

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but they were humming something low and wordless, not a melody,

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I recognized. It sounded more like a memory past mouth

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to mouth. The next night there were more couples holding hands,

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parents with children, teenagers, moving like they rehearsed the steps

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in some school auditorium long ago, and just now remember

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the choreography. They didn't look possessed. That's the part I

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kept coming back to. There was no glassiness in their eyes,

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no twitching or convulsing, no signs of strain. They looked grateful, calm,

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like they were doing exactly what they were meant to do.

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Alice was with them. She walked barefoot through the grass,

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arms loose at her side, her face tilted up to

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the stars, like she expected to be lifted at any moment.

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She looked so alive, in hurt to watch her. I

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followed some nights, stayed far enough back to pretend I

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wasn't spying. They never turned round, never acknowledged me. Then

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on the fourth night, I saw the dancers middle of

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the town square, a man and a woman twirling slowly

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in the pool of light. Beneath the lamp post, the

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bodies close enough that you couldn't tell whose feet were leading.

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The man's shirt was soaked with something. I thought it

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was rain at first, but then I saw the dark

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streak trailing down from his eye blood, a slow, steady trickle,

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like a tear that got tired. No one seemed alarmed.

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Beeple walked past without blinking. One man even clapped, as

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if it were a performance. That's when I started writing

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it all down, not for posterity, for sanity. I needed

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to make it make sense. Dates, names, times, descriptions, how

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many people, what they did, how long it lasted. But

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the more I tried to track it, the worse it got.

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It was like trying to trace smoke with a pencil.

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I gathered all my notes, thoughts, and theories and went

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straight to the authorities. But no matter how much I

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urged them to action, the sheriff just stared through me,

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a soft smile on his face. I think what angered

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me was how sincere it was. He wasn't mocking me.

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Gone to whatever was going on. Nothing added up. I

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stopped writing and just watched. One night, I saw Alice

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sitting alone at the edge of the pond, reflection trembling

236
00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:06,240
in the water. I decided to speak to her. She

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looked up when I got close, smiled soft and tired.

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Why are you doing this, I asked, her smile didn't falter.

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She stood gently. Then she reached out and touched my cheek,

240
00:19:27,759 --> 00:19:32,240
not with pity, but with something that felt like an apology.

241
00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:38,400
He must be so lonely, she whispered, to have no

242
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one worth blooming for, And then she walked into the dark,

243
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,079
and I just stood there, still, not understanding whether she

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was trying to comfort me or mourn me. I went

245
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back to the church looking for missus Lorry. I don't

246
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,000
know why, Maybe because she was the only one who

247
00:20:04,079 --> 00:20:07,759
ever answered me without smiling, like she knew something I didn't,

248
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,519
Or maybe because I still believed, stupidly that there were

249
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a few of us left who hadn't changed and were

250
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:20,720
still sane. The doors were open, candles lined the pews

251
00:20:20,759 --> 00:20:24,799
like sentries, wax pulled onto hymn books no one was reading.

252
00:20:26,279 --> 00:20:28,920
I found her sitting in the same spot she always did,

253
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back straight, hands folded. I sat beside her, close enough

254
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,559
that I could hear the quiet creak of her breath.

255
00:20:39,599 --> 00:20:43,960
She didn't look at me, not right away, just kept

256
00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:48,799
a gaze fixed on the far wall. I turned toward her.

257
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:57,440
What is it? I asked? What does it want? She smiled.

258
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,640
That was the first thing that told me something was wrong.

259
00:21:02,839 --> 00:21:07,559
It wasn't bitter or distant or hollow. It was radiant,

260
00:21:08,079 --> 00:21:10,960
lit from within, the way they all were once it

261
00:21:11,079 --> 00:21:18,960
touched them. Then she said, so softly, I almost missed it.

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It finds what still aches, She whispered, that's all it

263
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:30,359
needs her wound you've grown used to holding. Her voice

264
00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,799
had changed to in cadence, like it had been set

265
00:21:33,839 --> 00:21:38,160
to music. I couldn't hear. She finally turned to look

266
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,759
at me, and for a moment I thought she might

267
00:21:41,799 --> 00:21:47,480
take my hand, but instead she just said, you never

268
00:21:47,599 --> 00:21:53,200
learned how to ache, did you. Then she stood slow

269
00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:57,279
and graceful and walked up the center aisle, her fingers

270
00:21:57,319 --> 00:22:03,759
brushing each pew like a rosary. She had found the ache,

271
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:09,119
and I was alone again, and now I couldn't even

272
00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,079
trust the silence I shared with her. The others, the

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00:22:13,079 --> 00:22:16,599
ones like me, had thinned out. The man in the

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00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,759
buick was gone, His car sat empty, door left ajar

275
00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:23,519
like it stepped out for a moment and forgotten where

276
00:22:23,559 --> 00:22:27,240
it was going. Nathan had closed the Boast office early

277
00:22:27,319 --> 00:22:32,480
three days in a row. No one complained. I stopped

278
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,880
by once and saw him through the back window holding

279
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,839
something small, but I couldn't shake the fact that it

280
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:44,079
looked like a weapon. I kept wandering around like a

281
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:49,000
tourist in my own life, watching, listening, wondering if it

282
00:22:49,039 --> 00:22:52,119
was too late to be chosen, wondering if I'd missed

283
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:58,240
whatever subtle invitation had passed through everyone else's blood. One night,

284
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,200
I found myself at the edge of the park, just

285
00:23:01,279 --> 00:23:06,079
beyond the lights. Couples walked barefoot in the grass. Teenagers

286
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:11,680
sat in circles, head bowed, foreheads pressed together. You could

287
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:16,920
hear quiet songs, not full melodies, just threads of harmony,

288
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,680
rising and falling in time with the breeze. I sat

289
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,359
alone on a bench and tried to mimic it, the closeness,

290
00:23:25,559 --> 00:23:29,640
the warmth I imagine someone sitting next to me. I

291
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:31,759
tried to picture what it might feel like to have

292
00:23:31,839 --> 00:23:34,960
a memory that made your chest hurt in that beautiful,

293
00:23:35,319 --> 00:23:41,359
horrible way, But there was nothing there. It was like

294
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:46,359
trying to start a fire with wet wood waiter at

295
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:51,039
the cafe, I ran into Maya. I hadn't seen her

296
00:23:51,079 --> 00:23:56,279
in years, not since she graduated. She'd drawn quiet, strange

297
00:23:56,279 --> 00:24:02,519
things that made the other students nervous. Now she was older, settled,

298
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,400
but still had that look like she was always five

299
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,319
seconds ahead of the rest of us. She offered me

300
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:17,519
a seat. We talked lightly at first, then slower. At

301
00:24:17,519 --> 00:24:21,480
some point I told her everything, not just about the

302
00:24:21,519 --> 00:24:26,200
painting or the others, but the hollowness, the fact that

303
00:24:26,279 --> 00:24:28,960
I've been watching all of it from the outside, like

304
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,279
a man pressing his face to the glass of her

305
00:24:31,319 --> 00:24:36,359
house he used to live in. She listened, really listened.

306
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,640
Then she looked at me with something like sympathy, something

307
00:24:42,039 --> 00:24:47,599
like pity. I think you want to be in love,

308
00:24:48,279 --> 00:24:54,960
she said, But you never learned how. I didn't argue,

309
00:24:55,599 --> 00:25:00,119
She said to coffee, set it down, and added, I

310
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:05,920
think you don't want to be alone when it happens.

311
00:25:06,759 --> 00:25:12,839
When what happens? I asked. She silently looked out the

312
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:17,240
window at the people walking in pairs bathed in amber light,

313
00:25:17,839 --> 00:25:21,599
faces turned up toward a sky I hadn't been able

314
00:25:21,599 --> 00:25:36,079
to look at directly in days. It wasn't quiet anymore,

315
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,200
not in the way it used to be the stillness

316
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,799
of a town half forgotten, with dust settled in windshields

317
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:49,880
and dogs barked at nothing. Now the silence felt intentional, sacred,

318
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,920
like everyone was holding their breath, waiting for the next

319
00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,759
note in a song they'd only heard in dreams. They

320
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,279
started looking up more. It was subtle at first, heads

321
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:07,160
tilted just slightly toward the sky, as if something faint

322
00:26:07,279 --> 00:26:12,000
was humming above the clouds. But now people sat in

323
00:26:12,039 --> 00:26:17,759
fields at night, eyes wide open, mouths parted, Couples lay

324
00:26:17,839 --> 00:26:22,640
naked on blankets, fingers threaded together, whispering things I couldn't hear.

325
00:26:24,079 --> 00:26:28,880
They said they were ready. I found drawings scratched onto

326
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:33,640
the bark of trees, crude spirals, insect wings, cymbals that

327
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,279
looked like musical notation but didn't follow any rhythm. I

328
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:42,519
knew behind the library someone stacked bones in a perfect spiral.

329
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:48,200
Bird bones maybe, or squirrels or something that once spoke.

330
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,599
A few houses at windows open and candlelight flickering, like

331
00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:58,079
hearts beating and sink. I passed one porch where letters

332
00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:01,640
were being burned one by one into a metal basin.

333
00:27:02,839 --> 00:27:09,400
Love notes, I think, or maybe confessions. No one seemed

334
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:18,519
afraid except me. I found Jacob outside the old grocery store.

335
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:23,160
He was standing still, head tilted back, his hand resting

336
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:28,640
gently on the car handle, like he'd forgotten he was there. Jacob,

337
00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:34,359
I said, too loud, Come with me. He blinked slowly,

338
00:27:34,799 --> 00:27:39,480
then smiled that same warm, distant smile everyone wore. Now,

339
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:47,799
come where away? I said, just out of town, anywhere,

340
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,960
a day even, just to see if it breaks whatever

341
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:56,640
this is. His smile didn't falter, but his eyes showed

342
00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:02,720
signs of mourning. Please, I said, I don't know what's happening,

343
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,200
but it's not right. It's not He stepped forward and

344
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:11,400
put a hand on my shoulder. There was real pain

345
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,160
in his face, sorrow of something I had no knowledge of,

346
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,359
like I was in the wrong for thinking this. You're

347
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:25,519
not being punished, Darren, You're just not part of it.

348
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:32,200
That hurt more than I expected, because there wasn't a

349
00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:38,119
drip of malice. It was pure truth, and truth doesn't bruise,

350
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:44,680
it carves. He turned and walked back inside, leaving me

351
00:28:44,759 --> 00:28:47,640
with nothing but the sound of insects buzzing in rhythm.

352
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,920
I swear i'd never heard before that night. I walked

353
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,960
to the edge of town. There's an overlook where the

354
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,680
grass gives way to gravel and you can see the

355
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:03,759
train tracks disappear into nothing. That's where I saw them.

356
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,680
Two people, a man and a woman, sitting on a guardrail.

357
00:29:09,799 --> 00:29:14,839
I recognized them. Both neither had changed. They were like me,

358
00:29:15,599 --> 00:29:21,319
always had been watching things from the outside. They weren't speaking,

359
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,920
just holding hands like it was the last rope tying

360
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:30,559
them to something real. Then the woman began to cry,

361
00:29:31,799 --> 00:29:37,759
not from pain or fear, from relief, and the man

362
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:43,400
he smiled, just barely, but it was the start of

363
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:47,400
a smile that comes from surrendering to something beautiful you

364
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:53,200
were once terrified of. I watched heart hammering as they

365
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:57,359
began to succumb to the phenomenon, and for the first

366
00:29:57,359 --> 00:30:02,200
time since this all began, I felt something split in me,

367
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:11,759
grief because whatever they were becoming, it was never meant

368
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:21,200
for me. It happened just before dawn. I hadn't slept,

369
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,839
not in days, really, just drifted in and out of hours,

370
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:30,319
like a body floating on cold water. I'd been walking

371
00:30:30,359 --> 00:30:33,440
the town again, hoping the movement would give my mind

372
00:30:33,519 --> 00:30:37,359
something to grip. But when I turned onto main street.

373
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:44,759
I knew something had changed. They were standing still, all

374
00:30:44,799 --> 00:30:50,880
of them. The changed frozen mid step, mid conversation, mid breath.

375
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:56,000
A couple sat on a bench, foreheads touching. A teenager

376
00:30:56,039 --> 00:30:58,359
stood on a porch of the book half open in

377
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:02,400
her hands. The mayor was parked at a stoplight Dora Ajar,

378
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:08,079
his head tilted toward the sky. None of them moved.

379
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:13,160
Their eyes were wide and wet, the expression you see

380
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:17,640
in old church paintings. Mouths parted just slightly, as if

381
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:21,720
they were hearing something so beautiful they couldn't survive the sound.

382
00:31:24,319 --> 00:31:29,720
I stood in the center of the square, surrounded. The

383
00:31:29,839 --> 00:31:34,920
air felt thick, like it was vibrating, just out of

384
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:40,880
tune with reality. My ears rang from the pressure. Something

385
00:31:41,079 --> 00:31:48,559
was happening, Something was here. They looked up, every single

386
00:31:48,599 --> 00:31:52,400
one of them, in perfect unison, tilted their heads toward

387
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:59,480
the sky, not in panic, but in recognition. Whatever they'd

388
00:31:59,519 --> 00:32:09,200
been waiting for had finally arrived. And then they began

389
00:32:09,359 --> 00:32:15,839
to bloom. It started with a shiver, a ripple through

390
00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,720
the crowd, like a breath held and released at once.

391
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:24,920
Shoulders loosened, mouths parted, ice softened. Something pulling at them

392
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:31,359
from somewhere, very far away. Then the first tear opened.

393
00:32:33,039 --> 00:32:35,200
I saw it happen to a man near the fountain,

394
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:40,119
a thin, perfect line splitting down the center of his chest,

395
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:45,359
as gentle as if someone had unzipped a coat. There

396
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:53,039
was no struggle, no gasp. His skin just parted. The

397
00:32:53,119 --> 00:32:58,240
flesh eased back on its own, curling outward. Muscle followed

398
00:32:59,359 --> 00:33:04,240
it slid out in long, warm ribbons, thick glistening strands

399
00:33:04,319 --> 00:33:08,079
peeling away from bone, like silk loosened from a spool.

400
00:33:09,079 --> 00:33:13,759
Each sheet slowed downward, with soft, wet sounds, layering itself

401
00:33:13,799 --> 00:33:18,200
at his feet. His heart sat exposed for a moment,

402
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:26,599
pulsing like a bright stone. Then it softened too. Around me,

403
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:31,039
the rest of the town began to open. I could

404
00:33:31,039 --> 00:33:36,119
hear it, that quiet pealing, that almost tender separation of

405
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:41,079
skin from the living thing inside. It didn't sound violent,

406
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:46,480
more like fruit being opened by steady hands. A woman's

407
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:50,160
face split along a jawline, a child's spine pussed free

408
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:54,960
in a slow arc, vertebra by vertebra, and men's aunts

409
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,839
shed their muscles in draped sheets, leaving the pale gleam

410
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:06,079
of bone beneath. None of them screamed. They didn't even flinch.

411
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:11,320
The tendon stretched like strings being pulled taut, then snapped

412
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:15,599
with little pops, playful in how small they sounded compared

413
00:34:15,599 --> 00:34:20,360
to the enormity of what was happening. Fingers loosened from knuckles,

414
00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:27,119
cheeks peeled from skulls, ribs unfolded like petals. There was

415
00:34:27,199 --> 00:34:33,679
no blood, not a drop. Everything emptied itself, cleanly, quietly,

416
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:36,960
as if their bodies had been waiting for this, as

417
00:34:37,039 --> 00:34:40,039
if the machinery of being human had turned off its

418
00:34:40,119 --> 00:34:45,840
alarms and unlocked all its doors, and through all of

419
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:55,400
it their expressions, God, they looked euphoric. A woman whose

420
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:59,159
eyes were already clouding over smiled like someone had just

421
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:03,079
told her she could finally go home. A teenage boy

422
00:35:03,199 --> 00:35:07,239
leaned into his friend as his sternam opened, and they

423
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:14,360
both laughed, breathless and relieved. Before their laughter dissipated. Couples

424
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:18,480
held hands as their bodies melted. Parents stroked their children's

425
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:23,039
hair even as their own faces fell away. Some closed

426
00:35:23,039 --> 00:35:26,480
their eyes, others raised their arms to the sky, as

427
00:35:26,519 --> 00:35:32,360
if embracing something descending toward them. No one ran, no

428
00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:38,199
one begged, no one tried to stop it. They welcomed it.

429
00:35:40,039 --> 00:35:44,280
Spines collapsed into soft white powder. Skulls folded inward like

430
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:49,480
drying paper, bones crumbled at the slightest breeze, becoming dust

431
00:35:49,679 --> 00:35:54,480
before they even touched the ground. I stood there and

432
00:35:54,679 --> 00:35:58,679
watched it all, watched the town peel itself open and

433
00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:02,760
spill into the air, like light escape in a cracked shell,

434
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:11,119
and something in me twisted painfully, not from the horror,

435
00:36:11,599 --> 00:36:16,719
but from the unbearable truth threading through every smile, every sigh,

436
00:36:17,199 --> 00:36:26,920
every peaceful surrender of the body. They were happy, every

437
00:36:27,119 --> 00:36:30,800
single one of them, happy in a way I had

438
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:36,960
never been. And suddenly I understood I never could be,

439
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,519
and that, more than the skin and the bones and

440
00:36:42,559 --> 00:36:48,400
the dust swirling in the dawn light, was what shattered me.

441
00:36:51,039 --> 00:36:55,760
Then something rose from the center of the stillness. A shimmer,

442
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,840
at first like oil and water, like air warping over

443
00:37:00,079 --> 00:37:07,000
pavement on a hot day. Then wings, massive, translucent, veined

444
00:37:07,079 --> 00:37:11,000
like stained glass. A body that flickered between forms I

445
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,079
couldn't hold on to, not long enough to name, eyes

446
00:37:15,119 --> 00:37:20,480
like multifaceted mirrors, a head that never stopped turning. It

447
00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:24,719
wasn't the butterfly from the painting that had just been

448
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:30,280
a door. This was what had been waiting behind it.

449
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:34,639
It rose from their remains, built from them somehow, not

450
00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:43,199
their flesh, but what had been inside it. Love, familial, partnership, desire,

451
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:48,599
all of it shaped and reflected into something too beautiful

452
00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:57,199
to be real. It flew soundless, weightless. It drifted over rooftops,

453
00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:01,119
trailing sparks of gold behind it, like the last light

454
00:38:01,199 --> 00:38:07,360
of a dying sun. It passed above me and did

455
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:13,400
not touch me, didn't even pause. I stood, I shouted,

456
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:20,599
I'm here. I said, I'm still here. It didn't slow.

457
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:28,480
I saw them, I watched, I understand, now still nothing.

458
00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,119
I dropped to my knees, coughing in the dust. My

459
00:38:34,199 --> 00:38:37,559
hands trembled, flecks of bone and ash clinging to my

460
00:38:37,679 --> 00:38:42,360
skin like snow. I tried to cry, but the tears

461
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,920
didn't come. I tried to pray, but my voice was hollow.

462
00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,519
I tried to plead, but I had no one to

463
00:38:49,559 --> 00:38:58,320
plead for, just me, And for the first time, it

464
00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:02,400
hit me all at once, all the quiet years, all

465
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:07,719
the nice dinners, all the polite, acceptable small talk, all

466
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:12,920
the chances I'd had to love someone, to ache, for

467
00:39:13,039 --> 00:39:20,760
someone to need, and how I'd missed every one. I

468
00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:26,239
collapsed into the ash, completely from emptiness. I whispered into

469
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:30,960
the remains of a thousand open hearts, I'm still here,

470
00:39:31,519 --> 00:39:38,320
I'm still me why. And the dust stirred around me,

471
00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:45,199
just faintly, and I heard it from inside, like something

472
00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:48,079
had cracked open in the back of my skull, just

473
00:39:48,199 --> 00:39:52,960
wide enough to let the words in, because there's nothing

474
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:59,400
in you to transform. And then the wind blew, and

475
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:02,079
the ashes, the ones I never knew how to love,

476
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:10,800
scattered into the morning. They found me three days later.

477
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,880
I was still sitting there in the square, half buried

478
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:18,679
in ash. It had settled into my hair, into the

479
00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:22,559
folds of my clothes, into the cracks of my palms.

480
00:40:23,159 --> 00:40:27,039
I don't think I moved the entire time. Maybe I slept,

481
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,599
Maybe I didn't. The days blur when there's no one

482
00:40:30,679 --> 00:40:34,639
left to tell you that time is passing. When the

483
00:40:34,679 --> 00:40:38,199
rescue crews arrived, boots crunching through what used to be

484
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:42,159
neighbors and classmates and people I borrowed jumper cables from,

485
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:47,039
I didn't react. A man knelt in front of me,

486
00:40:47,519 --> 00:40:51,960
asking questions, my name, if I was okay, what I remembered,

487
00:40:53,199 --> 00:40:56,559
But his voice was muffled, sounding like he was speaking

488
00:40:56,599 --> 00:41:04,239
from underwater. Staring at the ground, the dust shifted every

489
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:11,000
time I breathed, little clouds lifting, swirling, falling again. If

490
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:14,360
I stared long enough I could almost imagine faces in it.

491
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,559
Not their faces, just the impression of all the love

492
00:41:18,639 --> 00:41:25,199
they carried, hovering for a moment before dissolving again. Eventually,

493
00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:33,679
someone asked what happened here. I thought about lying or

494
00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:37,159
saying I didn't know, but the truth rose in my

495
00:41:37,199 --> 00:41:42,880
throat before I could stop it. They were loved, I said.

496
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:50,360
My voice cracked. That's why they got to leave. The

497
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:55,320
man frowned at me. To him it was nonsense, and

498
00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,440
maybe it was, but it was the only thing that

499
00:41:58,559 --> 00:42:03,840
made sense to me anymore. They weren't killed. They became

500
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:10,679
something they had always been reaching toward, and I didn't.

501
00:42:15,519 --> 00:42:18,000
In the days that followed, they kept me in a

502
00:42:18,039 --> 00:42:22,639
hospital an hour out of town, clean sheets, tiled floors,

503
00:42:23,119 --> 00:42:25,880
a window that looked out over fields that had never

504
00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:30,000
known what happened in bell Weather. Nurses came and went.

505
00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:33,119
The psychiatrist sat by my bed and tried to get

506
00:42:33,119 --> 00:42:38,480
me to talk about trauma and massysteria, but every time

507
00:42:38,519 --> 00:42:45,719
I closed my eyes I saw them, Alice's smile opening

508
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:49,079
like a second sunrise, Jacob lifting his head to the

509
00:42:49,079 --> 00:42:52,840
sky as if greeting an old friend, The way couples

510
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:58,519
held each other as their bodies unspooled into light. They

511
00:42:58,519 --> 00:43:05,079
weren't afraid, they weren't alone, they weren't left behind. That

512
00:43:05,199 --> 00:43:11,199
last one hurt the most, because somewhere, beneath the horror

513
00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:16,639
and the dust and the quiet, gnawing loneliness, something else

514
00:43:16,679 --> 00:43:20,280
had taken root to me, something I didn't want to name.

515
00:43:23,199 --> 00:43:28,320
I was jealous, jealous that they had someone, anyone whose

516
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:32,360
love reached deep enough that it could echo into whatever

517
00:43:32,519 --> 00:43:40,480
came next. I didn't, and that was why I remained.

518
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:46,239
People keep calling me lucky, They say I survived, that

519
00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:50,679
I was spared. But every night, when the lights dim,

520
00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:55,119
I lie awake in that hospital bed and wonder about

521
00:43:55,119 --> 00:44:01,280
the truth of it, the sharp aching contradiction. If they

522
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:06,000
are gone and I'm alive, I have another chance at love.

523
00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:09,840
But if I never had it to begin with, if

524
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,599
no one ever felt that way about me, if I

525
00:44:12,679 --> 00:44:16,719
never felt it toward anyone, then is it even possible

526
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:20,559
with this second chance? And if I did somehow learn

527
00:44:20,639 --> 00:44:23,880
to live this feeling. Would I be whisked up into

528
00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:27,119
the sky or was that all just the one off

529
00:44:29,239 --> 00:44:33,800
Some mornings, I hope the answer will come. Other mornings,

530
00:44:34,599 --> 00:44:39,159
I hope it won't, because the world feels wrong with

531
00:44:39,239 --> 00:44:44,639
this knowledge, too quiet, too flat, like someone drained all

532
00:44:44,679 --> 00:44:47,519
the color or turned off the part of the sky

533
00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:53,880
that used to watch back. And sometimes, when I'm honest

534
00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:58,559
with myself, I wonder whether they were the lucky ones,

535
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:02,519
the ones who got to bloom, the ones who got

536
00:45:02,519 --> 00:45:06,280
to go, the ones who weren't left behind to figure

537
00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:09,679
out how to start loving in a world that suddenly

538
00:45:09,719 --> 00:45:17,360
feels too big, too empty, and too late. But I'm

539
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:23,559
still here, I'm still me. Maybe that means something. Maybe

540
00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:40,199
it means nothing at all. The party was two weeks ago.

541
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,159
I stole a few beers when the adults weren't looking,

542
00:45:43,480 --> 00:45:46,480
and shared them with Lucy Sitkins. Away from the crowd.

543
00:45:47,599 --> 00:45:50,760
She drank hers greedily as we sat beneath the bow

544
00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:54,039
of a low tree, speaking low so no passers by

545
00:45:54,159 --> 00:45:58,840
could hear. Every time we whispered, we tilted our faces

546
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:02,360
a little closer and close, sir. There was a moment

547
00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:04,159
when I thought she was going to rest a head

548
00:46:04,159 --> 00:46:06,840
on my shoulder as she told me about how she

549
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:09,559
wanted to be a vet, and my heart skipped as

550
00:46:09,599 --> 00:46:13,719
they debated, putting my arm around her waist. It was

551
00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:17,360
all cut short when her father, Larry, stood in front

552
00:46:17,400 --> 00:46:20,360
of everyone in the party and forced the beer cand

553
00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:24,599
down his throat. I didn't see it. I only heard

554
00:46:24,599 --> 00:46:28,000
the cries that had us both sitting upright beneath the branches.

555
00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:31,719
By the time we got back to the party, the

556
00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:36,159
adults escorting the kids away and ambulance sirens were fast approaching.

557
00:46:37,559 --> 00:46:39,639
Dad was there, and he told me to take my

558
00:46:39,719 --> 00:46:43,440
little sister home. The grim and frightening lock on his

559
00:46:43,519 --> 00:46:46,280
face made me forget Lucy and the smell of beer

560
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:49,920
on her breath. I try hard to remember if she

561
00:46:50,119 --> 00:46:54,320
ate from the barbecue. Sometimes I think she didn't. Other

562
00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:57,760
times I swear I can picture her biting into a burger,

563
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:01,119
and it's so vivid I think it must be a memory.

564
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:08,199
It's moved. Either way, I'll never see her again. I

565
00:47:08,199 --> 00:47:10,320
felt a little gross when I went into school the

566
00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:13,320
next day and asked around if the stories about a

567
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:16,800
dad were true. When my father got home the night

568
00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:20,320
of the party, he hadn't spoken to me or mom.

569
00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:23,440
He just went to bed and didn't tell us what happened.

570
00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:27,599
Come morning, I saw some of the older kids by

571
00:47:27,639 --> 00:47:32,320
the schoolgates and overheard them talking. The details made my

572
00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:37,599
stomach churn, but I wanted to know more. I didn't

573
00:47:37,639 --> 00:47:41,360
want to act all excited about something terrible, but this

574
00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:43,800
felt like the kind of thing people would be talking

575
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:49,800
about for years. Larry Sitkins had swallowed a beer can,

576
00:47:51,519 --> 00:47:53,519
shoved it down his throat like a damn bog and

577
00:47:53,559 --> 00:47:56,880
strict eath in an egg. At least that's how one

578
00:47:56,960 --> 00:48:00,480
kid described it to me. There was more, of course.

579
00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:04,480
He'd praised Satan before slitting his own throat, got and

580
00:48:04,639 --> 00:48:07,360
drunk and fallen hard onto the ground while chugging a beer,

581
00:48:08,119 --> 00:48:12,119
tried to catch the can midair. Someone had punched him midsip.

582
00:48:13,320 --> 00:48:16,079
There were lots of variations and what happened and how,

583
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,639
but there were only theories that got turned into rumors.

584
00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:22,760
A lot of us were just trying to make sense

585
00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:26,440
of it. Larry was a pretty run of the milk guy.

586
00:48:27,519 --> 00:48:30,159
He was a landscaper who made lame jokes at kid's

587
00:48:30,159 --> 00:48:33,800
birthday parties. He was about as nondescript as they came

588
00:48:34,639 --> 00:48:37,320
at least as far as a bunch of teenagers were concerned.

