WEBVTT
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Welcome back, My spook is tonight. We're stepping off the clean,
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well lit road and heading into old places, the places
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where the trees remember, where the school bell rings at midnight,
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where a hill can have a name like a joke
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and still mean every terrible word. These are stories about warnings, ignored,
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doors opened, old magic waking up under the roots, and
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people who go looking for legends only to discover the
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legends have been looking back. Somewhere in the woods, something
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black and hungry is spreading from leaf to claw to bone.
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Somewhere behind razor wire and ivy covered brick, the dead
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are learning how to serve a new master. Somewhere in
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the Pacific northwest, a strange cry rolls through the trees,
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and another curious fool takes one step to many down
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the wrong side of the hill. And through it all,
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there's that very human mistake we keep making. We think
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we can explain the monster. We think we can name it.
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We think we can write it down, shoot it, freeze it,
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pray it away, or drag it into the light. But
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some things are older than fear. Some things know how
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to hide inside folklore. Some things where human faces until
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hunger peels away, So get comfortable and make sure you're subscribed,
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because there's a brand new scary story right here on
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Weekly Spooky, every single Wednesday. Now, let's get this show
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on the road. New Year's Evil, a paranormal thriller from
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the case files of Caroline Quinn by Mike Eskewy New
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Year's Eve, twenty twelve, End of the World er So
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I hear, yeah right, it should be a time where
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you reflect on the year and how you've grown and
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what you should be grateful for blah blah blah, sentimental bullshit. I,
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on the other hand, loved going out for drinks with
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the girls, pick up a guy or girl whoever looks
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fun and frankly party on. This year is not going
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to be like that, or at least this story won't
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end up with me losing my shoes and doing the
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walk of shame into a seven to eleven for a
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slurpee on New Year's morning. Instead, you get me your
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favorite ghouls. School graduate and recently instituted federal agent, Caroline Quinn.
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The government's own supernatural bats were called troubleshooters, and there
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aren't a lot of us In my graduating class. There
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were maybe five others like myself, a blend of the
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superpowered and supernatural aka the government sponsored freak shows, government
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goons who fight real life monsters, the kind of stuff
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that was once only found in books and fairy tales.
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Cool huh, However, that's not what's important. This part is
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actually pretty cool and not many know about it. Ghoule school.
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What's that you ask, Well, back when the world changed
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and suddenly superpowers and the supernatural just randomly started to
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coexist in the mid nineteen fifties, So now we have
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assholes who can fly and assholes who suck blood who
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can also fly. But it's complicated. Long story, short, spandex
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fights Dracula and even the occasional Frank Eckenstein like things
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we call them Frankies for short. Weirdly more common than
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you might think, and it's usually pharmaceutical companies anyway. So
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my mom was a vampire and my dad wasn't, but
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he was into the whole undead thing. Vamps are sexy,
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I guess, no, just gross, but I digress. My dad
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is what they call a ghoule, but not like an
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undead zombie thing, more like a bonded to vampiric host.
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Sort of thing. It sounds less fucked up if I
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use the science terms I learned at the academy nine
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months later, and I'm sure stuff that would render years
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of therapy if I lingered on it. I was born.
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So one night back when I was twelve, a couple
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of bad looking motherfuckers who looked like the Men in
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Black showed up for a chat. They pointed an ultraviolet
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shotgun at my mom and pistol whipped my dad and said,
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we know your kid is special. We're taking her and
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if all goes nice and smooth, she'll see when she
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graduates from our little school. Do anything but say that
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your daughter is on scholarship to a private school, and
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you'll be dissected. Am I clear? That was my life
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for six years at Ghoul School. It never officially had
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a name, but all of us kids nicknamed it Ghul School.
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And that's where I'm headed. And it happened to be
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in the dullest place you can imagine, Ohio, I know, right.
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I got a call from a friend Sammy, who works
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at the school, and said that I needed to come home,
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but it absolutely had to be tonight. He sounded panicked,
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and that was not what I knew of Sammy December
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thirty first, twenty twelve. This is not what I had
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planned for New Year's Eve this year. I had actually
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had a date tonight. She was a nice girl I
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met at the academy after I graduated. Her name was Rheanne.
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She was cute and I was totally into her. Instead,
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I drove through the backwoods of Ohio on New Year's
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and investigated something weird. It could be something, or it
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could be nothing. Entirely, I couldn't shake the feeling that
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something was wrong. Didn't need to be a super or
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something else to know something was going to go down
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at my old school. I was a few hours out
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from campus near Youngstown. Sammy had said that he noticed
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some of the newer kids were acting weirder than normal
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and something felt off. He'd mentioned that one day one
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of their cell phones was confiscated and it had very
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threatening messages, and not something as fun as a school
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shooting either. No, seriously, how the fuck is that still
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a thing in twenty twelve, especially since now the kids
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can literally pack as much firepower into their own fists
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as some militaries. I guess I should be thankful someone
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who can melt people with their eyes. Hasn't had a
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bad day in Pe yet. Way of the world I
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guess still sucks though. Anyway, Sammy had mentioned a name
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and that immediately set off alarm bells Yasu. When things
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got weird in the world, things got weird. It wasn't
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just vampires and shit that became real. It was things
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that were like nuclear threat level worse, demons, specters, and
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rumor has it, even death gods. Things got understandably bizarre
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in the post changed world, but things that literally could
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rise from the grave and command armies of the undead.
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I'm not a fan of, even if I share some
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of that supposed supernatural blood running in my veins. Part
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of my occult schooling involved learning about what new world
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I was a part of, but also the part that
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I would protect it and draw a paycheck at the
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same time, get some great education, learn rules, laws and regulations,
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and then privately enforce the law for Uncle sam and
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protect the country and even the world at large. It's
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a lot less cool than it sounds, but no student
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loans to pay back, so bonus. Yasu was some long
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forgotten god from somewhere in Asia and probably for good reason.
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A death cult that was left out of most history
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books and written off as myth by many. Now there's
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not an unreasonable possibility that this thing was potentially returning
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for a comeback tour in twenty twelve. Great timing, if
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I do say so myself. As a favorite cartoon of
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mine once said, he makes Gozer look like Little Mary Sunshine.
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Clearly I'm in for a fun time if he's right.
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But I am so praying this is just a bunch
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of edge lords trying to look cool in a school
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full of weirdos. This is great, isn't it. A dipshit
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with a Twitter account thinks they can summon great value. Cuthulhu.
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Sammy knew something was up but didn't want to get
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the kids in harm's way. Call me up and hopefully
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come in quickly, quietly, and do it before Uncle Sam
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decides to use all necessary force. The school had security,
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some super powered individuals of their own. But something feels wrong.
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You should go back to your old school to say, hey,
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what's up. Let's grab a drink. Not me, though, I
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get to spend my New Year's Eve potentially stopping the
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resurrection of a death god, or I break up some
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dorky kids New Year's Eve party, which was their ticket
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into someone's pants for a night Save the world or
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cock block someone fuck, please let this be a false
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alarm and just be someone overreacting to some kid trying
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to sound cool. I suppose, on the bonus side of
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all this, I can stop by the old cafeteria and
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see if they still make the best tuna sandwich in Ohio,
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if I can make it there in time. Not exactly
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how I envisioned ringing in the New Year. I should
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be getting drunk and getting laid, but here we are.
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Go me right. It's about ten PM when I finally
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arrive at the school. Big, expensive and like Oprah and
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Martha Stewart designed the campus. It was pretty in a
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weird artificial sort of way, but definitely doesn't give off
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super secret government institution for superpowers vibes. You'd think someone
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built an Ivy League school in the middle of the woods,
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and on one hand, you're right, except it's fully razor wiring,
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closed and has armed patrols near its grounds. Definitely missed
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dinner though the cafe closed hours ago. I wasn't even
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checked by guards when crossing over the perimeter. Okay, that's
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not normal. Calling sammy cell and all I get is voicemail.
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I'm definitely not liking this. Parking in the visitors lot.
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I step out into the cold December air. I look
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around the empty school grounds, and I can hear music
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coming from somewhere close. I don't see anyone around though,
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no guards, no kids, and definitely no one in charge.
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The parties should be happening in the dorms with the
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older kids. Got to keep whatever damage happens to a
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minimum tonight. I guess I'm going non lethal tasers, pepper spray.
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I also have my abilities super strength, be durability beyond
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the means of mere mortals at least, and I can
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see in the dark most of the time. I also
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heal super quickly should something be able to hurt me.
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I can shrug off most types of damage unless it
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comes from a supernatural or superpowered force. And it's pretty
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reasonable to assume that I'll run into some kind of
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trouble tonight. At the very least, I'm probably going to
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ruin my new winter coat, which I bought myself for Christmas.
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Wouldn't be a government operation without some cool toys, though,
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Director James Carlson, the new guy at the Department of
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Paranormal Researches, made sure we always had options in our
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field assignments. Now that's the kicker here. Though this isn't
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a sanctioned operation, this is so off the books that
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if I get caught or this makes the newspaper somehow,
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I am likely going to end up in some deep
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dark cell in a prison where not even God could
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save me unless he had proper security clearance. A lot
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is riding on this to keep it quiet, safe, and
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above all, make sure no one gets hurt who doesn't
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need to. Maybe, on second thought, I better sling the
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toys and just keep it to pure non lethals and
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stuff I can conceal in my purse or under my jacket.
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I'll take the taser and the spray nice and tight.
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Don't want to draw too much attention to myself, but
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a six foot blonde who doesn't exactly dress conservatively is
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bound to raise a few eyebrows if I get spotted.
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I stop myself from breathing and focus all of my
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attention on listening to the environment around the school grounds,
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focusing all my supernatural senses and just listening for real
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signs of life, talking, movement, fucking anything that doesn't belong.
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A moment passes and I hear something in the dorms
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across the parking lot. I carefully isolate the sound from
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the music that's pounding and almost overwhelming my senses. This
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is deliberate. This music is covering something up or is
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a part of it. A low murmur in a language
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I don't recognize, but I know it's bad news. It
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sounds like a group of voices are chanting or singing
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something deeply weird. Guess it's time to go. I feel
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weird leaving behind all the weapons in the car in
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case I run into something a little harder to kill
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than some gifted weirdo with who knows what powers. I
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don't feel good leaving behind my actual handgun, but I'd
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rather not accidentally shoot through a wall and hurt someone.
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I briskly walk across the lot and head towards the
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courtyard in front of the school dorms. A lot of
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memories come flooding back as I cross the yard. I
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smile briefly as I look at one particular tree. That
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tree is where I kissed my first boyfriend, Dan, he
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was all right, but it was his sister who was
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really into me, and she and I dated for a
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few semesters. Surprisingly, Dan was cool about it because he
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wanted his sister Laurie to be happy. They were good kids.
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It's too bad they didn't make it to graduation day.
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I missed them. A schoolyard fight went wrong and one
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of the other freak shows decided to use their pyrokinetic
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abilities to burn them to cinders. School security didn't waste
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any time in putting down the offender. In spectacular fashion,
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Security officer Franklin Wick aka Boyle used his superpowers to
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liquefy the water inside the attacker and turned them into
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a bloody puddle. Fights at Ghoul's school could get cataclysmic
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real fast if security didn't step in. I saw one
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kid who was partially a gargoyle get torn apart by
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the school's enhanced guard dogs. It wasn't pretty, and it
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put us in line pretty quick. The blood spatter wasn't
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something you could easily forget. There wasn't enough of Dan
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and Laurie to bury. I don't even know if their
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parents know what really happened. A small tree is planted
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in the courtyard with a plaque that reads, may they
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never be forgotten as we fight forward. I don't know
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how many died over the course of the school's history,
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but it's more than a few, but less than a
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fuck ton. The government spends a lot of money to
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protect its investments. Not all kids who are either superpowered, gifted,
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or supernaturally inclined and up here, but it's enough to
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make make sure it's protected. The United States stands on
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the front line of this weird occult war and tends
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to identify the most gifted individuals per its population. Most
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other nations try to keep those numbers quiet. The US
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likes to wave its supernatural superhero Dick around like a
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grinning idiot kid who found his dad's gun. Still, there
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are too many, but that's why I'm here. Maybe I
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00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:33.319
can stop something bad before it really gets going and
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somebody else gets hurt. I know it won't bring back
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00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:40.680
Dan and Lorie, but yeah, if I could do the
255
00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:45.599
right thing, then I absolutely should save the world. Right.
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00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:50.240
I'll call Sammy's phone one last time before I enter
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the dorms and hope he picks up it. Rings and
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00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:59.640
rings and rings, and then straight to voicemail. I pocket
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00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:02.519
my phone and walk up the stone steps to the dorms.
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If Sammy is anywhere, it's probably here, since he's one
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00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:11.799
of the resident advisors and is probably in the resident
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advisor's office or in his own suite on the fourth floor.
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I creak open the double doors and enter the front
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area of the dorms. It's loud, but unnaturally still. At
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the same time, weird loud music echoes over the PA systems,
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and even some of the interior lights are flashing on
267
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and off, as if in time with the music. Well,
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this one just jumped up on the weird shadow meter.
269
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The front desk is empty, as expected, but that may
270
00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:49.000
actually work to my advantage. I hop over the desk
271
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and thankfully don't tear the ass out of my jeans
272
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as I do. The security system is still open and active,
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and I have a whole suite of cameras across the
274
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entire building to look on. Examining multiple cameras across the
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four floors, and almost immediately I come across the bad
276
00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:12.680
news I've been expecting. The fourth floor is filled with people,
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and some do not look very friendly. It looks like
278
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almost all the students and staff have been subdued and
279
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are tied up lining the hallways of the fourth floor
280
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gags and ropes, and some are covered in a weird
281
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green goo that I've never seen before. This night just
282
00:19:32.599 --> 00:19:36.480
keeps getting better, doesn't it. I see a group of
283
00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:40.359
about six of them in long dark robes being led
284
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by a guy in skinny black jeans and a Christmas
285
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sweater wonderful, a gaggle of goofy wanna be cultists, and
286
00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:53.119
a dorky Hans Gruber type. He even has the cutest
287
00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:56.640
little bit of facial hair trying to look like Alan Rickman.
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Just as I'm sitting here giggling to myself, an icicle
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00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:04.319
comes flying out of the darkness and impacts the wall
290
00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:10.000
behind my head and explodes into painful icy shards. Before
291
00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:12.759
I can even register the shock of the first impact,
292
00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:16.079
a flurry of ice spears comes flying at the desk
293
00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:19.279
and at me. I throw myself to the floor under
294
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the desk and hear more impacts. Oh fuck me, I
295
00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:27.480
quietly whisper to myself as I can hear more hits.
296
00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:30.880
The desk is made of heavy wood, but it won't
297
00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:34.920
last forever and I'll have to move. Time to go
298
00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:38.079
to work. Then I peek around the corner and see
299
00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:40.799
if I can spot where the attacks are coming from.
300
00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.799
My eyesight adjusts to the lighting conditions, and I can
301
00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:47.519
see a small shape at the far end of the lobby,
302
00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:53.079
hiding behind one of those big comfy chairs. I can't
303
00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:57.319
make out any distinct features, though, but I know they
304
00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:02.079
are alone. I can hear just one heartbeat besides my own,
305
00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:08.079
and it's beating so fast it's like our wrapper's backing track. Hey,
306
00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.839
could you please stop throwing shit at me for like
307
00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.519
five seconds? I yell from behind the desk and prepare
308
00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:19.440
to sprint from my position. If I can distract them
309
00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:23.440
for just a moment, I can use that supernatural speed
310
00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:26.839
and close the gap and not catch an ice spear
311
00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:30.720
in the head. I mean, there is a reasonable chance
312
00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:33.640
i'd shrug it off due to my own gifts. But
313
00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:38.519
just because you're tough doesn't mean you're reckless. Another impact,
314
00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:41.440
and this time I can see the ice penetrate right
315
00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:46.599
beside my face. I know it's time to move. I
316
00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:49.599
thrust my body forward and move across the room in
317
00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:52.279
the blink of an eye, and at the last second,
318
00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.480
I use the chair as a place to jump off
319
00:21:54.839 --> 00:21:58.799
and land behind it. Training kicks in and I'm now
320
00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:02.480
in combat mode, and it all happens almost by instinct,
321
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.160
and sheer will alone. I sweep my leg low and
322
00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:09.359
knock my opponent over with tremendous force against the wall.
323
00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:13.960
Moving into close range, arms fly forward, and I throw
324
00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:16.680
all my strength in depending their arms while pushing my
325
00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:20.480
weight onto them and holding them to the floor. Looking
326
00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:23.240
down at my opponent for a second, and I see
327
00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:28.880
it's a kid. She looks frightened and terrified beyond reason.
328
00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:32.799
She's an Asian girl who couldn't be more than fourteen,
329
00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:36.480
and that's maybe a stretch. She looks up at me
330
00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:40.559
in pure fear and closes her eyes, fully expecting me
331
00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:46.119
to enterr right here and right now. I'm not a monster.
