Ep.204 – Welcome To Black Springs - What is Hiding in this Sleepy Town?

WEBVTT

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Starting a new job can be overwhelming, especially when you're starting a brand new

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life as well. But what happens
when you want to escape the same old,

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same old. You want to escape
the people used to work with,

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only to realize that your new job
in the middle of nowhere might involve unspeakable

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evil you've never even imagined. What's
that? You want to be scared?

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Come with me. You will experience
tales over opera, ghosts and death.

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It is not recommended and for the
Week at Heart listeners in the dark,

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it's more fun than that way this
weekly speaking. Hello, my spookies,

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It's Wednesday, and you know what
that means. It's time for a little

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spooky in your weekly. I'm your
host and narrator, Enrique Kuto, and

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I have a really, really fun
story for you tonight, and not only

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that, it's submitted by a long
time listener. The story it slaps hard,

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not to use too much kid vernacular, but I loved it and I

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know you will too. But before
we get to the terrifying tale of the

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evening, I just want to say
thank you so much for listening to the

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program. We're in the dead of
summer, and I do mean dead and

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you all listening are the diehards,
the people who need their spooky every single

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week, even when Halloween is pretty
far in the rearview mirror. Of course,

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if you're listening to this, you
know that Halloween is a way of

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life, and I thank you for
joining me. So get yourself ready,

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make sure you're subscribed on your favorite
podcasting app. And if you want to

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help us out just a little bit, why not go to Apple Podcasts or

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Spotify and leave us a five star
rating. That way, fellow spookies can

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see that rating and know they're in
the right place and it's time to join

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up with their brethren. And speaking
of brethren, we have a brand new

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episode of Cutting Deep into Horror dropping
right here at Weekly Spooky on Friday,

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featuring myself and Rachel Rodolphie talking about
the horror film Barbarian from last year.

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And it's a great conversation about a
very scary movie that you can watch right

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now on Max if you haven't already. It's a great show, so make

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sure you don't miss it this Friday. But now, my spookies, it's

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time we head way out to the
desert to a little town called Black Springs.

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We'll be getting off on that highway
exit after we hear a quick word

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from our very friendly sponsors. Welcome
to Black Springs by Bill Spears. The

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reflective green sign said, now entering
Black Springs, Texas, population one,

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four hundred and thirty two. Sheriff
Andy Barnes, a short man slightly overweight

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with a gray goatee, was driving
the marked Samuel County Sheriff pickup and his

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new deputy, Sherry Davis, was
in the passenger seat. Sherry was considerably

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younger, not even thirty. She
had light mocha skin and straight hair.

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It was Sherry's first day on the
job. She was fired from Dallas PD

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months before when she shot a man
in the line of duty. The cable

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news started running her story and she
was fired and unable to find a job

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anywhere else. Sheriff Barnes had served
in the Marines with Sherry's father and reached

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out to him when he saw Sherry
on the news. Sheriff Barnes himself was

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having trouble filling a deputy position because
no one really wanted to move out to

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the middle of nowhere, and he
was sure that Sherry was having trouble finding

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a job herself and wouldn't be able
to turn him down when he offered.

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Sherry needed a job, so she
took the position as deputy in Samuel County.

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She had many many apprehensions, though, the biggest being there was no

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way that the people in the middle
of nowhere, Texas County, had ever

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seen anything stranger than a black lady
with a badge. The pickup was silent.

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Sherry wasn't sure how she was even
going to relate to Sheriff b He

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was a white man in his seventies
and had been the sheriff of this county

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for over thirty five years. Back
then, the methods of law enforcement in

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Texas were a little different. Sherry
was sure that it was these methods that

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left towns like Black Springs with a
very low black population. She couldn't help

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but wonder what kind of things Barnes
did back then and if he still used

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some of those methods now. Sheriff
Barnes's demeanor, on the other hand,

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was completely different. He would smile
and occasionally point at something, telling Sherry

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about what he was pointing at that
there is the Karankawa krittermart, the barbecue

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is trash and Only passers through ever
eat there, he said, pointing to

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a small store with a sasquatched silhouette
outside. That's the Bald Mound. Comanche

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claimed it was haunted. Most people
stay clear of it because just being near

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it will put a chill down most
folks. When he pointed at a large

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hill with an abandoned looking house built
into the side, he said, during

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the summer and dove season, travelers
stay out here. He then pointed at

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a state campground across the highway from
Fort Samuel's a state run cavalry fort,

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saying that's the state campground. The
radio began to static ESO to one oh

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one. It was Anne, the
dispatcher, calling to Sheriff Barnes. This

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is one oh one. Sheriff Barnes
answered. Dispatch continued. Father Ortega called

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and said he needs you at the
Catholic church ten four, Sheriff Barnes answered.

