Christmas at the Psych Ward: A Killer Santa Stalks Sumpter Behavioral Health

WEBVTT

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The holidays are a time of cheer
and merriment, big smiles, happiness everywhere

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00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:13.039
you go. Well not really,
that's kind of the ideal situation. But

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tonight's story is about the less ideal
situation. It's about people, good or

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00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:26.079
bad, who spend their Christmas in
the psych word. What's that You want

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00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:38.439
to be scared to? Come with
me. You will experience tales over our

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00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:44.719
broad ghosts and death. Death.
It is not recommended a fun of week

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00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:52.600
at heart heart listen as in the
dark. It's more fun at that way.

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This is weekly speaking. Hey,
my spookys, it's Wednesday, and

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you know what that means. It's
time for a little spooky in your weekly.

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00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:15.719
I'm your host and narrator, Enrique
Kuto, and we have quite the

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chilling one for you this week.
But before we get to that, I

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need to give you a very merry
thank you for listening to our program.

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I hope you're subscribed on your favorite
podcasting app because we're going to be releasing

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tons and tons of content all the
way up to Christmas Day and we would

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love to have you along for the
scary ride. And while you're at it,

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after you've subscribed, why not leave
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And speaking of our listeners, if
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others spookies like yourself, well we
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share memes, talk about scary things, and so much more. It's a

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lot of fun and we'd love to
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penny. It's just a fun place
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of life. And I want to
mention that tomorrow we have a special episode

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where Cameron Cheney from Library macab will
be joining me to talk about must read

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books for the holiday horror season.
So make sure you tune into that tomorrow.

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But now, my Spooky's all that's
left is to say, go to

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Weeklyspooky dot com for anything and everything
you need and If you love what we're

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doing, join our Patreon and get
exclusive stories every other week. But now

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the wind is blowing, the chill
is truly in the air. It's time

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for the story after these quick words
from our sponsors. Xmas at the psych

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Ward by Bruce Haney. It was
snowing that Christmas Eve, but this didn't

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bring joy to Caleb because he had
been sitting in the psych ward for the

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last couple of weeks after a failed
suicide attempt. He had expected to see

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his parents that night, but the
recent snowstorm had kept them away. He

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had been surprised that the facility did
celebrate the holidays. There was a tree

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decorated in the common area, as
well as other non Christian themed holiday decorations.

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There were even gifts that had been
delivered a few days earlier for the

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guests who were stuck there with no
family visiting them. Guests is the term

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this particular hospital likes to use to
refer to their patients. Being a guest

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was supposed to indicate that you were
there temporarily. This was true for most,

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but not for all, the people
at Sumpter Behavioral Health Center. Caleb

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was scheduled to be released in a
few days, but he wasn't planning on

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making it through the night. He
had pleaded his case to be let out

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before Christmas. He didn't want to
end his life in a hospital. I'm

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not like the other crazy people in
here. I'm normal, he had pleaded.

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The term crazy is not accepted around
here, and I am pressed to

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remind you that attempting to take one's
life is not the act of a normal

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mind. His psychiatrist had responded,
it is when you've had the year that

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I have, Caleb told her.
Caleb had always been a bit dramatic,

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but he was not exaggerating. His
year had been truly awful. The first

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bad thing to happen was that he
lost what he considered to be the love

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of his life. His name was
Kyle, and he was a bit out

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of Caleb's league. While Caleb worked
part time at a failing video game store,

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Kyle was moving up the ranks at
his job and heading toward management.

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Kyle was also a real looker.
Caleb wasn't a slob or ugly, but

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he was nowhere near as attractive as
Kyle. This difference in prospects and his

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low self esteem made Caleb resent Kyle, and this resentment led to negativity and

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jealousy, which created a wedge in
their friendship, a that was just big

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enough for a man named Jacob to
squeeze into. Caleb understood this in a

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way that only a person with poor
self esteem can. Jacob was a ten

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and owned a condo before the age
of thirty. Of course, I couldn't

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compete with that. Who could,
Caleb had told his friend Sarah over coffee.

