WEBVTT
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Well, my spookies, how are you tonight? The Halloween season
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may be over, but it just so happens that the
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entire end of the year really is the spookiest of times.
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And tonight we're going to celebrate a little bit of
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the scarier side of America's tradition known as Thanksgiving. Every
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year we release a brand new terror tale all about
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Turkey Day, and this time around, I want to share
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with you five terrifying tales of Turkey, just for you
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to enjoy while you get ready to cook up a
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sumptuous meal or go on a long car ride to
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your relatively eerie relatives. So make sure you enjoy these. I'm,
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of course your host and narrator, Enrique Kutel, and I'll
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be back here next Wednesday with a scary story to
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make you flinch. And don't forget. The night before Thanksgiving,
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We're releasing a brand new, terrifying novella, so stay subscribe
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now enjoy the stories. Thanksgiving Dinner by Rachel Ridolfi, a
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weekly spooky original. Monticello, Indiana, just an hour and a
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half from the infamous Gary and still less than three
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hours from Chicago. It was a small town with a
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population that barely scratched five thousand men, women, and children.
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Most residents grew up together, worked together, went to school together. Hell,
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most of them even frequented the same five churches. That's
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why when Sophia got the chance to move, she chose Monticello,
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just close enough to home that she could visit her
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family if she chose to, but usually she chose not to.
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She loved her family, but they were a thorn in
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her side. Chicago wasn't quite her speed. There was just
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too much going on all the time, and she just
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couldn't cope with all of that, not anymore. Aside from
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being constantly high strung from all the work she had
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to do for the city, she also found herself increasingly
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depressed dealing with the less than responsible members of her precinct.
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With the recommendation of her chief, and with a little
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bit of finagling, when a position opened up, Sophia got
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herself a cushy job in Monticello, Indiana. She considered it
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cushy because she really didn't have to do much or
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deal with much, aside from the odd noise complaint or
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writing your standard parking tickets. Sure, in the summer, she
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would have to work a little harder to control traffic
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or stave off the common drunken tourist. But for the
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most part, she really didn't have to work that hard.
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It really felt like the only time she was working
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was May through August. Once the chilly September air hit,
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everything quieted down and she got a chance to relax.
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Sitting in her cruisers, she got a text on her phone.
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Are you coming or not? The text message from her
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brother bellowed. Sophia grimaced at her phone, sighed and stretched out.
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It had been a long shift already. She really didn't
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feel like dealing with her family. She glanced at a
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picture on her dashboard before opening up her phone and responding, No,
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I'm not coming, The drive is too long. She tapped
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back three dots. Someone honked across the street, and she
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glanced up. One elderly driver was taking too long to
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make a left turn to light. She decided to ignore it.
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The response finally chimed, dinner starts at six. Just say
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you don't want to see us. Okay, fine, I don't
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want to see you. She hastily pounded back, then hit send.
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She was working the double anyway. Chief Lewis called off
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sick and she'd taken his shift. Even if she wanted
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to see her family, she couldn't. Her black coffee gave
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off big puffs of heat vapor. She took a huge,
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scolding gulp and hissed fuck her at her phone, before
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glancing back up at traffic. The picture on her dashboard
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glowered at her end monochromatic tones. The elderly driver had
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figured out the problem in traffic was moving along fine.
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It was never busy during noon anyway, but during the
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holiday season it was so slow she could almost take
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a nap. Another ding. She glanced at the home screen
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of her phone, which had the banner of but Grandma
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really misses you her and Mom. She honestly debated opening
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up that message. It had been a whole year since
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her brother had attempted an honest to god conversation with her.
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She was curious to see what he would try to
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pull this time. Officer Cortes, please report, A familiar and
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friendly voice chimed, Nancy was always too polite. If she
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didn't end a call with please, Sophia would be suspicious.
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Officer Cortez reporting, Sophia said back, we have a request
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for a welfare check at nineteen eleven East Davidson, Please,
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Nancy said, Sophia plugged it into her GPS. It was
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less than three miles away. Now, this one here is
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a doozy, Nancy continued. Should have just called animal control,
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if you please. Officer Cortes talked back through the receiver.
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If you needed animal control, you should have just called them.
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Why am I going here? Well, to be honest, Nancy droned.
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If she wasn't droning, something was wrong, perfectly honest, mind you.
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The animal isn't of the utmost concern, all right, then?
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So what is Norman Roberts? He ain't been in contact
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with his neighbor and his dog is still outside, if
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you please. Abigail White called and said he hadn't been
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seen over twelve days. Sophia started her car, and the
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engine of her cruiser grumbled to life when she followed
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the directions on her GPS. Oh good, you are going.
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I'll let Chief Lewis know he don't need to go
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all the way down there, Nancy said. Sophia paused, furrowed
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her brows, hissed into the radio. You didn't disturb him,
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did you. Oh, I've been keeping him updated on all
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activity in the town. Nancy chortled back cheerily. Sophia sighed,
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pinched her brow at a stop sign and groaned, let
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him know I'm handling it, and then just stop please,
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he needs his rest. Oh sure, Nancy chirped. Sofia headed
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forward and followed the directions on her phone. I guess
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chemo ain't easy after all, the dispatcher noted, No, it's not,
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Sophia reassured, trying not to look at the picture of
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her father. Sophia took a turn, waited at a traffic light,
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and took another sip of her coffee. Well paved roads
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gave way to gravel as she headed towards the trailer park.
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The soy fields were barren and empty. A corpse of
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oak trees with vibrant orange leaves towered near a fence line,
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and a few crows glowered at her from their perch
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on the phone lines. The road was bumpy, and her
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cruiser had a rough time hopping over all the potholes.
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Monticello was doing well, but not well enough to buy
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new SUV's for the police or repave all the roads,
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and even as well as the city was doing It
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still had its rough areas, just like any city around
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the world. Sophia just counted herself lucky that this particular
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city didn't have many of the other issues as elsewhere
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in the country. While driving past a barren grove of trees,
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her phone chimed again another message from her brother, this
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time insisting Dad would want you here. That almost set
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her off. Feeling the blood pounding heart in her arms
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and burning the sense of rage in her chest, she paused,
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took a deep breath, and counted one, two, three, four, five.
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She released the breath, glanced at the picture of her
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father in uniform she kept in the car, and scowled,
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grumbling to herself, Now he's trying to use you against me.
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She wouldn't dignify her brother's harassment with a response. She
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turned at the entrance of the trailer park and followed
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each left hand turned until she came to the address
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she was looking for. An elderly woman definitely past her
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seventies rushed out of a trailer and swarmed Sophia's SUV.
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Are you here for norm, the woman asked. Sophia nodded,
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stepped out from the car with hardly a glance at
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the photo and considered leaving her phone in the car,
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but then thought better of it. If this was an emergency,
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she would want her phone, and if it wasn't well,
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it was still set on vibrating wouldn't disturb her. The woman, Abigail,
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bombarded Sophia with a ti rate of information. I've been
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waiting for what seems like forever. It's Thanksgiving now, and
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norm promised to have dinner with me. He always promises,
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but rarely keeps them. Almost two weeks ago, though I
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made him swear on his mama's grave he'd come for
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Thanksgiving dinner with me, and he ain't said a word.
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Sophia nodded, took out her notepad, and wrote down any
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pertinent information she could discern. There was none. So the
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last time you spoke to Norman was twelve days ago,
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she asked, Yes, twelve days ago. Abigail confirmed with a nod.
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He'd just got home from a long hall and promised
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me a visit today. Sophia closed the door of her
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car with a slam, and immediately a cacophony of barks
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sounded from behind the trailer. Within a few moments, the
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entire park was filled with warning howls of dogs. He
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does that when anyone comes over, Abigail explained, pointing at
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the small yard behind the trailer. He's been chained up
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this whole time for almost two weeks. Yeah, I just
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been giving him food and water, Abigail explained, looking rather sheepish.
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Sophia grimaced before the yelping died down and only the
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baying of Norman's hound remained. Have you tried contacting Norman directly,
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she pried. Abigail nodded. I banged on the door, both
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front and back, and he ain't said nothing. She explained.
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I called him last week, but it went straight to voicemail.
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Sophia nodded and glanced over at Norman's trailer. None of
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the other trailers were in the best of shape, but
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his this was the most worn down. The paint had
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peeled off of practically every inch. All of the windows
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had been broken and replaced with plywood. The front door
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itself was held in place with a patchwork of duct
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tape and bungee cords. The trailer sat at nearly a
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forty five degree angle at the left corner because the
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foundation had settled unevenly. She noted a security camera duct
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tape just above the front door, and she assumed on
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instinct there was a twin on the other side of
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the house. She didn't mention this to Abigail. Officer Cortez
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took a step forward and asked, so, when was the
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last time you spoke to him directly. Abigail's answer finally
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raised enough alarm that Sofia had to write down the
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answer just about three weeks ago, right before he went
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on the road. Noting it and raising an eyebrow, Sofia
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took another step forward and the dog in the backyard
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began to growl again. Another noise like a dog growling,
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but very muffled, caught her ear.
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You're not safe yet. Weekly, Spooky will be right back.
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Sophia nodded and asked, does he travel often every week?
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Abigail said, as Sophia took another few steps toward the
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front door. He's a trucker. Both nodded. Abigail, finding a
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sense of urgency, yelled back at the dog, hush your face, hank.
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The dog out back whimpered, then shut up, while the
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near silent grumbling indoors still continued. The wind picked up
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and changed direction, and Sophia's nose wrinkled when she caught
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an acrid, metallic scent. Been stinking like that for almost
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a week, Abigail said, seeing her face, don't smell good.
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But it's not a gas leak. No, Sophia agreed, definitely
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not a gas leak. She took a step up onto
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the porch and the dog began barking again. The smell
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definitely wasn't gas, but it wasn't good. It was bittersweet
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and smelled of decomposition. It was the smell of death,
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and she knew it. She'd smelled it before when her
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father passed. And you've tried contacting him directly, Sophia pressed,
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trying to be heard above the hound, her hand hovering
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over the doorknob. Abigail nodded. Every day at three pm
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when the mail comes, Sophia nodded, opening the door. The
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smell was undeniable. Decomposing flesh was somewhere nearby. Over the
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howling barks of the dog, she could still hear that
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growling noise. The door creaked open, The dog whimpered and
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then fell silent, but the growling continued. Norman Roberts, She
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called into the trailer, no answer, This is Officer Cortes
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with Monticello PD. Still nothing but the faint growling and
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the hum of the TV. The living room housed an
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old TV, still running, ads, a dilapidated recliner with a
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bowl of popcorn. Flies buzzed around the bowl, then dispersed
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as she walked forward. The room itself was sparse. There
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was furniture, a TV stand and a TV, a recliner,
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even a bookshelf, but no books or decorations, no pictures,
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no posters, not even a loose receipt. Every step she
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took echoed around that blank room. The growling grew louder,
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but Sophia couldn't place where it was coming from. First,
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she searched the room to her right, a bedroom. She
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walked slightly uphill against the setting foundation boards creaking underfoot.
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The bed wasn't a real bed. It lacked a frame
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and was really only a mattress on the floor. A
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line a nylon cord like the kind use to contain
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a dog, was bolted to the floor near the mattress
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and extended to the doorframe of the room. No pictures
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or anything to make the room homie, just the mattress
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and the cord. The windows were enclosed with boards nailed
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from the inside. Hank the dog began to whimper when
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he heard the floorboards creak. Sophia called back to the station, Nancy,
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I need you to stay on the line with me.
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Her eyes followed the cord from the far end of
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the room to the door she was standing at, and
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she could still hear Hank's whimpering, now an excited yelping,
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as well as the constant grumbling. In that bare bedroom,
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there was a closet to her left and a dresser
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to her right. She considered searching either of them, but
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since this was only a welfare check, she decided against it.
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She doubled back and paced through the living room, the
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ad on TV proclaiming it could cure any subscriber of
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all credit card debts. While the growling grew louder, little
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hairs on Sophia's neck prickled, and she could feel her
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heart begin to speed up. Something wasn't right. When she
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came to the doorway for the next room, hanks yelping silenced,
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and so did the growling. For a brief moment, the
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only things she could hear were the pounding of her
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own heart, and the TV switching over to sports commentary.
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The kitchen had no natural light. Every single window in
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the trailer was covered, and there were no other lights
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aside from the TV and the darkest corner to her left.
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Something shuffled, Hello, No answer, Norman Roberts, this is Officer Cortes.
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I've been called for a welfare check. Still nothing. She
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took a step forward and counted her heartbeats to the
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count of five, one, two, three. A shadow pounced forward
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from the corner and reached toward, hissing. Sophia took one
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step back and pulled her gun from its holster, shouting,
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this is Officer Qrtes with Monticello PD. The cord around
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the goblin's neck caught it and stopped in mid air,
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crashing it to the ground. Hank began whimpering again, and
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when the goblin hissed it Sophia, the dog howled. Nancy,
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I need back up now, Sophia said into her radio,
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Taking a few steps back. The gaunt figure paced on
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all fours, tugging against its leash. It stopped hissing and
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then growled like a dog, ready to strike. When it
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got the chance. The goblin barked at her thrice, then
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sat on its haunches, head tucked between its shoulders and
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glowered at her. It attempted to pull against the collar
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around its neck, to no avail, so it stumbled back
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on all fours to its corner and grabbed an object
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and began chewing on it. Then the smell hit her,
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composing flesh and death and the tangy scent of some
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kind of infection. The goblin screamed at her, then went
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back to gnawing its bone an arm, an entire human arm.
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Sophia glanced to the right end of the kitchen in
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the trailer and saw the main source of the stench,
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the bloated corpse of a man with one missing arm,
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slouched over the table, only barely out of reach from
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the naked goblin. Scratching bike marks riddled his body. The
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creature hissed, shrieked, and then charged her again. Its life
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and lanky frame was caught by the nylon cord in
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mid air and fell to the ground for a second time.
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The broken eyes of a human child glanced at her
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beneath the matted hair on its head. Officer Cortes fled
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the scene, never mind what her father would have thought,
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and emptied the contents of her stomach in front of Abigail.
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They both waited for reinforcements. The second officer arrived, the
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baying of hounds filled the air, and ninety seconds after
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entering the trailer, he fled as well. Two more officers
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were called in. Then they called in the EMT, the coroner,
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Animal Services, and Child Protective Services. It took only thirty
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minutes to extract the dog, Hank, a full blooded, unneutered
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male German shepherd. He nearly mauled one of the animal
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control officers and they assumed he would have to be
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put down. The goblin, however, Officer Cortes couldn't leave the scene,
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despite how much she wanted to. Abigail made coffee for
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everyone except Sophia, who got a cup of tea and
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accepted it without argument. Abigail kept her arm wrapped around
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Sofia while the other officers extracted the remaining suspect victim.
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No one was really able to tell at that point
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whatever it was. They had to sedate it just to
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move it from the scene. It wasn't a goblin apprehended
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from the scene but a child, and after she was
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sedated and carted off with the e MTS, Sophia had
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to stick around with the investigators to explain what she'd seen,
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and then, because she was covering for Chief Lewis, follow
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up the rest of the investigation as her instincts predicted.
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Animal Control found another security camera facing the back yard
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when they caught Hank. CPS found a camera in the
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kitchen while they were trapping the child. Officers found another
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camera in the bedroom hidden in a corner where Sophia
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couldn't see. Chains and nylon cords everywhere, whips, handcuffs, and
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muzzles for both dogs and humans in the bedroom and kitchen.
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That night, on the drive home after everything was revealed,
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Sophia talked to her father via the picture of him
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she kept on her dashboard. As she talked, she reflected
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on what she'd seen. She couldn't stay stoic like her
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father had been, and she'd been finding herself discovering more
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00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:03.279
more differences between the two of them. At home, she
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actually called her mother and explained what had happened. Further
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investigation was required, and searching around the house found even
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more evidence of more torture to the child.
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Don't go away weekly, Spooky will be right.
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Back, cages that were too small for Hank, more restraints
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and tethers. Physically, the child looked to be eight. That
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was almost a relief to everyone involved. Then a researcher
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00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:37.519
found medical records that Norman Roberts had a wife that
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died in childbirth nineteen years ago, but even the county
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coroner couldn't find a death certificate for the baby. The
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next week, Chief Lewis took a turn for the worst
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and Sophia had to helm the investigation. She was there
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the day the investigators found something strange in the backyard
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and began to dig. At the end of the day,
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they'd recovered bones from corpses of four different children, all
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aged between five and eleven. The graves were unmarked and
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bore all appearances of just simply being holes Norman dug
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just to dump the evidence. Digging under the trailers showed
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dozens of external hard drives, the source of the slump
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in the foundation, constituting days of footage documenting the torture
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of children. Sophia herself had to search records for missing
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children and eventually found four missing person reports that all
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coincided with the apparent ages of the children she made.
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Nancy make calls to the families. That night, she called
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her brother and talking about everything she was seeing, they'd
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managed to go thirty minutes without an argument. Searching the
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bedroom eventually turned up a laptop with over a decade
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worth of footage. Most of it had been scrubbed, but
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there were highlight reels from over the years and at
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least six months of security footage. The security footage was
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most hours and hours of nothing, just Hank barking out
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back or Abigail standing at the front door, but sometimes
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Norman would go out back to fetch Hank, and that
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coincided with the highlight reel, which were almost exclusively Norman
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chaining down the girl in the bedroom, then encouraging the
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dog to have his way with her. Each day, a
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new horror from the case awaited Sophia. Norman had initially
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kept a cadre of five children in his home, only
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one of them related to him. Over time, all of
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them had died off but one. No one in the
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community had reported anything wrong because they didn't think there
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was much wrong with a grown man blocking out his
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windows and keeping secrets a month later, and Sophia had
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learned that the remaining child was really Norman Robert's own progeny,
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with his wife really dying in childbirth. Shortly after the
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death of his wife, he had adopted four other children
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and then highlander style chained them up in the house
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and systematically starved them to see who would survive the longest.
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Videos showed a marked change in his torture of the
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children when he acquired Hank. The dog was eventually put down,
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and normally Sofia would feel kind of bad for an
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innocent animal getting caught up in crime like this, but
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after the footage she saw, she couldn't feel bad. Toxicology
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reports of Norman Roberts showed that when he died, he
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had a bad heart and had taken too many pills
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for a rectile dysfunction. It was a simple case of
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trying to make himself too horny when his heart couldn't
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take it. He died at the kitchen table, and the
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only thing that had saved his daughter was the fact
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that his arm was just close enough she was able
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to rip it off and use it for sustenance. Before
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Officer now Chief Cortes had arrived. The girl had no name,
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she had no story other than what the investigators could discover.
379
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She didn't have a way to explain what had happened.
380
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She had nothing. She was nearly twenty years old, trapped
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forever in the body of a malnourished eight year old
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with the mind of a beast, and that was about it.
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Sophia wished she could keep track of the child, but honestly,
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that's not what Chief Lewis would have done. And even
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if her father would have followed up, he was dead now,
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00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:22.319
so it really didn't matter. Over the course of this investigation,
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she learned that she admired him, but she was nothing
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00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:30.519
like him. Sophia Cortes would never be the same. A
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00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:34.000
month later, Chief Cortes got a text on her phone.
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00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:37.079
Are you going to be here or not? Her brother asked.
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She tapped back, I'll be there in time for dinner,
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she thought, then added, just like Dad would want turkey
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shoot by David O'Hanlon. The white sheet was a roarshack
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test of ruddy blooms across the uneven surface. Sheriff Eldenhart
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00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:11.799
dabbed Vapo rub on his upper lip as he entered
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00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:15.720
the makeshift morgue of Rhoda Baines's office. It was little
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more than a meat locker built along the back wall
398
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of the country Smiles dentistry. The tiny township of Fiddler's
399
00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:27.400
Gap rarely needed a morgue, and nestled in the Ozark Mountains,
400
00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:31.720
they didn't call on a dentist much either. Still, between
401
00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:35.960
her dental practice and double duty as county coroner, Rhoda's
402
00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:40.599
office stayed busy enough. Deputy Alex Hargrove was new to
403
00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:43.880
the area despite eight years in law enforcement. This was
404
00:25:43.880 --> 00:25:46.799
his first corpse, and he slathered the Vapo rub on
405
00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:50.279
his lip into a greasy mustache. Rodo waved him off
406
00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:53.359
when he offered her the jar, and she chuckled softly.
407
00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:58.359
The sound was somewhere between melodious playfulness and a braying mule,
408
00:25:58.839 --> 00:26:01.000
and it brought a smile to the stone face of
409
00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:04.839
Sheriff Heart. Rda snapped on a pair of nitrial gloves
410
00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:08.119
and passed the box to the cops, who did the same.
411
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Heart flipped on the articulated examination light. He nodded to Roda,
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00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:16.440
who pulled the sheet back like a loungejacked magician clearing
413
00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:22.000
a tablecloth. From beneath the guest's glasses. Whoo, Deputy Hargrove
414
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:26.680
leaned away. That's not what I was expecting. Nope, Heart
415
00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:30.920
added simply. The body was largely held together by the
416
00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:34.200
remains of his clothing. The face consisted of a few
417
00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:38.000
patches of flesh too stubborn to come off. The eyes
418
00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:41.079
were gone, along with the lips, which left the tobacco
419
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and blood stained teeth grinning around a maw occupied only
420
00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:49.599
by the stumpy remains of the victim's tongue. The spine
421
00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:53.200
was a stretch of ashen desert between ravaged muscles, with
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00:26:53.319 --> 00:26:57.640
the soft tissue of the throat completely absent. Heart walked
423
00:26:57.640 --> 00:26:59.960
along the length of the steel table as he can
424
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:05.920
continued his observations. Holes ranging from pencil with to fist sized,
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00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:09.119
dotted the torso and the flannel shirt was in tatters
426
00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:12.640
around the wounds. The connective tissue of the left arm
427
00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:15.480
had been torn away, leaving the appendage in his sleeve
428
00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:19.680
but no longer attached to the body. The gut was
429
00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:22.920
hollowed like a jack o' lantern. The shredded blue jeans
430
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:25.759
held much of the same. Heart poked his finger into
431
00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:28.839
a hole in the man's thigh, then examined the bear
432
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:34.279
tibia below. Okay, so what are we looking at here?
433
00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:39.240
He finally asked, dead Caucasian male in his thirties. No id,
434
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:41.839
but he does have a tattoo on his forearm. The
435
00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:45.319
part that wasn't eight, that is Roda used a sponge
436
00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:48.640
to clean the Torso Foxy found our victim about five
437
00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:51.279
this morning and brought him to me. I have left
438
00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:55.880
him alone, but I did a cursory examination. Hell, Foxy
439
00:27:55.960 --> 00:27:58.559
shakes like a tweaker in an earthquake. How'd the old
440
00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:02.119
fart bring? Hargrove waved his hand at the body this
441
00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:08.759
without it falling apart carefully. Rohdea shrugged. All right? But
442
00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:11.200
what was an old hermit doing out in the woods
443
00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:14.920
that early? The deputy asked, Foxy hunts turkeys for the
444
00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:18.920
families that can't afford one for Thanksgiving. Hart answered, the
445
00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:22.759
Fox family's done it since the Great Depression. Foxy doesn't
446
00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:26.079
like people, but he cares about them. He prodded another hole.
447
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:28.960
What did you mean by the part that wasn't eight?
448
00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:35.160
The soft tissue was destroyed throat, crook of the arm, belly, eyes,
449
00:28:35.319 --> 00:28:38.519
the intestines are missing. Large portions, and some of the
450
00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:41.960
organs are gone in their entirety, wrote it. Took a
451
00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:46.039
gauge and measured a puncture wound for their benefit. These
452
00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:50.359
are peck marks. Well, shit, I'll go put out the
453
00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:54.720
apb right away. Hargrove clapped his hands together, big ass
454
00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:59.359
bird red thing on his head, answers to woody Heart, smirked,
455
00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:03.799
then cleared his throat. Scavengers dig in through the soft spots.
456
00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:07.559
Could be vultures found him, That was my first thought.
457
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:11.200
Roda rolled the man on his side and raised his shirt.
458
00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:16.119
More peck marks and long cuts adorned the flesh. There's
459
00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:21.759
no lividity, however, meaning Heart scratched at his stubble, suddenly
460
00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:24.799
wishing he'd stop to make himself presentable before coming to
461
00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:27.720
see Rhoda. He snapped his fingers as best the gloves
462
00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:32.000
would allow. Shit, he bled out. Roda bit her lip
463
00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:36.720
and smiled. Precisely. He was either very recently dead or
464
00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:42.799
never mind, that's ridiculous, Maybe not, Hargrove said, catching up
465
00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:45.599
with Rhoda's line of thought. Maybe he fell and knocked
466
00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:48.599
himself out cold, might have been in a coma or something,
467
00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:52.799
and they thought he was dead, perhaps Roda watched the
468
00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:57.799
young deputy for a moment. Pretty good theory regardless, We
469
00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:00.519
need Foxy to take us where he found him. Heart
470
00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:04.039
leaned in to examine the cuts. This is a murder
471
00:30:04.440 --> 00:30:05.839
until we prove otherwise.
