[Music] [Music] [Music] my husband locked me in the spare bedroom hours ago I was lying on the couch in the living room reading when he called out for me I found him in the spare room and when I walked in he pushed past me and locked the door I thought he was pranking me or joking around but he said it's safe in there do not make a sound I'm not kidding grace when you hear this knock it's safe to come out if the door unlocks they did not hear this knock do not open the door then he knocked a special knock repeated so I know you know it he called what the hell is going on Jack this isn't funny you better let me out right now I shouted banging on the door do the goddamn knock grace do not make a sound I'm serious I'll let you know when it's safe I love you I've never heard him sound so aggressive I repeated his knock and then I heard him walk away I paced the room I was worried but I trust a jack I sat by the door for a while hoping I'd hear something but there was only silence I looked out the window afterwards but all I could see was the house next to ours and not much else I decided to take enough to try and pass the time I wasn't sure when Jack would be back and I was getting quite Restless eventually I fell asleep I remember dreaming that I was chained to a bed and was being watched by something I woke up in sweat I was tempted to call out for Jack but I could hear a noise I walked over to the door slowly and could very clearly hear heavy breathing coming from the other side of the door I tried to look through the crack under the door but could only see a dark shadow when I peered through it suddenly I could hear knocks on the door it wasn't the same special knock that Jack had done the knocks got louder and louder and soon it sounded like someone was slamming their whole body against the door I covered my mouth just in case but I didn't scream I looked around the room for something I could use as a weapon and the spare room was scarcely decorated I picked up the lamp hoping it suffice the knocks and slams eventually stopped and the house again became silent completely silent except for the very distinct and heavy breathing I stood at the door ready with a lamp in hand for what felt like eternity then footsteps at first they were moving quickly and quietly but then became slow and loud with every thug who were getting louder and louder closer and closer whoever was there unlocked the door then I heard the knock of Jack's special mark you can't come out now race it didn't sound like Jack though it actually sounded like someone mimicking Jack I didn't dare to speak I stood there watching the lamp holding my breath saying a silent prayer you can come out now race the voice yelled over and over piercing my ears and then again silence every so often I can hear the sounds of chains and every so often the footsteps approach the door and do Jack's special and I'm told I can come out the mimicking is getting closer and closer to the sound of my child but I know it's not him I know it's not safe I am NOT coming [Music] my wife and I have the most amazing little boy he's only two but he's already smart funny caring and generous we are so blessed to have him in our lives Natasha and I suffered for years and years of infertility and I do not use the word lightly we suffered emotionally physically and financially for 10 years we went to different doctors for their hearts money even our family's money and so many hours into starting our family we endured everything you could think home countless bottles of vitamins drugs hormone therapy and procedure after procedure but everything seemed to fail we were beginning the adoption process and looking into different agencies when we decided to give it one last shot we were all in as my wife liked to say so what was one more thing to add to the list it couldn't hurt could it lo and behold it worked just over nine months later we had a little boy of our own it was absolutely perfect born April 21 2017 with dimples just like mine we immediately fell in love postpartum was so hard on her she was so disappointed she couldn't breastfeed so she made sure she did everything else and read every book and blog out there she could find she did every bottle feeding every diaper change or him around the house like a kangaroo you name it she did it she does a wonderful job and he is absolutely devoted to her he just won't call her mom no other form of mom either no mama or mommy or even MA he calls her Terra which we assume is short for Natasha it is breaking my heart and it's slowly breaking my wife's heart as well I see it in her eyes every time our little man runs at me when I come home from work shouting daddy as he leaps into my arms I see her smile fade when my mother comes to visit and he calls her Nana it isn't that he doesn't love Natasha he cuddles and plays with her they sing and have adorable dance routines even inside jokes that crack both of them up it is just concerning sometimes and I know it bothers her especially when we all play together sometimes we would be tossing the ball around or something simple as such and I will go bring the ball to mommy hoping he will run it over to Natasha but time after time again he will run straight to the basement door look back at us and smile it was the strangest thing he has always done it and we just can't figure out why it's not like he knows that is where we buried her Karen I think that was for me his biological mother he would have no memory of her at all he only spent ten minutes downstairs in total once he was born we immediately brought him upstairs to his new room in fact he hasn't been downstairs since the day you should have no memory of this event why when he just called him out I don't know why did it but I guess curiosity will eventually catch up to the cap it started about a year ago with me just watching youtube videos on my laptop nothing serious just those four true scary deep web horror stories type of videos and I found it interesting how possible and realistic all the story sounded and I would watch them every night before I went to bed then I moved on to informational videos about how to access the Deep Web and what software would keep you safe from anyone with bad intentions I never really considered using any of it just thought it was something cool to learn about however I eventually moved past the initial law it forgot completely about the ability to access the Deep Web well about three weeks ago I decided to watch another one of those scary videos and then I watched a video on how to access their lower levels of the web I was extremely bored and decided to download the software necessary and plan on just browsing the web sites only slightly below the surface web after about thirty minutes of setting everything up I realized that some of the software would cost money I just decided to say screw it and look around without any protection software I mean it's just like the normal web if you don't go anywhere stupid right eventually I got bored of the normal internet and I found myself on a deep web search page there were lists of different services products and so on one that really stood out to me was the webcam and security camera website a place in which anyone could watch whatever was being viewed on many compromised cameras around the world it just blew my mind I wish I had stopped there with curiosity again brought out my inner cap I decided to click on the website and was faced with hundreds of different perspectives all from different cameras in different countries I decided that I would come back to the website another time and try to hit the back arrow in the top left corner of my open tab the page didn't respond froze for about two minutes and then the entire top closed I was a bit confused at what had just happened but didn't think much of it this morning I decided to open up the software yet again the first time in three weeks to be exact and I Nava gated my way back to the security-camera website this time however it looked much different instead of hundreds of different camera streams it was only one Sydney camera view being displayed I recognized myself and my room immediately as I looked up in the camera on top of my laptop the image on the screen played back my movement with only a second or two of delay there were instructions in the screen as well and I think I've done everything perfectly you watching this video should be enough time for everything to run its