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Barnes then turned on the lights and
sirens, turned the vehicle around,

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and began speeding into town. Sherry
looked at Barnes, bewildered. She didn't

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say it was an emergency. Why
the hurry. If it's Ortega, it's

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an emergency. It took the pickup
close to five minutes to speed from the

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north side of the town of Black
Springs to the Catholic church located on the

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outskirts of the east side of town. The five minutes were spent in even

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more silence as Sherry wondered what could
be at this church and why the sheriff

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was in a rush to get there. The sun was beginning to set in

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the late September horizon when the pickups
stopped in the gravel parking lot. The

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church was not lavish at all.
It was just a small building with a

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small steeple, white siding and a
statue of the Virgin Mary out front.

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It could easily be overlooked. Sheriff
Barnes stopped the engine then turned to Sherry.

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I didn't want to get your feet
wet this fast, but you're going

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to see some stuff in here,
some weird stuff. I want you to

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tell me right now that you are
just going to keep your mouth shut until

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we're out of here. Then I'll
answer any question you have. Sherry was

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taken aback. This old white guy
was telling her to keep her mouth shut.

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She had been through that before with
her last chief. Immediately before he

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gave a press conference that threw her
under the bus. What the hell are

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you talking about, Sherry responded,
We don't have time right now. Just

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follow me and keep your mouth shut, Barnes answered. Before getting out of

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the pickup, He walked to the
concrete slab that served as a porch for

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the church, then turned around and
looked at the truck where Sherry still sat.

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Sherry inhaled deeply, then exhaled,
shook her head slightly, and opened

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the door to join Barnes on the
concrete slab. What else could she do?

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She was twenty nine years old and
this was her last chance to make

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something of herself in this career.
Barnes carefully opened the door little more than

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a crack, and shouted or take
his name. As he did, a

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voice came from inside the church.
I'm here, Come in. Barnes opened

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the door the rest of the way. A short Hispanic priest in his mid

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fifties stood on the other side of
the door. The priest's right hand was

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clutching his rosary to his chest and
his left hand was holding a blood spattered

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rag to his left cheek. How
bad did she get you, Barnes asked,

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the priest. The priest removed the
rag and showed four cuts like claw

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marks on his cheek. He then
looked past Barnes at Sherry. Who's she?

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This is Sherry, She's my new
deputy. Sherry, this is father

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Ortega. Are you sure it's okay
for her to be here? She's going

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to have to learn about this sometime, Barnes replied, So is Shine still

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in the basement? Yeah, I
got the door locked before she got to

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it. Well, let's put her
back up. Then Barnes led the way

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to the sturdy wooden door at the
back of the sanctuary. Ortega, still

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clutching the rag to his cheek,
followed behind Barnes. Sherry trailed behind as

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well. She felt chills like she
had never felt before. It was like

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there was something ghostly in the air
of that church she'd never encountered before.

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She had so many questions, but
kept them to herself, keeping in mind

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that Barnes promise to answer anything she
had to ask. Afterward, when Barnes

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reached the door, he pulled a
key out of his pocket and began to

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unlock it. This was another question
added to Sherry's list. Why did Barnes

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have a key to this door.
Sheriffs usually don't have keys to the back

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rooms of churches. When he opened
the door, Sherry saw that the doorway

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didn't lead to a back room.
It led to a stone staircase leading downward.