332
00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:49.160
I try to tell myself that before I go to
333
00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:54.880
sleep at night. I put my hand over her mouth firmly. Look, kid,
334
00:22:55.160 --> 00:22:57.880
I think we got off on the wrong foot. If
335
00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:00.519
I let you go, will you tell tell me what
336
00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:04.279
the fuck is happening around here? She nods, and I
337
00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:07.319
can feel some, but not all, of the tension leave
338
00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.240
her body. I release some of the grip I have
339
00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:13.279
on her and let go of my hold on her mouth.
340
00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:19.119
Who are you, she meekly asks. My name is Caroline,
341
00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:22.319
and I used to be a student here. I'm here
342
00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:27.240
to help. They killed mister Reeves, they killed Miss Simmons.
343
00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:31.359
They even killed lunch lady Maria. They turned the rest
344
00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:36.200
of the staff into monsters. The kid stammered out, then
345
00:23:36.359 --> 00:23:40.720
started to cry. Mister Reeves was also known as Sammy Reeves.
346
00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:46.519
Sammy is dead, or at least according to her. I'll
347
00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:50.720
deal with this later, but right now we've got bigger problems.
348
00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:55.920
I know how to fight monsters, terrorists, and about seven
349
00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.000
different types of zombies, but I don't know how to
350
00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:05.000
deal with a kid crying. Uh okay, look, I'm also
351
00:24:05.079 --> 00:24:08.799
a federal agent and I'm like you. But I figured
352
00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:13.759
you guessed that already. What do you mean monsters? We
353
00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:17.160
sat down for a few minutes in the darkness and talked,
354
00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:21.960
and what I heard I didn't like. It. Seems about
355
00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:26.680
two days ago things started getting weird and then people
356
00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:31.039
started dying. She told me about strange creatures that tore
357
00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:34.680
the security teams apart, and they looked like something out
358
00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:40.039
of a horror movie. Green corpse like monsters covered in slime,
359
00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:45.160
and their touch that seemed to rot in an instant. Well,
360
00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:51.559
this definitely narrows it down. Rots servants of death gods
361
00:24:52.119 --> 00:24:55.440
corpses reanimated by the will of death and powered by
362
00:24:55.480 --> 00:24:58.319
the souls of the damned near where they are animated,
363
00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:03.680
usually found in in Europe, but more recently on modern battlefields,
364
00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:08.440
the unfortunate consequence of war. I'm afraid tougher than typical
365
00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:12.079
zombies and had a pleasant side effect of a death
366
00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:16.960
touch that basically putrefied you. It's quick, but about one
367
00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:21.000
of the most unpleasant ways to die. You can imagine.
368
00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:27.119
What's your name, kid, Anna? Anna Wu They call me slush.
369
00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:30.799
I'm not good with my powers. You're the first person
370
00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:36.000
I've ever successfully used them on. I chuckle at that. Well,
371
00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:40.519
to be fair, you didn't land to hit Anna. Oh,
372
00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.920
I'm sorry. I thought you were one of Gary's goons
373
00:25:43.400 --> 00:25:47.400
and I panicked. I'm guessing Gary is the asshole in
374
00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:50.400
the Christmas sweater. The others in the robes must be
375
00:25:50.440 --> 00:25:54.640
the rots under his control. Anna stopped crying and nodded.
376
00:25:55.839 --> 00:25:59.319
He killed my roommate Sarah. She tried to stop him,
377
00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:04.279
but Gary's monsters. Her voice trailed off. I can guess
378
00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:07.440
that the rots touched her, and she likely died quickly
379
00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:13.119
but painfully, being rotted from the inside out. Goddamn. I
380
00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:16.279
can't save everyone, but that is no way to die,
381
00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:20.400
especially for a kid. Is that how you got away?
382
00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:23.759
I didn't want to ask, but I had to know.
383
00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:28.319
She protected me while I ran away. I couldn't help her,
384
00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:32.119
so she told me to run and hide. Any idea
385
00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:35.920
why Gary is doing this? You don't just try to
386
00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:39.359
resurrect a death god on New Year's Eve twenty twelve
387
00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:42.880
unless you have a really good reason or you're some
388
00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:47.279
nihilistic little fuck from Tumblr. No, but I know he
389
00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:50.400
talks to the dead. He transferred in a few weeks
390
00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:53.839
ago from out of the country, an exchange student from
391
00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:57.880
South America. I've got a few theories on why, and
392
00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:01.839
none of them good or even conclusive at this point.
393
00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:04.920
Could be anything from your typical I want to destroy
394
00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:09.559
the world, twirly mustache, to some kind of misguided religious belief,
395
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:13.880
or my personal favorite, crazy as a shithouse rat, as
396
00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:18.319
my dad used to say, All right, cool, so I
397
00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:21.880
got let me see a crazy kid who can talk
398
00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:24.359
to the dead with about six rots under his sway.
399
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:28.799
The resurrection of yasue likely at hand and hostages of
400
00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:32.519
all shapes and sizes. You know, some girls want to
401
00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:34.799
go out and have drinks on New Year's Eve, but
402
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.200
instead I get dragged into Caroline in the Apocalypse, not
403
00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:42.519
exactly Dick Clark's rock in New Year's Eve at Times Square.
404
00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:44.759
But I'm sure I'll find a way to bring a
405
00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:49.559
little life to this undead ghoulfest next year. I am
406
00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:54.720
definitely turning off text messages and going someplace Sonny, maybe
407
00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:59.079
Disney World. I want my mouse ears. I glance at
408
00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:02.839
my watch. It's eleven forty eight, and if I'm going
409
00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:05.720
to make a move, it has to be now. I'm
410
00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:08.799
wondering how useful my new friend Anna is going to
411
00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:14.400
be in a fight, especially if things get messy. Not
412
00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:17.119
like I have a choice. There's no time to call
413
00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:21.000
back up. If I don't solve this problem quickly, then
414
00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:24.440
the world won't be around for too much longer. So
415
00:28:24.519 --> 00:28:27.160
I need a plan and kick the door down, so
416
00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:31.039
to speak, maybe really fast, to kill myself and run
417
00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:34.000
the clock out on planet Earth. I can't just pull
418
00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:37.359
a die hard and expect to survive. I have to
419
00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:40.160
think tactically and less like a video game or a
420
00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:46.119
comic book. I need a plan. B wait, light bulb
421
00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:49.000
moment here. I head over to the front desk area
422
00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:52.319
and start looking at those camera monitors. We can take
423
00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:55.839
out this asshole by going into his blind spots. Yeah,
424
00:28:55.880 --> 00:28:58.319
we're gonna get this guy, and we're gonna make goddamn
425
00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:02.240
sure he doesn't see us coming. There are two staircases
426
00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:05.119
with entrances up where Gary and his rots are, and
427
00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:08.359
only one of them is currently guarded. Looks like we
428
00:29:08.440 --> 00:29:11.319
have our blind spot. But how do we take advantage
429
00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:14.920
of it and move them away from the hostages. Well,
430
00:29:15.880 --> 00:29:19.279
maybe I can pull a die hard here. Hey Anna,
431
00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:22.119
I have a crazy idea, but I'll need your help.
432
00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:25.440
Tell me, do you have fine enough control of your
433
00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:29.319
abilities that you can super cool the air? The girl
434
00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:32.519
looked at me confused for a moment and seemed to
435
00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:37.200
think pretty hard for a second, but nodded at me. Yeah.
436
00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:39.200
It was one of the first things I learned to do.
437
00:29:40.200 --> 00:29:43.559
My parents didn't have an AC unit, so they'd ask
438
00:29:43.640 --> 00:29:46.759
me to do it, but more often than not, I'd
439
00:29:46.759 --> 00:29:52.200
freeze the house. Cute a living air conditioning unit, save
440
00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:55.480
a few bucks anywhere you can write. If she doesn't
441
00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:58.440
become a superhero, then she'll be a blast at parties
442
00:29:58.519 --> 00:30:04.920
for cold drinks. Okay, maybe this will work after all.
443
00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:07.640
Looked at the monitors again and it seemed like the
444
00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:11.759
hostages were relatively safe for the moment. The rots seemed
445
00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:13.440
to be guarding a door at the end of the
446
00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:18.480
main hallway, so likely the wreck room on the fourth floor. Unfortunately,
447
00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:21.480
that is the one camera whose feed is currently dark,
448
00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:26.359
and I couldn't see anything beyond a sea of static. Fortunately,
449
00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:28.839
the front desk had the other component of my plan
450
00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:32.720
right there, smiling at me with a large yellow sticky
451
00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:39.480
note proclaiming, do not touch the thermostat Anna. So here's
452
00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:42.359
the game plan, and I can't do it without your help.
453
00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:45.680
I'm gonna have you super cool the air in the elevator,
454
00:30:46.039 --> 00:30:52.799
and I'm gonna fuck with the thermostad Okay, why science,
455
00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:56.440
motherfucker instant fog cloud that leaves cover for me to
456
00:30:56.480 --> 00:30:59.559
go in there and play little miss badass. We're gonna
457
00:30:59.559 --> 00:31:01.359
put you in the top of the elevator where it's
458
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:04.359
nice and safe, and you'll basically keep up the pressure
459
00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:08.079
and the cold. I could see the gears turning in
460
00:31:08.119 --> 00:31:12.079
Anna's head and it clicked temperature difference, and with someone
461
00:31:12.200 --> 00:31:15.240
constantly running the fog machine, it was a perfect way
462
00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:18.680
to get an ambush going Where will you be, Caroline,
463
00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:21.279
I'm going to be up the stairs, so when the
464
00:31:21.319 --> 00:31:24.359
attention is focused on the elevator doors opening, I can
465
00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:27.279
rush in behind them and hopefully clear the rots out
466
00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:30.839
before anyone knows what the fuck is happening. Looking at
467
00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:33.759
my watch and realizing the clock is starting to wind down,
468
00:31:34.519 --> 00:31:39.200
it's likely time to go. All right, six potential rots
469
00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:41.839
and cloaks, a dork who could talk to the dead,
470
00:31:41.880 --> 00:31:44.359
and a death god coming in hot for the New Year.
471
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:48.200
What's not to love? I mean, realistically, this could go
472
00:31:48.359 --> 00:31:51.599
totally sideways and the earth gets plunged into a new
473
00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:54.440
dark age under a menacing death deity who hates everything
474
00:31:54.440 --> 00:31:59.720
with a pulse. Or we go upstairs, kick some supernatural
475
00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:02.160
apps and get back in time to watch the lane
476
00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:05.400
New Year's Eve shows hosted by Carson Dally or whoever
477
00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:08.079
the fuck is doing it now. If I end up
478
00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:10.880
saving the world tonight, I am getting that sandwich from
479
00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:14.880
the cafe before I leave. No matter what, I mess
480
00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:17.200
with the thermostat and set it in such a way
481
00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:21.039
that things should be downright uncomfortable upstairs. In just a
482
00:32:21.079 --> 00:32:25.440
few minutes, it's go time. Anna and I walk up
483
00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:28.319
to the elevators and I pry off the top of
484
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:30.799
the ceiling and lift this little girl onto the top
485
00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:33.880
of the box. She makes herself as comfortable as she
486
00:32:33.960 --> 00:32:38.079
possibly can, but she looks scared shitless, and I don't
487
00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:42.000
blame her. This kid has already gone through a lot,
488
00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:44.359
and this is the kind of shit that fucks you
489
00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:48.119
up for life. Ghouls school always had a way with
490
00:32:48.519 --> 00:32:52.720
lasting memories. My scary memory was the death of Dan
491
00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:56.000
and Laurie. Anna isn't even done with her first few
492
00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:59.119
semesters here, so I can only imagine what else is
493
00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:02.559
going to happen to her. I sincerely hope she'll have
494
00:33:02.599 --> 00:33:08.559
an easier time after tonight. This is heavy and frankly apocalyptic,
495
00:33:08.599 --> 00:33:12.680
but she's holding it together. Anna, hit this with as
496
00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:15.680
much cold as you can muster. Keep pumping out the cold,
497
00:33:15.720 --> 00:33:19.359
and absolutely flood the place with fog or whatever as
498
00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:22.079
soon as the elevator doors open, and no matter what
499
00:33:22.200 --> 00:33:25.160
you hear, until I say all clear, keep it up.
500
00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:28.559
I know this is scary and probably isn't the best plan,
501
00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:33.920
but I think it's got a solid chance. Okay, Caroline,
502
00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:37.240
I got it. I won't let you down. We can
503
00:33:37.279 --> 00:33:41.960
stop Gary and help everyone, right, Yeah, I mean it's
504
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:46.119
either that or we all die horribly. I don't think
505
00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:51.400
Anna appreciated my dark sense of humor. No, we'll be fine, kid.
506
00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:53.839
I trust you have my back, and it's not like
507
00:33:53.880 --> 00:33:57.720
I haven't faced my fair share of weird shit. I
508
00:33:57.799 --> 00:34:00.519
winked at her and hit the button for the four floor.