course I'm sorry I want you to know that because you haven't done anything but I guess life's not fair and a person as myself knows how to make other people curious I like your outfit by the way it suits your hair color you might be confused don't worry they'll be in contact so I always loved my twin sister Amy we were the perfect cliche of identical twins doing everything together finishing each other's sentences and playing pranks on people we had a happy childhood and for a good few years everything went fine it was only in the end of our adolescence that it became clear we weren't going to be two peas in a pod forever Amy started to hang out with people I didn't like and became troublesome for our parents we grew apart I was in school clubs and dating she was skipping classes doing god-knows-what at only 17 she always smelled of booze and looked tired and stoned sometimes the police would ring her home for trespassing or shoplifting by then I realized that she didn't have a bright future ahead but I still loved her with all my heart the years went by I went to college got married and had a somewhat simple and boring but stable life amy was barely able to graduate high school it was only able to get by because of our parents pity for her she was on and off rehab on and off temporary jobs on enough with dangerous-looking boyfriends we didn't know what to do about her anymore I tried so hard to be supportive but I had my own life to take care of she always found a way back to her addictions one day Amy simply disappeared she vanished it was painful and stressful for our family but we easily accepted that some violent drug dealer got her and maybe it was for the best to die young instead of keep suffering for a long time I started to get anxious I had constant nightmares of being stopped strangled or locked up forever I thought observed at home my husband and parents told me that I was being paranoid I was under an extreme amount of stress and was even considering spending some time in a mental ward for my home sake I've been fighting my whole life to avoid falling into the craziness that runs in the family not now what I thought I'm strong I can handle this alone so I agreed with going to therapy and nothing more after a few weeks missing Amy was back she simply showed up at my house and she was never gone she looked healthier than ever insane while I look like a mess emaciated from worrying too much and with huge dark circles under my eyes from avoiding sleep because I was too terrified of the nightmares I've been stalking you Alice I want to start over but I can't do that under my own skin so I need yours at that moment Amy was more Alice than me it was astounding during the few weeks she disappeared she's been watching me all the time I don't know how but she had perfectly mimic to my whole demeanor my usual haircut my signature she was able to convince anyone and everyone that I was her so just like that I was put in the mental asylum for two whole years for 730 entire days and planned my revenge I was cautious I didn't want to actually become crazy the medication was so strong sometimes I was knocked out for days straight but I had a purpose I used to love my sister but she ruined her life then stole mine so now I hate her and now she has to pay for two full years amy slept with my husband like she was me for two years she smiled and cackle when she deserved to be miserable for two years she had our parents love all for herself and they pitted me all together so I killed her I strangled my own sister with my bare hands buried the body in the backyard and made a garden above the corpse I took my place back I took my life back the fools didn't notice a thing nobody knows they think amy is gone for good with some outlaws she is somehow it's all their fault am I going crazy like her by losing it I'll tell your secret now whenever I look in the mirror I see my reflection laughing at me [Music] every time I get a box in my doorstep my skin crawls I used to have panic attacks but now I know that a the creepy gift will only come on my birthday and be it's inevitable I never had simple pleasures such as waiting happily for something I bought online or living for many years in the same house I've been moving every year and this person still finds me according to my parents the McCobb tradition started when I was 10 my mother got an unknown box addressed to me her only daughter and naturally opened it to check it out at 45 she literally had a heart attack but my parents were still able to hide its various contents from me we moved to another house and they were the ones to find my creepy gift the next year yet again when I turned 12 living and yet another house I found the box for the first time needless to say it really messed up my head my parents tried to tell me that it was a sick joke and that the thing was a fake one for a while I tried to believe it but it was hard because I had to spend all my birthday's at a police station and the policeman never addressed that like it was fake I don't have friends or a boyfriend and I live in fear I've been homeschooled after I was 12 and always worked home office the only thing I ever did outside of my house was going to therapy my parents are getting too old to move around every year I've been living on my own lately it's fine as long as my lease and bills are under someone else's name it makes me feel like I have some control over my life I legally changed my name twice but this person still finds me happy birthday to me I'm spending it to the police station yet again testifying the same thing all over no I don't know who this person could be yes I tried setting up cameras I tried having both policemen and private security at my doorstep to catch them but it was to no avail no nothing out of the ordinary happened to me in the last couple of days or in any other day of the year for that matter no no one has ever tried to kill me they never wronged anybody they never accidentally witness a crime I never did anything that could make a murderer target me because this much is pretty clear my predator is a murder every year I got a woman's scalp I already got all types of slaughtered females old young middle-aged blonde brunette this time it was clear that the head belong to a very young female she couldn't have been older than 10 my heart sank I hate how they always ask twice if I don't have any enemies if I didn't steal someone's boyfriend because that's the first thing that goes to your mind I guess killing someone who's sending their head to your rival there are many things about the situation there are even creepier than the scalps the first of course is that I do my best to hide whenever I move to a new place but the person doing this always finds me the second is that the box always has fingerprints of a single person all over it he or she doesn't even try to hide it whenever the police checks them out there's never among as if this person doesn't exist or it doesn't exist yet am I too crazy to consider that my attacker is a time traveler the third thing was done when the police technicians run the DNA tests from the scalps they always find the same result year after year the dead female is me you know that feeling you get when you're alone in the dark the one that's not there during the daylight or if there's someone else there beside you you may have discussed this feeling with your friends laughed it off as you told them that you found yourself running up the stairs last night hardly daring but unable to stop yourself glancing back down into the dark everyone knows that feeling right now there is a woman in the basement storage room her office building searching through boxes and files with a torch for last year's tax return the air is very still but the hairs on the back of her neck are rising as though there is a breeze she glances back over her shoulder towards the door but sees nothing she flicks through the papers a little faster suddenly desperate for the chatter of the office above her that moment for her at least is endless there is a young man walking home from the bus stop down a short path enveloped by trees it cuts five minutes from his journey and he always takes it without thinking but one sees on the path out of the soft orange glow of the streetlights he regrets his decision every whisper of the wind every rustle of the leafs makes him cast his eyes back behind him in another minute or so he will emerge onto the street