589
00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:42,280
We got halfway through the day before mister Stroup shut

590
00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:45,480
the bleachers on his neck. He was in front of

591
00:48:45,519 --> 00:48:50,639
the cheerleaders. There were ambulances again, crying girls and boys,

592
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:54,320
and even some of the teachers. Most of them just

593
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:59,320
looked confused, except for mister Stroup. I managed to catch

594
00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:01,440
a glimpse of him as I jogged over to find

595
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:05,159
out what all the screaming was about. He looked empty

596
00:49:05,199 --> 00:49:08,360
of all thoughts and emotions, and his head sat at

597
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:12,199
a crooked angle. I figured that was how people must

598
00:49:12,239 --> 00:49:15,480
look him and dead. But apparently he'd been like that

599
00:49:15,639 --> 00:49:19,800
during the act. He'd walked up, perched his neck between

600
00:49:19,800 --> 00:49:23,119
the slatted benches, and hid the remote button to slide

601
00:49:23,119 --> 00:49:27,920
the bleachers closed whole time. He was just like Jordan's

602
00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:32,760
stupid locking even as the metal mechanism crunched vertebrae and cartilage.

603
00:49:33,519 --> 00:49:36,239
I later learned Larry had been like this too when

604
00:49:36,239 --> 00:49:39,480
he killed himself. He was getting ready to pop the

605
00:49:39,519 --> 00:49:43,239
tab on a fresh beer when he simply stopped, looked

606
00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:46,239
up to the sky, then forced the whole thing down

607
00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:52,559
his throat. In a single world, shattering moment. I didn't

608
00:49:52,559 --> 00:49:55,400
know it back then, but there were others just like

609
00:49:55,519 --> 00:49:58,920
Larry had missed the strobe. A barista in a coffee

610
00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:01,280
shop steamed half the s skin on her arm while

611
00:50:01,360 --> 00:50:03,679
keeping eye contact with the guy in the drive through.

612
00:50:04,599 --> 00:50:07,519
A doctor had the local clinic used the biopsy needle

613
00:50:07,559 --> 00:50:11,559
to inject air straight into his own heart. Lots of

614
00:50:11,559 --> 00:50:15,000
people shot themselves, but not one of them aimed for

615
00:50:15,079 --> 00:50:19,119
the head. That's a weird touch, if you think about it.

616
00:50:20,119 --> 00:50:23,719
These people obliterated their torsos or limbs with high powered

617
00:50:23,840 --> 00:50:28,280
rifles at point blank range. No reason, offered, just a

618
00:50:28,400 --> 00:50:32,280
vacant expression as they deleted bits to their bodies and

619
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:37,880
left nothing but ragged stumps. There was no school the

620
00:50:37,960 --> 00:50:41,039
next day, which was the only real clue I got

621
00:50:41,199 --> 00:50:45,360
about how panicked the local authorities were. Wouldn't be long

622
00:50:45,440 --> 00:50:48,079
before the national authorities joined in on the panic too,

623
00:50:49,039 --> 00:50:53,920
but that would come later that morning. My parents left

624
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:55,880
the house at nine point thirty for a meeting at

625
00:50:55,880 --> 00:50:58,400
the town hall, and they dropped me off at my

626
00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:01,880
grandma's on the way. I waited for them to leave

627
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:05,440
before I told Grandma I was heading out. It was

628
00:51:05,480 --> 00:51:08,679
a hot day and She only nodded her approval as

629
00:51:08,679 --> 00:51:13,000
she sat reading with my sister. She hated seeing me

630
00:51:13,039 --> 00:51:16,000
play video games and always encouraged me to go make

631
00:51:16,039 --> 00:51:21,639
my own adventures outside. I had no plans, didn't even

632
00:51:21,679 --> 00:51:25,039
want to see any of my friends. I thought a

633
00:51:25,079 --> 00:51:28,599
lot about missus Strab's face as I crossed empty farmer's

634
00:51:28,679 --> 00:51:32,920
fields and walked into the woods. I'd been to an

635
00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:36,800
open casket funeral once. It was for Father Denis, who'd

636
00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:40,039
christened me as a baby, not that I remember anything

637
00:51:40,079 --> 00:51:43,719
about him, except his stony face resting gently in the

638
00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:48,639
soft white folds of his casket's interior that seemed so

639
00:51:48,719 --> 00:51:52,199
long ago and so sterile that the thought of it

640
00:51:52,320 --> 00:51:54,920
was a bit sad, but not a whole lot else.

641
00:51:56,159 --> 00:51:59,639
But mister Strab's face had frightened me, with his swollen

642
00:51:59,679 --> 00:52:04,480
lips and bulging eyes, alive one moment and dead the next,

643
00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:09,280
with only pain to separate the two, And yet he

644
00:52:09,360 --> 00:52:12,440
looked so bored, hanging there from his own broken neck,

645
00:52:13,039 --> 00:52:16,199
still wearing those ridiculous red shorts he always had on

646
00:52:16,679 --> 00:52:22,559
no matter the weather. It took time to recognize that

647
00:52:22,679 --> 00:52:25,840
seeing a dead body had freaked me out. I felt

648
00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:27,760
like it shouldn't have messed me up as much as

649
00:52:27,760 --> 00:52:30,559
it did, and I guess that's why there was a

650
00:52:30,599 --> 00:52:33,400
little bit of anger mixed in with all those thoughts

651
00:52:33,400 --> 00:52:36,679
in my head. It's also why I pushed on through

652
00:52:36,679 --> 00:52:40,519
the woods until the trees began to thin, marching in

653
00:52:40,559 --> 00:52:43,639
the humid summer heat, until my t shirt was soaked

654
00:52:43,679 --> 00:52:48,239
and my legs ached. I wanted to feel tired, wanted

655
00:52:48,280 --> 00:52:50,360
it so the only thing I could think of with

656
00:52:50,519 --> 00:52:55,599
my throbbing hamstrings and sunburnt forehead. It ended when I

657
00:52:55,639 --> 00:53:00,039
reached the tracks. Shaggy rocks and boulders rose steeply on

658
00:53:00,119 --> 00:53:03,719
the opposite side. Only other ways to go were left

659
00:53:03,719 --> 00:53:07,880
into town or right into a dark tunnel, its mouth

660
00:53:08,039 --> 00:53:12,079
bristling with ivy. At least the air coming from it

661
00:53:12,119 --> 00:53:15,360
was cold, so I took a second to stand and

662
00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:19,480
catch my breath, feeling the sweat cool and evaporate as

663
00:53:19,519 --> 00:53:24,679
the wind billowed gently out of the darkness. I wasn't stupid,

664
00:53:24,679 --> 00:53:28,119
though I paid close attention in case I heard the

665
00:53:28,159 --> 00:53:32,280
sound of any passing trains, and when I didn't hear one,

666
00:53:32,800 --> 00:53:36,239
I raced off the tracks as quick as I could.

667
00:53:38,320 --> 00:53:41,880
It honked as it came past another day. I might

668
00:53:41,880 --> 00:53:43,559
have worried that I was going to get in trouble

669
00:53:43,599 --> 00:53:46,440
for playing in the rails, But all I could really

670
00:53:46,480 --> 00:53:50,159
think of was the thing I'd seen lying by the tracks.

671
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:52,800
It had been lit up by the train as it

672
00:53:52,840 --> 00:53:56,239
came roaring out of the tunnel not far from the entrance.

673
00:53:57,719 --> 00:54:00,920
In the strange silence after the train had gone, there

674
00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:03,639
was only the dim light of the setting sun to

675
00:54:03,719 --> 00:54:09,280
see inside the tunnel, and everything looked the same, all clothes,

676
00:54:09,400 --> 00:54:14,840
broken bottles, discarded crates, trash strewn around wherever it found space.

677
00:54:16,639 --> 00:54:18,719
But I knew what I'd seen in the harsh white

678
00:54:18,800 --> 00:54:22,119
light of the train's passing beam, and it was a

679
00:54:22,199 --> 00:54:27,320
hell of a lot more than garbage. I'd seen a

680
00:54:27,400 --> 00:54:32,239
man who was lying face down. There had even been

681
00:54:32,280 --> 00:54:35,159
a hand, bright and pale like the moon in the

682
00:54:35,239 --> 00:54:40,000
night sky. I was sure of it. I didn't know

683
00:54:40,039 --> 00:54:43,800
what to do, not right away. I was afraid and

684
00:54:43,920 --> 00:54:47,199
didn't want to go inside. But I couldn't pretend I

685
00:54:47,239 --> 00:54:51,840
hadn't seen anything either. I tried shouting to them if

686
00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:56,280
someone down there heard me. They gave no sign of It.

687
00:54:56,320 --> 00:54:59,119
Wasn't until I stepped into the darkness and let my

688
00:54:59,159 --> 00:55:02,960
eyes adjust that I confirmed there really was a man

689
00:55:03,039 --> 00:55:07,280
lying down in there. He was draped across the tracks,

690
00:55:07,639 --> 00:55:10,800
and he didn't have any legs, and judging by the

691
00:55:10,800 --> 00:55:14,280
way the bloodstains had turned the collar brown, he'd been

692
00:55:14,320 --> 00:55:18,480
there for a while. Hell, half a dozen trains must

693
00:55:18,480 --> 00:55:21,000
have gone right over him, thinking he was just an

694
00:55:21,039 --> 00:55:24,320
odd bit of cloth or something that if they saw

695
00:55:24,440 --> 00:55:28,559
anything at all in that time it dried out a little.

696
00:55:29,760 --> 00:55:32,639
He wasn't a mummy or anything, but the blood on

697
00:55:32,679 --> 00:55:35,559
his stumps and coming out of his mouth looked more

698
00:55:35,599 --> 00:55:40,519
like jelly than corn syrup. I was sobbing by this point,

699
00:55:41,119 --> 00:55:43,440
crying hard as I tried to make sense of what

700
00:55:43,480 --> 00:55:46,360
I was meant to do, while also feeling like all

701
00:55:46,400 --> 00:55:50,239
of this was terribly unfair on me. There was a

702
00:55:50,280 --> 00:55:52,800
moment where I could almost feel myself wanting to be

703
00:55:52,840 --> 00:55:57,039
a kid again, a proper one, little one who doesn't

704
00:55:57,079 --> 00:55:59,880
have to do things, one who can get upset and

705
00:56:00,199 --> 00:56:04,559
scream and run away. I'd only just started to appreciate

706
00:56:04,840 --> 00:56:07,480
how badly I'd been messed up by seeing mister Stroup,

707
00:56:08,079 --> 00:56:10,599
and then God went and dropped that kind of nightmare

708
00:56:10,599 --> 00:56:15,079
into my lap. Teeth stained black with blood and open

709
00:56:15,119 --> 00:56:19,079
eyes that looked at nothing. It felt like a nightmare,

710
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:24,079
not just the moment with a body, but everything else too,

711
00:56:24,559 --> 00:56:27,920
Everything since that beer beneath a tree had felt like

712
00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:35,119
it wasn't part of reality anymore, but nightmares end. I

713
00:56:35,199 --> 00:56:39,920
was outside, gasping, vomiting, crying my eyes out when I

714
00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:43,039
heard something shuffle in the tunnel I'd just run out

715
00:56:43,039 --> 00:56:45,960
of Part of me thought that a sound must mean

716
00:56:46,039 --> 00:56:49,639
someone was alive and close by, and that meant I

717
00:56:49,760 --> 00:56:53,800
wasn't alone. Another part of me thought something else. Entirely,

718
00:56:54,880 --> 00:56:57,400
it was the part of me that took over and

719
00:56:57,480 --> 00:57:01,800
stopped me crying and making any more noise. My mouth

720
00:57:01,880 --> 00:57:04,800
turned dry as a desert, and all of a sudden,

721
00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:11,559
I was no longer hot all over, but cold, freezing cold,

722
00:57:11,960 --> 00:57:14,480
and my legs were back pedaling away from the tunnel

723
00:57:14,679 --> 00:57:21,840
with short, quiet steps. The noise persisted. It was the

724
00:57:21,880 --> 00:57:25,840
shuffle of something getting dragged over gravel and old plastic bags.

725
00:57:26,639 --> 00:57:29,519
It had a rhythm to it that was slow. The

726
00:57:29,559 --> 00:57:32,480
word that springs to mind is when I got taught

727
00:57:32,519 --> 00:57:39,679
in biology class a long time ago, locomotion. Something down

728
00:57:39,719 --> 00:57:44,679
there was moving, It was moving towards me. It sounded

729
00:57:44,800 --> 00:57:50,880
slow and broken and feeble, but that didn't matter. Somehow,

730
00:57:51,360 --> 00:57:54,960
even though I knew it wasn't completely insane, I just

731
00:57:55,079 --> 00:57:57,239
knew what was going to come out of that tunnel.

732
00:57:58,280 --> 00:58:00,599
I knew it the way the rabbit knows the wolf,

733
00:58:01,039 --> 00:58:05,920
or the hand knows the spider. But still, when I

734
00:58:05,960 --> 00:58:08,639
saw him crawl out of the dark and into the light,

735
00:58:09,599 --> 00:58:12,480
I screamed so loud i'd have a sore throat for

736
00:58:12,519 --> 00:58:16,800
the next few days. It was the man from the tracks,

737
00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:23,000
and even though he moved, he was not alive. I

738
00:58:23,079 --> 00:58:26,079
tried telling myself that he couldn't have been dead, because

739
00:58:26,119 --> 00:58:31,599
only living things move, but that was nonsense. He dragged

740
00:58:31,599 --> 00:58:35,679
his bloody, legless torso with one working arm while the

741
00:58:35,719 --> 00:58:39,760
other lay dislocated across his back, the fingers of both

742
00:58:39,800 --> 00:58:44,519
hands curling as he heaved himself along, and that face,

743
00:58:45,719 --> 00:58:51,440
that same empty, gawking expression, just like mister Strabs. He

744
00:58:51,599 --> 00:58:55,000
wasn't alive. He was a dead thing, and that made

745
00:58:55,079 --> 00:59:00,000
him some kind of impossible monster. I turned and ran,

746
00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:04,239
and screaming through the trees. Whole time I could only

747
00:59:04,320 --> 00:59:06,920
think of the thing that was behind me and was

748
00:59:06,960 --> 00:59:10,480
trying to close the distance. It didn't matter that it

749
00:59:10,559 --> 00:59:13,880
was slow, didn't matter that I ran for over an hour,

750
00:59:14,760 --> 00:59:17,360
didn't even matter that I wasn't sure if I knew

751
00:59:17,360 --> 00:59:20,159
my way home, or even running in the right direction.

752
00:59:21,679 --> 00:59:24,880
All that mattered was putting one foot in front of

753
00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:29,760
the other until there was nothing left inside me. Time

754
00:59:29,840 --> 00:59:35,280
turned funny, seconds moved into strange staccatos, until eventually I

755
00:59:35,320 --> 00:59:39,239
collapsed on legs made of rubber. Then I dragged myself

756
00:59:39,280 --> 00:59:44,400
into an old hollow tree to hide, and that was

757
00:59:44,440 --> 00:59:50,800
where I lost all consciousness. When I woke up, the

758
00:59:50,800 --> 00:59:54,199
sun had set and it was dark. I vomited some,

759
00:59:54,639 --> 00:59:57,119
then found my way back to the beaten path and

760
00:59:57,239 --> 01:00:01,639
stumbled achingly through the cold night air my grandma's farmhouse.

761
01:00:03,559 --> 01:00:07,400
Dad was sick. My grandma screamed something to this effect

762
01:00:07,480 --> 01:00:10,559
at me as she held down his right arm while

763
01:00:10,559 --> 01:00:12,639
my mother tried to grip his head in her blood

764
01:00:12,679 --> 01:00:18,800
sleck hands. He resisted with dumb determination. My little sister cried,

765
01:00:19,119 --> 01:00:22,920
watching the scene like a shell shock soldier. There was

766
01:00:22,960 --> 01:00:29,079
grunting and sobbing, and suddenly a bang. Then a puff

767
01:00:29,119 --> 01:00:32,400
of plaster rained down onto my head, and everyone began

768
01:00:32,440 --> 01:00:38,320
to yell and shriek a little louder. Dad had a

769
01:00:38,400 --> 01:00:42,000
gun that was what my grandma was trying to wrestle

770
01:00:42,039 --> 01:00:45,400
out of his hands. She held a knife, and that's

771
01:00:45,400 --> 01:00:48,639
why there was blood, but I didn't know whose it was.

772
01:00:49,800 --> 01:00:51,760
I wasn't sure what she was planning to do with

773
01:00:51,800 --> 01:00:53,960
it until she tried to use it to cut his

774
01:00:54,079 --> 01:00:58,719
trigger finger off. The scuffle resulted in another bang, and

775
01:00:58,800 --> 01:01:03,480
a window exploded outwards. I finally ducked and grabbed my sister,

776
01:01:03,800 --> 01:01:07,840
rushing her into another room, but there were three more explosions,

777
01:01:08,159 --> 01:01:12,199
and each one broke something inside me. By the time

778
01:01:12,239 --> 01:01:15,119
I heard my name being called, I was half deaf

779
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:19,440
and twitching at things that weren't there. My sister pleaded

780
01:01:19,440 --> 01:01:22,599
for me to come back, her pink fingers grasping for

781
01:01:22,679 --> 01:01:25,719
me as I put her down, But my mother was

782
01:01:25,760 --> 01:01:28,519
shouting for me to come help, and I wanted to

783
01:01:28,639 --> 01:01:32,840
keep my family safe. She told me to get something

784
01:01:32,880 --> 01:01:35,440
to tie that up while she and my grandma used

785
01:01:35,440 --> 01:01:38,000
both arms the pin each of his wrists to the ground.

786
01:01:38,960 --> 01:01:42,559
His hands bled weakly as my grandma used every inch

787
01:01:42,599 --> 01:01:45,880
of her strength to simultaneously pin him and stop the flow.

788
01:01:47,119 --> 01:01:51,360
He thrashed beneath them, his movements languid and easy, but

789
01:01:51,440 --> 01:01:53,400
I could tell it was a struggle for them to

790
01:01:53,480 --> 01:01:57,679
keep him down. As I ran to the garage, I

791
01:01:57,719 --> 01:02:00,559
saw the gun on the ground with Dad's severed finger nearby.

792
01:02:01,599 --> 01:02:04,400
I kicked it out of reach before returning shortly with

793
01:02:04,480 --> 01:02:07,280
the rope my grandma used to tie the garage door

794
01:02:07,320 --> 01:02:12,079
open during hot summers. Mom tied the knots. My grandma

795
01:02:12,159 --> 01:02:14,599
tried talking to my dad, and it was one of

796
01:02:14,599 --> 01:02:16,800
the few times in my life I saw her as

797
01:02:16,840 --> 01:02:20,840
the woman who'd once changed his diapers. She was so

798
01:02:20,840 --> 01:02:24,760
soothing and tender, and her constant muttering that everything would

799
01:02:24,800 --> 01:02:30,440
be okay seemed so fragile. She was scared for him.

800
01:02:32,119 --> 01:02:34,679
Mom just did everything in her power to wrestle some

801
01:02:34,719 --> 01:02:38,239
safety out of the moment. Only once his arms were

802
01:02:38,280 --> 01:02:41,599
secure behind his back and she was confident he wasn't

803
01:02:41,639 --> 01:02:45,400
breaking free, did she stand back, put her hands behind her,

804
01:02:45,800 --> 01:02:51,039
and then immediately hunch forward and sob Call an ambulance,

805
01:02:51,639 --> 01:02:54,239
my grandma told me, and she walked into the other

806
01:02:54,320 --> 01:02:58,159
room to get my sister. Before I got on the phone,

807
01:02:58,599 --> 01:03:02,639
I briefly hugged my mom, who didn't seem to notice.

808
01:03:02,880 --> 01:03:05,360
I rasked a glance of my dad, who didn't look

809
01:03:05,440 --> 01:03:09,639
at anything at all. Dead eyes glazed vacantly at nothing

810
01:03:10,079 --> 01:03:14,119
as he fought to free his arms. When he finally

811
01:03:14,159 --> 01:03:17,440
looked at me, it was no different to how he

812
01:03:17,480 --> 01:03:23,079
looked at the floor or the wall. I didn't go

813
01:03:23,159 --> 01:03:26,360
to school the next day either. Some men from the

814
01:03:26,360 --> 01:03:29,239
government came to take Dad in the morning, and Mom

815
01:03:29,400 --> 01:03:32,519
ordered me to my room. When they arrived, she asked

816
01:03:32,559 --> 01:03:36,480
them a thousand questions, but their replies were short and stern.

817
01:03:37,840 --> 01:03:41,280
All I managed that over here were a few muffled phrases,

818
01:03:42,440 --> 01:03:46,079
Please stay put, ma'am, someone will be in contact with you. Shortly,

819
01:03:48,119 --> 01:03:50,079
when I ran to my window to look at them

820
01:03:50,119 --> 01:03:53,719
walking down the drive, I saw that they all wore masks.

821
01:03:54,679 --> 01:03:57,440
One of them saw where I was staring. I thought

822
01:03:57,480 --> 01:04:01,559
he was going to wave, but he didn't. There was

823
01:04:01,559 --> 01:04:07,039
a biohazard symbol and their clothes. After they left, Mom

824
01:04:07,159 --> 01:04:11,239
focused on making dinner and looking after my sister. She

825
01:04:11,360 --> 01:04:15,320
kept me close the whole time, barking anxious questions whenever

826
01:04:15,360 --> 01:04:18,719
I tried to leave the room. Where are you going?

827
01:04:19,360 --> 01:04:24,320
Just the bathroom? Oh okay. Then it felt like she

828
01:04:24,440 --> 01:04:29,360
was painting normality into tissue paper, desperately afraid of breaking it.

829
01:04:30,719 --> 01:04:32,920
I tried my best to seem like I was okay.

830
01:04:34,159 --> 01:04:36,719
Last thing I wanted was to feel like some kid

831
01:04:36,719 --> 01:04:41,039
who needed his mommy. We mostly just talked about mundane things,

832
01:04:41,760 --> 01:04:45,280
but it was hard for both of us. The only

833
01:04:45,360 --> 01:04:48,480
time the atmosphere seemed to change was when she asked

834
01:04:48,519 --> 01:04:53,920
me something strange half way through dinner. Did your father

835
01:04:54,880 --> 01:04:58,199
when you both went hunting a few months back? What

836
01:04:58,360 --> 01:05:03,000
did you do to the meat? I don't know. I shrugged.

837
01:05:03,639 --> 01:05:07,880
Dad took care of all that. Why the men who

838
01:05:07,880 --> 01:05:12,239
took him asked a whole bunch of questions about it. Then,

839
01:05:12,440 --> 01:05:16,519
with a fragile smile, have ye done your homework? They

840
01:05:16,599 --> 01:05:19,320
told me your teacher would send you some assignments on line.

841
01:05:21,679 --> 01:05:25,159
Just like that, the thin pretense of normality came back,

842
01:05:26,000 --> 01:05:28,719
but I was left with a wriggling feeling in my stomach.

843
01:05:29,920 --> 01:05:34,000
It didn't go away as the evening marched on. In fact,

844
01:05:34,360 --> 01:05:37,440
it only grew worse until I found myself in bed,

845
01:05:37,840 --> 01:05:41,400
rolling from side to side and thinking about Mum's question.

846
01:05:42,719 --> 01:05:45,320
The men who bundled Dad off hadn't seen like the

847
01:05:45,400 --> 01:05:48,880
kind who messed around. They must have had some idea

848
01:05:48,920 --> 01:05:53,440
of what was going on, So why ask about the meat.

849
01:05:54,800 --> 01:05:57,679
On some level, I knew the moment she'd asked me

850
01:05:57,880 --> 01:06:01,960
why it was relevant. Dad loved to hunt, and he

851
01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:06,280
always brought meat to parties and barbecues. Wasn't it obvious

852
01:06:07,159 --> 01:06:11,280
he'd brought something back from the woods, hadn't he? I

853
01:06:11,320 --> 01:06:14,599
hadn't gone hunting for a long time, nearly three months.

854
01:06:15,400 --> 01:06:19,159
Every time he'd asked, I'd refused, and I think he

855
01:06:19,280 --> 01:06:24,760
knew why. On the very last trip, Dad shot three deer,

856
01:06:25,119 --> 01:06:29,079
but we only took back two, one for us, one

857
01:06:29,119 --> 01:06:33,159
for the town barbecue. The thirty shot, but we left

858
01:06:33,199 --> 01:06:35,599
it on the forest floor because by the time it

859
01:06:35,679 --> 01:06:39,320
had died, I was pale and shaking, and even Dad

860
01:06:39,320 --> 01:06:42,960
couldn't keep the tremor out of his voice. Neither of

861
01:06:43,039 --> 01:06:45,440
us had expected the deer to stand on its hind

862
01:06:45,519 --> 01:06:49,199
legs and walked towards us like a man. Its gait

863
01:06:49,440 --> 01:06:53,280
a heavy, broken thing as it lumbered over the forest floor,

864
01:06:54,360 --> 01:06:57,119
and it had kept coming even after Dad shot it

865
01:06:57,199 --> 01:07:00,199
six more times. One of the rounds struck it in

866
01:07:00,199 --> 01:07:04,400
the head, but still it shambled forward on two misshapen

867
01:07:04,519 --> 01:07:08,280
legs as his brains painted the ferns in pestilent gray.

868
01:07:09,639 --> 01:07:13,360
When it finally fell. Even Dad had gone pale, and

869
01:07:13,440 --> 01:07:16,320
in the silent aftermath, I had to go off and

870
01:07:16,400 --> 01:07:20,440
be sick in a bush. After that, we cut the

871
01:07:20,480 --> 01:07:24,199
trip short. Dad walked me gently back to the truck

872
01:07:24,519 --> 01:07:26,800
where the two deer we shot and trusted earlier that

873
01:07:26,920 --> 01:07:30,920
day lay waiting in the pickup. I don't think either

874
01:07:31,000 --> 01:07:35,800
of us even remembered they were there until later. He'd

875
01:07:35,800 --> 01:07:37,559
still ask me if I wanted to head out with

876
01:07:37,639 --> 01:07:40,760
him each weekend, but he never seemed surprised when I

877
01:07:40,800 --> 01:07:45,079
made some excuse. The only time we talked about it

878
01:07:45,159 --> 01:07:47,960
was not long before the barbecue, when he drove me

879
01:07:48,000 --> 01:07:51,320
to school one day. He didn't deal with it head on.

880
01:07:51,960 --> 01:07:57,840
He skirted the topic. Sometimes deer get sick, he told me,

881
01:07:58,519 --> 01:08:02,719
a little like old folks do. Remember Grandpa, He got

882
01:08:02,719 --> 01:08:06,360
real scary towards the end, inn't he Well, dear get

883
01:08:06,440 --> 01:08:10,159
sick too, But we don't have to worry same way.

884
01:08:10,159 --> 01:08:13,760
You couldn't catch what Grandpa had, Well, we can't catch

885
01:08:13,760 --> 01:08:17,600
what the deer have. Us. Humans are safe, just an

886
01:08:17,680 --> 01:08:22,960
uncomfortable part of nature. It had come out of the blue,

887
01:08:23,720 --> 01:08:26,680
or at least it seemed like it. I figured it

888
01:08:26,720 --> 01:08:28,479
was Dad's way of trying to get me back on

889
01:08:28,520 --> 01:08:32,079
board with hunting. I knew he liked me going with him.

890
01:08:32,680 --> 01:08:35,479
I'd liked it too, at least until I saw that

891
01:08:35,560 --> 01:08:39,239
deer walk toward me on two legs. But lying in

892
01:08:39,239 --> 01:08:41,720
my bed that night, after Mom had gone to sleep,

893
01:08:42,840 --> 01:08:45,960
I started to wonder if maybe he hadn't really been

894
01:08:46,000 --> 01:08:49,520
trying to convince me, Maybe he carried a little doubt

895
01:08:49,520 --> 01:08:54,239
in himself about something he was gonna do. What if

896
01:08:54,239 --> 01:09:01,279
he'd been trying to convince himself it was okay, too, dear?

897
01:09:02,479 --> 01:09:05,840
I tried remembering what they'd been like. I hadn't shaked

898
01:09:05,880 --> 01:09:09,439
them after we got in the truck. Why would I

899
01:09:09,600 --> 01:09:12,159
seemed as normal as any others as we tied them down?

