1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,400
Speaker 1: There's this house at the end of our street. It's

2
00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:08,320
been abandoned for as long as I can remember, the

3
00:00:08,439 --> 00:00:11,279
kind of plays that as a kid you cross the

4
00:00:11,279 --> 00:00:16,399
street to avoid. Everyone in the neighborhood knows it, but

5
00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:23,719
no one really talks about it except on Halloween. That's

6
00:00:24,359 --> 00:00:29,960
when things get weird. Every year, a ball of candy

7
00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,960
appears on the front porch on Halloween night. It's always

8
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,640
the same, a plain black ball, filled with the good

9
00:00:37,679 --> 00:00:43,439
stuff like Eminem's and Reeses, nothing cheap. No one's ever

10
00:00:43,439 --> 00:00:46,560
seen who puts it there, and no one ever stays

11
00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:53,920
long enough to find out. It just appears. The weird

12
00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,479
thing is there's never any sign of life at that

13
00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,119
house the rest of the year. There are no lights,

14
00:01:00,119 --> 00:01:05,280
no movement, nothing, The windows are cracked, the roof is

15
00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:11,680
falling apart, and the yard is completely overgrown. Still like clockwork,

16
00:01:12,239 --> 00:01:16,280
every Halloween, that bowl of candy is right where it

17
00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:21,359
always is. There's this rumor too, There's been passed around

18
00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,239
as long as I can remember, passed down from the

19
00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:28,079
older kids when I was younger. They say that if

20
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,959
you take a piece of candy, you'll get good luck

21
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,680
for the next year. A lot of kids in the

22
00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,840
neighborhood believe it. Some people think it's just a harmless tradition.

23
00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:44,719
Others say it's cursed me. I've always been somewhere in between.

24
00:01:46,079 --> 00:01:48,400
I didn't really buy into the whole good luck thing,

25
00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,799
but I can't deny that the house gives me this

26
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:57,760
weird feeling whenever I pass it. One year, though, something changed.

27
00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,760
I couldn't stop thinking about it. The house, the candy,

28
00:02:03,159 --> 00:02:05,959
the fact that no one knows anything about who's putting

29
00:02:05,959 --> 00:02:09,800
it out. All these years. I grew up hearing stories

30
00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,120
about the place. Some people say an old man used

31
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,800
to live there. Others say vanished years ago, leaving the

32
00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,080
house behind like a ghost town in the middle of

33
00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,280
our quiet little street. But no one really knows the truth.

34
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,159
And the more I thought about it, the more I

35
00:02:27,199 --> 00:02:31,120
realized that no one had ever really tried to find out.

36
00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,039
So I decided that was the year I'd do it.

37
00:02:37,159 --> 00:02:40,159
After the trigger treaters had cleared out and the streets

38
00:02:40,159 --> 00:02:46,319
were empty, I stayed behind. The ball was still there,

39
00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,439
just sitting on the porch like it always did, as

40
00:02:49,439 --> 00:02:53,360
if it had been waiting. My friends had already gone home,

41
00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,319
and I could have followed, but something wouldn't let me.

42
00:02:59,199 --> 00:03:02,120
There's always been a pulled to that house, something I

43
00:03:02,159 --> 00:03:06,000
couldn't quite explain, like it wanted someone to notice it,

44
00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:11,520
like it wanted someone to come inside. I told myself,

45
00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,120
I just stay and watch, just long enough to see

46
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,319
if anyone came to take the ball away or refill it,

47
00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,800
just to get an answer once and for all. But

48
00:03:23,319 --> 00:03:27,280
the more I stood there, the more I felt it,

49
00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:32,000
this nagging sense of curiosity. It's like the house was

50
00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,719
calling to me, waiting for someone like me to finally

51
00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:41,719
step through its doors. And that night I couldn't ignore

52
00:03:41,759 --> 00:03:48,159
it anymore. I'd been waiting there for hours, hidden behind

53
00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:52,439
the bushes across the street. The neighborhood had long since

54
00:03:52,479 --> 00:03:56,560
gone quiet. No more kids running around in costumes, no

55
00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:01,080
more porch lights, just me, the dark and that house.

56
00:04:02,199 --> 00:04:05,919
The candy ball still sat on the porch, untouched since

57
00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:12,080
the last group of trigger treats passed by, nothing, no movement.