509
00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:04.640
The doors slid shut, and I sprinted towards the stairwell
510
00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:08.280
that led to the upper floors, trying to be as
511
00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:11.679
sneaky as I could moving up the stairs. I didn't51200:34:11.760 --> 00:34:16.440
exactly wear the most appropriate footwear for an operation, however,51300:34:16.840 --> 00:34:21.239
sensible shoes be damned. I wanted to look hot and cool.51400:34:22.039 --> 00:34:25.800
I also wanted to look cool. I knew this stairwell51500:34:25.840 --> 00:34:29.119
pretty well. I shared my first kiss with Louri in51600:34:29.199 --> 00:34:32.559
this place. She was so shy she trembled as I51700:34:32.639 --> 00:34:37.280
leaned in and kissed her. Okay, gotta get my head51800:34:37.320 --> 00:34:40.800
in the game. Slowly, I squeaked the door open an51900:34:40.840 --> 00:34:43.320
inch so that I could see into the hallway and52000:34:43.360 --> 00:34:48.119
assess the situation. I could see probably twelve kids, all52100:34:48.159 --> 00:34:51.679
aged from ten to probably close to eighteen or so,52200:34:52.039 --> 00:34:58.679
huddled around the doors lining the hallway like an execution line.52300:34:58.719 --> 00:35:02.239
This Gary was going to en execute them, and likely soon.52400:35:03.159 --> 00:35:06.119
I looked down at my wristwatch, and Minnie Mouse looked52500:35:06.159 --> 00:35:09.559
back at me and said, eleven fifty seven p m.52600:35:10.760 --> 00:35:14.000
The smell from the rots wafted into my nostrils and52700:35:14.079 --> 00:35:18.760
assaulted it hard. Death has an unmistakable scent, and I've52800:35:18.760 --> 00:35:21.679
been around it too many times since I became an agent,52900:35:22.440 --> 00:35:27.599
putrefied bodies and liquefied organs and so much worse. The53000:35:27.719 --> 00:35:32.079
rots didn't have much in the way of their faces left, Unfortunately,53100:35:32.119 --> 00:35:37.320
it was just scraps of flesh clinging to their skeletal remnants.53200:35:37.360 --> 00:35:40.440
The eyes were no longer human, but burning balls of53300:35:40.519 --> 00:35:44.639
green light that hated everything it saw before them. It53400:35:44.760 --> 00:35:48.920
is almost time all shall be sacrificed for the glory53500:35:48.960 --> 00:35:52.960
of yasue. A yell came from behind a closed door53600:35:53.320 --> 00:35:56.840
at the end of the hallways common room. Don't need53700:35:56.880 --> 00:36:02.280
to think too hard on who that was. Gary. Screams53800:36:02.320 --> 00:36:05.599
and yells of resistance from girls and boys, the sound53900:36:05.719 --> 00:36:09.239
of primal fear that death was coming, and nothing short54000:36:09.280 --> 00:36:17.079
of a miracle could intervene. The elevator doors opened, fourth floor,54100:36:17.840 --> 00:36:21.199
The air snapped cold in an instant, and ice started54200:36:21.239 --> 00:36:24.920
forming all over the surfaces like a blast of arctic air.54300:36:25.800 --> 00:36:29.679
Moisture froze and hung in the air. Even taking a54400:36:29.679 --> 00:36:33.639
breath hurt as my lungs started to freeze up. Anna54500:36:33.880 --> 00:36:37.239
was not fucking around. This girl had something to prove,54600:36:37.320 --> 00:36:40.480
and she wasn't going to let fear or doubt get54700:36:40.519 --> 00:36:43.440
in her way. She was here to save her friends.54800:36:44.199 --> 00:36:47.599
She was here to save me too. Throwing the door54900:36:47.639 --> 00:36:50.320
open like I was smashing through a brick wall, it55000:36:50.440 --> 00:36:53.840
was time to face down the legions of the undead.55100:36:54.719 --> 00:36:59.920
No real weapons, but that's perfectly fine. I am a weapon,55200:37:00.880 --> 00:37:03.760
reaching into that dark part of myself that comes from55300:37:03.760 --> 00:37:07.280
my mother's vampiric side, and letting the blood in my55400:37:07.440 --> 00:37:11.719
veins boil over All remnants of restraint are off. I55500:37:11.760 --> 00:37:14.599
am going to unleash all the hell and darkness that55600:37:14.760 --> 00:37:19.400
is embedded in my very essence. Vampire abilities aren't always55700:37:19.480 --> 00:37:23.920
the same from one to another. We get enhance strength, speed,55800:37:24.039 --> 00:37:29.639
and durability, but sometimes other special powers slip through. We55900:37:29.800 --> 00:37:33.119
can grow wings, claws that cut through a bank, vault56000:37:33.159 --> 00:37:37.360
and a bloodlust that rivals berserkers of ancient legend. I56100:37:37.400 --> 00:37:41.559
am moving so fast that time virtually stands still and56200:37:41.639 --> 00:37:45.800
I can fully assess the situation before me. The rots56300:37:45.800 --> 00:37:50.079
are absolutely caught off guard and slowly turn their deceased56400:37:50.119 --> 00:37:55.159
skulls towards me, too late, closing the distance between the56500:37:55.199 --> 00:37:59.559
stairwell door and the first rot, I strike. This abomination56600:37:59.639 --> 00:38:02.280
of flow, rush and bone was mine for the taking.56700:38:03.159 --> 00:38:07.840
I hit hard bone craters underneath my foot as I56800:38:07.920 --> 00:38:12.159
collapsed its chest into paste. This meat puppet explodes in56900:38:12.239 --> 00:38:16.039
a shower of blood and tattered bits of skin and worse,57000:38:16.840 --> 00:38:20.480
It flies against the next closest rot, and it knocks57100:38:20.519 --> 00:38:22.400
it to the floor before it can touch one of57200:38:22.400 --> 00:38:26.159
the hostages lined up along the hallway. The sheer force57300:38:26.199 --> 00:38:29.599
of the impact shattered its skull and fragmented it into57400:38:29.639 --> 00:38:34.119
thousands of pieces. The kids shrieked in panic, but held57500:38:34.159 --> 00:38:38.239
their position on the floor. Two rots down, four to go.57600:38:39.119 --> 00:38:43.119
Adrenaline filled my veins, and something deeper from my supernatural57700:38:43.199 --> 00:38:47.440
side fueled my speed. Snapping my hands at my sides,57800:38:47.679 --> 00:38:51.480
my vampiric claws extended from my fingers almost six inches57900:38:52.199 --> 00:38:55.639
supernaturally hardened and ready to take down whatever stood in58000:38:55.679 --> 00:38:59.400
my way. I've only used my claws a few times,58100:38:59.719 --> 00:39:02.079
but I I know it can cut through military speck58200:39:02.239 --> 00:39:05.960
armor if necessary. One of the rots slapped me across58300:39:06.000 --> 00:39:09.199
the face with its skeletal hand. I felt parts of58400:39:09.239 --> 00:39:13.159
my skin burn and tingle with the infusion of necrotic energy.58500:39:13.880 --> 00:39:16.679
This rot had moved just as fast as me and58600:39:16.800 --> 00:39:20.280
was intent on killing me, so I couldn't interfere with58700:39:20.360 --> 00:39:24.159
its master's plans. I wasn't prepared for the hit, and58800:39:24.280 --> 00:39:27.239
it stunned me. For just a moment. The taste of58900:39:27.320 --> 00:39:30.559
death filled my mouth. This is what the grave must59000:39:30.599 --> 00:39:35.639
feel like, as time itself eats your flesh. I instinctively59100:39:35.679 --> 00:39:38.440
grabbed at my face and the wound. I did it59200:39:38.480 --> 00:39:42.800
without even thinking. My vampiric ability would heal the wound shortly,59300:39:43.639 --> 00:39:46.440
but I could still die if I didn't get some distance.59400:39:47.360 --> 00:39:50.599
This was going to cost me my life. The rot59500:39:50.679 --> 00:39:54.079
was in my face and outreached its claws toward my throat.59600:39:55.000 --> 00:39:58.440
The first touch was a glancing blow. It wasn't enough59700:39:58.480 --> 00:40:01.880
to kill. If the other undead creature managed to fully59800:40:01.960 --> 00:40:04.679
grab a hold of my windpipe, that it would use59900:40:04.760 --> 00:40:07.679
all of its death fueled grasp to decay the very60000:40:07.760 --> 00:40:11.559
flesh from my body. I had no time to dodge60100:40:11.679 --> 00:40:14.880
or maneuver out of the way. It was way too close.60200:40:15.480 --> 00:40:19.320
I couldn't get enough room to swing my claws at it. Great,60300:40:19.760 --> 00:40:21.960
I'm going to die before I get a chance to60400:40:22.000 --> 00:40:26.320
even be assigned a proper field office. A high powered60500:40:26.360 --> 00:40:28.760
gust of polar air rushed past the side of my60600:40:28.880 --> 00:40:32.400
face and knocked me forward and almost flat on my ass.60700:40:33.119 --> 00:40:35.760
I rolled into it as best I could and tried60800:40:35.800 --> 00:40:39.599
to regain some semblance of control. It wasn't pretty, but60900:40:40.000 --> 00:40:43.880
I caught myself before I was completely prone. Anna was61000:40:44.000 --> 00:40:47.199
right beside me, and her face was as unreadable as61100:40:47.199 --> 00:40:51.360
an arctic glacier. Ice flowed from her outstretched hands in61200:40:51.440 --> 00:40:55.639
an ever increasing frequency and tempo. The zombie like creature61300:40:55.679 --> 00:40:58.280
that had wounded me was now coated in a thick,61400:40:58.719 --> 00:41:03.559
almost opaque of ice. Unable to move from its frozen tomb,61500:41:03.840 --> 00:41:07.920
the creature fell to the floor and broke apart. This61600:41:08.000 --> 00:41:12.079
little powerhouse was done fucking around, and something deep within61700:41:12.119 --> 00:41:15.800
her had awakened. Anna was ready to throw down, and61800:41:15.880 --> 00:41:18.840
it seemed like she was going to fully embrace her gifts.61900:41:19.679 --> 00:41:22.960
I'd only really met her, and something had snapped in her.62000:41:23.519 --> 00:41:26.639
This was one of those moments that defines us here62100:41:26.760 --> 00:41:30.079
at Ghoul School. You need to go. I've got this,62200:41:30.760 --> 00:41:34.159
the kids said, with stern authority that I certainly didn't62300:41:34.199 --> 00:41:37.519
expect from her. The other Rots had turned their attention62400:41:37.639 --> 00:41:40.920
towards Anna and seemed intent on her. A look of62500:41:40.960 --> 00:41:44.800
determination had set on the teenager's face. An aura of62600:41:44.920 --> 00:41:48.599
cold radiated off her, so intense that my eyes felt62700:41:48.639 --> 00:41:52.079
like they were going to freeze shut. The hallway filled62800:41:52.079 --> 00:41:55.360
with a blinding cloud of ice and snow, and you62900:41:55.400 --> 00:41:57.760
couldn't see more than a foot in front of your face.63000:41:58.639 --> 00:42:01.800
The kids screamed, and the run roared back in retaliation.63100:42:02.840 --> 00:42:08.239
I glanced at Anna, and she never stopped looking forward. Caroline,63200:42:08.280 --> 00:42:12.159
go stop, Gary, I'll handle this. Let me clear your path.63300:42:13.400 --> 00:42:15.760
This kid would be a great field agent when the63400:42:15.840 --> 00:42:19.960
time comes. Anna channeled whatever power she had and thrust63500:42:19.960 --> 00:42:23.719
her left hand forward in a dramatic gesture. The skeletal63600:42:23.880 --> 00:42:26.639
like rots glared back at her and began to advance63700:42:26.679 --> 00:42:29.920
on our position in the hallway. A glowing sphere of63800:42:29.960 --> 00:42:33.920
blue energy crackled out from her outstretched hand. She closed63900:42:33.920 --> 00:42:37.800
her eyes and a new look of concentration was on64000:42:37.880 --> 00:42:42.719
her face. The snowstorm in the hallway intensified and wind64100:42:42.760 --> 00:42:47.440
whipped around us in a wild, howling storm. Good luck, kid,64200:42:48.039 --> 00:42:51.119
I smiled at her and got myself ready to charge64300:42:51.159 --> 00:42:55.000
down the hallway. You could measure time and heartbeats for64400:42:55.079 --> 00:42:58.719
a moment. The four rots broke through the snowstorm and64500:42:58.760 --> 00:43:02.239
were right on top of us. With then seconds this64600:43:02.480 --> 00:43:06.719
was it. The air completely changed, and for a second64700:43:07.480 --> 00:43:10.039
it was as cold as the depths of outer space.64800:43:10.719 --> 00:43:13.440
It was like being hit in the face by liquid nitrogen.64900:43:13.840 --> 00:43:17.079
Cold doesn't even begin to describe it. I closed my65000:43:17.159 --> 00:43:23.639
eyes reflexively to protect myself. This really was it. The65100:43:23.679 --> 00:43:28.679
hallway was dead quiet, no one and nothing moved. I65200:43:28.840 --> 00:43:32.159
was perceptive of my own heartbeat, and for a second65300:43:32.679 --> 00:43:38.519
that was it. I was alone. No wait, there were65400:43:38.559 --> 00:43:42.920
more heart beats, frightened, but definitely there. I opened my65500:43:42.960 --> 00:43:46.159
eyes and saw the once vibrant colored hallway looking like65600:43:46.239 --> 00:43:50.199
the aftermath of a blizzard. I don't know what I65700:43:50.280 --> 00:43:53.280
expected to see when I started looking around, but I65800:43:53.400 --> 00:43:57.039
was pleasantly surprised. The rots were frozen in place in65900:43:57.079 --> 00:44:00.760
front of us. The undead creatures were completely turned into66000:44:00.800 --> 00:44:06.599
solid ice and utterly transmuted into something completely harmless. I66100:44:06.679 --> 00:44:09.880
reached out and pushed one of them. The touch burned66200:44:09.920 --> 00:44:13.400
my skin from the temperature difference, but they were for66300:44:13.519 --> 00:44:19.440
all intents and purposes dead. Whatever force of malevolence powered66400:44:19.480 --> 00:44:24.559
their undead forms was completely annihilated. The rots were destroyed66500:44:25.119 --> 00:44:30.079
and turned into ice sculptures. Right before us. Anna, a66600:44:30.159 --> 00:44:35.639
boy's voice called out, and it seemed almost hopeful. Then66700:44:35.719 --> 00:44:39.199
a few more voices called out as the snowstorm dissipated66800:44:39.239 --> 00:44:43.719
into a light flurry. Good. The hostages, as far as66900:44:43.719 --> 00:44:48.199
I can tell, are unharmed, except for maybe some frostbite.67000:44:48.360 --> 00:44:53.239
Anna can take care of them. We still yasu arise67100:44:53.400 --> 00:44:59.599
and come forth devour the unbelievers. Then blood curdling screaming,67200:45:00.119 --> 00:45:05.360
the snapping of bone and flesh, and something indescribable Gary.67300:45:06.519 --> 00:45:08.840
I didn't even have time to register that I was67400:45:08.880 --> 00:45:12.960
flying down the hallway at breakneck speed. My body was67500:45:13.039 --> 00:45:17.480
rushing forward towards a brightly decorated common room door. I67600:45:17.599 --> 00:45:20.599
threw my full body weight at it and crashed through67700:45:20.679 --> 00:45:23.679
and splintered it into pieces as it exploded from the67800:45:23.760 --> 00:45:27.800
force assaulting my senses is the pungent odor of death67900:45:27.880 --> 00:45:35.800
once again, but also cinnamon. This kid, Gary is doubled68000:45:35.840 --> 00:45:39.000
over in a darkened corner of the room and clutching68100:45:39.039 --> 00:45:43.519
his midsection. He raises his head at me and looks68200:45:43.559 --> 00:45:46.639
at me with pure daggers and hatred in his beady eyes.68300:45:47.480 --> 00:45:52.679
The Christmas sweater is drenched in an unfamiliar substance. I68400:45:52.719 --> 00:45:55.960
couldn't make out much of his form beyond the garish sweater,68500:45:56.559 --> 00:46:00.800
but what little I could see I didn't like. This68600:46:01.199 --> 00:46:07.320
wasn't human anymore. You dare enter Yasu's domain. The voice68700:46:07.480 --> 00:46:10.320
wasn't the same one I had heard in the hallway.68800:46:11.320 --> 00:46:15.840
This was distorted, warped. This voice wasn't the pimple faced,68900:46:15.880 --> 00:46:23.440
dorky teenager named Gary Ya Sue had arrived. This horrific69000:46:23.519 --> 00:46:27.400
blend of flesh and horror stood up to an impossible height,69100:46:27.719 --> 00:46:32.239
as skins sloughed off of their form, limbs extended to69200:46:32.280 --> 00:46:35.719
an unnatural length, and what little of Gary's face was69300:46:35.840 --> 00:46:40.079
left distorted into a mess of tentacles and eyeballs from69400:46:40.119 --> 00:46:45.159
impossible places. This was a cosmic horror given form right69500:46:45.199 --> 00:46:51.360
before me. Twelve a m. No time for witty banter.69600:46:51.840 --> 00:46:56.079
No time for a strategy, just me and them, tooth69700:46:56.159 --> 00:47:01.440
and claw, me and them. No, I had one more69800:47:01.480 --> 00:47:05.039
weapon in my back pocket, one thing my mom had69900:47:05.079 --> 00:47:08.320
said to me before I left for Ghoul School. It70000:47:08.400 --> 00:47:12.599
was also the last time I ever saw my parents. Honey,70100:47:13.199 --> 00:47:17.239
you're a monster, but you don't have to act like one.70200:47:17.320 --> 00:47:23.400
You choose what that means. Today. I chose violence. I70300:47:23.440 --> 00:47:27.199
am a monster, and you will remember my name. I70400:47:27.480 --> 00:47:31.679