900
01:09:12,960 --> 01:09:16,680
But I hadn't really been paying attention either. I'd been

901
01:09:16,800 --> 01:09:20,560
hunting since I was seven. Helping Dad was automatic to me,

902
01:09:21,720 --> 01:09:24,279
And to top it off, I hadn't known what I

903
01:09:24,359 --> 01:09:28,279
was meant to be looking for. I squirmed beneath the

904
01:09:28,359 --> 01:09:32,000
sheets and tried so hard to remember every detail of

905
01:09:32,039 --> 01:09:35,920
that trip. Most of all, I tried to remember what

906
01:09:36,000 --> 01:09:39,800
the first two deer Dad had shot were like. They'd

907
01:09:39,840 --> 01:09:44,359
gone down so quick, they'd seemed normal, But Grandpa had

908
01:09:44,399 --> 01:09:47,359
been sick with Alzheimer's a long time before he got scary,

909
01:09:48,159 --> 01:09:50,279
and I had to figure the same could be true

910
01:09:50,319 --> 01:09:53,560
for those deer. Who was to say the one on

911
01:09:53,680 --> 01:09:56,279
hind legs was the only sick creature in the woods

912
01:09:56,319 --> 01:10:01,079
that day. I couldn't have force these thoughts out of

913
01:10:01,119 --> 01:10:05,119
my head with a crowbar. At some point I accepted

914
01:10:05,319 --> 01:10:08,439
I wasn't getting any sleep that night, and I settled

915
01:10:08,479 --> 01:10:12,319
down to torture myself some more until I realized it

916
01:10:12,439 --> 01:10:15,920
didn't have to be that way. Dad had an old

917
01:10:15,960 --> 01:10:19,159
freeze in the shed, and he sometimes kept meeting there,

918
01:10:20,319 --> 01:10:23,960
not for long, and usually not for eating. He'd use

919
01:10:24,000 --> 01:10:26,279
it for things he'd wanted to skin, or tried to

920
01:10:26,279 --> 01:10:29,199
make a trophy out of it, which he rarely did

921
01:10:29,239 --> 01:10:31,520
since Mom didn't like that kind of thing in the house.

922
01:10:32,520 --> 01:10:34,439
But if the deer weren't in the freezer in the

923
01:10:34,520 --> 01:10:37,560
kitchen or the garage, then they might be in the shed.

924
01:10:38,720 --> 01:10:41,520
And if I did open up that chest and saw

925
01:10:41,600 --> 01:10:45,560
two deer bodies in there, that meant whenever was going

926
01:10:45,600 --> 01:10:49,000
around and making people hurt themselves couldn't have come from

927
01:10:49,000 --> 01:10:53,720
our little hunting trip. I snuck out of my room

928
01:10:53,800 --> 01:10:56,680
as quiet as I could. Mom was on the phone

929
01:10:56,720 --> 01:11:00,439
with my grandma and she was crying. I stopped by

930
01:11:00,479 --> 01:11:02,600
a door and listened to see if maybe they knew

931
01:11:02,680 --> 01:11:06,359
something I didn't, But after she started talking about how

932
01:11:06,399 --> 01:11:09,359
scared she was, I just felt bad and moved on.

933
01:11:10,560 --> 01:11:12,640
At least it meant she was too busy to notice

934
01:11:12,680 --> 01:11:17,039
me creeping down the stairs. I never liked the shed

935
01:11:17,039 --> 01:11:19,920
at the end of the yard. It was rarely used,

936
01:11:20,119 --> 01:11:22,720
even by my dad, who kept the lawn mower and

937
01:11:22,760 --> 01:11:26,079
some old junkin there. It wasn't the kind of place

938
01:11:26,119 --> 01:11:28,960
he kept food, but I had this feeling he didn't

939
01:11:29,039 --> 01:11:30,880
keep these deer with the rest of the meat he

940
01:11:30,960 --> 01:11:34,319
got from hunting. As I opened the back door and

941
01:11:34,359 --> 01:11:37,920
looked over the shadow covered yard, I found myself thinking

942
01:11:37,960 --> 01:11:41,680
about the tunnel and what I'd seen back there. With

943
01:11:41,760 --> 01:11:44,960
everything that had happened, since I'd done a good job

944
01:11:44,960 --> 01:11:49,159
of convincing myself it had never really happened. The man

945
01:11:49,239 --> 01:11:52,239
with no legs who dragged himself out of the darkness

946
01:11:52,680 --> 01:11:56,239
had become little more than a half remembered nightmare, a

947
01:11:56,319 --> 01:11:59,520
moment out of time that was incompatible with all logic

948
01:11:59,600 --> 01:12:05,600
and reason. But suddenly it was back with me. All

949
01:12:05,680 --> 01:12:08,680
the emotions and thoughts that raced through my head as

950
01:12:08,720 --> 01:12:13,359
I stared at his rotten flesh and glassy eyes. The

951
01:12:13,399 --> 01:12:16,600
walk to the shed was uneasy, I thought the urge

952
01:12:16,640 --> 01:12:20,479
to turn around. The entire way there. Each step was

953
01:12:20,520 --> 01:12:24,199
like walking on feet made of the lead. At the door,

954
01:12:24,720 --> 01:12:27,800
I paused with my hand poised by the lock. The

955
01:12:27,920 --> 01:12:31,680
house seemed so distant behind me, and I became painfully

956
01:12:31,720 --> 01:12:35,560
aware nobody knew I was alone and out in the dark.

957
01:12:37,000 --> 01:12:40,760
Inside was nearly pitch black. My phone helped me light

958
01:12:40,800 --> 01:12:43,239
it up a little, but I didn't touch the nearby

959
01:12:43,319 --> 01:12:47,199
switch in case Mom saw it from a window. Cobwebs

960
01:12:47,239 --> 01:12:50,239
hung low from the ceiling, and shadows crawled across the

961
01:12:50,279 --> 01:12:53,119
floor and walls as I moved closer to the freezer.

962
01:12:54,439 --> 01:12:58,119
The entire time, I kept expecting something to happen. I

963
01:12:58,199 --> 01:13:01,800
even imagine that deer rising from beneath the lid, pushing

964
01:13:01,800 --> 01:13:04,720
it open to stand unnaturally tall on its hind legs,

965
01:13:04,960 --> 01:13:06,920
where he looked down at me with the same dead

966
01:13:06,960 --> 01:13:10,720
eyes I'd seen in my father. The thought scared me

967
01:13:10,760 --> 01:13:14,399
so bad I nearly hyperventilated myself straight into a panic attack.

968
01:13:15,239 --> 01:13:17,760
But before I had time to really worry about any

969
01:13:17,800 --> 01:13:21,000
of that. I found my hand on the freezer's latch.

970
01:13:22,720 --> 01:13:27,560
I pushed it open and looked inside. The misty vapors

971
01:13:27,600 --> 01:13:30,640
cleared to reveal a pile of meat and fur encrusted

972
01:13:30,760 --> 01:13:34,960
with ice. It was only one head visible, but I

973
01:13:35,119 --> 01:13:38,319
so badly wanted confirmation that there were two animals in

974
01:13:38,399 --> 01:13:41,359
there that I took a deep breath and reached in

975
01:13:41,439 --> 01:13:44,600
to try price some of it loose. Some of it

976
01:13:44,640 --> 01:13:47,479
came away from the sides with a sound like duct tape.

977
01:13:47,920 --> 01:13:50,319
But no matter how deep I rooted in that mound

978
01:13:50,359 --> 01:13:55,119
of bone, antlers and rock hard flesh, I couldn't see

979
01:13:55,119 --> 01:13:59,159
a sign of the second deer. He dad really served

980
01:13:59,199 --> 01:14:02,880
everyone sick man was that while Larry Sitkins had missed

981
01:14:02,880 --> 01:14:05,800
the stroup and all those other people had killed themselves.

982
01:14:07,279 --> 01:14:10,720
The thought made me feel ill. I slammed the freezer

983
01:14:10,760 --> 01:14:13,399
shut and walked back to the door in a daze,

984
01:14:13,840 --> 01:14:17,119
trying with all my might to swallow the painful weight

985
01:14:17,239 --> 01:14:22,960
that settled in my gut. I had one foot outside

986
01:14:23,159 --> 01:14:27,560
when the freezer door rattled against the latch. The entire

987
01:14:27,600 --> 01:14:30,960
world spun around me. My heart sank, and my skin

988
01:14:31,079 --> 01:14:35,920
froze in a sensation that was growing increasingly familiar. I

989
01:14:36,000 --> 01:14:40,039
turned to face the sound, both hands braced against the door,

990
01:14:40,840 --> 01:14:44,159
and watched as the latch slammed into the lock once more.

991
01:14:45,199 --> 01:14:48,399
The light inside the chest came on for the briefest moments,

992
01:14:49,079 --> 01:14:53,960
and I glimpsed thrashing fur and teeth. Then it happened

993
01:14:54,000 --> 01:14:57,560
again and again, and each time I saw bits of

994
01:14:57,640 --> 01:15:01,680
hoof and bone and strange musket that frightened me so

995
01:15:01,880 --> 01:15:04,840
deep I fell down onto my ass and didn't even

996
01:15:04,920 --> 01:15:09,840
realize when the latch finally gave way, the lid flew

997
01:15:09,880 --> 01:15:13,439
open and stayed there. Light poured out of the box,

998
01:15:14,479 --> 01:15:18,479
and I waited, breath held, for that thing to emerge,

999
01:15:18,960 --> 01:15:22,159
to come roaring out of sight and bear down towards

1000
01:15:22,159 --> 01:15:28,760
me on unnatural legs. But nothing happened. The silence stretched

1001
01:15:28,760 --> 01:15:33,039
on ford seemed like an eternity, until at last there

1002
01:15:33,079 --> 01:15:36,199
was a crash, louder than any before, and the entire

1003
01:15:36,239 --> 01:15:41,720
freezer rocked back and forth and slowly fell over. The deer,

1004
01:15:42,439 --> 01:15:45,800
or parts of it fell out with a hard, wet thumb.

1005
01:15:46,840 --> 01:15:49,600
Bits of his chin and face shattered on the hard

1006
01:15:49,640 --> 01:15:53,239
packed ground, sending little shards of meat and bones Skating

1007
01:15:53,279 --> 01:15:57,279
across the floor on melting streaks of blood. Some of

1008
01:15:57,319 --> 01:16:01,680
them even reached my feet. The thing inside moved with

1009
01:16:01,760 --> 01:16:05,239
the sound of snow crunching beneath your feet, its thick

1010
01:16:05,359 --> 01:16:09,319
neck and broken head twisting side aside, scanning the shed's

1011
01:16:09,359 --> 01:16:15,079
interior with faulty eyes. I've never seen anything move like that,

1012
01:16:15,720 --> 01:16:19,359
not before or since. This was worse than the man

1013
01:16:19,399 --> 01:16:23,680
in the tunnel, worse by a thousand times. The deer

1014
01:16:23,800 --> 01:16:28,359
was still mostly frozen, but some impossible force was making

1015
01:16:28,399 --> 01:16:32,520
the crystallized water in its own cells, and the result

1016
01:16:32,800 --> 01:16:36,399
was skin that rippled like tissue, and muscle that cracked

1017
01:16:36,399 --> 01:16:40,199
and crunched as they tried to flax and contract. It

1018
01:16:40,319 --> 01:16:43,920
lifted its head and tried to scream. The breathy sound

1019
01:16:44,000 --> 01:16:47,079
that left its fuzzy black lips made my heart start

1020
01:16:47,159 --> 01:16:51,439
skipping beats while my bladder entered. I couldn't help it,

1021
01:16:51,800 --> 01:16:55,199
couldn't stop myself, and when I looked down and saw

1022
01:16:55,279 --> 01:16:59,000
pieces of melting flesh starting to writhe and wriggle, I

1023
01:16:59,079 --> 01:17:02,319
tried with all my might to stifle the cry building

1024
01:17:02,399 --> 01:17:06,239
up in my throat, but it escaped as a desperate,

1025
01:17:06,439 --> 01:17:11,119
high pitched wine. The deer turned its head towards me

1026
01:17:11,199 --> 01:17:15,199
with a violent swing, another breathy shriek, and then it

1027
01:17:15,239 --> 01:17:18,199
began to thrash its stiff and frozen legs in a

1028
01:17:18,319 --> 01:17:22,079
terrifying attempt to get closer. To say it had a

1029
01:17:22,079 --> 01:17:26,119
predatory look would be inaccurate. Anyone who's seen a predator

1030
01:17:26,159 --> 01:17:29,680
in action knows that nature is mostly indifferent when it kills.

1031
01:17:30,439 --> 01:17:33,079
A bear tears into its prey with the same dull

1032
01:17:33,159 --> 01:17:37,199
look of someone opening the McDonald's. Predators don't hate the

1033
01:17:37,239 --> 01:17:43,039
things they're hunting for this thing, I could feel its hatred,

1034
01:17:43,399 --> 01:17:46,680
its malice. It was nothing like what I'd seen in

1035
01:17:46,720 --> 01:17:49,199
my dad's eyes, or even the eyes of the man

1036
01:17:49,239 --> 01:17:53,079
in the tunnel. But it had spent months in that box,

1037
01:17:53,399 --> 01:17:57,319
hadn't it. This was the disease when you skipped three

1038
01:17:57,359 --> 01:18:04,279
months ahead. Anger, hatred. Jeez, I couldn't even say if

1039
01:18:04,279 --> 01:18:06,960
it was going to eat me. That's what you think

1040
01:18:07,000 --> 01:18:10,039
when you see a zombie, right, It's going to try

1041
01:18:10,079 --> 01:18:12,880
and take a big bite out of you. With this

1042
01:18:13,000 --> 01:18:16,800
frozen clump of hair and meat and brained lips, dragged

1043
01:18:16,840 --> 01:18:20,640
itself across the floor with an expression like murderous rage,

1044
01:18:21,640 --> 01:18:24,319
the look of someone ready to beat another living thing

1045
01:18:24,399 --> 01:18:26,960
to death using its own hands if it had too

1046
01:18:29,000 --> 01:18:32,399
unable to face it A moment longer, I dragged myself

1047
01:18:32,439 --> 01:18:35,720
back unto my feet and fled, shutting my eyes as

1048
01:18:35,720 --> 01:18:39,800
I entered the cold night air. I made it three

1049
01:18:39,880 --> 01:18:48,520
steps before I slammed into my dad. It was like

1050
01:18:48,560 --> 01:18:52,039
I'd run full speed into a tree. I pounced back

1051
01:18:52,079 --> 01:18:54,800
and hit the earth, pain flowing at my cocksis as

1052
01:18:54,840 --> 01:18:58,159
my father loomed over me. He'd felt cold for the

1053
01:18:58,199 --> 01:19:01,840
brief moment where we made contact. My mind blocked out

1054
01:19:01,840 --> 01:19:04,720
the sound of something hideous scrambling in the shed behind me,

1055
01:19:05,439 --> 01:19:08,119
and the entire word narrowed until it was just the

1056
01:19:08,119 --> 01:19:11,399
face of the man who raised me, looking down with pale,

1057
01:19:11,600 --> 01:19:20,000
dead eyes. Dad. He swallowed and briefly examined his hands.

1058
01:19:21,479 --> 01:19:25,199
I think I'm dead, he muttered, almost as if he

1059
01:19:25,319 --> 01:19:31,520
was talking to himself. When did I die? I pulled

1060
01:19:31,600 --> 01:19:35,159
myself up and grabbed his hand. He was cold, but

1061
01:19:35,239 --> 01:19:38,479
his pulse was still raising. I could even see the

1062
01:19:38,600 --> 01:19:46,880
veins in his forearms. Throbbed sickeningly. Dad. Are you okay? Dad? Dad?

1063
01:19:47,359 --> 01:19:52,399
Are you okay? They told me I'm sick, he said,

1064
01:19:52,800 --> 01:19:55,840
his eyes gazing vacantly at the empty space behind me.

1065
01:19:57,199 --> 01:20:02,359
I think they're right, but there's more. He looked at me,

1066
01:20:02,880 --> 01:20:06,079
the intensity of his gaze so powerful that I let

1067
01:20:06,119 --> 01:20:09,520
go of his hand and took a step back. For

1068
01:20:09,560 --> 01:20:13,920
the first time in my life, I was scared of him.

1069
01:20:14,720 --> 01:20:18,560
I'm not alone in here, he said, his voice pleading

1070
01:20:18,600 --> 01:20:23,359
for help. Slowly his expression twisted into a grotesque mask

1071
01:20:23,439 --> 01:20:28,359
of agony and desperation. Oh jeez, it isn't just me

1072
01:20:28,479 --> 01:20:32,039
in here. I tried to move, but he was a

1073
01:20:32,039 --> 01:20:36,840
big man, and his arms wrapped around me like steel bands. Dad,

1074
01:20:37,399 --> 01:20:40,640
I cried, struggling to pull myself loose as he sobbed

1075
01:20:40,680 --> 01:20:44,720
louder and louder. Dad, jeez, you gotta let go. There's

1076
01:20:46,000 --> 01:20:49,760
the shed door burst open. I managed to turn around

1077
01:20:49,800 --> 01:20:52,840
just enough I could see what came out, and I

1078
01:20:52,880 --> 01:20:57,039
felt an urgent terror crawling at my flesh. The deer

1079
01:20:57,119 --> 01:21:00,199
had pulled itself loose from the freezer, and now it

1080
01:21:00,239 --> 01:21:03,760
stood in the doorway and two legs. Its body looked

1081
01:21:03,800 --> 01:21:06,359
all wrong in that posture, like when you twist the

1082
01:21:06,439 --> 01:21:10,039
limbs around on a doll. Probably not far from the truth,

1083
01:21:10,159 --> 01:21:14,520
thinking about it, Dad didn't react, but I began to

1084
01:21:14,560 --> 01:21:19,039
scream as the nightmare coalesced around me, my father gripping

1085
01:21:19,479 --> 01:21:22,760
holding me in place as that horrible thing lurched towards

1086
01:21:22,800 --> 01:21:26,960
me on two legs. It moved like clamation or a

1087
01:21:26,960 --> 01:21:31,039
puppet show gone wrong, but it was quicker than I feared.

1088
01:21:32,279 --> 01:21:35,720
As each step brought it closer, I found myself losing

1089
01:21:35,760 --> 01:21:39,920
what little control I had. I started to scream, started

1090
01:21:39,960 --> 01:21:42,760
to shriek. I beat at my father with my fists,

1091
01:21:43,319 --> 01:21:46,800
but he didn't budge an inch. My clenched hands just

1092
01:21:46,840 --> 01:21:49,920
bounced off his strong shoulders, and it was like I

1093
01:21:49,960 --> 01:21:53,439
was trying to hurt a punching bag. I started to

1094
01:21:53,479 --> 01:21:56,760
swear too, started to scream things I thought were bad,

1095
01:21:57,279 --> 01:22:00,399
then worse, then so bad. I'm not even I'm sure

1096
01:22:00,399 --> 01:22:02,680
I can blame other people for putting those words in

1097
01:22:02,760 --> 01:22:06,279
my head. I told my dad I hated him, called

1098
01:22:06,359 --> 01:22:10,119
him the worst names under the sun. All that commotion

1099
01:22:10,279 --> 01:22:13,880
got the attention of others. Neighbour's lights started coming on.

1100
01:22:14,520 --> 01:22:17,199
My mum emerged from the back door, wrapping a robe

1101
01:22:17,239 --> 01:22:19,920
around herself as she squinted at us in the dark.

1102
01:22:21,439 --> 01:22:24,319
What the hell is going on? She cried as she

1103
01:22:24,399 --> 01:22:28,760
stumbled towards us, But when she saw that deer, she

1104
01:22:28,960 --> 01:22:34,800
started screaming too. I don't know why, but I thought

1105
01:22:34,840 --> 01:22:39,439
that other people appearing would help somehow, that us two three,

1106
01:22:39,960 --> 01:22:43,680
half a dozen people came stumbling into open lawns, peering

1107
01:22:43,720 --> 01:22:47,039
over wist eye fences. It had stopped the slow but

1108
01:22:47,119 --> 01:22:52,479
inevitable onslaught of that monster. It did no such thing.

1109
01:22:53,840 --> 01:22:56,399
I had to listen to their confused shouts and cries

1110
01:22:56,800 --> 01:23:00,720
or gesturing and begging for help the entire time, the

1111
01:23:00,800 --> 01:23:05,880
sound of the creature over my shoulder getting closer and closer. Meanwhile,

1112
01:23:06,119 --> 01:23:08,880
my hands tried to pry away my father's thick arms,

1113
01:23:09,319 --> 01:23:12,359
but each time I got leverage, he simply flexed and

1114
01:23:12,439 --> 01:23:16,600
his grip tightened around me. He was muttering something the

1115
01:23:16,640 --> 01:23:21,880
whole time, but I couldn't hear it. Finally, my mom

1116
01:23:22,000 --> 01:23:25,119
screamed and ran, swinging an old rake at the space

1117
01:23:25,159 --> 01:23:29,159
behind me. I heard the impact, the splintering of the

1118
01:23:29,199 --> 01:23:33,399
wooden handle. Then she stumbled backwards, and I had to

1119
01:23:33,439 --> 01:23:35,800
twist to get a look at the deer that was

1120
01:23:35,840 --> 01:23:39,079
now just six or seven feet away, the spokes of

1121
01:23:39,119 --> 01:23:43,479
a rake still sticking out of his face. A monster

1122
01:23:43,600 --> 01:23:46,840
looked right at me and opened its mouth, and I

1123
01:23:46,960 --> 01:23:50,399
swear to God who was going to talk? But right

1124
01:23:50,439 --> 01:23:54,560
then someone shouted, for the love of God, Alice, get

1125
01:23:54,600 --> 01:23:59,800
away from that thing. Alice was my mother's name, and

1126
01:23:59,840 --> 01:24:03,319
she fell to the floor just seconds before an explosion

1127
01:24:03,399 --> 01:24:07,920
broke the night, silencing all voices and shattering the deer's

1128
01:24:07,960 --> 01:24:12,319
head like a crystal ball hitting the ground. My heart

1129
01:24:12,399 --> 01:24:14,800
raised so fast I thought for a moment I was

1130
01:24:14,880 --> 01:24:19,279
gonna die. Then I looked down at Dad and finally

1131
01:24:19,319 --> 01:24:23,960
heard what he'd been mumbling this whole time. It's in

1132
01:24:24,119 --> 01:24:26,800
us and it wants us. It's in us and it

1133
01:24:26,880 --> 01:24:34,239
wants us. It's in us and it wants us. There

1134
01:24:34,279 --> 01:24:37,319
isn't much left of Dad these days. I got to

1135
01:24:37,399 --> 01:24:40,840
visit a couple of times. Fat lot of good it did,

1136
01:24:41,399 --> 01:24:43,920
as far as I'm concerned. He died that day in

1137
01:24:43,960 --> 01:24:48,000
the kitchen when he first tried shooting himself. They're treating

1138
01:24:48,079 --> 01:24:51,520
us in this special hospital. Mom was real upset that

1139
01:24:51,600 --> 01:24:55,119
visitations are limited, but I think it might be for

1140
01:24:55,159 --> 01:24:59,720
the best. Her and my sister tested clean. Most people

1141
01:24:59,760 --> 01:25:05,840
did I didn't. Mom snug me this phone a couple

1142
01:25:05,880 --> 01:25:08,359
of weeks ago, and I've been using that to write

1143
01:25:09,840 --> 01:25:12,239
funny thing is one of the orderlies saw me on

1144
01:25:12,279 --> 01:25:15,439
it a few days ago and just laughed. I think

1145
01:25:15,439 --> 01:25:17,840
that maybe the government aren't too worried about this story

1146
01:25:17,880 --> 01:25:22,239
getting out. And first I didn't really get why until

1147
01:25:22,239 --> 01:25:26,159
I started actually putting all this down into writing, got

1148
01:25:26,199 --> 01:25:28,560
to the part where that halfman came out of the tunnel,

1149
01:25:29,439 --> 01:25:35,560
and I realized, no one's gonna believe me. Still, I

1150
01:25:35,640 --> 01:25:40,840
gotta try, partly because I want to protect people. Whatever

1151
01:25:40,920 --> 01:25:43,359
this disease is, it's a hell of a lot more

1152
01:25:43,399 --> 01:25:46,760
than some twisted brands. And I think the government knows

1153
01:25:46,800 --> 01:25:52,560
that Dad certainly did. Most Invector did too. That's why

1154
01:25:52,600 --> 01:25:57,159
they killed themselves. They wanted out. The voice that comes

1155
01:25:57,199 --> 01:26:00,720
with this illness is like it's like if your brain

1156
01:26:00,800 --> 01:26:03,680
is just words in a book and then someone DipEd

1157
01:26:03,680 --> 01:26:06,000
that book in a full kind of used motor oil.

1158
01:26:06,960 --> 01:26:09,640
You just want to give in hand it all over.

1159
01:26:10,560 --> 01:26:13,560
It wants your body, So whatever you do, you don't fight,

1160
01:26:14,520 --> 01:26:20,399
that's worse, give it up. In hindsight, we should have

1161
01:26:20,479 --> 01:26:25,079
let Dad kill himself. What he went through was well,

1162
01:26:25,680 --> 01:26:27,840
it was probably a lot worse than the others who

1163
01:26:27,880 --> 01:26:31,560
got to die. I sometimes think about going into his

1164
01:26:31,680 --> 01:26:35,600
room with a pillow, but security is pretty tight around him.

1165
01:26:37,079 --> 01:26:40,800
As for me, infection is still in its early phase.

1166
01:26:41,800 --> 01:26:45,920
It takes everyone differently, and for me it's taking quite

1167
01:26:46,000 --> 01:26:51,159
its time. They think it's because of my age. Still

1168
01:26:51,640 --> 01:26:56,720
I can sort of feel it under there growing. I

1169
01:26:56,760 --> 01:27:03,079
think it's why I'm writing this. Me to this sickness.

1170
01:27:03,479 --> 01:27:06,760
It lives out in the woods, way way out in

1171
01:27:06,840 --> 01:27:09,399
parts of the soil where the sun hasn't shone in

1172
01:27:09,479 --> 01:27:13,159
millions of years. It's old enough to remember a time

1173
01:27:13,199 --> 01:27:17,000
you could walk from Appalachia to what's now called Glasgow.

1174
01:27:17,960 --> 01:27:20,840
And it's been fumbling around out there, in the brains

1175
01:27:20,880 --> 01:27:25,119
of deer and other things. The sickness tells me. This

1176
01:27:26,079 --> 01:27:29,479
tells me it's learning about this new world. Tells me

1177
01:27:29,840 --> 01:27:36,520
about how mind tastes. For most of all, it tells

1178
01:27:36,560 --> 01:27:52,560
me it's getting closer. Camp Grinlow shut down the year

1179
01:27:52,600 --> 01:27:56,399
after our last summer there. I remember the envelope arriving

1180
01:27:56,439 --> 01:27:58,960
at the house, the way my mom read it twice

1181
01:27:59,039 --> 01:28:04,039
before setting it down. That was it no more. Summer.

1182
01:28:05,920 --> 01:28:08,960
I met Max and Annie there. We were cabin three,

1183
01:28:09,039 --> 01:28:12,760
our first year, packed in tight with five others, none

1184
01:28:12,760 --> 01:28:16,880
of whom we talked to anymore. We weren't friends right away.

1185
01:28:17,840 --> 01:28:21,159
Max never shut up. He had a comment for everything

1186
01:28:21,319 --> 01:28:24,920
and laughed hardest at his own jokes, which I found annoying.

1187
01:28:25,920 --> 01:28:29,560
Annie was a nerd She knew all the counselor's names

1188
01:28:29,600 --> 01:28:34,359
by day two. One night, Max and I snuck out

1189
01:28:34,439 --> 01:28:36,960
during rest hour to pull a prank on Cabin seven,

1190
01:28:37,840 --> 01:28:41,880
and he caught hers slipping out and followed. We got

1191
01:28:41,920 --> 01:28:45,720
halfway there before a flashlight being caught us across the clearing.

1192
01:28:47,079 --> 01:28:51,600
Max bolted, I froze. Annie stepped in front of me

1193
01:28:52,159 --> 01:28:54,399
and said she had dropped a bracelet somewhere near the

1194
01:28:54,479 --> 01:28:58,000
trail and we were helping her look for it. The

1195
01:28:58,039 --> 01:29:02,920
counselor bought it and we did get written up. Then

1196
01:29:04,199 --> 01:29:08,560
we became close friends. After camp, the three of us

1197
01:29:08,640 --> 01:29:12,560
kept in touch. We borrowed our parents' phone, sent letters,

1198
01:29:12,960 --> 01:29:17,399
and eventually got our own phones. For a while, we

1199
01:29:17,479 --> 01:29:21,159
barely saw each other. Then we ended up at colleges

1200
01:29:21,239 --> 01:29:26,439
close enough to take a train. After that, it just stuck.

1201
01:29:31,000 --> 01:29:33,359
Max found a clip of joint video of the camp

1202
01:29:33,359 --> 01:29:36,239
on a hiking channel and sent it to our group chat.

1203
01:29:37,520 --> 01:29:41,800
The place looked gutted. Most of the cabins were collapsing,

1204
01:29:42,159 --> 01:29:46,359
and the docks were reduced to their frames. My stomach dropped.