472
00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:15.160
There's more scares where that came from. Weekly Spooky will
473
00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:16.279
be right back.
474
00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:21.359
Ben Wah. Foxy Foxworth the third leaned on the tailgate
475
00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:23.759
of the Chevy Sea one hundred with his pipe clenched
476
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:26.920
between his teeth. The truck was four different colors and
477
00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:29.519
two shades of rust, putting it at odds with the
478
00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:33.880
palatial home beyond. The Foxworths made their money in copper
479
00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:37.559
mining and then reinvested in oil, which ensured Foxy could
480
00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:42.200
live comfortably for twenty lifetimes. Still, he never liked people
481
00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.000
enough to bother in pressing them, so he only kept
482
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.160
the truck running at best. The octagenarian sharpened the thin
483
00:30:49.240 --> 00:30:53.319
bladed knife meticulously while he watched the battered Dodge Durango
484
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:57.079
crunch up the gravel drive. Foxy kept the trees clear
485
00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:00.000
so he could welcome any guests with a warning shot
486
00:31:00.279 --> 00:31:04.000
should they come up uninvited. Foxy set the wetstone down
487
00:31:04.039 --> 00:31:07.440
and sheathed the blade. Before going to meet the officers.
488
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:10.559
I ain't kill him, Foxy said, before the window was
489
00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:14.359
down all the way. I didn't reckon you, did. Hart
490
00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:18.559
put the suv in park and turned his hands over thoughtfully. Now,
491
00:31:19.480 --> 00:31:23.240
if he'd been shot, that'd be different. Well he weren't.
492
00:31:23.799 --> 00:31:26.839
Foxy stared at the sheriff before sighing and opening the
493
00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:30.279
back door of the Durango. If we're going back out there,
494
00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:32.720
you're taking me to get some groceries. On the way back,
495
00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:37.039
I forgot bread. I think we can manage that. The
496
00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:40.119
ride along the old highway took them to Caroline Marvel's
497
00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:43.480
dine in motel and eatery, which counted as the area's
498
00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:46.880
fine dining. The girl was barely twenty and inherited the
499
00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:51.000
establishment after her parents were murdered. She didn't know much
500
00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:54.200
about business, but heart made sure she turned a profit.
501
00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:58.039
Any petty offense would be overlooked if you went straight
502
00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:03.480
to the dine in and tipped very generously. Caroline waved
503
00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:05.400
from the front door as she finished setting up the
504
00:32:05.400 --> 00:32:09.160
sandwich board advertising the annual community Thanksgiving dinner that evening.
505
00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:12.200
The locals started the tradition when the mines dried up
506
00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:14.680
in the last days of the nineteenth century and kept
507
00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:17.680
it alive ever since. Heart even made a trip to
508
00:32:17.720 --> 00:32:20.799
nearby Marshall to pick up rolls in canned cranberry sauce.
509
00:32:21.319 --> 00:32:23.720
It didn't seem like much of a contribution compared to
510
00:32:23.720 --> 00:32:26.440
the work others put in, but no one was hungry
511
00:32:26.519 --> 00:32:30.359
enough to eat the sheriff's cooking, including him. The general
512
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:33.240
stores freezer section provided the meals he didn't get at
513
00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:37.720
the diner. You've been to the dining yet, Alex Hart asked,
514
00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:41.400
It's on my list of things to do, Sir Hargrove
515
00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:43.680
stared out the window at the valley just beyond the
516
00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:48.559
flimsy guardrail. You really think it was birds. Weird shit
517
00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:51.359
happens out here. Heart slowed for the turn on the
518
00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:55.000
old logging road. Foxy, we gonna be able to reach
519
00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:59.519
this spot mostly. Foxy puffed the sweet rich smoke between
520
00:32:59.559 --> 00:33:03.519
the office. Game trail is pretty clear, but she's gonna
521
00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:06.720
be bumpy. We'll have to go across the holler on foot, though,
522
00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:09.640
and then it's about a mile as the crow flies.
523
00:33:10.440 --> 00:33:12.640
Why'd you go all that way to shoot a turkey?
524
00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:18.359
Hargrove asked, Ever hunted turkey boy Foxy squinted at the deputy.
525
00:33:19.079 --> 00:33:22.319
Hargrove turned in his seat. No, I used to hunt
526
00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:25.480
deer back home, but we don't get a lot of turkeys.
527
00:33:26.279 --> 00:33:30.759
They're elusive, Foxy grunted. The valley we're going to has
528
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:33.720
natural borders that aren't worth the effort to most hunters,
529
00:33:34.200 --> 00:33:37.640
human and otherwise. When I was a kid, we called
530
00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:40.319
the valley turkey shoot because there were so many of
531
00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:43.519
them critters about. Then came the quake of fifty three.
532
00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:47.160
Weren't no easy way out there after that. No one
533
00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:50.759
hunts turkey shoot no more. So what made you make
534
00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:54.559
the trip? Foxy Heart's teeth clacked together as the tire
535
00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:58.319
dropped into a pothole. Been hearing the gobblers out there
536
00:33:58.359 --> 00:34:01.799
for a bit. They're getting like there's too many of them,
537
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:03.839
So I went out to check and found a path.
538
00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:07.759
Foxy scratched his chin. When they opened the dam a
539
00:34:07.799 --> 00:34:10.519
few months back, it must have moved some stuff. Left
540
00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:14.199
a pass straight through to Big Creek. Heart turned onto
541
00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:17.039
the trail. They bounced in their seats until the tires
542
00:34:17.039 --> 00:34:21.079
found Foxy's ruts and settled in for a marginally smoother ride.
543
00:34:21.639 --> 00:34:24.559
Hargrove braced himself against the dashboard and shook his head
544
00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:28.719
while they banged down the path. This is a more
545
00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:32.760
than bumpy. Hargrove's head thumped against the window. Are we
546
00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:45.199
there yet? About another twenty minutes, Foxy laughed. Foxy had
547
00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:48.320
a great sense of time. Twenty one minutes later, they
548
00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:50.840
got out of the suv, put on their coats, and
549
00:34:50.920 --> 00:34:54.960
grabbed some water bottles. Is that Heart pointed at the
550
00:34:55.000 --> 00:35:00.000
metallic backpack. What I think it is? Oh damn uh,
551
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:03.599
I forgot to tell you about that. Hargrove said, you
552
00:35:03.719 --> 00:35:06.039
sent me to Circe County to buy their old gear
553
00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:10.360
last week. Remember I don't remember a flame thrower being
554
00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:14.159
on the list. Heart scowled. They used to burn weed
555
00:35:14.199 --> 00:35:17.199
crops with it, and I thought it might be useful.
556
00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:22.719
Hargrove shrugged. Besides, it was only fifty bucks. A flame
557
00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:26.039
thrower is never going to be useful. Heart shut the
558
00:35:26.119 --> 00:35:29.360
latch and shook his head. Maybe next time you can
559
00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:33.880
find a bazuka. Hargrove's smile beamed. I think they have
560
00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:37.199
two over in PULASKI want me to call them. Heart
561
00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:39.880
pinched the bridge of his nose and started into the woods.
562
00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:43.480
They used the overabundance of rocks as natural stairs down
563
00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:48.519
the slope of the holler, large outcroppings loomed overhead. Foxy
564
00:35:48.639 --> 00:35:52.039
crunched through the fallen leaves into tritus, leading the way
565
00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:55.800
to a groove left by a long extinct waterfall. It
566
00:35:55.920 --> 00:35:59.239
was steep and narrow, but craggy enough to allow the
567
00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:03.199
geriatric to shimmy up. Hart and Hargrove followed his lead.
568
00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:06.039
They made it to the edge of Big Creek, where
569
00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:08.760
they took a breather on top of a large flat rock.
570
00:36:09.480 --> 00:36:12.880
The dam at Lake Pocahontas drained along the formerly dry
571
00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:16.719
riverbed that people took to calling Big Creek. At the moment,
572
00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:20.360
it wasn't particularly big. It looked like Foxy was right,
573
00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:23.639
and the opening of the spillway had displaced dozens of boulders,
574
00:36:23.960 --> 00:36:27.480
many as large as a car along this path. A
575
00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:32.079
series of calls sounded nearby, a rapid putt, put putt
576
00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:36.159
that faded down and a way from where it had began. Boys,
577
00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:40.360
we done been spotted, Foxy said, and pressed himself up,
578
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:44.599
stretching his back before steeping into the creek. That call
579
00:36:44.679 --> 00:36:49.840
means dangers close. A single yelp answered the call from
580
00:36:49.880 --> 00:36:53.639
a tree top, then another to the other side. What's
581
00:36:53.719 --> 00:36:57.480
that mean, Hargrove asked. Another half dozen of the short
582
00:36:57.480 --> 00:37:03.000
calls came down. Foxyquinted at the tree tops. That's the
583
00:37:03.039 --> 00:37:06.960
others saying there, watching us. Come on, We're almost there.
584
00:37:07.480 --> 00:37:09.599
The leaves just on the other side of the creek
585
00:37:09.599 --> 00:37:12.840
were still damp with blood from where the John Doe
586
00:37:12.840 --> 00:37:17.199
had been killed, making the forest flora slippery mess. Heart
587
00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:20.199
huffed into his hands and rubbed them together. The man's
588
00:37:20.239 --> 00:37:23.360
weapon lay undisturbed next to the largest collection of blood.
589
00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:28.559
A turkey feather twisted lazily in the puddle. Heart knelt
590
00:37:28.599 --> 00:37:32.559
and collected the shotgun. Inspecting scratch marks across the receiver.
591
00:37:33.400 --> 00:37:36.519
He eased the pump back and found a shell still
592
00:37:36.519 --> 00:37:39.719
in the chamber. A brown streak darted from the tree
593
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:43.280
tops and disappeared behind a knee high stone. Heart brought
594
00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:47.760
the shotgun up on instinct. The hell was that, Hargrove
595
00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:50.760
moved his hand to his pistol. Was that a bobcat,
596
00:37:52.159 --> 00:37:58.119
no numb nuts, Foxy laughed, Was a turkey? Turkeys can't fly.
597
00:37:58.880 --> 00:38:02.559
The deputy saw the other man expressions inside. Can they
598
00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:08.719
damn city folk? Foxy grumbled. The bird bobbled out of
599
00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:12.519
its cover and heart lowered the gun. It hissed once
600
00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:15.199
and called out in a burst of clucks and yelps.
601
00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:19.000
Another turkey answered him and lighted nearer the three men.
602
00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:23.599
Two more came down. The third glided past Foxy and
603
00:38:23.639 --> 00:38:28.800
settled beside him. The five turkeys, fat juicy gobblers, started
604
00:38:28.840 --> 00:38:34.480
walking slowly. They're dangling. Snoods swelled and rows erect above
605
00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:39.519
their beaks, and their wattles flared out. What's with the
606
00:38:39.559 --> 00:38:45.280
bird boners, Hargrove asked, that's the snood hard answered means
607
00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:49.400
they're excited. I know I'm sexy, but you're really not
608
00:38:49.480 --> 00:38:52.400
my type, Hargrove said to the closest of the flock.
609
00:38:53.599 --> 00:38:57.000
Six more turkeys dropped into the gaps between the others,
610
00:38:57.480 --> 00:39:01.960
also mail and also engorged. With the extra members, The
611
00:39:02.039 --> 00:39:06.960
formation became clear, and the birds circled the men. Foxy's
612
00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:11.679
knife hissed as it cleared the leather sheath. They're doing
613
00:39:11.760 --> 00:39:16.079
a predator check, Foxy shook his head. They want to
614
00:39:16.119 --> 00:39:19.519
make sure we're not a threat, that's all. Then, why
615
00:39:19.599 --> 00:39:22.960
you get Nancy Hart looked at the old man and
616
00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:27.559
the blade trembling between his bony fingers. Sons of bitches
617
00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:31.880
are huge, not one less than thirty pounds, and look
618
00:39:31.880 --> 00:39:34.360
at the snowed on that one. He stepped closer to
619
00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:36.679
the sheriff and pointed out one of the birds, then
620
00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:41.480
redirected his finger and that one. What about it? Hargrove
621
00:39:41.559 --> 00:39:45.559
eased his pistol out. It's probably a foreign concept to you,
622
00:39:45.920 --> 00:39:49.119
Hart said, with a smirk. But the ladies lack big ones.
623
00:39:49.719 --> 00:39:52.719
There's one dominant male in an area. Why are there
624
00:39:52.760 --> 00:39:56.920
two massive toms in this group? Hargrove bent and squinted
625
00:39:56.920 --> 00:39:59.760
at one of the accused as they continued their death
626
00:39:59.800 --> 00:40:03.800
mark around the trio. That's a mighty interesting question, Sheriff.
627
00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:08.280
I got a better one.
628
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:09.920
Did you hear that? Better check the locks on your
629
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:13.440
doors weekly, spooky, We'll be right back.
630
00:40:15.559 --> 00:40:18.119
He shifted to a two handed grip on his weapon.
631
00:40:19.079 --> 00:40:22.039
Why the fuck has that one got flannels stuck in
632
00:40:22.119 --> 00:40:25.920
its chest hair? Heart glanced at the bird and saw
633
00:40:25.960 --> 00:40:29.119
the shred of red shirt dangling from the beard and
634
00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:32.800
the slightly two dark spots on its feathers where blood
635
00:40:32.800 --> 00:40:37.199
had caked on. He saw it, but he didn't understand,
636
00:40:38.119 --> 00:40:41.960
not until the bird flapped toward him, gobbling ferociously. The
637
00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:44.559
sheriff back pedaled and fell, with the bird coming straight
638
00:40:44.599 --> 00:40:47.280
for him. He raised the shotgun, barring the creature's attack.
639
00:40:47.440 --> 00:40:50.400
Its claws scratched at the steel along with the older markings,
640
00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:53.480
and Heart realized just what had happened to the dead
641
00:40:53.519 --> 00:40:57.920
man and wrote his orthodontic mortuary. Deputy Hargrove kicked the
642
00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:00.000
bird like a game winning field goal and opened up
643
00:41:00.039 --> 00:41:02.559
up with a barrage of gunfire. Before it could right itself,
644
00:41:02.719 --> 00:41:05.119
he grabbed the Sheriff's collar and hoisted him to his feet.
645
00:41:05.239 --> 00:41:08.719
The turkeys were no longer circling. They stood perfectly still,
646
00:41:08.760 --> 00:41:12.840
looking at their fallen comrade and then at the trespassers.
647
00:41:13.559 --> 00:41:18.159
The birds took methodical steps forward, clucking between themselves, and
648
00:41:18.199 --> 00:41:21.960
the circle began to dilate in on the humans. Foxy
649
00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:24.840
snatched the shotgun from Heart and fired, leaving a cloud
650
00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:27.719
of drifting feathers where a turkey used to be we
651
00:41:27.760 --> 00:41:31.159
ought to be running. The three men sprinted from Big Creek,
652
00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:34.559
blasting away at their attackers. The birds gave chase. The
653
00:41:34.599 --> 00:41:37.480
trees rustled with excitement, and the hens began swooping to
654
00:41:37.559 --> 00:41:40.639
the ground and joined in the pursuit. A fierce primal
655
00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:44.119
gobble filled the valley, and snapping branches signaled the coming
656
00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:47.679
of more feathery fiends. Hart looked over his shoulder in
657
00:41:47.719 --> 00:41:52.440
time to see the single Titanic beast tearing from the underbrush.
658
00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:55.840
The Saint Bernard size tom lowered its head and ran
659
00:41:55.960 --> 00:41:57.639
for all it was worth to catch up with the
660
00:41:57.639 --> 00:42:00.320
rest of his rafter. He quickly passed the other, who
661
00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:03.559
fell in formation behind him. Hargrove dashed across the creek
662
00:42:03.599 --> 00:42:06.679
and took a knee, laying fire down for Heart. Foxy
663
00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:08.920
was hobbling along as fast as his eighty three year
664
00:42:08.960 --> 00:42:11.599
old legs would carry him, but the birds were closing in.
665
00:42:11.920 --> 00:42:15.079
Heart stopped, turned and lifted the senior over his shoulder.
666
00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:18.000
The slide locked back on Hargrove's pistol, and he reached
667
00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:22.079
for a fresh magazine, only to find the holder was empty.
668
00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:25.880
Hart crossed the creek and dumped Foxy into the deputy's arms,
669
00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:28.480
wheezing from the effort, The men made it another hundred
670
00:42:28.519 --> 00:42:33.199
feet before Hargrove slowed and tugged Hart's coat. Wait, now's
671
00:42:33.239 --> 00:42:36.239
not the time to wait. Kid, Heart turned and stopped cold.
672
00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:39.400
Foxy limped ahead and rested against a tree to see
673
00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:42.440
what was the hold up. He watched the birds flapping
674
00:42:42.440 --> 00:42:45.199
their wings and calling out in frustration as they paced
675
00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:47.159
the near side of the creek among the array of
676
00:42:47.199 --> 00:42:50.719
scattered boulders. He raised the shotgun to his shoulder and
677
00:42:50.800 --> 00:42:53.360
lined the beads side up with the large dominant mail.
678
00:42:54.079 --> 00:42:58.400
Don't shoot, Hargrove said, patting the air. It's turkey load.
679
00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:02.519
He won't get past the feather on that thing, kids right,
680
00:43:02.800 --> 00:43:08.719
Heart concurred, why'd they stop because they're dumb, Foxy grumbled
681
00:43:09.079 --> 00:43:11.840
them rocks used to be one big heap. They don't
682
00:43:11.880 --> 00:43:15.400
realize the wall is gone and they never needed to
683
00:43:15.400 --> 00:43:20.360
fly over it. Heart backed away slowly. Let's get back
684
00:43:20.400 --> 00:43:24.199
to town and call game and fish man. Eating turkeys
685
00:43:24.280 --> 00:43:30.239
is their jurisdiction, why, Hargrove asked, Why are they eating meat?
686
00:43:30.760 --> 00:43:34.280
They always ate meat, numb nuts. Foxy lowered the shotgun.
687
00:43:34.760 --> 00:43:38.199
Turkeys eat lizards and snakes. They get big enough, I reckon,
688
00:43:38.199 --> 00:43:42.880
they start on squirrels and groundhogs too. That monster probably
689
00:43:42.920 --> 00:43:46.400
takes down anything he comes across, though, And the birds
690
00:43:46.440 --> 00:43:50.239
with the biggest face dick gets all the turkey pussy.
691
00:43:50.599 --> 00:43:55.880
Hargrove muttered, Shit, these others are his babies. They got
692
00:43:55.880 --> 00:44:00.599
their daddy's taste buds. What is he doing? Heart pointed
693
00:44:00.599 --> 00:44:03.280
at the father of the flock. The big tom took
694
00:44:03.320 --> 00:44:06.920
a hesitant stepped forward, prodding the ground with long, slender
695
00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:10.559
toes before curling his claws into it. The snood dangling
696
00:44:10.599 --> 00:44:14.000
over the side of his face twitched and swelled. He
697
00:44:14.079 --> 00:44:18.119
clucked twice. Some of the hens answered with yelps and putts.
698
00:44:18.440 --> 00:44:21.559
Two males mounted the boulders, their heads jerking side to
699
00:44:21.639 --> 00:44:24.800
side quizzically, before one of them hopped down and landed
700
00:44:24.800 --> 00:44:27.599
on the other side. The leader threw his head back
701
00:44:27.639 --> 00:44:31.000
and gobbled, causing a chain of jovial calls from his brood.
702
00:44:32.599 --> 00:44:36.840
I think they just figured out they can leave, Heart whispered.
703
00:44:37.760 --> 00:44:41.559
They got everything they need here, Hargrove replied. The smaller
704
00:44:41.599 --> 00:44:44.840
birds squatted and wiggled in place before launching themselves into
705
00:44:44.880 --> 00:44:47.199
the air, soaring just over the heads of the men.
706
00:44:49.159 --> 00:44:52.920
Like you said, kid, they got their daddy's taste buds.
707
00:44:53.440 --> 00:44:56.639
Heart jogging toward the car. It's Thanksgiving. They're gonna want
708
00:44:56.639 --> 00:44:58.639
to have supper with the family, just like everyone else.
709
00:44:59.480 --> 00:45:04.400
The dying Foxy said grimly. They can't fly for long,
710
00:45:04.679 --> 00:45:07.039
but they can go where we can't. We can still
711
00:45:07.079 --> 00:45:09.760
beat them there if we hurry, heart said, on the run.
712
00:45:10.199 --> 00:45:12.960
The tom cried out and leaped onto a boulder. From
713
00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:16.519
his height, he was considerably lean thanks to his largely
714
00:45:16.559 --> 00:45:21.880
carnivorous diet. Hargrove watched him for a moment. Something that
715
00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:26.639
big can't fly, right, he asked, I must have missed
716
00:45:26.639 --> 00:45:29.960
Animal Planet when they was talking about giant flesh eating turkeys.
717
00:45:30.320 --> 00:45:36.280
Foxy told him the turkey squatted, Fuck me. Hargrove turned
718
00:45:36.320 --> 00:45:38.639
and darted after the sheriff, With the bird's wings beating
719
00:45:38.920 --> 00:45:46.599
powerfully overhead. The Durango slid to a stop in front
720
00:45:46.639 --> 00:45:49.599
of the dine in, with its lights flashing and siren screaming.
721
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.079
Foxy leaned against the window, still panting from exertion. Hargrove
722
00:45:54.119 --> 00:45:56.480
sprang out and addressed the line of diners making their
723
00:45:56.480 --> 00:46:00.559
plates along the buffet tables. Everybody, get inside. The turkeys
724
00:46:00.559 --> 00:46:05.719
are coming, he shouted. Everyone cheered, No, not the ones
725
00:46:05.719 --> 00:46:09.000
to eat, he corrected, the ones that are gonna eat you.
726
00:46:09.800 --> 00:46:13.400
The residents looked at the young man curiously and exchanged glances.
727
00:46:14.039 --> 00:46:17.400
Some eased further from the bedraggled deputy, and others burst
728
00:46:17.400 --> 00:46:21.679
into laughter. None of them moved inside. Listen up, Hart
729
00:46:21.719 --> 00:46:24.719
cocked his rifle. The deputy gave you a lawful order.
730
00:46:24.840 --> 00:46:27.480
There's a flock of rabid turkeys attacking folks, and I'm
731
00:46:27.480 --> 00:46:30.199
gonna need all of you to proceed to shelter immediately.
732
00:46:31.400 --> 00:46:35.840
Turkeys can't get rabies, Sheriff Barney Allen said, And they
733
00:46:35.880 --> 00:46:40.360
travel in rafters, not flocks. William Bli added, it's a
734
00:46:40.440 --> 00:46:43.480
new raby's heart pinched the bridge of his nose. It's
735
00:46:43.679 --> 00:46:47.039
from China. It doesn't matter what it is. Rhoda pushed
736
00:46:47.039 --> 00:46:49.119
her way between the folks gathered around her table of
737
00:46:49.119 --> 00:46:52.239
assorted pies. Fox he found a dead man this morning.
738
00:46:52.360 --> 00:46:54.599
And what the sheriff saying lines up? We need to
739
00:46:54.599 --> 00:46:57.119
get you all inside. That's why you don't let no
740
00:46:57.239 --> 00:47:01.119
Dennis be the corner, Barney grumbled. Let alone own a woman, Dennis.
741
00:47:01.239 --> 00:47:03.679
It all sounds fake to me. Ain't no such thing
742
00:47:03.719 --> 00:47:07.480
as killer turkeys, the killer turkey that dive bomb. Barney
743
00:47:07.800 --> 00:47:11.199
did not agree. The man crashed into the arms of Willard,
744
00:47:11.360 --> 00:47:14.320
who screamed highly as the bird thrust its head into
745
00:47:14.320 --> 00:47:17.599
Barney's throat and wriggled deeper into its prey. He dumped
746
00:47:17.599 --> 00:47:20.679
Barney to the sidewalk and ran, shouldering smaller diners on
747
00:47:20.719 --> 00:47:23.719
his way. A tom hit him between the shoulders, driving
748
00:47:23.800 --> 00:47:26.960
him through a table full of greens. Everyone panicked. Some
749
00:47:27.039 --> 00:47:29.159
of the mountain folk drew guns and fired at the
750
00:47:29.159 --> 00:47:32.000
birds that were gathering overhead and landing in the streets.
751
00:47:32.280 --> 00:47:34.639
The sharp ping of a ricochet was followed by the
752
00:47:34.639 --> 00:47:37.480
hollering of the bystander it struck. More of the residents
753
00:47:37.559 --> 00:47:39.559
ran for the gun racks in their vehicles for more
754
00:47:39.599 --> 00:47:44.480
formidable weapons. Most just ran. A shotgun blast removed the
755
00:47:44.480 --> 00:47:48.639
car mirror a foot behind heart every fucking time, Heart groaned.