do fucking dare. I flew at this hybrid of Gary70500:47:31.800 --> 00:47:35.800
and this avatar of the death god Yasu. I extended70600:47:35.800 --> 00:47:40.719
my claws once again and bared my vampire fangs. Deep inside,70700:47:40.760 --> 00:47:42.760
I started to let go of all that I had70800:47:42.840 --> 00:47:47.239
kept in check for what seemed like forever. Gifted and70900:47:47.320 --> 00:47:51.599
supernatural abilities and whatever else I had was being unleashed71000:47:51.639 --> 00:47:55.559
with this flurry of blows. I didn't have time for71100:47:55.599 --> 00:47:59.679
this to end any other way than Yasue dying here71200:47:59.760 --> 00:48:03.760
and now we got entangled and grappled with each other.71300:48:04.519 --> 00:48:07.559
Ya Sue was still bound by some of the limitations71400:48:07.599 --> 00:48:10.719
of the physical body they were inhabiting. I could use71500:48:10.760 --> 00:48:14.960
that to my advantage. I'm stronger, faster, and whatever this71600:48:15.039 --> 00:48:19.800
thing is, it hasn't fully transitioned to its full godly form.71700:48:20.159 --> 00:48:24.920
It's still vulnerable, and I can stop it. I have71800:48:25.039 --> 00:48:28.840
to stop it. Claws sunk deep into the creature, and71900:48:28.880 --> 00:48:32.119
it let out a cry of unnatural pain. I kept72000:48:32.159 --> 00:48:34.599
slashing and clawing with all that I had in me.72100:48:35.280 --> 00:48:38.400
Fluid of some kind started oozing out of the wounds.72200:48:38.840 --> 00:48:42.039
Yasu had weapons of their own, and they dug into72300:48:42.079 --> 00:48:46.400
me and drew blood. The wounds were deep, the burning72400:48:46.480 --> 00:48:50.719
pain was unbearable, but I had little choice but to72500:48:50.800 --> 00:48:54.960
press on with my attack. You will not stop me.72600:48:55.719 --> 00:48:59.719
Yasu's grave voice rattled in my ears, but it wasn't72700:48:59.719 --> 00:49:04.400
as brave as it was even moments before. Yasue drove72800:49:04.480 --> 00:49:07.719
a clawed appendage into an open wound on my chest72900:49:08.159 --> 00:49:11.880
and twisted it like a knife. I yelped out, but73000:49:11.960 --> 00:49:15.840
still kept fighting back with all I could muster. The73100:49:15.920 --> 00:49:19.920
death God plunged another attack into me, but made one73200:49:20.119 --> 00:49:24.480
vital mistake. Yasu left an opening for me to exploit73300:49:25.119 --> 00:49:29.239
due to Gary's body. He may be taller, but he73400:49:29.280 --> 00:49:32.760
didn't have my body weight. I threw all my weight73500:49:32.800 --> 00:49:35.559
into my next follow up hit and knocked them to73600:49:35.639 --> 00:49:40.440
the ground and left them momentarily stunned. They didn't think73700:49:40.480 --> 00:49:43.800
I had much left in the tank, and on one hand,73800:49:43.960 --> 00:49:48.679
they weren't wrong. I'm about to do something I never73900:49:49.119 --> 00:49:53.079
wanted to do. I bared my fangs to their full74000:49:53.199 --> 00:49:57.800
length and bit down on the befouled neck of Yasu74100:49:58.000 --> 00:50:01.840
and started to bite. Draining the life from someone or74200:50:01.960 --> 00:50:05.920
something carries a heavy price that no one talks about74300:50:06.320 --> 00:50:11.159
outside of vampire circles. You take not just their life essence,74400:50:11.239 --> 00:50:16.719
but pieces of them, memories, fears, in a short piece74500:50:16.760 --> 00:50:21.000
of their soul into your own. It's why a lot74600:50:21.000 --> 00:50:25.719
of vampires are crazy or are solitary loaners. It drives74700:50:25.760 --> 00:50:28.639
you mad. It takes a toll that no mortal is74800:50:28.679 --> 00:50:32.719
prepared to deal with. Vampires like my mom were rare.74900:50:33.440 --> 00:50:37.840
She retained what made her human. I kept sucking blood75000:50:38.199 --> 00:50:42.159
and life from this horrific creature till it stopped twitching75100:50:42.280 --> 00:50:46.679
under me. I felt memories of gary abuse, bullying, and75200:50:46.760 --> 00:50:49.159
a lonely kid who saw as powers as a curse.75300:50:49.880 --> 00:50:54.679
I also had memories and pulses from Yasu, worship, prowess75400:50:54.679 --> 00:50:58.400
from untold places that gave power, and a bloodlust unlike75500:50:58.480 --> 00:51:03.840
anything I had ever expect experienced after an eternity. It75600:51:03.960 --> 00:51:07.760
was over. Life had left the body and it started75700:51:07.800 --> 00:51:11.840
to decompose before me. I shakily rose to my feet75800:51:11.880 --> 00:51:14.679
and watched the body melt into the carpeted floor of75900:51:14.719 --> 00:51:18.159
the common room. Within seconds, it was a puddle of76000:51:18.199 --> 00:51:23.159
fluids and bits of something I couldn't identify. The taste76100:51:23.199 --> 00:51:26.320
of blood lingered in my mouth. I don't know what76200:51:26.400 --> 00:51:29.719
happened next, as the adrenaline left me and my claws76300:51:29.760 --> 00:51:33.639
disengaged and the energy in me dropped like a stone.76400:51:33.800 --> 00:51:36.599
I felt tears run down my face and all my76500:51:36.679 --> 00:51:39.920
emotions were all over the place. It was the resonance76600:51:39.920 --> 00:51:43.000
of the souls I had touched mixed with my own.76700:51:43.880 --> 00:51:49.239
I had absorbed something alien. I had absorbed something beyond myself.76800:51:49.880 --> 00:51:53.679
I had taken lives before, but not like this. There76900:51:53.760 --> 00:51:57.280
was no bravado in this. There was something in this77000:51:57.440 --> 00:52:03.079
that felt different. I am different now, and I don't77100:52:03.119 --> 00:52:07.400
know what that means. I have to leave, but I've77200:52:07.400 --> 00:52:09.440
got a check on the kids and Anna to make77300:52:09.480 --> 00:52:13.639
sure things are okay. Am I going to be okay?77400:52:13.719 --> 00:52:17.320
After all this? I could feel the edge of corruption77500:52:17.480 --> 00:52:20.800
from Gary and Yasu, but I pushed it down to77600:52:20.880 --> 00:52:23.880
the depths of my psyche to deal with at a77700:52:23.960 --> 00:52:27.719
later date. Still a few things to wrap up before77800:52:27.719 --> 00:52:32.159
I can leave, and also phone calls to make happy77900:52:32.239 --> 00:52:36.679
New Year. Eh. The Department of Paranormal Resources came in78000:52:36.760 --> 00:52:39.559
and cleaned up the mess at the school. The FED78100:52:39.719 --> 00:52:43.880
sent the kids home until a more secure permanent residence78200:52:44.000 --> 00:52:47.519
could be assured. It won't take too long, after all,78300:52:48.000 --> 00:52:52.000
Uncle Sam wants to keep a tight leash on his investments.78400:52:52.480 --> 00:52:57.119
I got chewed out by Director Carlson, but also congratulations78500:52:57.119 --> 00:53:00.440
on a job well done. I had managed to take78600:53:00.480 --> 00:53:04.320
down a significant paranormal threat without backup. I had lived78700:53:04.400 --> 00:53:08.239
up to the expectations of my training. I'm not sleeping78800:53:08.320 --> 00:53:13.639
particularly well after everything, but that's residual psychic resonance from78900:53:13.719 --> 00:53:17.679
Gary and Yasu. It should pass in a few more weeks.79000:53:18.039 --> 00:53:22.119
I hope Carlson's team gave me a pass from the psychics,79100:53:22.639 --> 00:53:25.840
so I guess I'm good to go. My wounds have79200:53:25.960 --> 00:53:29.400
mostly healed, but i'll have a scar across my face79300:53:29.920 --> 00:53:33.280
from where the rot touched me. I think it makes79400:53:33.320 --> 00:53:37.800
me sexy in a weird way. The Department has promoted79500:53:37.840 --> 00:53:39.840
me to a full agent and I was to begin79600:53:39.960 --> 00:53:42.960
my new assignment in New York State before the end79700:53:42.960 --> 00:53:46.679
of February. I kept in touch with Anna via text.79800:53:47.400 --> 00:53:50.800
She was in good spirits after the incident. The kids79900:53:50.840 --> 00:53:52.920
she rescued looked at her in a whole new light.80000:53:53.000 --> 00:53:57.519
Now they won't be calling her slush anymore. She'll need80100:53:57.559 --> 00:54:00.280
a cool nickname or title when she graduates out of80200:54:00.320 --> 00:54:03.239
the program. I hope she has a better time than80300:54:03.280 --> 00:54:06.639
I did when I went through it all. I attended80400:54:06.679 --> 00:54:11.000
Sammy's funeral, but I didn't approach his parents or his partner, Franklin.80500:54:11.719 --> 00:54:13.880
It was a good service, but I kept to myself80600:54:13.920 --> 00:54:16.760
in the back. I put my hand on his casket80700:54:16.800 --> 00:54:20.079
and said my goodbyes, and then left as quietly as80800:54:20.119 --> 00:54:25.039
I came. I'm sorry I couldn't save you, but the80900:54:25.159 --> 00:54:27.719
kids you helped teach will be the next strong batch81000:54:27.760 --> 00:54:32.440
of heroes and agents that I'll work alongside. I think81100:54:32.519 --> 00:54:36.280
that's a pretty powerful legacy. If Anna is any indication81200:54:36.400 --> 00:54:40.840
of things to come from that graduating class, I hope81300:54:40.840 --> 00:54:43.239
they give him a memorial like they did for Dan81400:54:43.360 --> 00:54:47.400
and Laurie on school grounds. Everyone who died deserves to81500:54:47.440 --> 00:54:51.199
be remembered for something. It'll be time to pack up81600:54:51.199 --> 00:54:54.079
my apartment soon and make my way to New York81700:54:54.159 --> 00:54:57.440
and see what happens next. I know that girl I81800:54:57.480 --> 00:55:00.079
was supposed to have a date with, Rhianne lives in81900:55:00.119 --> 00:55:02.880
New York City, so I'll call her and see if82000:55:02.920 --> 00:55:05.519
we can take a swing at this. The life of82100:55:05.559 --> 00:55:10.639
a supernaturally empowered troubleshooter isn't boring, that's for sure. And82200:55:10.800 --> 00:55:14.719
you know, after all of this, after facing life and82300:55:14.880 --> 00:55:19.519
death and consuming the blood of some creature beyond all82400:55:19.639 --> 00:55:23.599
human comprehension of evil, I never did get that damn82500:55:23.719 --> 00:55:38.760
tuna sandwich either. Hermit by Mike Man. A small yellow82600:55:38.800 --> 00:55:42.719
haired squirrel crept to the door of a rickety cottage82700:55:42.760 --> 00:55:46.800
set back in the deep, dark hollows of a wooded grove.82800:55:48.320 --> 00:55:52.880
Black slime covered its hind legs and blood leaked from82900:55:52.920 --> 00:55:57.440
the side of its mouth. The exhausted animal collapsed on83000:55:57.519 --> 00:56:02.760
the porch and the door opened to reveal an old woman.83100:56:04.280 --> 00:56:09.400
Her long gray hair reached her scrawny shoulders. Beads of83200:56:09.559 --> 00:56:14.400
stone and wood covered random strands, and twigs of healing83300:56:14.519 --> 00:56:20.079
trees were also present in her ancient locks. She looked83400:56:20.079 --> 00:56:25.360
down at the suffering creature. Oh, dear, no, no, this83500:56:25.599 --> 00:56:30.199
will not do. Her soft and rugged voice caused the83600:56:30.239 --> 00:56:34.480
squirrel's ears to perk up. She gently picked up the83700:56:34.559 --> 00:56:39.039
creature and brought it inside. She let it rest on83800:56:39.159 --> 00:56:43.079
a small area of a table adorned with fabrics and83900:56:43.159 --> 00:56:47.199
sweet smelling herbs. She set to work on something in84000:56:47.239 --> 00:56:51.280
the distance. A stone bull was used to hold different84100:56:51.400 --> 00:56:55.440
objects that were ground up until it became a fine powder.84200:56:56.440 --> 00:57:00.400
A small glass vial was removed from a shelf. Several84300:57:00.480 --> 00:57:04.960
drops of green liquid were added to the concoction. Soon84400:57:05.039 --> 00:57:08.320
the powder became a paste that was used to cover84500:57:08.400 --> 00:57:13.239
the black sludge that infected the squirrel. A day later,84600:57:13.760 --> 00:57:18.800
the creature was restored, leaving the cottage feeling revived and84700:57:18.880 --> 00:57:24.000
grateful for the gracious human who had saved it. This84800:57:24.239 --> 00:57:29.159
was the kindred spirit of these woods, a woman dedicated84900:57:29.320 --> 00:57:34.400
to the art of magic, Rooted deep in nature. She85000:57:34.480 --> 00:57:38.880
had practiced her ways of the ancients almost her entire life.85100:57:39.920 --> 00:57:43.960
The constant battle between light and dark magic had left85200:57:43.960 --> 00:57:49.199
a stain on her emotionally and physically. Her very soul85300:57:49.360 --> 00:57:53.920
could feel the living things all around her. Her sadness85400:57:54.000 --> 00:57:58.239
would bear tears pulled straight from her beating heart, and85500:57:58.320 --> 00:58:01.480
the tips of the woman's fingers held the mark of85600:58:01.599 --> 00:58:08.039
earlier dives into forbidden spells. Deep stains of jet black85700:58:08.199 --> 00:58:12.960
soaked the flesh and nails. Wisdom and knowledge graced the85800:58:13.000 --> 00:58:18.639
woman in scores of experience. This is perhaps why she85900:58:18.679 --> 00:58:23.159
would always find some animal crossing her path or stumble86000:58:23.280 --> 00:58:28.480
to her cottage in need and unspoken understanding that this86100:58:28.639 --> 00:58:34.840
old hermit was the healer in this secluded realm. The86200:58:34.880 --> 00:58:38.760
woman stood outside and smoked from a wooden pipe as86300:58:38.800 --> 00:58:42.239
she watched the animal venture off back into the woods.86400:58:43.199 --> 00:58:47.079
She stood for a while, wondering what would have caused86500:58:47.119 --> 00:58:52.079
such an ailment. Something sparked within her mind. As she pondered,86600:58:53.159 --> 00:58:57.320
she walked back inside and rummaged through a bookshelf until86700:58:57.360 --> 00:59:02.320
the proper tomb was found. A thick book housed in86800:59:02.360 --> 00:59:06.079
a black leather cover a red scar on the front,86900:59:06.400 --> 00:59:10.519
made up of signs from a forgotten age. She opened87000:59:10.559 --> 00:59:13.960
it and flipped through the pages before landing on one87100:59:14.039 --> 00:59:20.320
with an illustration of tar like creatures, monsters of various sizes,87200:59:20.639 --> 00:59:25.880
composed of dark splotches, bright eyes, and teeth that one87300:59:25.880 --> 00:59:28.920
would pray never to be the victim of a gnarly bite.87400:59:30.400 --> 00:59:36.519
She clicked her teeth and exhaled deeply. Now it's way87500:59:36.559 --> 00:59:41.440
too soon. Her heart felt heavy, and worry took over her.87600:59:42.519 --> 00:59:46.800
She scrambled to a storage box and began digging through it.87700:59:47.960 --> 00:59:53.159
Where did I Her sentence went unfinished as she continued87800:59:53.159 --> 00:59:57.840
her search. Finally she found what she had been looking for,87900:59:58.960 --> 01:00:02.360
a small piece of of amber attached to a thick88001:00:02.440 --> 01:00:06.679
strand of leather, a relic from one of her adventures88101:00:07.320 --> 01:00:12.559
long ago. The item came with a tragic story and88201:00:12.639 --> 01:00:17.760
a deep, jagged scar that remained hidden underneath her cloak.88301:00:19.239 --> 01:00:22.800
Countless sagas such as this had left her body frail88401:00:22.880 --> 01:00:26.639
and worn, but she never ceased to uphold her duty88501:00:27.119 --> 01:00:30.719
as it was given to her by the old gods.88601:00:31.480 --> 01:00:35.039
She had no time to reminisce on her past excursions88701:00:35.079 --> 01:00:38.000
at the moment, as she went back to her book,88801:00:38.639 --> 01:00:44.119
scanning more pages. As she flipped through them, something bothered88901:00:44.159 --> 01:00:49.880
her and she had to get answers. After some time passed,89001:00:50.280 --> 01:00:53.880
the old woman closed the book and headed out the door.89101:00:55.159 --> 01:01:00.880
She grabbed her decorative walking stick and trampled towards the woods.89201:01:00.920 --> 01:01:04.960
Something was off balance in her sanctuary, and the evidence89301:01:05.079 --> 01:01:08.400
was present with the arrival of the poor creature who89401:01:08.480 --> 01:01:14.039
desperately needed her help. The trip to her destination would89501:01:14.039 --> 01:01:20.400
not take long. She spied several peculiarities as she walked.89601:01:21.199 --> 01:01:25.559
Deep scratches on tree bark that left green goo oozing89701:01:25.719 --> 01:01:30.159
from the gashes, trampled flowers that appeared to be sucked89801:01:30.280 --> 01:01:34.960
dry of their chlorophyll. Periodically she would find tracks left89901:01:35.000 --> 01:01:39.159
behind by creatures she had not encountered, or at least90001:01:39.239 --> 01:01:44.079
not in her ninety five years of living in these woods.90101:01:44.840 --> 01:01:47.960
Although she was one hundred and twenty years old, she90201:01:48.119 --> 01:01:52.199
felt like she was sixty. With all that time, she90301:01:52.239 --> 01:01:59.039