1205
01:29:47,800 --> 01:29:51,840
All the things that made the place feel alive. Campfires,

1206
01:29:52,039 --> 01:29:58,600
night hikes, the games we played were gone. My phone

1207
01:29:58,640 --> 01:30:02,680
buzzed with a message from Annie. I kind of miss it.

1208
01:30:03,760 --> 01:30:08,119
He missed, cold showers and sunstroke. Max replied, I miss

1209
01:30:08,199 --> 01:30:13,119
what it was like being there, She wrote, with you two.

1210
01:30:14,159 --> 01:30:17,720
The chat went quiet after that. I typed something and

1211
01:30:17,760 --> 01:30:23,279
deleted it. A few minutes later, Max replied with we

1212
01:30:23,359 --> 01:30:30,000
should go, and he replied seriously, Yeah, why not one

1213
01:30:30,119 --> 01:30:34,840
night camp like we used to? I thought Max was

1214
01:30:34,920 --> 01:30:39,640
messing around. Then I thought about it and didn't hate

1215
01:30:39,680 --> 01:30:44,199
the idea. We'd had fun there as kids, so why

1216
01:30:44,239 --> 01:30:48,479
wouldn't we now Going back as adults felt strange but

1217
01:30:48,600 --> 01:30:55,039
also kind of exciting. Can we just do that? I asked? Yeah?

1218
01:30:55,119 --> 01:30:58,239
Why not? We've still got tents, still know how to

1219
01:30:58,239 --> 01:31:02,640
build a fire, bring somerhmallows, tell stories, play the odd games.

1220
01:31:03,079 --> 01:31:09,239
He replied. There was a long pause, then Annie sent fine,

1221
01:31:09,560 --> 01:31:15,079
but if it rains, I'm sleeping in the car, and

1222
01:31:15,159 --> 01:31:21,560
that was that. As I pulled up, I noticed Annie

1223
01:31:22,239 --> 01:31:24,680
her car was already pulled up off the gravel loop.

1224
01:31:24,720 --> 01:31:28,359
When I arrived, parked just far enough from the oar

1225
01:31:28,399 --> 01:31:31,840
of growth to keep her tires clear. She was out

1226
01:31:31,880 --> 01:31:36,520
of the car, arms crossed, lips pressed. I waved through

1227
01:31:36,520 --> 01:31:40,960
the windshield, parked beside her, and stepped out. The air

1228
01:31:41,079 --> 01:31:43,960
was cool, and there was a slight breeze that blew through.

1229
01:31:45,600 --> 01:31:51,159
You're late, she said, not looking up. You're early, I grinned.

1230
01:31:52,600 --> 01:31:56,359
She gave her half smile. Maybe I just won the race.

1231
01:31:56,399 --> 01:32:02,760
Here the trees and closer than I remembered. The old

1232
01:32:02,800 --> 01:32:05,680
sign that used to say Camp Grinlow in thick green

1233
01:32:05,760 --> 01:32:10,840
letters was just a frame, now dangling splinters. And he

1234
01:32:10,880 --> 01:32:12,920
strolled over to the pit with a bell used to

1235
01:32:13,000 --> 01:32:17,279
hang poking at the weed to the foot. He checked

1236
01:32:17,279 --> 01:32:23,079
the cabins yet, I asked. She shook her head. By myself,

1237
01:32:23,680 --> 01:32:28,960
no way. I figured we'd do it together. Ten minutes

1238
01:32:29,000 --> 01:32:32,359
later we heard the crunch of tires and Maxi's car

1239
01:32:32,479 --> 01:32:36,680
rounded the bend. He parked crooked and got out, already

1240
01:32:36,760 --> 01:32:41,640
chewing gum and wearing a huge grin. Took the scenic group,

1241
01:32:42,039 --> 01:32:45,560
he said, slamming the door. And by scenic, I mean

1242
01:32:45,920 --> 01:32:48,079
I stopped twice because I thought I saw a bear.

1243
01:32:48,920 --> 01:32:51,479
One was a stump. One might have been a bear.

1244
01:32:52,800 --> 01:32:57,000
He brought the tent right, and he asked. He patted

1245
01:32:57,000 --> 01:33:02,600
the trunk and snacks and an old speed. He looked around,

1246
01:33:02,840 --> 01:33:08,960
nodding slowly. Weird, how it feels smaller. It's not, I said,

1247
01:33:09,520 --> 01:33:14,079
We're just bigger. Speak for yourself, Max said, adjusting the

1248
01:33:14,079 --> 01:33:18,600
waistband of his shorts. I peeked in eighth grade, we know,

1249
01:33:19,159 --> 01:33:24,279
and he joked. We started toward the fire pit, catching

1250
01:33:24,359 --> 01:33:27,640
up on each other's weak The trail was still there,

1251
01:33:28,119 --> 01:33:31,319
with the trees leaned in low, branches low enough to

1252
01:33:31,359 --> 01:33:35,439
catch his shoulders, and he walked ahead of us, eyes

1253
01:33:35,479 --> 01:33:39,840
on the ground, stepping over roots. To the left, the

1254
01:33:39,920 --> 01:33:43,640
mess all looked worse. The windows were gone and it

1255
01:33:43,720 --> 01:33:47,439
was missing a door. It was strange seeing it all

1256
01:33:47,479 --> 01:33:51,680
like this. When we were kids, this place felt permanent,

1257
01:33:52,279 --> 01:33:55,079
like it would always be waiting for us, just as

1258
01:33:55,119 --> 01:33:59,479
we left it. But now the buildings sagged under their

1259
01:33:59,520 --> 01:34:03,520
own way, paint stripped by years of weather and abandonment.

1260
01:34:05,760 --> 01:34:09,159
When we reached the fire pit, he looked almost untouched.

1261
01:34:09,920 --> 01:34:12,479
The benches had sunk a little, but was still there.

1262
01:34:13,159 --> 01:34:17,000
The stones were scattered, but familiar, scorched black. The way

1263
01:34:17,039 --> 01:34:24,239
we remembered. Still here, I said. Max dropped his bag

1264
01:34:24,359 --> 01:34:29,359
beside a bench and stretched his arms overhead. Not bad,

1265
01:34:29,600 --> 01:34:31,600
I thought we'd be pitching tents in a field of

1266
01:34:31,720 --> 01:34:36,960
used needles. We stayed silent for a moment, letting it

1267
01:34:37,039 --> 01:34:43,760
sink in. Max broke the silence first. All right, who's

1268
01:34:43,800 --> 01:34:47,920
up for some marshmallows? He pulled a bag from his

1269
01:34:48,039 --> 01:34:50,880
pack and tossed it on the bench. I dug out

1270
01:34:50,880 --> 01:34:54,479
some skewers we brought and passed them around, and he

1271
01:34:54,560 --> 01:34:57,920
knelt near the fire pit, clearing away old ash and leaves,

1272
01:34:58,600 --> 01:35:02,600
and we got the fire going. The wood was dry enough,

1273
01:35:02,920 --> 01:35:07,880
and the smoke drifted upward in lazy streaks. We roasted

1274
01:35:07,920 --> 01:35:10,760
in silence at first, letting the heat take the edge

1275
01:35:10,800 --> 01:35:14,600
off the air. Max burned his first one entirely black,

1276
01:35:15,000 --> 01:35:19,159
and proudly aided him two bites. Annie laughed at him

1277
01:35:19,479 --> 01:35:23,600
and methodically turned us over the flame until it rowned perfectly.

1278
01:35:25,960 --> 01:35:30,760
You guys, remember that game, I asked statues and songs.

1279
01:35:32,760 --> 01:35:36,000
Max's mouth was full, but he mumbled something that sounded

1280
01:35:36,079 --> 01:35:41,000
like a yes. Annie nodded her eyes on the fire.

1281
01:35:41,760 --> 01:35:45,680
I don't remember who made it up, I said, oh,

1282
01:35:46,079 --> 01:35:50,600
counselor Reid, Annie piped up, of course, you still remember

1283
01:35:50,680 --> 01:35:56,600
his name. Max rolled his eyes. The rules started coming

1284
01:35:56,680 --> 01:36:00,720
back in pieces. One person stood at the end of

1285
01:36:00,760 --> 01:36:04,680
the field with their back turned, humming a tune. Everyone

1286
01:36:04,720 --> 01:36:08,319
else had to move toward them if they caught you moving.

1287
01:36:08,359 --> 01:36:12,800
When they turned around and the hum ended, you were out.

1288
01:36:14,119 --> 01:36:17,880
You used to cheat, Annie said, jabbing a skewer into

1289
01:36:17,920 --> 01:36:23,359
Max's arm. Please, I played to win, Max said, it's

1290
01:36:23,359 --> 01:36:28,319
called having tactics, pushing people, tripping them, whatever it takes.

1291
01:36:29,039 --> 01:36:34,279
You pushed me twice, she whined, Both times you deserved it.

1292
01:36:34,800 --> 01:36:39,960
You were getting cocky. I was eight exactly. You needed humbling.

1293
01:36:40,840 --> 01:36:44,880
You didn't win, though, I added, no one once. No,

1294
01:36:45,159 --> 01:36:51,279
you didn't, Annie, and I said in unison. Max held

1295
01:36:51,359 --> 01:36:55,680
up his hands. Look, just because my brilliance wasn't appreciated

1296
01:36:56,520 --> 01:37:02,199
doesn't mean it existed. Annie said. We laughed for a second,

1297
01:37:02,600 --> 01:37:08,239
and it was like we'd never left. The fire crackled low,

1298
01:37:08,600 --> 01:37:12,800
dipping into the quiet. Max leaned back, looking up at

1299
01:37:12,800 --> 01:37:17,079
the darkening sky through the trees. Annie picked at the

1300
01:37:17,159 --> 01:37:20,680
edge of a marshmallow bag, folding and unfolding the plastic

1301
01:37:20,760 --> 01:37:28,359
in a lap. Then came a familiar tune, but this

1302
01:37:28,600 --> 01:37:35,920
time it was a whistle. Annie sat upright. Oh kay,

1303
01:37:36,439 --> 01:37:40,319
I know ye hit ye speak a Max? Max tilted

1304
01:37:40,319 --> 01:37:46,800
his head. Y're kidding, right, that's not me? Seriously, I asked,

1305
01:37:47,119 --> 01:37:50,479
ye didn't cuwe something up on your phone? He held

1306
01:37:50,520 --> 01:37:57,039
it up. Battery's almost dead. Been saving it. We all

1307
01:37:57,079 --> 01:38:00,000
turned toward the trees where the sound had come from.

1308
01:38:00,840 --> 01:38:04,760
The tune came again, the same rhythm we'd been talking about.

1309
01:38:06,239 --> 01:38:10,399
Max gave Annie a look. You didn't rig something, some

1310
01:38:10,560 --> 01:38:15,119
timer or remote thing. She scoffed. Do I look like

1311
01:38:15,159 --> 01:38:19,039
I brought a fog machine too? You brought back up marshmallows?

1312
01:38:19,359 --> 01:38:25,039
He said, Anything's possible. He looked from one to the other,

1313
01:38:25,479 --> 01:38:30,880
then grinned, all right, when do you plan this? Fess up?

1314
01:38:31,760 --> 01:38:35,359
Annie snorted. If I went to that much effort, I'd

1315
01:38:35,359 --> 01:38:39,840
be filming your reaction. Then it's you, Max said, pointing

1316
01:38:39,840 --> 01:38:44,680
at me. You've been quiet, not me, I said, I

1317
01:38:44,840 --> 01:38:49,479
figured it was you. We stood there for a moment,

1318
01:38:49,920 --> 01:38:54,079
the whistle drifting through the trees again. Shall we play?

1319
01:38:54,720 --> 01:38:59,159
Max said, with a smirk, we might as well. Annie

1320
01:38:59,239 --> 01:39:04,039
raised an eyebrow, Oh you're serious, What are you scared?

1321
01:39:04,439 --> 01:39:08,880
He grinned. No, she huffed, brushing past him. I just

1322
01:39:08,920 --> 01:39:14,199
don't want to humor your prank. We stepped into the clearing.

1323
01:39:15,079 --> 01:39:19,039
It hadn't changed much, the same wide circle that funneled

1324
01:39:19,039 --> 01:39:22,880
into a straight part into the trees. It was marked

1325
01:39:22,880 --> 01:39:27,880
with half buried stones, grass pressed low in patches. Max

1326
01:39:27,960 --> 01:39:30,439
rolled his shoulders like it was warming up for a

1327
01:39:30,520 --> 01:39:33,359
race as we walked forward toward the sound off in

1328
01:39:33,439 --> 01:39:39,079
the trees. Then the whistling stopped and we froze in place,

1329
01:39:39,479 --> 01:39:43,520
grinning like idiots, and he glanced over her shoulder and

1330
01:39:43,600 --> 01:39:49,000
mouth still got it. Max had one foot lifted in

1331
01:39:49,159 --> 01:39:55,119
the air. This is weirdly fun. A second later, the

1332
01:39:55,119 --> 01:39:59,560
whistle started again, and this time we sped walked. Max

1333
01:39:59,600 --> 01:40:02,319
bumped in to me while trying to get ahead. Annie

1334
01:40:02,399 --> 01:40:04,600
was already a few strides ahead of both of us.

1335
01:40:05,560 --> 01:40:08,319
Her braid bounced off her back with each step, her

1336
01:40:08,399 --> 01:40:11,479
arms pumping like she was taking it way too seriously.

1337
01:40:12,760 --> 01:40:16,399
Max laughed and tried to catch up. She's gonna win,

1338
01:40:16,920 --> 01:40:20,520
I said, not if I reach her, Max said, under

1339
01:40:20,520 --> 01:40:25,560
his breath, speeding up to get behind her. Grinning, Max

1340
01:40:25,600 --> 01:40:28,680
reached out and shoved Anny just enough to throw off

1341
01:40:28,720 --> 01:40:34,560
balance as she tumbled forward. The music stopped, and Max

1342
01:40:34,600 --> 01:40:40,640
froze with his arms stretched out. Max, she screamed, stumbling

1343
01:40:40,680 --> 01:40:47,079
forward as the whistling cut out. Her body seized, her knees,

1344
01:40:47,159 --> 01:40:53,039
locking neck, jerking upright. Her spine twisted so violently we

1345
01:40:53,119 --> 01:40:57,800
heard it pop. Her vertebrae bulged against the skin. Her

1346
01:40:57,920 --> 01:41:01,239
arms flung outward like she was being yang, and a

1347
01:41:01,279 --> 01:41:05,880
whake crack snapped through the air. Her body fell limp

1348
01:41:05,920 --> 01:41:13,520
on the ground. Annie I called out, horrified. Max remained frozen,

1349
01:41:14,000 --> 01:41:18,439
the grin on his face melted. I didn't push her

1350
01:41:18,439 --> 01:41:25,119
that hard. He stuttered, eyes frantic. Then the whistle started

1351
01:41:25,159 --> 01:41:30,600
back up, like nothing had happened. We both rushed forward,

1352
01:41:30,880 --> 01:41:35,520
dropping to our knees. Her body was curled unnaturally, one

1353
01:41:35,600 --> 01:41:39,279
leg twisted under the other, arms splayed out ahead of her.

1354
01:41:40,279 --> 01:41:44,680
Her face was frozen mid breath, eyes wide, mouth half open.

1355
01:41:46,119 --> 01:41:51,840
Max's hand hovered nearer but didn't touch. She's not I

1356
01:41:51,920 --> 01:41:56,720
started struggling to find my words. What the hell is happening?

1357
01:41:57,319 --> 01:42:01,840
Max sputtered. I leaned over, pressed my fingers into a neck,

1358
01:42:03,039 --> 01:42:06,439
but there was no pulse. I didn't know what I

1359
01:42:06,520 --> 01:42:13,960
was expecting. She's dead. The words felt like they didn't

1360
01:42:14,000 --> 01:42:19,800
belong to me, as if it wasn't real. Max backed up, shuddering.

1361
01:42:21,039 --> 01:42:26,239
Maybe she hit something, he said, looking past the body,

1362
01:42:26,600 --> 01:42:29,720
scanning the dirt for a rock or a branch or anything,

1363
01:42:30,399 --> 01:42:34,319
desperate for anything to prove he didn't hurt her. She

1364
01:42:34,399 --> 01:42:38,439
didn't hit anything. I looked at Max, felt my throat tith,

1365
01:42:38,520 --> 01:42:43,800
and you pushed her too hard. His head snapped toward me.

1366
01:42:44,720 --> 01:42:48,319
It was a joke. No, it wasn't my voice shock.

1367
01:42:48,760 --> 01:42:55,279
You killed her. His mouth opened, but nothing came out,

1368
01:42:55,840 --> 01:42:59,199
and watched it land on him all at once, the guilt,

1369
01:42:59,520 --> 01:43:03,800
the way of what he did. His jaw clenched. He

1370
01:43:03,840 --> 01:43:06,840
looked down at her again and backed away, like distance

1371
01:43:06,840 --> 01:43:11,319
would undo it. You always had to win. I spat

1372
01:43:11,720 --> 01:43:18,760
even now. The whistling stopped again. We both rose instinctively,

1373
01:43:19,319 --> 01:43:23,560
breath stalled half way in our throats, and his body

1374
01:43:23,640 --> 01:43:28,119
was inches away, broken and bent. I couldn't look directly

1375
01:43:28,199 --> 01:43:34,119
at her. I could a Max swallow, hard, chest barely rising.

1376
01:43:35,039 --> 01:43:39,359
His hands were clenched at his side's knuckles pale. The

1377
01:43:39,439 --> 01:43:42,880
air buzzed with pressure. I felt it in my spine,

1378
01:43:43,359 --> 01:43:48,239
in the tension creeping up my neck, every second stretched

1379
01:43:48,279 --> 01:43:55,800
longer than the one before. Then the whistling returned, same melody,

1380
01:43:56,000 --> 01:43:59,479
same distance, carried on the wind, like none of this

1381
01:43:59,560 --> 01:44:05,680
had happened, And my breath came out sharp and max broke.

1382
01:44:06,880 --> 01:44:10,439
He took two steps back, fists in his hair, eyes

1383
01:44:10,479 --> 01:44:12,840
wide like they were trying to blink away while we

1384
01:44:12,840 --> 01:44:17,439
were both seeing. No, no, no, no, no, this can't

1385
01:44:17,479 --> 01:44:21,479
be real. He began, his voice, pitched higher than I'd

1386
01:44:21,479 --> 01:44:26,000
ever heard it, words spilling out faster. She was fine,

1387
01:44:26,520 --> 01:44:29,640
I swear to God. I just we were messing around.

1388
01:44:30,159 --> 01:44:34,760
I didn't push her that hard. He turned from me,

1389
01:44:35,319 --> 01:44:39,399
walked a short circle, then spun back. His mouth moved

1390
01:44:39,399 --> 01:44:41,960
like he had more to say, but nothing came out.

1391
01:44:42,960 --> 01:44:46,399
His shoulders dropped. Then he hit his thigh with the

1392
01:44:46,439 --> 01:44:49,319
side of his fists so hard and made a dull thud.

1393
01:44:50,840 --> 01:44:53,800
She laughed. When I burnt the marshmallow. I was going

1394
01:44:53,840 --> 01:44:57,199
to give a grief for it. Later, he looked at

1395
01:44:57,199 --> 01:45:00,640
the clearing, then at me, and then up and the trees.

1396
01:45:01,760 --> 01:45:04,479
We were supposed to hang out this week and that's all,

1397
01:45:04,880 --> 01:45:10,399
not this. He swallowed, wiped his face roughly with both hands,

1398
01:45:10,800 --> 01:45:14,199
and took one glance at and his body. Then he

1399
01:45:14,279 --> 01:45:20,279
turned and said, screw this, I'm not doing this. Max. No,

1400
01:45:20,920 --> 01:45:26,560
he snapped, I didn't hurt her. I swear. He turned

1401
01:45:26,720 --> 01:45:31,319
and started walking back toward the campfire fast. Just as

1402
01:45:31,319 --> 01:45:35,199
he stepped over the stone edging, his body arked hard

1403
01:45:35,720 --> 01:45:39,279
like something. He yanked upward from his spine. The twist

1404
01:45:39,439 --> 01:45:42,560
was fast, and his feet lifted from the ground as

1405
01:45:42,640 --> 01:45:47,680
his back contorted violently. There was a low crack, then

1406
01:45:47,720 --> 01:45:53,640
a snap. Max's arms filed once, then dropped. His legs

1407
01:45:53,680 --> 01:45:59,880
folded in on themselves. He hid the ground. I screamed,

1408
01:46:00,239 --> 01:46:05,319
still crouched over Annie. He landed face down, limbs crooked.

1409
01:46:06,560 --> 01:46:08,880
From where I sat, I could see the base of

1410
01:46:08,920 --> 01:46:13,800
his neck bent too far. I blinked hard, stared at

1411
01:46:13,800 --> 01:46:16,039
the flickering light at the edges of the fire where

1412
01:46:16,039 --> 01:46:21,479
his body lay, crumpled and slack, and realization washed over me.

1413
01:46:23,600 --> 01:46:27,520
He hadn't killed Annie the way she fell and twisted.

1414
01:46:28,199 --> 01:46:31,359
There was no way that he did that, especially since

1415
01:46:31,359 --> 01:46:33,720
he met the same fate as soon as he left

1416
01:46:33,760 --> 01:46:39,039
the game boundaries. Fear sent pinpricks of electricity through my body,

1417
01:46:39,479 --> 01:46:44,039
and an ominous feeling washed over me. Whatever this was,

1418
01:46:45,359 --> 01:46:49,039
it wasn't natural, and it had something to do with

1419
01:46:49,119 --> 01:46:53,960
the game and the whistling. If I wanted to survive,

1420
01:46:55,520 --> 01:47:01,960
I had to play My hands, my back, my legs,

1421
01:47:02,000 --> 01:47:06,079
all of me trembled. When the whistling started back up,

1422
01:47:06,479 --> 01:47:10,640
it scraped across my nerves. I could still hear Ane's

1423
01:47:10,720 --> 01:47:15,600
voice in my head, Maxi's laugh. The bodies weren't even cold,

1424
01:47:16,279 --> 01:47:18,439
and I was already thinking like I was the only

1425
01:47:18,479 --> 01:47:22,399
one left. I pressed my hands into the dirt and

1426
01:47:22,479 --> 01:47:28,520
begged myself to keep breathing. This was real, this was happening,

1427
01:47:29,960 --> 01:47:34,600
and I had to finish it. I held my stance.

1428
01:47:35,560 --> 01:47:38,159
Every part of me wanted to run, to curl in

1429
01:47:38,239 --> 01:47:43,199
and myself to scream, but the rules were clear. I

1430
01:47:43,239 --> 01:47:47,880
couldn't move. It stopped, and it felt like the paws

1431
01:47:47,960 --> 01:47:53,239
dragged out. My knees were tight. I blinked once, slow

1432
01:47:53,359 --> 01:48:00,720
and dry. Then the whistling started up again. I forced

1433
01:48:00,760 --> 01:48:05,119
myself up and started to take shaky step after shaky step,

1434
01:48:06,000 --> 01:48:09,880
the distance between me and the whistling shrank. I could

1435
01:48:09,920 --> 01:48:13,039
make out a figure in the dark distance. Its arms

1436
01:48:13,119 --> 01:48:17,279
hung low and close to its sides. The space between

1437
01:48:17,319 --> 01:48:20,680
us was still wide. I didn't know how many rounds

1438
01:48:20,720 --> 01:48:23,279
there would be or how close I had to get.

1439
01:48:24,079 --> 01:48:26,520
But the thought of making it all the way forward,

1440
01:48:27,000 --> 01:48:30,159
reaching out and placing a hand against the thing's body

1441
01:48:31,079 --> 01:48:36,760
felt impossible. But that was the rule. You reached the

1442
01:48:36,800 --> 01:48:41,800
host and touched them, That's how you won. That's what

1443
01:48:41,840 --> 01:48:47,319
I had to do. The rhythm carried me forward again.

1444
01:48:48,199 --> 01:48:52,439
I moved with it, one step at a time, every

1445
01:48:52,520 --> 01:48:56,199
shift of weight, deliberate, every breath matched to the space

1446
01:48:56,279 --> 01:49:01,000
between each whistle. I was getting close enough now. The

1447
01:49:01,039 --> 01:49:04,680
thing ahead had shape. The dim glow of the campfire

1448
01:49:04,800 --> 01:49:09,119
passed through uneven slits carved deep into its chest, casting

1449
01:49:09,199 --> 01:49:14,560
faint beams into the undergrowth. Every time it exhaled, a

1450
01:49:14,600 --> 01:49:18,039
thin column of air passed through those holes, and the

1451
01:49:18,039 --> 01:49:22,800
whistle came with it. I felt a scrape along my spine.

1452
01:49:23,640 --> 01:49:26,319
My eyes kept drifting to the lines of its body,

1453
01:49:26,920 --> 01:49:30,680
the exposed ribs, the stiff posture, the way it stayed

1454
01:49:30,720 --> 01:49:35,439
fixed in place, like it was waiting for me. I

1455
01:49:35,520 --> 01:49:38,680
tried not to think about the final rule. Then I'd

1456
01:49:38,720 --> 01:49:44,760
have to touch it. Then my heel struck something, maybe

1457
01:49:44,760 --> 01:49:48,000
a root or a stone, buried just enough to catch

1458
01:49:48,039 --> 01:49:52,359
the edge of my foot. My balance pitched my arms

1459
01:49:52,399 --> 01:49:56,760
shot forward, but I was too slow. My ankle rolled

1460
01:49:56,840 --> 01:49:59,880
underneath me, and I landed hard on my knees and hands.

1461
01:50:00,960 --> 01:50:05,840
Pain searched up my leg. The ground pressed into my palms.

1462
01:50:06,640 --> 01:50:12,840
The whistle cut out, my vision blurred. My ankle throbbed

1463
01:50:12,840 --> 01:50:18,119
in sharp pulses, but I stayed frozen, arms shaking from

1464
01:50:18,119 --> 01:50:21,640
the fall. Dirt and rugs pressed into the raw skin

1465
01:50:21,720 --> 01:50:27,079
of my hands. Every second that passed made my chest tighter.

1466
01:50:28,319 --> 01:50:31,079
I could feel the pulse in my neck hammering against

1467
01:50:31,119 --> 01:50:35,399
the stillness. I started to imagine my death if I failed?

1468
01:50:36,239 --> 01:50:39,560
What part would break? First? Would it twist my head

1469
01:50:39,600 --> 01:50:43,399
like Max's or tear through me the way it had Annie?

1470
01:50:44,079 --> 01:50:47,920
And then what would anyone find us here? Would it

1471
01:50:47,920 --> 01:50:50,880
be days later, after the car sat too long in

1472
01:50:50,920 --> 01:50:54,680
the gravel pullen? Would the ranger's office even bother to

1473
01:50:54,720 --> 01:50:59,640
look past the sign? I thought about my parents. I

1474
01:50:59,680 --> 01:51:02,600
thought about Annie's mom. I thought about the three of

1475
01:51:02,680 --> 01:51:05,880
us walking to the missile on our first day, all

1476
01:51:05,920 --> 01:51:09,039
of us sunburned and tried to act cooler than we were.

1477
01:51:10,199 --> 01:51:12,600
Max had carried a plastic light saber in his's bag

1478
01:51:12,880 --> 01:51:16,199
and pretended it was an accident. Annie had rolled her

1479
01:51:16,199 --> 01:51:19,119
eyes and corrected the names of all the counselors when

1480
01:51:19,119 --> 01:51:24,039
we got them wrong. That first week we had barely spoken,

1481
01:51:25,079 --> 01:51:31,760
but somehow we'd ended up here years later together, and

1482
01:51:31,840 --> 01:51:39,840
now they were gone. The whistle started again. I clenched

1483
01:51:39,880 --> 01:51:43,199
my teeth and tried to push myself up a spiker.

1484
01:51:43,279 --> 01:51:47,600
Pain ran through my foot, white, heart and deep. My

1485
01:51:47,680 --> 01:51:52,039
ankle had twisted in the fall badly. I put a

1486
01:51:52,039 --> 01:51:54,640
little weight on it and felt the strain of my joint.

1487
01:51:55,880 --> 01:51:57,680
I would have to limp the rest of the way.

1488
01:51:58,479 --> 01:52:02,359
I'd have to keep perfect rhy, stay completely still, and

1489
01:52:02,479 --> 01:52:06,159
make it to the thing on a busted ankle. I

1490
01:52:06,239 --> 01:52:10,039
blinked the sweat from my eyes, swallowed hard, and started

1491
01:52:10,079 --> 01:52:14,720
forward again. The pain made it harder to tie my steps.

1492
01:52:15,239 --> 01:52:17,560
Each pause left more weight on the ankle than I

1493
01:52:17,560 --> 01:52:24,079
could stand, but I kept moving. I had to. The

1494
01:52:24,159 --> 01:52:27,800
distance between us was maybe thirty feet, now maybe less.