and forgotten about this feeling completely until next time somewhere else there's a girl in the shower washing her hair this is usually a mundane task that she completes with barely a thought but tonight she's alone in the house something is different she keeps opening her eyes soap burning through her retinas to confirm that the bathroom is still empty she feels exposed in a way that she never does when her parents are downstairs watching the television unseen but their presence is still known another one in the living room of a shared flat the flatmate left an hour ago or so through an archway in the corner of the eye is the dark empty space of the kitchen they realized that their eyes keep drifting over to that space until they are staring wide-eyed and the blackness they lick their lips thirsty they do not venture into the dark kitchen or much craved a saguaro people have tried in the past to isolate and examine that feeling find the reason for its being explain it away with science and comforting natural logic they've all failed of course the feeling is not natural because when it perceives is not natural you always tell yourself they were just being paranoid and that it's just the leftover spooks from that last horror movie watched but I'm afraid that feeling it's very real it's primal and it knows it puts you on high alert because it senses danger and the eerie feelings come from not being able to perceive it with your first five senses of course there's an easier way of describing this feeling this thing that comes over you in the dark empty spaces you find yourself in it's me turn off the light will you Freddy wasn't your typical thirteen-year-old he was an [ __ ] if he wasn't in his bedrooms screaming at video games you are scaring his seven-year-old sister every traumatizing prank he pulled on little Anna would be worse than the last once even told her that their mother had been murdered and cover in the kitchen floor would ketchup for maximum effect he was the reason she was so unstable she would often tell their mother that she had heard whispers and had even seen ghosts wander around the house at night Freddy would giggle that almost proud of the damage he had done but unfortunately for Anna it was never enough for him felt compelled to break her completely the storm had kept Freddy awake that night restlessly he tossed and turned and boarded for a while he tried to count sheep but even that didn't help in defeat he laid mindlessly watching the raindrops slide down his window lightning flashed suddenly illuminating his entire room was soon followed by a deafening very smile he knew what was then to come Freddy heard his sister crying through the wall closely followed by faint pitter-patter as she ran to their mother's room this was it his moment of fun he crept down the hallway and into Anna's metro prowled around her room like a serial-killer study every injury countless ideas rush through his mind then he saw the closet Freddie waited in the dark for what seemed like forever peering through a small gap between the closet doors yet decided but when his sister returned and settled into bed he would begin to whisper then while she was completely terrified who had burst out and run out her screaming at the top of his lungs he had almost lost all hope who was about to leave when he heard the footsteps approaching his mother opened the bedroom door and Anna slowly shuffled in he was sucking her thumb and dragging her favorite blanket behind her as she crawled into bed Freddie couldn't help but grin in excitement Freddie watched in silence as their mother talked Anna tightly into bed plant a big kiss on her forehead and finally said midnight he waited anxiously until he heard his mother's door closed before beginning this is it he thought shaking in delirium the moment I break her Danya ready whisper at the continent she didn't respond and he continued still no response I'm in the closet Anna come play with me he harshly croaked not tonight Lucy Anna calmly replied Freddy frowned in confusion she must be sleep talking he thought when he got data that's not a hand reached out from behind the moon pulled Freddy back in the darkness and clutched over his mouth with a cold tight grip she said not tonight I'm a young man in my 20s the typical kind you would say I had a girlfriend until she was killed in her own room thousands of miles away from me I witness everything over Skype it was a late autumn afternoon i sat down on the couch with my laptop and pressed called I'm Skype me and my girl we had been in this relationship for longer than most people would expect from a pair of Millennials living on the opposite side of the globe the Skype thing for us was kind of a schedule daily ritual but bridged the distance and sustained a lot a healthy habit if you may the ringing tone stretched out into what sounded like millennia I smiled getting ready to greet her blissful face always too close to the camera that was what was special about her a certain clumsiness and innocence of every little thing she did from the big brown sparkly eyes from the unknown baby hair from the killer smile that my thoughts were violently interrupted when a masked figure appeared in the car window I yelped but the deep dark stare from behind the eye cutouts stained undisturbed it looked unapologetically at the camera then slowly backed up letting the whole scene be captured my heart tensed my girlfriend was lying on her bed motionless the masks thing grabbed her and jerked her head up to look straight at me it's finger pointed at the bloody mess that now covered the entire room then moved up to its lips in a shushing gesture the brutality of the scene paralysed me my seat I covered my mouth with my hands to stop myself from vomiting my eyes stayed fixed and frozen in the surreal sight in front of me a silent scream was lost amid the vortex of emotions inside my brain the masked killer dropped my girlfriend's head went at me then quietly left out of the room silence I was left there staring at a corpse of the girl I loved lying on the bed that turned crimson from her blood a physical metaphor for the bed of roses that once promised her I guess you get what you deserve I thought bitterly impressed and called I sip my coffee satisfied not letting my guilt take over the pleasure I gave myself a 10 out of 10 for such a genius plan of hiring an assassin to murder my cheating girlfriend all I needed to do was to pick up the phone and call her local police station and to play the role of the distraught witness thousands of miles away the phone rang as I reached for it mildly perplexed I took the call they aged me it looks like someone is with her a man probably her new you know guy have to postpone a surprise party today speak later said the distorted voice the assassin I hired [Music] the headaches were there in the beginning I remember the pain better than I remember my first words or my first day at school mom used to say Donny Glanville you think too much you'll stress yourself out but despite my greatest attempts despite meditation alcohol smoking all the good and bad you can name as an escape detention at the top of my skull never went away my first doctor wrote it off as a psychological issue but I wasn't psycho of anything the pain for me was all too real I happened to be clever and overachiever the advice given by parents and teachers was to not be so hard on myself I was doing great already I took their advice at face value I learned to live with it by the time 28 rolled around I was used to the pain I had my own place I was dating a girl I had a good job the tension was part of who I was in fact something about being in this state of despair made me work harder it made me want to prove that the pain meant something almost as if I had rid myself of the burden Dana and I decided to start a family it had been both of our dreams my family would make us happy we tried we tried so hard this time the doctor said that I had to relax that the stress was harming our chances several months later Dana left me she said that was miserable I was if you said I needed to get myself sorted I needed to get rid of whatever I was holding on to I needed help all I wanted was to live a normal life this time I was put in line for an MRI in my local the pain had never been worse what had once been an ache in my skull had spread to my neck and shoulders the doctor stared at his computer screen sweat being across his forehead