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You'll find someone else, she said, trying to console him. Sure,

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but he was the one. He
was the love of my life,

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and I'll never ever be that happy
again. Caleb whined. It was hard

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for Sarah to not roll her eyes
at him. Sarah was a little older

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than he was and a bit wiser. It's going to be hard, she

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said. There will be other guys
out there, not like Kyle. But

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think of it this way. You
could get to fall in love again.

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How exciting is that? Sarah finished, I don't want to, Caleb told

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her, of course you do.
You've always been a romantic. You're going

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to have more first dates, you
get to experience that awkward moment of holding

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hands for the first time, kisses
good night, and strange bedfellows, she

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told him, and gave him an
exaggerated wink. Are you talking about my

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prospects or yours? Caleb asked,
then laughed. Sarah could always make him

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feel better. They had been best
friends since he was a junior and she

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was a sophomore. Her death two
months later by a drunk driver was harder

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on him than losing Kyle. Those
events happened before summer, and by the

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time Christmas came around, he had
lost his job, had his car stolen

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and totaled by his insurance company,
not because it was wrecked, but because

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two people were found smoking meth and
fentanyl inside of it. He didn't have

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full coverage, so well, he
was out of a vehicle to cap it

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off, Like a lyric from a
sad country song, even his damn dog

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ran away, the one Kyle had
brought home for their second anniversary. Even

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before this awful year, Caleb had
been depressed. He was a cutter,

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but still everyone was shocked when he
tried to take his life by slashing his

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wrists at the health center. He
didn't have access to razor blades, so

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he was going to make a noose
out of the sheet from his bed Before

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attempting to take his life, he
decided to see what the other guests were

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doing in the common room. This
decision to be social possibly saved his unwonted

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life. Less than an hour later, the killings would begin. Some of

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the other guests suffered from depression like
Caleb, and some others had other mental

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challenges that they were going through.
But one guest, unbeknownast to the others,

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was a full blown homicidal maniac.
It was getting late, but a

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couple of other guests were sitting in
the common room watching an old black and

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white Christmas movie. Hey, Caleb, John said passively. Caleb liked him,

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okay enough, as long as John
didn't start talking about politics. Merry

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Christmas, Caleb, Ethan said to
him. Caleb thought Ethan was a good

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kid. Sadly, he too was
a cutter, and a failed suicide attempt

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is what landed him in the hospital
as well. Though Ethan did admit in

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group that he didn't want to die. I just I don't know. I

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couldn't stand it. I was so
invisible to them. I thought if I

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died, they would care. They
couldn't ignore me. If they were planning

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my funeral, Ethan was saying,
but was interrupted by you pussy, another

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guest named Tim had said, and
then laughed. John had been there too

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and laughed. Caleb felt for the
kid, and that was why he kicked

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Tim's chair over, which also didn't
help his case for being released before Christmas.

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When Tim fell to the ground,
Mark, another patient who never spoke,

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started laughing and continued to do so
while Tim and Caleb were separated and

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escorted out. This annoyed Tim and
he screamed at him shut the fuck up.

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Mark. Mark continued to laugh to
the point that everyone felt unnerved by

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it. He was laughing because he
knew when he started his massacre, Tim

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would be first Merry Christmas. Ethan, how are you doing tonight, Caleb

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asked, before sitting down in the
common area. I'm doing okay. I

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wish I was at home. This
would have been my last Christmas to spend

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living at my parents' house. Ethan
said, Yeah. Where do you expect

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to be next year? Caleb asked, University of Oregon. Ethan said,

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you're going to college? Caleb asked, well, my parents are paying for

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it and I have the grades,
and since the whole killing myself thing didn't

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work out, I should build myself
a future. Ethan told Caleb, you

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are much smarter at your age than
I was or am. Now if I

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thought like you, I might not
be spending my Christmas here with the likes

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of you two. No offense,
Caleb said, and then laughed. John

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and Ethan laughed too. During their
conversation, a nurse named Rob walked into

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the room. They thought they were
going to be told to get to their

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own rooms, but he made a
note of how many guests were in the

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common area. A few minutes later, Rob walked in with a tray with

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four mugs. The usual suspects,
he said, while he handed them each

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a cup of hot chocolate. The
three looked up at him with a questioning