58
00:04:12,879 --> 00:04:15,840
The house stayed still and silent, as it always did.

59
00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,600
I was about to call it a night when something

60
00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:26,480
caught my eye. The front door creaked open, slow and deliberate,

61
00:04:27,199 --> 00:04:29,920
like someone on the other side had just pushed it.

62
00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:36,600
But I didn't see anyone. There was no wind, no explanation,

63
00:04:37,639 --> 00:04:44,199
just the door slowly swinging open, inviting. My heart raised.

64
00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,759
I tried to convince myself it was just old hinges

65
00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:53,439
giving way. But deep down and I knew better the

66
00:04:53,519 --> 00:04:59,160
house wanted me to come in. I stayed as still

67
00:04:59,199 --> 00:05:02,839
as possible, waiting to catch a hand coming out, sneaking

68
00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:07,040
away the ball. As Halloween ended, theories ran through my head,

69
00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,720
thinking it was maybe an old local who either started

70
00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,720
or always carrying on this local tradition. But nothing came out.

71
00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:21,120
The door stood open and maw of darkness gently breathing

72
00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:27,199
in the outside air. As I watched, it almost looked inviting.

73
00:05:28,399 --> 00:05:31,759
Invasive thoughts came in my head, pushing out the idea

74
00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,199
that some one was in there, but that I was

75
00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:39,360
being politely asked to come in. Nothing looked overtly threatening.

76
00:05:40,439 --> 00:05:44,360
Sure the house looked musty and old, but otherwise it

77
00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:49,800
was still and docile. I don't know what made me

78
00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:54,079
do it. In reality, I should have turned around and

79
00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:59,680
gone home, but I didn't, whether I was too absorbed

80
00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,079
with fear figuring out this mystery was some otherworldly possession.

81
00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,920
I accepted the perceived invitation. I grabbed my flashlight and

82
00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,240
crossed the street, my feet barely making a sound on

83
00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:16,879
the pavement. I reached the porch, glancing once more at

84
00:06:16,879 --> 00:06:21,480
the candy bowl, almost expecting something to happen, but the

85
00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:26,920
candy just sat there, untouched. I took a deep breath

86
00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:34,079
and stepped through the door. The moment I crossed the threshold,

87
00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:39,480
the air around me felt like it changed thick, heavy.

88
00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,360
My skin prickled, as if I just walked into a

89
00:06:43,439 --> 00:06:48,000
room filled with smoke. But there was no smoke, just

90
00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,680
an overwhelming sense of pressure, like the house was pressing

91
00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,959
down on me. I shone the flashlight around, but the

92
00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:01,240
beam felt weak, swallowed by the darkness. The floor creaked

93
00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:06,079
beneath my feet, but not like normal old wood. It

94
00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:11,040
felt different, like something was shifting under the surface, adjusting

95
00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,120
to my weight. It looked solid, and when I tapped

96
00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,879
my foot on the floor it was hardwood. But while

97
00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:25,120
walking it just felt off. It wasn't just the ground.

98
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,360
As I moved deeper into the house, something in the

99
00:07:29,439 --> 00:07:33,079
air felt off too. It wasn't just the silence or

100
00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,639
the darkness swallowing my flashlight's beam. It was the way

101
00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,040
the walls seemed to shift only settling. When my light

102
00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:46,000
landed straight on it, it was barely perceptible, dancing softly

103
00:07:46,199 --> 00:07:50,240
on the edges of my vision, too vague to ever confirm.

104
00:07:52,279 --> 00:07:56,360
I shook my head, chalking it up to nerves. The

105
00:07:56,439 --> 00:07:59,360
floor creaked with every step I took, but the creaks

106
00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,959
felt deliberate, like something beneath me was adjusting, sensing my weight.

107
00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,399
When I turned to check behind me, the door that

108
00:08:08,439 --> 00:08:11,560
had been open was now shut without so much as

109
00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:16,000
a sound. My pulse quickened, but I tried to reason

110
00:08:16,079 --> 00:08:21,199
with myself. Maybe I'd closed it out of habit. I

111
00:08:21,319 --> 00:08:23,439
was too in my head to keep track of everything.