had seen many things and experienced even more, encountered strange creatures,90401:01:59.079 --> 01:02:03.079
helped many and even had written books documenting all of90501:02:03.119 --> 01:02:06.960
her discoveries. But the sites she had witnessed during this90601:02:07.159 --> 01:02:13.400
walk were new. However, the old leather bound book passed90701:02:13.440 --> 01:02:17.480
down to her by her predecessor had details of things90801:02:17.519 --> 01:02:22.199
to come in the future. These new sites were connected90901:02:22.199 --> 01:02:26.440
to what she viewed in its pages. The black sludge91001:02:26.519 --> 01:02:29.519
found on the squirrel had been part of one of91101:02:29.599 --> 01:02:35.920
those countless premonitions in that ancient book. The woods seemed91201:02:35.920 --> 01:02:40.639
to be too quiet, leaving a dreadful stillness in the air.91301:02:41.920 --> 01:02:46.800
The woman felt uneasy, but had to continue. She knew91401:02:46.800 --> 01:02:50.320
where she was going and peered at the markers indicating91501:02:50.719 --> 01:02:54.599
she was on the right path. Gliding her hand across91601:02:54.679 --> 01:02:59.559
lavarice bushes and admiring the multitude of trees, she embraced91701:02:59.599 --> 01:03:03.119
the warmth of the twin suns behind her and the91801:03:03.159 --> 01:03:08.000
softness of the blue grass below. Her sanctuary had the91901:03:08.039 --> 01:03:13.079
grandest sights within the whole of Manriath. The woman couldn't92001:03:13.119 --> 01:03:17.599
be happier with her life and where she was, but92101:03:17.800 --> 01:03:21.199
something was wrong with the balance of nature, and what92201:03:21.360 --> 01:03:25.920
she found in her book sent depression down into her soul.92301:03:27.599 --> 01:03:31.880
That contentment and joy was being threatened by something, and92401:03:31.960 --> 01:03:36.719
she vowed to find it and stop it. This was92501:03:36.800 --> 01:03:41.800
her land and she must protect it. Discovering the answer92601:03:41.840 --> 01:03:46.079
to her question was the sole purpose of this current adventure.92701:03:47.480 --> 01:03:50.960
She made it to a clearing and began seeing puddles92801:03:51.000 --> 01:03:55.000
of thick black echore, as if it had fallen from92901:03:55.039 --> 01:03:59.880
the sky, ripped stalks of red fungi that dwelled within.93001:04:00.000 --> 01:04:04.960
When the ebony goo were present. Pock Marks littered the ground,93101:04:05.559 --> 01:04:10.440
showing many things scrambling about digging claws into the dirt.93201:04:12.079 --> 01:04:15.559
A smell of decay mixed with copper was in the air,93301:04:16.280 --> 01:04:23.440
accompanied by a sting of something unfamiliar. Her steps continued forward,93401:04:23.880 --> 01:04:29.800
and she finally reached her destination. Upon arrival, the sight93501:04:29.960 --> 01:04:34.519
before her struck her heart. The woman fell to her93601:04:34.599 --> 01:04:40.440
knees and began to weep. It can't be, she wailed.93701:04:40.920 --> 01:04:45.280
Crimson tears fell from her eyes that landed on the93801:04:45.360 --> 01:04:52.199
desecrated ground. A large tree had been decimated, A cavernous93901:04:52.280 --> 01:04:56.320
hole was at its center, ridged edges that had crusted.94001:04:56.440 --> 01:05:00.880
Fluorescent flakes near more of those intimidating so scratch marks.94101:05:01.920 --> 01:05:05.880
Streams of countless liquids had run out and dried from94201:05:05.880 --> 01:05:11.440
inside this beauty of nature. No leaves present, and the94301:05:11.480 --> 01:05:17.400
thing had the appearance of being torched. Coal encased the94401:05:17.440 --> 01:05:22.000
form a sure sign of life. A circle of once94501:05:22.119 --> 01:05:27.320
luscious blue grass was tarnished and burned. Dried remnants of94601:05:27.480 --> 01:05:31.519
sick fluid surrounded the dead tree in a circle, and94701:05:31.639 --> 01:05:37.079
the skeletal remains of many creatures settled in it. Death94801:05:37.679 --> 01:05:44.960
had taken this very spot, something dark and cruel. The94901:05:45.039 --> 01:05:49.840
woman gripped her broken heart, struggling to regain her once95001:05:50.039 --> 01:05:55.440
calm posture. She rose to her feet, wiping her tears95101:05:55.480 --> 01:06:00.320
and regaining her composure. She pulled out the amber to95201:06:00.440 --> 01:06:05.599
examine the gruesome scene. Through the mystical item, she could95301:06:05.639 --> 01:06:10.519
see trails of colorful auras left behind from something that95401:06:10.559 --> 01:06:14.639
had burst from the tree, faint blue with a fading95501:06:14.719 --> 01:06:19.000
haze of orange that rose like steam to reveal multiple95601:06:19.119 --> 01:06:24.719
paths of assorted sized creatures, almost like a shadow that95701:06:24.920 --> 01:06:28.320
stretched in the directions of these things and where they95801:06:28.400 --> 01:06:33.039
ran off to countless claws and feet that shot out95901:06:33.079 --> 01:06:37.360
in different directions, all making their way towards the woods.96001:06:39.079 --> 01:06:44.840
It started decades before it should, the old woman muttered96101:06:44.840 --> 01:06:49.000
to herself. She placed a hand on the corpse still96201:06:49.039 --> 01:06:54.960
planted in the ground. Black stained fingertips traced emptied veins96301:06:55.519 --> 01:07:00.519
on the scorched wood. A sniffle, and one side military96401:07:00.719 --> 01:07:07.119
red tear fell from a weary eye. My heart shatters96501:07:07.159 --> 01:07:12.960
for thee great protector. She turned and began to walk96601:07:13.079 --> 01:07:18.320
back from which she came. Preparations had to be made,96701:07:18.800 --> 01:07:23.360
Help must be found to stop what comes next. The96801:07:23.400 --> 01:07:33.280
woman walked and mumbled one word continuously under her breath. Magaladish, Magaladish.96901:07:34.400 --> 01:07:38.360
The word burned her tongue, and electricity sparked in her97001:07:38.440 --> 01:07:44.079
lungs as she uttered the moniker of something terrible, the97101:07:44.119 --> 01:07:49.159
culprit to the murder at the clearing. Back at the cabin,97201:07:49.639 --> 01:07:55.239
the old woman filled a bag with supplies, food, potions,97301:07:55.639 --> 01:07:59.480
and other items she may need. She set off to97401:07:59.599 --> 01:08:04.079
find some form of civilization in order to help combat97501:08:04.159 --> 01:08:10.159
the approaching doom that would soon come. Walking stick in hand,97601:08:10.760 --> 01:08:15.400
she set off on another long trek. Hope filled her97701:08:15.800 --> 01:08:19.439
and it pushed back the pain and fear. For the97801:08:19.520 --> 01:08:24.800
time being, Surely she could find a small group willing97901:08:24.880 --> 01:08:29.199
to volunteer in her quest. Time would tell if her98001:08:29.239 --> 01:08:35.439
efforts bore any fruit. For days of walking had exhausted98101:08:35.479 --> 01:08:38.920
her resources of nourishment, and the woman had sought the98201:08:38.960 --> 01:08:45.079
provisions given by nature, vegetarian diet of fruits and berries,98301:08:45.720 --> 01:08:51.520
water given from the sparkling creeks. Animals passed by, some98401:08:51.720 --> 01:08:56.039
delighted with her presence, others rabid with an ominous gleam98501:08:56.159 --> 01:09:00.800
in their eye. The toxic black substance caked in the98601:09:00.840 --> 01:09:05.800
fur and feathers of innocent creatures. An infection was spreading98701:09:05.840 --> 01:09:09.880
within the realm of the animal kingdom. She tried to aid,98801:09:10.039 --> 01:09:15.319
but it was too late. They scurried away or showed98901:09:15.359 --> 01:09:19.119
their teeth. By day five, she had to ward off99001:09:19.239 --> 01:09:25.520
many sick creatures. One ended with execution. She cried for99101:09:25.680 --> 01:09:29.800
ending its life, but it was either her or the animal.99201:09:31.119 --> 01:09:34.600
Seeing that people may not believe her, she removed the99301:09:34.640 --> 01:09:38.279
head of an infected loness hound and placed it in99401:09:38.359 --> 01:09:43.079
her bag. Proof of the sickness that was growing like cancer.99501:09:44.199 --> 01:09:47.680
The infected red spots present in the dead animal's eyes.99601:09:48.720 --> 01:09:52.199
The black ichor had replaced any trace of its original99701:09:52.239 --> 01:09:57.119
fluid of blood. The task was ghastly, and a piece99801:09:57.159 --> 01:10:01.920
of her humanity left when the act was being The99901:10:02.000 --> 01:10:07.119
longer time passed, the heavier her heart felt, sinking deep100001:10:07.680 --> 01:10:14.039
with the stain of regret and sadness. Soon her nights100101:10:14.079 --> 01:10:18.640
were spent peering back into the eyes of something horrid.100201:10:19.239 --> 01:10:23.920
Inky silhouettes with glowing pupils a stench of rotting meat100301:10:24.199 --> 01:10:27.960
surrounded her when they stalked the area where she camped,100401:10:29.079 --> 01:10:33.159
clicking of jagged teeth and screams that sent other creatures100501:10:33.239 --> 01:10:38.359
fleeing in fear. The old woman kept the fire hot100601:10:38.399 --> 01:10:43.039
and bright in hopes it would ward off the monsters.100701:10:43.079 --> 01:10:47.199
It did for the most part, and she remained unharmed.100801:10:48.359 --> 01:10:52.399
For added security, a small pouch of red albine salt100901:10:52.680 --> 01:10:56.760
was used to create a protective circle around her quarters.101001:10:57.640 --> 01:11:01.319
A few twigs laid out in specific lines sigils, but101101:11:01.479 --> 01:11:05.039
this did not ease her terror, and one morning she101201:11:05.159 --> 01:11:09.640
woke to find evidence of the things scrounging her camp site.101301:11:10.720 --> 01:11:14.760
The salt circle had been broken, and the gnawed twigs101401:11:14.800 --> 01:11:19.039
were accompanied by a pile of maggot filled excrement near101501:11:19.159 --> 01:11:24.960
the now extinguished fire. She was being stalked, and yet101601:11:25.439 --> 01:11:30.000
the culprits had not killed her. She wondered if she101701:11:30.079 --> 01:11:34.439
was being toyed with Luck fell in her direction by101801:11:34.520 --> 01:11:38.079
day seven, when she came upon a thick forest filled101901:11:38.079 --> 01:11:42.159
with baroctin trees, A glimmer of hope began to burn102001:11:42.279 --> 01:11:46.439
inside of her nerves tensed up, and her stomach filled102101:11:46.479 --> 01:11:51.960
with butterflies when she spotted structures beyond the trees. Cabins102201:11:52.000 --> 01:11:57.960
scattered throughout the area, and eventually people could be seen,102301:11:58.079 --> 01:12:02.319
some tending to small patches of crops, others working on102401:12:02.359 --> 01:12:06.399
the very walls of their homes. She heard the sound102501:12:06.439 --> 01:12:11.039
of children, then soon saw a line of three chasing102601:12:11.079 --> 01:12:16.239
one another. She had found a village and hopefully some102701:12:16.319 --> 01:12:21.239
of its inhabitants would listen to her plea. She knew102801:12:21.399 --> 01:12:24.279
time was of the essence, so things needed to be102901:12:24.479 --> 01:12:29.600
done in haste. Emerging from the trees, she jogged towards103001:12:29.640 --> 01:12:34.159
the first person she saw and stopped them. Please, sir,103101:12:34.680 --> 01:12:38.039
you must help me. The man pulled away and gave103201:12:38.079 --> 01:12:42.520
her a look of confusion and annoyance. He gazed at103301:12:42.560 --> 01:12:47.279
her and spit. The man turned and walked away without103401:12:47.279 --> 01:12:51.439
a word. She attempted this multiple times with almost the103501:12:51.520 --> 01:12:55.119
same reaction. She made her way through the place, and103601:12:55.159 --> 01:12:59.520
with frustration bubbling up, she began to yell, addressing everyone103701:12:59.560 --> 01:13:03.560
around her, I beg of you, please help me. Her103801:13:03.560 --> 01:13:08.119
eyes began to water and her stomach churned. The eyes103901:13:08.159 --> 01:13:12.359
of the people all pointed in her direction. She continued104001:13:12.399 --> 01:13:18.199
her case, and all that she received were stars. Omnivera104101:13:18.279 --> 01:13:21.399
At has fallen, the great protector of our land. The104201:13:21.479 --> 01:13:26.640
ancient tree has been decimated. Darkness and death approach all104301:13:27.000 --> 01:13:32.479
in monorath. Her words fell upon ignorant ears, and she104401:13:32.640 --> 01:13:36.000
hoped her proof of the coming doom would show she104501:13:36.279 --> 01:13:41.119
wasn't crazy. She held up the sack with the infected houndshead.104601:13:41.479 --> 01:13:45.159
Black liquid seeped from a corner and dripped toward the ground.104701:13:46.359 --> 01:13:50.680
The lands have been tainted, along with the animals. The104801:13:50.760 --> 01:13:55.439
Malakdiche have returned to reclaim this world. They must be stopped.104901:13:56.239 --> 01:14:00.199
Her throat began to ache from shouting. She told of105001:14:00.239 --> 01:14:03.119
what she saw in the book, the return of the105101:14:03.119 --> 01:14:07.079
demons who were once locked within the tree, the death105201:14:07.359 --> 01:14:11.520
and destruction that followed their release. She warned them of105301:14:11.600 --> 01:14:16.279
all the catastrophic events that would soon take place. Some105401:14:16.479 --> 01:14:21.640
called her crazy, while others backed away. Many scoffed at105501:14:21.640 --> 01:14:24.319
her warning of the day when the twin Suns would105601:14:24.319 --> 01:14:29.920
burn away, leaving Monrath in darkness and allowing Maghladish to105701:14:30.079 --> 01:14:34.359
murder and consume all who lived. Her body grew weak,105801:14:34.760 --> 01:14:36.920
and she fell to her knees in front of a105901:14:37.000 --> 01:14:41.359
large man dressed in black. She begged for help, but106001:14:41.520 --> 01:14:46.479
the man gave a blank expression, and with no warning,106101:14:47.399 --> 01:14:51.359
he attacked her, pummeling her worn face with his fist.106201:14:52.239 --> 01:14:55.840
The pain shot through her entire body as blood flew106301:14:55.960 --> 01:15:00.000
from her mouth and nose. Continuous strikes from the steel106401:15:00.319 --> 01:15:04.920
like fist berated her face. The act was viewed by106501:15:04.960 --> 01:15:09.880
the entire crowd. None appraised it, but no one stopped106601:15:09.880 --> 01:15:13.960
it either. Soon the poor woman fell unconscious from the106701:15:14.000 --> 01:15:23.520
beating with a painful gasp for air. The woman woke up.106801:15:24.159 --> 01:15:28.239
Lightning bolts of agony pierced her skull as she attempted106901:15:28.600 --> 01:15:33.439
to open her eyes. One was swollen and no visibility107001:15:33.560 --> 01:15:38.279
came from it. She couldn't move. There was a struggle107101:15:38.760 --> 01:15:42.560
until the sensation of thick ropes around her arms and107201:15:42.640 --> 01:15:49.079
legs gave her the realization of her situation. Something stiff107301:15:49.560 --> 01:15:53.960
pushed against her back. She looked up to view the107401:15:54.039 --> 01:15:59.319
night sky, shades of purple mixing with a stream of yellow.107501:16:00.439 --> 01:16:05.079
The stars burned brightly, and at that moment she wished107601:16:05.079 --> 01:16:08.920
to be up there. She looked downwards to see the107701:16:08.960 --> 01:16:13.720
people of this village were all present. Looks of disgust107801:16:13.840 --> 01:16:16.800
and pity were shown by the light of the fire107901:16:17.319 --> 01:16:22.239
that illuminated their faces. She heard footsteps near her, and108001:16:22.359 --> 01:16:26.920
the man dressed in black appeared. He spoke to the crowd,108101:16:27.600 --> 01:16:30.840
giving a speech that ultimately painted her as a wicked,108201:16:31.239 --> 01:16:36.800
evil thing. He called her defiling names and claimed her108301:16:36.840 --> 01:16:40.159
to be associated with a name The woman had never108401:16:40.239 --> 01:16:46.000
heard of satan. The man scared her, and when she108501:16:46.079 --> 01:16:49.479
begged to be set free, he threw his fist into108601:16:49.520 --> 01:16:53.920
her face. She felt a crunch and something hard shot108701:16:54.000 --> 01:16:57.479
out of her mouth. The old woman wept as she108801:16:57.640 --> 01:17:01.960
felt a hole where a tooth one was. Her heart108901:17:02.000 --> 01:17:05.960
thumped hard against her chest. When she witnessed another man109001:17:06.079 --> 01:17:11.560
approach with a wooden cart full of stones, the man109101:17:11.640 --> 01:17:16.000
in black spoke again and let it be known that109201:17:16.119 --> 01:17:21.960
she would die tonight, death by stoning, for accusations of109301:17:22.039 --> 01:17:28.159
sacrilege and blasphemy. All the woman wanted was help, and109401:17:28.239 --> 01:17:33.000
she was given assault for her efforts. Someone from the109501:17:33.079 --> 01:17:37.239