756
00:47:48.800 --> 00:47:51.199
These yahoos are going to kill as many of themselves
757
00:47:51.239 --> 00:47:53.599
as the goddamn turkeys. Do we need to wrap this
758
00:47:53.679 --> 00:47:57.559
thing up. I'm open to suggestions. Boss Hargrove kicked a
759
00:47:57.599 --> 00:48:00.400
hen against the side of the diner. A jake on
760
00:48:00.440 --> 00:48:03.039
his back and pecked his skull. He shrieked as it
761
00:48:03.079 --> 00:48:05.320
tore a strip of flesh from his neck. He swatted
762
00:48:05.320 --> 00:48:07.599
at it, only for the foul fowl to roll and
763
00:48:07.639 --> 00:48:10.480
slice his hand with its spurs. The bird pushed its
764
00:48:10.519 --> 00:48:13.000
head into his flesh, and the deputy fell to his knees.
765
00:48:13.159 --> 00:48:18.000
There was a boom, and the attack finally ceased. Hargrove
766
00:48:18.039 --> 00:48:19.920
reached behind him and pulled the severed head of the
767
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.079
juvenile from his collar. Feathers drifted calmly around him, and
768
00:48:24.159 --> 00:48:26.880
Caroline winked at him from behind the sights of her shotgun.
769
00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:30.039
She pivoted and hit another, and then a third. Hargrove
770
00:48:30.079 --> 00:48:32.519
tried to ignore the swelling of his own snood while
771
00:48:32.519 --> 00:48:35.159
he watched the girl pick off murder turkeys like she
772
00:48:35.199 --> 00:48:37.280
was trying to win the big stuffed animal at a
773
00:48:37.320 --> 00:48:41.400
carnival duck shoot. The rafter gathered its numbers, turkey swooped
774
00:48:41.400 --> 00:48:44.480
from the roofs and tackled anyone still running a tom
775
00:48:44.519 --> 00:48:47.119
circle to pick up, clucking angrily after the prey that
776
00:48:47.199 --> 00:48:49.719
cowered beneath it. A pair of smaller jakes had no
777
00:48:49.800 --> 00:48:52.480
problem spotting the man and sprang at him, pecking at
778
00:48:52.480 --> 00:48:54.679
his legs. The man kicked at them and clutched the
779
00:48:54.800 --> 00:48:57.079
undercarriage as the birds tried to drag him out, and
780
00:48:57.280 --> 00:49:00.039
artery tore open in his fight, splattering the road and
781
00:49:00.159 --> 00:49:03.800
drawing more turkeys to the party. Gunfire erupted, tearing chunks
782
00:49:03.840 --> 00:49:06.039
from the road and managing to kill a jake before
783
00:49:06.039 --> 00:49:08.880
the turkeys leapt back into the air. Bullets pinged through
784
00:49:08.920 --> 00:49:11.400
the body of the truck and the body beneath it.
785
00:49:12.119 --> 00:49:14.559
The Walsh cousins, all six of them that weren't currently
786
00:49:14.599 --> 00:49:17.559
in jail, walked side by side with their automatic rifles,
787
00:49:17.559 --> 00:49:21.400
bucking wildly between whoops and howls of excitement. Bobby Joe
788
00:49:21.400 --> 00:49:24.280
Walsh dropped his empty magazine to the ground and spat
789
00:49:24.360 --> 00:49:27.400
tobacco juice from the corner of his smirking mouth. Don't
790
00:49:27.440 --> 00:49:30.960
worry yourself, none, Sheriff, nothing. The judicious application of the
791
00:49:30.960 --> 00:49:34.800
Second Amendment can't handle. Whoop. The remaining members of the
792
00:49:34.840 --> 00:49:38.239
flock gathered on the storefront eaves. Eddie Walsh dropped one
793
00:49:38.280 --> 00:49:40.840
like a beer can off a fence post. The Mails
794
00:49:40.880 --> 00:49:43.280
threw their heads back and gobbled in unison as the
795
00:49:43.280 --> 00:49:46.119
rest of the Walshes opened fire on them. Why aren't
796
00:49:46.119 --> 00:49:49.639
they attacking anymore, Hard asked while he checked on a
797
00:49:49.679 --> 00:49:53.199
clawed up victim keening in the street. They're just letting
798
00:49:53.199 --> 00:49:57.239
themselves get shot it's like they're waiting for.
799
00:49:57.239 --> 00:50:04.079
Something scares to come. Weekly spooky, We'll be right back.
800
00:50:06.760 --> 00:50:09.159
The alpha turkey plummeted out of the night sky and
801
00:50:09.199 --> 00:50:12.440
flattened Eddie beneath its bulk. Its lanky necks stretched in
802
00:50:12.480 --> 00:50:15.000
a flash, and Bobby Joe's belly spilled open. The other
803
00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:18.079
Walshes found themselves as quickly dismembered before the behemoth turned
804
00:50:18.079 --> 00:50:21.679
its attention to a guttural cry from behind. Willard stood
805
00:50:21.679 --> 00:50:25.760
clutching two lifeless turkeys in his massive fists. His clothes
806
00:50:25.800 --> 00:50:28.639
were torn asunder and he leaked from hundreds of pecks,
807
00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:33.079
but somehow stayed breathing. He threw the carcasses aside. The
808
00:50:33.119 --> 00:50:36.159
tom tore open Eddie's throat and gobbled at its challenger.
809
00:50:36.599 --> 00:50:40.559
Willard roared back, and they charged one another. Heart raised
810
00:50:40.559 --> 00:50:43.599
his rifle, his leg buckled, sending the shot into the sky.
811
00:50:43.920 --> 00:50:46.840
The quartette of hens pecked him until he fell. The
812
00:50:46.920 --> 00:50:49.440
tom leapt on the run and took Willard's head off
813
00:50:49.440 --> 00:50:53.280
as it glided towards the last person still standing. Oh
814
00:50:53.360 --> 00:50:56.320
damn it all the hell. Hargrove reached for his pistol belt,
815
00:50:56.360 --> 00:50:59.000
pulling his baton before the turkey slammed into him. They
816
00:50:59.039 --> 00:51:01.440
crashed through the window of the dinon and slid across
817
00:51:01.440 --> 00:51:04.559
the stained linoleum floor. Hargrove swung the baton up to
818
00:51:04.599 --> 00:51:07.519
deflect the turkey's peck. It reared its bald, pink head
819
00:51:07.559 --> 00:51:10.039
back for another go, and Hargrove grabbed for its two
820
00:51:10.039 --> 00:51:13.159
foot long beard, tearing the hairs from its chest. The
821
00:51:13.159 --> 00:51:16.360
baton thunked off the monster's skull, and the deputy tried
822
00:51:16.400 --> 00:51:18.960
to crawl away before the leathery foot pinned his head
823
00:51:18.960 --> 00:51:22.840
to the tile. Hey Big Bird Heart raised the rifle
824
00:51:23.280 --> 00:51:26.000
time for the main course. He lined the side up
825
00:51:26.039 --> 00:51:29.599
with the beady saurian eye staring back at him. Then
826
00:51:30.679 --> 00:51:34.719
the rafter swarmed him. Between the flurry of attacking fiends,
827
00:51:34.760 --> 00:51:37.599
the sheriff could see Foxy sauntering across the street from
828
00:51:37.599 --> 00:51:40.599
the general store. The geezer puffed his pipe and the
829
00:51:40.639 --> 00:51:44.079
bag of wonderbread swung from his spotted fist. Like terror
830
00:51:44.079 --> 00:51:48.519
turkeys weren't currently murdering the townsfolk. A beak dug into
831
00:51:48.559 --> 00:51:51.599
Heart's cheek, pulling him back to the current crisis. Hart
832
00:51:51.599 --> 00:51:54.159
clamped his teeth onto the bird's throat and kicked another
833
00:51:54.159 --> 00:51:56.559
into the air, snapping his rifle up and blasting it
834
00:51:56.679 --> 00:51:59.400
like a clay pigeon. He punched another, and the group
835
00:51:59.480 --> 00:52:03.079
launched away from their victim. Hargrove tried pressing himself up,
836
00:52:03.320 --> 00:52:06.000
but the tom dribbled his head off the floor. The
837
00:52:06.039 --> 00:52:08.800
deputy wasn't sure which would crack first, but he knew
838
00:52:08.800 --> 00:52:12.199
one of them was imminent. Caroline's shotgun rumbled through the diner.
839
00:52:12.559 --> 00:52:16.119
The tom's tail feathers spread and rustled. It lowered its weight,
840
00:52:16.480 --> 00:52:22.280
putting pressure on Hargrove's skull, preparing to lunge. Then its
841
00:52:22.320 --> 00:52:26.840
offspring started screaming. The alpha turned. The turkeys flailed and
842
00:52:26.880 --> 00:52:29.719
flopped in the streets. Some dashed madly, with their feathers
843
00:52:29.760 --> 00:52:34.559
burning brightly. The octagenarian stepped into the diner with a flamethrower,
844
00:52:34.679 --> 00:52:39.199
casually slung over one shoulder. Don't you know I always
845
00:52:39.199 --> 00:52:43.039
supply the turkey around these parts, he grumbled. A stream
846
00:52:43.079 --> 00:52:46.000
of pressurized fuel shot through the pilot light, igniting on
847
00:52:46.079 --> 00:52:50.159
its path to the Titanic Tom. The jelly petroleum clung
848
00:52:50.199 --> 00:52:52.920
to its feathers, withering them all the way to the skin.
849
00:52:53.280 --> 00:52:55.880
The bird shrieked and leaped toward the old man. The
850
00:52:55.880 --> 00:53:01.079
flamethrower sputtered, hissed, and then extinguished. He stood his ground.
851
00:53:01.440 --> 00:53:04.679
The empty fuel tank clanged as it fell. Foxy's weathered
852
00:53:04.719 --> 00:53:08.360
hands ease to his belt. Heart watched in terror as
853
00:53:08.400 --> 00:53:11.800
the bird with the funeral pyrate plumage charged the senior citizen.
854
00:53:12.320 --> 00:53:15.360
His oozing wounds ached as he stretched for his rifle,
855
00:53:15.440 --> 00:53:17.760
praying to get off a shot before Foxy was torn
856
00:53:17.800 --> 00:53:20.400
to pieces. His fingers found the grip of the rifle
857
00:53:20.480 --> 00:53:22.760
and he wrestled it to his shoulder. Heart wasn't about
858
00:53:22.800 --> 00:53:25.639
to lose another citizen of Moscow County. He squeezed the
859
00:53:25.639 --> 00:53:28.000
trigger and the striker fell on an empty chamber with
860
00:53:28.039 --> 00:53:32.480
a sharp, soul crushing snap. Foxy turned away, his arm
861
00:53:32.559 --> 00:53:34.639
looped through the air, and the tom ran past him,
862
00:53:34.760 --> 00:53:38.239
bouncing off a wall before collapsing. Its beak clicked open
863
00:53:38.599 --> 00:53:43.039
and closed on the floor. Fried was always better than roasted, anyhow.
864
00:53:43.239 --> 00:53:45.519
The old man kicked the severed head away from him
865
00:53:45.840 --> 00:53:49.519
and shrugged. Hargrove rolled over and shielded his eyes from
866
00:53:49.519 --> 00:53:52.559
the glare of the burning bird. He watched Foxy slip
867
00:53:52.599 --> 00:53:55.400
the knife back into his belt and walked to the Durango.
868
00:53:56.480 --> 00:54:00.119
I never liked these social gatherings, Foxy climbed in the
869
00:54:00.119 --> 00:54:03.639
passenger seat. I want to go home now. I guess
870
00:54:03.719 --> 00:54:06.360
we'll be serving turkey through Valentine's Day at this rate,
871
00:54:06.760 --> 00:54:09.199
Caroline said, as she helped the deputy to his feet.
872
00:54:09.559 --> 00:54:13.400
She braced him against her and helped him outside. What
873
00:54:13.519 --> 00:54:18.280
did I get myself into? Hargrove moaned, Caroline scrunched her nose.
874
00:54:19.159 --> 00:54:24.360
Things get a little strange up here. Bodies littered the streets.
875
00:54:24.639 --> 00:54:27.119
Rhoda was treating patients in front of the VFW with
876
00:54:27.159 --> 00:54:30.079
the help of the other survivors. A siren cried down
877
00:54:30.119 --> 00:54:32.639
in the haller as emergency vehicles wound their way up
878
00:54:32.679 --> 00:54:36.599
the mountain. That's what communities did when bad things happened.
879
00:54:37.400 --> 00:54:41.199
They came together, and Moscow County gave them plenty of
880
00:54:41.239 --> 00:54:45.079
opportunity to prove it. Hart made it to the Durango
881
00:54:45.119 --> 00:54:48.320
and gripped the door frame for balance. What are you
882
00:54:48.400 --> 00:54:53.880
doing for Christmas? Foxy, he asked, avoiding you. I'm too
883
00:54:53.920 --> 00:54:56.719
old for this shit. The old man jerked the door
884
00:54:56.719 --> 00:55:02.360
from Heart's grip and slammed it shut. Happy Thanksgiving, Yeah,
885
00:55:02.679 --> 00:55:09.760
Hart nodded, Happy Thanksgiving and then he passed out the
886
00:55:10.639 --> 00:55:26.519
end Fiendsgiving by rob Fields Thanksgiving night last year. Come on, Seth,
887
00:55:27.239 --> 00:55:30.559
Mandy Craven cried from the back seat. We're gonna be late.
888
00:55:31.360 --> 00:55:35.840
I'm driving as fast as I can. Seth Bergmann muttered, relax,
889
00:55:36.760 --> 00:55:39.000
I can get out and crawl as slow as you drive.
890
00:55:39.679 --> 00:55:44.280
Mandy persisted. Seth was annoyed. You could have gone by yourself.
891
00:55:44.280 --> 00:55:46.519
You know you want to get out that bad. I'll
892
00:55:46.559 --> 00:55:50.920
gladly pull over, but we're going to be late. Mandy
893
00:55:50.960 --> 00:55:56.480
further persisted, you know how upset Chelsea Mirren can be. Seriously,
894
00:55:56.559 --> 00:56:00.519
what a spoiled fucking bitch. Alan Hurtz looked over his
895
00:56:00.599 --> 00:56:04.199
shoulder at her while sitting in the passenger's side. Better
896
00:56:04.280 --> 00:56:09.280
late than dead. You don't understand, Mandy shrieked. If we're
897
00:56:09.320 --> 00:56:13.000
late to Chelsea's friends giving, she'll go ballistic on all
898
00:56:13.039 --> 00:56:16.360
of us. Don't you remember what happened at her Halloween party?
899
00:56:16.760 --> 00:56:19.440
You wanted to pull over and pick up geeky little
900
00:56:19.519 --> 00:56:23.119
Aileen Donnerly when she was walking to the party. We
901
00:56:23.119 --> 00:56:26.519
were five minutes late, and Chelsea practically had an aneurysm.
902
00:56:26.840 --> 00:56:30.000
That bitch ripped into me, and I wasn't even driving.
903
00:56:30.400 --> 00:56:34.440
Seth was really annoyed. Hey, Alan and I didn't even
904
00:56:34.480 --> 00:56:37.599
want to go to Chelsea Miron's Halloween party, but you
905
00:56:37.679 --> 00:56:42.239
practically twisted our arms. What do you have against Aileen Donnerly,
906
00:56:42.480 --> 00:56:47.800
Alan demanded. Mandy glared at him. Aileen's a skinny, geeky
907
00:56:47.960 --> 00:56:52.480
little skink who's really on Chelsea's good side, especially after
908
00:56:52.519 --> 00:56:55.800
she was tutoring her. I think you're just jealous because
909
00:56:55.840 --> 00:57:00.480
you're not in Chelsea's circle of friends, Seth said. Mandy
910
00:57:00.599 --> 00:57:04.599
lunged forward, Fuck you. I have a much better body
911
00:57:04.639 --> 00:57:07.960
and a nicer rack compared to Aileen Donnerly, and she
912
00:57:08.039 --> 00:57:13.400
picks Aileen Donnerly over me. What the fuck? Whoa If
913
00:57:13.400 --> 00:57:16.119
you hate Chelsea and Aileen so much, why are you
914
00:57:16.199 --> 00:57:19.920
demanding we hurry up to get to Chelsea's house, Alan asked.
915
00:57:20.559 --> 00:57:24.159
Mandy didn't answer right away, then Seth answered for her.
916
00:57:24.719 --> 00:57:28.239
Because Mandy heard there's an opening on the cheerleading squad
917
00:57:28.800 --> 00:57:31.800
Tammy Rich lost her eligibility when she flunk too many
918
00:57:31.800 --> 00:57:35.480
classes last midterm. Mandy wants to try and sweet talk
919
00:57:35.599 --> 00:57:40.159
Chelsea into giving her the opening. Turn here, Mandy suddenly
920
00:57:40.199 --> 00:57:44.519
cried here Seth quickly turned onto the road by Strickfield Chemicals.
921
00:57:44.719 --> 00:57:49.400
His tires squealed careful, Seth, Alan advised, let's get to
922
00:57:49.480 --> 00:57:55.039
Chelsea's alive if possible. Just hurry up, please, Mandy cried.
923
00:57:55.480 --> 00:58:00.760
Mandy shut up. Okay, Seth shouted, fuck you. Sheuted back.
924
00:58:01.119 --> 00:58:04.599
If we're late, we'll just explain why, Alan said, trying
925
00:58:04.599 --> 00:58:08.719
to restore some kind of order. Hey, Seth, here's our turn.
926
00:58:08.760 --> 00:58:11.920
Who whoo, slow down. You make this turn too fast
927
00:58:11.960 --> 00:58:13.800
and will end up taking some of the plant's fence
928
00:58:13.880 --> 00:58:17.360
with us. I know what I'm doing, Seth replied. Hang on.
929
00:58:18.360 --> 00:58:21.800
Seth turned too quickly and sharply, running the red light.
930
00:58:22.119 --> 00:58:25.079
As Seth straightened the car, a small chemical truck was
931
00:58:25.199 --> 00:58:28.920
entering the road almost directly in front of them. Set stop.
932
00:58:29.559 --> 00:58:34.719
Oh shit, Mandy screamed, stop Seth. Seth quickly jammed on
933
00:58:34.760 --> 00:58:37.119
the brakes and turned the wheel to try and avoid
934
00:58:37.199 --> 00:58:41.159
a collision with the truck. However, he'd been driving too
935
00:58:41.239 --> 00:58:45.360
fast and slammed into the vehicle side to side. The
936
00:58:45.440 --> 00:58:50.119
car's engine sputtered out soon after. Seth and Allan had
937
00:58:50.119 --> 00:58:54.760
been wearing their seat belts so they avoided injuries. Mandy
938
00:58:54.840 --> 00:58:58.159
had managed to brace herself and was also unhurt, but
939
00:58:58.280 --> 00:59:00.719
she had glass all over her from where the back
940
00:59:00.760 --> 00:59:03.480
window on the driver's side had shattered from the crash.
941
00:59:04.920 --> 00:59:11.000
Everybody all right, Alan asked, Oh my god, Mandy uttered quickly,
942
00:59:11.719 --> 00:59:17.920
oh man. Seth screamed, my car's wrecked. Alan looked at Seth.
943
00:59:18.519 --> 00:59:21.840
You shouldn't have been going so fast. Seth glared at
944
00:59:21.880 --> 00:59:25.400
Alan and pointed to the truck. He's the dumb son
945
00:59:25.440 --> 00:59:27.280
of a bit who pulled out right in front of us.
946
00:59:27.960 --> 00:59:30.800
Alan threw open his door and got out a few
947
00:59:30.800 --> 00:59:35.079
seconds later. Seth screamed in frustration. Then the driver of
948
00:59:35.119 --> 00:59:39.079
the chemical truck approached Alan. What do you think you're doing,
949
00:59:39.440 --> 00:59:42.840
Alan shouted at him. The driver screamed to curse at Alan,
950
00:59:42.880 --> 00:59:45.719
and then added, you stupid kids should have been watching
951
00:59:45.719 --> 00:59:50.599
where you were going us. Alan screamed back, you pulled
952
00:59:50.599 --> 00:59:53.320
out right in front of us. Back in the car.
953
00:59:53.519 --> 00:59:57.000
As Alan the chemical truck driver continued arguing with each other,
954
00:59:57.519 --> 01:00:01.840
Mandy felt warm sprinkles on her arm that began to
955
01:00:01.920 --> 01:00:07.400
burn slightly. She slowly turned and saw that the sprinkles
956
01:00:07.400 --> 01:00:10.280
were coming from the damaged nozzle on the chemical truck.
957
01:00:11.480 --> 01:00:15.000
To her horror. The nozzle was pointing right at her.
958
01:00:16.880 --> 01:00:21.280
There's more scares where that came from. Weakly spooky, will
959
01:00:21.320 --> 01:00:22.159
be right back.
960
01:00:24.119 --> 01:00:27.639
Oh shit, Mandy choked out as she saw the liquid
961
01:00:27.679 --> 01:00:33.480
chemical slightly spraying instead of sprinkling. Seth look. Seth turned
962
01:00:33.480 --> 01:00:37.159
her way and saw what she was pointing at. Let's move,
963
01:00:37.599 --> 01:00:41.480
Seth cried. He quickly moved to the open passenger side
964
01:00:41.519 --> 01:00:44.440
door and got out. Just as Mandy was moving to
965
01:00:44.480 --> 01:00:49.199
climb over the seat to follow Seth, the damaged nozzle burst.
966
01:00:49.960 --> 01:00:53.639
Mandy was soaked instantly, and she screamed when she felt
967
01:00:53.679 --> 01:00:58.559
the burning sensations everywhere on her body. Seth quickly went
968
01:00:58.599 --> 01:01:00.719
back into the front seat and reached his left hand
969
01:01:00.760 --> 01:01:04.199
out for Mandy. Some of the chemicals splashed onto his hand.
970
01:01:04.719 --> 01:01:07.039
He cried out in pain and quickly pulled it away.
971
01:01:07.679 --> 01:01:10.400
By then Alan had returned to the car and pulled
972
01:01:10.400 --> 01:01:14.599
Seth out. Suddenly, Seth's hand had caught on fire. Seth
973
01:01:14.719 --> 01:01:18.400
screamed in both surprise and pain. Once the guys were
974
01:01:18.440 --> 01:01:21.280
away from the car, the fire on Seth's hand had
975
01:01:21.320 --> 01:01:24.840
gone out, Seth started crying from the intense pain in
976
01:01:24.920 --> 01:01:28.360
what was left of his hand. Alan looked back to
977
01:01:28.440 --> 01:01:32.039
Seth's car in desperation as Mandy continued to be sprayed
978
01:01:32.039 --> 01:01:35.199
with the chemical. The driver of the truck had already
979
01:01:35.280 --> 01:01:38.239
radioed for a containment crew once he saw what had happened.
980
01:01:39.079 --> 01:01:42.480
That was all that could be done for Mandy Craven,
981
01:01:43.360 --> 01:01:47.039
since the driver wouldn't go anywhere near Seth's car or
982
01:01:48.159 --> 01:01:56.039
the damaged nozzle. That evening, in the hospital Morgue, a
983
01:01:56.159 --> 01:02:01.039
medical examiner had Mandy's naked corpse on the long table slab.
984
01:02:02.159 --> 01:02:04.519
She was going to do the autopsy on Mandy and
985
01:02:04.559 --> 01:02:07.199
tried to determine what the chemical had done to her
986
01:02:07.760 --> 01:02:10.400
to cause her to die in spite of the fact
987
01:02:10.400 --> 01:02:15.039
that she remained nicely preserved. After the examiner finished putting
988
01:02:15.039 --> 01:02:18.360
on her rubber gloves, she picked up her scalpel and
989
01:02:18.519 --> 01:02:23.400
was ready to make her first incision. Suddenly, Mandy opened
990
01:02:23.440 --> 01:02:27.960
her eyes and sat up straight. The examiner, not believing
991
01:02:28.000 --> 01:02:30.840
what she had just seen, dropped the scalpel and screamed,
992
01:02:32.119 --> 01:02:36.400
where am I? Mandy asked? The examiner quickly ran to
993
01:02:36.440 --> 01:02:43.599
her phone. In Seth's room, Mandy's friends were anxiously waiting
994
01:02:43.639 --> 01:02:47.880
for her, Though Seth had hours ago undergone an emergency amputation.
995
01:02:48.760 --> 01:02:51.679
He wanted to see for himself that Mandy was still alive.
996
01:02:53.039 --> 01:02:55.800
He wondered how she would look, or if her still
997
01:02:55.800 --> 01:02:59.480
being alive really was a hoax. After all, that chemical
998
01:02:59.480 --> 01:03:02.440
had damaged his left hand so badly it had to
999
01:03:02.480 --> 01:03:07.519
be amputated. Seth's eyes widened when he saw Mandy enter
1000
01:03:07.559 --> 01:03:12.679
the room wearing a hospital issued gown. She still looked
1001
01:03:12.719 --> 01:03:18.280
as beautiful and vibrant as she did before the accident. Mandy.