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look. Merry Christmas. I wanted
to do something nice. It's Christmas Eve,

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after all. Some of you guests
don't deserve a treat. Some of

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you are a pain in my ass, Rob said, and then took a

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drink from his cup. John,
you borderline don't deserve a treat, but

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you're with good company, so you
can reap their reward. It is Christmas

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and all, Rob said, it's
just hot chocolate. You're not sucking our

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dicks. Don't feel so high and
mighty. Giving us a fifty cent cup

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of cocoa. John said, I
can take it back, Rob said,

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calmly, not letting John get to
him. No, no, sorry,

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thank you. Merry Christmas, John
said. They all sat quietly after that,

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drinking their hot chocolate and watching the
old Christmas movie. Then they heard

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the screaming more scares to come weekly, spooky, We'll be right back.

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Rob was the first up and the
first to run down the hall to find

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out what was going on. Billy, the other nighttime nurse, came out

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from the office and beat him to
the room. Inside was an older gentleman

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named Ed, who had been in
and out of places like this his whole

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life. He had a bit of
a violent past, always attacking the people

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close to him, but never enough
to do actual jail time. Ed was

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screaming because his roommate Tim was lying
in his bed with his throat slit and

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his face slashed all up. Rob
was the senior nurse there and quickly took

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charge of the situation. What happened
here? Who did this? Rob asked,

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I don't know. He was like
this when I came back from the

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bathroom, Ed said John. Caleb
Ethan back to your rooms. Caleb,

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take ed with you, and none
of you let anyone except for the two

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of us in Billy, go back
to the office and call nine one one.

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I'll look for the for the killer, Rob ordered, What if he

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tries to attack you? Billy asked, I've been taking self defense classes for

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years. Do you think I would
work here around these crazies without some way

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of protecting myself? Rob asked,
right, Billy said, you haven't been

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taking classes like I told you?
Have you? Rob asked, well,

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I, Billy stammered, you fucking
rookie. Just get to the damn phone,

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Billy, Rob shouted. Billy ran
off, and John ethan ed and

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Caleb stared at Rob. Get to
your rooms now, Rob said. They

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all turned and left. Rob yelled
after them, sorry for saying crazies.

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Don't tell my boss please. Rob
then went on down the hall to look

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for signs of the killer. John
went to his room. The doors could

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only be locked with a key,
so he decided that he would push his

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bed up against the door. He
didn't know that the killer was hiding under

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his bed, and as soon as
he got close enough, he heard snickering,

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and then before he could react,
a hand with a stolen kitchen knife

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stabbed through his left shoe. The
cheap hospital issued shoes did nothing to hinder

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the blade, though it did keep
his now severed middle two toes close to

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where they had once belonged. John
then fell to the floor, and the

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killer took the opportunity to slash his
throat. As the blood sprayed, Mark

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laughed harder and harder. Billy heard
the laughter, but before he could make

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it out of his office, the
killer was there, happy holidays, Mark

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said. Once Billy was taken care
of, Mark went to the next phase

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of his plan. He knew that
the landline phone was dead. He had

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severed it hours ago. He knew
which line it was because he had severed

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it months earlier. When he first
came up with the plan, everyone had

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made a big stink about it.
A technician had to come out and fix

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it, and they lost dessert for
two days since no one would admit to

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cutting the line. Once in the
office, the killer found what he hoped

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he would find in there, both
nurses cell phones charging. He had made

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a mental note after weeks of watching
their patterns that it was around this time

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each night that they plugged their phones
in to charge. After a shifts worth

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of TikTok watching and instagramming, he
acted quickly and methodically. He took each

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phone and shoved his knife through the
screens. He then took the useless landline

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phone and smashed it against the server
equipment that provided internet to the building.

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With that done, he looked around
the room for other opportunities to add to

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his chaos. He didn't find much, but hanging on the coat rack,

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he saw something that he hoped he
would find. He laughed the whole time

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as he grabbed the Santa Claus costume
off the rack and put it on.

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The plan was going better than he
had imagined. Luck was on his side.

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Caleb had dragged Ethan and ed to
his room. Caleb's roommate was sitting

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up in bed. What the fuck
is going on out here? Steve?