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Barnes led the way down. Sherry
followed Ortega. Yes, she had

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a feeling of dread coursing through her
and a feeling that she should turn around

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and leave. But more than the
fear, she had curiosity. What was

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at the bottom of the steps that
Barnes and Ortega only referred to as she

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Whatever it was it left those four
cuts on Artega's cheek. Was it a

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wild animal? She had been told
that people in small towns like this kept

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strange pets like bobcats. When Sherry
got to the bottom of the steps,

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she found what lay in the basement
was not a bobcat or any other kind

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of wild animal. It was a
preteen Native American girl in a white dress

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that had copper colored bloodstains on it. The girl was hiding her face in

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her folded arms. Oh hell no, Sherry said, as she turned back

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to the stairs and ran back up
into the sanctuary of the church. Barnes

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looked at Ortega and nudged his head
towards the door. Barnes and Ortega left

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the basement, following Sherry to the
sanctuary. Sherry was pacing back and forth

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with her hands on the sides of
her head. She didn't even look up

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to acknowledge Barnes and Ortega when they
walked up and through the doorway, Ortega

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turning back to the door, closing
it and locking it. What the hell

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are you two involved in? Sherry
spoke more like she was talking to herself

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than to Barnes and Ortega. There's
a little Native girl in a blood spattered

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dress in that basement. This is
some kind of human trafficking stuff. I'm

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going to have to call the Texas
Rangers. Just slow down and think for

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a second, Sherry, Barnes said, calmly. If this were human trafficking,

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why the hell would I show you. You just gotta trust me that

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this isn't what it looks like.
I'll be happy to explain it all once

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we get her back in the restraints. You expect me to believe this isn't

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human trafficking When you're talking about putting
a little girl in restraints. We really

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don't have time. You just gotta
trust me that Shine isn't a little girl,

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no matter what she looks like.
Sherry closed her eyes inhaled deeply and

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held her breath for a moment,
contemplating what was the worst that could happen

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to her if she went back into
that basement. She was already lucky not

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be in jail over the shooting and
Dallas PD going with the media narrative and

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making her out as guilty. Now
she could be getting involved with human trafficking.

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But Barnes was right. If he
were up to something illegal, he

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wouldn't show her after only knowing her
for a week. Okay, Sherry said,

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against her better judgment. Barnes turned, unlocked the door again and went

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back down the stairs. Ortega and
Sherry followed him. When they reached the

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bottom, Barnes made his way toward
the Native girl and spoke in a calm

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voice. Shine, it's me Andy, I saw what you did to Ortega.

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We're not mad. We just want
to put you back on the bed

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where everybody is safe. When Barnes
was about two feet from the girl,

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she raised her head. She was
wearing a sinister grin and her eyes were

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solid black. Andy, Barnes,
So nice of you to come and visit

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me again. How's the arm?
Her voice was guttural and evil. Sherry

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couldn't believe what she was seeing or
hearing, and she couldn't let her mind

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settle on this being true. There
had to be some kind of trickery involved.

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It healed just fine, Barnes answered. The girl stared at him,

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well, staring at him as an
understatement, The girl was staring into him.

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You told your wife you slipped and
fell trying to get a cow off

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the road and hit into a fence. You still can't bring yourself to tell

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her about me. I'll chew it
off tonight. Let's see you come up

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with a lie to explain that.
The girl then lunged at Barnes's right arm,

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latching onto it with her arms wrapped
around, then dug her teeth in

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two. Barnes let out a howl
of pain. Sherry took a step back,

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startled. This couldn't be real.
There was no way a little girl

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could leap from a sitting position into
the air and latch on to him biting

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an arm like like that. There
had to be some way to explain this.

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Sherry's brain raced trying to make sense
of it all. Get her off

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me. Sherry snapped out of her
confusion and ran to Barnes and the girl.

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Training began taking precedence over confusion.
Sherry used one hand to pull on

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the girl's chin, then used the
finger and thumb of her other hand to

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pinch the girl's nose. This should
cause the girl to run out of breath

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and open her mouth. Ortega joined
Sherry and grabbed the girl's arms, trying

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to unwrap them. It took several
minutes, but Ortega and Sherry were able

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to remove the girl's grip on Barnes. Sherry fell backward as the girl let

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go. She landed on top of
Sherry, their faces no more than a

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foot away from each other. You, the girl said, as she straddled

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Sherry, pinning her arms to the
ground. You are different than these two.