crowd walked towards the leader who had pronounced the woman's execution.109601:17:38.600 --> 01:17:43.199
The words were hushed, but she could make them out. Pastor,109701:17:43.560 --> 01:17:47.239
I think this is wrong. She hasn't done anything. She's109801:17:47.479 --> 01:17:52.199
just a crazy old woman. The words did not please109901:17:52.279 --> 01:17:56.960
the man in black, because shortly after he attacked the person,110001:17:57.760 --> 01:18:00.960
a large club was used to bash the person's skull.110101:18:01.760 --> 01:18:05.039
The poor soul begged for their life, but it did110201:18:05.119 --> 01:18:09.159
no good, and the final blow ended their life with110301:18:09.239 --> 01:18:13.600
a sickening crunch. A threat was given to the crowd110401:18:13.680 --> 01:18:17.520
for anyone else that wanted to interfere with the execution.110501:18:18.680 --> 01:18:22.439
No one spoke, and he walked a few paces back.110601:18:24.159 --> 01:18:27.680
This is when an avalanche of pain came crashing down110701:18:28.359 --> 01:18:33.079
on the poor old woman. Every single person grabbed a110801:18:33.119 --> 01:18:37.439
stone and threw them at her, some hitting her torso,110901:18:37.880 --> 01:18:42.600
but most landed against her face. Her ears began to111001:18:42.680 --> 01:18:46.319
wring from the shots that pelted her. One caught her111101:18:46.359 --> 01:18:50.840
good eye and destroyed the orb. All was black, but111201:18:50.880 --> 01:18:57.520
the pain continued, followed by her cries. Blood poured from111301:18:57.520 --> 01:19:02.000
her eyes, mouth, and nose. The event lasted for minutes,111401:19:02.479 --> 01:19:07.039
but for the woman it felt like an eternity. A111501:19:07.119 --> 01:19:12.600
loud crack reverberated inside of her head, and eventually she111601:19:12.720 --> 01:19:18.640
died from this horrific display of hate. When her heart111701:19:18.800 --> 01:19:22.680
stopped and no breath drew from her lungs, she was111801:19:22.720 --> 01:19:27.039
cut down. Her battered corpse landed with a thud on111901:19:27.119 --> 01:19:32.439
the blood stained ground. The crowd dispersed. A few individuals112001:19:32.479 --> 01:19:35.720
were ordered to bring her body inside the building that112101:19:35.920 --> 01:19:39.960
was set behind her. Later in the night, the man112201:19:40.039 --> 01:19:43.279
in black dragged the old woman's body down a declining112301:19:43.359 --> 01:19:47.600
set of stairs. His hand gripped her ankle while her112401:19:47.640 --> 01:19:53.039
head slammed against each step. Loud sounds of bone cracking112501:19:53.399 --> 01:19:57.720
and soft tissue expelling out of newly formed holes bounced112601:19:57.720 --> 01:20:02.920
off the stone walls. A disgusting trail of coagulated blood112701:20:03.000 --> 01:20:07.439
and brain matter leaked from her destroyed head and smeared112801:20:07.479 --> 01:20:12.239
across each step. The sounds continued until the man reached112901:20:12.279 --> 01:20:17.279
the last step, leading to a long hallway lit up113001:20:17.640 --> 01:20:23.359
with torches. After passing many hallways and cells, the man113101:20:23.520 --> 01:20:28.800
brought the body to a special room filled with different tables, tools,113201:20:29.439 --> 01:20:33.640
and a single chair. A large metal goblet sat on113301:20:33.720 --> 01:20:36.920
the seat of the ornate chair. A single stream of113401:20:37.039 --> 01:20:41.840
red pulled inside and gleamed from the light. In a113501:20:41.880 --> 01:20:45.279
slight effort of will and strength, the man slung the113601:20:45.359 --> 01:20:49.640
battered corpse onto a table. A few metal items fell113701:20:49.720 --> 01:20:53.199
and landed on the floor. He knelt down to pick113801:20:53.239 --> 01:20:56.319
them up, along with the sack he had taken from113901:20:56.359 --> 01:20:59.880
the dead woman. He had also kept her walking so114001:21:00.800 --> 01:21:05.079
as a souvenir. The man opened the sack and removed114101:21:05.119 --> 01:21:08.079
the diseased head of the animal the old woman had114201:21:08.119 --> 01:21:12.680
taken for proof of her discoveries. He set it next114301:21:12.720 --> 01:21:17.039
to the metal tools and set to work a whistling114401:21:17.159 --> 01:21:20.680
tune filled the air as the man removed flesh and114501:21:20.840 --> 01:21:25.159
muscle from the neck of the woman. Once that was finished,114601:21:25.199 --> 01:21:29.119
he gripped her spinal column with both hands and broke it.114701:21:30.279 --> 01:21:35.000
The effort was slightly easier than his usual victims, no114801:21:35.159 --> 01:21:39.039
doubt from the age of her body. He held the114901:21:39.079 --> 01:21:43.680
woman's head to his and kissed the now blackened lips.115001:21:44.640 --> 01:21:49.279
A kiss turned into a bite, and eventually his teeth115101:21:49.640 --> 01:21:53.319
removed the two lumps of flesh and began to chew115201:21:53.359 --> 01:22:00.279
on them. Woman, your lips taste awful, he spoke, before115301:22:00.399 --> 01:22:05.119
spitting towards the floor. The whistling returned as the man115401:22:05.279 --> 01:22:10.760
tossed one decapitated head and gripped another with a needle115501:22:10.880 --> 01:22:15.079
and thread. A new head was sown onto the woman's body.115601:22:16.359 --> 01:22:20.159
Black slime oozed from the nose of the hound and115701:22:20.359 --> 01:22:25.960
dripped onto the man's hand. He finished his work, then115801:22:26.119 --> 01:22:29.760
drew his attention to the substance. He sniffed it and115901:22:29.920 --> 01:22:34.159
gagged at the stench of something foul. Although the man116001:22:34.239 --> 01:22:38.640
wiped the sticky fluid on his trousers, a stain remained116101:22:38.720 --> 01:22:43.239
on his skin. It began to burn, and veins of116201:22:43.319 --> 01:22:48.279
purple slowly expanded around it. Panic took over him as116301:22:48.319 --> 01:22:52.399
he watched the area grow faster and faster, until his116401:22:52.640 --> 01:22:58.279
entire arm was covered. The sensation of searing flesh covered116501:22:58.279 --> 01:23:02.760
his entire body. Within second, the infection was spreading and116601:23:02.880 --> 01:23:07.840
made its way into his eyes. Ice cold streams of116701:23:07.920 --> 01:23:11.880
tears flooded out of the sides of his eyes. Stinging116801:23:12.000 --> 01:23:16.680
sensations nipped at his internal organs. His body shook, and116901:23:16.840 --> 01:23:22.399
yellow sweat expelled from every pore. The man's mind emptied117001:23:22.479 --> 01:23:28.239
until all that remained was an urge to eat. His117101:23:28.399 --> 01:23:32.319
reddened vision spied the new form on the table, and117201:23:32.439 --> 01:23:38.359
he viciously gnawed at it. Wrinkled flesh and spoiled fluids117301:23:38.760 --> 01:23:43.439
filled his mouth. Wet slopping and crunching echoed within the117401:23:43.479 --> 01:23:47.520
walls of the room. The frenzy of hunger consumed every117501:23:47.600 --> 01:23:51.399
ounce of the man's attention until a sound came from117601:23:51.520 --> 01:23:56.239
far off in the distance. A voice resonated in the117701:23:56.319 --> 01:24:02.520
mutated ears of the thing that was once human. Pastor Caine,117801:24:02.760 --> 01:24:06.199
are you down here? The voice came from the door117901:24:06.319 --> 01:24:11.960
that led down to his dungeon. The voice returned, and118001:24:12.000 --> 01:24:17.720
the feasting stopped. The thing dressed in black walked toward118101:24:17.760 --> 01:24:32.920
the sound its stomach gurgling with intense hunger. Fool's Hill118201:24:33.720 --> 01:24:40.239
by Bruce Haney from a Missing An Oregon sub forum118301:24:40.279 --> 01:24:43.680
of the Lost but Never Forgotten for him, subject line118401:24:44.159 --> 01:24:49.199
I solved my Uncle's disappearance. Hey guys, longtime reader, first118501:24:49.279 --> 01:24:52.920
time posting. I'm not an Internet sleuth per se, but118601:24:53.039 --> 01:24:56.720
I did solve my uncle's disappearance. My name is Brenda,118701:24:57.000 --> 01:24:59.760
and my uncle was a small time folklore author who118801:24:59.760 --> 01:25:03.359
wrote under the name R. H. Thurston. You might have118901:25:03.439 --> 01:25:06.399
heard of him, maybe because of his writing, but most119001:25:06.520 --> 01:25:10.680
likely because he went missing some time ago. I wanted119101:25:10.680 --> 01:25:12.800
to share the last thing he wrote for a couple119201:25:12.840 --> 01:25:16.920
of reasons. One so people understand how he went missing.119301:25:17.520 --> 01:25:20.800
It's a bit of a cautionary tale. Two so his119401:25:20.960 --> 01:25:23.520
fans can read it. I think he had fans anyway.119501:25:24.000 --> 01:25:26.119
At the time of his disappearance, he was calling this119601:25:26.279 --> 01:25:30.279
piece Fool's Hill. I received what he had written of119701:25:30.319 --> 01:25:34.279
it in an email after he went missing, so here119801:25:34.319 --> 01:25:37.680
it is. Afterward, I'll explain how I solved this one119901:25:37.760 --> 01:25:47.159
hundred year plus Oregon mystery. Fool's Hill by R. H. Thurston. You,120001:25:47.359 --> 01:25:50.960
my friend, are on top of fool's hill heading down120101:25:51.000 --> 01:25:54.119
the wrong side. That was a phrase that an old120201:25:54.199 --> 01:25:57.479
man told me when I was only halfway through the journey.120301:25:57.920 --> 01:26:01.479
That got me into my current predication. How right he120401:26:01.560 --> 01:26:05.159
had been, And that was probably the last moment that120501:26:05.199 --> 01:26:08.039
I could have stopped and changed my course and gone120601:26:08.079 --> 01:26:12.800
back up that figurative hill, back to my normal, boring life.120701:26:13.760 --> 01:26:17.000
I should start at the beginning. But where is the beginning?120801:26:17.840 --> 01:26:20.119
What was that first piece of folklore that I got120901:26:20.119 --> 01:26:25.079
obsessed with? Was it Bloody Mary? I loved how everybody121001:26:25.119 --> 01:26:28.000
had their own version of that tale. For some you121101:26:28.199 --> 01:26:31.640
just recited Bloody Mary three times in the mirror, while121201:26:31.720 --> 01:26:34.760
others had the crueler version of the myth and would121301:26:34.760 --> 01:26:39.079
have you repeat Bloody Mary, I got your baby. When121401:26:39.119 --> 01:26:41.279
I was a boy, my older sister told me that121501:26:41.319 --> 01:26:45.199
Bloody Mary had died in a car accident while pregnant121601:26:45.359 --> 01:26:49.600
on Prom night. How many legends take place on prom night? Anyway?121701:26:50.399 --> 01:26:53.439
I could tell you a few, but my time is limited,121801:26:53.520 --> 01:26:57.720
so let's get into this first. Let me introduce myself.121901:26:58.239 --> 01:27:02.600
My name is Randy, writer of folklore. The name Randy122001:27:02.680 --> 01:27:06.079
doesn't give quite the impression one wants from a history book.122101:27:06.479 --> 01:27:10.239
So I publish under the name R. H. Thurston. I've122201:27:10.239 --> 01:27:14.720
spent years researching local legends. My first book was Haunted122301:27:14.760 --> 01:27:18.319
Cemeteries of the Pacific Northwest. I followed that up with122401:27:18.399 --> 01:27:22.680
Ghosts and Other Spooky Things in Portland, Oregon. My publisher122501:27:22.760 --> 01:27:25.640
is big on having a town name or region in122601:27:25.680 --> 01:27:29.000
the title. It was during the first book that I122701:27:29.119 --> 01:27:33.840
found that newspaper article in the digital archives that started122801:27:33.840 --> 01:27:37.680
me on this journey. It wasn't really a ghost story,122901:27:37.800 --> 01:27:40.560
so I added it to my bookmarks and didn't think123001:27:40.640 --> 01:27:43.920
much about it for a couple of years. That was123101:27:44.239 --> 01:27:47.800
until my second book was published and I found myself123201:27:47.840 --> 01:27:51.199
trying to find something new to write about. I still123301:27:51.239 --> 01:27:54.239
wanted it to be about the supernatural, because that's where123401:27:54.239 --> 01:27:56.920
my interests are, but I felt like I needed to123501:27:56.960 --> 01:28:02.239
do something different than another book about ghosts. The original123601:28:02.359 --> 01:28:05.479
article was short, only a few lines. In the community123701:28:05.560 --> 01:28:10.159
section of a nineteen nineteen issue of the Beaver Creek Herald,123801:28:10.560 --> 01:28:15.600
it read, William Ivanhoe of Locust Grove, Oregon, must have123901:28:15.680 --> 01:28:19.119
got himself into a bad batch of moonshine. He claims124001:28:19.119 --> 01:28:21.039
that he saw a group of witches in the woods124101:28:21.079 --> 01:28:25.720
near here. Poor old fool. This isn't Salem, Massachusetts, this124201:28:25.880 --> 01:28:30.039
is Oregon. When I did a search for William Ivanhoe,124301:28:30.239 --> 01:28:32.880
I only found a couple of references in the papers.124401:28:33.560 --> 01:28:37.880
One was a brief mention William Ivanhoe upset claims someone124501:28:37.960 --> 01:28:41.560
is stealing all of his crops. The last mentioned in124601:28:41.600 --> 01:28:45.920
the papers was from nineteen twenty W. M. Ivanhoe of124701:28:46.079 --> 01:28:52.359
here found in woods, dead, missing right arm, possible bobcat attack.124801:28:53.720 --> 01:28:56.319
For a while after this, I was at a dead124901:28:56.399 --> 01:29:00.279
end in my investigation. Where could I go from here?125001:29:00.840 --> 01:29:03.279
The man had been dead for one hundred plus years,125101:29:03.279 --> 01:29:06.359
and I couldn't find much else. I found a little125201:29:06.439 --> 01:29:08.880
more life in the search when I got rid of125301:29:08.920 --> 01:29:13.199
his name and just searched the two keywords witches and125401:29:13.920 --> 01:29:18.880
Locust Grove. Not a ton of hits, just two that125501:29:19.079 --> 01:29:24.159
original article and one more. Cattle farmer found strange carvings125601:29:24.199 --> 01:29:27.520
in trees near Locust Grove while clearing land for his125701:29:27.640 --> 01:29:32.000
cows to roam. Is this a sign of witches? Either way,125801:29:32.359 --> 01:29:35.760
more land equals more cows and hopefully a cut in125901:29:35.880 --> 01:29:38.239
price the next time you are buying meat at more126001:29:38.279 --> 01:29:42.239
and Meat market. This article was from nineteen twenty six,126101:29:42.760 --> 01:29:46.399
a few years after Ivanhoe had died, so it's another126201:29:46.479 --> 01:29:51.600
local that experienced whatever it was. Through my research skills,126301:29:51.600 --> 01:29:54.520
I was able to find out where the Ivanhoe property was,126401:29:55.159 --> 01:29:57.520
where the more And Meat Market had been, as well126501:29:57.560 --> 01:30:01.279
as where Moran's farm had been located. So I made126601:30:01.279 --> 01:30:04.199
plans to take a trip out to investigate all three.126701:30:05.560 --> 01:30:07.920
Where more End Meat Market used to be is now126801:30:08.039 --> 01:30:11.399
the Locust Grove Saloon. From the one photo I was126901:30:11.439 --> 01:30:14.159
able to find of the market, I believe it's still127001:30:14.199 --> 01:30:17.760
the original building. That's the great thing about those turn127101:30:17.800 --> 01:30:21.279
of the century brick buildings. They never burned down and127201:30:21.319 --> 01:30:25.560
they never rot, so small towns use them forever. When127301:30:25.600 --> 01:30:28.000
I arrived, I asked a couple of locals if they127401:30:28.000 --> 01:30:31.279
had ever heard of any legends of witches in the area.127501:30:32.359 --> 01:30:34.880
The two I asked hadn't and didn't seem to care127601:30:34.920 --> 01:30:38.399
for my presence. Though I didn't feel welcome, I did127701:30:38.439 --> 01:30:41.239
decide to stick around long enough to have a beer127801:30:41.279 --> 01:30:45.760
in a club sandwich bar. Tip always get the club sandwich,127901:30:46.159 --> 01:30:48.760
no matter how much of a dive you're at, and128001:30:48.880 --> 01:30:51.680
this was a dive. They don't seem to mess up128101:30:51.680 --> 01:30:55.399
on a club sandwich. How could they? Sometimes you get128201:30:55.560 --> 01:30:59.000
too much mayo? But is that all that bad? The128301:30:59.079 --> 01:31:02.640
club sandwich was excellent. The fries could have been better128401:31:02.680 --> 01:31:04.880
if they had changed their fry oil in the last128501:31:04.960 --> 01:31:08.000
decade or so. Word must have gotten around to the128601:31:08.039 --> 01:31:11.600
other daytime drinkers in the bar about my questions. An128701:31:11.600 --> 01:31:14.399
older man who looked and smelled like he'd been drinking128801:31:14.479 --> 01:31:17.359
since the night before, sat next to me and said,128901:31:17.960 --> 01:31:19.720
buy me a shot and a beer and I'll tell129001:31:19.760 --> 01:31:23.439
you everything I know. Writing local history books is not129101:31:23.600 --> 01:31:26.399
the cash cow some might think it is. A beer129201:31:26.399 --> 01:31:29.439