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Steve was at the health center because
he attempted to light his former workplace on

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fire because he didn't receive a Christmas
bonus. He didn't quite understand that former

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employees don't typically get Christmas bonuses.
Steve was a bit of a hothead and

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was fired after he threw his boss's
world's best boss mug at his own boss's

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head. People are getting killed,
Steve, that is what the fuck is

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going on, Caleb explained, for
real. Steve asked ed. Ed was

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older and Steve trusted him. Ed
shook his head up and down. This

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calmed Steve down who Steve asked Tim
at least his throat was slashed. Ed

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said, I've heard two other screams
since. I think possibly Billy too.

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Caleb added, fuck Tim got out
in a couple of days, not that

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he wanted to. Billy was kind
of a prick, though, Steve finished,

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don't speak ill of the dead.
Ethan whispered, is Rob okay?

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Steve asked, Rob was a good
guy. He had to make everyone follow

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the rules, but he did it
in a respectful way, and he was

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respected for it as far as we
know, Caleb said. At that moment,

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Rob had returned to the main corridor, not finding any signs of the

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killer. Rob wished there was more
staff there. Billy and himself were it.

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Usually there were another too, but
the holidays were always light. The

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staff wanted to be home with their
families, and each year many guests were

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released early to make that possible.
As soon as Rob made it back to

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the guest wing, he heard the
laughter, and then the killer in the

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stolen Santa Claus outfit stepped out of
the office. What are you doing,

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Rob asked. The killer just laughed. Are you Are you wearing my Santa

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00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:14.960
Claus outfit? Rob asked? For
the last four years. Rob had worn

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that costume every Christmas morning at the
facility. Every year, the guests would

225
00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:23.799
make fun of him for it,
but he could tell from some that they

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00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:30.759
did appreciate the effort. The killer
didn't respond to his first question, so

227
00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:38.279
he asked another, what's going on
in here? Rob asked, no response.

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Did you kill Tim? Rob asked. The killer shook his head yes,

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then made a cross with his two
index fingers. Rob was confused until

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the killer then held up two fingers. You killed two others, asked.

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The killer laughed, then decided to
sprint towards Rob while pulling out the knife

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that he had tucked into the waistband
of the Santa suit. Get away from

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me, Rob yelled. Back in
Caleb's room, they had been listening to

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00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:21.519
the exchange and when they heard the
killer go after Rob without even thinking Ethan

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pushed open the door. Caleb followed, stopping just long enough to grab a

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chair. Without knowing it, they
were directly in the killer's path, who

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immediately adjusted his aim and went to
stab Ethan. Caleb pushed Ethan out of

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the way. Ethan fell to the
floor and rolled away unscathed. Caleb wasn't

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as lucky. The killer slashed the
knife at him, cutting his wrist.

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00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:52.079
Caleb watched as the blood from his
arm hit the polished floor, and for

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00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:56.039
a moment was taken back to a
few weeks ago, when he was the

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one spilling his blood. It was
a weird sensation. Caleb didn't feel scared,

243
00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:10.079
he felt violated. Cutting his wrist
was something he did not something that

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00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:14.960
was done to him. Caleb was
filled with anger and swung the chair at

245
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the pseudo Sanna as hard as he
could. Then again, the killer held

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00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:25.839
his arms up to protect himself from
the blows and then ran away. Once

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the killer was gone, Caleb looked
over to Rob. You okay, he

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00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:34.240
asked, Rob and Ethan looked him
up and down. He was bleeding heavily,

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and they just witnessed him going primal
while beating on the killer. Are

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00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:45.279
you okay? Rob asked, I'm
fine, Caleb said, while taking his

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00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:51.359
hand and rubbing his hair back,
blood dripped onto his face. Caleb then

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held out his arm and looked at
the cut again. Maybe not, Caleb

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said. Rob ran off moments later
was back with a full first aid kit.