1002
01:03:19.000 --> 01:03:22.920
Alan rushed over to her and hugged her tightly. Are
1003
01:03:22.960 --> 01:03:28.360
you okay, Mandy hugged him back. I'm fine. In fact,
1004
01:03:28.960 --> 01:03:33.159
I've never felt better. What did the doctor say, Seth
1005
01:03:33.280 --> 01:03:39.599
demanded harshly. Seth, what's wrong? Mandy asked. Surprised by his tone,
1006
01:03:39.719 --> 01:03:42.679
she moved away from Alan. When she saw the stainless
1007
01:03:42.719 --> 01:03:45.000
steel hook in place of where his left hand used
1008
01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:47.960
to be, she gasped and wished that she hadn't asked
1009
01:03:47.960 --> 01:03:52.519
that question. What's wrong? Seth held up his hook hand.
1010
01:03:52.960 --> 01:03:55.920
I lost my hand because of that chemical getting on it.
1011
01:03:56.440 --> 01:03:59.760
That truck douses you down like a fire hose, and
1012
01:04:00.079 --> 01:04:04.480
nothing even happened to you. Seth. Come on, Alan implored,
1013
01:04:04.880 --> 01:04:07.679
don't do this. You should be glad we're all alive.
1014
01:04:08.719 --> 01:04:12.159
Get the fuck out of your Mandy, Seth screamed. He
1015
01:04:12.199 --> 01:04:16.679
glared at Alan, you get out too. Mandy started to cry.
1016
01:04:17.239 --> 01:04:19.599
Alan took her hand and guided her toward the door.
1017
01:04:20.159 --> 01:04:22.199
I don't ever want to see either of you again,
1018
01:04:22.800 --> 01:04:25.920
Seth yelled behind them. It's because of you, Mandy, that
1019
01:04:26.000 --> 01:04:30.320
I'm a cripple now. When Mandy heard this, she tore
1020
01:04:30.400 --> 01:04:32.760
out of Alan's grip and spun around to face Seth.
1021
01:04:33.639 --> 01:04:39.239
How dare you, she shouted, that's not fair, bullshit. You're
1022
01:04:39.239 --> 01:04:42.760
the one who kept yelling hurry up, Seth, Remember, he
1023
01:04:42.880 --> 01:04:45.599
pointed at her with his good hand. You're the one
1024
01:04:46.000 --> 01:04:48.920
obsessed with getting on the cheerleading squad and getting in
1025
01:04:49.000 --> 01:04:53.519
bed with Chelsea Miron. Mandy pointed back, I wasn't the
1026
01:04:53.519 --> 01:04:57.519
one driving like a fucking maniac. I don't want to
1027
01:04:57.559 --> 01:05:01.960
talk to you anymore, Mandy or you. Alan. Seth then screamed,
1028
01:05:02.760 --> 01:05:09.039
just go away now. Alan took Mandy's hand this time
1029
01:05:09.280 --> 01:05:11.639
she didn't stop him as he led her out of
1030
01:05:11.679 --> 01:05:15.239
the room. Once they were gone, Seth looked at his
1031
01:05:15.320 --> 01:05:23.719
new hook and sobbed. Thanksgiving night one year later to
1032
01:05:23.800 --> 01:05:27.800
be honest, I'm not really that big into Thanksgiving. It
1033
01:05:27.960 --> 01:05:31.639
just hasn't been the same without mom and Dad. I
1034
01:05:31.719 --> 01:05:37.239
have my older brother, Martin, but Martin's usually working on Thanksgiving.
1035
01:05:38.039 --> 01:05:41.519
Mire and Automotive has closed both Thanksgiving and Black Friday,
1036
01:05:41.559 --> 01:05:47.119
but Denoyer's Grill never closes. Martin's picking up hours by
1037
01:05:47.119 --> 01:05:51.119
working Thanksgiving. At least Denoyer's pays their people overtime for
1038
01:05:51.159 --> 01:05:55.079
working on the holidays. Things are different this year, however,
1039
01:05:55.800 --> 01:05:58.760
Martin will still be working at Denoyer's Grill for Thanksgiving,
1040
01:05:58.800 --> 01:06:01.400
but Bell's and I are on our way to Chelsea
1041
01:06:01.440 --> 01:06:05.360
Miron's house for friends Giving. Chelsea would actually rather stay
1042
01:06:05.360 --> 01:06:10.960
in Strickfield than go on family trips, and why wouldn't she?
1043
01:06:10.960 --> 01:06:14.440
She has that nice house all to herself inside that
1044
01:06:14.559 --> 01:06:18.199
gated community that the Mirons live in. Believe me when
1045
01:06:18.239 --> 01:06:21.119
I say that she takes full advantage of that. She
1046
01:06:21.280 --> 01:06:25.119
hosts cheerleading parties after our games. She threw this awesome
1047
01:06:25.159 --> 01:06:29.320
Halloween party last month. Everybody loved Bell's costume and makeup
1048
01:06:29.400 --> 01:06:34.280
as a vampire. The funny part, Bell's wasn't even wearing
1049
01:06:34.360 --> 01:06:39.599
a costume. Bell's is a vampire, but a very unique
1050
01:06:39.639 --> 01:06:44.440
one for one thing. She can walk in the daylight. Ah,
1051
01:06:44.440 --> 01:06:47.280
but I'm getting off track here, aren't I. Ever since
1052
01:06:47.320 --> 01:06:50.199
Bell's and I got on the cheerleading squad, things have
1053
01:06:50.320 --> 01:06:55.239
totally changed for us. Now we're both actually popular. Bell's
1054
01:06:55.239 --> 01:06:58.760
and I even get invited to things. We really didn't
1055
01:06:58.800 --> 01:07:01.880
want to go to any of Chella's parties, but she
1056
01:07:02.000 --> 01:07:06.920
can be pretty persuasive. Bells doesn't like her, but she
1057
01:07:07.039 --> 01:07:09.840
sensed that Chelsea was being sincere about having us come
1058
01:07:09.880 --> 01:07:13.480
and suggested we try the Halloween party. So we go
1059
01:07:14.400 --> 01:07:17.480
and we both had a lot of fun. Now, Chelsea's
1060
01:07:17.519 --> 01:07:20.239
parents are gone for Thanksgiving, as they are every year.
1061
01:07:20.760 --> 01:07:23.880
Chelsea likes to host friends Giving at her house. She
1062
01:07:23.920 --> 01:07:26.440
doesn't have any of us bring anything. She has plenty
1063
01:07:26.440 --> 01:07:29.280
of food to go around. She even promised Bells to
1064
01:07:29.360 --> 01:07:32.519
have lots of food just for her if she would
1065
01:07:32.559 --> 01:07:37.079
come by. Now. News of Bell's monster appetite has spread
1066
01:07:37.079 --> 01:07:40.960
from Denoyer's grill to the halls of Strickfield High. Chelsea
1067
01:07:41.079 --> 01:07:44.119
lives in the Mere engated community and texted me the
1068
01:07:44.159 --> 01:07:47.440
code to get in Bell's and I are almost to Chelsea's.
1069
01:07:48.280 --> 01:07:50.800
I'm telling you, Ainie, if people at this fucking thing
1070
01:07:50.880 --> 01:07:53.840
start taking bets on how many turkeys I'll be putting away.
1071
01:07:54.440 --> 01:07:59.199
Bell grumbles. I give her a warm smile. It'll be okay, Bell's.
1072
01:08:00.039 --> 01:08:03.400
When we reach Chelsea's, the front door suddenly opens. Chelsea
1073
01:08:03.480 --> 01:08:07.119
shoots right out onto the porch. Oh my god, Bella, Aileen,
1074
01:08:07.239 --> 01:08:12.159
you two really came. Why wouldn't we Bell's mutters, You
1075
01:08:12.199 --> 01:08:15.440
did invite us, right, Yes, I did, Yes, I did, Yes,
1076
01:08:15.480 --> 01:08:19.199
I did, Yes I did. Chelsea's always this vibrant. It's
1077
01:08:19.279 --> 01:08:22.880
like she's on a constant caffeine high, though you've never
1078
01:08:22.920 --> 01:08:26.359
seen her drink coffee or even an energy drink. When
1079
01:08:26.359 --> 01:08:28.760
we get on the porch, she snatches me to her
1080
01:08:28.800 --> 01:08:31.840
and gives me a big hug. Then she hugs Bells.
1081
01:08:32.359 --> 01:08:36.119
Thank you so much for coming. She pulls away from
1082
01:08:36.159 --> 01:08:39.199
Bells and looks at both of us. Can you believe it?
1083
01:08:39.600 --> 01:08:41.600
Those other bitches on the squad call me at the
1084
01:08:41.680 --> 01:08:45.079
last minute and say they can't come, Her eyes open wide.
1085
01:08:45.640 --> 01:08:48.600
They could have just told me themselves when I personally
1086
01:08:48.640 --> 01:08:52.039
invited them to friends giving a cheerleading practice last week.
1087
01:08:52.960 --> 01:08:57.800
Bells and I look at each other. What what come on?
1088
01:08:57.840 --> 01:09:01.520
You two? Just say it? What's wrong with me? Chelsea demands.
1089
01:09:02.560 --> 01:09:08.640
Maybe it's your overly abundant charisma. Bell's replies, I'm not
1090
01:09:08.680 --> 01:09:12.520
sure if Bells is being serious or sarcastic, but that
1091
01:09:12.680 --> 01:09:15.680
works for you as our cheerleading captain, right, I add,
1092
01:09:15.720 --> 01:09:19.279
backing up Bells. Chelsea looks from both me to Bells
1093
01:09:19.319 --> 01:09:22.640
and sighs. That's what I love about you, too, You
1094
01:09:22.800 --> 01:09:25.960
always give it to me straight. She steps aside. Now,
1095
01:09:26.319 --> 01:09:30.399
well come in. As soon as Bells and I walk in,
1096
01:09:30.720 --> 01:09:34.359
we're both hit with the smell of Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah,
1097
01:09:34.520 --> 01:09:38.359
I'm definitely ready to eat, i Ney, bell says. We
1098
01:09:38.439 --> 01:09:42.760
hear the door close and Chelsea walks past us. Of course, Bella,
1099
01:09:43.000 --> 01:09:47.119
and like I said, I have plenty of food just
1100
01:09:47.199 --> 01:09:50.800
for you. Suddenly I get a video call from Martin.
1101
01:09:51.760 --> 01:09:55.359
I've got to take this Chelsea. Of course, Chelsea replies,
1102
01:09:55.800 --> 01:09:58.840
I step back outside and talk to Martin. What's up?
1103
01:09:59.319 --> 01:10:02.279
You better send Bell over here to Denoyer's right away, Einstein.
1104
01:10:03.039 --> 01:10:06.800
Martin always calls me Einstein on account of my big brain.
1105
01:10:07.520 --> 01:10:11.239
Martin turns his phone. A couple of vampires are really
1106
01:10:11.279 --> 01:10:15.399
fighting it out here. What am I supposed to see? Then?
1107
01:10:15.439 --> 01:10:21.199
I see stuff flying by itself. Vampires can't cast a reflection,
1108
01:10:21.439 --> 01:10:24.399
so they won't show up on video either. I'll send
1109
01:10:24.399 --> 01:10:28.319
Bells over Martin and I disconnect. I open the door
1110
01:10:28.359 --> 01:10:31.960
and call Bell's outside. Once I explain things to her
1111
01:10:32.880 --> 01:10:39.319
that fucking figures. Bell's mutters, U, sh it was only
1112
01:10:39.399 --> 01:10:39.880
the wind.
1113
01:10:40.479 --> 01:10:43.800
You are safe, weekly spooky. We'll be right back.
1114
01:10:45.640 --> 01:10:48.840
Okay, I'll head that way. Tell Chelsea I'll be back.
1115
01:10:49.279 --> 01:10:52.960
Just play the family emergency card for me. Bell's leaps
1116
01:10:53.000 --> 01:10:56.479
away in the direction of Denoyer's grill. I turn around
1117
01:10:56.479 --> 01:11:02.159
and head back in. Is everything okay? Chelsea asks? A
1118
01:11:02.279 --> 01:11:05.920
family emergency came up? I tell her Bells will be
1119
01:11:06.000 --> 01:11:10.319
back soon. Chelsea seems disappointed, but she brings me into
1120
01:11:10.359 --> 01:11:12.479
the dining room, where the rest of the guests are.
1121
01:11:13.119 --> 01:11:16.920
Seth Bergman, Alan Hurtz, and Mandy Craven are sitting together
1122
01:11:17.000 --> 01:11:20.000
on one end of the table. Some other people I've
1123
01:11:20.039 --> 01:11:22.800
seen at school but don't know are also there. The
1124
01:11:22.880 --> 01:11:26.039
thing that always catches everybody's attention about Seth is the
1125
01:11:26.159 --> 01:11:28.720
hook he has for a left hand, which he got
1126
01:11:28.760 --> 01:11:32.119
a year ago. Today, it sounds like Alan is telling
1127
01:11:32.199 --> 01:11:37.319
everybody the story. Okay, Alan begins. This couple's out on
1128
01:11:37.359 --> 01:11:40.319
a date, they're making out on a hilltop a few
1129
01:11:40.359 --> 01:11:43.920
miles away from a nearby prison. The guy finds some
1130
01:11:44.399 --> 01:11:49.279
romantic music on the radio. When he does, an announcer
1131
01:11:49.359 --> 01:11:52.920
breaks in with a news bulletin saying a murderer's escape
1132
01:11:52.960 --> 01:11:57.000
from a nearby prison. He has a hook in place
1133
01:11:57.079 --> 01:12:00.600
of one of his hands. When the couple here's this,
1134
01:12:00.920 --> 01:12:03.760
they quickly roll up the car windows and lock the doors.
1135
01:12:04.279 --> 01:12:07.000
Then the girl gets scared and wants to go home.
1136
01:12:07.720 --> 01:12:11.239
The guy he's not worried. When they argue about it,
1137
01:12:11.279 --> 01:12:13.800
the killer suddenly breaks through the driver's side window with
1138
01:12:13.840 --> 01:12:17.279
his hook and kills the guy. He kills the girl too.
1139
01:12:17.439 --> 01:12:23.000
Shortly after. Whoa Alan no Seth quickly interjects, If you're
1140
01:12:23.039 --> 01:12:26.079
going to tell that story, at least tell it right.
1141
01:12:26.760 --> 01:12:32.359
That was how it happened. Alan protests, bullshit. Mandy disagrees
1142
01:12:32.359 --> 01:12:35.439
and takes a drink from an unmarked glass bottle. The
1143
01:12:35.560 --> 01:12:40.880
killer didn't kill the couple, then, what really happened, Alan demands,
1144
01:12:41.319 --> 01:12:48.359
challenging her. Mandy smiles well. The couple drives away. They
1145
01:12:48.399 --> 01:12:51.640
go to Woody's Drive in downtown for some food. The
1146
01:12:51.720 --> 01:12:53.920
boy gets out of the car and goes around to
1147
01:12:53.960 --> 01:12:58.199
open the passenger door for the girl. There to both
1148
01:12:58.199 --> 01:13:03.000
his horror and a car hopps is the escaped lunatic's
1149
01:13:03.239 --> 01:13:07.640
hook hanging on the door handle. Later that night, the
1150
01:13:07.720 --> 01:13:11.239
killer ends up being killed by the Angel of Death.
1151
01:13:12.039 --> 01:13:18.039
That actually happened here in Strickfield. That's right, Seth agrees.
1152
01:13:18.760 --> 01:13:22.279
Alan suddenly turns and looks right at me. You'd better
1153
01:13:22.319 --> 01:13:24.239
watch it. Next time you and some guy are making
1154
01:13:24.279 --> 01:13:27.840
out somewhere secluded and romantic, Seth here might come along
1155
01:13:28.079 --> 01:13:31.520
and get you with his hook, and I will too.
1156
01:13:32.279 --> 01:13:35.680
Seth holds up his hook hand. Chelsea stares at Seth
1157
01:13:35.720 --> 01:13:39.479
in disbelief. How can you just let people joke around
1158
01:13:39.520 --> 01:13:44.000
about your hand like that? Seth becomes serious. What do
1159
01:13:44.039 --> 01:13:47.720
you want me to do? Go out and hack people up?
1160
01:13:48.880 --> 01:13:53.239
What's stopping you? Alan asks. Seth closes his eyes and
1161
01:13:53.279 --> 01:13:57.319
bows his head slightly. I had no one to blame
1162
01:13:57.399 --> 01:14:01.439
but myself for what happened last Thanksgiving. I was the
1163
01:14:01.439 --> 01:14:06.760
one driving the car recklessly. Look it's over now, Mandy says,
1164
01:14:07.319 --> 01:14:09.640
Can we please try to get on with our lives here?
1165
01:14:10.319 --> 01:14:14.359
She takes another drink from her bottle. Seth looks at her, sharply,
1166
01:14:15.199 --> 01:14:17.439
easy for you to say, Mandy, you don't have to
1167
01:14:17.439 --> 01:14:18.840
live with the fact that you're going to be a
1168
01:14:18.880 --> 01:14:20.880
freak for the rest of your life, the kind of
1169
01:14:20.920 --> 01:14:23.560
freak people our age tell stories about at night around
1170
01:14:23.600 --> 01:14:27.720
a campfire or at a friend's giving gathering. I thought
1171
01:14:27.760 --> 01:14:30.520
you said you were used to it, Seth Alan says,
1172
01:14:31.319 --> 01:14:37.479
I never said that. Seth contradicts you just assumed I was. Now,
1173
01:14:37.560 --> 01:14:40.399
if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be alone. He
1174
01:14:40.439 --> 01:14:43.279
doesn't give anybody a chance to speak as he gets
1175
01:14:43.319 --> 01:14:47.039
up and storms off. Mandy sighs and takes another drink
1176
01:14:47.079 --> 01:14:52.279
from her bottle, and then I'm having a very bad feeling.
1177
01:14:53.359 --> 01:14:59.039
I hope Bells will be back soon. I'm sitting in
1178
01:14:59.079 --> 01:15:01.239
the living room with a pl of food and talking
1179
01:15:01.239 --> 01:15:04.680
to a girl named Lisa Walcott. I learned that these
1180
01:15:04.760 --> 01:15:07.760
other people I don't know from Strickfield High either weren't
1181
01:15:07.800 --> 01:15:12.000
doing anything special for Thanksgiving or didn't have any place
1182
01:15:12.039 --> 01:15:16.239
to go, so Chelsea invited them. Lisa and I were
1183
01:15:16.279 --> 01:15:19.880
just talking about whatever. Then she tells me she'll be
1184
01:15:19.960 --> 01:15:23.079
right back. She gets up and heads to the bathroom.
1185
01:15:23.439 --> 01:15:26.039
I watched the TV and see that Planes, Trains, and
1186
01:15:26.079 --> 01:15:29.720
Automobiles is on it's at that funny scene where Steve
1187
01:15:29.760 --> 01:15:31.800
Martin and John Candy are in bed together in the
1188
01:15:31.840 --> 01:15:36.520
motel room. Then we all hear a blood curdling scream.
1189
01:15:37.399 --> 01:15:40.000
Everybody gets up and heads straight to the bathroom that
1190
01:15:40.000 --> 01:15:42.920
Lisa's in. One of the other guests I don't know
1191
01:15:43.039 --> 01:15:47.560
is lying on the floor dead. As I'm looking at
1192
01:15:47.600 --> 01:15:50.880
things closer, I can see the body is almost white.
1193
01:15:51.479 --> 01:15:55.079
There's a big gaping hole in the body's throat, but
1194
01:15:55.479 --> 01:16:00.039
very little blood. And then my mind moves to the
1195
01:16:00.039 --> 01:16:04.000
one decisive thing that could possibly make an incision like that.
1196
01:16:05.399 --> 01:16:09.199
Seth Bergmann has a hook for a hand. He got
1197
01:16:09.279 --> 01:16:14.359
upset and defensive earlier and went away from everybody. What's
1198
01:16:14.399 --> 01:16:19.119
going on, Mandy asked. Somebody called the police. Chelsea cries,
1199
01:16:19.760 --> 01:16:23.920
I can't find my phone. One person says, neither can I.
1200
01:16:24.600 --> 01:16:29.279
Alan says, I go to pull out my phone. Huh,
1201
01:16:29.840 --> 01:16:34.520
where's my phone? It's not in my back pocket. Chelsea
1202
01:16:34.640 --> 01:16:38.880
leaves the bathroom and goes to the kitchen counter. Seriously,
1203
01:16:39.159 --> 01:16:42.359
where the hell is my phone? I laid it right here.
1204
01:16:43.479 --> 01:16:46.439
Chelsea turns and reaches for the landline, picks up the
1205
01:16:46.439 --> 01:16:50.680
receiver and punches nine one one then she slams the
1206
01:16:50.720 --> 01:16:55.079
receiver back into place. It's dead. Seriously, what is going
1207
01:16:55.159 --> 01:16:59.520
on here? Chelsea points to some of us. You folks
1208
01:16:59.560 --> 01:17:03.199
stay here. I'm going next door to call nine one one.
1209
01:17:03.279 --> 01:17:06.880
But as Chelsea tries to open the front door, Oh
1210
01:17:07.000 --> 01:17:11.479
come on, Then she points to me, Aileen the back door.
1211
01:17:12.520 --> 01:17:15.119
I rushed to the back door and try it. I
1212
01:17:15.159 --> 01:17:18.399
can't open it, Chelsea. Chelsea moves to a window and
1213
01:17:18.439 --> 01:17:22.279
tries to open it, with no success. She moves and
1214
01:17:22.319 --> 01:17:25.239
goes into the den. Oh you have got to be
1215
01:17:25.479 --> 01:17:29.399
fucking kidding me. I walked to the den and find
1216
01:17:29.479 --> 01:17:33.439
Chelsea freaking out. What is it? She grabs my arm
1217
01:17:33.479 --> 01:17:36.640
and points to the small control panel on the screen.
1218
01:17:36.680 --> 01:17:41.840
It says security system enabled. The security systems on the
1219
01:17:41.880 --> 01:17:45.039
windows and the doors are locked tight. We can't leave
1220
01:17:45.600 --> 01:17:50.359
and nobody can come in, and somebody damaged the controls.
1221
01:17:51.119 --> 01:17:55.079
We can just break a window, right, I asked? Chelsea
1222
01:17:55.199 --> 01:17:58.760
shakes her head. My dad really sank money into our
1223
01:17:58.800 --> 01:18:03.840
security system. The glass is unbreakable. We're stuck here. I
1224
01:18:03.960 --> 01:18:09.199
keep calm, but I'm getting scared. Where are you? Bells
1225
01:18:10.359 --> 01:18:12.840
Chelsea and I return to the kitchen, where everybody else
1226
01:18:12.960 --> 01:18:17.000
is Now Mandy Craven speaks up. We've got to find Seth.
1227
01:18:17.399 --> 01:18:20.640
He's got to be around here, somewhere. I know he's
1228
01:18:20.640 --> 01:18:22.920
still pissed off about what happened a year ago, but
1229
01:18:24.319 --> 01:18:28.119
I never thought he'd resort to murder. And then I
1230
01:18:28.159 --> 01:18:31.000
have another feeling in the pit of my stomach. I
1231
01:18:31.159 --> 01:18:33.600
move past the others and head back to the bathroom.
1232
01:18:34.119 --> 01:18:37.680
Lisa Walcott is still in there with the body. I
1233
01:18:37.760 --> 01:18:41.479
lower myself to look at the neck wound again closer.
1234
01:18:41.560 --> 01:18:45.560
Now I'm not a doctor, but I'm smart enough to
1235
01:18:45.600 --> 01:18:48.920
know that a hook did not do this. The hook
1236
01:18:48.920 --> 01:18:52.279
would have pierced the skin and the throat. I mean,
1237
01:18:52.880 --> 01:18:55.319
you would have to go right into the throat itself.
1238
01:18:56.399 --> 01:19:01.600
Looking closer, I see bite marks. I use logic more
1239
01:19:01.600 --> 01:19:04.920
often than anything else. In fact, I don't even believe
1240
01:19:04.920 --> 01:19:07.399
in God. But I'm going on record and saying that
1241
01:19:07.560 --> 01:19:11.760
someone in this house bit this person and drank up
1242
01:19:11.760 --> 01:19:15.119
all the blood. There's gotta be another vampire in this
1243
01:19:15.199 --> 01:19:20.199
house or something else that drinks blood. What are you
1244
01:19:20.439 --> 01:19:23.880
doing in here? A voice snaps. I look up to
1245
01:19:23.920 --> 01:19:28.720
see Seth Bergmann nothing. When Lisa sees it, Seth, she's
1246
01:19:28.760 --> 01:19:32.720
scared for her life. Seth, please don't kill us, she
1247
01:19:32.840 --> 01:19:36.560
begs him. He raises his hook hand to us. Shut up,
1248
01:19:36.720 --> 01:19:41.159
both of you. Just listen, Seth. We can get you
1249
01:19:41.239 --> 01:19:44.920
some help. Lisa utters as she starts crying. I said
1250
01:19:44.960 --> 01:19:52.680
shut up. Seth screams, where's Mandy? Tell me why? Lisa demands,
1251
01:19:52.800 --> 01:19:57.600
really crying now, so you can kill us too. Seth
1252
01:19:57.640 --> 01:20:02.600
looks at her with wide eyes. You don't understand. He's
1253
01:20:02.640 --> 01:20:08.279
really hysterical now. Suddenly Mandy appears. Seth turns to Mandy.