and a shot are a hefty investment. I needed to129301:31:29.479 --> 01:31:33.279
consider this expense carefully, the gas getting out here in129401:31:33.319 --> 01:31:35.439
the club sandwhich was more than I should have spent129501:31:35.520 --> 01:31:40.279
on this story. Already, they aren't witches, he said, and129601:31:40.319 --> 01:31:43.279
then smiled at me. I could smell the cheap beer129701:31:43.319 --> 01:31:46.760
and the even cheaper whiskey on his breath. I decided129801:31:46.760 --> 01:31:49.479
I would go for it. I asked him what he drinks,129901:31:49.640 --> 01:31:52.600
and it was cheap, so I spent the money. I130001:31:52.680 --> 01:31:55.199
decided that if it was juicy information, I would buy130101:31:55.279 --> 01:31:58.039
him a good shot as well. He drank the shot130201:31:58.079 --> 01:32:01.159
as soon as the bartender set it down, then started130301:32:01.199 --> 01:32:04.760
sipping on the beer. I gave him a look to say, hey,130401:32:04.840 --> 01:32:07.520
you got what you wanted. Now make with the details.130501:32:07.800 --> 01:32:11.600
He understood my nonverbal cue, and I took out my notebook.130601:32:12.640 --> 01:32:16.399
What's your name, Bob Smith, he said, and then laughed.130701:32:16.960 --> 01:32:21.680
I wrote down the presumed alias. Anyway, it's just people.130801:32:22.239 --> 01:32:26.800
I looked at him, confused. Okay, got it? Nothing supernatural,130901:32:27.039 --> 01:32:30.960
I asked, trying not to sound too disappointed. I wouldn't131001:32:30.960 --> 01:32:34.600
say that exactly. He said, what would you say? Then?131101:32:34.840 --> 01:32:39.159
I asked, let me tell you? He said, are they131201:32:39.279 --> 01:32:42.800
still around? I asked him, just let me tell the131301:32:42.840 --> 01:32:48.039
story uninterrupted. All right, I'll lose track otherwise. Just let131401:32:48.039 --> 01:32:50.760
me ramble about my experience. Take your notes and ask131501:32:50.880 --> 01:32:55.920
me your dumb little questions after Okay, I said, thinking131601:32:55.960 --> 01:32:59.720
that he probably wasn't getting that extra shot now. He131701:32:59.800 --> 01:33:02.359
might have thought he was losing my interest because he131801:33:02.439 --> 01:33:06.840
did not bury the lead. They killed my grandfather and131901:33:06.960 --> 01:33:11.520
my daughter, he said. I wrote down grandfather, daughter, and132001:33:11.600 --> 01:33:14.239
a question mark. Since I was told not to interrupt him,132101:33:15.119 --> 01:33:18.560
I would get their names later. I lost my daughter132201:33:18.600 --> 01:33:21.359
when she was only six years old. I was young132301:33:21.399 --> 01:33:24.760
at that time, like you, how old are you? Twenty five?132401:33:25.159 --> 01:33:30.159
Twenty six, He asked thirty three. I replied, well, I132501:33:30.319 --> 01:33:33.000
was twenty seven years old and I wanted to show132601:33:33.000 --> 01:33:35.159
her my favorite trail from when I was a kid,132701:33:35.800 --> 01:33:38.920
the trail my father forbade me to take. I never132801:33:39.039 --> 01:33:42.640
knew why. It seemed safe enough, though I found it132901:33:42.720 --> 01:33:45.560
strange how well stamped down it was, since I had133001:33:45.600 --> 01:33:49.159
never seen anyone else out there. The only sign of133101:33:49.199 --> 01:33:51.800
life before that day that I ever saw was an133201:33:51.800 --> 01:33:56.159
animal hide hanging from a rope years earlier. It might133301:33:56.199 --> 01:33:59.359
seem startling to you, but catching game and making rugs133401:33:59.359 --> 01:34:02.079
and such was more common then, and I thought nothing133501:34:02.119 --> 01:34:07.319
of it. That day was different. As we walked, we133601:34:07.359 --> 01:34:10.520
heard noises all around us. It was spring, so I133701:34:10.560 --> 01:34:12.760
told my daughter that it was just deer and small133801:34:12.840 --> 01:34:17.000
wildlife moving about. Bob stopped telling the story, and I133901:34:17.039 --> 01:34:20.000
could see tears forming in the corner of his eyes.134001:34:20.560 --> 01:34:23.279
He took a minute to compose himself and took another134101:34:23.359 --> 01:34:26.760
drink of his beer. I decided at that moment that134201:34:26.840 --> 01:34:30.359
I would get him that extra shot. It happened, so134301:34:31.920 --> 01:34:35.239
suddenly I heard a loud noise and then somebody screaming.134401:34:35.880 --> 01:34:38.880
I looked over towards where the sounds came from and134501:34:38.920 --> 01:34:41.560
there was this guy dressed in furs on top of134601:34:41.600 --> 01:34:44.079
a hill, waving his arms at me and making weird134701:34:44.119 --> 01:34:49.239
noises that were almost musical. Then he smiled at me,134801:34:49.359 --> 01:34:52.960
which scared me. I turned around from him for one134901:34:53.039 --> 01:34:56.600
second to look at my daughter, but she was gone.135001:34:57.600 --> 01:35:02.079
And when I looked back, why was he? Tears began135101:35:02.159 --> 01:35:05.680
to run down Bob's face. I signaled for the bartender135201:35:05.720 --> 01:35:07.800
and ordered him a second tear shot of whiskey and135301:35:07.880 --> 01:35:12.239
another beer. The bartender obliged and said, I think it's135401:35:12.279 --> 01:35:15.119
time you paid up and left. What did I do?135501:35:15.479 --> 01:35:19.159
I asked? She tipped her head towards Bob, then signaled135601:35:19.199 --> 01:35:22.000
for me to move towards the cash register, which I did,135701:35:22.399 --> 01:35:25.479
but I had no intention of leaving yet. Once away135801:35:25.479 --> 01:35:28.479
from him, she said, don't believe anything that man says135901:35:28.520 --> 01:35:31.000
to you. Everybody knows that he's the one that killed136001:35:31.000 --> 01:35:33.920
his daughter. He's just been spinning that tail for the136101:35:33.960 --> 01:35:39.159
last forty years, she finished. Okay, but why do I136201:35:39.199 --> 01:35:42.359
need to go? I asked. She turned her head towards136301:35:42.399 --> 01:35:45.000
the back of the room. The men I had asked136401:35:45.079 --> 01:35:47.880
questions too earlier were sitting in a corner booth working136501:35:47.920 --> 01:35:52.560
themselves up. I've seen this many times before. Once David136601:35:52.600 --> 01:35:55.279
and Brandon get worked up, there's no calming them down.136701:35:55.640 --> 01:35:57.640
For my sake, Get out of here before it gets136801:35:57.680 --> 01:36:01.039
out of control. I don't need this today, she said,136901:36:01.520 --> 01:36:04.520
and then, like on a queue, the two guys got up.137001:36:04.760 --> 01:36:07.279
I gulped and started making my way to the exit,137101:36:08.119 --> 01:36:11.920
but they didn't approach me. They went to Bob. I137201:36:12.000 --> 01:36:14.600
handed my card to the waitress. She rang me up137301:36:14.640 --> 01:36:17.159
and I quickly signed it. I gave a thirty percent137401:36:17.239 --> 01:36:19.640
tip for warning me before I got my butt kicked.137501:36:20.399 --> 01:36:23.880
This was an expensive day of research. I was glad137601:36:23.880 --> 01:36:26.840
to get my card back into my wallet before things escalated.137701:36:27.600 --> 01:36:30.640
Tid Killer, the bigger one, yelled at the old man.137801:36:31.319 --> 01:36:33.479
If you weren't so old, I would have kicked your137901:36:33.479 --> 01:36:37.359
ass long ago. The old man didn't respond. He just138001:36:37.399 --> 01:36:39.439
took his shot and drank his beer as fast as138101:36:39.439 --> 01:36:42.520
he could. What do you have to say, kid killer,138201:36:43.079 --> 01:36:48.000
the first guy asked to you, nothing, Bob said, and138301:36:48.039 --> 01:36:51.319
then smashed his glass into the guy's face. The broken138401:36:51.359 --> 01:36:54.399
glass cut open the man's cheek and eyebrow. Before the138501:36:54.399 --> 01:36:56.600
second guy could respond, the old man kicked him in138601:36:56.600 --> 01:36:58.960
the knee as hard as he could. The guy fell138701:36:59.000 --> 01:37:02.119
and Bob jumped up and ran towards the door. I138801:37:02.239 --> 01:37:06.000
followed him outside. When I got outside, I saw the138901:37:06.039 --> 01:37:09.239
old man jump into an old Ford truck. I ran139001:37:09.319 --> 01:37:11.199
to him, wanting to get the rest of the story,139101:37:11.279 --> 01:37:14.399
but he quickly started it and took off. I waved139201:37:14.439 --> 01:37:17.560
and tried to stop him. Where can we meet? I139301:37:17.840 --> 01:37:20.399
want the rest of the story. What about your grandpa?139401:37:21.039 --> 01:37:23.760
The old man stopped just long enough to roll down139501:37:23.760 --> 01:37:28.520
his manual window and said, forget about it. Leave here. You,139601:37:28.720 --> 01:37:31.560
my friend, are on top of Fool's Hill, heading down139701:37:31.600 --> 01:37:36.239
the wrong side. Then he drove off. I stood there,139801:37:37.199 --> 01:37:41.199
stunned until I heard the door of the bar open. Damn,139901:37:41.640 --> 01:37:44.760
I muttered to myself, hoping I wasn't going to receive140001:37:45.000 --> 01:37:49.119
his beating. Hey, come here, one of the two guys yelled.140101:37:49.640 --> 01:37:52.119
Damn it, I muttered to myself. As I could hear140201:37:52.159 --> 01:37:55.199
them walking towards me. Just before they got to me,140301:37:55.640 --> 01:37:58.800
a plan popped into my head. I turned around and140401:37:58.880 --> 01:38:02.439
spoke to them, Matt their anger, where the heck is140501:38:02.479 --> 01:38:05.159
the closest bar that kig killer said to meet him there?140601:38:05.640 --> 01:38:09.720
I lied. They both calmed down, and they told me140701:38:09.760 --> 01:38:12.399
where the bar was, and we made plans to meet140801:38:12.479 --> 01:38:15.840
him there and attack the old man. I let them140901:38:15.920 --> 01:38:18.439
lead and escaped on the first side road I could find,141001:38:19.119 --> 01:38:24.159
crisis averted. My next destination was Moran's old farm. I141101:38:24.239 --> 01:38:26.600
wanted to see if he left any of those trees141201:38:26.640 --> 01:38:29.880
with the weird carvings up. It was now a nice,141301:38:29.920 --> 01:38:33.359
well planned manufactured home with a forest and a large141401:38:33.399 --> 01:38:37.800
hill as its backdrop. I couldn't find any carvings. Moran141501:38:37.960 --> 01:38:40.359
either cut them all down for land for his cows141601:38:40.399 --> 01:38:44.159
to roam, or the developers did. My third and last141701:38:44.199 --> 01:38:48.319
stop was the land where the Ivanhoes had lived. The141801:38:48.359 --> 01:38:51.920
property wasn't far off from the former Moran property. It141901:38:52.000 --> 01:38:53.840
was on the opposite side of the woods in the142001:38:53.920 --> 01:38:57.720
large hill. The property was mostly vacant, except for a142101:38:57.760 --> 01:39:01.760
small house that was rotting away. There were no signs142201:39:01.800 --> 01:39:05.479
of any farming or recent habitation on the property. The142301:39:05.560 --> 01:39:09.039
trees even looked like old growth like somehow this area142401:39:09.119 --> 01:39:12.079
was skipped during the lumber boom of the early twentieth century.142501:39:12.920 --> 01:39:16.600
While doing research, I had never entered an abandoned house before,142601:39:16.640 --> 01:39:19.319
but this one was a few miles from anywhere so142701:39:19.960 --> 01:39:23.239
I felt confident that I wouldn't get caught. Plus, the142801:39:23.279 --> 01:39:27.359
back door was missing, so it really couldn't be considered142901:39:27.359 --> 01:39:31.239
breaking and entering, could it. Probably I'll have to check143001:39:31.279 --> 01:39:35.399
the laws before publication. Based on the carpet and furniture,143101:39:35.479 --> 01:39:38.319
no one had lived there since at least the nineteen seventies.143201:39:39.079 --> 01:39:41.079
It was creepy in the house, but at least it143301:39:41.119 --> 01:39:44.239
was empty, which meant the chances of getting assaulted by143401:39:44.239 --> 01:39:47.960
locals were at a lower percentage here. I went through143501:39:48.000 --> 01:39:50.319
the house quickly, as I didn't want to still be143601:39:50.439 --> 01:39:53.720
out there when it got dark. The first clue that143701:39:53.800 --> 01:39:56.319
I found in the house was a framed photograph of143801:39:56.359 --> 01:39:59.520
a family. Looking at it, I could see indents in143901:39:59.520 --> 01:40:03.600
the picture, like there was writing on the backside, so144001:40:04.479 --> 01:40:06.720
I opened up the frame and took the picture out.144101:40:07.359 --> 01:40:09.840
I was in luck. On the back were the names144201:40:09.880 --> 01:40:12.600
of the people. I turned on the flashlight on my144301:40:12.640 --> 01:40:14.439
cell phone and held the photo in front of it.144401:40:15.279 --> 01:40:18.079
The names were written behind each person in the photo,144501:40:18.600 --> 01:40:21.000
so holding it up to the light revealed who was who.144601:40:22.000 --> 01:40:25.520
I was shocked. The names revealed that the young, handsome144701:40:25.560 --> 01:40:29.439
man with the thick seventies style mustache was Bob Smith.144801:40:30.800 --> 01:40:34.279
I can't believe that's not an alias. The woman next144901:40:34.279 --> 01:40:38.199
to him was only listed as Missus Smith. The other145001:40:38.239 --> 01:40:41.600
person in the photo, of course, a young girl. Her145101:40:41.720 --> 01:40:46.720
name was listed as Gracie. Wow. What were the chances145201:40:46.720 --> 01:40:49.560
that Bob Smith would have lived in this house on145301:40:49.640 --> 01:40:53.359
the Ivanhoe property? With that, I took out my cell145401:40:53.359 --> 01:40:55.680
phone and snapped a picture of the front and back145501:40:55.760 --> 01:40:58.960
of the old photo, then switched to the Internet browser145601:40:59.039 --> 01:41:01.520
so I could bring up the news usepaper archives to145701:41:01.600 --> 01:41:05.319
do some light research. But of course I was too145801:41:05.359 --> 01:41:07.680
far out from civilization and didn't get enough of a145901:41:07.720 --> 01:41:11.439
connection to even load the page. I only had two bars.146001:41:12.039 --> 01:41:15.039
I always wondered, why show any bars if it's not146101:41:15.199 --> 01:41:19.760
enough to connect or even make a call? Yeah, I146201:41:19.840 --> 01:41:23.399
heard coming from outside. I walked out but saw nothing.146301:41:24.159 --> 01:41:26.600
This would have been another good time to leave this146401:41:26.720 --> 01:41:30.680
path I was taking and head back down Fool's Hill.146501:41:31.479 --> 01:41:34.600
I listened for a while but heard nothing else, so146601:41:35.239 --> 01:41:38.720
I went back into the house to look around. Finding146701:41:38.760 --> 01:41:41.960
nothing else of interest, I made another foolish move and146801:41:42.000 --> 01:41:46.560
decided to check out the basement. I was only down146901:41:46.600 --> 01:41:48.439
there for a minute or two before I heard the147001:41:48.479 --> 01:41:52.239
door close. It was a dugout basement with a dirt floor.147101:41:53.079 --> 01:41:56.239
While I searched for another way out, I heard multiple147201:41:56.239 --> 01:42:00.760
footsteps walking through the house. I decided to keep and147301:42:00.880 --> 01:42:04.520
hoped that they would go away. I found no other exit,147401:42:04.960 --> 01:42:07.199
so all I could do was wait for whoever they147501:42:07.239 --> 01:42:10.720
were to come down here. The only potential weapon I147601:42:10.800 --> 01:42:13.359
found was an old two by four that was so147701:42:13.520 --> 01:42:16.560
worm eaten it would probably break on the first swing.147801:42:17.239 --> 01:42:20.880
After a while, the sounds of footsteps ceased, so I147901:42:20.960 --> 01:42:24.520
made moves to escape. To my surprise, the door to148001:42:24.560 --> 01:42:27.199
the basement was locked, and I had to kick it down.148101:42:28.039 --> 01:42:30.800
They must have known I was down here. Why they148201:42:30.800 --> 01:42:34.199
didn't come down and get me, I don't know. Note148301:42:34.800 --> 01:42:37.880
it is extremely hard to kick a door open when148401:42:37.960 --> 01:42:41.680
you're standing on a set of stairs, but I managed.148501:42:42.359 --> 01:42:45.600
As soon as I started kicking, I heard the screams yeah,148601:42:46.600 --> 01:42:50.880
but thankfully they were in the distance. Once I was148701:42:50.920 --> 01:42:53.399
out of that house, I ran directly to my car,148801:42:53.439 --> 01:42:57.760
which of course had four flat tires. I still drove148901:42:57.800 --> 01:42:59.680
it and made it a mile before the tires were149001:42:59.680 --> 01:43:02.720
so shit shredded that my rims started throwing sparks from149101:43:02.760 --> 01:43:06.159
the damage. When I stopped, I could hear that they149201:43:06.159 --> 01:43:10.439
were following me with their yah screams far in the distance.149301:43:10.920 --> 01:43:14.560