I'm not sure how to say this he said spit it out doc the doctor pause you have a tumor in the base of your skull that's not all the doctor said it's growing hair teeth arms and legs it's been living inside of me for god knows how long I swallow trying to process what he just said its fingers have been praying away at the inside of your skull for for what looked like years we've got days maybe hours mr. Klatt feel we must act the pressure on the top of my head increased there was a sharp prick from inside the skin and the warm dribble rolled down the back of my neck I think it's finally coming out I hate my hair it's so plain and boring mousy brown and poker straight the only thing it has going for it is its length which is midway down my back still it's impossible to put it in any other style than the one of its 14 since I was 12 loose and parted in the middle plain hair framing a plain face which is why on a Friday evening I'm sitting cross-legged on my bed listening to Stevie Wonder records and idly running a brush through my hair instead of being on a date like my door mate Rachel who is blonde and busily signing and tossing the brush aside I pulled on a cardigan and go out for a walk along the campus our doors is dusky and tepid with a gentle breeze lifting the strands of hair our solos my head is down as I walk to avoid anyone I might know I'm just not in the mood for any interaction and that's when I bumped into him I can hear the thumbs of books falling on the ground immediately I bend down to retrieve them apologies tumbling from my lips I'm so sorry I wow he's good looking really good looking unlike the boys have seen around here thick dark hair great bone structure so well dressed oh my god now I really feel bad it's okay don't worry about it it's fine his voice is smooth and deep with a faint accent I can't quite place I'm the one who thought I could carry all these books who just want arm I don't realize that I'm still holding on to the books until he reaches for them here let me I'm not sure when my boldness is coming from I don't socialize with boys all that much but despite him being the best looking guy I've ever seen my ability to talk is as easy as breathing where are you headed I can carry this for you if you like so you don't drop them again I said his smile his knee weakening I would like that very much I'm just heading to my car he said jerking his head in the direction of the parking lot on the way there he complimented my hair I responded by blushing and dropping my head so it falls in my face like a curtain telling him how much I hated it well I think it's just lovely and I believe him we reach his false wagon beetle still feeling bold as I watch him out lock his car I say I'm Sabrina by the way what's your name Theodor he opens the door and turns to look at me this time his smile is accompanied by an odd hardness in his eyes but you can call me Ted [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good deeds really don't go unpunished huh I thought to myself staring at the symbols on my left hand all I did was help an elderly woman carry her baggage to her car it was just a random act of kindness I wasn't expecting anything in return I wasn't expecting her to tell me that I was going to die I wasn't expecting a timer to appear in my hand to keep track of it the old woman then said this before she left you should be thankful young man humans become complacent alaya falsely assuming that their lifespan will be long and healthy i knowing that their times can be much shorter than they think by revealing your untimely death I have given you the opportunity to avoid that path live your remaining life to the fullest live without regrets the timer was the only thing keeping my denial in check nobody else could see it but me it took a few days to accept this fountain but eventually I took action with 21 days left knowing my death gave me enough courage to confess to my crush in college I was unceremoniously rejected in hindsight I guess being rejected was the better option than being in a couple for just a few weeks with 13 days love have been volunteering to be a dog walker for the shelters I've done this enough times that they get excited when they see me in the shelter if I had enough time I would have adopted one with five days left I've gotten pretty close with my younger sister this took a while as she considered my change of attitude towards her very suspicious couldn't exactly tell her nor my parents that I was passing away soon with no proof to show eventually she opened up to me and made me realize how little I actually knew about my younger sibling and now here I am just a few minutes before midnight before my last day starts I've already went to the bank to make sure my sister inherits my accounts I've written a note for my parents to see explaining my situation and how much I love them everything was set as I was getting ready for bed my phone started to vibrate it was an emergency alert message from the government emergency the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has reported that a vestal level asteroid is heading towards Earth the asteroid is said to impact earth within 24 hours [Music] it was raining I think it was or maybe my face was soaked for my own unrelenting tears there were a few people present at my father's funeral he wasn't well liked but he always tried to please others I was just there for closure he made me miserable sighing heavily was the last clumps of dirt were packed atop his grave I lowered my head and touched the headstone leaning down to say goodbye again to voice how I will never forgive him for all the emotional abuse searing pulsating pain in the right side of my head that darkness I'm in a cramped place I can barely move what there's someone here I gig through my pocket to use my phone you see where I am it makes no sense I look around and scream I'm in the casket I taught my father then movement light goes on the fabric on the lid seems to glow my heart is studying in my head panic grips my entire body I move the fabric aside to see a screen i ginger ly touch it as clicking and more rice sounds from all around me fill the small space I felt like falling off the edge of a mattress on the ground my father's body is gone the screen flickers as my father's face come into focus bye dear Ava my body has been shattered by this disease but I've been offered another chance but but it comes for the price blood for blood I made a deal with the devil you were destined to do many good things your spirit is pure the devil offered my life in exchange for yours my eyes widened in terror you won't be dragged to hell no but you will live out a short remainder of your time in this casket as long as the oxygen lasts maybe that is a small comfort I scream impounded fully knowing that it was pointless that bastard this can't be real the body was in mine but a fake made to be a placeholder so that suspicion do not arise you deciding to have a funeral with a closed casket did help to avoid any questions I saw ice cream then I remembered my phone I tried to call my fiance who went to wait in the car no signal I do feel badly Ava dear that this is the only way as a precaution a signal jammer has been consumed to the hardware of Telecaster and my vision blurred my chest felt tight slamming the screen with his vile face made his voice shudder and the device turned off darkness silently I cry knowing no one will find it despair I stopped quietly as the air feels thicker my gas until the sweetness of oxygen becomes less and less and then I just see [Music] stop whining i hissed you're going to do whatever it takes to repay Miss clover for the damage she caused it throw or kicked or battered a baseball through her front window pain obliterating framed photographs piano keys candlesticks and tiny crystal animals thousands of dollars of damage it was just his latest calamity I gave the doorbell another poke what will she make me do though wine James clean up the mess you caused for starters then I don't know maybe some weeding up back helping unload groceries polishing shoe leather whatever she needs help with finally miss clover silhouette peered through the frosted glass of the front door paraded open cautiously craning her neck past the door jamb so sorry again miss clover I said poking James forward but James is here to make things right she held her head tight literally looking down her nose at him is that right James she