1254
01:20:08.640 --> 01:20:11.680
He points to her with his good hand. You I'm
1255
01:20:11.720 --> 01:20:16.399
going to kill you. I don't think so, Seth, she purrs.
1256
01:20:17.039 --> 01:20:21.520
Mandy hisses loudly, grabs Seth tightly and bites deep into
1257
01:20:21.560 --> 01:20:26.399
his neck. He screams as she drinks him quickly. I
1258
01:20:26.439 --> 01:20:28.520
don't even have time to move to try and save
1259
01:20:28.600 --> 01:20:32.520
him before Mandy throws his drained body to the floor.
1260
01:20:34.720 --> 01:20:38.439
Don't go away weakly, Spooky will be right back.
1261
01:20:42.119 --> 01:20:46.840
Looks like Seth was the killer after all, Mandy murmurs
1262
01:20:46.840 --> 01:20:51.119
in a morbid tone. Or at least that's what it's
1263
01:20:51.119 --> 01:20:55.079
going to look like when I'm all through here. Alan
1264
01:20:55.239 --> 01:20:58.640
was there. He had seen what just happened. Why, Mandy,
1265
01:20:59.680 --> 01:21:04.600
Why like you even have to ask? Mandy answers scornfully.
1266
01:21:05.079 --> 01:21:10.399
The accident one year ago. Today, Alan looks confused. But
1267
01:21:10.520 --> 01:21:16.119
you're fine, Mandy, You look fine, Mandy laughs insanely. You
1268
01:21:16.239 --> 01:21:21.600
think I'm fine, Alan, dear, I am not fine, far
1269
01:21:21.640 --> 01:21:26.880
from it. In fact, I'm quite dead. She giggles a little.
1270
01:21:27.560 --> 01:21:31.439
The chemical spray killed me last Thanksgiving. My coming back
1271
01:21:31.479 --> 01:21:35.399
to life was an unexpected side effect. I seemed to
1272
01:21:35.439 --> 01:21:39.159
be okay for a few weeks. Then I accidentally cut
1273
01:21:39.199 --> 01:21:43.279
my finger and saw that my blood was brown. I
1274
01:21:43.399 --> 01:21:47.439
finally realized that my heart wasn't beating, and yet I
1275
01:21:47.560 --> 01:21:52.880
was still moving and talking and rotting. Are we learning
1276
01:21:52.960 --> 01:21:57.760
anything yet? I'm a decaying corpse, a zombie since I
1277
01:21:57.800 --> 01:22:01.079
woke up in the hospital Morgue that night. How come
1278
01:22:01.119 --> 01:22:04.840
you don't look any different? Then? I demand? Mandy holds
1279
01:22:04.920 --> 01:22:09.000
up her unmarked bottle that she's been drinking from for meldehide.
1280
01:22:09.239 --> 01:22:11.960
As long as I drink this shit, much like drinking
1281
01:22:12.039 --> 01:22:15.199
living blood, it spreads through my body and preserves me.
1282
01:22:15.840 --> 01:22:18.000
That's how I don't decay and rot in front of
1283
01:22:18.039 --> 01:22:22.720
your faces or stink. I had to stay nicely preserved,
1284
01:22:23.000 --> 01:22:26.359
so that I can get my revenge. Alan was in
1285
01:22:26.399 --> 01:22:29.920
the accident with Seth and me, but he hardly got hurt.
1286
01:22:30.479 --> 01:22:34.199
As for Seth, he only lost his hand. It wasn't
1287
01:22:34.239 --> 01:22:37.000
exactly fair for them to go on living when I died,
1288
01:22:37.479 --> 01:22:41.359
now was it? And Seth's pain was nothing compared to
1289
01:22:41.479 --> 01:22:47.159
mine that day or now, none of you could possibly imagine.
1290
01:22:47.279 --> 01:22:51.960
Chelsea appears you locked us in here, Yeah, bitch, I did,
1291
01:22:52.439 --> 01:22:55.560
Mandy shouted. I owe you for denying me a place
1292
01:22:55.600 --> 01:22:59.800
on the cheerleading squad, and because your daddy owns Strickfield Chemicals.
1293
01:23:00.359 --> 01:23:03.159
Daddy didn't tell you, did he? He covered up everything
1294
01:23:03.159 --> 01:23:06.600
from the accident a year ago. In fact, I drink
1295
01:23:06.680 --> 01:23:09.319
up both of your parents when they left for their trip.
1296
01:23:09.760 --> 01:23:12.920
She glares at me. Now I'm going to drink up
1297
01:23:12.920 --> 01:23:16.439
little Aileen Donnerly here. You have no right to be
1298
01:23:16.520 --> 01:23:21.600
on the cheerleading squad, you little fucking mouse. Mandy screams
1299
01:23:21.640 --> 01:23:25.239
with rage and knocks everybody away from her with strength.
1300
01:23:25.239 --> 01:23:30.000
I've only seen bells possess I turn and run. Nowhere
1301
01:23:30.039 --> 01:23:33.840
to run, geek, Mandy yells. I find the nearest door
1302
01:23:33.880 --> 01:23:36.560
and open it to go down into the basement. Just
1303
01:23:36.600 --> 01:23:39.520
as I pull the door shut. Mandy rips it away.
1304
01:23:39.880 --> 01:23:43.039
I scream and move, but Mandy shoves me down the stairs.
1305
01:23:43.439 --> 01:23:46.000
I fall over until I land flat on my back.
1306
01:23:46.560 --> 01:23:50.119
I groan and make myself get up. I got all
1307
01:23:50.199 --> 01:23:55.000
your phones and destroyed them, Mandy says. I even learned
1308
01:23:55.119 --> 01:23:59.439
Chelsea's family security system code. It was all perfect. All
1309
01:23:59.479 --> 01:24:01.720
I had to do was get Chelsea to invite me
1310
01:24:01.800 --> 01:24:06.079
over for her friend's giving. Now I can kill and
1311
01:24:06.279 --> 01:24:11.680
drink you all, and you're next. I quickly duck a
1312
01:24:11.720 --> 01:24:14.279
wild swing. Then I run over to the fireplace and
1313
01:24:14.319 --> 01:24:16.560
pick up a poker to use as a weapon. As
1314
01:24:16.600 --> 01:24:19.399
Mandy's almost upon me, I swing and hit her hard
1315
01:24:19.439 --> 01:24:22.199
in the face. I scream when I see the left
1316
01:24:22.239 --> 01:24:25.199
side of Mandy's face land on the floor at my feet.
1317
01:24:26.239 --> 01:24:29.840
Mandy glares at me hatefully. Her right face is dead
1318
01:24:29.920 --> 01:24:33.720
flesh preserved by fermeldehyde or whatever blood she drinks, and
1319
01:24:33.760 --> 01:24:37.159
her left face is bare muscle and skull, with the
1320
01:24:37.239 --> 01:24:41.560
eye still in its place. Icky brown blood runs from
1321
01:24:41.560 --> 01:24:46.279
her exposed left face and down her clothes. Now, Mandy
1322
01:24:46.359 --> 01:24:51.119
hisses loudly and advances menacingly towards me. I turn and run.
1323
01:24:51.760 --> 01:24:55.600
Mandy's right behind me. Mandy can really run for a
1324
01:24:55.680 --> 01:25:00.359
dead girl. I quickly run back upstairs. Come back to me,
1325
01:25:00.399 --> 01:25:04.159
you four eyed little bitch, Mandy yells. When I reach
1326
01:25:04.239 --> 01:25:06.640
the top, I feel hands grab me and pull me
1327
01:25:06.680 --> 01:25:09.640
off to the side. Chelsea turns and shoves me down
1328
01:25:09.640 --> 01:25:13.920
a hallway. Go. As Chelsea's running behind me, she gets
1329
01:25:13.960 --> 01:25:18.159
tackled by Mandy. Shit. I turn around, but Chelsea motions
1330
01:25:18.159 --> 01:25:21.119
for me to go get out of here. Aileen, all
1331
01:25:21.159 --> 01:25:23.600
you had to do was give me a place on
1332
01:25:23.680 --> 01:25:29.000
the cheerleading squad. Mandy growls, but no, you give all
1333
01:25:29.039 --> 01:25:33.840
the fucking freaks places instead. Mandy and Chelsea are wrestling
1334
01:25:33.840 --> 01:25:36.479
on the floor now as I move away. You're one
1335
01:25:36.520 --> 01:25:42.079
to talk, Mandy, Chelsea hisses. I turn and see, yes,
1336
01:25:42.800 --> 01:25:46.479
there's a big shotgun hanging above the fireplace. I climb
1337
01:25:46.560 --> 01:25:48.239
up on a chair to grab it and return to
1338
01:25:48.239 --> 01:25:51.359
help Chelsea. I practically pee my pants when I see
1339
01:25:51.399 --> 01:25:54.560
Mandy's got Chelsea flat on her back and Mandy's mouth
1340
01:25:54.600 --> 01:25:57.600
is open wide enough to where she can possibly bite
1341
01:25:57.600 --> 01:26:01.760
off Chelsea's whole head. Chelsea closes her eyes and screams
1342
01:26:01.800 --> 01:26:05.680
as Mandy lowers her mouth and Mandy's head explodes all
1343
01:26:05.760 --> 01:26:10.000
over Chelsea's face and upper body. Mandy's corpse drops and
1344
01:26:10.039 --> 01:26:13.399
the neck area starts pouring more sickly brown blood all
1345
01:26:13.439 --> 01:26:23.239
over Chelsea. Ah. Chelsea shrieks, then screams, I dropped the
1346
01:26:23.279 --> 01:26:30.039
shotgun and move to help Chelsea. It's a few hours
1347
01:26:30.119 --> 01:26:33.560
later when the police and ambulances are gone. The police
1348
01:26:33.560 --> 01:26:37.119
got statements out of all of us. Funny thing. You'd
1349
01:26:37.159 --> 01:26:40.960
think we'd lie about what happened here, but Chelsea actually
1350
01:26:40.960 --> 01:26:45.279
suggested we all tell the truth. So we all told
1351
01:26:45.319 --> 01:26:48.760
the truth to the best of our knowledge. The police
1352
01:26:48.840 --> 01:26:52.439
didn't really give us a hard time. I'm still wondering
1353
01:26:52.479 --> 01:26:55.960
if they believed us or not. None of us were arrested,
1354
01:26:56.439 --> 01:27:01.000
but we lost people as a result of Mandy. Anyway,
1355
01:27:01.600 --> 01:27:04.800
Chelsea pretty much let all of us go. I know
1356
01:27:04.920 --> 01:27:07.960
she still has to clean herself up yet. I've only
1357
01:27:08.039 --> 01:27:11.079
walked a little ways away from the mere engated community
1358
01:27:11.560 --> 01:27:15.960
when someone catches up to me. Hey you, I'm overjoyed. Now,
1359
01:27:16.399 --> 01:27:20.720
Bell's what happened. Bell's explains that she had arrived at
1360
01:27:20.720 --> 01:27:24.199
Denyer's grill to break up the fight. As it turned out,
1361
01:27:24.319 --> 01:27:28.079
the two vampires fighting were both parts of rival clans.
1362
01:27:28.960 --> 01:27:32.640
The clans themselves actually came to the diner. Bells had
1363
01:27:32.640 --> 01:27:35.600
to really work to take out all those vampires and
1364
01:27:35.720 --> 01:27:39.680
make sure that nobody human was harmed. She still has
1365
01:27:39.760 --> 01:27:42.640
some blood on her. Then she notices, I've got a
1366
01:27:42.640 --> 01:27:47.520
little of Mandy's blood on me. What happened to you, Anie?
1367
01:27:48.560 --> 01:27:51.880
I tell Bells everything that happened. Bells gives me a
1368
01:27:51.960 --> 01:27:55.880
sympathetic smile. I'm so sorry I didn't make it back.
1369
01:27:56.760 --> 01:28:00.800
I'm so glad you're okay. Hugh did pretty good without
1370
01:28:00.800 --> 01:28:06.039
me there with you. I smile a little, Yeah, I
1371
01:28:06.079 --> 01:28:10.439
guess I did, didn't I? Then I say, I think
1372
01:28:10.520 --> 01:28:15.560
Chelsea's pretty upset right now. Bell shrugs, best to let
1373
01:28:15.560 --> 01:28:19.800
her calm down. Then she changes the subject. Looks like
1374
01:28:19.840 --> 01:28:23.000
we both never got to have Thanksgiving dinner. How about
1375
01:28:23.039 --> 01:28:25.800
we go home, get cleaned up, and get some roasted
1376
01:28:25.800 --> 01:28:30.640
turkey at Denoyer's. I smile and sigh. Sounds good to me.
1377
01:28:30.760 --> 01:28:42.079
Belle's Turkey Terror by Douglas Waltz. My first memory of
1378
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Thanksgiving was when I was five years old. We were
1379
01:28:45.640 --> 01:28:48.960
at my grandfather's house on the shore of Lake Superior
1380
01:28:49.479 --> 01:28:53.680
in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The snow was falling,
1381
01:28:53.760 --> 01:28:56.680
and my father and my uncle Bert were out hunting
1382
01:28:56.760 --> 01:29:01.359
for the turkey that would be the Thanksgiving feast. My
1383
01:29:01.479 --> 01:29:04.119
uncle had been many times, but it had been my
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01:29:04.199 --> 01:29:08.720
father's first time. Family tradition dictated that all of the
1385
01:29:08.760 --> 01:29:12.520
men in the family needed to help with Thanksgiving by
1386
01:29:12.600 --> 01:29:16.159
hunting down and shooting the bird that we would all eat.
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01:29:17.359 --> 01:29:20.159
Hours later, they had come in the door triumphant with
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01:29:20.239 --> 01:29:23.640
a massive bird in my father's hands. I saw that
1389
01:29:23.680 --> 01:29:27.800
he had a huge scratch on his forehead that bled profusely,
1390
01:29:28.439 --> 01:29:31.439
and the look on his face showed an indescribable fear
1391
01:29:32.039 --> 01:29:36.159
that my five year old brain completely understood. It was
1392
01:29:36.239 --> 01:29:40.800
the fear of the unknown. With each step of my
1393
01:29:40.920 --> 01:29:45.119
boots crunching in the ice covered snow, more memories of
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01:29:45.159 --> 01:29:49.279
the holiday so precious to my family came to the forefront.
1395
01:29:50.159 --> 01:29:53.720
I remembered the time that my older cousin, Franklin, went
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01:29:53.760 --> 01:29:56.479
out with my father and uncle Bert to hunt the
1397
01:29:56.560 --> 01:30:00.439
monstrous bird. While they were successful, I could and see
1398
01:30:00.439 --> 01:30:04.680
the anguish in my cousin's eyes. I assumed that as
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01:30:04.760 --> 01:30:08.079
years passed, it would dim, much like my father's had
1400
01:30:08.439 --> 01:30:12.199
after he went on multiple hunts, but it never did.
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01:30:13.279 --> 01:30:16.079
When he turned eighteen, he left the family and went
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01:30:16.119 --> 01:30:19.640
to live in Traverse City. The next time I saw
1403
01:30:19.760 --> 01:30:23.560
him was at his funeral, a year after he had left.
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01:30:25.279 --> 01:30:30.479
If you thought that was scary, just you wait, weekly spooky,
1405
01:30:30.640 --> 01:30:31.720
We'll be right back.
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01:30:33.760 --> 01:30:36.680
No one would discuss what had happened, but I heard
1407
01:30:36.720 --> 01:30:39.640
my aunt Norma tell my mother that it had been
1408
01:30:39.680 --> 01:30:44.239
a suicide. I kept moving through the icy wasteland that
1409
01:30:44.439 --> 01:30:48.079
is the Upper Peninsula, or up as it is referred
1410
01:30:48.119 --> 01:30:52.399
to anyone who's ever lived there. The other popular term
1411
01:30:53.000 --> 01:30:57.199
Upers was more derogatory and rarely heard when it was
1412
01:30:57.359 --> 01:31:01.640
just local folk. I had on a heavy parka thick
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01:31:01.680 --> 01:31:04.800
woolen mittens, with a pair of gloves under those, and
1414
01:31:04.880 --> 01:31:08.800
two pairs of thermal socks inside of my heavy boots.
1415
01:31:09.439 --> 01:31:12.520
The bitter wind that howled from the nearby lake shore
1416
01:31:12.760 --> 01:31:16.880
bit through my clothing like it was nonexistent. I couldn't
1417
01:31:16.880 --> 01:31:19.720
begin to imagine what would happen to bear skin in
1418
01:31:19.760 --> 01:31:24.520
this weather. My scarf wrapped around my bearded face, and
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01:31:24.600 --> 01:31:27.880
I had the foresight to put on tinted goggles before
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01:31:27.920 --> 01:31:30.159
I had made out to accomplish what no one in
1421
01:31:30.239 --> 01:31:35.600
my family had ever considered to end the family tradition
1422
01:31:36.239 --> 01:31:40.239
of the hunt. The ancient memory of when I was
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01:31:40.319 --> 01:31:43.199
eight and went to visit distant relatives for the winter
1424
01:31:43.399 --> 01:31:47.119
came without warning. My parents told me it would be
1425
01:31:47.159 --> 01:31:51.800
good for me. Twenty years later, my face still flushed
1426
01:31:51.840 --> 01:31:55.800
red with embarrassment at the thought of the Thanksgiving meal
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01:31:56.239 --> 01:31:59.800
prepared for me by someone other than my mother and
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01:32:00.119 --> 01:32:05.439
my aunt's. The same things were there, but just a
1429
01:32:05.520 --> 01:32:10.720
little different. The stuffing didn't taste quite right. The mashed
1430
01:32:10.800 --> 01:32:14.920
potatoes had no lumps. The gravy needed salt, which I
1431
01:32:15.000 --> 01:32:17.680
snuck onto my plate when I didn't think anyone else
1432
01:32:17.840 --> 01:32:22.439
was watching. But it was the bird, that damitable bird,
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01:32:22.600 --> 01:32:24.760
sitting in the middle of the table on a huge
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01:32:24.800 --> 01:32:29.199
white platter. My great uncle Ephraim asked me what my
1435
01:32:29.279 --> 01:32:32.800
favorite part of the bird was. I said tentacle, which
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01:32:32.880 --> 01:32:35.920
caused a nervous titter amongst the people at the table.
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01:32:37.359 --> 01:32:41.079
My youngest cousin, Frederick, laughed that unbearable laugh of his
1438
01:32:41.399 --> 01:32:45.199
that sounded like a jackass praying. My aunt Eunice was
1439
01:32:45.319 --> 01:32:48.399
quick to come to my rescue and said, I believe
1440
01:32:48.479 --> 01:32:53.680
he's referring to the neck. Ephraim nodded sagely, and remarked
1441
01:32:53.680 --> 01:32:58.359
how that could be mistaken for a tentacle. Luckily for me,
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01:32:58.920 --> 01:33:01.920
my aunt roasted that part when she baked their oddly
1443
01:33:02.000 --> 01:33:05.159
shaped turkey. He put it on my plate for me,
1444
01:33:05.920 --> 01:33:08.479
and to say I was disappointed in what lay before
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01:33:08.560 --> 01:33:12.680
me would be an understatement. In place of the smooth,
1446
01:33:12.880 --> 01:33:16.119
buttery textured tentacle that I had grown up with, I
1447
01:33:16.199 --> 01:33:20.239
was given a dry, bony scrap of meat that wouldn't
1448
01:33:20.279 --> 01:33:25.079
feed anyone. I still pretended to like it and managed
1449
01:33:25.119 --> 01:33:27.840
to take all the meat off of the bony surface.
1450
01:33:28.960 --> 01:33:34.359
My charade was complete. A loud, cracking noise to my
1451
01:33:34.520 --> 01:33:38.720
left brought me out of my reverie. I spotted a
1452
01:33:38.760 --> 01:33:44.760
turkey slowly moving through the underbrush. Its two front tentacles
1453
01:33:44.800 --> 01:33:49.920
grabbed various low hanging branches in search of tender sprouts
1454
01:33:50.000 --> 01:33:53.720
to eat from the trees. I brought up my shotgun
1455
01:33:54.640 --> 01:33:56.800
a beast of a ten gage that had belonged to
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01:33:56.840 --> 01:34:01.520
my father, and let loose with both barrels. The impact
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01:34:01.640 --> 01:34:05.920
moved me backwards afoot, but I managed to keep myself upright.
1458
01:34:06.640 --> 01:34:10.319
The creature exploded in a flurry of feathers and red gore,
1459
01:34:10.479 --> 01:34:14.359
staining the snow in all directions, I knew I was
1460
01:34:14.439 --> 01:34:19.520
nearing the cave. The cave had no name. It was
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01:34:19.560 --> 01:34:22.920
on the shore of Lake Superior, and water managed to
1462
01:34:22.960 --> 01:34:25.920
find its way in and out according to the tides.
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01:34:26.880 --> 01:34:30.239
The turkeys called at home, and in the entire lineage
1464
01:34:30.279 --> 01:34:33.840
of my family, none of us had ever gone into
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01:34:33.880 --> 01:34:38.159
the cave. There was no need to. The turkeys came
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01:34:38.199 --> 01:34:40.920
out in search of food, and we would only kill
1467
01:34:41.039 --> 01:34:46.079
one a year for our Thanksgiving feast. We appreciated nature's
1468
01:34:46.079 --> 01:34:50.560
bounty and never asked questions like why were our turkeys
1469
01:34:50.640 --> 01:34:53.800
so much bigger than the ones in the store, Why
1470
01:34:53.800 --> 01:34:57.239
did ours have the delicious front and back tentacles while
1471
01:34:57.279 --> 01:35:02.000
others did not? And the tape? Why was the bird
1472
01:35:02.039 --> 01:35:06.119
we harvested every year such a delight to the taste buds,
1473
01:35:06.319 --> 01:35:10.279
while ones that other folk raved about, especially the coveted
1474
01:35:10.399 --> 01:35:15.680
white meat, tasted like a dry napkin. After my first
1475
01:35:15.800 --> 01:35:19.880
experience with an outsider Thanksgiving, I just didn't care to
1476
01:35:19.960 --> 01:35:23.359
ask any of these questions. I knew it was wrong
1477
01:35:23.720 --> 01:35:28.199
and they could have that flavorless tiny fowl. I finally
1478
01:35:28.239 --> 01:35:31.359
reached the cave and unpacked my huge bag that had
1479
01:35:31.439 --> 01:35:36.439
everything I needed to stop this Thanksgiving madness once and
1480
01:35:36.520 --> 01:35:40.000
for all. As I laid everything out in the snow
1481
01:35:40.039 --> 01:35:43.039
in front of the cave, the final memory that had
1482
01:35:43.039 --> 01:35:47.800
brought me to the mouth of this hollow came without warning.
1483
01:35:48.880 --> 01:35:52.239
I had been away at graduate school in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
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01:35:52.720 --> 01:35:57.399
when I received the call from my mother. Without hesitation,
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01:35:57.560 --> 01:36:01.239
I stopped everything I was doing headed home as quickly
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01:36:01.279 --> 01:36:05.479
as possible. The southern part of Michigan was experiencing an
1487
01:36:05.560 --> 01:36:10.720
unusually warm November, but being from the up I knew
1488
01:36:10.760 --> 01:36:14.000
better than to expect the same. When I returned home,
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01:36:15.119 --> 01:36:18.439
the weather stayed nice until I crossed the Mackinac Bridge.
1490
01:36:19.159 --> 01:36:23.760
Wind howled across the giant suspension bridge. It felt like
1491
01:36:23.880 --> 01:36:27.960
invisible fists were drumming against the metal shell of my car.
1492
01:36:28.800 --> 01:36:31.359
There was something in the air giving me warning to
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01:36:31.439 --> 01:36:35.840
turn around and abandon my quest. I ignored it over
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01:36:35.880 --> 01:36:40.840
my duty to family and pressed on, and finally I
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01:36:40.960 --> 01:36:46.359
was home. Apparently in preparation for the Thanksgiving hunt, my
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01:36:46.520 --> 01:36:49.079
father had taken it upon himself to stake out a
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01:36:49.119 --> 01:36:53.319
good spot to find the perfect turkey for the celebration.
1498
01:36:54.479 --> 01:36:57.000
He was lying on the living room couch, wrapped in
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01:36:57.039 --> 01:37:00.800
a crocheted afghan that my great grandmother had made so
1500
01:37:00.880 --> 01:37:04.359
many years ago. Half of his face was covered in
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01:37:04.439 --> 01:37:09.119
gauze and tape. Blood had managed to seep out in spots.
