Story transcript: “Built for Death” by Henrique Couto. Edited from an automatic transcript. Uncertain wording is marked [unclear]; host segments and advertising are omitted.

Built for Death. I was tired. I'd been up since 5 in the morning and now, here I was. Stuck at the construction site. I guess it could be worse. The place was basically all set. Aside from a few rooms that needed the drywall redone, I'd say it was good. Or at least, good enough. I'm Daniel Cole. A contractor and I love my job. I started my own business when I was just a snot-nosed punk at 22.

I saw the way the old-timers were running things and I knew I could do better. Way better. They paid their taxes and wanted to offer a fair wage for hard work. Suckers. I went into it with all kinds of fresh ideas. I cut benefits easy. All I had to do was tell my workers we were in hard times and I needed them to stick it out with me. Ha! That was 20 years ago.

And I'm still not paying for a thing. The business took off quick. I undercut all the competitors right away. Because I'm not afraid to cut a few corners when push came to shove. Water down the cement a little. Recycle a few bricks. Whatever it takes. If you ask me, I'm just being real green. The only thing I ever, ever regretted was that wife of mine. Leslie. I still don't know why I married her.

Scratch that. I do know why I did it. A pretty face and blonde hair can make me do just about anything. Just ask my secretaries over the last few years. They'll tell ya. Leslie started to grumble about my long hours and the looks of my secretary, Tina, so she put her foot down. My secretary now? Some college reject named Paul. Doesn't even drink. He's no fun to be around. Earlier this month, Leslie asked for a divorce and mysteriously, our prenup disappeared.

She's got my lawyer setting the whole thing up and I'm expected to foot the bill. Ridiculous. Good thing I don't keep most of my money in the bank. She isn't touching a penny of my hard-earned cash. Hey, hey, she can have the house. I built it myself and that foundation can't have more than ten years left in it anyhow. Ha! Enjoy that, sweetheart. Earlier this year, I was contacted about building some offices for a buddy who owns a chicken processing plant.

He wanted it quick and he wanted it cheap, so I went around looking and I found where I'm standing right now. Nice parcel of land near some woods and a small lake. Honestly, I can't figure out why no one was building here, but the company that sold it to us was excited to say the least. I did a little googling and I guess a kid was found dead not far from here.

Animal attack. Big deal! My neighbor has a dog the size of a Volkswagen. I guarantee it's more dangerous to live in my neighborhood than out here. People don't talk about it much, but dogs kill kids. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't even a wild animal attack out here. I hate dogs. I put Hector in charge of building this place. He's an alright worker, but sometimes I think he's too busy thinking about tacos and tequila to do his job.

Though he's gotten a lot done in three weeks, I personally put together the large office in the back of the building. See, my buddy wanted a room with a hidden safe and a big heavy metal door. Makes sense since no one wants to get ripped off and it's been very convenient for me. I've been hiding the money I earn in the safe. Leslie isn't going to get this stash of cash. I guarantee that.

When I arrived at the site, Hector was finishing up. I appreciated all the overtime he put in, even if I neglected to authorize it on his pay stub most of the time. I had been here earlier that morning to drop off a box of materials I got from a building being torn down later in the week. Hinges and screws, stuff like that. Every penny counts. Hector said it was a bad idea, but I told him to do it or take a siesta at the welfare office.

As he left, I headed to the back. I waited so as not to make him suspicious. You could buy a lot of piñatas with $670,000 and I wasn't taking any chances. I threw in a fresh $25,000 in hundreds and I sealed the safe shut. I was all ready to leave. This place made me feel anxious at night. I heard a sound coming from outside. My mind was playing tricks on me. I've got to get some sleep.

I'm going to have to get some coffee before my drive home. It was so dark, I couldn't see much of anything in the hallway. I could just barely see the light coming in from the cracks of the door. But man, it was beautiful outside. I had never seen it under a full moon before. There was a calm peace over the pale moonlight. I got into my car and I started the engine.

I backed up a few feet to get turned around in the dirt parking lot. All I wanted to do was get to the gas station on the corner. If I was lucky, the clerk would speak at least a few words of English and I could get my damn coffee. As I started to pull forward, I heard a repeated thumping from the back of my car. This is just what I needed. A flat tire.

I stopped the engine and I got out of the car. Sure enough, the back tire was flat. These are brand new tires. Mechanics are con artists, plain and simple. I didn't even remember if I had a spare in the trunk. So I got out, I popped the back. Wouldn't you know it, I had a spare after all. I pulled the jack out and I got down on the ground. These were new pants.

Perfect. I took the flashlight I had on my keychain and I shined it on the tire. It was torn up pretty bad. It must have been blown out right when I pulled in here. I noticed something dangling just behind the tire. I laid flat and scooted myself underneath the car. Somehow I'd managed to sever a whole bunch of wires back here. Now I'm no mechanic, but this car is going nowhere. And neither am I.

I guess this would have to be AAA's problem in the morning. I heard a sound off in the distance. What the hell was that? I was still underneath the car looking at my wrecked undercarriage when I heard the sound move closer. Moving more. I started to scoot myself forward trying to get out from under the car. Something grabbed my leg. I could feel something sharp piercing straight through my ankle. Dear God, did it hurt.

It pulled me out from under the car and then I... And then I saw it. It looked like a wolf. But it couldn't have been a wolf. It was standing on its hind legs. I let out a scream and I turned, trying to run on my bum leg toward the office building. Dear God, if the door wasn't unlocked, I don't know what I'd do. The door swung open and I slammed it behind me.

I locked it and I stumbled to the back of the front office. Jesus Christ, what was that thing? It must have been a bear. Yeah, yeah, a bear. Bears can stand on their hind legs. My leg was in seriously bad shape. I needed a doctor pronto. I had seen a guy get a nail gun injury in their ankle before, but it didn't bleed like this. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and I dialed 911.

The door exploded open as if a grenade had went off on the other side. I dropped my phone and the battery popped out of the back of [unclear]. Cheap Chinese piece of crap. The creature stood there, staring at me. It was easily six feet tall and it looked [unclear]. Its eyes gave off a yellow glow from the angle they were fixated on me at. I quickly grabbed the phone and the battery and I ran for my life through the hallway.

I could hear the beast giving chase. The back office! I ran to the end of the hallway. I grabbed the heavy metal door and I closed it behind me. I turned the lock and I braced for the impact that was to follow. Nothing. It was quiet. The beast suddenly began to scratch and claw at the door, pounding on it. This door could keep it out. It was thick enough to hold him.

I couldn't stand on my ankle anymore so I limped to the back of the office and I sat down. I began putting the battery back into my phone. I pushed it in and I turned the power on. The power up screen was loading. It played a little jingle in a video that felt like it was taking an eternity to end. I'm gonna make it. I'll call the police and they'll shoot this thing and I'll be fine.

Maybe I could even use this injury to get sympathy from the wife. She'll let loose on her assault on my finances. Yeah. You know, at moments like this, you realize what is truly important. Things become clearer to you than they once were. I'm gonna fire Hector. He always fights my instructions when I want to save money. Just this morning we had that big argument. Which I won, of course. I hit send on my phone and called 911.

It started to ring. What were we fighting about? The operator answered. 911 emergency. At that moment, I remembered what we were arguing about. Hello? Can you hear me? Those old door hinges I had brought in. They were, uh, too rusted to secure the door. Hello? Can you please [unclear] your emergency?