asked James looked at me you can answer yourself i prodded he gazed up at miss clover yes ma'am she allowed him the hint of a smile cast the door wide and ushered him in I'll be back at 5:00 I called I'm not sure miss clover heard me over the slamming front door I arrived a bit late but I figured it might serve James well to prolong his torture a few minutes it took three or four rings for Miss clover to materialize but when she did she looked very pleased as he repaired his debt I joke oh she sighed there's still work to be done but James was very helpful mind if I take a look at the state of things I ask please she answered beckoning me into the party the place looked immaculate all the crystal creatures had been swept up pictures framed candlesticks replaced two of the piano keys I notice were still cracked and broken these were ivory I asked alas yes is clover answer I can grind up a good replacement I've still got an old moulding it won't be quite the same as ivory though shame they nodded frowning in solidarity is it all right if I take James home then for today at least oh yes if you said brightly I think he's given everything he can you may want to wait a spell though he is still icing his gums I halted mid Stefan is what daddy I heard James called a noticeable Lisp in his voice he bolted into the parlor his face puffy and red he wrapped his arms tight around me what what did you do to him miss clover Faro around I took what was owed she said it was then and I noticed the bronze plated plate beside the piano bench the heavy iron pliers inside and they're in a cluster at the bottom of the bucket twenty pearly white milk teeth some still paint with blood [Music] I sipped my white wine and waited for the next speed-date these short sweet and simple interactions were just what I needed after finally getting rid of my god awful nightmare of a husband once and for all there were plenty of better fish in that wait here swims one now he was kind of short and certainly older and then my 36 years young but his stride was confident and his smile easy Reba he asked Henry I replied shaking his offered hand he sat down so what do you do I sell life insurance by recited slightly disappointed by his generic opener you I'm a psychic oh I part out that's different reading people's lives and futures it certainly is I see and are you reading me right now is he being honest or just flirting I wondered he smiled mysteriously if you like he put his hands palm up from the table they were surprisingly weather and scarlet this was moving quite fast but I guess it was speed dating after all I took his hands he closed his eyes you drive a red car the company starts with a G you have to know three siblings you're 36 he opened his eyes I removed my hands grow I leaned back sipped my life and considered my words that's very good Henry and quite correct however I don't really know you that sort of information can be easily reached these days so you'll forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical you smirk I'm glad your souther he said softly I'd lanced in the wall clock oh why this time he didn't take my hands and kept his eyes open when you were six you caught a spider and released it into your friend's bedroom as a prank and fortunately the spider was poisonous your friend was bitten and he almost died you kept this a secret and he still doesn't know you did it I stared at him in shock his memories came flooding back I had never told anyone that story before I could reply he continued also you're still married but separated from your husband my whole body tensed this wasn't fun anymore well he was an abusive [ __ ] but you already knew that right I said is that why you asked her sister to hire someone to kill him cold fear immediately gripped my stomach I could barely breathe how did you because miss look of he said leaning forward I am the man she hired his face twisted into a smuggler what do you want well do you remember the handsome fee you paid for my services after meeting your husband a fascinating man with many and music stories he offered me double that amount to kill you so what I want to know is do you have an even better counteroffer for me panicked tore through me please sir I don't [Music] what are you afraid of what shows you to your very core we all have one thing is it dark a blackness so pure then you can see your hand in front of your face could you last being lost in the woods hiding from both the known and unknown wondering if you'll ever make it home are you afraid of ghosts does the idea of demons and spirits make me nervous or maybe it's just people killers sick twisted psychopath they want to make you scream not sure we will figure it out for you what are you waiting for click here this was the advertisement Monday night on my Instagram feed my closest friends and girlfriend clicked and filled out a short quiz that followed I wasn't really interested I was never too big on those online quizzes when my friend Chris the arrogant son of a [ __ ] she was filled it out he told me it was [ __ ] he never admitted to being afraid of anything after he completed the quiz he received an email simply saying thank you your results are pen nothing ever came Sam my girlfriend also filled out a quiz she's obsessed with online quizzes even the stupid ones look what kind of squirrel are you she received the same email it was pretty bummed out when she was left hanging my best buddy Joe took the quiz since he loved all things horror he had the biggest collection of horror movies that I've ever seen the same email this all happened Monday it's Friday now two days later a video spread all over social media foreign crisps pissing himself while passed out drunk and a party he hung himself that night in his garage with an extension cord Sam's mom had a psychotic break and has been tied to her bed post since Wednesday they called a priest and he has been with her ever since her family doesn't want to go public but they believe she's been possessed what must be Joe was found in his bedroom at least what was left of him pieces of flesh were Stern all about his room blood stain all over the wall his head was removed and a grisly cut was made straight down the center cops found a chainsaw covered in blood at the end of a trail of footprints leading from his bedroom through the house out into the backyard I didn't take the quiz when David but the next night I couldn't sleep I took the quiz my results [Music] [Music] the bar was closed and Morris hadn't had a bite all night maybe he was getting picky or maybe the city was just running dry for an old Fox like him all the pretty and dumb girls hunted to extinction no there were always others he pulled out his phone perhaps to prove it to himself there were more bars after all secret places that stayed open all night he just needed a ride the first and only ride offered made his heart go pitter-patter Amanda he said out loud chewing each syllable like a last meal no stars no history a little lamb all alone on a Tuesday night she was there in two minutes driving a little green Japanese thing and waving through a tinted window Morris helped himself diving into the passenger seat lovely night isn't it Amanda the girl found her eyes dancing over so slightly in her skull I think you're supposed to be in the backseat no no I get sick in the back she was small and maybe a little plump for his taste but the face was good the face was just his type okay she said she would be there in five minutes take your time said Morris the car was cramped but it would do spacious enough for what he needed first night the girl considered the question just new to this up oh of course said Morris with a lot what color are your eyes Amanda the quiet is striking the girl flinch unconsciously turning her head away you think so I do said Morris and I meet a lot of girls but hardly with any eyes looked at but some now more is flinched more out of surprise than anything 1 or 2 the girl nodded my sister has eyes just like me I wouldn't mind meeting her then I bet she's just as pretty as Morris looked out the window he hadn't been paying attention to the road only Amanda I think you're going the wrong way they pulled to a stop I'm tired of an abandoned warehouse you've already met my sister said the girl she's killing the engine I don't think you've met the rest of my family though five men came out of the warehouse followed by two women and then carried baseball bats and big