I checked my cellphone, only two bars. So I continued149401:43:14.560 --> 01:43:16.880
on foot and headed to a place I had been149501:43:16.960 --> 01:43:21.439
before that I recalled having a connection. I arrived at149601:43:21.439 --> 01:43:25.520
the Locust Grove Saloon fifteen minutes later. I checked my phone.149701:43:25.960 --> 01:43:29.880
I had full bars. I peeked inside the saloon and thankfully,149801:43:29.920 --> 01:43:32.800
the two brutes from before were not there, and the149901:43:32.840 --> 01:43:35.640
other bartender's shift must have ended because there was a150001:43:35.680 --> 01:43:40.079
guy behind the counter. Now, I thought to myself, I'm okay.150101:43:40.800 --> 01:43:43.319
While I ate another club sandwich for my dinner and150201:43:43.399 --> 01:43:47.239
drank another beer, I contemplated my next move. Calling the150301:43:47.279 --> 01:43:51.680
cops wouldn't accomplish much. What would I say? While I150401:43:51.800 --> 01:43:56.000
was trespassing? My tires were slashed. I called my insurance150501:43:56.000 --> 01:43:58.239
to get my car picked up, but they wanted me150601:43:58.279 --> 01:44:00.279
to meet the driver there, and I had had no150701:44:00.359 --> 01:44:04.239
interest in doing that, at least not tonight. I had150801:44:04.319 --> 01:44:07.880
just finished my sandwich when Bob Smith walked in. He150901:44:07.920 --> 01:44:10.560
didn't notice me as he sat down two stools over151001:44:10.880 --> 01:44:15.920
and ordered his drinks. Hey, Bob, I said, still here.151101:44:16.880 --> 01:44:19.039
I thought you would have gotten yourself killed. By now,151201:44:19.920 --> 01:44:24.760
you are one curious cat, and that curiosity it's gonna151301:44:24.800 --> 01:44:29.000
get you killed. Bob laughed. You love a good turn151401:44:29.000 --> 01:44:32.439
of phrase, don't you. I asked. A nod as he151501:44:32.479 --> 01:44:34.920
took a sip of his beer was all the response151601:44:34.960 --> 01:44:39.079
I got. There's something I don't get. You said, they151701:44:39.159 --> 01:44:44.600
killed your grandpa. When was that nineteen twenty seven, years151801:44:44.640 --> 01:44:47.119
before I was even a gleam in my old man's eyes.151901:44:47.880 --> 01:44:51.560
Bob said, okay, and then your daughter was when I152001:44:51.640 --> 01:44:56.840
asked him, nineteen seventy seven. Bob told me that's a152101:44:56.920 --> 01:44:59.479
fifty year gap. Do you really think it was the152201:44:59.520 --> 01:45:04.920
same peace, I asked, yes, Bob said, then who was152301:45:05.000 --> 01:45:09.319
out there? I asked, Then I thought about it. It152401:45:09.359 --> 01:45:12.000
was you, wasn't it. You followed me out to your152501:45:12.000 --> 01:45:15.239
old house and locked me in the basement. Why just152601:45:15.319 --> 01:45:18.359
to mess with me? Bob grabbed his drinks and moved152701:45:18.399 --> 01:45:21.279
away from me. He gave me a sad little laugh,152801:45:21.479 --> 01:45:25.640
shook his head and said, Mark Twain once said, it152901:45:25.720 --> 01:45:28.000
is better to keep your mouth closed and let people153001:45:28.039 --> 01:45:30.520
think you are a fool than to open it and153101:45:30.640 --> 01:45:34.399
remove all doubt. I knew you were a fool before153201:45:34.399 --> 01:45:38.079
I even heard you open your mouth, Bob said, I153301:45:38.119 --> 01:45:40.560
had no comeback, and I was sick of him and153401:45:40.600 --> 01:45:44.680
his borrowed witticisms. I had thought he was a dumb yokel,153501:45:44.720 --> 01:45:48.359
but I'm the idiot. I was irritated and had no plan,153601:45:48.640 --> 01:45:51.520
so I began searching the newspaper archives on my phone153701:45:51.640 --> 01:45:55.399
for Bob Smith while I thought about my next move.153801:45:56.399 --> 01:45:58.399
I was too far out for an uber or a153901:45:58.479 --> 01:46:01.399
lyft or even an old school taxi, and I was154001:46:01.439 --> 01:46:03.960
still too afraid to go. Sit in my broken down154101:46:04.039 --> 01:46:09.760
car search for missing girl called off. Read the first154201:46:09.800 --> 01:46:15.560
headline that I found. Subheadline mister Smith's house. Searched, nothing found.154301:46:16.399 --> 01:46:19.239
I searched for a while longer, but never discovered an154401:46:19.319 --> 01:46:23.479
article that stated she was ever found. She never was154501:46:23.720 --> 01:46:29.680
found alive or dead. Then it hit me, how did154601:46:29.800 --> 01:46:33.319
Bob never figure it out? A few more searches and154701:46:33.359 --> 01:46:36.520
I was ready to approach Bob. I sat down next154801:46:36.520 --> 01:46:41.119
to him. Go away. Bob said, you're a fool. I154901:46:41.239 --> 01:46:44.840
told him, yeah, yeah, he said, and waved his hand155001:46:44.840 --> 01:46:48.520
at me. I have found references to these people or155101:46:49.079 --> 01:46:52.399
creatures for over one hundred years. Your grandpa was killed155201:46:52.439 --> 01:46:55.960
nearly one hundred years ago. Right. Yeah, what are you155301:46:56.000 --> 01:47:00.399
getting at? Bob asked, you believe they're still out there, right,155401:47:01.359 --> 01:47:07.159
and you believe they're just people, right? I asked, Yeah, Well,155501:47:07.840 --> 01:47:11.199
the man on the hill looked human to me. Bob said,155601:47:11.199 --> 01:47:14.399
while looking into his drink. How many people have gone155701:47:14.439 --> 01:47:19.039
missing over the years? I asked, A few, not a lot,155801:47:19.159 --> 01:47:24.000
but a noticeable amount. Bob replied, mostly female. Am I correct?155901:47:24.319 --> 01:47:28.119
Never found? I asked? Bob thought about it hard for156001:47:28.159 --> 01:47:33.840
a minute. Bodies have been found mutilated, but those have156101:47:33.920 --> 01:47:37.920
all been men, Bob said. That is when it clicked156201:47:37.960 --> 01:47:42.920
in Bob's mind. They're reproducing. It's not the same people156301:47:42.960 --> 01:47:45.720
who killed his grandpa. Whoever's out there is a couple156401:47:45.720 --> 01:47:49.680
of generations removed, and they even add new blood to156501:47:49.720 --> 01:47:54.319
their gene pool from time to time. She's probably one156601:47:54.359 --> 01:47:57.840
of them, your daughter, she would be what fifty two?156701:47:58.439 --> 01:48:02.439
Bob said, not even have to do the math. We156801:48:02.479 --> 01:48:05.439
plotted for a while after that, as Bob and I156901:48:05.479 --> 01:48:09.239
got quite friendly. The conversation ended that night with Bob157001:48:09.279 --> 01:48:14.039
telling me, well, I guess I got a shotgun. I157101:48:14.119 --> 01:48:17.600
gave him a questioning, Look, what did I say to157201:48:17.680 --> 01:48:21.520
you on our first meeting? Bob asked, that I was157301:48:21.560 --> 01:48:24.640
on top of Fool's Hill heading down the other side,157401:48:25.000 --> 01:48:30.119
I replied, the wrong side, Well, wrong or right, I157501:48:30.159 --> 01:48:32.560
guess I'm riding shotgun with you on the way down,157601:48:33.079 --> 01:48:36.720
Bob said. Bob was nice enough to drive me back157701:48:36.760 --> 01:48:39.640
to my apartment. I did have to give him gas157801:48:39.680 --> 01:48:42.600
money in twenty bucks for his time. Along the way.157901:48:42.680 --> 01:48:45.560
We made plans that in a couple of days we158001:48:45.560 --> 01:48:48.199
were to head out to his old house and hunt158101:48:48.880 --> 01:48:54.880
them down and maybe just possibly find his daughter. Over158201:48:54.920 --> 01:48:57.279
the next couple of days, I got my car towed.158301:48:57.760 --> 01:48:59.720
I had to buy new tires, of course, but I158401:48:59.760 --> 01:49:02.000
also so I had to buy new wheels since I158501:49:02.079 --> 01:49:04.840
drove on them like the fool that I am. But158601:49:04.920 --> 01:49:07.119
I was glad to have those couple of days away158701:49:07.119 --> 01:49:10.920
from that town because I realized that my curiosity for158801:49:10.960 --> 01:49:14.279
this story was not as strong as my will to live,158901:49:15.199 --> 01:49:18.800
so I made a decision not to pursue it any further.159001:49:19.359 --> 01:49:21.319
I called Bob to tell him that I was putting159101:49:21.399 --> 01:49:24.000
on the brakes. I was turning around and heading back159201:49:24.079 --> 01:49:29.119
up Fools Hill and back to safety, except he didn't159301:49:29.119 --> 01:49:32.279
answer my call. I left a message and then decided159401:49:32.319 --> 01:49:34.800
to just stop thinking about it and move on to159501:49:34.840 --> 01:49:39.399
other things. To Brenda, my niece. If you've read this far,159601:49:39.560 --> 01:49:43.000
this means I didn't return from my trip. I set159701:49:43.079 --> 01:49:46.039
up this document to auto email to you five days159801:49:46.079 --> 01:49:49.880
after I left. That means if you've received this email,159901:49:50.520 --> 01:49:55.199
I'm probably dead. A few days ago, someone tried to160001:49:55.199 --> 01:49:58.439
get into my apartment. I believe it's the people from160101:49:58.439 --> 01:50:02.760
the woods, from that town that I had visited. So160201:50:02.880 --> 01:50:05.600
that was the last I heard from my uncle. I160301:50:05.640 --> 01:50:08.479
don't know what he was thinking. He believed there were160401:50:08.560 --> 01:50:11.560
strange woods people that had been killing locals for over160501:50:11.600 --> 01:50:14.079
one hundred years, and he went out there on his160601:50:14.119 --> 01:50:19.840
own without a weapon. Why Because Bob Smith disappeared and160701:50:19.880 --> 01:50:23.159
someone tried to break into his apartment. There was a160801:50:23.199 --> 01:50:26.960
simple solution all along. Did you know there really is160901:50:27.119 --> 01:50:31.680
a Fool's Hill? Yeah, Bob was only being slightly clever161001:50:31.800 --> 01:50:35.800
when he referenced it. So this is what happened, and161101:50:35.840 --> 01:50:38.079
then I'll tell you how I solved this one hundred161201:50:38.079 --> 01:50:41.359
plus year old problem. Just like my uncle, I can161301:50:41.399 --> 01:50:44.640
do research and put two and two together. It's actually161401:50:44.720 --> 01:50:48.000
a hobby of mine other than lurking on webb sleuth161501:50:48.119 --> 01:50:52.600
message boards. I'm also really into those subscription box mysteries.161601:50:53.119 --> 01:50:56.439
I'm subscribed to a few of them, So this is161701:50:56.479 --> 01:51:00.199
what I believe happened. Using those skills and my conversation161801:51:00.359 --> 01:51:03.920
with the police, Randy began to get worried since he161901:51:03.960 --> 01:51:06.560
hadn't heard from Bob Smith in a few days, and162001:51:06.600 --> 01:51:09.800
he'd heard someone outside his door the night before. He162101:51:09.880 --> 01:51:12.800
planned to try and figure out where Bob lived, which162201:51:12.800 --> 01:51:16.279
he was able to do easily enough. Then he packed162301:51:16.279 --> 01:51:20.239
a bag with supplies and snacks, including a book on witchcraft.162401:51:20.359 --> 01:51:24.880
For whatever reason, these items were found by the police.162501:51:25.479 --> 01:51:28.720
That's how I know that he brought them. He then162601:51:28.840 --> 01:51:31.680
drove over to Bob's house. This we know because he162701:51:31.760 --> 01:51:34.960
left a note on Bob's door. It read, hey, Bob,162801:51:35.000 --> 01:51:36.920
if you get this, I've been trying to get a162901:51:36.920 --> 01:51:39.359
hold of you, call me. I'm heading to the house,163001:51:40.279 --> 01:51:43.079
which he did. He traveled to that house and then163101:51:43.159 --> 01:51:47.079
most likely entered the woods behind the place or they163201:51:47.199 --> 01:51:50.359
dragged him there. No blood was found around the house,163301:51:50.399 --> 01:51:53.600
so he probably went of his own accord. Once he163401:51:53.720 --> 01:51:57.119
entered the woods, he would have started up an incline. Yes,163501:51:57.239 --> 01:52:01.159
you guessed it. He was heading up the literal fool's Hill,163601:52:02.159 --> 01:52:05.039
It was named after this swindler in the eighteen sixties163701:52:05.039 --> 01:52:07.439
who hid a little gold and a lot of Fool's163801:52:07.479 --> 01:52:10.039
gold around the hill in a scheme to sell the163901:52:10.119 --> 01:52:13.600
land off to the highest bidder. At some point they164001:52:13.640 --> 01:52:16.880
found my uncle's car. It was driven and parked outside164101:52:16.920 --> 01:52:20.600
of the saloon where he first met Bob. This story164201:52:20.600 --> 01:52:23.000
would have ended there, with my uncle and Bob missing164301:52:23.119 --> 01:52:26.840
like many others. But like I said, I did some164401:52:27.000 --> 01:52:30.319
research found out that Fool's Hill was a real place,164501:52:30.399 --> 01:52:34.800
then thought fuck it. I took a chance, lied to164601:52:34.840 --> 01:52:38.319
the cops and told them drug manufacturers were operating up164701:52:38.359 --> 01:52:41.520
on Fools Hill. The police must have believed me too,164801:52:41.600 --> 01:52:44.840
because ten of them headed right up that hill. They164901:52:44.880 --> 01:52:48.520
found no drugs, but they did find chunks of Bob165001:52:48.600 --> 01:52:52.560
and my uncle hanging from trees over a burning woodpile.165101:52:53.520 --> 01:52:56.600
They were smoking the meat to cure it for the winter.165201:52:58.079 --> 01:53:01.600
The people up there were feral, but were easily taken165301:53:01.640 --> 01:53:04.720
into custody as they had no real weapons but wooden165401:53:04.760 --> 01:53:08.920
clubs and old knives they had stolen. They're now all165501:53:09.000 --> 01:53:13.279
captured and going through the system. There were females in165601:53:13.319 --> 01:53:16.800
this tribe of lost humanity, but none of them seemed165701:53:16.800 --> 01:53:19.039
to be the right age to have been Bob's daughter.165801:53:20.359 --> 01:53:24.640
There's now a new legend out there that Gracie is165901:53:24.720 --> 01:53:28.880
still in those woods. She's allegedly picking up where the166001:53:28.920 --> 01:53:34.479
others had left off and is looking to rebuild her family,166101:53:35.560 --> 01:53:47.199
or so the legend goes. Well, my spookies, if you're166201:53:47.279 --> 01:53:54.520
still with us, then congratulations, you survived the woods, you166301:53:54.600 --> 01:54:01.680
survived the school, you survived the hill. More. Tonight we166401:54:01.800 --> 01:54:05.760
met the kind of horror that does not stay politely166501:54:05.840 --> 01:54:11.279
in one little box. It crawls through fantasy and folklore,166601:54:11.720 --> 01:54:17.439
through government secrets and New Year's nightmares, through missing person166701:54:17.600 --> 01:54:23.439
message boards, old newspaper clippings, and villages that mistake cruelty166801:54:24.159 --> 01:54:28.479
for righteousness. And isn't that the real fun of a166901:54:28.520 --> 01:54:32.720
show like this. One minute you're worried about dark magic167001:54:32.840 --> 01:54:37.199
bleeding through the trees, the next you're watching a supernatural167101:54:37.279 --> 01:54:43.119
disaster unfold under fluorescent school lights. Then suddenly you're in167201:54:43.159 --> 01:54:47.199
a dive bar, eating a club sandwich, trying to decide167301:54:47.239 --> 01:54:50.600
whether the old drunk telling you a century old cannibal167401:54:50.680 --> 01:54:55.159
legend is crazy or the only sane person in town.167501:54:56.359 --> 01:54:59.680
That's how these things get you, not all at once,167601:55:00.119 --> 01:55:03.960
not with thunder and lightning. They start with a weird167701:55:04.239 --> 01:55:07.920
sound in the distance, a sick animal on the porch,167801:55:08.199 --> 01:55:12.159
a friend who calls when they should be celebrating, a167901:55:12.199 --> 01:55:16.840
newspaper clipping that's too strange to ignore, a local who168001:55:16.840 --> 01:55:21.800
says don't go up there, and naturally, because human beings168101:55:21.880 --> 01:55:27.239
are basically horror movie raccoons, but with car keys, we168201:55:27.399 --> 01:55:31.039
head up there. We follow the trail, we open the door,168301:55:31.159 --> 01:55:35.119
we read the forbidden book, We walk into the woods168401:55:35.159 --> 01:55:42.600
and tell ourselves it's just folklore. But folklore is just168501:55:42.720 --> 01:55:48.199
a warning that learned how to survive. So tonight, before168601:55:48.359 --> 01:55:52.640
you head off to bed, maybe don't look too long168701:55:53.439 --> 01:55:58.479
out the window. Maybe don't answer if something calls from168801:55:58.520 --> 01:56:02.359
the trees. And if an old stranger tells you that168901:56:02.399 --> 01:56:07.319
you're standing on top of Fool's Hill heading down the169001:56:07.359 --> 01:56:14.359
wrong side for once in your life, listen until next time,169101:56:15.159 --> 01:56:17.600
Stay creepy, my spookies,
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