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If you're going to get attacked,
let it be in a hospital type

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situation. Their first aid kits are
usually well stocked. A moment after Rob

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finished fixing him up, the lights
went out. He must have gotten to

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the breaker box, Rob said,
cheerfully. Why is that good? Ethan

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00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:29.240
asked. The box is located in
the stairwell at the end of the West

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00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:34.279
hallway. Rob said, while he
got up and started walking, and Caleb

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00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:38.400
asked, He's far enough away that
it should be safe to go to my

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office and grab a flashlight and call
the police if Billy hasn't already, Rob

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said. In the office, the
three of them felt around for anything that

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could be a weapon. Rob eventually
found a flashlight in a drawer. When

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he turned it on, it revealed
that the stuff they were walking in was

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blood. The flashlight also helped them
see where the blood had come from.

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Some was from Billy's lifeless body,
while The rest came from Billy's head,

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which had been cut off and thrown
onto the desk with little to no regard.

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You're not safe yet, weekly Spooky
will be right back. With the

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00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:41.039
flashlight. It was also easy to
find the useless phone. Rob then went

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for his own, which he found
next to Billy's, both destroyed. Okay,

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00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:52.839
okay, don't panic, Rob said
to himself. If we can get

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to the breaker and turn it back
on, we can use a computer to

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reach out to the police. There
has to be a way to do that,

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right, Rob asked the two.
Caleb frowned and pointed to the modem

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and the internet equipment that had been
destroyed. What are we going to do,

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00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:15.359
Ethan asked, I don't know.
We could try to grab the others

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and then run outside, but we're
two miles from anything, and it's snowing

278
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pretty heavily outside. Rob said maybe
we could just hide, Ethan suggested,

279
00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:33.519
or we could all come out into
the open. Caleb said, you think,

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00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:37.480
Rob asked, I think our strength
is in our numbers, which we

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00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:41.359
won't have if we don't act quickly. It's easy for him to take us

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00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:45.960
out one by one. But when
he attacked and there were three of us

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00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:52.680
there. We walked away scathed,
but we did walk away, Caleb explained.

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The three of them walked back to
Caleb's room to grab Steve and Ed,

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00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:00.319
you have to come with us.
Caleb told them, I ain't going

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00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:04.839
nowhere. We're safe in this room. Ed said, do you think so?

287
00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:10.319
How do you think Tim was killed
in one of these rooms. We

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00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:12.799
need to band together, and we
need a spot where we have room to

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00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:18.960
fight, Caleb explained. Caleb was
persuasive, and as a group they went

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00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:23.759
to each room looking for other survivors. They found John's dead body. In

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00:26:23.799 --> 00:26:29.599
one room, they found two other
dead guests, each with a pillow over

292
00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:34.039
their head so they couldn't scream.
He was going room to room, Rob

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00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:38.160
said, maybe he's back in one
snuck back to them when we were in

294
00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:42.640
the office, and now he's just
waiting to jump out and stab one of

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00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:47.960
us in the throat. Ed said, so we stay away from the rooms.

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00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:53.759
Ethan said no. Caleb replied,
then what Ed asked? We lock

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00:26:53.880 --> 00:27:00.359
them? Rob explained, understanding what
Caleb was getting at every one of them.

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00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:04.559
Caleb finished. They went methodically down
the corridor, locking the doors with

299
00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:08.559
Rob's keys. After each door was
locked, one of them would put their

300
00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:15.240
ear and listen for any sign of
life. Nothing was heard until they locked

301
00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:19.119
the second to last door. Ethan
then put his ear to the door and

302
00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:23.960
heard a noise inside that he couldn't
make out. Someone's in this room.

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00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:30.359
Ethan whispered to the rest of them, whose room is that? Steve asked.

304
00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:34.799
It's been empty, has been for
a week. Rob said, then

305
00:27:34.839 --> 00:27:40.079
it has to be the killer.
Caleb replied, let's get him. Then

306
00:27:40.599 --> 00:27:44.720
Ed said it's safer to just lock
him up. There's no exit from that

307
00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:48.680
room, Rob explained. Then the
last door that they were about to check

308
00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:52.680
flung open. Ed was the closest
to the door, so he was the

309
00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:56.680
one to be stabbed by the killer. In the Santa Claus suit to the

310
00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:02.480
common room, Rob yelled. When
the killer pulled out his knife, Caleb

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00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:07.799
grabbed Ed and dragged him. Ed
was screaming, don't leave me. The

312
00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:12.880
killer followed and continued to stab poor
Ed with every step they made. Eventually,

313
00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:19.319
Ed's body went limp and there was
nothing for Caleb to do but drop

314
00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:25.519
it. The killer then swung his
knife at Caleb, just barely missing his

315
00:28:25.640 --> 00:28:30.400
throat. Why are you doing this, Caleb yelled. The killer laughed.