heavy wrenches the women looked just like Amanda an older version and a slightly younger version both those same striking eyes it wasn't sure which op you used so I sunned up for all of them said the girl you know I could have killed her said Morse voice raising as the panic slowly crept him I didn't go the man reached the car yanking open the passenger side door don't worry said the girl as they dragged the screaming Morris out onto the pavement we won't make that same mistake [Applause] [Music] it's not the cheating that bothers me Jim said my wife and it's the lying I just want you to be honest with me all the time even when it hurts can you do that yes I said I promise but I was lying and then she died and in the year since then I didn't sleep with a single woman ironic right also after that year I became sure that Anne was visiting me I felt her presence I smelled her perfume so strongly it's like it was spray directly at my face my birthday was coming up and Lucy our seven-year-old was making a special present it was top secret apparently every day after school she locked herself in her room and worked on it until dinnertime I had absolutely no idea what she was doing in there occasionally I heard her talking faintly through the door but mostly it was dead quiet however she was extremely serious about keeping it a secret she reminded me daily not to look I told her I wouldn't do you promise she would ask intensely then she'd stare at me with her sharp eyes her mother's eyes yes I would say I promise but after two weeks I felt I had to step in something just wasn't right anymore so when she was at school I searched every inch of her room for her project but I found absolutely nothing it was so strange but I decided to just monitor the situation finally it was my birthday and I have to admit my curiosity was piqued after breakfast she made me sit on her bed with my eyes closed then I heard her knock three times on something pause then open it it sounded like her closet she repeated this over and over but also seemed to grow more and more frustrated I had no idea what the hell she was doing but she refused to let me open my eyes eventually she threw herself onto the bed the closet door was open it's not working she cried then she looked up at me accusatorial you must have looked did you look I felt guilty no I told her I never looked do you promise yes eventually if you told me the truth I've been trying to bring mommy back from the dead hole chills entered me what what do you mean Elinor told me to I came to her Elinor was my wife's middle name who's Elinor I asked she pointed at her laptop my stomach drop I reminded her about not talking to strangers online she tried to show me some chats but they were gone we tried to find Elinor but she had vanished too after that day the visits from my wife stopped his time passed I couldn't help but wonder crazy as it might sound what would have happened if I kept my promise what would have happened if I hadn't looked [Music] it started around puberty the defiance the swearing blocking his bedroom door playing loud music I don't know when he started using drugs he didn't even have money to keep up without habit so he started selling them then he started stealing I tried talking to him but he wouldn't listen sometimes he shouted over me or raised his fist his stepfather bill intervened once and Wanda with a black eye it was ruining our marriage bill spent long days outside driving the fields over and over with Harold loosening up dirt with plenty we barely talked we were never intimate so what I found Joey's note on the counter last Friday announcing he had gone to live with his father as much as I was upset I was also relieved bill robbed my back while I saw and it was me not him that said maybe this is for the best I put Joey out of my mind as best as I could for the weekend and it worked but I actually found myself smiling for the first time in months on Monday I decided to call his father to make sure that he had arrived all right make sure he was eating make sure he wasn't in jail already the little [ __ ] never came here his father said I collapsed on the floor what do you mean bill asked as startled as I was I called the police I called the hospitals I even called the fire department their calmness in the face of my despair was maddening finally I tried calling Joey it rang endlessly that went into voicemail I'm not here so I fought said my son's recorded voice leave him a message bill suggested they'll call back soon I'm sure but I needed to talk to him now I called again and again on probably the tenth call I began to hear something it was faint but I could swear I heard Joey's phone ringing somewhere in the distance he must have been squatting out in one of the old bars of the property where we sorted hay and farm equipment it's raining Mary bill called after he had it heard the ringing I kept reading every time he went into voicemail I followed it backward and forward brought to the horse paddocks louder here quieter they're listening intently to figure out where it was coming from I expected it to be drawn towards one of the barns but instead I found myself circling back over and over for specific spots in the middle of an empty field to some freshly churned soil where bill had been planning to plant I dialed again and lowered my ear to the dirt I could hear the phone ringing louder than anywhere else bill I saw had caught up to me bill I began my voice shaky did you he swallowed hard not meeting my gaze silence and then bill look at me who said he was tearing us apart nobody in that small town ever respected Harry but all that changed with a simple ingredient no one ever liked Harry when he was a little fat kid on the playground or when he was an even fatter kid in high school they certainly did not when he dropped out to go to culinary school no one would ever believe you if you told them that they would worship Him one day no one knows where Harry went for a few years but when he returned he opened up a diner right in the center of town within a year it was the only thing people talked about everyone ain't there ask anyone and they would tell you why Harry's diner has the best em food simple as that it really was people loved it hated by the pound breakfast lunch and dinner Harry's Harry's and Harry's it became an obsession some people even started setting up camp outside just so they could be the first in line for breakfast Aires got so popular that he put the supermarket out of business the other restaurants closed soon as well no one was too bothered by that everyone who worked at those places just started eating at Harry's that was only the beginning people loved that food so much didn't do anything for Harry bar Moomin traded her firstborn child for a week free meal made another man killed his best friend just because he could it wasn't long before Harry had a whole army that would do anything just for the taste of what he would cook up next nowadays there's not much left of that town other than Harry's of course all of the homes are worn and faded the grass grows unchecked and trash sits out at the curb people wandered the streets in Hayes waiting for their next meal the town even gave Harry access to their tornado siren it's wailing song signals the next feast at night the whole rune of the town basked in the neo light from the diner sign there his name proudly looking down over its subjects a whole kingdom to call his own he deserved it after all he really did have the best em food simple as that but it wasn't because of salt pepper or paprika not because of the Chiefs or the butter either not even because of the factory frozen meat use it was the heaven I've been having blackouts for almost a year now but no one seems to notice the first time was that my 16th birthday party my family threw for my cousin Adam his dad got him a DVD of a horror movie he loved and we decided to watch it so it's only Adam had seen it before I was really looking forward to watching that movie but then I fell asleep just when he was getting started when I woke up the end credits for rolling everyone was talking about their favorite parts of the movie Denis was more into it than any of us Adam said about me and at the same time I assumed it was a joke for a while I thought I was just falling asleep at strange times then in geography class I blacked out like I always did when I woke up however I looked down to see a page full of notes on