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01:37:09.640 --> 01:37:14.039
The gaunt, robust man of my childhood had been reduced
1503
01:37:14.319 --> 01:37:18.760
to a frail version of his former self. When I
1504
01:37:18.840 --> 01:37:21.479
smiled at him, he returned it with a crooked smile
1505
01:37:21.560 --> 01:37:25.920
of his own. I found it interesting that the look
1506
01:37:25.960 --> 01:37:28.039
of fear that he had brought into the house so
1507
01:37:28.119 --> 01:37:34.039
many years ago was completely gone. No trace of it remained,
1508
01:37:34.319 --> 01:37:37.600
and he took my hand in his. I glanced at
1509
01:37:37.600 --> 01:37:41.640
my mother, and her tear stained face told me all
1510
01:37:41.680 --> 01:37:46.439
I needed to know. She wasn't even capable of returning
1511
01:37:46.479 --> 01:37:52.239
the smile I gave her. Then, with his last breath,
1512
01:37:53.159 --> 01:37:57.439
he told me what needed to be done. I kissed
1513
01:37:57.439 --> 01:38:02.159
his cooling forehead and hugged my mother before I went
1514
01:38:02.199 --> 01:38:04.880
to the outbuilding that would have everything I would need
1515
01:38:05.800 --> 01:38:10.039
for my mission. When my father and uncle had decided
1516
01:38:10.039 --> 01:38:14.039
on erecting a few outbuildings around the house, they discovered
1517
01:38:14.079 --> 01:38:17.399
that most of the land surrounding the home was nothing
1518
01:38:17.479 --> 01:38:21.000
but ledge. Only a few inches of earth covered a
1519
01:38:21.119 --> 01:38:24.199
huge mass of rock that would have been impossible to
1520
01:38:24.239 --> 01:38:28.800
build anything on. It was what remained of the dynamite
1521
01:38:29.159 --> 01:38:32.720
that I had stuffed into a convenient backpack hanging on
1522
01:38:32.760 --> 01:38:36.399
a rusty hook in the shed. I also grabbed the
1523
01:38:36.520 --> 01:38:39.239
huge augur that we would use to make holes in
1524
01:38:39.279 --> 01:38:44.079
a nearby pond for fishing. Now these things lay on
1525
01:38:44.119 --> 01:38:47.680
the ground before me, and I started the laborious task
1526
01:38:47.760 --> 01:38:50.520
of making a line of holes in front of the cave.
1527
01:38:51.640 --> 01:38:56.079
Occasionally a turkey would be curious as to my intentions.
1528
01:38:56.600 --> 01:38:59.479
Then I would stop what I was doing, grab the
1529
01:38:59.560 --> 01:39:02.159
ten game, and turned the bird into a pile of
1530
01:39:02.239 --> 01:39:07.279
feathers and gore. After the second time that occurred, I
1531
01:39:07.399 --> 01:39:10.960
noticed a small rumbling coming from the black depths of
1532
01:39:11.039 --> 01:39:14.840
the cave. There was also a smell that my brain
1533
01:39:15.560 --> 01:39:22.680
refused to identify, sickly sweet, like rotted flesh, but something
1534
01:39:22.920 --> 01:39:28.920
much much worse that my mind could not comprehend. After
1535
01:39:29.000 --> 01:39:32.680
an hour and four dead turkeys, I had succeeded in
1536
01:39:32.760 --> 01:39:37.560
planting twenty five sticks of dynamite in a tight line.
1537
01:39:37.600 --> 01:39:40.920
They were all linked by a single wire that would
1538
01:39:41.000 --> 01:39:43.880
lead to a detonator box that I figured out how
1539
01:39:43.920 --> 01:39:48.239
to use before leaving the house. The rumbling had grown
1540
01:39:48.359 --> 01:39:52.199
louder as I toiled in the increasingly warm environment in
1541
01:39:52.239 --> 01:39:56.399
front of the cavern. At first I blamed my exertions,
1542
01:39:56.479 --> 01:39:59.760
But even in that bitter cold air that flung itself
1543
01:39:59.800 --> 01:40:02.840
off the icy cold surface of the majestic Lake Superior,
1544
01:40:03.239 --> 01:40:06.239
not a single beat of sweat appeared on my brow.
1545
01:40:07.119 --> 01:40:09.399
I took off one of my woolen mittens and the
1546
01:40:09.439 --> 01:40:12.279
glove underneath, and held it out in front of me.
1547
01:40:13.680 --> 01:40:18.359
The warm air was coming from the cave, and so
1548
01:40:18.600 --> 01:40:23.000
was something else, something big.
1549
01:40:25.279 --> 01:40:30.680
Are you afraid? Good? Weakly spooky? We'll be right back.
1550
01:40:33.159 --> 01:40:35.880
I quickly replaced the glove and mitten and wound the
1551
01:40:35.880 --> 01:40:38.119
wire off the spool to take it back to where
1552
01:40:38.119 --> 01:40:40.720
I had placed the detonator box out of harm's way.
1553
01:40:41.960 --> 01:40:46.279
Then a long, fleshy tentacle snapped out of the cave
1554
01:40:46.319 --> 01:40:50.399
and wrapped itself around my ankle. The scarf, wrapped firmly
1555
01:40:50.479 --> 01:40:53.840
around my face muffled my screams as I struggled to
1556
01:40:53.880 --> 01:40:57.880
gain a foot to where the backpack lay. As I
1557
01:40:57.880 --> 01:41:01.680
felt myself being dragged backwards, I lunged and snapped one
1558
01:41:01.680 --> 01:41:04.800
of the straps, plunging my hand into the bag. It
1559
01:41:04.880 --> 01:41:08.079
came out with a newly sharpened hatchet my father had
1560
01:41:08.079 --> 01:41:13.600
always used in beheading the Thanksgiving turkey. Now I used
1561
01:41:13.640 --> 01:41:16.319
it to hack at the writhing cord of flesh that
1562
01:41:16.479 --> 01:41:19.399
was determined to drag me to the very depths of
1563
01:41:19.520 --> 01:41:24.079
hell itself. Green eye coors splashed my hand and pants
1564
01:41:24.119 --> 01:41:27.319
as I managed to free myself. I did not take
1565
01:41:27.359 --> 01:41:31.239
the time to admire my handiwork. Instead, I grabbed the
1566
01:41:31.239 --> 01:41:35.680
spool of wire and ran to the box. An unearthly
1567
01:41:35.800 --> 01:41:38.680
scream caught my attention as I wrapped the wire on
1568
01:41:38.720 --> 01:41:45.560
the posts of the detonator. My mind tried to understand
1569
01:41:45.600 --> 01:41:49.239
what I was seeing. I assumed it would just be
1570
01:41:49.319 --> 01:41:52.399
a much larger version of the turkeys my family had
1571
01:41:52.439 --> 01:41:57.479
been consuming for generations. I couldn't have been more wrong.
1572
01:41:58.840 --> 01:42:02.039
While the tentacles had had been the familiar green color
1573
01:42:02.079 --> 01:42:05.479
of the smaller birds, this wasn't a bird at all.
1574
01:42:06.680 --> 01:42:11.039
A huge, amorphous blob of sickly white color was using
1575
01:42:11.079 --> 01:42:15.039
the tentacles to move slowly across the rough cavern floor.
1576
01:42:16.119 --> 01:42:20.319
It resembled an octopus more than anything else, but even
1577
01:42:20.399 --> 01:42:23.720
that did not do justice in the description of this
1578
01:42:23.840 --> 01:42:29.680
creature before me. Two huge yellowed eyes stared malevolently at me,
1579
01:42:30.000 --> 01:42:33.439
and I could feel the pure evil that emanated from
1580
01:42:33.479 --> 01:42:37.880
those massive orbs. I pulled the stick out of the
1581
01:42:37.920 --> 01:42:44.520
detonator and plunged it down rapidly. The concussive blast sent
1582
01:42:44.600 --> 01:42:49.000
me hurling perilously close to the frigid lake, and for
1583
01:42:49.039 --> 01:42:53.279
what felt like the briefest of moments, I felt everything
1584
01:42:53.439 --> 01:42:59.760
go dark. Later, it was the coldness of the lake,
1585
01:42:59.840 --> 01:43:03.880
a seeping through my scarf, that brought me back to
1586
01:43:03.960 --> 01:43:08.079
the land of the living. The blast had collapsed the
1587
01:43:08.119 --> 01:43:12.239
cave mouth and there were gobbits of the monster's unnatural
1588
01:43:12.359 --> 01:43:17.000
flesh littering the surrounding area. Some of the flesh was
1589
01:43:17.039 --> 01:43:20.960
actually a blaze, and the smell of it cooking made
1590
01:43:21.000 --> 01:43:24.479
my mouth water. When I realized what it was that
1591
01:43:24.520 --> 01:43:28.560
we had been eating all that time, the unnatural union
1592
01:43:28.640 --> 01:43:32.439
of monster and bird. A wave of nausea made my
1593
01:43:32.600 --> 01:43:37.039
vision swim With little dots of white light flickering in
1594
01:43:37.159 --> 01:43:41.920
my field of vision, I saw a rather large version
1595
01:43:42.000 --> 01:43:45.479
of the tentacle turkey pecking away at a piece of
1596
01:43:45.520 --> 01:43:49.880
the ruined flesh. The trusty ten Gage was near the beast,
1597
01:43:50.720 --> 01:43:56.119
but another idea leapt into my now addled brain. I
1598
01:43:56.239 --> 01:44:00.239
located my father's hatchet and walked up to the bird
1599
01:44:00.720 --> 01:44:03.640
and sliced off its head in one neat swing of
1600
01:44:03.680 --> 01:44:08.640
the weapon. Then I flung it over my shoulder and
1601
01:44:08.720 --> 01:44:13.439
made my way back home. After all, it was nearly
1602
01:44:13.520 --> 01:44:19.199
Thanksgiving and the family would be expecting their feast. None
1603
01:44:19.199 --> 01:44:21.560
of them would realize it was to be our last
1604
01:44:21.640 --> 01:44:36.720
taste of this delectable animal homecoming. By rob Field's perspective, Bella,
1605
01:44:37.680 --> 01:44:40.319
Anie and I couldn't get out of Strickfield High School
1606
01:44:40.359 --> 01:44:43.119
fast enough. As soon as that bell to end the
1607
01:44:43.119 --> 01:44:45.680
school day rang, Ainnie and I shot up out of
1608
01:44:45.720 --> 01:44:49.399
our seats and were right out the side doors. We're
1609
01:44:49.399 --> 01:44:52.159
really going to do this, bells, she asks me in
1610
01:44:52.239 --> 01:44:56.119
her mousey voice, What get the fuck out of Strickfield
1611
01:44:56.119 --> 01:45:00.720
for Thanksgiving? Hugh damn Betcha. I raised my finger. I
1612
01:45:00.760 --> 01:45:03.760
haven't even told you the best part. You keep saying
1613
01:45:03.800 --> 01:45:08.760
it's going to be a surprise. Well prepare to be surprised, Iinie.
1614
01:45:09.359 --> 01:45:11.760
I open my mouth to tell her, but it seems
1615
01:45:11.840 --> 01:45:15.439
Iine's hearing me speak with the voice of Principal Matthew
1616
01:45:15.520 --> 01:45:19.720
Van Deste. Bella Tabon, you stop right there, right there,
1617
01:45:20.279 --> 01:45:24.199
I sigh, and look up to the cloudy sky and mutter, God,
1618
01:45:24.319 --> 01:45:27.600
damn it. Then I lower my eyes to see our
1619
01:45:27.760 --> 01:45:31.760
esteemed school leader marching right at ainy in me. I
1620
01:45:31.840 --> 01:45:36.479
give him a very toothy smile. Why Matthew, how the
1621
01:45:36.520 --> 01:45:40.159
hell are you today? Principal van Des sticks his finger
1622
01:45:40.239 --> 01:45:43.399
right in my face. You are supposed to be walking
1623
01:45:43.439 --> 01:45:46.359
to detention hall right now. You are not going to
1624
01:45:46.439 --> 01:45:50.319
just walk on home like you you. I swear all
1625
01:45:50.439 --> 01:45:53.239
day every student and teacher has been gawking at my
1626
01:45:53.319 --> 01:45:56.479
new outfit and wearing a black leather crop top that
1627
01:45:56.600 --> 01:45:59.960
kind of looks like a bra and matching short short.
1628
01:46:00.760 --> 01:46:03.479
I actually took Eini's advice and wore a pair of
1629
01:46:03.479 --> 01:46:08.319
her heeled platform sandals. My long, dirty blonde hair almost
1630
01:46:08.359 --> 01:46:12.039
flows like a cape in the breeze. I'm still smiling
1631
01:46:12.079 --> 01:46:15.079
for him as always. He's undressing me with his eyes.
1632
01:46:15.920 --> 01:46:19.319
Thanks to my vampire hearing, I can hear his heart pounding.
1633
01:46:20.319 --> 01:46:22.399
Why do you have to be so madly in love
1634
01:46:22.439 --> 01:46:26.720
with me, Matthew, I'm thinking, problem is, I don't really
1635
01:46:26.760 --> 01:46:29.880
have any room to talk. I can't deny there's the
1636
01:46:30.079 --> 01:46:35.920
very real possibility that I reciprocate his feelings. Heavy sigh.
1637
01:46:36.359 --> 01:46:40.119
Why me, Well, Matthew, I think we both know I
1638
01:46:40.119 --> 01:46:43.800
ain't going anywhere near detention hall, I tell him flatly.
1639
01:46:44.359 --> 01:46:48.039
Then I raise my finger, but I'll be more than
1640
01:46:48.079 --> 01:46:51.279
happy to no Bella. You have to get back in
1641
01:46:51.399 --> 01:46:56.039
there and serve it right now. Vandiste tells me I
1642
01:46:56.119 --> 01:46:59.279
caught you red handed flipping a teacher off, even if
1643
01:46:59.319 --> 01:47:02.720
his back was turned to you. Now I laugh and
1644
01:47:02.760 --> 01:47:05.439
flip him off. How many times have I done this
1645
01:47:05.640 --> 01:47:08.079
very thing to you? You never once gave me a
1646
01:47:08.079 --> 01:47:11.680
detention for it. Yet I flip off that fucking blowhart
1647
01:47:11.720 --> 01:47:13.800
of a science teacher, and you're gonna send me to
1648
01:47:13.840 --> 01:47:20.079
detention for that? Please? Van Deiste starts lecturing me. I
1649
01:47:20.199 --> 01:47:23.319
move my hands up and into my hair. Now he's
1650
01:47:23.319 --> 01:47:28.079
stammering when I'm using my tight body to mesmerize him. Okay,
1651
01:47:28.119 --> 01:47:30.840
I admit I'm being a flirt, but I'd be lying
1652
01:47:30.880 --> 01:47:33.159
if I said I wasn't enjoying it just as much
1653
01:47:33.159 --> 01:47:36.560
as him. When I lower my hands, he grabs them
1654
01:47:36.600 --> 01:47:39.960
and takes them in his His blue eyes meet my
1655
01:47:40.199 --> 01:47:43.880
red ones. I actually feel myself softened up and my
1656
01:47:44.000 --> 01:47:49.239
face get hot. Damn it, I'm fucking blushing. Then, Iini
1657
01:47:49.359 --> 01:47:52.520
quickly tells Van Deiste that she's not feeling very well
1658
01:47:52.520 --> 01:47:54.960
and that I've got to get her home. I give
1659
01:47:55.039 --> 01:47:59.000
him my look that says she ain't lying. Come on
1660
01:47:59.239 --> 01:48:03.199
just for today, man, I say, I promise, I'll serve
1661
01:48:03.199 --> 01:48:06.119
it on Monday after school before going to cheerleading practice.
1662
01:48:06.560 --> 01:48:10.199
But I've got to get Eine home. Please. When he
1663
01:48:10.319 --> 01:48:14.279
still seems to refuse me, I have no choice. I
1664
01:48:14.439 --> 01:48:17.760
lean in and give him a gentle peck on the lips.
1665
01:48:18.479 --> 01:48:21.760
Bad move, Bella, that just made you blush even more.
1666
01:48:22.239 --> 01:48:24.600
But at least Van Deiste is finally letting go of
1667
01:48:24.640 --> 01:48:28.920
my hands, only to wrap his arms around me. I
1668
01:48:28.960 --> 01:48:32.680
can't help myself and wrap my arms around him. Then
1669
01:48:32.760 --> 01:48:37.680
we share a gentle, passionate kiss. When the kiss is done,
1670
01:48:37.760 --> 01:48:43.760
we just look at each other. My face is really hot. Now, okay, Bella,
1671
01:48:43.840 --> 01:48:47.359
since it's Thanksgiving, I'll give you a pass this time.
1672
01:48:47.920 --> 01:48:50.720
He glances at Aine. Go ahead and get her home.
1673
01:48:51.720 --> 01:48:54.520
Then he does look at her. Hope you get better
1674
01:48:54.560 --> 01:48:59.479
over Thanksgiving. Break Thank you, sir, Heine says Ainye, and
1675
01:48:59.520 --> 01:49:02.600
I turn away from Vandiste after wishing him a happy Thanksgiving.
1676
01:49:03.119 --> 01:49:05.439
I can tell she's going to give me hell about
1677
01:49:05.520 --> 01:49:09.319
kissing Vandiste later. How are you feeling, I ask her,
1678
01:49:10.439 --> 01:49:13.479
I'll make it home, but I think I've got a fever.
1679
01:49:13.920 --> 01:49:17.439
She tells me. I've got one last treatment I can try.
1680
01:49:17.479 --> 01:49:19.680
That may make you well again for a time, but
1681
01:49:20.520 --> 01:49:23.640
I don't know how long it'll last. I just wish
1682
01:49:23.680 --> 01:49:27.800
my body didn't build tolerances against your remedies. Iini complains
1683
01:49:28.520 --> 01:49:31.840
you and me both. Ainie's a trooper and makes the
1684
01:49:31.920 --> 01:49:35.439
walk home. We come inside and see Martin's not here.
1685
01:49:35.880 --> 01:49:39.960
That's Eine's older brother, always nice when that motherfucker ain't home.
1686
01:49:40.640 --> 01:49:43.359
The way Iini resents Martin, I've come to believe he's
1687
01:49:43.399 --> 01:49:47.520
the reason why she's sick. After I get Iiny upstairs
1688
01:49:47.520 --> 01:49:50.319
to her bed, I come back downstairs and mix up
1689
01:49:50.359 --> 01:49:53.399
the last remedy. I can remember Graham's teaching me from
1690
01:49:53.439 --> 01:49:56.279
back in the day, of course, I'm talking about the
1691
01:49:56.359 --> 01:50:00.560
late eighteen hundreds, where I'm originally from. Taught me a
1692
01:50:00.560 --> 01:50:04.880
lot about using tabon magic. My older brother, Nicholas wasn't
1693
01:50:04.880 --> 01:50:08.880
interested in learning from Grahams, and I tightened my fists
1694
01:50:08.920 --> 01:50:13.279
at the thought of her. God damn you, Cassie, I hiss,
1695
01:50:13.720 --> 01:50:17.279
I fucking hate you. I'm so fucking glad you're dead.
1696
01:50:18.119 --> 01:50:21.640
I would tell you about Cassie, but now's not really
1697
01:50:21.680 --> 01:50:25.520
the best time. Anyway. She really wasn't interested in learning
1698
01:50:25.520 --> 01:50:28.960
from Grahams either. Since I was the little devil in
1699
01:50:29.000 --> 01:50:31.600
our family, I figured learning from Grams would add to
1700
01:50:31.640 --> 01:50:34.920
my craftiness even more. I learned so much from her,
1701
01:50:34.920 --> 01:50:38.680
but not nearly enough, since the day came when Thornton Jillian,
1702
01:50:38.920 --> 01:50:43.800
a powerful master vampire, came hunting for us.
1703
01:50:45.600 --> 01:50:50.760
The only thing scarier than that is not being subscribed weekly.
1704
01:50:50.840 --> 01:50:52.239
Spooky will be right back.
1705
01:50:53.840 --> 01:50:57.520
Nicholas got really fucking overconfident and thought he could take
1706
01:50:57.560 --> 01:51:00.520
down Jillian by himself. I know ooe he was my
1707
01:51:00.600 --> 01:51:04.359
older brother, but what an idiot. And Cassie never lifted
1708
01:51:04.399 --> 01:51:07.520
a finger to help Nicholas. She even watched as Gillian
1709
01:51:07.640 --> 01:51:11.159
killed Grahams. Grams and I both tried to fight him off,
1710
01:51:11.600 --> 01:51:17.600
as Cassie just walked away. Gillian killed Gramps and then
1711
01:51:17.720 --> 01:51:21.760
beat me within an inch of my life. Thornton Gillian
1712
01:51:21.960 --> 01:51:25.399
deliberately let me live. He said I would be the
1713
01:51:25.479 --> 01:51:28.239
last tabon and for me to go find a husband
1714
01:51:28.279 --> 01:51:31.680
to rule over me and make babies with He told
1715
01:51:31.680 --> 01:51:34.880
me next time we crossed paths, he would kill me.
1716
01:51:36.000 --> 01:51:39.199
Graham's magic lessons came in handy when I prepared to
1717
01:51:39.199 --> 01:51:43.199
fight him myself after months and months of training, not
1718
01:51:43.319 --> 01:51:46.199
to mention having to sleep with a female master vampire
1719
01:51:46.680 --> 01:51:50.840
just to learn his whereabouts. I barely defeated Gillian thanks
1720
01:51:50.840 --> 01:51:54.199
to the lessons both Grahams and Gramps taught me. But
1721
01:51:54.279 --> 01:51:58.960
I was hurt very badly when I fell. Gillian's blood
1722
01:51:59.000 --> 01:52:02.680
mixed with my pure Tabon blood and transformed me into
1723
01:52:02.720 --> 01:52:06.560
a very unique version of a master vampire. I've lived
1724
01:52:06.560 --> 01:52:10.000
for more than one hundred years being all alone except
1725
01:52:10.079 --> 01:52:13.880
when I need a man to satisfy my libido. Not
1726
01:52:13.920 --> 01:52:17.800
only did Gillian's blood amp up my sex drive, it
1727
01:52:17.800 --> 01:52:21.159
it made me feral. This is why I dress very
1728
01:52:21.640 --> 01:52:24.760
slutty all the time. Then there's all the food I
1729
01:52:24.800 --> 01:52:27.520
eat in order to fuel my power, and I am
1730
01:52:28.199 --> 01:52:34.279
very powerful. Then I cry, knowing Iinny ain't nearby to
1731
01:52:34.359 --> 01:52:38.119
see me. Aileen Donnerly is the only real friend I
1732
01:52:38.199 --> 01:52:41.520
have right now. I call her Ainy because it's short
1733
01:52:41.560 --> 01:52:44.840
for Einstein. Her older brother Martin called her that on
1734
01:52:44.880 --> 01:52:50.159
account of her very gifted intelligence. Anyway, we didn't start
1735
01:52:50.199 --> 01:52:52.239
off as friends, but the longer the two of us
1736
01:52:52.279 --> 01:52:55.199
hung out together and did things, the closer we became,
1737
01:52:55.840 --> 01:52:59.840
especially when I learned she was sick. In truth, I
1738
01:53:00.359 --> 01:53:03.680
probably should have been dead months ago. It was the
1739
01:53:03.760 --> 01:53:08.920
remedies I learned from Grahams that prolonged her life. I
1740
01:53:09.000 --> 01:53:13.000
believe AINI has aids how she got it. I don't know.
1741
01:53:13.880 --> 01:53:17.039
She hasn't told me as of yet, but I feel
1742
01:53:17.119 --> 01:53:20.880
she will when she's ready. Again, I'm quite sure Martin
1743
01:53:21.000 --> 01:53:25.520
was responsible. No, he didn't give it to her himself,
1744
01:53:25.600 --> 01:53:28.479
but he must have done something that caused her to
1745
01:53:28.520 --> 01:53:32.319
become sick. I've never cried for someone the way I'm
1746
01:53:32.359 --> 01:53:36.640
crying for AINI, not since my grandparents died. And for
1747
01:53:36.680 --> 01:53:40.800
the record, we ain't lovers. That's not how our friendship works.
1748
01:53:41.279 --> 01:53:43.560
I just know I've gotten too close to this mortal,
1749
01:53:44.119 --> 01:53:46.640
especially when I said I would never become close to
1750
01:53:46.720 --> 01:53:53.159
any mortals after I became a master vampire. But it happened.
1751
01:53:53.159 --> 01:53:56.199
You know, I get the crying out of my system
1752
01:53:56.239 --> 01:53:59.159
and finish the remedy. This one I remembered out of
1753
01:53:59.159 --> 01:54:03.079
Graham's book is the most powerful one yet. It's also
1754
01:54:03.199 --> 01:54:06.479
the last one I know it's time to give Ainy
1755
01:54:06.560 --> 01:54:11.000
the remedy and spring the surprise on her. I head
1756
01:54:11.079 --> 01:54:13.000
up to her room and find her waiting for me.
1757
01:54:13.920 --> 01:54:19.520
You okay, bells, shit, I never wipe my tears. It's nothing.
1758
01:54:19.560 --> 01:54:23.960
Iiny here. I created these new capsules for you. It's
1759
01:54:24.000 --> 01:54:27.560
powerful stuff. Start off with one and we'll go from there.