316
00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:37.400
Mark Caleb asked, the killer swung
his knife at Caleb again. He had

317
00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:40.440
to run to the common room after
that, and by the time he got

318
00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:45.160
there, the others had gathered what
weapons they could find, which wasn't very

319
00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:49.039
much. Ethan was smart and grabbed
the nutcracker that was out as a Christmas

320
00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:55.279
decoration. Rob was practical and grabbed
a chair, while Steve yielded the heaviest

321
00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:59.920
Christmas package he could find under the
tree, which wasn't all that heavy.

322
00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:03.839
To get away from the attack,
Caleb ran behind the tree. Rob swung

323
00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:07.799
the chair, which the killer grabbed
with his free hand. Rob looked at

324
00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:11.640
the killer, shocked that his knife
wielding Santa Claus was able to stop the

325
00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:17.640
chair's momentum with only one hand.
Rob thought, that's not just strength,

326
00:29:18.519 --> 00:29:23.400
that is the power of being truly
crazy. The killer then put the knife

327
00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:29.119
in his pocket and grabbed the chair
with his other hand and made moves to

328
00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:33.400
fling Rob. Steve made his way
over to hit the Killer Santa with the

329
00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:37.920
package, but this had little effect. Ethan had better luck, smacking him

330
00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:42.119
on the shoulder with the heavy wood
nutcracker. The killer screamed out in pain

331
00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:47.440
and dropped his hold on the chair. While this was going on, Caleb

332
00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:51.599
was trying to figure out what he
could do to help the situation, and

333
00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:56.839
finally he found his weapon of choice. It was unconventional, to say the

334
00:29:56.920 --> 00:30:02.119
least. Caleb grabbed the reef that
hung on the wall and waited for an

335
00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:07.000
opportunity, which came suddenly. After
Ethan hit the killer another time in the

336
00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:11.960
head. The killer responded by pulling
his knife back out and slashing Ethan across

337
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:19.759
the chest. He then turned around
and ran. Caleb was furious as he

338
00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:23.720
thought about the future that young Ethan
could have once he was out of there.

339
00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:29.200
Caleb ran after him and put the
wreath over the killer's head and then

340
00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:33.000
used it to swing him into the
wall repeatedly. During the struggle, the

341
00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:37.960
killer stabbed Caleb in the thigh,
but Caleb hardly noticed. Eventually, the

342
00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:42.920
killer went limp from his head,
repeatedly hitting the wall. Caleb then grabbed

343
00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:48.440
the knife from the killer's lifeless body. He was still furious and made moves

344
00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:53.240
to turn the killer over to slash
his throat. Rob was taking care of

345
00:30:53.279 --> 00:31:00.480
Ethan's wounds during this, and Steve
walked over to watch, but Caleb was

346
00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:07.279
no killer and had a change of
heart. I can't do it, Caleb

347
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:12.279
said, and then he stood up
to check on Ethan. He's gonna make

348
00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:18.079
it. He just barely nicked him. Rob told him, give me your

349
00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:22.279
keys, Caleb said. Rob unhooked
them from the loop on his pants and

350
00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:27.960
threw them to Caleb. I think
he's dead, but just in case,

351
00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:33.119
we should lock him up, Caleb
explained to Steve. Steve and Caleb then

352
00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:37.559
each grabbed a side of the wreath
that was around his neck and dragged him

353
00:31:37.559 --> 00:31:41.680
to the room where they had heard
the sound. Caleb handed the keys over

354
00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:47.759
to Steve to unlock it, and
Caleb held the knife out just in case.

355
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:52.119
When they opened the door, they
heard what had been making the sound.