the lesson all in my handwriting it was like I wasn't actually gone just running on autopilot I tried to keep track of when I blacked out to see if I could figure out what could be causing it but then fall asleep and wake up to find my record is missing or destroyed I take notes on my arm fall asleep then find them scrubbed away someone or something was trying to stop me from understanding it I could feel myself losing grip on reality they didn't think anyone would believe me eventually I figured it out pattern was both simple and cruel anything that felt refreshing was being taken away from him anything that relaxed and recharged me was being stolen I would get the physical benefits of downtime by not the experience my stomach would be full after a blackout but I did not get to enjoy the meal it made my life absolutely miserable yesterday I finally broke down and told Adam everything while I was at his house we were hanging out while our parents were at the movies and then he asked me if something was wrong I just lost it I told him that I was having a breakdown and he offered to help Adam called our parents but none of them answer we knew where theater our parents were out so we decided to take the bus there tell our parents what was going on we took our seats on the bus and Adam put a hand on my shoulder and figure it out Dennis don't worry I was so relieved I could barely hold back my tears I finally reached out for help someone was actually there for me then close my eyes just for a moment he was gone I was on a bus but it wasn't the same one it was the only passenger I looked down at my arm he saw something written on it in my own handwriting and will never find it do not make me do that many of the applicants came into our program with a romanticized idea of police work many envisioned an elegant battle of wits against wine swelling criminal masterminds many others were former high school bullies who were mostly interested in busting in some heads they didn't take my work as a corner too seriously for them a corpse was a clue to be sliced open and tossed aside the bethany was different she saw the cadavers as the people they had been worthy of respect she would whisper to them while she worked telling them the latest news they missed out on or how grateful she was to learn from them some of the students found it a bit off-putting but to me it was endearing and she always knew what she was doing which tools to use how to extract the organs properly IRA sewed the lips shut and so on it came as no surprise then to learn that she had been a morticians daughter she worked with her dad in some quaint rural village pruning up the bodies for funerals he had been something of a public servant as well being the only mortician for miles around she told me he would often offer his services for free to people who had died with our family and would stage a public viewing regardless of whether anyone came to visit the deceased he sounded like a kind-hearted man and I longed to meet him I wondered if he shared his daughters sense of galas you're an important tool for people who thrive in circumstances that would otherwise engender despair today we were discussing the process of decomposition and the weird things a body may do postmortem we'd already discussed coffin births an angel lust look them up if you dare so I decided to end on a lighter note corpse might blow it up with gaps and that gas needs to escape somehow I said pausing for dramatic effect corpse fart in other words the students laugh dispelling some of the tension in the room Bethany raised her hand the gases sometimes escape in other ways to out past the vocal cords so sometimes it sounds like they're moaning it was true the corpse sometimes moment and it was always unexpected and terrifying but then Bethany continued sometimes you said they even sound like they're streaming the other students cast each other sideways glances screaming impossible the vocal cords tightened when a person screams which requires an electrical impulse from the brain and corpse our brain did bethany please these kids are not the brightest and they don't know you're joking everyone laughed who's joking she asked deadpan I smiled try to think of a quick and smart comeback but then she added without a hint of humor it happened all the time when I worked in my dad's basement [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] everybody has moments like this I'm sure you've had many yourself a chance encounter a fleeting glimpse a split-second where you think maybe I should perhaps I gonna and many times when you've thought I wish I had just when it's been too late the moment has gone and then you mentally meet yourself for hesitating curse at yourself for being the type of person who takes too long to think so long that when a decision has been made it becomes null and void because the reason behind the decision no longer matters I used to be like that and then I decided to never again be indecisive no longer shall I be the person to walk by someone in need and have an argument with myself in my head all the while hoping someone else would take the matters out of my hands good Samaritans there's nearly always one around when the need is great I tried to be a good Samaritan no like right now standing beside this young man standing on the bridge tears in his eyes every now and then he mumbles to himself says he's no good tells himself the things would be better if he wasn't around I talked to him try to say the right things comfort him I tried to make sure not one word I say will convince him to take the next step I feel like he doesn't hear me but I remind myself then he has a lot on his mind too much I'll keep trying though maybe just one sentence will break his trends just a few words just one word the word that might make everything feel all right again feel like hope again it's a shame it's late at night a shame there's no one else to help him help me I've been standing with him for nearly an hour now and I'll carry on standing here trying to say the right things but I know cannot see me I'm a ghost a phantom just a tingling of lingering energy buzzing right here at the spot I took one step too many four years ago just like this young man it's a shame I wish I could really help him slowly as he grips the railing he lifts his leg and pulls it back over and on to the safety of the path he looks down into the abyss then turns towards me surely can see me but he whispers thank you then turns and walks away [Music] we live in the same day over and over literally October 23rd 2018 the day starts at 6 a.m. PST doesn't matter where you are in the world the day goes for 16 hours and then you fall asleep when you wake up everything is reset everything except your memory everyone gets to keep that for the first few weeks if you can even count these as weeks everyone was confused nobody could figure out what was going on most people didn't think it was real then came the various theories God was punishing us of course then people moved on to other things everything from aliens to global warming to changes in the migratory patterns of monarch butterflies was blamed scientists from all over the world worked hard trying to figure it out but I guess it's difficult to continue your work when everything keeps getting reset every 16 hours including things written on paper or saved on discs there are only so many complicated mathematical situations one can memorize I guess some people started to live a hedonistic life knowing that there's no tomorrow and therefore no consequences some people went the other way can kill themselves only to restore to life at 6:00 a.m. PST they had no memory of the time they spend out eventually even the scientists stopped trying or trying to keep track of the number of today's people adopted and try to make some sort of a life with the idea of no tomorrow and the virtual immortality that came with it this worked out well for some people especially the rich and not so well for others it was the worse with people like me who were dying before the loop began I was diagnosed with stage 5 cancer and given two weeks to live the pain is unbearable Italian US and the analgesic don't help that much most of the patients in my wing and I'm sure millions of others in similar conditions live in constant agony with no hope of a cure or death to take away the pain but I tried to look at it in a more positive way some kind of life is better than