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You're a murderer. These two are
only liars and adulterers. I'm not

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a murderer, Sherry fired back.
She was trying to push the girl off,

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but she was too strong. This
shouldn't have been possible. The girl

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couldn't have weighed more than ninety pounds. You killed that boy, I did

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what I had to do. Barnes
and Ortega, each of them grabbing one

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of the girl's arms, pulled her
off of Sherry. The girl broke their

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grip and scurried under the metal framed
bed that was in the corner of the

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room. Ortega moved close to Sherry
and whispered, the demon lies to throw

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you off balance. Don't believe what
it says demon. Sherry looked at Barnes,

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What is going on? I told
you Shine wasn't a little girl,

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but you didn't tell me she was
a demon? Would you believed me?

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I thought it was best you'd just
see for yourself. Now that I've seen,

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what the hell are we going to
do about it? Get her back

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on that bed and in the res
That sounds a lot easier than it's gonna

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be. Now. We just got
to get the bed out of the way,

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grab her arms, and let Ortega
do his mumbo jumbo while we put

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her on the bed and attached the
restraints. That plan sounded simple enough,

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so Sherry said, let's do it. Cherry moved to the bed and Barnes

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followed. They pulled the bed out
of the way and the girl clung to

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the wall crawling up at like an
insect. Cherry was not expecting this.

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She was taken aback. Barnes looked
as though he had been in this position

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before and didn't miss a beat in
grabbing the girl's arm. She just kept

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climbing. Barnes looked at Cherry,
well, grab her arm. You don't

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want her getting on the ceiling.
It's hell getting her off of there.

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Cherry reached for the girl, but
the girl turned her head and bit Cherry's

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hand. The pain was sharp,
it was like nothing Sherry had ever felt,

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but she was able to pull her
hand out of the girl's mouth and

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grab onto the arm. Sherry began
feeling woozy. That bite wasn't normal.

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She almost fell backwards, but was
able to focus on grabbing the arm.

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Ortega then started splashing holy water from
a tiny vial on the girl and speaking

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commandingly in Latin. The girls screamed, then Barnes and Sherry were able to

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pull her off the wall. Sherry
and Barnes put the girl on the bed

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and Ortega continued to splash the holy
water and command in Latin. The girl

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was still struggling and her strength was
still incredible for a person of her size.

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She was unfocused though because of Ortega's
holy water in commands, so Sherry

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and Barnes were able to get her
on the bed. Okay, now get

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her arms in the restraints, Barnes
said to Sherry. Sherry reached down and

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got the leather strap that had a
padded leather cuff attached to the end.

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Sherry and Barnes got the girl's wrists
secured. Okay, now for the feet,

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Barnes continued. Ortega continued to splash
the holy water and chant as Sherry

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and Barnes each grabbed an ankle,
and despite the kicking and the struggling from

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the girl, they were able to
get the ankles secured in the padded leather

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cuffs. The girl was now restrained, but Ortega kept speaking in Latin.

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It was different than before, though
it seemed more like he was asking the

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girl questions than giving her commands.
The girl would talk back as if answering.

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This baffled Cherry. The girl was
on the bed and in the straps.

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Why was Ortega continuing to speak in
Latin and why had this turned into

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a conversation? Ortega said one last
thing in Latin to the girl. This

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last statement was said in a harsh
tone. The girl's answers must have upset

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him. She started laughing in that
guttural voice. Ortega then looked at Barnes,

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let's go, it's late. The
three then exited the basement, leaving

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the girls strapped to the bed,
laughing out loud. As Barnes and Sherry

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walked out of the church, Sherry
looked at her watch. It was two

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am. They had been in that
church for almost six hours and it didn't

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feel anywhere close to that. Cherry
sat down on the concrete slab that functioned

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as a porch, Looking down exhausted, Barnes began remember that hill with the

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house built into the side the bald
mound. Cherry looked up at Barnes and

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acknowledgement of his question. Barnes continued, I found Shine wandering around outside it

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one night. She was talking in
that same voice you heard her using in

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there. She doesn't always talk like
that, though. Sometimes she talks normally,

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but we can't understand her because she
speaks some kind of Indian language.