1760
01:54:28.359 --> 01:54:32.239
Iiny obeys and takes a capsule with water. After minutes
1761
01:54:32.279 --> 01:54:36.199
have passed, she starts feeling much better then. I look
1762
01:54:36.239 --> 01:54:40.439
at her. I'm taking you home for Thanksgiving. She gives
1763
01:54:40.439 --> 01:54:45.239
me wide eyes. Your house, I nod. I need to
1764
01:54:45.279 --> 01:54:48.439
go look through Graham's books for more remedies and possible
1765
01:54:48.479 --> 01:54:51.479
spells that may help you. I don't know how long
1766
01:54:51.560 --> 01:54:54.479
this last one will last, and I don't know any
1767
01:54:54.520 --> 01:54:57.840
more remedies at all. Don't worry. We'll be back here
1768
01:54:57.880 --> 01:55:01.439
in Strickfield in time to return to school on my Also,
1769
01:55:01.960 --> 01:55:04.439
I'll make us a hell of a Thanksgiving dinner, just
1770
01:55:04.479 --> 01:55:07.199
the way Graham's used to. We'll just have to do
1771
01:55:07.239 --> 01:55:12.640
some shopping along the way. Iine smiles, just a little. Okay,
1772
01:55:14.079 --> 01:55:17.359
when are we leaving as soon as possible? If you
1773
01:55:17.399 --> 01:55:21.159
feel well enough. She gets out of bed. I'm feeling
1774
01:55:21.239 --> 01:55:24.800
much better. Now, let's go. Anything beats having to stay
1775
01:55:24.800 --> 01:55:33.159
here with Martin. We didn't have any problems getting a
1776
01:55:33.159 --> 01:55:36.640
rental car. Thankfully, the place we get them never asks
1777
01:55:36.640 --> 01:55:40.720
for a driver's license, since neither Iini nor me has one.
1778
01:55:40.880 --> 01:55:44.279
Neither of us learned how to drive. Actually, scratch that,
1779
01:55:44.600 --> 01:55:46.920
when Heini and I went to Shore City over the summer,
1780
01:55:46.960 --> 01:55:50.079
I had to learn and fast. Now I'm driving a
1781
01:55:50.119 --> 01:55:53.920
good one hundred miles an hour. Seriously, fuck these stupid
1782
01:55:53.960 --> 01:55:57.239
speed limits. It took a few seconds to get used
1783
01:55:57.239 --> 01:55:59.960
to this car. After that it was like riding a bike.
1784
01:56:00.880 --> 01:56:05.279
No scratch that, I've never even ridden a bike. Yeah, yeah,
1785
01:56:05.319 --> 01:56:08.359
I'm not used to a lot of modern technology. This
1786
01:56:08.399 --> 01:56:11.279
little devil is as old school as can be, as
1787
01:56:11.319 --> 01:56:15.319
Iini will learn soon. Along the way we made some stops.
1788
01:56:15.680 --> 01:56:18.520
I had to buy lots and lots of turkeys and
1789
01:56:18.640 --> 01:56:21.720
plenty of stuff to make the sides. I promised Iine
1790
01:56:21.800 --> 01:56:23.840
a meal like Graham's maid, and I'm gonna give it
1791
01:56:23.840 --> 01:56:27.800
to her. After driving hundreds of miles, I surprise Iine
1792
01:56:27.800 --> 01:56:33.920
by turning off the headlights. Um bells, Iiny mutters. Trust me,
1793
01:56:34.439 --> 01:56:38.680
I tell her my house is off the beaten path.
1794
01:56:39.199 --> 01:56:42.680
Literally a good five miles later, I turn off the
1795
01:56:42.760 --> 01:56:46.279
road and am driving through the grass. Thanks to my
1796
01:56:46.520 --> 01:56:50.560
vampire vision, I don't have any problem seeing in the darkness. Whatsoever?
1797
01:56:51.600 --> 01:56:55.319
What time is it, I ask Iini takes out her smartphone,
1798
01:56:55.960 --> 01:56:59.159
Almost midnight? Are we really going to be off the road?
1799
01:57:00.000 --> 01:57:02.920
I'm afraid so. You see, my house doesn't have a
1800
01:57:03.039 --> 01:57:07.640
road or a driveway. Never did I lightly smack her shoulder.
1801
01:57:08.319 --> 01:57:12.159
Have faith. It's another fifteen or so minutes of driving
1802
01:57:12.279 --> 01:57:17.279
until we're finally there. Wow, there really is a house here,
1803
01:57:17.760 --> 01:57:21.960
Heinie asks. It's dark, but I can see how big
1804
01:57:22.000 --> 01:57:25.560
it is. It's not a mansion like what those mirrors
1805
01:57:25.600 --> 01:57:28.479
back in Strickfield have. But this is where Grahams and
1806
01:57:28.520 --> 01:57:32.239
Grahams raised me. Also, I was born here. As soon
1807
01:57:32.279 --> 01:57:34.039
as we get out of the car, I move around
1808
01:57:34.079 --> 01:57:37.039
to Itiny and give her a jar. It lights up
1809
01:57:37.079 --> 01:57:42.479
in her hands. It's liquid sunlight. Against Thornton Jillian that night,
1810
01:57:42.520 --> 01:57:45.800
it proved to be a very powerful weapon. But in
1811
01:57:45.840 --> 01:57:49.399
your hands it'll be the brightest lantern you've ever carried.
1812
01:57:49.920 --> 01:57:52.479
Don't worry, it won't burn you as long as it
1813
01:57:52.560 --> 01:57:57.039
stays in the jar. Where are we bells, She asks me,
1814
01:57:58.439 --> 01:58:01.720
this is the area known as Ravenhenge. I tell her
1815
01:58:02.279 --> 01:58:04.880
you'll never find it on any map. In fact, the
1816
01:58:04.880 --> 01:58:08.039
barriers of invisibility keep it so that outsiders can't see
1817
01:58:08.039 --> 01:58:12.239
it whatsoever. The only reason you can is because you're
1818
01:58:12.279 --> 01:58:16.119
with me. I bring Iiny into the house. The only
1819
01:58:16.159 --> 01:58:18.000
way to turn on any lights is to use my
1820
01:58:18.119 --> 01:58:23.800
cheap parlor tricks to light torches. Wow, Iiny exclaims, it's
1821
01:58:23.880 --> 01:58:27.880
like going back in time. You'd better believe it. Also,
1822
01:58:28.319 --> 01:58:31.960
your smartphone's the only modern convenience you got here. I'm
1823
01:58:32.000 --> 01:58:35.439
surprised you're even getting any signal here anyway. There's no
1824
01:58:35.560 --> 01:58:39.239
phone line and no internet. There ain't even TV here.
1825
01:58:39.520 --> 01:58:41.520
In fact, the last time I was at this house
1826
01:58:41.640 --> 01:58:46.000
was back in eighteen eighty nine. Iiny gulbs, I can't
1827
01:58:46.039 --> 01:58:49.039
believe you really grew up here, Bells. I mean, it
1828
01:58:49.159 --> 01:58:51.319
seems like you and your family were cut off from
1829
01:58:51.319 --> 01:58:54.279
the rest of the world. Okay, maybe that's the wrong
1830
01:58:54.319 --> 01:58:57.479
thing to say and everything, but no, you're right Itine,
1831
01:58:57.880 --> 01:59:02.159
I confirm that's exactly what iommere Tabon had in mind
1832
01:59:02.159 --> 01:59:05.600
when this house was built. Let's just say he's my
1833
01:59:05.720 --> 01:59:08.920
gramps but with a lot of grates in front of it.
1834
01:59:09.720 --> 01:59:13.079
I turned to her, So you want me to give
1835
01:59:13.079 --> 01:59:15.600
you the grand tour or are you tired from the drive.
1836
01:59:16.119 --> 01:59:18.119
If you need to sleep, I'll take you to the
1837
01:59:18.359 --> 01:59:20.560
most comfortable bed you'll ever sleep on.
1838
01:59:21.840 --> 01:59:25.520
Don't go away, weekly, spooky, We'll be right back.
1839
01:59:32.359 --> 01:59:39.600
Perspective Aileen. At first, I was contemplating maybe going to bed. However,
1840
01:59:40.199 --> 01:59:43.439
I'm actually feeling pretty good still. Whatever you whipped up
1841
01:59:43.439 --> 01:59:45.800
back at my house is still making me feel strong.
1842
01:59:46.520 --> 01:59:51.039
I'd love to see your house bells. She nods once. Okay,
1843
01:59:51.359 --> 01:59:54.720
you're in for quite the tour. Carry your liquid sunlight
1844
01:59:54.760 --> 01:59:56.640
with you if you want, but I can light more
1845
01:59:56.680 --> 01:59:59.640
torches as we go through the rooms. We'll end our
1846
01:59:59.640 --> 02:00:03.800
tour in the library. Bell's takes me through one magnificent
1847
02:00:03.880 --> 02:00:07.960
room after another. The house has two big floors. All
1848
02:00:08.000 --> 02:00:11.399
of the bedrooms are upstairs. Much to my surprise, not
1849
02:00:11.520 --> 02:00:15.520
everything is old school. For example, the bathrooms we come
1850
02:00:15.600 --> 02:00:18.960
by have running water. There are even showers, and a
1851
02:00:19.000 --> 02:00:21.920
few of them with tubs in the others. I can
1852
02:00:21.960 --> 02:00:24.000
give you a room by one of these bathrooms if
1853
02:00:24.000 --> 02:00:27.000
you want this way, you're by a shower, Bell said,
1854
02:00:27.079 --> 02:00:30.960
seeing my excitement. Yeah, we may be as old school
1855
02:00:31.000 --> 02:00:33.960
as old school can be, but we weren't cave people.
1856
02:00:35.399 --> 02:00:38.600
I never said you were, I quickly say, I nee
1857
02:00:38.720 --> 02:00:42.279
lighten up, just a little humor on my part. I
1858
02:00:42.319 --> 02:00:45.319
could tell Bells was avoiding talking about it. But I
1859
02:00:45.439 --> 02:00:50.439
have to know you kissed Principal Van dest She sighs.
1860
02:00:51.239 --> 02:00:54.359
I know. I'm sorry. She turns to look at me.
1861
02:00:54.960 --> 02:00:58.560
I still won't choose him over you, but you still
1862
02:00:58.560 --> 02:01:04.039
have feelings for him. State again, I'm sorry, She looks
1863
02:01:04.079 --> 02:01:07.119
me in the face. Now, I'll never understand why we
1864
02:01:07.199 --> 02:01:10.680
love each other. I'm just one fucking girl at Strickfield High.
1865
02:01:11.000 --> 02:01:14.479
I'm the bad schoolgirl, one fucking girl out of all
1866
02:01:14.520 --> 02:01:17.960
those others, and he falls in love with me. Then
1867
02:01:18.000 --> 02:01:22.800
she cries. I put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Bells,
1868
02:01:24.159 --> 02:01:26.079
I really didn't want you to see me like this,
1869
02:01:26.800 --> 02:01:30.119
she whispers. As much as I torture that worm of
1870
02:01:30.159 --> 02:01:32.159
a man, and as much as I try to forget
1871
02:01:32.239 --> 02:01:37.079
him by fucking other guys at school, I still care
1872
02:01:37.159 --> 02:01:42.479
for him a lot. You know, I told Grahams I'd
1873
02:01:42.479 --> 02:01:45.840
never be bound to another man. Know what she said,
1874
02:01:47.000 --> 02:01:49.720
Once you've met the one your fate shall be joined
1875
02:01:49.720 --> 02:01:54.439
with his until death do you part? Grahams was wise
1876
02:01:54.520 --> 02:01:58.920
and many things. She takes her hand off my shoulder,
1877
02:01:59.000 --> 02:02:02.239
then turns her back to me and shouts, but why
1878
02:02:02.279 --> 02:02:05.479
does my one have to be a fucking worm of
1879
02:02:05.520 --> 02:02:12.399
a man? Bell's I ask, are you okay? She turns
1880
02:02:12.439 --> 02:02:15.479
back to me. I just wanted to get us the
1881
02:02:15.520 --> 02:02:19.359
hell away from that school and not have to serve detention. Plus,
1882
02:02:20.000 --> 02:02:22.800
I could tell you weren't feeling good. That's why I
1883
02:02:22.880 --> 02:02:30.119
kissed Himione, But fuck, she sighs. Your friendship means far
1884
02:02:30.199 --> 02:02:35.039
more to me than being Matthew Van Diest's soulmate. I
1885
02:02:35.159 --> 02:02:40.439
tighten my fists, just answer me truthfully, Bell's, do you
1886
02:02:41.079 --> 02:02:43.359
really love him in the same way he loves you?
1887
02:02:45.039 --> 02:02:50.760
Tears run down her face again. Yes, she chokes out,
1888
02:02:51.159 --> 02:02:58.279
I'm sorry. A long pause, Bells speaks up again once again.
1889
02:02:58.840 --> 02:03:02.680
I won't choose him for you, But what if your
1890
02:03:02.680 --> 02:03:06.680
feelings get to be too strong? I demand sharply. I've
1891
02:03:06.680 --> 02:03:09.960
seen how Van Deste looks at you. How long before
1892
02:03:10.000 --> 02:03:13.840
you're both ready to come together again, Especially when you've
1893
02:03:13.920 --> 02:03:18.520
kissed him the way you did again? Van Deste being
1894
02:03:18.560 --> 02:03:23.439
with you is forbidden? Bells tightens her fists. Now you
1895
02:03:23.520 --> 02:03:27.119
think I don't know that Aileen Donnerly be pissed at
1896
02:03:27.119 --> 02:03:30.880
me all you want. I know having Thornton Gillian's blood
1897
02:03:30.920 --> 02:03:34.399
mixed with my own gave me a very high libido
1898
02:03:34.479 --> 02:03:37.239
and made me feral in a lot of ways. But
1899
02:03:37.319 --> 02:03:42.119
I can still think rationally and feel emotions. I didn't
1900
02:03:42.159 --> 02:03:45.760
want to feel anything after Jillian killed the rest of
1901
02:03:45.760 --> 02:03:51.720
my family, and for years I did very well. Then
1902
02:03:51.760 --> 02:03:56.800
I met Martin and you. I never imagined we'd become
1903
02:03:56.840 --> 02:04:00.760
as close as we are now. We're not lovers, but
1904
02:04:01.199 --> 02:04:06.199
we've got a connection between us. Yes, Ini, I fell
1905
02:04:06.239 --> 02:04:09.880
in love with our fucking principle. I can't just shut
1906
02:04:09.880 --> 02:04:12.880
my emotions off. You got pissed at me about it
1907
02:04:12.920 --> 02:04:16.319
when we face down that sucubus. Be pissed at me
1908
02:04:16.399 --> 02:04:20.279
all you want, but I can't help how I feel.
1909
02:04:22.319 --> 02:04:26.640
I love him again. We have a long silence between us.
1910
02:04:27.600 --> 02:04:32.079
Then I'm crying myself. And what happens if you finally
1911
02:04:32.119 --> 02:04:35.840
succeed in curing me? Do you leave Strickfield like you've
1912
02:04:35.880 --> 02:04:41.199
always wanted? Or is this your plan? You stay here
1913
02:04:41.279 --> 02:04:45.760
and never return? Bell's points very sharply at me, now,
1914
02:04:46.760 --> 02:04:51.399
how dare you? She tightens her fists again. I'm trying
1915
02:04:51.439 --> 02:04:54.920
to cure you because it's the right thing to do.
1916
02:04:54.920 --> 02:04:57.920
Do you honestly think I'd be that fucking cruel to you?
1917
02:04:58.920 --> 02:05:01.239
Is that why you're so fucking looking pissed off about
1918
02:05:01.319 --> 02:05:05.119
Van dest You think I'll just go and share my
1919
02:05:05.119 --> 02:05:07.960
life with him and forget all about you? Are you
1920
02:05:08.079 --> 02:05:13.520
that afraid of losing me? Aileen? Yes? I fucking hate Strickfield,
1921
02:05:13.760 --> 02:05:16.760
hate it. I could have left any time I wanted,
1922
02:05:18.000 --> 02:05:21.039
but I remained there because of you and our friendship.
1923
02:05:22.600 --> 02:05:26.560
What more do you want from me? Then Bell's backs
1924
02:05:26.640 --> 02:05:30.479
up against a wall, sinks to a sitting position, and
1925
02:05:30.560 --> 02:05:35.000
cries again. I turn and walk away from Bell's. Why
1926
02:05:35.079 --> 02:05:37.880
does this happen? She and I have been with each
1927
02:05:37.920 --> 02:05:41.640
other for many months since that first wintry night she
1928
02:05:41.680 --> 02:05:44.880
came to Strickfield. In the beginning, I wanted her to
1929
02:05:44.920 --> 02:05:47.479
stay here, to be with my older brother Martin and
1930
02:05:47.560 --> 02:05:51.720
keep him honest. But who am I kidding? There's no
1931
02:05:51.880 --> 02:05:56.039
keeping mean Martin honest. I tried to be the supportive
1932
02:05:56.079 --> 02:06:01.079
and loving sister, but again, he'll always be mean Martin.
1933
02:06:02.279 --> 02:06:05.880
I walk outside and eventually leave the property. I still
1934
02:06:05.920 --> 02:06:09.920
have the liquid sunlight in my hands. Then I cry again.
1935
02:06:11.640 --> 02:06:15.920
Bell's is right. I am afraid of losing her, just
1936
02:06:16.000 --> 02:06:20.159
like I know I'm losing my life. Bell's is trying
1937
02:06:20.199 --> 02:06:23.560
so hard to cure me of my affliction. That's why
1938
02:06:23.600 --> 02:06:27.439
she brought me here, right. I know nothing lasts forever,
1939
02:06:28.159 --> 02:06:33.279
not even life. Have never really had any friends. I
1940
02:06:33.439 --> 02:06:37.119
envy my twin cousin Madeline in her circle of friends,
1941
02:06:37.720 --> 02:06:42.920
but she does come and see me. Yet I'm so insecure.
1942
02:06:43.840 --> 02:06:46.119
I guess that's how you feel when you've been picked
1943
02:06:46.119 --> 02:06:49.000
on all your life, when you got beat up a
1944
02:06:49.039 --> 02:06:52.239
lot for being smart, when people look at you and
1945
02:06:52.319 --> 02:06:55.119
think you're just as bad as your own big brother,
1946
02:06:56.000 --> 02:06:58.399
when you end up becoming sick because your big brother
1947
02:06:58.520 --> 02:07:01.760
goes to a party and can't keep it in his pants,
1948
02:07:01.760 --> 02:07:05.479
when some drunk girl throws herself at him. I'm so
1949
02:07:05.720 --> 02:07:08.199
raving mad now that I look up at the sky.
1950
02:07:09.159 --> 02:07:13.159
I fucking hate you, Martin. I fall to my knees,
1951
02:07:13.239 --> 02:07:16.800
then on to my side. Then I sob again because
1952
02:07:16.840 --> 02:07:19.279
I may have just thrown away the one good thing
1953
02:07:19.399 --> 02:07:25.159
in my life. Bell's was the only true friend I
1954
02:07:25.239 --> 02:07:31.479
ever had. She's right, though, we're not lovers. We just
1955
02:07:31.560 --> 02:07:35.760
developed a deep bond of friendship between us. I even
1956
02:07:35.800 --> 02:07:38.000
wanted to help Bells when she'd go out at night,
1957
02:07:38.760 --> 02:07:43.000
so I started making our toys to fight supernatural enemies.
1958
02:07:44.079 --> 02:07:48.039
She was even teaching me how to fight. Why do
1959
02:07:48.119 --> 02:07:52.239
I mess things up between me and Bells? Just then
1960
02:07:52.279 --> 02:07:56.079
I hear movement on the grass and quickly sit up. Bells?
1961
02:07:57.199 --> 02:08:01.560
Is that you? I pick up my liquid sunlight? Who's there?
1962
02:08:03.119 --> 02:08:08.159
When I see them, I quickly turn and run. Problem
1963
02:08:08.239 --> 02:08:11.600
is being a petite and skinny girl. I'm not very
1964
02:08:11.640 --> 02:08:14.560
athletic and I can't run fast. Next thing I know,
1965
02:08:14.640 --> 02:08:17.279
a hand goes around my mouth and a big, hairy
1966
02:08:17.479 --> 02:08:23.399
arm goes around me. Oh my god, the stench. I
1967
02:08:23.439 --> 02:08:25.840
can't scream for help as I'm being held against what
1968
02:08:26.279 --> 02:08:32.439
I'm thinking is a giant and he really stinks. Next
1969
02:08:32.439 --> 02:08:34.960
thing I know, another giant of a man hits me
1970
02:08:35.039 --> 02:08:39.560
on the head. I groan and am dazed. I'm about
1971
02:08:39.560 --> 02:08:42.399
to be placed into his sack and am kicking my
1972
02:08:42.479 --> 02:08:45.920
little legs to try and fight back. I get hit
1973
02:08:46.000 --> 02:08:49.800
again and fade to black as I'm being dropped into
1974
02:08:49.840 --> 02:09:01.560
the sack. I'm so sorry. Bells perspective Bella. I finish
1975
02:09:01.640 --> 02:09:05.479
crying and stand up. I fucking hate it that I
1976
02:09:05.520 --> 02:09:08.600
love Van Deste. I can't help the way I feel,
1977
02:09:08.720 --> 02:09:12.600
and it's driving a wedge between me and Iiny. Graham's
1978
02:09:12.600 --> 02:09:15.760
always had lots of advice to give me. In fact,
1979
02:09:15.880 --> 02:09:19.680
I know what she'd say to me right now. You
1980
02:09:19.800 --> 02:09:24.640
never abandon your true friends, Bella. Likewise, they'll never abandon you.
1981
02:09:26.520 --> 02:09:32.319
But you did abandon me, didn't you? Iiny? Still, Graham's
1982
02:09:32.319 --> 02:09:36.880
words keep echoing in my mind again and again. Now
1983
02:09:37.800 --> 02:09:40.920
I gotta find her and talk things out. I gotta
1984
02:09:40.920 --> 02:09:43.560
make her understand that she'll never lose me as a friend,
1985
02:09:44.680 --> 02:09:50.000
even after I succeed in curing her illness. I walk
1986
02:09:50.000 --> 02:09:53.880
out the back door and shout, Iiny, where are you?
1987
02:09:55.600 --> 02:09:59.000
I walk out to the barn. I'm surprised it still
1988
02:09:59.039 --> 02:10:03.680
looks nicely per and is still standing after all these years.
1989
02:10:04.119 --> 02:10:07.479
The house too. I walk into the barn, but I
1990
02:10:07.520 --> 02:10:12.680
know Irony hasn't been in here. Then I remember I
1991
02:10:12.720 --> 02:10:16.119
have her scent. When you've been around your best friend
1992
02:10:16.159 --> 02:10:19.960
long enough, you'll never forget what she smells like, or
1993
02:10:20.000 --> 02:10:21.960
her fucking brother for that matter.
1994
02:10:23.880 --> 02:10:26.359
Did you hear that? Better check the locks on your
1995
02:10:26.399 --> 02:10:29.880
doors weekly, spooky, We'll be right back.
1996
02:10:32.399 --> 02:10:34.279
I leave the barn and go out to the big
1997
02:10:34.319 --> 02:10:36.640
fire pit, which is where I'm planning to cook all
1998
02:10:36.680 --> 02:10:41.319
those Thanksgiving turkeys. I take a nice whiff and have
1999
02:10:41.439 --> 02:10:45.079
her sent. I look past the vast backyard and start
2000
02:10:45.119 --> 02:10:49.760
following her. Before long, I see some bright light and
2001
02:10:49.800 --> 02:10:53.920
move to it. I see the jar of liquid sunlight
2002
02:10:53.960 --> 02:10:57.880
that I gave Iiny. What the fuck is it doing
2003
02:10:58.039 --> 02:11:01.399
laying all the way out here in the grass. I'm
2004
02:11:01.439 --> 02:11:04.520
about to call out to her again when I pick
2005
02:11:04.600 --> 02:11:08.800
up new sense. I can still smell Iiny, but I
2006
02:11:08.800 --> 02:11:16.600
can also smell uugh. Yeah, I smell two very stinky
2007
02:11:16.760 --> 02:11:21.199
sense I'd rather not describe the smells. Use your imagination.
2008
02:11:22.159 --> 02:11:25.119
Being iiny scent is mixed in, I can only assume
2009
02:11:25.239 --> 02:11:32.680
something or someone found and snatched her. Okay, time to
2010
02:11:32.760 --> 02:11:36.239
bitch up and find my best friend, and I'll tell you,
2011
02:11:36.279 --> 02:11:40.119
all right, mother fucking now, that whoever's got Iroiny's gonna
2012
02:11:40.159 --> 02:11:50.119
wish they'd never been born. Perspective Aileen. I moan a
2013
02:11:50.119 --> 02:11:53.439
little and finally manage to shake off the cobwebs as
2014
02:11:53.439 --> 02:11:55.640
I wake up and see I'm all tied up and
2015
02:11:55.760 --> 02:12:00.680
gagged on a cot where am I see? The only
2016
02:12:00.760 --> 02:12:02.800
source of light is the big fire pit in the
2017
02:12:02.800 --> 02:12:06.279
middle of the best I can describe it as the
2018
02:12:06.279 --> 02:12:10.399
equivalent of a kitchen. My eyes get wide fast when
2019
02:12:10.439 --> 02:12:14.840
I see there are both human and animal bones everywhere.