112
00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,439
But then as I turned back, the hallway seemed to

113
00:08:28,519 --> 00:08:33,679
stretch before me, like the space itself was bending. I

114
00:08:33,759 --> 00:08:38,879
stopped shining my flashlight down the hall. I could swear

115
00:08:38,919 --> 00:08:41,720
it had been short, only a few steps to the

116
00:08:41,759 --> 00:08:46,080
next room, but now it seemed longer, as if the

117
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:51,320
walls were moving, pulling me further in. It was late.

118
00:08:51,639 --> 00:08:54,519
I was tired. I would have preferred to have done

119
00:08:54,519 --> 00:08:58,279
this with a clearer head, but sadly I could not

120
00:08:58,399 --> 00:09:03,000
choose the time to dive into this investigation, so I

121
00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:09,879
was stuck second guessing everything. I was seeing my stomach twisted.

122
00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,000
I tried to tell myself it was just my mind

123
00:09:13,039 --> 00:09:18,000
playing tricks, but the house felt alive, reacting to me,

124
00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:26,000
watching me. The further I ventured, the heavier everything felt.

125
00:09:27,159 --> 00:09:31,799
The air was thick, like I was suffocating. Each breath

126
00:09:31,879 --> 00:09:35,039
was harder than the last, and I could feel sweat

127
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,639
beading on my forehead. Despite the chill, my legs felt

128
00:09:39,639 --> 00:09:43,159
like lead, every step taking more effort than it should.

129
00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,360
At first, I thought it was the fear catching up

130
00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,679
with me, adrenaline wearing off, maybe, but this was different.

131
00:09:53,879 --> 00:09:58,279
I felt like I was being drained. I wiped my forehead,

132
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:03,200
trying to clear my thoughts, but it didn't help. My

133
00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:08,399
head was foggy, like I hadn't slept in days. I

134
00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,840
checked my phone for the time. It was almost three

135
00:10:11,879 --> 00:10:15,840
a m. I couldn't even remember what time I'd gone in,

136
00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,639
but there was no way I'd been in that long.

137
00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,200
Maybe I'd waited for longer than I thought when outside,

138
00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:27,080
but even then it didn't add up. I couldn't even

139
00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:29,840
tell which way I came from any more. It was

140
00:10:29,879 --> 00:10:32,399
like the walls seemed to twist and shift behind me,

141
00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:39,120
rearranging themselves. The moment I wasn't looking. I shook my head,

142
00:10:39,159 --> 00:10:42,440
trying to clear the growing fog in my head. I

143
00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,559
could barely think straight, and my movements were slow and sluggish.

144
00:10:47,759 --> 00:10:50,320
It was like the house was pulling the energy right

145
00:10:50,399 --> 00:10:56,639
out of me. Step by step. As I moved further in,

146
00:10:58,039 --> 00:11:03,799
I started seeing things clothing, old shoes, pieces of paper.

147
00:11:05,159 --> 00:11:08,600
Some were scattered on the floor, others abandoned in the

148
00:11:08,639 --> 00:11:12,519
corners of rooms. At first, I thought they were just

149
00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:17,600
debris from squatters, but as I looked closer, I saw

150
00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,159
all the clothes looked like they belonged to children, to

151
00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:25,519
young teenagers. Sprinkled around with discarded remnants of old costumes,

152
00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:33,120
Halloween themed, all at varying ages of decay. Some looked newer,

153
00:11:33,759 --> 00:11:37,519
but between them were pieces that looked older than my parents.

154
00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:41,799
I looked at what I was wearing and came to

155
00:11:41,879 --> 00:11:46,200
the subtle realization these were from others who had wandered

156
00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,559
in like me, trying to find answers to the mystery

157
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:57,919
of the candy bowl. Vital flight kicked in. Panic settled

158
00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,679
as a thought flashed in my mind. If this is

159
00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:03,759
what happened to the people who had come inside and

160
00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:08,919
never made it out, what happened to them, because whatever

161
00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:13,919
it was, it couldn't be good. I picked up an

162
00:12:13,919 --> 00:12:18,279
old candy wrapper, its edges brittle from age. I glanced

163
00:12:18,279 --> 00:12:22,480
around my flashlight, catching glimpses of more wrappers, shoes, and

164
00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:27,639
bags left behind in the dust. They were just there,

165
00:12:28,799 --> 00:12:31,960
no sign of a struggle, no signs of what happened

166
00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:38,080
to them. That's when it hit me. The candy it

167
00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:44,720
wasn't just some harmless Halloween tradition. It was bait, a

168
00:12:44,759 --> 00:12:48,320
mystery so alluring to the young that it was the

169
00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,240
perfect way to lure people inside and draw them deeper

170
00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:59,440
into the house. Just like me. I turned back the

171
00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:03,919
way I came, desperate to leave. The door shouldn't be far.