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One time, I had a friend
of mine who teaches anthropology down at Emily

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Morgan University in Austin, come to
see her. He said that the language

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she uses was used by the Apache. That really doesn't make sense. There

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hasn't been any Apache around here in
hundreds of years. They were here before

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the Comanche. The Comanche ran them
off. Even if the Comanche hadn't run

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them off, how could there be
one that doesn't know any English just wandering

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around Anyhow? The night I found
her, she was talking in that evil

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voice and acting violent, just like
she was down there. I was able

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to wrestle her to the ground and
restrain her. I brought her to Ortega

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because she seemed possessed, like those
old movies. I figured a Catholic priest

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would know what to do. We
started calling her Shine. That was ten

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years ago. She hasn't aged at
all. Barnes trailed off. I told

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you i'd answer questions. So do
you have any How often does this happen?

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How often does she slip from the
restraints? Sherry asked about once a

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year? Barnes answered, and how
does Ortega keeper a secret from his congregation?

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That's the funny thing. I've lived
in this county my whole life,

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and I've never seen anyone go into
this church besides priests. I think a

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better question is why does the Catholic
church pay to keep the lights on in

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a church in a town with no
Catholics. Maybe it has something to do

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with a book. Sherry asked a
book. When Ortega and Shine were talking

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in Latin, they kept saying Lieber, I took Latin in college. I

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don't remember enough to understand what they
were saying, but I know Lieber means

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book. Barnes paused, thinking,
then said, come on, I'll give

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you a ride home. We're going
to get back to your training tomorrow.

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Sherry got up from the concrete slab
and followed Barnes to the pickup. The

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00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:56.119
only thing she could think is maybe
a black woman with a badge isn't the

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strangest thing this town has ever seen. Big thank you to our fellow spooky

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00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:08.200
Bill Spears for submitting his awesome story. And he tells me that this is

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00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:14.279
the beginning of building a mythos that
he's going to explore in many, many

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00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:18.759
stories. And I've already told him
that we would love to feature them on

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00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:22.640
the show. Thanks again, Bill, and send in anything you create,

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00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:29.519
because I am proud to cultivate the
world of short storytelling at least as best

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00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:33.039
I can. And speaking of cultivating
short stories, I want to remind you

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00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:37.480
that October is coming right up.
I'm sure you're seeing the decorations in your

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00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:41.279
favorite grocery store and getting amped and
excited. Well, I want to give

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00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:48.079
you a friendly almost warning that there
will be so much content publishing right here

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00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:53.759
on Weekly Spooky in October you will
be able to stay scared, possibly for

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00:23:53.960 --> 00:24:00.480
months beyond. We're going to have
novellas, full audio books, tons of

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00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:03.799
new episodes, terrifying and true of
course, Monthly Spooky of course, cutting

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00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:07.720
deep into horror, of course,
and so much more. I'm not joking

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00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:11.799
here. At least five episodes a
week are going to be publishing, and

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00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:15.839
none of it would be possible without
our Patreon podcast boosters, folks who pay

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00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:18.880
just a little bit more to hear
their names at the end of the show,

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00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:22.680
and they are Johnny Nicksbobletopia dot Com, Megan Hua, Julia Kirsch,

294
00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:26.920
Brent mccallus, Steve King, Karen
we Met, Jack Kerr, and Craig

295
00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:30.599
Cohen. Thank you all so much, and if you want to join them

296
00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:33.839
over on Patreon and get exclusive episodes. A sneak peek at what all we

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00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:38.039
have cooking here and so very much
more for as little as one dollar a

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00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:42.599
month. Just go to Weekly Spooky
dot com, click on Patreon and sign

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00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:47.400
up. We have almost one hundred
patrons. That's a goal I've been wanting

300
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:51.079
for a while, so if you've
been waiting, why not jump in right

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00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:52.599
now. But now it's time for
me to get back to work. We

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00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:57.480
have so many fears to show you, so for myself, for my producer

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00:24:57.559 --> 00:25:02.480
Dan Wilder, my executive to producer
Rob Fields, and my composer Ray Maddis.

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00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:07.160
I will talk at you later,
so until then, leave the demon

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00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:11.920
in the basement. Thank you for
listening to me. Make sure to find

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00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:18.440
your way back next week, but
for now you are safe, trust me.