1495
01:52:28,760 --> 01:52:32,479
Every whistle came with a fresh sholt of dread, but

1496
01:52:32,560 --> 01:52:37,479
it also meant I was still playing, still alive. That

1497
01:52:37,680 --> 01:52:42,920
counted for something. I kept my eyes low, trying not

1498
01:52:43,039 --> 01:52:47,439
to look at it again. The way it stood so still, waiting.

1499
01:52:48,720 --> 01:52:51,680
Each breath it took dragged through his chest like wind

1500
01:52:51,720 --> 01:52:55,279
through loose panes. A few more rounds and I'd reach

1501
01:52:55,359 --> 01:52:59,039
it if I could hold my balance, if the ankle

1502
01:52:59,159 --> 01:53:06,640
didn't give. I moved again, half step, wait another. The

1503
01:53:06,680 --> 01:53:11,279
whistle stopped. I froze with my heel half way up,

1504
01:53:11,560 --> 01:53:15,359
struggling to settle it flat without shaking. The mouscle in

1505
01:53:15,439 --> 01:53:18,760
my legs seized. I could feel it trying to twitch,

1506
01:53:19,079 --> 01:53:23,239
trying to collapse under me. I let my heels sink gradually,

1507
01:53:23,800 --> 01:53:27,039
waited for the whistle to return, the sound of my

1508
01:53:27,119 --> 01:53:31,640
pulse louder than the crickets of the wind. The whistle

1509
01:53:31,720 --> 01:53:37,920
came again. I moved one step, then another. My ankle

1510
01:53:37,960 --> 01:53:42,520
buckled slightly, but I caught myself. I was close, now,

1511
01:53:43,239 --> 01:53:49,439
ten feet maybe less. The shape stood tall, still, arms

1512
01:53:49,479 --> 01:53:53,840
set close to its sides. Every breath it took pushed

1513
01:53:53,840 --> 01:53:58,720
another note into the air. I stopped, wait on one

1514
01:53:58,760 --> 01:54:04,119
foot and stead. I could almost see its hands, long

1515
01:54:04,239 --> 01:54:09,279
fingers curled slightly inward. My hand was slick with sweat.

1516
01:54:09,920 --> 01:54:14,159
I wiped it against my jeans, braced myself and stepped

1517
01:54:14,199 --> 01:54:20,720
forward again and again, five feet three, close enough to

1518
01:54:20,760 --> 01:54:23,920
see the seams between its ribs, the way the skin

1519
01:54:24,079 --> 01:54:28,199
held taut around the frame. There was a smell like

1520
01:54:28,319 --> 01:54:32,359
warm metal and moss. I felt it in my throat

1521
01:54:33,880 --> 01:54:38,000
one more step. I didn't want to see it any

1522
01:54:38,039 --> 01:54:41,079
clearer than I already had, didn't want to remember its

1523
01:54:41,079 --> 01:54:44,520
shape when I closed my eyes. Later, I kept them

1524
01:54:44,520 --> 01:54:50,600
open one last breath, then shut them tight and reached.

1525
01:54:54,119 --> 01:54:58,359
My fingers landed on something solid, and the whistle stopped,

1526
01:55:00,039 --> 01:55:04,600
stayed frozen, hands still pressed forward, every nerve wound tight.

1527
01:55:05,720 --> 01:55:09,039
My chest hurt from how hard my heart beat. The

1528
01:55:09,079 --> 01:55:14,920
pain in my ankle flared steady and sharp. Minutes passed

1529
01:55:14,960 --> 01:55:19,000
with no sound, no whistling, but I kept my palm

1530
01:55:19,119 --> 01:55:24,840
planted where it was, resting against it. But finally I

1531
01:55:24,880 --> 01:55:32,640
grew impatient, curious, so I peeled my eyes open. The

1532
01:55:32,680 --> 01:55:40,119
thing was gone, and I was touching a tree. It

1533
01:55:40,199 --> 01:55:42,760
took a few seconds for it to register that it

1534
01:55:42,880 --> 01:55:47,359
was just a trunk, tall and rough and solid, nothing

1535
01:55:47,439 --> 01:55:52,840
strange about it, no gaps in the wood. At first

1536
01:55:52,880 --> 01:55:55,840
I hoped I had imagined it all, But my ankle

1537
01:55:56,039 --> 01:56:00,560
still screamed hot and deep. And when I turned around,

1538
01:56:00,960 --> 01:56:04,319
limping slowly, dragging the weight of my body behind me,

1539
01:56:05,800 --> 01:56:10,520
I saw the truth. The fire still burned low. The

1540
01:56:10,600 --> 01:56:14,359
shadows flickered, and the bodies on my best friends right

1541
01:56:14,399 --> 01:56:19,319
where I had left them. Annie's twisted spine, Max's bent limbs.

1542
01:56:20,119 --> 01:56:23,359
The firelight danced over their skin like it didn't care

1543
01:56:23,439 --> 01:56:29,039
what had happened, like this was any other night. I

1544
01:56:29,119 --> 01:56:33,119
collapsed just outside the circle, legs giving out beneath me.

1545
01:56:34,439 --> 01:56:37,279
All at once. The emotions I had shoved into a

1546
01:56:37,319 --> 01:56:41,439
corner to stay alive came crawling back, flooding my chest

1547
01:56:41,479 --> 01:56:46,960
and throat too fast to stop. Then I sobbed from

1548
01:56:47,000 --> 01:56:50,199
the terror, from the pain, from the sick throb of

1549
01:56:50,279 --> 01:56:54,279
loss that settled into the center of my chest. I

1550
01:56:54,399 --> 01:56:58,760
cried for Annie and Max, for the marshmallows we didn't finish,

1551
01:56:59,199 --> 01:57:06,039
for the game never should have played. I cried because

1552
01:57:06,119 --> 01:57:21,039
I lived. Being a prison guard isn't easy. You have

1553
01:57:21,119 --> 01:57:27,279
to maintain control, control of routine, of unpredictable people, of yourself.

1554
01:57:28,880 --> 01:57:32,600
In a normal prison, there are so many factors to consider,

1555
01:57:33,520 --> 01:57:40,960
gang affiliations, smuggling, fights, and occasionally escape attempts. A lot

1556
01:57:40,960 --> 01:57:44,399
of people think the job is about strength, about control

1557
01:57:44,560 --> 01:57:49,760
through sheer force, and yeah, maybe in some prisons that works,

1558
01:57:51,600 --> 01:57:56,319
but not here. I work in a prison that's above

1559
01:57:56,359 --> 01:58:00,039
a normal prison, the place people send things that I

1560
01:58:00,079 --> 01:58:04,000
don't go anywhere else, Things that aren't supposed to exist.

1561
01:58:05,800 --> 01:58:08,760
Some of them used to be people, some of them

1562
01:58:08,840 --> 01:58:13,640
never were. Some of them no one knows what they

1563
01:58:13,640 --> 01:58:20,000
are not really. Scientists try to study them, administration tries

1564
01:58:20,039 --> 01:58:23,199
to classify them, but at the end of the day,

1565
01:58:24,079 --> 01:58:27,920
we're all just keeping them locked up and hoping that's enough.

1566
01:58:29,880 --> 01:58:33,079
My job is to make sure the vault stays closed,

1567
01:58:33,960 --> 01:58:37,159
and I do this through a strict routine and following

1568
01:58:37,159 --> 01:58:41,800
my guidelines to the letter. When you get started here,

1569
01:58:42,399 --> 01:58:47,840
there's one prisoner that every new person gets assigned the phaser.

1570
01:58:49,319 --> 01:58:53,000
Peeking into a cell, you'll see a man mid forties

1571
01:58:53,479 --> 01:58:59,399
looking ordinary as ever, however, periodically he will flash with

1572
01:58:59,479 --> 01:59:02,760
a bright light and blink to another section of the cell.

1573
01:59:03,920 --> 01:59:08,159
He was caught trying with telepatation technology, and from the

1574
01:59:08,199 --> 01:59:11,840
lack of usage in this facility, I can imagine it's

1575
01:59:11,880 --> 01:59:16,159
still far from being perfected. He's a reminder of the

1576
01:59:16,199 --> 01:59:21,720
consequences of dabbling too much into the unknown. It would

1577
01:59:21,760 --> 01:59:24,840
be oddly relaxing to watch if it wasn't for the

1578
01:59:24,880 --> 01:59:29,680
horrific screaming during and after he blinks, though sometimes it's

1579
01:59:29,720 --> 01:59:33,760
just muffled sobs when he's exhausted, so it's not too

1580
01:59:33,800 --> 01:59:38,439
bad to watch. Then sometimes he's lucky and he doesn't

1581
01:59:38,439 --> 01:59:42,000
blink for a few hours or even a day. But

1582
01:59:42,159 --> 01:59:46,800
some days are bad when it's just non stop with

1583
01:59:46,920 --> 01:59:52,119
how unpredictable and unstable he is. Sometimes he just disappears.

1584
01:59:53,279 --> 01:59:55,920
The empty cell will alert us if he's gone too long,

1585
01:59:56,399 --> 02:00:02,840
then someone is sent to investigate. He never actually leaves

1586
02:00:02,880 --> 02:00:06,760
the cell, not once has he ever teleported out of

1587
02:00:06,800 --> 02:00:10,840
the room, let alone the facility. Whatever. They line the

1588
02:00:10,880 --> 02:00:15,920
walls with his effective However, it's what we do that

1589
02:00:16,079 --> 02:00:21,279
is observed. When I was alerted, I waited outside and observed,

1590
02:00:21,800 --> 02:00:26,479
noting down any anomalies until he blinked back. But some

1591
02:00:26,600 --> 02:00:30,880
of the more proactive new recruits, ones looking to prove themselves,

1592
02:00:31,039 --> 02:00:35,800
rush in, armed and ready. The lucky ones get the

1593
02:00:35,880 --> 02:00:38,920
scare of their lives, and the man blinks back in

1594
02:00:39,039 --> 02:00:41,920
with a sudden flash, scaring the hell out of the

1595
02:00:41,960 --> 02:00:47,159
green recruit. Wherever the phaser goes, whatever he sees must

1596
02:00:47,199 --> 02:00:51,079
be horrifying. I would have thought he simply blinked forward

1597
02:00:51,119 --> 02:00:54,319
in time, delaying when he appears to us in the facility,

1598
02:00:55,399 --> 02:00:57,880
but the look in his eyes after a delayed blink

1599
02:00:58,199 --> 02:01:04,720
tells a thousand stories, ones which you'll never share. The

1600
02:01:04,880 --> 02:01:08,520
unfortunate outcome is when a guard stands where he appears

1601
02:01:09,720 --> 02:01:14,239
without fail contact with a blinking entity, even if just

1602
02:01:14,319 --> 02:01:17,920
brushing his arm as he blinks back, always favors the

1603
02:01:17,920 --> 02:01:22,319
one who blinked. The guard simply bursts into a huge

1604
02:01:22,479 --> 02:01:28,039
red mist. Since getting cleaners inside is an impossibility, the

1605
02:01:28,119 --> 02:01:33,079
phaser has to clean it up. Looking back, this all

1606
02:01:33,119 --> 02:01:35,600
feels like a test to see if a guard is

1607
02:01:35,720 --> 02:01:39,760
ready to handle the oddities contained here, a litmus test

1608
02:01:39,800 --> 02:01:44,439
for new recruits. Being too passive can lead a catastrophe.

1609
02:01:44,880 --> 02:01:49,640
Being too proactive can also lead a catastrophe. Sometimes even

1610
02:01:49,680 --> 02:01:54,199
a middle ground can be detrimental. You're tested every day

1611
02:01:54,399 --> 02:01:58,279
with your split second decision making skills, and it feels

1612
02:01:58,319 --> 02:02:00,880
like this is how they gauge us on our response.

1613
02:02:02,720 --> 02:02:06,479
The phaser is one of many prisoners dangerous by circumstance,

1614
02:02:07,239 --> 02:02:12,359
a repercussion of dabbling too far into untreaded waters and

1615
02:02:12,640 --> 02:02:20,279
being eternally punished. However, some prisoners are dangerous by choice.

1616
02:02:23,159 --> 02:02:27,199
In society, we've heard of people pushing themselves into great

1617
02:02:27,239 --> 02:02:31,239
feats archers who can hit a bull'seye then split that

1618
02:02:31,439 --> 02:02:34,359
arrow with a second one lift us geared to the

1619
02:02:34,399 --> 02:02:39,199
max holding weight that matches large vehicles. But what if

1620
02:02:39,239 --> 02:02:44,279
someone took it further? Prisoner X has a laundry list

1621
02:02:44,279 --> 02:02:49,680
of protocols. To simplify it, he essentially turned his body

1622
02:02:49,880 --> 02:02:57,119
into a living weapon, chemical, biological, technological, mentally, he dabbled

1623
02:02:57,199 --> 02:03:02,000
into every extreme to make himself the most dangerous person alive.

1624
02:03:03,720 --> 02:03:07,720
Through multiple surgeries, the scientists here have removed a large

1625
02:03:07,760 --> 02:03:13,000
portion of his internal weapons and contingencies. However, he still

1626
02:03:13,039 --> 02:03:17,760
has many that simply cannot be undone. His skin is

1627
02:03:17,840 --> 02:03:22,359
nigh unbreakable, hardened through means which our scientists are still

1628
02:03:22,399 --> 02:03:26,720
trying to figure out. Prisoners often have a running theme

1629
02:03:26,760 --> 02:03:30,439
of not talking, so there's still a lot unknown to us.

1630
02:03:31,840 --> 02:03:36,000
But this makes him resistant to tasers and fire. Our

1631
02:03:36,079 --> 02:03:41,920
go too for Prisoner's subjugation. Instead, we have to periodically

1632
02:03:42,039 --> 02:03:45,359
drill a small hole into his neck, not an easy

1633
02:03:45,399 --> 02:03:48,479
feat with how thick his skin actually is, and put

1634
02:03:48,520 --> 02:03:51,920
on a collar with a reinforce syringe filled with enough

1635
02:03:51,960 --> 02:03:57,159
sedatives to put down an elephant. However, we still need

1636
02:03:57,199 --> 02:03:59,600
bodies to escort him from his cell to where he

1637
02:03:59,680 --> 02:04:03,800
needs to be. To say he is resistance of authority,

1638
02:04:04,239 --> 02:04:08,239
he is an understatement. One time he tried to make

1639
02:04:08,239 --> 02:04:11,279
a break for it, he waited for the cusp of

1640
02:04:11,359 --> 02:04:14,960
when he needed redrilling. His skin had hardened for his

1641
02:04:15,000 --> 02:04:18,039
neck to resist the needle just enough for him to

1642
02:04:18,119 --> 02:04:22,000
knock it away head down, just tackling the wall to

1643
02:04:22,039 --> 02:04:26,079
alter its angle. It took almost three full squads to

1644
02:04:26,159 --> 02:04:32,199
finally subdue him, many casualties taken. Despite his arms eternally

1645
02:04:32,239 --> 02:04:35,920
being bound, he was still proficient in killing in many

1646
02:04:35,960 --> 02:04:41,479
other ways. I was fortunately on a different shift, but

1647
02:04:41,560 --> 02:04:45,680
the deaths up to security and increased how often he

1648
02:04:45,840 --> 02:04:52,880
was drilled. Luckily, not all prisoners as strictly evil, so

1649
02:04:53,079 --> 02:04:58,319
I hear for being too aspirational. One man sits in

1650
02:04:58,399 --> 02:05:02,920
a cell low secure and minimal luxuries, which is a

1651
02:05:02,920 --> 02:05:07,119
lot compared to the many others living conditions here. We

1652
02:05:07,239 --> 02:05:11,000
call him the tinkerer because the Southern post title of

1653
02:05:11,199 --> 02:05:16,319
technomancer was too ridiculous for us to use. At first,

1654
02:05:16,600 --> 02:05:21,079
he was a menace, nothing too threatening, but he would

1655
02:05:21,119 --> 02:05:25,119
tinker with anything he could get his hands on. Guards

1656
02:05:25,119 --> 02:05:27,960
found their columbs missing from their belt, only to have

1657
02:05:28,119 --> 02:05:32,479
a strange signal beam out at everyone's radios. Up PDAs

1658
02:05:32,520 --> 02:05:35,479
would have strange bugs, only to find a signal was

1659
02:05:35,520 --> 02:05:39,359
sent to disrupt them. Though there were many anomalies on

1660
02:05:39,399 --> 02:05:44,880
a near constant basis, some potentially catastrophic. When it fell

1661
02:05:44,920 --> 02:05:49,560
into the category of technology shenanigans, it was easy to

1662
02:05:49,680 --> 02:05:54,439
know who the corporate was. Often we'd storm up to

1663
02:05:54,479 --> 02:05:58,119
his cell, subdue him and search the area, and each

1664
02:05:58,239 --> 02:06:00,760
time we'd find the makeshift array he'd made with the

1665
02:06:00,800 --> 02:06:05,840
scraps he'd found and destroy it, giggles coming between his

1666
02:06:05,920 --> 02:06:11,359
grunts as a guard held him down. Something we noticed, though,

1667
02:06:12,079 --> 02:06:14,640
was that when he did play with his tech, he

1668
02:06:14,680 --> 02:06:19,199
would happily stay in his room and tinker. This gave

1669
02:06:19,279 --> 02:06:24,159
us an idea. Periodically, we'd bring in a broken piece

1670
02:06:24,159 --> 02:06:31,079
of technology a laptop, tablet, phone, etc. Obviously we'd remove

1671
02:06:31,199 --> 02:06:35,079
anything that could cause issue, parts that could access the internet,

1672
02:06:35,560 --> 02:06:39,800
or simply remove a key item like the CPU. From here,

1673
02:06:40,000 --> 02:06:42,439
we'd bring it to him under the guise that we

1674
02:06:42,560 --> 02:06:46,359
wanted it fixed, and he'd tinker with it for days,

1675
02:06:46,720 --> 02:06:51,439
sometimes weeks. When he'd finish, we'd search his room in

1676
02:06:51,479 --> 02:06:55,560
case he held any parts. Often finding them and unbeknownst

1677
02:06:55,600 --> 02:07:00,319
to him, destroy it all we want, spooted it up

1678
02:07:00,319 --> 02:07:03,359
a fixed laptop he given us, adding back in the

1679
02:07:03,399 --> 02:07:06,720
CPU and battery, only for it to be an almost

1680
02:07:06,800 --> 02:07:11,079
completely different device set up for functions. We couldn't even

1681
02:07:11,159 --> 02:07:16,920
comprehend the brainchild of the madmen of technology, but we

1682
02:07:17,079 --> 02:07:22,560
kept up this routine because doing this satiated him. This

1683
02:07:22,880 --> 02:07:26,439
wasn't on any of the books. We guards often found

1684
02:07:26,439 --> 02:07:30,119
our own means through on ground observation to come up

1685
02:07:30,119 --> 02:07:35,760
with makeshift routines to make our lives easier. However, one

1686
02:07:35,800 --> 02:07:39,520
guard didn't get the full memo. He saw the tinker

1687
02:07:39,720 --> 02:07:42,840
as the guy that fixes things and brought him his

1688
02:07:42,880 --> 02:07:48,319
phone that wasn't turning on despite the facility being deep underground,

1689
02:07:48,800 --> 02:07:51,359
jammed up to the max for any outward signal by

1690
02:07:51,439 --> 02:07:56,840
location in technology. Within hours, a nuclear code was sent

1691
02:07:57,600 --> 02:08:02,159
and almost worked in setting off multiple missiles. A nuclear

1692
02:08:02,239 --> 02:08:06,119
warning was even sent out in Hawaii, which outwardly was

1693
02:08:06,159 --> 02:08:09,880
reported as a false flag, but we were close to

1694
02:08:09,920 --> 02:08:15,000
a real catastrophe. The guard was swiftly dealt with, earned

1695
02:08:15,039 --> 02:08:20,239
the tinkerers band from fixing tech for months, but he

1696
02:08:20,359 --> 02:08:24,880
wasn't unhappy with this. Every time we checked on him,

1697
02:08:25,520 --> 02:08:29,720
he still giggled about it thinking about what he did.

1698
02:08:30,880 --> 02:08:34,239
This tied him over until he was eventually allowed to

1699
02:08:34,279 --> 02:08:38,720
fix broken tech again with much more restrictions from then on.

1700
02:08:41,680 --> 02:08:44,920
There's one prisoner which I like, being put on shift

1701
02:08:45,000 --> 02:08:50,079
for causes no issues, needs no maintenance, just need to

1702
02:08:50,119 --> 02:08:52,600
keep an eye on him and note down any anomalies,

1703
02:08:53,319 --> 02:08:57,600
which there are never any of. This is because he's

1704
02:08:57,600 --> 02:09:03,560
stuck in a perpetual state of stasis. The story goes

1705
02:09:03,640 --> 02:09:06,119
that a strange signal was picked up in the basement

1706
02:09:06,199 --> 02:09:09,640
of a residential building. When a filled up team was

1707
02:09:09,680 --> 02:09:14,039
sent to investigate, they found him in this state, frozen

1708
02:09:14,159 --> 02:09:18,520
in time. Around him was an array of strange tech

1709
02:09:19,279 --> 02:09:23,840
computers linked together in complicated ways, and a bulking machine

1710
02:09:24,000 --> 02:09:28,560
mostly destroyed. Due to him not being able to cooperate

1711
02:09:28,600 --> 02:09:31,239
in any sort of questioning, he was up to the

1712
02:09:31,239 --> 02:09:37,359
investigation team to piece together what happened, and boy did

1713
02:09:37,399 --> 02:09:43,000
they find a strange story. Through logs on his computer,

1714
02:09:43,760 --> 02:09:47,520
they discovered that he had in fact found the first

1715
02:09:47,600 --> 02:09:54,079
legitimate means to travel back in time. Very illegal. We

1716
02:09:54,159 --> 02:09:57,079
have a few prisoners detained for even attempting to start

1717
02:09:57,119 --> 02:10:04,119
that project, but he have succeeded somehow he cracked the

1718
02:10:04,159 --> 02:10:08,319
code and put together the haphazard machine that lay destroyed

1719
02:10:08,319 --> 02:10:12,199
around him. But it's what he did with it which

1720
02:10:12,239 --> 02:10:17,079
is possibly the strangest thing I'd ever heard. Instead of

1721
02:10:17,119 --> 02:10:20,159
going back to make riches change a mistake in life

1722
02:10:20,399 --> 02:10:24,640
old history in a groundbreaking way visit a prolific historical

1723
02:10:24,680 --> 02:10:30,279
figure h hell see the dinosaurs, he instead went back

1724
02:10:30,319 --> 02:10:36,520
in time to kill his own grandfather. Guy was obsessed

1725
02:10:36,560 --> 02:10:41,560
with the grandfather paradox. It's strange how genius level intellect

1726
02:10:41,720 --> 02:10:46,439
has a correlation with absolute insanity. We only know this

1727
02:10:46,520 --> 02:10:50,720
from going through the logs on his computer. He detailed

1728
02:10:50,720 --> 02:10:56,119
his plan and specifically who he was after one Charles Vernon.

1729
02:10:57,439 --> 02:11:02,199
We checked the database and a Mattress fan Charles Vernon

1730
02:11:02,239 --> 02:11:06,159
had died in the late nineteen forties. No record of kids,

1731
02:11:07,079 --> 02:11:11,399
which means if it was his grandfather, he had successfully

1732
02:11:11,479 --> 02:11:15,520
killed him and stopped a parent from being born, causing

1733
02:11:15,600 --> 02:11:21,600
him to become a paradox. However, he didn't simply disappear.

1734
02:11:23,119 --> 02:11:26,960
Despite all the information we could find, so much more

1735
02:11:27,039 --> 02:11:31,880
is left a mystery. It's inconclusive whether the state's currently

1736
02:11:31,960 --> 02:11:35,279
in is because of the paradox, a side effect of

1737
02:11:35,319 --> 02:11:39,840
time travel, or self inflicted after getting the answers he wanted.

1738
02:11:41,000 --> 02:11:44,319
It's also unknown what happened to the machine, whether it

1739
02:11:44,479 --> 02:11:47,239
was a one time used kind of deal or something

1740
02:11:47,279 --> 02:11:49,640
he set up so that it could never be used

1741
02:11:49,680 --> 02:11:55,399
after him. But we're working hard on freeing him. He

1742
02:11:55,520 --> 02:11:58,960
studied a lot and tests are always being ran and

1743
02:11:59,039 --> 02:12:03,720
whether we could revert the condition he's in because throughout

1744
02:12:03,760 --> 02:12:07,760
all the logs there is nothing on how we built

1745
02:12:07,800 --> 02:12:12,039
the actual machine. So the scientists are hoping to unfreeze

1746
02:12:12,119 --> 02:12:15,399
him and prying this information out of him one way

1747
02:12:15,600 --> 02:12:20,640
or another. The science is above my pay grade. However,

1748
02:12:21,399 --> 02:12:24,399
I sometimes imagine what could have been done if one

1749
02:12:24,439 --> 02:12:29,000
went back with ambition, though someone going back with chaotic

1750
02:12:29,039 --> 02:12:34,079
contentions would be a terrifying thought. Maybe that's why he

1751
02:12:34,119 --> 02:12:37,800
never documented how it was made for why the machine

1752
02:12:37,920 --> 02:12:44,399
was destroyed. A large amount of duties are sectioned off

1753
02:12:44,439 --> 02:12:48,600
between different squads. What this means is that duties I've

1754
02:12:48,640 --> 02:12:53,359
mentioned which are in my rotation may infrequently or never

1755
02:12:53,439 --> 02:12:56,840
show up for other squads. We have no idea how

1756
02:12:56,880 --> 02:12:59,920
the criteria for this is made, whether it's some innoc

1757
02:13:00,039 --> 02:13:04,720
system of threat level or group based competency. God knows

1758
02:13:04,760 --> 02:13:08,479
what kind of demons others deal with, but hopefully I

1759
02:13:08,520 --> 02:13:12,720
am in a good rotation. But one duty, which is

1760
02:13:12,880 --> 02:13:21,000
universal between all groups is playtime. For this duty, I

1761
02:13:21,079 --> 02:13:25,319
dressed up in civilian attire very young, coded and drove

1762
02:13:25,439 --> 02:13:29,960
to a town called small Haven. Now, the facility is

1763
02:13:30,039 --> 02:13:35,119
located remote from any civilization, so this town itself is

1764
02:13:35,159 --> 02:13:39,319
in a town per se. It's actually an entire level

1765
02:13:39,399 --> 02:13:43,720
of the facility, widened enough to create a dynamic, functioning

1766
02:13:43,800 --> 02:13:49,920
town and tall enough that a realistic skybox could be made.