2020
02:12:16.199 --> 02:12:19.279
Now I see two very huge things looking at a
2021
02:12:19.319 --> 02:12:23.319
weathered cookbook. They're looking at a picture of a turkey.
2022
02:12:24.760 --> 02:12:30.000
Then one of them points at me. These things are
2023
02:12:30.039 --> 02:12:36.199
planning to have me for Thanksgiving dinner. Seriously, why does
2024
02:12:36.239 --> 02:12:38.720
life have to be so hard? All I want to
2025
02:12:38.760 --> 02:12:42.640
do is live mine? Then I learned monsters are real,
2026
02:12:42.720 --> 02:12:46.760
and hoped and prayed they just leave me alone. All
2027
02:12:46.760 --> 02:12:48.560
I can think of through all this is how my
2028
02:12:48.640 --> 02:12:51.319
brother Martin is an even worse monster than these two.
2029
02:12:53.039 --> 02:12:57.119
I can see more of them now. These things are huge.
2030
02:12:57.439 --> 02:13:00.079
I'm talking as huge as the comic book versions of
2031
02:13:00.079 --> 02:13:04.359
The Incredible Hulk work. Yeah. I'm scared of dying, but
2032
02:13:04.399 --> 02:13:07.760
I think I'm even more scared of these things. But again,
2033
02:13:07.880 --> 02:13:12.079
my older brother scares me more than them. What am
2034
02:13:12.119 --> 02:13:16.439
I gonna do here? Calm down, Aileen, just think about
2035
02:13:16.439 --> 02:13:19.720
this for a minute. Me and Martin calls you Einstein
2036
02:13:19.760 --> 02:13:22.840
to be cruel, but you've been using that big brain
2037
02:13:22.880 --> 02:13:26.279
of yours and making Einstein work for you. Use that
2038
02:13:26.319 --> 02:13:29.720
big brain. Now I can see that I'm lying down.
2039
02:13:30.319 --> 02:13:33.680
I turn myself over and fall on the floor. Then
2040
02:13:33.760 --> 02:13:36.399
I keep turning over until I reach the wall and
2041
02:13:36.439 --> 02:13:39.359
can stand up. I have to be careful not to
2042
02:13:39.439 --> 02:13:43.960
let those things hear me shit. I accidentally knock over
2043
02:13:44.079 --> 02:13:47.560
something that makes a loud clang. Those things turn to
2044
02:13:47.600 --> 02:13:50.840
me and are on me again. One of them lifts
2045
02:13:50.920 --> 02:13:52.920
me up by my ropes and holds the knife to
2046
02:13:53.000 --> 02:13:57.520
my face, practically the size of a sword. Then he
2047
02:13:57.640 --> 02:14:00.600
utters a bunch of groans if he expects me to
2048
02:14:00.680 --> 02:14:04.520
understand him. My brain isn't that big. On top of that,
2049
02:14:05.399 --> 02:14:08.880
I cannot overstate the stink. I have to fight back
2050
02:14:08.920 --> 02:14:18.680
the urge to puke. God, I am so dead. I
2051
02:14:18.760 --> 02:14:22.119
see my opening. When he lowers me, I quickly swing
2052
02:14:22.239 --> 02:14:24.920
my legs together like being on a swing set, and
2053
02:14:25.039 --> 02:14:27.359
kick at his groin with both feet as hard as
2054
02:14:27.439 --> 02:14:30.760
I can. The thing groans in pain and falls to
2055
02:14:30.800 --> 02:14:33.239
his knees. I end up on my feet and know
2056
02:14:33.359 --> 02:14:36.399
the other one is right behind me. Then I remember
2057
02:14:36.399 --> 02:14:39.159
a trick that cousin Madeline does. I dropped to my
2058
02:14:39.279 --> 02:14:42.119
knees and scurry in between the thing's legs. When he
2059
02:14:42.159 --> 02:14:45.039
turns around, I go through his legs again. I spring
2060
02:14:45.119 --> 02:14:47.760
back to my feet and jump fast. I hear the
2061
02:14:47.800 --> 02:14:50.840
thing roaring and coming after me. If I can't find
2062
02:14:50.880 --> 02:14:54.399
a way to get free, I'm done for my life.
2063
02:14:54.439 --> 02:14:57.439
Can't end like this? Please not like this. Then I
2064
02:14:57.479 --> 02:14:59.880
come right to a big open circle that's supposed to serve.
2065
02:15:00.000 --> 02:15:02.640
There's a window. There's a chair right next to it.
2066
02:15:02.960 --> 02:15:05.479
I quickly jump up onto the chair and then dive
2067
02:15:05.560 --> 02:15:09.119
through the window. I hit the dead, overgrown grass below
2068
02:15:09.199 --> 02:15:12.880
before I get back up and keep running. Boy do
2069
02:15:12.960 --> 02:15:16.399
I ever make that thing mad? He roars really loud.
2070
02:15:16.720 --> 02:15:19.479
I have to keep moving. He can't get through the window,
2071
02:15:19.560 --> 02:15:22.319
but he can still walk through the doors. And then
2072
02:15:22.600 --> 02:15:25.199
both of those things are outside. When one of them
2073
02:15:25.239 --> 02:15:28.840
bursts right through, I keep jumping fast until I come
2074
02:15:28.880 --> 02:15:31.680
to the barn. I duck inside and jump some more
2075
02:15:31.760 --> 02:15:34.800
until I find some tall hay to hide in. My
2076
02:15:34.920 --> 02:15:38.239
eyes open wide. When I see I came very close
2077
02:15:38.319 --> 02:15:41.720
to landing on a sickle, I turn it and start
2078
02:15:41.800 --> 02:15:45.640
rubbing the ropes against the blade. Problem is, the blade
2079
02:15:45.720 --> 02:15:48.720
is very dull. It's going to take some time to
2080
02:15:48.720 --> 02:15:52.039
get through these ropes, and time is not a luxury
2081
02:15:52.079 --> 02:15:55.640
I have Right now. I hear those things coming in
2082
02:15:55.680 --> 02:15:58.159
and have to stop. When they're near where I'm hiding.
2083
02:15:59.159 --> 02:16:03.079
They both yell and frustration. Sounds like they're a bit
2084
02:16:03.159 --> 02:16:07.239
on the slow side. I make myself stay calm and
2085
02:16:07.319 --> 02:16:11.279
work on the ropes, binding my wrists. My eyes open
2086
02:16:11.399 --> 02:16:15.920
wide when I feel those ropes slipping away. Guess they
2087
02:16:15.960 --> 02:16:19.079
either didn't tie the rope good enough there or they
2088
02:16:19.159 --> 02:16:23.600
underestimated how little I am. Very quietly, I work to
2089
02:16:23.680 --> 02:16:27.600
untie the rest of the ropes, wouldn't you know it? No,
2090
02:16:27.800 --> 02:16:30.319
sooner do I get the last rope off. One of
2091
02:16:30.359 --> 02:16:33.079
them looks in and sees me. He points at me
2092
02:16:33.200 --> 02:16:37.920
and cries out loud shit. I shriek, actually, more like
2093
02:16:38.000 --> 02:16:42.000
a loud mousey wail. I scream. When the thing that
2094
02:16:42.159 --> 02:16:45.319
saw me tries jumping on me, I quickly turn over
2095
02:16:45.440 --> 02:16:48.079
so he lands flat on his belly. When the other
2096
02:16:48.120 --> 02:16:50.760
one tries picking me up again, I swing my legs
2097
02:16:50.760 --> 02:16:53.600
and catch him and his groin again. He drops me
2098
02:16:53.639 --> 02:16:56.680
as he's dropping down to his knees. I get up
2099
02:16:57.000 --> 02:16:59.959
and run like hell. As soon as I'm about to
2100
02:17:00.159 --> 02:17:02.760
clear the barn, one of the things bursts right through
2101
02:17:02.760 --> 02:17:05.879
it and almost grabs me. I scream and run with
2102
02:17:05.959 --> 02:17:08.920
everything I've got back to the house. I dive through
2103
02:17:08.959 --> 02:17:12.760
another window and look around. I keep running through the
2104
02:17:12.799 --> 02:17:16.760
other rooms to try looking for another window. Just as
2105
02:17:16.760 --> 02:17:20.159
I'm about to climb out through one, a big, hairy
2106
02:17:20.239 --> 02:17:26.479
and stinky hand grabs me. No. No, Then the thing
2107
02:17:26.520 --> 02:17:29.280
that caught me brings me right up to him and
2108
02:17:29.440 --> 02:17:31.639
screams right in my face.
2109
02:17:32.920 --> 02:17:33.079
Ugh.
2110
02:17:33.879 --> 02:17:37.600
He's spitting all over me, and his bad breath nearly
2111
02:17:37.680 --> 02:17:41.200
makes me pass out. I growl and start kicking and
2112
02:17:41.239 --> 02:17:44.159
punching with my little fists and feet. Want to hear
2113
02:17:44.200 --> 02:17:47.319
some irony. Back when I was in Strickfield Junior High,
2114
02:17:47.360 --> 02:17:50.159
people called me mouse, just like they call my cousin
2115
02:17:50.200 --> 02:17:53.719
Madeline today. The difference between me and her was that
2116
02:17:53.760 --> 02:17:57.280
I hated it, and the other students knew it. Maddie's
2117
02:17:57.319 --> 02:17:59.879
really laid back and doesn't care one way or another.
2118
02:18:00.719 --> 02:18:04.120
I am so mad right now. Then I pull off
2119
02:18:04.159 --> 02:18:07.040
another mouse kind of move and bring my feet up
2120
02:18:07.079 --> 02:18:09.920
to kick the thing right in the eyes. He screams
2121
02:18:09.959 --> 02:18:12.319
and drops me. I get up and run, only to
2122
02:18:12.360 --> 02:18:14.760
feel something hit me hard on the back of the head.
2123
02:18:16.239 --> 02:18:20.399
Everything's spinning. When I fall on my side fast. Then
2124
02:18:20.479 --> 02:18:23.920
I feel the other thing lifting me up and patting me,
2125
02:18:25.000 --> 02:18:29.559
knowing he's finally got me. I'm shaking my head to
2126
02:18:29.600 --> 02:18:35.879
clear the cobwebs, but he hit me real good. By
2127
02:18:35.959 --> 02:18:39.319
the time I finally shake the cobwebs, I feel a
2128
02:18:39.360 --> 02:18:42.799
big stick at my back and heat on my front.
2129
02:18:44.159 --> 02:18:47.559
Those things have me tied to a big stick and
2130
02:18:47.600 --> 02:18:53.040
they're turning me over the fire like a rotisserie'. They're
2131
02:18:53.079 --> 02:18:59.440
really cooking me alive. I'm so screwed. Hi, guys, what's
2132
02:18:59.479 --> 02:19:03.840
for dinner? Then I feel the absolute biggest excitement I've
2133
02:19:03.879 --> 02:19:09.040
ever felt in my life, Bells. When the things turn
2134
02:19:09.079 --> 02:19:13.479
and see Bells, they look at her and start growling happily,
2135
02:19:14.200 --> 02:19:17.159
like they struck it rich with another morsel they can eat.
2136
02:19:18.760 --> 02:19:22.600
You're not safe yet, weekly Spooky will be right.
2137
02:19:22.360 --> 02:19:32.280
Back perspective Bella. As soon as those big motherfuckers see me.
2138
02:19:32.399 --> 02:19:37.239
I stretch myself to let them hear my bones cracking. Yeah,
2139
02:19:37.520 --> 02:19:41.959
I'm definitely ready for a fight. Really, you're cooking that
2140
02:19:42.120 --> 02:19:46.280
scrawny little thing for your Thanksgiving dinner? Then I chuckle,
2141
02:19:46.799 --> 02:19:50.120
there's hardly any meat on those bones, or mine, for
2142
02:19:50.200 --> 02:19:54.360
that matter. The things roar and come at me. As
2143
02:19:54.399 --> 02:19:58.360
they stupidly jump, I use my vanpiric powers and warp
2144
02:19:58.479 --> 02:20:02.040
right to Irony, break the ropes, and snatch her to me.
2145
02:20:03.159 --> 02:20:07.799
You came for me, bells, she squeaks, happily. Duh, I
2146
02:20:07.879 --> 02:20:11.840
tell her, I promised you a big Thanksgiving dinner, not
2147
02:20:12.000 --> 02:20:16.239
that you'd be dinner. Look out, Iiny warns me. I
2148
02:20:16.319 --> 02:20:18.840
grab her and warp us both to the door. I
2149
02:20:18.959 --> 02:20:22.399
hand her the liquid sunlight haul asks back to the house.
2150
02:20:22.760 --> 02:20:26.040
I'll be right behind you. As soon as Iini turns
2151
02:20:26.040 --> 02:20:29.399
and runs, I quickly run outside myself. Those things are
2152
02:20:29.440 --> 02:20:32.799
hot after me. Now I leap to put some distance
2153
02:20:32.840 --> 02:20:35.600
in between me and those things. Before turning to face them,
2154
02:20:36.879 --> 02:20:40.799
I give them my evil smirt. You fuckers want this
2155
02:20:40.879 --> 02:20:45.000
little devil, come and get me. Then, it's been a
2156
02:20:45.000 --> 02:20:48.639
little bit since I've had a good fight. They roar
2157
02:20:48.760 --> 02:20:51.360
and come at me. When the closest one reaches me,
2158
02:20:51.680 --> 02:20:54.040
I leap up and pop him hard in the face.
2159
02:20:54.719 --> 02:20:57.920
He drops over like a freshly cut tree. When the
2160
02:20:57.959 --> 02:21:00.680
other one's on me, I easily lift him up over
2161
02:21:00.680 --> 02:21:04.239
my head and throw him back into his house. Yeah.
2162
02:21:04.280 --> 02:21:07.760
These fuckers are easily four hundred pounds plus and a
2163
02:21:07.799 --> 02:21:11.399
good eight feet tall. When they try coming at me again,
2164
02:21:11.639 --> 02:21:14.239
I use my cheap parlor tricks and cause a wall
2165
02:21:14.280 --> 02:21:18.120
of fire to erupt in between me and them. Don't
2166
02:21:18.159 --> 02:21:22.600
test me, motherfuckers, I warn them, But they can't understand me,
2167
02:21:22.719 --> 02:21:26.479
can they. They keep coming for me. I'm just toying
2168
02:21:26.520 --> 02:21:30.040
with those things right now. For the record, these two
2169
02:21:30.040 --> 02:21:34.239
are definitely dying for all the innocent people they've killed. Yeah,
2170
02:21:34.520 --> 02:21:38.000
I saw the human bones in their house, and then
2171
02:21:38.040 --> 02:21:40.920
there's the fact that they were gonna eat Irony. The
2172
02:21:40.959 --> 02:21:46.280
fuckers come through my firewall, your funeral, I tell them. Suddenly,
2173
02:21:46.319 --> 02:21:51.239
Iiny comes right up beside me. Boy, is she really pissed? Fuck?
2174
02:21:53.280 --> 02:21:56.639
She screams before she heaves the liquid sunlight at them.
2175
02:21:56.959 --> 02:21:59.559
The jar shatters on the one's head and instantly sets
2176
02:21:59.600 --> 02:22:03.680
him on He screams like he's never screamed in his life.
2177
02:22:04.280 --> 02:22:07.040
On instinct, he grabs the other thing and accidentally sets
2178
02:22:07.120 --> 02:22:11.520
him on fire. These big lugs are so fucked liquid
2179
02:22:11.559 --> 02:22:15.040
sunlight's very lethal. When out of the jar, Iini and
2180
02:22:15.079 --> 02:22:18.639
I watch them burn until there's nothing left. But they're
2181
02:22:18.680 --> 02:22:25.760
big ass bones. Then Ainie and me turn to face
2182
02:22:25.840 --> 02:22:29.200
each other. The fire from the burning bodies is still
2183
02:22:29.239 --> 02:22:33.399
making enough light to where it's bright. I'm sorry, Bells.
2184
02:22:34.159 --> 02:22:39.319
Heinie says, I'm sorry too. I tell her. Then I
2185
02:22:39.399 --> 02:22:44.719
take her hands. I won't choose Van Deiste over you.
2186
02:22:46.239 --> 02:22:49.079
I told you before. Our friendship is more important to
2187
02:22:49.120 --> 02:22:54.000
me and always will be. Then Iini squeezes my hands.
2188
02:22:55.120 --> 02:22:58.280
I just don't want to lose you, Bells. You're the
2189
02:22:58.319 --> 02:23:04.360
only real friend I've got, and you me. She sighs.
2190
02:23:05.239 --> 02:23:06.879
I wouldn't be a good friend to you if I
2191
02:23:06.920 --> 02:23:12.120
tried keeping you all to myself. I admit I'm very insecure,
2192
02:23:12.159 --> 02:23:15.719
but you came for me, so I know and understand.
2193
02:23:15.760 --> 02:23:19.280
Now I'll never lose you as a friend. You can
2194
02:23:19.319 --> 02:23:21.239
go ahead and see where things go with you. In
2195
02:23:21.600 --> 02:23:26.559
principal Van dest Just be careful if he gets fired
2196
02:23:26.600 --> 02:23:29.600
over this, there might be a big scandal. Even you
2197
02:23:29.639 --> 02:23:34.319
don't need that. That's another reason why I'm not ultimately
2198
02:23:34.360 --> 02:23:38.000
pursuing Van Deiste. I tell her, I don't want to
2199
02:23:38.040 --> 02:23:41.479
ruin his life as far as the average person is concerned.
2200
02:23:42.079 --> 02:23:47.040
I'm a teenager, but you need to know Bells. Aini says,
2201
02:23:47.879 --> 02:23:54.760
either that or leave Strickfield High. I smirk, Well, since
2202
02:23:54.799 --> 02:23:58.440
you won't let me leave Strickfield High, you're coming back
2203
02:23:58.440 --> 02:24:03.799
to Strickfield with me, asks in anticipation. Duh, I gotta
2204
02:24:03.799 --> 02:24:06.360
bring you back home. Now. Let's get back to the
2205
02:24:06.399 --> 02:24:10.440
house and get some rest. Tomorrow's Thanksgiving, and I don't
2206
02:24:10.440 --> 02:24:14.840
want you falling asleep during our big feast. She smiles,
2207
02:24:14.840 --> 02:24:18.959
sounds good bells. Before we leave, we check the house
2208
02:24:19.040 --> 02:24:22.639
for any possible survivors. When we don't find any, we
2209
02:24:22.719 --> 02:24:26.319
head back outside. I use my cheap parlor tricks to
2210
02:24:26.360 --> 02:24:30.159
set the house ablaze. Nobody needs to stumble upon this
2211
02:24:30.399 --> 02:24:34.680
home of nightmares ever again. Once it burns to the ground,
2212
02:24:35.079 --> 02:24:39.559
it's gone. When we're both satisfied, Aine and I head
2213
02:24:39.600 --> 02:24:47.200
back to my house dig In, I tell AINI when
2214
02:24:47.200 --> 02:24:49.440
I set the platter with her meal down in front
2215
02:24:49.440 --> 02:24:54.159
of her on Thanksgiving afternoon, I was outside at sunrise
2216
02:24:54.239 --> 02:24:56.719
and cooking all the turkeys in the big fire pit.
2217
02:24:57.559 --> 02:24:59.920
I made the rest of the sides in Graham's kitchen,
2218
02:25:01.159 --> 02:25:04.840
just the way she taught me. I mean, I made
2219
02:25:05.040 --> 02:25:09.639
everything from mashed potatoes and gravy, to green beans, to
2220
02:25:09.760 --> 02:25:14.639
corn biscuits, and even fresh apple pie for dessert. Iini
2221
02:25:14.799 --> 02:25:18.120
ate more at my table than she probably has ever
2222
02:25:18.200 --> 02:25:21.799
before in her life. I also managed to go through
2223
02:25:21.840 --> 02:25:25.799
the Tabon family library and find Graham's Big Book of Remedies.
2224
02:25:27.399 --> 02:25:29.680
There are lots and lots of treatments I can whip
2225
02:25:29.760 --> 02:25:34.000
up for Aini. I'll be taking the book back to Strickfield.
2226
02:25:35.079 --> 02:25:37.040
So far, the new treatment I whipped up for her
2227
02:25:37.159 --> 02:25:41.319
yesterday continues to work. I just hope this one will
2228
02:25:41.399 --> 02:25:45.319
last long enough to where I can maybe find something
2229
02:25:45.399 --> 02:25:52.639
much better or fingers crossed, maybe even a cure. We
2230
02:25:52.760 --> 02:25:56.600
spend all of Thanksgiving at my house. On Friday, we
2231
02:25:56.719 --> 02:26:00.840
leave Ravenhenge and drive back to Strickfield. We have plenty
2232
02:26:00.840 --> 02:26:05.879
of leftovers from our feast. I silently thank Grahams for
2233
02:26:05.959 --> 02:26:09.799
teaching me the things she did. As any and me
2234
02:26:09.959 --> 02:26:13.719
talk about things Grahams was right about never abandoning your
2235
02:26:13.760 --> 02:26:17.840
true friends. Ainie came back for me when she didn't
2236
02:26:17.879 --> 02:26:21.959
have to. Yeah, she probably wanted revenge on those things,
2237
02:26:22.040 --> 02:26:24.879
but she came back for me, just like I came
2238
02:26:24.920 --> 02:26:30.799
for her again. I remember what Grahams told me about friends.
2239
02:26:32.280 --> 02:26:37.159
You never abandon your true friends, Bella. Likewise, they will
2240
02:26:37.200 --> 02:26:42.120
never abandon you. Yeah, I know I'm a wicked little devil.
2241
02:26:42.879 --> 02:26:45.399
Grahams was the one who named me that, by the way.
2242
02:26:46.399 --> 02:26:49.120
Still I feel like I'm becoming more like Grahams than
2243
02:26:49.159 --> 02:26:52.440
I want to let on. She couldn't teach me everything
2244
02:26:52.520 --> 02:26:56.079
she knew, but she taught me good. Just the same
2245
02:26:57.719 --> 02:27:00.479
as for my feelings, I've still got to consider things
2246
02:27:00.479 --> 02:27:04.680
with Van Deste, but I won't risk exploring them, not
2247
02:27:04.799 --> 02:27:08.280
if it means losing Aine as a friend, even if
2248
02:27:08.319 --> 02:27:11.479
he's not worth her friendship. When we cross into Strickfield,
2249
02:27:11.479 --> 02:27:16.360
I'm already feeling how much I hate this village. At
2250
02:27:16.360 --> 02:27:23.920
the same time, it's home. Speaking of home, we pull
2251
02:27:23.959 --> 02:27:29.440
in at the Donnerly House. Yeah, home at last. That's
2252
02:27:29.479 --> 02:27:33.399
when I realize that wherever Heinie and I are together,
2253
02:27:35.440 --> 02:27:41.000
that's home. Like I said, Aine and Me ain't lovers,
2254
02:27:42.159 --> 02:27:45.280
and now I'm starting to understand what our connection really is.
2255
02:27:46.799 --> 02:27:49.280
Ainie had said what we were in front of her
2256
02:27:49.280 --> 02:27:53.200
grandmother last summer in Shore City. I look at my
2257
02:27:53.360 --> 02:27:57.559
very best friend and know that we are a family,
2258
02:27:58.840 --> 02:28:03.319
the two of us. Yeah. I can bear living in
2259
02:28:03.360 --> 02:28:08.520
Strickfield for as long as needed, because this village is
2260
02:28:08.559 --> 02:28:13.920
where my family is and like Graham's would tell you
2261
02:28:14.040 --> 02:28:31.799
nothing is more important than your true family. I hope
2262
02:28:31.840 --> 02:28:36.079
these scary stories all about Thanksgiving helped put you in
2263
02:28:36.159 --> 02:28:40.680
the seasonal mood. Personally, I love Thanksgiving and I like
2264
02:28:40.760 --> 02:28:45.120
getting very very seasonal as we prepare for the big,
2265
02:28:45.840 --> 02:28:50.559
scary and merry Christmas season. And don't worry, we have
2266
02:28:50.719 --> 02:28:55.719
so much planned for the holidays. But for now, start
2267
02:28:55.760 --> 02:29:00.360
thinking about whether or not what you're looking at is Cranberry's,
2268
02:29:01.159 --> 02:29:06.799
because the true answer may just surprise you. And I'll
2269
02:29:06.799 --> 02:29:10.840
be back here to keep the spooky going every week
2270
02:29:11.600 --> 02:29:15.600
and beyond, because Halloween isn't really a time of year,
2271
02:29:16.680 --> 02:29:20.159
it's a way of life. Catch you all next time,
2272
02:29:20.680 --> 02:29:21.479
my spookies,
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