172
00:13:04,639 --> 00:13:07,000
I hadn't ventured that deep into the house, had I.

173
00:13:08,159 --> 00:13:10,360
But when I reached the spot where the entrance should

174
00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:15,799
have been, it wasn't there. The door was gone, leading

175
00:13:15,879 --> 00:13:18,840
to an inane hallway that matched the few I'd already

176
00:13:18,879 --> 00:13:24,559
walked through. Panic set in. I tried another hallway, then another.

177
00:13:25,919 --> 00:13:28,759
Whenever I thought I was heading toward an exit, it

178
00:13:28,799 --> 00:13:31,759
never led to where I thought I was going, forcing

179
00:13:31,799 --> 00:13:35,360
me deeper into the house. It was like the place

180
00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:40,440
was changing around me. Trapping me inside. My heart pounded

181
00:13:40,639 --> 00:13:44,000
as I stumbled back, searching frantically for the front door.

182
00:13:45,159 --> 00:13:48,799
Still it was like the house was alive, blocking every

183
00:13:48,879 --> 00:13:53,519
possible escape route. I felt the thlaw beneath me shift,

184
00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,200
but it was worse than before. I could no longer

185
00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,919
strike it as my imagination, as it almost felt like

186
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:06,519
it was melting into itself. I took another step and

187
00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,559
my foot sank into the floor like it was quicksand

188
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,799
I pulled, but the floor held tight, sticky and thick,

189
00:14:15,639 --> 00:14:18,960
like it was pulling me down. The walls around me

190
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:24,039
began to pulse, closing in. The house was tightening its grip.

191
00:14:25,279 --> 00:14:28,440
I slapped my fists against the walls, screaming for help,

192
00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:34,600
but no sound escaped. My voice was muted, swallowed by

193
00:14:34,639 --> 00:14:40,639
the thick, suffocating air. No one could hear me. The

194
00:14:40,759 --> 00:14:48,000
house absorbed everything. Something was feeding off me. The house

195
00:14:48,039 --> 00:14:51,600
grew more intense, the weaker I felt, the harder I

196
00:14:51,639 --> 00:14:54,360
tried to escape, the more the house drained from me.

197
00:14:55,519 --> 00:14:59,960
My legs felt heavier, my breath shallow. It wasn't just fear.

198
00:15:00,679 --> 00:15:05,039
It was feeding on my energy, my panic. As I

199
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:09,159
tried to pull myself out, trying to stay calm, I

200
00:15:09,279 --> 00:15:16,519
noticed something else, shadows moving within the walls. At first

201
00:15:16,879 --> 00:15:19,080
I thought it was just from the house, shifting in

202
00:15:19,159 --> 00:15:24,600
its unnatural way. But then I saw them again, faint

203
00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:30,879
human shapes flickering just behind the wallpaper, their outlines blending

204
00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:36,919
into the structure of the house. They weren't ghosts, they

205
00:15:36,919 --> 00:15:44,840
were people trapped unable to leave. I used my arms

206
00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,679
to pull one leg as free as possible, and what

207
00:15:47,759 --> 00:15:51,399
little perch I could get yanked the other out. I

208
00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,840
finally tore through the last of the membrane. I had

209
00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,519
given up and finding the door, but there was a

210
00:15:57,559 --> 00:16:01,159
window nearby that gave me hope, though with how much

211
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:05,360
I lost myself scrambling through the twisting hallways, I had

212
00:16:05,399 --> 00:16:09,399
no idea what floor I was on, But just as

213
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,440
I was about to crawl out, I felt the house

214
00:16:12,519 --> 00:16:17,240
latch on to me. The walls rippled and something shot

215
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,440
out from the floor. Tendrils of the house wrapped itself

216
00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,279
around my legs and arms, pulling me back toward the

217
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:29,320
pulsing walls. I screamed, but the sound was still swallowed,

218
00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:34,720
vanishing into the thick air. The house wasn't letting go.