356
00:31:52.200 --> 00:32:02.240
Inside. The music came from a
raid. Caleb and Steve laughed,

357
00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:10.720
then dragged the killer into the room. Momentarily, they were distracted as the

358
00:32:10.839 --> 00:32:16.559
song faded down and the radio DJ
came on, Well here we are.

359
00:32:16.920 --> 00:32:22.839
It's twelve oh one and it's officially
Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of you

360
00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:28.119
KWHG listeners. Hope you were good
and didn't make it onto Santa's naughty list.

361
00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:30.799
This is your pal, Big Bobby, and the Christmas Classics are going

362
00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:37.720
to keep on a coming. Here's
deck the halls, he said, and

363
00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:49.319
the song began. That was the
moment that the Killer tried to leap up

364
00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:53.319
and grab the knife back from Caleb. Without thinking, Caleb stabbed him in

365
00:32:53.359 --> 00:33:00.039
the throat. The killer stared at
him with hatred in his eyes. Caleb

366
00:33:00.119 --> 00:33:07.680
then twisted the blade, and a
moment later, all life left the killer.

367
00:33:07.680 --> 00:33:13.599
Steve reached down and pulled off the
beard and hat to reveal what Caleb

368
00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:19.720
had already figured out. It was
Mark who would never laugh, his crazy

369
00:33:19.839 --> 00:33:25.480
laugh again. With that done,
Caleb got up, walked over to the

370
00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:31.480
radio and turned up the volume.
As they walked back to Ethan and Rob,

371
00:33:32.279 --> 00:33:49.920
the song continued during the struggle of
the night. Caleb couldn't wait for

372
00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:52.319
it to be over, for everybody
to be safe, so he could go

373
00:33:52.440 --> 00:33:59.880
back to his room and kill himself. And now that he had the killers

374
00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:05.640
knife, he was more prepared than
before. He was originally going to hang

375
00:34:05.720 --> 00:34:10.559
himself with his sheet, but now
that it was over, he just wanted

376
00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:16.360
to check on his friends. He
had seen enough death. It had been

377
00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:22.039
a terrible year, but fighting for
his and other people's lives made Caleb finally

378
00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:29.880
see value in life, so he
let go of the knife and it fell

379
00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:38.079
to the floor. I love a
happy ending, well happy enough, big

380
00:34:38.119 --> 00:34:43.480
thanks to Bruce Haney for sending in
that story. It really was a great

381
00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:49.199
one, and we have more from
him coming soon, very very soon.

382
00:34:50.360 --> 00:34:54.039
And don't worry, there's plenty more
holiday horror coming all the way up until

383
00:34:54.119 --> 00:35:00.719
Christmas Day, so make sure you're
subscribed to Weekly Spooky, your hollow horror

384
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source. And if you love what
we're doing here, I want to remind

385
00:35:04.280 --> 00:35:09.599
you there's an exclusive Strickfield series being
published on Patreon right now called The Weekend.

386
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Every other week we publish a brand
new episode of this twelve part series

387
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.960
only on Patreon. To hear those
episodes, all you have to do is

388
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go to Weeklyspooky dot com and click
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389
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dollar a month, you get a
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390
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We really do appreciate the support we
have over at Patreon. We have

391
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over ninety one backers right now,
and I would love so much to make

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it to one hundred. So why
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dot com and click on Patreon,
And speaking of I want to say an

394
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extra special thank you to our Patreon
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little bit more to hear their names
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Nicks, John Callen, Bobotopia dot
Com, Megan Hua, Curse, Brent

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McCullough, Steve King, Karen we
Met, Jack Kerr, and Craig Cohen.

398
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Thank you all so much for helping
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And if you want to join them, just go to Weeklyspooky dot com,

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click on Patreon and choose any level
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401
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You'll hear your name at the end
of every show from my silky smooth voice.

402
00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:22.840
But now, my friends, it's
time for me to get back to

403
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:28.559
work. There's so many more scares
as we are about eleven days away from

404
00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:32.480
Cryptmas. So for myself, for
my producer Dan Wilder, my executive producer

405
00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:37.320
Rob Fields, and my composer Ray
Mattis, I will talk at you very

406
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very soon. Thank you for listening. Grease, make sure to find your

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way back next week, but for
now you are safe. Trust me.