1767
02:13:50,119 --> 02:13:54,800
Everyone in the town is an actor, playing their part

1768
02:13:55,000 --> 02:14:01,920
twenty four to seven, never breaking character or for one

1769
02:14:00,159 --> 02:14:07,600
is her child. She lives with the family, though they

1770
02:14:07,640 --> 02:14:12,119
are technically actors, knowing that the town isn't real, they

1771
02:14:12,159 --> 02:14:17,800
are her biological relations. All in all, she lives the

1772
02:14:17,840 --> 02:14:23,479
perfect life, goes to school, plays with friends, visits extended family,

1773
02:14:24,079 --> 02:14:28,720
which are also moved into the facility town. The reason

1774
02:14:28,800 --> 02:14:34,119
for her detainment is simple. If she gets mad, she

1775
02:14:34,319 --> 02:14:39,760
goes nuclear, not in a hyperbolic way. She has enough

1776
02:14:39,920 --> 02:14:47,640
internal energy to flatten entire countries plural. It's too big

1777
02:14:47,680 --> 02:14:51,960
of an explosion to contain or isolate even if set

1778
02:14:52,000 --> 02:14:55,279
off remotely from the furthest point of land dead set

1779
02:14:55,399 --> 02:14:58,560
in the middle of the largest ocean, the tsunamies would

1780
02:14:58,560 --> 02:15:03,560
devastate large portions continents in all directions. We can't get

1781
02:15:03,600 --> 02:15:07,000
into space without risking hitting levels of stress that would

1782
02:15:07,000 --> 02:15:11,760
set her off before exiting the atmosphere. So she's stuck

1783
02:15:11,760 --> 02:15:15,520
in this facility under the guise of having moved to

1784
02:15:15,600 --> 02:15:20,560
a nice little town to start fresh. There are contingencies

1785
02:15:20,600 --> 02:15:24,279
set in place to make sure she never leaves. The

1786
02:15:24,319 --> 02:15:27,439
outer limits of the town are all abandoned factories or

1787
02:15:27,520 --> 02:15:32,760
run down ghettos, all designed psychologically to make them undesirable

1788
02:15:32,840 --> 02:15:37,039
to go to. Though abandoned might be the wrong turn

1789
02:15:37,119 --> 02:15:41,000
to use, considering how many trained snipers are stationed there

1790
02:15:41,119 --> 02:15:46,199
around the clock, all armed with long range sedatives. Even

1791
02:15:46,239 --> 02:15:51,119
the ghetto's population are all trained militia, scary looking people

1792
02:15:51,199 --> 02:15:54,319
to deter her wandering through, and armed to the teeth

1793
02:15:54,359 --> 02:15:59,119
with contingencies. She once wandered close through the outer limits

1794
02:15:59,119 --> 02:16:03,039
with no escort near by. It was reported that she

1795
02:16:03,159 --> 02:16:05,560
wasn't trying to make a break for it, but they

1796
02:16:05,600 --> 02:16:10,560
still implemented a fail safe. She was subdued, and when

1797
02:16:10,600 --> 02:16:13,920
found by her parents. She was told she fell asleep

1798
02:16:14,119 --> 02:16:19,199
wandering too far. Luckily she bought that and there hasn't

1799
02:16:19,239 --> 02:16:24,239
been an incident since. She has no idea what is

1800
02:16:24,359 --> 02:16:28,920
truly going on, and when I was selected for playtime duty,

1801
02:16:29,960 --> 02:16:34,680
it was my job to check on her. How this

1802
02:16:34,840 --> 02:16:39,319
duty works can be complicated with how closed off the

1803
02:16:39,399 --> 02:16:43,479
town is from the real world. Getting information reliably to

1804
02:16:43,559 --> 02:16:48,239
and from small Haven it is difficult. Every so often

1805
02:16:48,680 --> 02:16:51,239
a guard has to role play into town to check

1806
02:16:51,280 --> 02:16:56,120
on things. Sometimes we're an out of town counselor sent

1807
02:16:56,200 --> 02:16:59,280
in by the school administration to check on all the students,

1808
02:17:00,079 --> 02:17:04,040
sometimes for travelers car having trouble so stuck in town

1809
02:17:04,120 --> 02:17:08,079
for a few days. Seeing a new face also keeps

1810
02:17:08,120 --> 02:17:11,760
up the facade of the town's legitimacy, hiding the fact

1811
02:17:12,040 --> 02:17:18,040
that it is cut off from any real civilization. My shift, however,

1812
02:17:18,520 --> 02:17:23,319
was different. This was the first drafted long term visit,

1813
02:17:24,159 --> 02:17:27,360
and I was lucky enough to be the first participant.

1814
02:17:29,159 --> 02:17:32,760
Despite working in a facility in which you're physically tested

1815
02:17:32,959 --> 02:17:36,239
every day, with some guards covered head to toe in

1816
02:17:36,399 --> 02:17:42,559
unsightly scars, I've been relatively untouched, though there are given

1817
02:17:42,600 --> 02:17:45,399
items to look after ourselves in which I do the

1818
02:17:45,440 --> 02:17:49,319
bare minimum. I guess I just have to admit it.

1819
02:17:50,840 --> 02:17:57,040
I have a serious case of babyface. This hasn't been

1820
02:17:57,079 --> 02:18:00,520
an issue, but it must have been noticed because it

1821
02:18:00,600 --> 02:18:05,399
tied directly into my assignment. I was sent in as

1822
02:18:05,440 --> 02:18:08,879
a new high school student finishing off the last part

1823
02:18:08,959 --> 02:18:12,600
of the year. I was given a strict schedule to

1824
02:18:12,639 --> 02:18:16,760
shave and make sure I blended in. Alone, I would

1825
02:18:16,760 --> 02:18:20,639
stand out as slightly older, but amongst the crowd, I

1826
02:18:20,760 --> 02:18:25,559
blended in well enough. The education departments were mixed through

1827
02:18:25,639 --> 02:18:30,479
all years, segmented between elementary and high school, so despite

1828
02:18:30,559 --> 02:18:34,120
being years apart in the schooling system, I was able

1829
02:18:34,159 --> 02:18:38,719
to observe the prisoner on occasions. In class, I was

1830
02:18:38,760 --> 02:18:41,719
instructed that I did not need to participate in learning

1831
02:18:42,079 --> 02:18:46,440
unless observed by the prisoner, which never came up, and

1832
02:18:46,520 --> 02:18:49,559
so I used that time to take meticulous notes on

1833
02:18:49,719 --> 02:18:54,239
anything I observed. I learned her name was Emily and

1834
02:18:54,239 --> 02:18:59,319
that she got on well enough in school. However, there

1835
02:18:59,360 --> 02:19:03,159
was a plan of then. Since I was new in town,

1836
02:19:03,879 --> 02:19:07,760
Emily's parents invited me over for dinner, keeping up the

1837
02:19:07,799 --> 02:19:12,799
facade of a friendly, welcoming town. Alongside me was an

1838
02:19:12,799 --> 02:19:16,280
actor who posed as my mother. I handed over the

1839
02:19:16,399 --> 02:19:19,680
envelope containing the script to my mother and we studied

1840
02:19:19,719 --> 02:19:23,120
it together for hours to make sure everything lined up.

1841
02:19:24,559 --> 02:19:27,719
My mother played a single parent and I had lived

1842
02:19:27,760 --> 02:19:31,440
with my father for most of my life. However, she

1843
02:19:31,559 --> 02:19:34,479
came back into the picture through letters, and I had

1844
02:19:34,479 --> 02:19:36,639
decided to reach out and live with her for a

1845
02:19:36,639 --> 02:19:41,840
bit to mend our relationship. A believable story, and when

1846
02:19:41,879 --> 02:19:44,719
there was so small it would be hard to poke

1847
02:19:44,760 --> 02:19:49,440
holes in, we drilled the script, adding information for us

1848
02:19:49,440 --> 02:19:52,600
to sync up with in case anything else came up.

1849
02:19:55,120 --> 02:19:59,040
The meal went well because it was under the guise

1850
02:19:59,079 --> 02:20:02,559
of meeting new people, he managed to detail their family

1851
02:20:02,600 --> 02:20:07,920
life in a public setting. Overall, they reviewed well, and

1852
02:20:08,000 --> 02:20:15,000
I noted how stable everything seemed. However, unexpected to Emily's parents,

1853
02:20:15,719 --> 02:20:18,680
my mother pulled them to another room to crack open

1854
02:20:18,680 --> 02:20:22,680
a bottle of wine, something that kids couldn't participate in.

1855
02:20:24,280 --> 02:20:27,360
This left Emily and I alone for an in depth review,

1856
02:20:27,959 --> 02:20:31,319
away from the pressures of keeping up appearances with her parents.

1857
02:20:32,760 --> 02:20:36,600
This is something we struggled with in previous reviews, since

1858
02:20:36,719 --> 02:20:39,680
leaving a child alone with an adult stranger was something

1859
02:20:39,799 --> 02:20:43,680
hard to set up. Since I was perceived as a

1860
02:20:43,719 --> 02:20:47,680
youth rather than an adult. I was to extract any

1861
02:20:47,760 --> 02:20:53,000
useful information with this precious time frame and started slow

1862
02:20:53,680 --> 02:20:57,840
regoing over icebreakers, but this time in a more personal way,

1863
02:20:58,879 --> 02:21:03,479
asking how she really felt about life, about school, about apparents.

1864
02:21:04,559 --> 02:21:07,399
She opened up more than at the dinner table, all

1865
02:21:07,440 --> 02:21:12,520
of which was positive. The small Haven project was still

1866
02:21:12,559 --> 02:21:18,639
going strong. However, Emily went quiet after a while, with

1867
02:21:18,719 --> 02:21:23,959
a deep look of contemplation on her face. Rather than pray,

1868
02:21:24,559 --> 02:21:27,840
I let the silence hang, letting the pressure of social

1869
02:21:27,920 --> 02:21:32,920
cues eas her into opening up. However, rather than throwing

1870
02:21:32,959 --> 02:21:37,879
some thought provoking question back, she threw a curveball straight

1871
02:21:37,959 --> 02:21:44,200
into my face. I know it's all not real, she said, plainly.

1872
02:21:47,600 --> 02:21:50,159
If I had a drink in my mouth, i'd have

1873
02:21:50,319 --> 02:21:55,959
spat it out. Huh oh, what do you mean? I

1874
02:21:56,000 --> 02:22:01,319
stuttered back. I'd been composed before this, in control of

1875
02:22:01,360 --> 02:22:06,639
the conversation, following my orders to the letter. However, this

1876
02:22:06,840 --> 02:22:10,200
was veering so off script that I spat out a question,

1877
02:22:10,799 --> 02:22:15,799
hoping to steer things back to normalcy. I mean, it's

1878
02:22:15,840 --> 02:22:22,120
a simulation right this town. It's all avasad No, she muttered.

1879
02:22:24,200 --> 02:22:29,120
I froze my first instinct was the gas light the

1880
02:22:29,200 --> 02:22:32,120
hell out of her, make her feel crazy for even

1881
02:22:32,200 --> 02:22:35,959
thinking that, even though she was one hundred percent right.

1882
02:22:37,440 --> 02:22:39,559
But then a spark in my head told me that

1883
02:22:39,639 --> 02:22:43,079
if I argued against the point, this could cause unease,

1884
02:22:43,680 --> 02:22:48,239
which could turn to frustration anger, something I was instructed

1885
02:22:48,479 --> 02:22:54,360
over and over to never cause. So instead I probed,

1886
02:22:56,159 --> 02:23:01,680
what makes you think that, I asked curiously. I know

1887
02:23:01,840 --> 02:23:07,799
something's inside me, something I don't understand, something no one understands.

1888
02:23:08,600 --> 02:23:16,479
She said, solemnly. Ice ran through me. She wis to

1889
02:23:16,719 --> 02:23:21,159
never know about a condition. It was theorized that the

1890
02:23:21,200 --> 02:23:24,440
stress of keeping it in check could trigger her like

1891
02:23:24,559 --> 02:23:29,760
being constantly conscious of needing to breathe. She carried on

1892
02:23:29,959 --> 02:23:34,520
in my silence, I know everyone's an actor, pretending to

1893
02:23:34,559 --> 02:23:39,360
be part of this town, even my parents. They're my parents,

1894
02:23:39,399 --> 02:23:44,840
I know that, but they keep up a facade. This

1895
02:23:45,959 --> 02:23:49,959
was dangerous, and it was getting worse with every word

1896
02:23:50,079 --> 02:23:55,000
she spat out. She knew too much, but there was

1897
02:23:55,040 --> 02:23:59,360
no denying the conviction. In a voice, she was certain

1898
02:24:01,040 --> 02:24:04,399
there was no going back now, So instead of trying

1899
02:24:04,440 --> 02:24:08,399
to contradict it, I went for the answer I desperately

1900
02:24:08,479 --> 02:24:15,600
wanted for myself how do you know? I asked, not

1901
02:24:15,719 --> 02:24:19,280
some set up to flip the narrative. I needed to know.

1902
02:24:20,600 --> 02:24:24,000
Did someone talk? Did she sneak out without people knowing?

1903
02:24:24,920 --> 02:24:31,879
This information was vital? Whatever is in me, this energy,

1904
02:24:33,040 --> 02:24:39,120
it's changed. At first I heard buzzing. My parents thought

1905
02:24:39,159 --> 02:24:42,040
I was sick, pulled me from school for a bit.

1906
02:24:42,959 --> 02:24:48,559
But then it like famed into words. But they weren't

1907
02:24:48,600 --> 02:24:56,280
from people's mouths, it was from their heads. There when

1908
02:24:56,479 --> 02:25:01,200
all hopes I could reverse this, she could read minds.

1909
02:25:02,200 --> 02:25:07,319
As if this couldn't get any more terrifying. I wanted

1910
02:25:07,360 --> 02:25:11,520
to ask so much. My mind jumbled with so many questions.

1911
02:25:12,360 --> 02:25:16,639
I couldn't even stutter the first lines of the question. However,

1912
02:25:16,879 --> 02:25:21,040
she picked up on this. Of course she did. She

1913
02:25:21,120 --> 02:25:25,280
could hear everything I was thinking and answered before I

1914
02:25:25,319 --> 02:25:31,719
could say anything. Don't worry, I don't mind it, she said,

1915
02:25:31,879 --> 02:25:36,280
with a hint of glee. I coughed to clear my throat.

1916
02:25:37,799 --> 02:25:44,280
What do you mean, I asked. I needed confirmation, this town,

1917
02:25:44,680 --> 02:25:49,440
this life, I don't mind it. My parents are here,

1918
02:25:49,879 --> 02:25:53,760
my family are here. They love me. I know that

1919
02:25:54,159 --> 02:25:58,520
for a fact. That's the one thing that isn't a lie.

1920
02:25:59,040 --> 02:26:03,000
They're doing this for my safety, so I don't mind it,

1921
02:26:04,200 --> 02:26:09,840
she said, matter of factly. I eased up at this,

1922
02:26:10,760 --> 02:26:15,760
just accepted the situation. With everything in the open. We

1923
02:26:15,959 --> 02:26:21,360
ended up just chatting the whole time, talking like real humans,

1924
02:26:21,840 --> 02:26:25,840
something she probably liked and hadn't had in a long time.

1925
02:26:27,760 --> 02:26:30,879
Just before the parents came back in, she told me

1926
02:26:31,000 --> 02:26:34,920
to keep a new developments a secret, something which I

1927
02:26:35,040 --> 02:26:40,840
agreed to. Besides, she'd know if I lied with absolute certainty.

1928
02:26:42,879 --> 02:26:47,840
Since then, I've been the first reoccurring volunteer for playtime duty.

1929
02:26:49,040 --> 02:26:52,639
The story evolved that I've reconnected with my mother and

1930
02:26:52,760 --> 02:26:56,760
live in a split custody between them. My actor mother

1931
02:26:57,120 --> 02:27:00,920
is now family friends with Emily's parents, and so we

1932
02:27:01,040 --> 02:27:02,959
have a reason to see them when I come to

1933
02:27:03,079 --> 02:27:06,879
town to visit, and Emily and I have developed a

1934
02:27:06,920 --> 02:27:19,959
bond which is valuable to the prison. Playtime gives me

1935
02:27:20,000 --> 02:27:23,440
a much needed reprieve from the hectic nature of the prison,

1936
02:27:24,520 --> 02:27:29,440
but I'm always kept busy. Lately, I've been put on

1937
02:27:29,559 --> 02:27:34,159
feeding duty. The prisoner is the man in the hole.

1938
02:27:36,200 --> 02:27:40,479
His cell is simple, nothing extraist fitted to hold him,

1939
02:27:41,159 --> 02:27:45,360
at least what we can see. Despite his strange quirk,

1940
02:27:45,879 --> 02:27:49,840
he never leaves his cell, though it's sometimes hard to tell.

1941
02:27:51,120 --> 02:27:55,639
No one in my team has ever fully seen him.

1942
02:27:55,680 --> 02:27:58,920
Every time we visit his cell, there's always a new

1943
02:27:58,959 --> 02:28:04,920
hole somewhere on the floor, wall, even ceiling. The location

1944
02:28:05,319 --> 02:28:10,120
is always random. This is despite whatever is logically on

1945
02:28:10,200 --> 02:28:14,639
the other side. Beside his cell is another unoccupied room.

1946
02:28:15,719 --> 02:28:19,680
Under and above are other levels of the complex, yet

1947
02:28:19,719 --> 02:28:25,239
the adjoining rooms are never disturbed. The holes look almost cartoonish,

1948
02:28:25,840 --> 02:28:29,360
rubble piled up around the hole, or the edges frayed

1949
02:28:29,440 --> 02:28:33,520
up in an exaggerated manner, but the hole itself is

1950
02:28:33,600 --> 02:28:38,440
unnatural dark, regardless of how a light source is pointed

1951
02:28:38,479 --> 02:28:42,360
at it. When he speaks, it echoes like is far

1952
02:28:42,440 --> 02:28:48,360
deeper than what should be possible. They're closer to dimensional holes,

1953
02:28:49,159 --> 02:28:52,920
and when a new one appears, the previous one is gone,

1954
02:28:53,840 --> 02:28:58,680
not even a single scratch to indicate any wrongdoings. We

1955
02:28:58,799 --> 02:29:01,680
only knows in there because he would chatter to us

1956
02:29:01,760 --> 02:29:05,120
when we bring him his food, though we're always just

1957
02:29:05,159 --> 02:29:09,680
instructed to leave it on the floor and leave. Studies

1958
02:29:09,719 --> 02:29:14,479
have been done to figure out what the holes truly are. Items,

1959
02:29:14,600 --> 02:29:19,520
cameras and people have been sent in to investigate, but

1960
02:29:19,559 --> 02:29:25,399
whatever enters never leaves. If connected to a tether, it

1961
02:29:25,520 --> 02:29:31,040
is severed upon entry and swiftly lost, So for the

1962
02:29:31,159 --> 02:29:35,239
time being it is just a management and observation job.

1963
02:29:36,879 --> 02:29:40,840
One time we thought he escaped, a routine inspection was

1964
02:29:40,920 --> 02:29:45,840
sent with catering to deliver. However, no hole was found.

1965
02:29:47,000 --> 02:29:50,280
It was reported, and as the backup team was dispatched,

1966
02:29:50,920 --> 02:29:56,360
the guard found where he was. Giggling was heard from behind,

1967
02:29:57,079 --> 02:30:00,280
and when he turned he saw the edges of the

1968
02:30:00,360 --> 02:30:05,000
keyhole frayed out. Little giggles could be heard from the

1969
02:30:05,120 --> 02:30:11,760
tiny void. God knows how they do it, but the

1970
02:30:11,799 --> 02:30:16,840
external team have an uncannyability to detain these wild individuals.

1971
02:30:17,600 --> 02:30:20,959
They are either hyper elite individuals formed to make a

1972
02:30:21,000 --> 02:30:24,360
god squad or piled up with enough tech to take

1973
02:30:24,399 --> 02:30:32,079
down civilization as we know it. Either way they get results. However,

1974
02:30:32,280 --> 02:30:38,920
there's one prisoner which is an exception, Frank, because rather

1975
02:30:39,000 --> 02:30:46,520
than being detained, he simply turned himself in. We still

1976
02:30:46,639 --> 02:30:50,760
don't know where he's truly from. When asked, he gives

1977
02:30:50,799 --> 02:30:55,639
a different answer each time, always in a sarcastic tone.

1978
02:30:55,719 --> 02:30:59,959
But there are theories. Some are basic, like some form

1979
02:31:00,239 --> 02:31:05,120
of extraterrestrial origin, something he's some sort of genetic freak

1980
02:31:05,639 --> 02:31:10,639
given god likabilities through the genetic lottery. The most interesting

1981
02:31:10,680 --> 02:31:14,920
to me is that he's from a higher dimension, fourth

1982
02:31:15,200 --> 02:31:24,120
or fifth maybe either way. It's incomprehensible what he can do. Teleportation, flight,

1983
02:31:24,559 --> 02:31:29,879
spontaneous combustion, if you can name it, he can probably

1984
02:31:29,959 --> 02:31:34,760
do it. Because of this, he's entertained in a cell.

1985
02:31:36,120 --> 02:31:42,079
Nothing can hold him. Trust me, We've tried. So he

1986
02:31:42,280 --> 02:31:47,520
just wandered the facility looking for things to do. A

1987
02:31:47,639 --> 02:31:51,879
guard once took the last doughnut, and unbeknownst to him,

1988
02:31:52,319 --> 02:31:57,479
Frank suddenly decided that he wanted it now. If Frank

1989
02:31:57,520 --> 02:32:01,879
had asked, the guard probably would have given it to him. However,

1990
02:32:02,280 --> 02:32:07,079
Frank skipped the altercation entirely and went straight for retribution.

1991
02:32:08,879 --> 02:32:13,920
Frank turned the guard's head into a rose. From this

1992
02:32:14,559 --> 02:32:17,440
we discover that having a rose for a head is

1993
02:32:17,559 --> 02:32:22,520
guaranteed death, though it's technically unconfirmed since we only have

1994
02:32:22,559 --> 02:32:26,520
a sample size of one. When medical had a look,

1995
02:32:27,479 --> 02:32:32,159
it was intricate. It wasn't just the simple swap. The

1996
02:32:32,239 --> 02:32:35,200
roots of the rose had blended seamlessly with the veins

1997
02:32:35,239 --> 02:32:40,639
and arteries of the neck, extending down throughout the body. Now,

1998
02:32:41,200 --> 02:32:45,799
why did Frank turn himself in. Well, that question has

1999
02:32:45,840 --> 02:32:52,280
another tangent to really put things into perspective. See, this

2000
02:32:52,399 --> 02:32:59,319
facility is hidden, hidden, hidden, so many layers of secrecy

2001
02:32:59,559 --> 02:33:04,079
on top of more secrets, along with people eliminated along

2002
02:33:04,120 --> 02:33:07,760
the way, just to make sure this place isn't known about,

2003
02:33:08,360 --> 02:33:11,840
isn't able to be found, and isn't able to be tracked.

2004
02:33:13,040 --> 02:33:16,280
It would take generations of descendants to follow all the

2005
02:33:16,399 --> 02:33:20,079
trails in order to find this place, sifting through so

2006
02:33:20,239 --> 02:33:24,799
many dead ends and false leads. So when Frank strolled

2007
02:33:24,879 --> 02:33:28,360
up to the front door, it was a big deal.

2008
02:33:29,959 --> 02:33:33,239
Frank's reason for doing all this is the only thing

2009
02:33:33,280 --> 02:33:38,799
he said that I believe He was bored and what

2010
02:33:38,959 --> 02:33:41,879
sounds more fun than to mess around in the most

2011
02:33:41,920 --> 02:33:47,840
secret advanced place on earth? To him, this was a playground,

2012
02:33:48,600 --> 02:33:54,200
and we were his new playthings. At first, he was

2013
02:33:54,280 --> 02:33:59,799
an issue. His mischief often got people killed. When curious

2014
02:33:59,799 --> 02:34:03,239
a prisoner, he'd released them just to see what they

2015
02:34:03,280 --> 02:34:07,879
could do. When we were doing important procedures, he'd disrupt

2016
02:34:07,959 --> 02:34:10,159
them just to get a rise out of the staff.

2017
02:34:11,440 --> 02:34:14,680
He once flipped gravity in the whole facility just to

2018
02:34:14,719 --> 02:34:18,920
see what would happen. God knows who decided on the solution,

2019
02:34:19,840 --> 02:34:25,040
but whoever did deserves only the best in life. See

2020
02:34:25,239 --> 02:34:28,520
what got him to fall in line was to hire

2021
02:34:28,639 --> 02:34:33,920
him as a guard. Now, he's not really a guard,

2022
02:34:34,799 --> 02:34:38,559
not in the structural hierarchy sense. He was given a

2023
02:34:38,600 --> 02:34:43,319
special title, a uniform, and a list of duties. However,

2024
02:34:43,719 --> 02:34:47,799
the duties are a placebo replacing the blinker fluid in

2025
02:34:47,840 --> 02:34:51,959
a car kind of thing. But whenever he finished the task,

2026
02:34:52,479 --> 02:34:57,000
grand praise is given. We found that making him feel

2027
02:34:57,079 --> 02:35:01,239
important and blowing up his ego keeps and too preoccupied

2028
02:35:01,280 --> 02:35:05,840
to cause chaos. He's always awarded employee of the month,

2029
02:35:06,440 --> 02:35:10,120
despite that not really being a thing. Here. He's given

2030
02:35:10,159 --> 02:35:13,600
an office with a fancy door plaque, which I'm pretty

2031
02:35:13,600 --> 02:35:16,760
sure he does nothing with, and at the end of

2032
02:35:16,840 --> 02:35:20,559
every month he's given a large paycheck with a bonus

2033
02:35:20,600 --> 02:35:27,040
if he does well, which he gets every time. We're

2034
02:35:27,079 --> 02:35:30,479
not even paid for this job. The paste ups is

2035
02:35:30,520 --> 02:35:33,440
given are just printed pieces of paper with some made

2036
02:35:33,479 --> 02:35:37,920
up letterhead and lots of numbers, but he eats it up,

2037
02:35:38,680 --> 02:35:42,559
acting grateful, talking about how he'll treat his family when

2038
02:35:42,559 --> 02:35:46,479
he gets some time off. He doesn't have a family here,

2039
02:35:46,520 --> 02:35:50,639
by the way. I'm pretty sure that with a thought

2040
02:35:51,079 --> 02:35:53,879
he could turn the entire complex into a block of

2041
02:35:53,959 --> 02:35:58,399
solid gold. He has no use for money. There aren't

2042
02:35:58,399 --> 02:36:03,360
even shops here, but the whole charade just works. So

2043
02:36:03,680 --> 02:36:08,639
we never put a pin to his happiness balloon, and

2044
02:36:08,840 --> 02:36:12,200
it's came in handy a few times. There are a

2045
02:36:12,239 --> 02:36:16,000
few guards he's taken a liking to. He had a

2046
02:36:16,040 --> 02:36:19,360
stint where he acted like a sitcom character and chose

2047
02:36:19,399 --> 02:36:23,479
a few guards at random to I assume be side characters.

2048
02:36:24,520 --> 02:36:29,079
The friendship was entirely one sided, but with enough improv

2049
02:36:29,360 --> 02:36:34,520
he was satiated. However, one of the side character guards

2050
02:36:34,600 --> 02:36:38,959
was having an issue while detailing a prisoner. They slipped

2051
02:36:39,000 --> 02:36:42,639
their bonds and was about to cause mayhem, usually a

2052
02:36:42,719 --> 02:36:47,600
death sentence in here, when suddenly Frank came in and

2053
02:36:47,799 --> 02:36:53,479
swiftly put a stop to the situation. Right now, he's

2054
02:36:53,600 --> 02:36:58,520
not an issue. However, I fear that one day he'll

2055
02:36:58,639 --> 02:37:02,879
tire of this role and he'll switch back to causing

2056
02:37:02,959 --> 02:37:13,840
mischief or worse. A lot of prisoners scare me. In fact,

2057
02:37:14,719 --> 02:37:19,399
that could be an understatement. Every day our lives are

2058
02:37:19,399 --> 02:37:24,239
put on the line during the most menial of tasks. However,

2059
02:37:24,360 --> 02:37:30,360
one prisoner simply worries me. If a prisoner loses a

2060
02:37:30,479 --> 02:37:35,559
life here, all that is lost is potential discoveries. They

2061
02:37:35,600 --> 02:37:38,200
are both held captive for the safety of the world

2062
02:37:38,799 --> 02:37:43,280
and studied for the betterment of progress. But there's one

2063
02:37:43,319 --> 02:37:49,239
prisoner here, which, if incapacitated or worse, could spell the

2064
02:37:49,360 --> 02:37:54,319
end of the world as we know it, the first prisoner.

2065
02:37:56,559 --> 02:38:00,639
I've not been entirely truthful, more of a lie a mission.

2066
02:38:02,280 --> 02:38:05,639
I speak of this building, call it a facility and such.

2067
02:38:06,760 --> 02:38:11,200
But in reality, the building itself was an anomaly that

2068
02:38:11,319 --> 02:38:17,440
made this whole project possible, a building semi sentient and

2069
02:38:17,639 --> 02:38:22,559
fully self sufficient. It was a smaller building at first,

2070
02:38:23,280 --> 02:38:28,440
but its unnatural properties were soon discovered. When built upon,

2071
02:38:29,000 --> 02:38:32,639
each room tethers itself to all others in a conscious way.

2072
02:38:33,600 --> 02:38:36,159
If we want a room to be a cell, we

2073
02:38:36,280 --> 02:38:39,680
have to build it as such. Even when we use

2074
02:38:39,760 --> 02:38:43,680
the simplest of materials, its function is enhanced to what

2075
02:38:43,760 --> 02:38:48,959
the room is desired to be. It's difficult to grasp.

2076
02:38:49,680 --> 02:38:53,639
I don't fully get it myself. I'm paraphrasing from what

2077
02:38:53,719 --> 02:38:56,799
I pieced together from the technical jargon I was fared.

2078
02:38:57,920 --> 02:39:02,079
But it's how I've come to understand things. It's heart,

2079
02:39:02,399 --> 02:39:05,479
if you could call it, that powers the whole facility,

2080
02:39:06,159 --> 02:39:09,799
producing more than enough power for all the containment cells,

2081
02:39:10,399 --> 02:39:15,319
along with the many experiments running within the structure. This

2082
02:39:15,559 --> 02:39:19,000
was all kept under wraps. We didn't know any of

2083
02:39:19,040 --> 02:39:26,040
this until issues started coming up Lately. Concrete has been

2084
02:39:26,079 --> 02:39:29,959
crumbling in the far reaches of the building. Cell doors

2085
02:39:30,000 --> 02:39:35,719
aren't locking as tightly as before. Fortunately, the prisoners haven't

2086
02:39:35,719 --> 02:39:40,399
fully grasped how strained the building is, but with enough force,

2087
02:39:41,479 --> 02:39:46,239
escapes are possible. We have set up measures to keep

2088
02:39:46,280 --> 02:39:50,959
things in check, but it's through staff, and this introduces

2089
02:39:51,000 --> 02:39:55,360
a lot of elements of human failure. When observing the

2090
02:39:55,440 --> 02:39:59,920
degradation myself, it's always in the lowest levels of the compound,

2091
02:40:00,479 --> 02:40:04,319
or the furthest reaches of a floor. They have a

2092
02:40:04,479 --> 02:40:08,680
theory that the building is strained, bloated beyond its limits.