219
00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,639
The tendrils tightened pulling me backwards, and whispers in my

220
00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:46,759
mind grew louder. They weren't soft, They were desperate, pleading,

221
00:16:47,159 --> 00:16:53,039
almost panicked. Stay with us, don't leave, you belong here.

222
00:16:55,399 --> 00:17:00,159
It sounded like please from children. I thrashed, trying to

223
00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,559
break free, but the harder I fought, the more it pulled,

224
00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:07,880
dragging me back toward the center of the room. I

225
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:11,799
could feel myself fading, the strength draining from my body,

226
00:17:12,519 --> 00:17:15,720
the way to the house pressing down on me. My

227
00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:18,960
vision blurred and I thought about letting go. For a moment,

228
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:23,160
the whispers begged me to stay with them, their tone

229
00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:31,440
dripping with loneliness, but something inside me refused. I wasn't

230
00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:36,039
going to let it win. With my last burst of energy,

231
00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:38,480
I reached up and grabbed the edge of the window,

232
00:17:38,839 --> 00:17:43,440
dragging myself through. The tendrils clung to me, tearing at

233
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,000
my skin. As I pulled my legs free. They didn't

234
00:17:47,079 --> 00:17:51,000
let go easily. They weren't just wrapped tightly, but were

235
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,839
lined with something adhesive. My skin felt hot wherever they touched.

236
00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:59,480
By the time I was half way out, my arms

237
00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,119
were trimmed and I could feel the skin of my

238
00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,119
legs burning where the house had latched on, like it

239
00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:08,880
had taken pieces of me with it, blood soaked through

240
00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,920
my clothes and my entire body ate with a deep,

241
00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:18,720
searing pain. But I couldn't stop now. I gave one

242
00:18:18,839 --> 00:18:23,519
last yank, and with a scream, I ripped free, crashing

243
00:18:23,559 --> 00:18:27,000
through the window and falling a story down onto the grass.

244
00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,880
My body hid the ground hard, the wind knocked out

245
00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:38,839
of me, but I was outside. I was free. I

246
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:44,359
lay there, gasping for breath, my chest on fire, every

247
00:18:44,519 --> 00:18:48,680
inch of me, screaming in pain. I glanced down at

248
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:53,519
my legs, blooded raw, the skin blackened where the house

249
00:18:53,559 --> 00:18:58,119
had burned me. And then, just as suddenly as it

250
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:07,519
had started, everything stopped. The whispers faded, the house went still, silent,

251
00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:12,799
as if nothing had ever happened. The air was calm again,

252
00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:19,759
but I could feel it. Something inside me was different.

253
00:19:22,839 --> 00:19:26,200
I just lay on the cold grass, gasping for breath,

254
00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:30,559
my chest rising and falling like a just run a marathon.

255
00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,680
The oppressive weight that had been suffocating me inside the

256
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:39,559
house was gone, but I wasn't free of it. My

257
00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,279
body was trembling, every muscle aching as if I'd been

258
00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:48,079
squeezed dry. I stared up at the sky, the stars

259
00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:56,920
distant and cold, trying to convince myself it was over. Slowly,

260
00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,359
I turned my head to look back at the house.

261
00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,720
It stood there, as still and silent as it had

262
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:10,119
always been, just to run down abandoned structure. Nothing about

263
00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:14,839
it seemed out of place from here. The windows were dark, lifeless,

264
00:20:15,519 --> 00:20:18,559
and the front porch was as empty as ever. The

265
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:23,200
candy ball still sat there, untouched, like nothing had happened

266
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:28,559
at all. I could feel it deep in my bones.

267
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:34,839
It wasn't just some old building. It was alive, waiting.

268
00:20:36,279 --> 00:20:39,559
The dark window seemed to watch me, like eyes, following

269
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:44,640
my every move, and even though I was out, I

270
00:20:44,799 --> 00:20:50,200
wasn't free. I tried to stand, my legs wabbling beneath me,

271
00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:52,920
but it felt like my body had been drained of

272
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:58,400
all its strength. Every movement was a struggle, my muscles

273
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,680
refusing to co operate. My mind felt hazy, like a

274
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,400
thick fog had settled over it. I tried to piece

275
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:11,039
together everything that had happened inside, but something felt missing.