2093
02:40:09,840 --> 02:40:14,319
We are constantly adding more flaws, more rooms, more functions,

2094
02:40:15,280 --> 02:40:20,079
and whatever. This anomalous building is is finally struggling to

2095
02:40:20,200 --> 02:40:27,680
keep up, but we cannot stop. Every day there is

2096
02:40:27,719 --> 02:40:32,440
an influx of new prisoners fresh from the external team.

2097
02:40:32,840 --> 02:40:36,200
Threats that cannot be left unchecked in the outside world.

2098
02:40:37,399 --> 02:40:41,360
They need to be put in containment, and this is

2099
02:40:41,399 --> 02:40:46,079
the only place that can hold them. The prison started

2100
02:40:46,120 --> 02:40:51,639
as the first anomaly, the first prisoner, but when its

2101
02:40:51,719 --> 02:40:57,719
term has ended, it could spell danger when everything we've

2102
02:40:57,760 --> 02:41:13,159
collected gets out. Greg had always seemed untouchable. He was

2103
02:41:13,200 --> 02:41:15,040
the type of guy who could talk a cop out

2104
02:41:15,079 --> 02:41:18,319
of a ticket or drunk and half conscious, then somehow

2105
02:41:18,360 --> 02:41:21,680
get the same cop to drive him home. So when

2106
02:41:21,719 --> 02:41:25,079
his sister called me crying, struggling to get her words out,

2107
02:41:25,840 --> 02:41:29,360
I thought something had happened to their mom. When she

2108
02:41:29,440 --> 02:41:32,799
finally managed to speak, I had to ask her to

2109
02:41:32,879 --> 02:41:38,319
repeat herself. It turned out that the police found Greg's

2110
02:41:38,319 --> 02:41:41,120
body in his apartment after his boss called in a

2111
02:41:41,120 --> 02:41:43,559
wellness check when he didn't show up to work for

2112
02:41:43,639 --> 02:41:47,959
two days. The responding officers broke down the door and

2113
02:41:48,079 --> 02:41:51,840
found him in the living room. They wouldn't let the

2114
02:41:51,879 --> 02:41:55,920
family see the body. From what his sister had heard

2115
02:41:56,120 --> 02:41:59,600
when she had caught the officers on Braig discussing the scene,

2116
02:42:00,040 --> 02:42:03,239
his limbs were twisted, his spine curved like someone had

2117
02:42:03,280 --> 02:42:07,360
wrung him out from both ends, and his eyes were gone.

2118
02:42:07,840 --> 02:42:12,399
Whoever had done it was sadistic beyond belief there was

2119
02:42:12,440 --> 02:42:16,799
no forced entry or weirdly enough signs of a struggle.

2120
02:42:17,959 --> 02:42:21,200
The case was being ruled as suspicious, but that just

2121
02:42:21,239 --> 02:42:26,000
meant they didn't never clue who was behind it. Despite

2122
02:42:26,120 --> 02:42:30,239
having a wide net of friends, Gregg's funeral was small.

2123
02:42:31,200 --> 02:42:35,360
Only a few people made it in person. Jamie hugged

2124
02:42:35,360 --> 02:42:38,680
me outside the church. Her eyes were red and a

2125
02:42:38,760 --> 02:42:42,040
make up had started to smear, but she still looked

2126
02:42:42,079 --> 02:42:48,440
the same, sharp, blunt, unapologetic. The others were there, too,

2127
02:42:49,440 --> 02:42:54,520
raff and legs. We all grew up together back then.

2128
02:42:54,879 --> 02:42:56,840
We used the joke that we were stuck with each

2129
02:42:56,840 --> 02:43:02,200
other for life, and for the most part we were. Sure.

2130
02:43:02,280 --> 02:43:05,680
We drifted apart for a few years during college, but

2131
02:43:05,760 --> 02:43:10,639
we always ended up circling back. But now Greg a

2132
02:43:10,719 --> 02:43:14,120
part of us was a closed casket and a photo

2133
02:43:14,239 --> 02:43:18,000
on an easel. The priest mumbled his way through a

2134
02:43:18,040 --> 02:43:23,079
handful of generalities, though I didn't really listen. I kept

2135
02:43:23,120 --> 02:43:26,440
looking around the room, half expecting Greg to appear at

2136
02:43:26,440 --> 02:43:29,520
the back and make some sarcastic comments about how weird

2137
02:43:29,559 --> 02:43:33,559
it was to watch people cry over you. For a moment,

2138
02:43:34,079 --> 02:43:37,040
I thought I saw movement near the exit, but my

2139
02:43:37,159 --> 02:43:39,399
brain had been playing tricks on me since the night

2140
02:43:39,440 --> 02:43:44,559
I got the call. After the burial, we stood in

2141
02:43:44,600 --> 02:43:48,239
a loose, uneasy circle in the parking lot. None of

2142
02:43:48,319 --> 02:43:52,000
us seemed ready to go home. Then Jamie brought up

2143
02:43:52,040 --> 02:43:54,639
that night at the lake when Greg fell off the

2144
02:43:54,719 --> 02:43:58,760
dock trying to chug a beer upside down. We laughed.

2145
02:43:59,559 --> 02:44:06,520
Then the laughter felt wrong. I still don't get what

2146
02:44:06,600 --> 02:44:13,319
the hell happened, Ralph muttered. Nobody knew how to respond.

2147
02:44:14,399 --> 02:44:16,879
Our silent grieving was interrupted by a man in his

2148
02:44:17,000 --> 02:44:20,440
late forties wearing a plain suit with thinning brown hair.

2149
02:44:21,360 --> 02:44:24,840
He moved with a kind of tired professionalism that told

2150
02:44:24,920 --> 02:44:28,639
me he'd been doing this a long time. He stopped

2151
02:44:28,760 --> 02:44:35,440
just outside our circle and introduced himself, Detective Harlan. Sorry

2152
02:44:35,479 --> 02:44:41,159
to intrude. His tone was respectful. You were Greg Sutton's

2153
02:44:41,159 --> 02:44:46,799
closest friends, right. We all nodded. I was wondering if

2154
02:44:46,799 --> 02:44:50,040
I could ask a few questions. I understand today is

2155
02:44:50,079 --> 02:44:53,559
not ideal, but I found people tend to remember important

2156
02:44:53,559 --> 02:44:57,680
things in the hours after a funeral brings things into focus.

2157
02:44:58,760 --> 02:45:01,520
I know you people have he been interviewed and questioned.

2158
02:45:02,079 --> 02:45:04,520
I'm aware that none of you are deemed to be suspects,

2159
02:45:04,559 --> 02:45:12,120
but Jamie crossed our arms. Go ahead. Did Greg have

2160
02:45:12,239 --> 02:45:16,239
any enemies? I'm aware you've been asked this question before,

2161
02:45:17,159 --> 02:45:20,319
but are you absolutely certain there's no one from the past,

2162
02:45:20,879 --> 02:45:24,040
someone who held a grudge, maybe something that didn't seem

2163
02:45:24,120 --> 02:45:28,680
serious but could have been taken the wrong way. No,

2164
02:45:29,479 --> 02:45:34,360
Ralph said immediately. Everyone liked Greg. I don't mean dislike,

2165
02:45:35,079 --> 02:45:42,239
I mean resentment anyone he wronged, even by accident. We

2166
02:45:42,319 --> 02:45:45,600
looked at each other. I could tell we were all

2167
02:45:45,639 --> 02:45:51,680
thinking the same thing. No, I said, finally, not that

2168
02:45:51,760 --> 02:45:59,360
we know of. He nodded slowly understood. Did he mention

2169
02:45:59,479 --> 02:46:04,440
anything rained recently, unusual messages, people showing up where they shouldn't,

2170
02:46:04,959 --> 02:46:12,239
anything like that. He shook her head. Last question, does

2171
02:46:12,399 --> 02:46:18,440
the name Danny mean anything to you? There? It was

2172
02:46:19,600 --> 02:46:22,959
his tone hadn't changed, but I felt my chest tightened.

2173
02:46:24,079 --> 02:46:29,680
I glanced around. Everyone held the same expression as me. No,

2174
02:46:30,520 --> 02:46:35,639
Jamie said, doesn't ring a bell. The detective watched us

2175
02:46:35,680 --> 02:46:38,879
for a moment. I could tell he didn't buy it,

2176
02:46:39,520 --> 02:46:43,799
but he didn't press. He thanked us, gave us his card,

2177
02:46:44,440 --> 02:46:48,399
and walked off towards his car. As soon as he

2178
02:46:48,479 --> 02:46:51,799
was out of earshot. Ralph led out a shaky breath.

2179
02:46:53,280 --> 02:46:57,120
Danny true Low, I said a name I hadn't said

2180
02:46:57,120 --> 02:47:02,440
aloud in over a decade. Danny had been in our

2181
02:47:02,479 --> 02:47:05,879
class from sixth grade until the middle of sophomore year.

2182
02:47:07,040 --> 02:47:09,319
He was a thin kid with a quiet voice and

2183
02:47:09,440 --> 02:47:12,959
thick glasses. He was always hunged forward, like he was

2184
02:47:13,000 --> 02:47:18,120
trying to disappear. He didn't fit in, and we didn't

2185
02:47:18,159 --> 02:47:24,440
let him. To make it simple, we bullied the kid.

2186
02:47:24,920 --> 02:47:27,520
The last time we saw him, we did something that

2187
02:47:27,639 --> 02:47:32,520
was supposed to be funny. Adare Raff said he couldn't fit.

2188
02:47:33,120 --> 02:47:36,559
Jamie said we should find out. It was after school

2189
02:47:36,680 --> 02:47:40,639
and the hallway was empty. Gregg blogged the nearest stairwell

2190
02:47:40,680 --> 02:47:43,840
while I held the door. Danny fought harder than I

2191
02:47:43,879 --> 02:47:48,840
thought he would. He cried, screamed, and begged. It only

2192
02:47:48,840 --> 02:47:52,520
made us more determined. I remember the heat of his

2193
02:47:52,600 --> 02:47:55,959
shoulder press against mine as we forced him into a locker.

2194
02:47:57,079 --> 02:48:00,600
I remember the sound of metal slamming shot, the way

2195
02:48:00,639 --> 02:48:03,719
it echoed, and his fists pounding from the inside while

2196
02:48:03,719 --> 02:48:08,159
we walked away. I don't know how long it was stuck,

2197
02:48:08,920 --> 02:48:12,479
maybe until the janitor came in the next morning. Maybe

2198
02:48:12,520 --> 02:48:19,520
longer after that, he was gone, and that changed something

2199
02:48:19,559 --> 02:48:22,879
in all of us. The school didn't make a big

2200
02:48:22,920 --> 02:48:26,399
deal of it, which in hindsight, was to be expected.

2201
02:48:27,399 --> 02:48:31,159
One of the guidance counselors said he transferred. Some whispered

2202
02:48:31,159 --> 02:48:34,840
that his parents pulled him out after a breakdown. There

2203
02:48:34,840 --> 02:48:37,200
were rumors about his mom showing up in tears at

2204
02:48:37,200 --> 02:48:42,200
the principal's office, demanding to know what happened. We didn't

2205
02:48:42,200 --> 02:48:50,719
face any consequences, and we stopped thinking about him until now.

2206
02:48:53,079 --> 02:48:56,559
I don't think it means anything, Ralph said, could be

2207
02:48:56,600 --> 02:49:01,200
a coincidence. Some one with the same name. Jamie frowned.

2208
02:49:02,200 --> 02:49:05,440
He said, Danny, not the full name. Sure could have

2209
02:49:05,520 --> 02:49:08,719
been any Danny, But why Notarth did the detective bring

2210
02:49:08,760 --> 02:49:12,120
that name up in the first place? What if it

2211
02:49:12,239 --> 02:49:17,360
was him, though, Leg said. Ralph rolled his eyes. Jeez,

2212
02:49:17,520 --> 02:49:22,079
don't start, I'm serious. Leg said. He said the name

2213
02:49:22,200 --> 02:49:25,920
right after asking if Gregg had any enemies. That means something.

2214
02:49:27,760 --> 02:49:31,319
Ralph snapped, You really think some kid we bullied fifteen

2215
02:49:31,399 --> 02:49:34,840
years ago came back and twisted Gregg into a goddamn pretzel.

2216
02:49:36,920 --> 02:49:41,559
Ralph softened a little. We were bad, yeah, but we

2217
02:49:41,639 --> 02:49:46,840
were kids. I don't feel good about it either, he continued,

2218
02:49:47,399 --> 02:49:49,920
But that doesn't mean we jumped to wild ast theories.

2219
02:49:50,680 --> 02:49:54,319
Gregg's dead. That's horrible enough without spinning it into a

2220
02:49:54,360 --> 02:50:00,600
revenge fantasy. We don't even know if Danny's alive, Jamie

2221
02:50:00,600 --> 02:50:04,600
exhaled through his nose. Look, if it turns out something

2222
02:50:04,639 --> 02:50:08,239
more is going on, we'll talk to the cops right now.

2223
02:50:08,360 --> 02:50:11,239
We'd sound insane. You want us to bring up a

2224
02:50:11,319 --> 02:50:13,719
kid we bollied fifteen years ago in a murder case.

2225
02:50:14,840 --> 02:50:22,040
I shook my head, no, exactly. We agreed not to

2226
02:50:22,040 --> 02:50:26,079
bring it up again. We went home, each returning to

2227
02:50:26,120 --> 02:50:29,399
our separate houses under the glossed street light and the

2228
02:50:29,440 --> 02:50:33,559
silent orbit of patrol cars. I lay in bed for

2229
02:50:33,639 --> 02:50:36,799
hours with the covers pulled up to my chin, staring

2230
02:50:36,799 --> 02:50:42,840
at the ceiling and reminiscing. The next day, raph and

2231
02:50:42,920 --> 02:50:45,360
I were at his place, sitting on the couch of

2232
02:50:45,440 --> 02:50:48,799
the television on, though neither of us was watching it.

2233
02:50:49,799 --> 02:50:53,000
A game was playing, but the volume was low, yet

2234
02:50:53,040 --> 02:50:56,680
neither of us had the energy for small talk. We

2235
02:50:56,760 --> 02:50:59,639
hadn't seen Jamie since the funeral, and didn't talk about

2236
02:50:59,680 --> 02:51:03,959
Greg anymore, not because we were already moving on, but

2237
02:51:04,079 --> 02:51:06,360
because we didn't know how to carry the weight of

2238
02:51:06,399 --> 02:51:10,200
what happened, it sat between us like a third person

2239
02:51:10,280 --> 02:51:14,760
in the room. We were speaking about some things, trying

2240
02:51:14,760 --> 02:51:18,319
to crack the silence that loomed, when we were interrupted

2241
02:51:18,360 --> 02:51:23,120
by an incoming call on RAF's phone, his mom. He

2242
02:51:23,200 --> 02:51:28,600
answered it on speaker, Raf, she said, and a voice

2243
02:51:28,600 --> 02:51:33,600
cracked halfway through his name. Something happened at Lex's apartment complex.

2244
02:51:35,840 --> 02:51:41,559
He sat forward slowly, eyes narrowing, already braced. What do

2245
02:51:41,600 --> 02:51:46,920
you mean someone's dead? She said, it's bad. Have you

2246
02:51:46,959 --> 02:51:51,920
not seen the news? They said, She couldn't finish. We

2247
02:51:52,000 --> 02:51:56,319
both stared at the phone. Ralf asked for details. She

2248
02:51:56,399 --> 02:52:00,719
didn't have many. He hung up without saying goodbye, then

2249
02:52:00,799 --> 02:52:04,799
turned to me, pale and still we need to go

2250
02:52:04,959 --> 02:52:10,000
check up on Les. On the drive to Lex's place,

2251
02:52:10,600 --> 02:52:13,479
Ralph drowned his fingers on the steering wheel the entire time,

2252
02:52:14,159 --> 02:52:17,799
a nervous ticket had since middle school. By the time

2253
02:52:17,840 --> 02:52:20,479
we pulled up to the complex, who was blocked off

2254
02:52:20,479 --> 02:52:24,200
with poleae tape. Flashing lights turned the lot into a

2255
02:52:24,239 --> 02:52:28,159
mess of collar and shadow. An officer out front was

2256
02:52:28,200 --> 02:52:31,680
talking to a reporter. She asked if he was related

2257
02:52:31,719 --> 02:52:35,399
to the sudden case. The officer said they couldn't comment.

2258
02:52:36,719 --> 02:52:40,399
The reporter kept pressing. She mentioned the name. We weren't

2259
02:52:40,440 --> 02:52:47,760
expecting to hear les. We got back in the car

2260
02:52:47,840 --> 02:52:51,360
without saying anything. We drove straight to the police station.

2261
02:52:52,239 --> 02:52:56,559
Ralph ran to red lights. I didn't stop him. O

2262
02:52:56,719 --> 02:52:59,760
silence had turned heavy, and there was less shock and

2263
02:52:59,799 --> 02:53:04,159
more fear. Now we walked through the glass doors, and

2264
02:53:04,239 --> 02:53:07,159
we met with a sound of voices, paper shuffling, and

2265
02:53:07,280 --> 02:53:12,520
phones ringing. The front desk officer looked up, recognized us somehow,

2266
02:53:12,879 --> 02:53:17,520
and nodded us through without much hassle. Jamie was already there.

2267
02:53:18,360 --> 02:53:20,760
She sat in one of the waiting chairs near the front,

2268
02:53:21,280 --> 02:53:25,159
arms folded, foot tapping. Her hair was tied back in

2269
02:53:25,200 --> 02:53:30,159
a loose bun and looked like she hadn't slept. Her

2270
02:53:30,200 --> 02:53:34,440
face went stiff when she saw us. I heard already,

2271
02:53:35,000 --> 02:53:42,040
She said, did you Ralph nodded yeah. I wanted to

2272
02:53:42,079 --> 02:53:44,600
contact you guys, but I was in such a rush

2273
02:53:44,639 --> 02:53:47,360
to get to the police station. I was so scared

2274
02:53:47,360 --> 02:53:51,360
after finding count I. Jamie stood and walked down the

2275
02:53:51,360 --> 02:53:54,319
hall with us. I already told them we need to

2276
02:53:54,360 --> 02:53:59,079
talk to detective Harlan, he's in a meeting. This wasn't

2277
02:53:59,120 --> 02:54:02,879
a coincidence, I said, and I hated how thin my

2278
02:54:03,000 --> 02:54:09,040
voice sounded. This person is clearly targeting our group Danny,

2279
02:54:09,760 --> 02:54:13,879
Jamie said, biting down on the word. You think it's him,

2280
02:54:15,120 --> 02:54:19,399
I don't know who else it could be. We waited.

2281
02:54:20,520 --> 02:54:24,680
Eventually Harlan came out of a side hallway. His eyes

2282
02:54:24,799 --> 02:54:29,159
moved across the three of us before settling. He didn't

2283
02:54:29,200 --> 02:54:32,920
look surprised. He waved us into a back room without

2284
02:54:32,920 --> 02:54:39,200
a word. Once the door shut, Jamie spoke, first, we

2285
02:54:39,399 --> 02:54:46,159
lie to you about Danny. The detective nodded slowly. I figured,

2286
02:54:47,840 --> 02:54:51,559
Ralph stepped forward. We knew him a long time ago.

2287
02:54:52,120 --> 02:54:55,319
We went to school together. His name is Danny Truieloh

2288
02:54:56,840 --> 02:55:03,600
what happened? We bullied him, I said hard. It wasn't teasing.

2289
02:55:04,280 --> 02:55:07,280
It was full and cruelty. We pushed him out of

2290
02:55:07,280 --> 02:55:10,600
that school, maybe out of his mind. We locked him

2291
02:55:10,600 --> 02:55:15,399
in a locker and left him overnight. Then he was gone.

2292
02:55:18,440 --> 02:55:22,440
The detective took a breath and rubbed his jaw. You

2293
02:55:22,520 --> 02:55:29,239
didn't mention that, no, Jamie said, because well, we didn't

2294
02:55:29,239 --> 02:55:31,520
want to bring him up. We thought we were all

2295
02:55:31,559 --> 02:55:35,399
being weird of conspiracy theorists. You think he's doing this

2296
02:55:35,799 --> 02:55:39,479
after all these years. He was the last person we

2297
02:55:39,520 --> 02:55:44,159
ever hurt. I said, Danny going away changed us. We

2298
02:55:44,239 --> 02:55:50,799
felt guilty. He looked at the table, then back at us.

2299
02:55:51,600 --> 02:55:55,440
We've had that name at both scenes. Danny no other

2300
02:55:55,520 --> 02:56:00,239
traces or clues. Whoever did it definitely knew Gregg and

2301
02:56:00,319 --> 02:56:04,280
now Lex. If you're saying this person might be Danny Shruillo,

2302
02:56:04,760 --> 02:56:07,680
then that gives me something to go on. We'll start

2303
02:56:07,680 --> 02:56:10,719
pulling records and see what we can dig up. If

2304
02:56:10,760 --> 02:56:13,719
you think your targets, I'll make sure patrols stay in

2305
02:56:13,760 --> 02:56:18,920
your area in case this person comes back, find him.

2306
02:56:19,319 --> 02:56:27,520
Raf said, please. After we left the station, I couldn't sleep.

2307
02:56:28,559 --> 02:56:32,559
I kept picturing my dead friends. I waited until morning

2308
02:56:33,159 --> 02:56:37,959
and then started calling around. The high school secretary remembered me.

2309
02:56:39,079 --> 02:56:42,120
She didn't remember Danny, not until I gave her his

2310
02:56:42,239 --> 02:56:45,440
last name. I lied and told her it was for

2311
02:56:45,479 --> 02:56:49,239
an old alumni project. She gave me the principal's name

2312
02:56:49,280 --> 02:56:52,520
from that year and said he'd retired but might still

2313
02:56:52,559 --> 02:56:56,479
have some information on him. I contacted Raff and Jamie

2314
02:56:56,520 --> 02:56:59,840
about it, and we all tried getting as much information

2315
02:57:00,120 --> 02:57:04,840
as we could. Later that day, Jamie sent a message

2316
02:57:04,840 --> 02:57:08,040
in the group chat, and she told us she drove

2317
02:57:08,120 --> 02:57:11,680
to the local records office. She had a hard time,

2318
02:57:12,159 --> 02:57:18,559
but apparently she managed to get something. Danny's parents were

2319
02:57:18,600 --> 02:57:21,520
found dead in their home less than a week after

2320
02:57:21,600 --> 02:57:26,799
he moved. Both bodies showed signs of massive internal trauma,

2321
02:57:27,280 --> 02:57:31,959
blunt force and tearing. No weapon was recovered, and no

2322
02:57:32,040 --> 02:57:36,559
one was arrested. The case was marked undetermined and closed

2323
02:57:36,600 --> 02:57:42,200
after eight weeks. The report was cold and clinical. He

2324
02:57:42,319 --> 02:57:46,319
was relocated to a state facility new residents sealed per

2325
02:57:46,399 --> 02:57:51,840
court order. That was it. There was no trace of

2326
02:57:51,879 --> 02:57:55,920
him after that. It was as if he disappeared completely.

2327
02:57:58,639 --> 02:58:01,840
I stared at the block of take my phone. My

2328
02:58:01,879 --> 02:58:04,840
hands were shaking, but I didn't notice, and on my

2329
02:58:04,920 --> 02:58:08,600
phone started to slip from my grip. I used to

2330
02:58:08,600 --> 02:58:11,719
think guilt was something you felt in moments right after

2331
02:58:11,799 --> 02:58:16,040
something happened, or when someone confronted you about it. But

2332
02:58:16,120 --> 02:58:20,799
it wasn't like that. It spread. It pushed into your

2333
02:58:20,879 --> 02:58:24,680
ribs and your spine and made it hard to breathe.

2334
02:58:25,000 --> 02:58:27,479
I knew what we did to him was cruel. I

2335
02:58:27,520 --> 02:58:30,879
knew that for years, but I never thought about where

2336
02:58:30,879 --> 02:58:34,120
he went, or what came next, or who he had

2337
02:58:34,159 --> 02:58:40,079
become to survive. Jamie came over the next night. I

2338
02:58:40,159 --> 02:58:42,200
heard a knock and felt a flash of panic in

2339
02:58:42,239 --> 02:58:46,040
my chest before I saw her through the people. She

2340
02:58:46,159 --> 02:58:48,840
was holding two coffees in a tray and a fast

2341
02:58:48,840 --> 02:58:54,600
food paper bag. Her hands were shaking slightly. I let

2342
02:58:54,600 --> 02:58:56,840
her in and we sat in the living room with

2343
02:58:56,920 --> 02:59:02,799
the TV off. Keep hearing him, she said after a while.

2344
02:59:03,799 --> 02:59:11,239
Gregg I nodded, yeah, I am. I haven't slept since

2345
02:59:11,280 --> 02:59:14,959
they found legs. I'm scared to close my eyes. I

2346
02:59:14,959 --> 02:59:17,479
feel like something is watching me when the lights go off,

2347
02:59:19,319 --> 02:59:23,280
I told her I felt the same. We laughed for

2348
02:59:23,319 --> 02:59:27,319
a second. The laughter came quick and shallow, with no

2349
02:59:27,440 --> 02:59:33,440
weight to it. We sound crazy, she said, probably are,

2350
02:59:34,000 --> 02:59:41,000
I replied. Then we went quiet again. The conversations after

2351
02:59:41,280 --> 02:59:44,120
was short and awkward, but it felt good to be

2352
02:59:44,200 --> 02:59:47,920
in someone's presence. I'm sure that's why she came over

2353
02:59:48,079 --> 02:59:52,200
in the first place. We parted ways shortly after that.

2354
02:59:53,639 --> 02:59:58,360
She texted me the following afternoon. The police approved it.

2355
02:59:59,040 --> 03:00:02,479
I'm going into Britain custody. They're placing me in a

2356
03:00:02,479 --> 03:00:08,680
secure prison unit. It's the safest place they've got. I

2357
03:00:08,760 --> 03:00:14,520
called her immediately, she didn't answer. Ten minutes later, she

2358
03:00:14,600 --> 03:00:19,360
sent a voice message, I'm sorry. I can't keep doing this.

2359
03:00:20,000 --> 03:00:23,959
I'm losing my mind. Every sound at night makes me flinch.

2360
03:00:24,479 --> 03:00:27,399
I barely eat. I'm scared I'll end up like Greg

2361
03:00:27,399 --> 03:00:31,200
and Lex, and I don't want to die screaming. This

2362
03:00:31,280 --> 03:00:35,719
place is safe and you guys should probably do the same.

2363
03:00:38,319 --> 03:00:41,760
I texted back that I understood. I told her we'd

2364
03:00:41,799 --> 03:00:44,840
miss her and that i'd stay in touch however I could.

2365
03:00:45,959 --> 03:00:51,079
She replied with her thumbs up and a broken heart emoji. Later,

2366
03:00:51,680 --> 03:00:55,079
Raph and I sat together in his living room. He'd

2367
03:00:55,079 --> 03:00:57,760
packed a duffel bag, but didn't know where he wanted

2368
03:00:57,799 --> 03:01:01,280
to go. He said he didn't trust any systems meant

2369
03:01:01,319 --> 03:01:06,040
to protect people. I didn't argue. I felt the same,

2370
03:01:06,799 --> 03:01:09,440
and we decided that we wouldn't be going into anything

2371
03:01:09,520 --> 03:01:13,479
like protective custody. He ended up crashing in my couch

2372
03:01:13,559 --> 03:01:17,079
that night. We made a deal to stick together for now.

2373
03:01:18,040 --> 03:01:21,159
We had each other, we had a weapon, and we

2374
03:01:21,200 --> 03:01:26,159
had police patrols circling the block. We tried pretending life

2375
03:01:26,159 --> 03:01:29,879
could go on. RAF kept sleeping on my couch and

2376
03:01:29,920 --> 03:01:34,159
I stopped logging into work entirely. We stocked up on groceries,

2377
03:01:34,639 --> 03:01:38,479
though most of what we bought stayed unopened. I didn't

2378
03:01:38,520 --> 03:01:41,719
say it out loud, but we both believed Jamie was

2379
03:01:41,760 --> 03:01:45,399
safer than us. She was supposed to be the one

2380
03:01:45,440 --> 03:01:50,719
that made it. The call came from the detective, not

2381
03:01:50,840 --> 03:01:55,719
the news. He didn't speak right away. I remember his

2382
03:01:55,799 --> 03:01:59,479
breathing more than his voice. He came through the speaker

2383
03:01:59,559 --> 03:02:03,319
like it'd been running or pacing. When he finally said

2384
03:02:03,319 --> 03:02:08,120
a name, my legs buckled. I sat down on the

2385
03:02:08,159 --> 03:02:11,360
floor next to the coffee table or raft stood frozen

2386
03:02:11,399 --> 03:02:16,280
by the door. They found her that morning, dead in

2387
03:02:16,360 --> 03:02:22,479
her cell. Her body was destroyed, and somehow there were

2388
03:02:22,520 --> 03:02:28,000
no traces. The prison's availlance system had failed overnight. All

2389
03:02:28,040 --> 03:02:30,559
footage from a wing was blacked out. Between three oh

2390
03:02:30,639 --> 03:02:34,559
two and three seventeen a m. Three guards were found

2391
03:02:34,639 --> 03:02:44,680
unconscious outside a unit, and again that name, Danny raph

2392
03:02:44,719 --> 03:02:47,920
and I sat in silence. After the call ended. He

2393
03:02:47,959 --> 03:02:51,079
put his head in his hands. I could hear him

2394
03:02:51,079 --> 03:02:55,520
whispering to himself. He didn't cry, but he shook hard

2395
03:02:55,559 --> 03:02:59,600
enough that the glass on the table rattled. Detective Harlan

2396
03:02:59,719 --> 03:03:05,559
came to the house later that day. He looked like hell, look,

2397
03:03:06,360 --> 03:03:10,360
he said, voice low. I understand you boys don't want

2398
03:03:10,360 --> 03:03:14,040
to be placed in police custody, not after what has happened.

2399
03:03:14,040 --> 03:03:17,280
But I say this as a friend, not as a

2400
03:03:17,319 --> 03:03:21,399
government body. Now pack your things and get the hell

2401
03:03:21,479 --> 03:03:28,200
out of here. We didn't reply, but he continued, I've

2402
03:03:28,239 --> 03:03:33,319
got nothing to go on, he said, solemnly. We're increasing patrols.

2403
03:03:33,680 --> 03:03:38,440
I've pulled favors for federal assistance with this person, who

2404
03:03:38,440 --> 03:03:41,879
he assumed is Danny Truillo, is skilled to a degree

2405
03:03:41,959 --> 03:03:45,559
I've never witnessed in my life. The thing's happening at

2406
03:03:45,600 --> 03:03:49,799
these scenes don't make sense. I've seen twenty year veterans vomit,

2407
03:03:50,120 --> 03:03:54,399
and what was left to that girl. He shook his

2408
03:03:54,479 --> 03:03:59,239
head and stood, we'll keep a car outside. But if

2409
03:03:59,280 --> 03:04:02,120
I were you, I damn it all to hell and

2410
03:04:02,239 --> 03:04:07,920
go as far away as you can. After the detective

2411
03:04:08,040 --> 03:04:12,639
left raph and I decided to follow his advice. I

2412
03:04:12,719 --> 03:04:15,840
brought up a plan, said we could go west, stay

2413
03:04:15,879 --> 03:04:20,239
with my cousin, disappear until this all blew over. We

2414
03:04:20,360 --> 03:04:24,639
wanted this case solved, we truly did, but we were

2415
03:04:24,639 --> 03:04:29,600
too scared, Ralph said going west would still mean being close.

2416
03:04:30,600 --> 03:04:34,639
Jamie was in a maximum security location, and Danny somehow

2417
03:04:34,680 --> 03:04:39,319
got to her. We packed our things, decided we'd start

2418
03:04:39,360 --> 03:04:43,120
the following morning. Drove until we reached the coast, and

2419
03:04:43,239 --> 03:04:48,959
then decided from there. I woke to the sound of

2420
03:04:49,000 --> 03:04:53,040
something pounding that night. It took a few seconds to

2421
03:04:53,200 --> 03:04:56,920
understand what I was hearing. My mind was still fogged

2422
03:04:56,920 --> 03:05:01,200
with sleep. I sat up and reached the gun instinctively.

2423
03:05:02,120 --> 03:05:05,239
I'd replayed what if situations hundreds of times in my

2424
03:05:05,319 --> 03:05:11,840
mind already. The pounding came again, three dull thuds somewhere

2425
03:05:11,879 --> 03:05:15,159
on the other side of the house. I called out

2426
03:05:15,159 --> 03:05:20,840
a RAF. No answer. I moved toward the hallway, keeping

2427
03:05:20,840 --> 03:05:23,920
the gun raised. I tried not to think about why

2428
03:05:23,959 --> 03:05:28,799
the air smelled sour. I tried not to think at all. RAF,

2429
03:05:29,479 --> 03:05:35,920
I whispered, still nothing. I reached the door to the

2430
03:05:35,959 --> 03:05:40,239
guest room and stood outside it. I could hear something

2431
03:05:40,319 --> 03:05:44,440
moving on the other side, a wet, dragging sound like

2432
03:05:44,520 --> 03:05:49,440
wet meat pulled across the wood floor. My fingers closed

2433
03:05:49,440 --> 03:05:57,200
around the doorknob. I turned it and pushed. The door

2434
03:05:57,280 --> 03:06:02,360
opened slowly, hinges creaking, loudly. The smell hit me first,

2435
03:06:03,000 --> 03:06:08,079
rot and bile. The room was dim. The blackout curtains

2436
03:06:08,159 --> 03:06:10,959
kept most of the light out, but there was enough

2437
03:06:11,000 --> 03:06:17,000
from the hallway to make out shapes. Raf was on

2438
03:06:17,079 --> 03:06:22,520
the bed, Oh what was left of him. His body

2439
03:06:22,680 --> 03:06:26,920
was bent in half, his spine cracked backward. One arm

2440
03:06:26,959 --> 03:06:30,399
had been torn, cleaned off, and tossed against the wall.

2441
03:06:31,360 --> 03:06:34,639
His jaw hung open from one hinge, the tongue swaying

2442
03:06:34,680 --> 03:06:40,719
beneath it. It, on the other hand, was hunched over him.

2443
03:06:42,440 --> 03:06:45,959
The creature looked up when I stepped inside. Its skin

2444
03:06:46,120 --> 03:06:49,520
was tight and gray, pulled so thin I could see

2445
03:06:49,639 --> 03:06:53,799
every bone beneath it. Saws ran up its back and neck,

2446
03:06:54,280 --> 03:06:57,520
leaking a dark yellow fluid that clung in thick strings.

2447
03:06:58,719 --> 03:07:01,920
Its arms were long, ending in hands that dragged down

2448
03:07:01,920 --> 03:07:05,280
to the floor. Each finger tipped in what looked more

2449
03:07:05,360 --> 03:07:11,879
like bone than claw. Its chest heaved with uneven, wet breaths.

2450
03:07:12,440 --> 03:07:16,680
It didn't move. I raised the gun and entered the

2451
03:07:16,680 --> 03:07:22,200
clip into its torso. Each shot hit, but it didn't

2452
03:07:22,239 --> 03:07:27,159
fall or seemed fazed at all. It stepped toward me

2453
03:07:27,639 --> 03:07:32,239
like the bullets had annoyed it. I turned and bolted

2454
03:07:32,280 --> 03:07:38,319
down the hallway. Behind me, the door exploded. I felt

2455
03:07:38,360 --> 03:07:41,799
pieces of it bounce off my back. The thing was

2456
03:07:41,840 --> 03:07:45,639
moving faster now I could hear its feet slapping the floor.

2457
03:07:46,719 --> 03:07:49,840
I reached the bedroom, slammed the door and locked it.

2458
03:07:51,159 --> 03:07:53,079
I grabbed the dresser and pushed it in front of

2459
03:07:53,079 --> 03:07:57,239
the frame, then the bookshelf. My breath came too fast.

2460
03:07:57,719 --> 03:08:01,479
My chest clambed down in waves. I could barely see straight.

2461
03:08:02,639 --> 03:08:05,520
I darled nine one one, but before the operator could

2462
03:08:05,559 --> 03:08:09,479
even pick up, glass burst behind me in an irruption

2463
03:08:09,559 --> 03:08:14,319
of sound and wind. It came in all at once,

2464
03:08:15,159 --> 03:08:20,479
the window imploding inward, sprang sharps across the room. Hands

2465
03:08:20,600 --> 03:08:24,200
grabbed me from behind. One clamped round my wrist, the

2466
03:08:24,239 --> 03:08:28,479
other gripped my shoulder. The next thing I knew, my

2467
03:08:28,559 --> 03:08:31,360
feet were off the floor and a voice was barking

2468
03:08:31,360 --> 03:08:37,159
into my ear. Move He dragged me through the broken

2469
03:08:37,200 --> 03:08:41,920
window frame, and I hid the lawn hard. My shoulder

2470
03:08:42,000 --> 03:08:45,559
slammed into the dirt. I rolled, tasting blood in the

2471
03:08:45,600 --> 03:08:50,639
back of my throat. Behind us, the bedroom door cracked open.

2472
03:08:52,040 --> 03:08:57,000
Get up, the man said, He bawled me again. We

2473
03:08:57,079 --> 03:09:00,360
ran through the yard, past the claps garden bed over

2474
03:09:00,399 --> 03:09:03,719
the gravel path that tore up my souls. My legs

2475
03:09:03,719 --> 03:09:08,159
moved on instinct, powered by nothing but fear. I didn't

2476
03:09:08,200 --> 03:09:11,959
even know what was going on anymore. There was a

2477
03:09:11,959 --> 03:09:15,399
car parked two houses down. We got to it, and

2478
03:09:15,479 --> 03:09:17,879
the man yanked the door open and shoved me inside,

2479
03:09:18,159 --> 03:09:22,920
before climbing in after me. He started the engine without hesitation.

2480
03:09:24,000 --> 03:09:28,079
It spluttered and groaned, but it roared to life. We

2481
03:09:28,159 --> 03:09:32,600
peeled away from the curb. I turned to the man

2482
03:09:32,639 --> 03:09:37,360
behind the wheel, heart pounding. What the hell was that thing?

2483
03:09:37,920 --> 03:09:42,600
I asked? And who even are you? He looked over

2484
03:09:42,639 --> 03:09:47,360
at me slowly. His face was worn down to the bone.

2485
03:09:47,719 --> 03:09:51,280
Deep creases were carved across his cheeks and forehead. His

2486
03:09:51,399 --> 03:09:55,479
eyes darker than I remembered anyone's eyes being, watched me

2487
03:09:55,559 --> 03:10:03,159
for a second, longer than felt comfortable. Me, Danny, he said.

2488
03:10:05,959 --> 03:10:08,680
My mind refused the process what he just told me.

2489
03:10:09,639 --> 03:10:11,879
This man couldn't be the same kid we stuffed into

2490
03:10:11,879 --> 03:10:15,040
a locker. This man looked like he'd walked through deserts

2491
03:10:15,079 --> 03:10:19,559
and lived in parking garages. His beard was wild, patchy

2492
03:10:19,600 --> 03:10:23,719
around the jawline, thick in the middle. His voice carried

2493
03:10:23,760 --> 03:10:32,959
gravel in every word. You're Danny Truilo. He nodded. Before

2494
03:10:33,000 --> 03:10:37,319
I could respond, he spoke again. I just want to

2495
03:10:37,360 --> 03:10:42,840
say I forgave you, he said a long time ago.

2496
03:10:45,559 --> 03:10:49,959
I wanted to speak, but I let him continue. I

2497
03:10:50,079 --> 03:10:54,000
used to lie awake every night, he said, back when

2498
03:10:54,040 --> 03:10:57,920
I lived at home. I used to pray to anything

2499
03:10:57,920 --> 03:11:02,120
that might have been listening. God, Od, demons, shadows on

2500
03:11:02,159 --> 03:11:06,079
the ceiling. I didn't care what it was. I just

2501
03:11:06,159 --> 03:11:09,520
begged for something to take them all away. Everyone who

2502
03:11:09,600 --> 03:11:13,920
hurt me, my parents, the kids at school, anyone who

2503
03:11:13,959 --> 03:11:18,879
made me feel smaller than dirt. His hands tightened, and

2504
03:11:18,959 --> 03:11:23,399
the steering wheel. And one night after you guys stuffed

2505
03:11:23,399 --> 03:11:26,280
me in a locker, I was more adamant that something

2506
03:11:26,360 --> 03:11:33,360
answered than ever before. And something did answer. He stared

2507
03:11:33,399 --> 03:11:39,079
ahead again, eyes glassy expression. Still he wasn't recalling it

2508
03:11:39,159 --> 03:11:43,520
like a memory. He was reciting it something he told

2509
03:11:43,600 --> 03:11:47,760
himself so many times the words had become carved into

2510
03:11:47,799 --> 03:11:52,239
the inside of his skull. For first to go were

2511
03:11:52,239 --> 03:11:56,000
my parents. I found them in the living room. My

2512
03:11:56,079 --> 03:12:00,719
dad's back was snapped in half. My mom she'd been

2513
03:12:00,760 --> 03:12:04,079
folded into the carpet. The police said it was some

2514
03:12:04,200 --> 03:12:07,360
kind of freak collapse. They moved me into a home

2515
03:12:07,440 --> 03:12:10,200
two towns over, and that should have been the end

2516
03:12:10,280 --> 03:12:17,559
of it. But it wasn't. He finally looked at me again.

2517
03:12:19,159 --> 03:12:23,520
He kept going every name I had ever whispered in anger,

2518
03:12:24,120 --> 03:12:27,559
every person I wished Harman, every curse I made with

2519
03:12:27,680 --> 03:12:34,079
tears in my eyes. It hunted them down, one by one,

2520
03:12:34,360 --> 03:12:40,479
sometimes years later, sometimes across the country. His voice dropped lower.

2521
03:12:41,760 --> 03:12:45,719
You were the last because you were far. That's it.

2522
03:12:46,840 --> 03:12:52,360
You lived too far. And it took time. I didn't

2523
03:12:52,399 --> 03:12:55,520
know what to say. I didn't know it would last

2524
03:12:55,600 --> 03:12:59,040
this long, he said. I thought it would burn out

2525
03:12:59,399 --> 03:13:02,319
or turn on me. I tried to keep ahead of it.

2526
03:13:02,559 --> 03:13:06,200
I really did. I moved every six months. I tried

2527
03:13:06,239 --> 03:13:10,200
attacking it, and every solution you could think of, I've

2528
03:13:10,319 --> 03:13:16,120
probably tried it. It didn't help. I'm sorry about Greg,

2529
03:13:16,360 --> 03:13:21,159
I'm sorry about Les Jamie Raff. I tried my best.

2530
03:13:24,159 --> 03:13:27,840
The car sat in silence for a long time. Danny's

2531
03:13:27,840 --> 03:13:30,719
story drifted through the air like a bad smell that

2532
03:13:30,760 --> 03:13:35,760
wouldn't leave. I turned toward him, my voice catching before

2533
03:13:35,760 --> 03:13:42,200
it escaped my throat. How do we stop it? He

2534
03:13:42,280 --> 03:13:45,719
didn't answer right away. He reached between the seat and

2535
03:13:45,799 --> 03:13:50,000
the center console and pulled out a dented metal thermas.

2536
03:13:50,479 --> 03:13:53,959
He unscrewed the lid and took a sip. The smell

2537
03:13:54,000 --> 03:13:58,120
that rose up was sharp and chemical. My stomach turned.

2538
03:14:00,159 --> 03:14:05,399
Preparing for years, he said, testing things. I don't know

2539
03:14:05,440 --> 03:14:07,280
if it's alive in the way you and I are,

2540
03:14:08,120 --> 03:14:12,399
but it reacts to pain. I've harmed it before, so

2541
03:14:12,479 --> 03:14:18,319
it can die. How I've built something that might work.

2542
03:14:19,000 --> 03:14:21,559
Ammunition soaked in a mix I've been tweaking for the

2543
03:14:21,559 --> 03:14:26,520
better part of a decade, silver powder, industrial salt, lye

2544
03:14:26,719 --> 03:14:32,559
iron fillings, and a few other things. He reached into

2545
03:14:32,559 --> 03:14:37,000
his pocket and took out a single round. The casing shimmered,

2546
03:14:37,600 --> 03:14:42,159
not with polish, but something deeper, something buried in the metal.

2547
03:14:43,319 --> 03:14:48,120
He held it between his fingers with care. I created

2548
03:14:48,120 --> 03:14:50,520
the first version of this bullet a few months ago.

2549
03:14:51,280 --> 03:14:54,520
I hate it, and that was the first and only

2550
03:14:54,639 --> 03:14:59,479
time I've ever heard it make a sound. My throat

2551
03:14:59,520 --> 03:15:05,639
was dry. How many of those do you have? Three?

2552
03:15:05,760 --> 03:15:14,079
And that's enough? Maybe? I leaned back, mind racing. Every

2553
03:15:14,159 --> 03:15:17,079
instinct in me was telling me to run, to take

2554
03:15:17,159 --> 03:15:20,239
whatever car I could find, and disappear into the back

2555
03:15:20,360 --> 03:15:24,120
roads until the fuel ran out, but there was nowhere

2556
03:15:24,200 --> 03:15:27,600
left to run. I'd seen what happened to people who

2557
03:15:27,680 --> 03:15:32,959
tried hiding. What do you need from me, I asked.

2558
03:15:34,280 --> 03:15:39,239
Danny looked over, his voice quieter. Now it needs bait,

2559
03:15:40,440 --> 03:15:46,280
and you're the last name left. I nodded. There was

2560
03:15:46,319 --> 03:15:50,799
nothing else to say. We made it to an abandoned house.

2561
03:15:50,799 --> 03:15:55,520
Eventually the porch leaned toward the dirt. We drove in

2562
03:15:55,719 --> 03:15:58,639
under the moonlight and killed the engine a few hundred

2563
03:15:58,639 --> 03:16:04,799
feet back to avoid drawing attention. Inside the house was worse.

2564
03:16:05,959 --> 03:16:11,559
The walls were covered in pages, scribbled diagrams, symbols, names, ingredients.

2565
03:16:12,520 --> 03:16:16,360
Half of them I didn't recognize. The other half made

2566
03:16:16,360 --> 03:16:21,159
my skin itch. There were dozens of shellcasings lined up

2567
03:16:21,159 --> 03:16:25,000
on a cracked bugshelf. A single mattress lay in one corner,

2568
03:16:25,479 --> 03:16:30,159
soaked through with old sweat. Danny opened a chest in

2569
03:16:30,200 --> 03:16:33,799
the back and pulled out the weapon. It was a

2570
03:16:33,879 --> 03:16:38,479
hunting rifle, heavily modified, with wire wrapped around the barrel

2571
03:16:38,760 --> 03:16:43,000
and scratches etched into the stalk. He held it like

2572
03:16:43,040 --> 03:16:47,680
a man holding a relic, not at aol. I'll take

2573
03:16:47,719 --> 03:16:51,120
the shot, he said. You stay in the center of

2574
03:16:51,159 --> 03:16:59,440
the room. Tried to distract it. We waited. Hours passed,

2575
03:16:59,799 --> 03:17:04,799
The moon drifted. Every sound made my muscles twitch. I

2576
03:17:04,879 --> 03:17:07,079
sat on the floor with the empty gun from my

2577
03:17:07,159 --> 03:17:11,520
house across my lap. It was useless now, but I

2578
03:17:11,520 --> 03:17:16,879
couldn't let go of it. At some point the wind died.

2579
03:17:18,000 --> 03:17:23,120
Danny raised the rifle without a word. The door exploded inward.

2580
03:17:24,319 --> 03:17:29,079
It moved through the door, leaving no trace behind. His

2581
03:17:29,319 --> 03:17:32,920
chest rose and fell in quick jerks. Plus spilled from

2582
03:17:32,959 --> 03:17:36,840
the holes in its shoulders. His head tilted as it

2583
03:17:36,920 --> 03:17:46,520
found me. Danny fired. The creature shrieked. A high, rattling

2584
03:17:46,600 --> 03:17:51,280
sound cut straight through my brain. It reared back, Smoke

2585
03:17:51,440 --> 03:17:55,760
rising from the impact point his chest streamed. The flesh

2586
03:17:55,840 --> 03:18:01,600
there blistered and pealed. It lunged. I ducked behind the

2587
03:18:01,639 --> 03:18:05,280
table while Danny reloaded the thing through the couch aside

2588
03:18:05,360 --> 03:18:08,000
and slammed its clawd hand into the floor I had

2589
03:18:08,040 --> 03:18:13,360
been seconds earlier. Wood split open. I rolled and kicked

2590
03:18:13,360 --> 03:18:18,520
out at its ribs. It didn't flinch. Danny shouted and

2591
03:18:18,639 --> 03:18:23,000
fired again. This time it hit the spine. The thing

2592
03:18:23,120 --> 03:18:27,200
screamed again, louder, and twisted in itself in mid air.

2593
03:18:28,040 --> 03:18:32,399
His body started to clapse inward. His torso folded over

2594
03:18:32,440 --> 03:18:38,120
its own shoulders, Cracking like ice under pressure, It swung

2595
03:18:38,239 --> 03:18:42,959
toward Danny. I moved before it could reach him. I

2596
03:18:43,000 --> 03:18:45,719
grabbed the fire poker from the hearth and jabbed it

2597
03:18:45,799 --> 03:18:49,280
into the side of its skull. Its head snapped to

2598
03:18:49,319 --> 03:18:53,719
the side, black icos spilling around the wound. The stench

2599
03:18:53,799 --> 03:18:58,440
hit hard, my eyes watered. Danny raised the rifle one

2600
03:18:58,520 --> 03:19:06,360
last time, fired into its throat. That did it. The

2601
03:19:06,399 --> 03:19:11,520
body froze, Its limbs trembled and bent inward, collapsing against

2602
03:19:11,520 --> 03:19:15,159
its own weight. A low moan echoed through the room.

2603
03:19:16,239 --> 03:19:20,840
Then it fell apart into ash. I dropped the poker

2604
03:19:21,040 --> 03:19:25,959
and stood, coughing through the smoke. Danny leaned against the wall,

2605
03:19:26,600 --> 03:19:31,479
one hand pressed to his ribs. The silence after the

2606
03:19:31,559 --> 03:19:34,760
creature fell apart pressed on the inside of my skull.

2607
03:19:35,840 --> 03:19:39,200
My ears rang not from the volume, but from the

2608
03:19:39,280 --> 03:19:43,319
vacuum that followed it. Dust drifted to the air where

2609
03:19:43,360 --> 03:19:47,399
it had been. Danny dropped the rifle and slid down

2610
03:19:47,440 --> 03:19:51,040
the wall. His knees gave out first, and he ended

2611
03:19:51,079 --> 03:19:53,120
up sitting on the floor with his back to the

2612
03:19:53,159 --> 03:19:57,920
crumbling dry wall. His breathing was uneven, and he had

2613
03:19:57,959 --> 03:20:02,079
one arm pressed against his ribs. I saw a line

2614
03:20:02,120 --> 03:20:05,639
of red seeping through his shirt, trailing down from beneath

2615
03:20:05,680 --> 03:20:09,680
his elbow. He looked up at me through strands of

2616
03:20:09,760 --> 03:20:16,520
sweat drenched hair. We did it, he said. I nodded.

2617
03:20:17,559 --> 03:20:21,360
I didn't have anything to say. My throat was raw

2618
03:20:21,680 --> 03:20:25,120
and my chest ached. Don He motioned for me to

2619
03:20:25,159 --> 03:20:30,520
come closer. I stepped over to him. He reached behind

2620
03:20:30,680 --> 03:20:34,760
and pulled out a revolver. He didn't lift it toward me,

2621
03:20:35,600 --> 03:20:41,719
he held it between his knees. I need you to

2622
03:20:41,799 --> 03:20:48,799
shoot me. I stared at him. What in the side?

2623
03:20:48,840 --> 03:20:54,600
Nothing vital enough to look real? I took a step back.

2624
03:20:55,600 --> 03:20:59,440
Why would I do that? Because the police are going

2625
03:20:59,479 --> 03:21:02,760
to needs and want to blame. They're not gonna take

2626
03:21:02,760 --> 03:21:05,959
this story and put it in a report. You know that.

2627
03:21:08,239 --> 03:21:11,559
He tilted his head and met my eyes. His voice

2628
03:21:11,559 --> 03:21:16,440
stayed calm. You shoot me. Tell them I lost it.

2629
03:21:16,920 --> 03:21:19,639
Tell them I killed your friends, came for you next.

2630
03:21:20,479 --> 03:21:26,040
You fought back, barely survived. I take the blame. It's over,

2631
03:21:27,159 --> 03:21:32,000
and you go home. That's insane. You've saved my life.

2632
03:21:33,920 --> 03:21:37,520
His gaze didn't waver I crouched next to him and

2633
03:21:37,559 --> 03:21:43,319
grabbed his arm. There has to be another way. There isn't.

2634
03:21:44,600 --> 03:21:48,440
He pressed the gun into my hand. No one's gonna

2635
03:21:48,479 --> 03:21:52,280
believe what we saw. You know that. You can barely

2636
03:21:52,319 --> 03:21:55,239
believe it yourself. I can see it all over you.

2637
03:21:56,159 --> 03:22:00,520
What we killed didn't leave proof. This nobody or explanation

2638
03:22:00,680 --> 03:22:03,840
you can give to the cops. They'll think you snap too,

2639
03:22:04,959 --> 03:22:09,440
unless you have someone to point to. I'm not doing this.

2640
03:22:11,079 --> 03:22:14,079
Danny leaned back and let his head rest against the wall.

2641
03:22:15,000 --> 03:22:19,879
His eyes closed for a moment, then opened again. If

2642
03:22:19,879 --> 03:22:23,760
you don't do this, they'll keep digging. He'll end up

2643
03:22:23,840 --> 03:22:28,879
locked away, worse blamed for it. They already think I'm

2644
03:22:28,920 --> 03:22:36,360
a ghost. Make it real. I sat there, gripping the revolver,

2645
03:22:36,760 --> 03:22:40,920
feeling its weight press into my palm. You don't owe

2646
03:22:41,000 --> 03:22:47,319
me this, I said. He didn't answer. I raised the

2647
03:22:47,360 --> 03:22:51,840
gun slowly, hands trembling. I aimed at the soft space

2648
03:22:51,920 --> 03:22:59,680
below his ribs. Do it, he said, I pulled the trigger.

2649
03:23:01,559 --> 03:23:05,719
Danny groaned and slumped sideways, one hand clamping down over

2650
03:23:05,760 --> 03:23:10,360
the wound. Blood poured between his fingers and darkened his shirt.

2651
03:23:11,559 --> 03:23:15,680
He didn't scream, He didn't even fall fully. He slid

2652
03:23:15,840 --> 03:23:19,559
until his shoulders hid the floor, then gave me a

2653
03:23:19,600 --> 03:23:25,600
small nod. Call them, he said, through his teeth, Tell

2654
03:23:25,680 --> 03:23:32,360
them it's over. I did. The sirens reached us twenty

2655
03:23:32,399 --> 03:23:37,639
minutes later. I stood outside, blood on my shirt, hands raised,

2656
03:23:37,799 --> 03:23:44,440
gun on the ground. They moved fast, weapons drawn, shouting commands.

2657
03:23:45,120 --> 03:23:47,799
I gave them the story Danny told me to give.

2658
03:23:49,520 --> 03:23:53,639
The detective didn't argue. Danny was loaded into an ambulance

2659
03:23:53,719 --> 03:23:59,879
under heavy restraint. I never saw him again. The press

2660
03:24:00,079 --> 03:24:04,239
latched onto the narrative, a local tragedy, her case with

2661
03:24:04,360 --> 03:24:09,280
decades of history. An unstable man allegedly traumatized by years

2662
03:24:09,280 --> 03:24:14,639
of bullying returned to take revenge. Authorities called it her revenge,

2663
03:24:14,719 --> 03:24:19,719
prey rooted in trauma and delusion. The public swallowed it whole.

2664
03:24:21,719 --> 03:24:25,600
I was left empty in a hollow. Everyone that surrounded

2665
03:24:25,600 --> 03:24:31,239
me was now dead. I spent a few months organizing

2666
03:24:31,280 --> 03:24:36,920
funerals and accompanying grieving parents and siblings. I would later

2667
03:24:37,079 --> 03:24:41,959
find out that Danny died in custody, wounds from the

2668
03:24:41,959 --> 03:24:45,959
bullet I had given him. I wrestled with that for

2669
03:24:46,000 --> 03:24:51,799
a while. I had killed him twice the first time

2670
03:24:51,840 --> 03:24:55,280
in a locker, and the second time with a bullet,

2671
03:24:57,639 --> 03:25:01,879
and I don't know which one I regret more