276
00:21:12,559 --> 00:21:18,279
My memories were fragmented, pieces, scattered and broken. I could

277
00:21:18,279 --> 00:21:21,359
remember the feeling of the house tightening around me, the

278
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,759
whispers clawing at my mind, but the details were blurred,

279
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:30,200
slipping through my fingers. The harder I tried to recall them.

280
00:21:30,559 --> 00:21:32,480
It was like part of me was still in there,

281
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:37,240
trapped inside the walls, just like the people I'd seen.

282
00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,640
No matter how far I got from it, I couldn't

283
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,640
shake the feeling that the house had taken something from me,

284
00:21:45,599 --> 00:21:48,279
something I would have to go back in to get back.

285
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,440
It had left its mark on me. I made it

286
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,720
home that night, but nothing felt the same. Every step

287
00:21:58,759 --> 00:22:01,200
I took away from that house felt like I was

288
00:22:01,319 --> 00:22:06,680
dragging something heavy with me, something I couldn't see. I

289
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,480
tried telling people about it, my friends, my parents, about

290
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,799
what happened. I also reported what I could to the

291
00:22:13,799 --> 00:22:21,200
police about the house. They didn't believe me. Some laughed

292
00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,359
it off, like it was some kind of prank or

293
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:27,440
a drug induced memory, a wild trip from some laced candy.

294
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,000
No one understood. No one felt what I felt in

295
00:22:32,079 --> 00:22:36,519
there when I reported it. I didn't even try to

296
00:22:36,559 --> 00:22:39,480
explain how the house had felt alive, how it had

297
00:22:39,559 --> 00:22:42,680
taken something from me, because they wouldn't have believed it.

298
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:48,000
They sent any unit and found the place desolate, with

299
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:52,240
a typical abandoned house layout. Then lectured me on the

300
00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:59,640
dangers of trespassing in unstable structures. Weeks past, and things

301
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,240
felt like they went back to normal, but I couldn't

302
00:23:03,279 --> 00:23:08,279
shake it. The house, the pull, the whispers were still

303
00:23:08,319 --> 00:23:12,480
with me. I could feel it, even as I tried

304
00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:16,559
to pretend everything was fine, and the same bowl of

305
00:23:16,599 --> 00:23:19,799
candy was there when Halloween came around the next year,

306
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:26,960
sitting on that porch, just like always, despite everything, As

307
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,880
I stood in front of the house, seeing the locals

308
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:34,640
delight in the free candy, memories I'd forgotten flashed back

309
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,240
through my mind. The pain sang from the scars on

310
00:23:38,319 --> 00:23:41,920
my legs, vividly replying the events of that night in

311
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:47,759
brief moments of clarity. And yet, despite the horrendous experience,

312
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:56,640
I still felt that pull. Something deep inside me stirred.

313
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,359
Even though I knew what the house really was. Even

314
00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:04,160
though I knew it nearly took me. I couldn't help,

315
00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:08,359
but look, a part of me still wanted to go back,

316
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:15,160
as if the house hadn't finished what it started. I

317
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,400
still live on that street, and as I sit in

318
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:22,440
my room at night, I stare out the window, the

319
00:24:22,519 --> 00:24:27,880
house visible just beyond the street light. It's quiet, now

320
00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:34,279
the same stillness that always surrounded it, But as Halloween approaches,

321
00:24:35,279 --> 00:24:41,240
the pull is stronger than ever. Sometimes, when everything's dark

322
00:24:41,279 --> 00:24:49,279
and silent late at night, I can still hear it. Whispers, faint,

323
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:56,400
distant but unmistakable, calling my name, telling me to come back.

324
00:24:58,279 --> 00:25:01,480
I try to ignore it. I to tell myself it's

325
00:25:01,519 --> 00:25:06,160
just my mind playing tricks, but deep down I know

326
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:13,440
the truth. The house isn't finished with me. I glanced

327
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,880
out the window one last time, knowing that it's just

328
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,039
a matter of time before I can't resist the pull anymore.

329
00:25:21,279 --> 00:25:26,519
One day it'll pull me back in, and next time

330
00:25:28,039 --> 00:25:42,519
I'm not sure I'll be able to escape.