not I think lights out says nurse Snooks must be 9:55 p.m. she is one of the few people who still comes to work every day to take care of people like me truly an angel some kind of life is better than none I think again as I whined this strange golden block the mysterious woman gave me yesterday and set the hands to 6 a.m. [Music] [Music] he was an unpleasant man with dark secrets Ron didn't respond to or read most emails but this one broke through the haze of drugs and alcohol catching his bleary eye $1,000 to spend the night in a haunted house make it through eight rooms of terror and the money is yours no questions asked he read that right Ron cipher entertainment will pay you 10 crisp Van Franklin's to beta test our new Halloween spook house be at the corner of 10th and strip night at midnight next Tuesday and see if you have what it takes signed Luther cipher cipher entertainment the late fall chill seeped into his chatter in the army surplus code as he stood at the corner of 10th and strip 9 thinking of ways to spend his money he had visions of drugs and women logs evoke a sleek black limousine appeared around the corner and flashed high beams a door popped open and he folded his lanky frame into the plush backseat nice wheels he said there was no response from the smoked glass divider whatever piss out he says opening one of the ice beers on display in the backseat I could get used to this [ __ ] he thought 10 minutes later the limo pulled up in front of an old Victorian house in the far side of town the door popped open again and he slid out into the fog have yourself a nice evening he's hung up the nondescript stairs and into the dusty smelling foyer a door in the number one on it immediately appeared to his right and here we go he thought the first room was your standard Halloween house fair mannequins and fake blood a towering lunatic with a chainsaw and horror movie sounds over the loudspeaker nothing surprising he pushed through the door mark - and entered the darkened room immediately his nostrils were assailed by the thick smell of rot and corruption something small and wrapped in bandages lay unmoving in the corner something vaguely familiar he gagged and stumbled through the third door he found himself in an old apartment the one he had shared with death and little Jimmy Beth laid slumped in the ratty recliner a syringe in her arm Jimmy was cold and turning green half out of his crib he lunged for Jimmy moved to help him even as he knew the baby was far beyond help and watched in horror as the crib dissolved and became another door marked the number for the next four rooms were a yearly blur of crying infants terrible winged creatures the plush that his clothes ripped his flesh and nauseating huge syringes that stabbed at his eyes finally he came upon the door marked eight finally he thought he barely had any strength to push through the money on him all that money as he pushed through the door and entered what lay beyond the number eight slowly slowly turned on its side and stopped infinity [Music] I had always thought that I was adopted but mother and James he refused to be called father by the way told me that I was their little miracle wasn't until a bleak morning in May that I was finally bored enough to read the side of a milk carton on our rickety breakfast table Amanda price age six when abducted would now be 15 years old she was last seen wearing a white t-shirt and purple overalls if you have any information as to the whereabouts of Amanda price please call I dropped the carton milk came flying out in every direction leaving the room coated in the beverage I knew I was Amanda I had to be I had never felt like a Melissa I had never seen any photo of mother pregnant or a baby book reporting all of my mild storms James always brought me up in fights against mother the room spun and I let the creeping darkness of unconsciousness take me when I awoke I scribbled down the phone number from the spilled chug on my arm wiped up the mess with a paper towel and had it on my way to school there was a payphone outside the main office I could have some privacy I tried to explain the situation to the ruefully unprepared man on the other end of the line he offered to pick me off from school so he could take me to my real parents as someone who never fit in with my family this was a dream come true it wasn't until I was back in his chatty Shaka that beep that I noticed his printer it was large enough that he could print whatever he wanted to put cardboard his job as a grocery clerk allowed him to plant whatever images he pleased for the mail parties as I see my reflection he's not that I realize just how much when I met Jeremy he was a mess an endearing mess in truth it was basically a hoarder the mounds of hardcover books where furniture should go in shoeboxes full of photos from family reunions he hadn't especially enjoyed he just couldn't part with things which was sweet in a way but obnoxious as hell whenever we tried moving from one apartment to another and had to spend a full week repacking his ridiculous DVD collection we got older and got married and this tough just kept growing and growing until eventually it became a problem we couldn't ignore anymore we had a baby a beautiful boy named Harrison and the towers of stuff became too stressful for me our home was dangerous and I was scared Jeremy understood he's always been in pathetic in kind just flawed in this one silly way still I admit I was surprised that first day when Harrison and I came back from the park there was a noticeable gap in the corner of the house [Music] where are your CDs I asked digitalized said Jeremy beaming year-to-year stacks and piles of mountains of old CDs reduced to invisible diner I'll do the books next he said he did and suddenly it felt like our house was twice as big it felt almost empty I never thought to ask about the process frankly I wasn't interested but the results were incredible bit by bit Jeremy pared down our lives reducing the physical with a digital we weren't cramped anymore we were practically Spartan torn down to the bare central and everything captured under blood just a button press away but then one day I came home and there was an odd quiet in the house it took me a moment to realize what was missing honey where's Harrison I'll always remember Jeremy's face then he looked so proud and so serene but he understood something no one else could or ever would rather than respond he held up the tablet I thought he was showing me a video at first it was Harrison on a blanket in a bright room smiling and laughing but I didn't recognize the blanket or the room and Harrison who seemed to flicker and stutter and he was buffering pretty great right said Jeremy barely takes up any space this way you'd think I would have killed Jeremy then I wanted to I really did but something held me back I guess it was maternal instinct instead we made a deal and honestly it's not so bad down here at least I have my son who smiles and laugh and smile and laughs and cannot be taught and will never grow a digital baby in a digital room forever watched by a digital mother crying digital tears and we hardly take up any space at all [Music] [Music] since a very young age I've occasionally heard this banging sort of sound in my head it's a bit like a church bell though not quite as loud or penetrating a sound the best way I could describe it is a faint almost hum like in my head a lot like something you would hear in an old school Zelda game after some time i deciphered that I would hear this noise in the event that I was doing something for the last time seeing something unique saying something unique watching a terrible movie and knowing I'd never watch it again if I'd say a silly word that doesn't exist sure enough I would hear knowing I'd never say that exact word again at first it was quite annoying I would hear it as I visit a new place as I'd never see any of these strangers again fortunately with some practice and effort I was able to drown out these rings in favour of those that tend to be louder denoting a more impactful last time event as I grew up I began to hate this curves and quickly fell into depression saying goodbye to my friends at graduation only to be inundated with [Music] knowing with all of our separate ways and never speak again I'll never forget there I heard as I say goodbye to my father for the last time seconds before he peacefully passed away not to mention the numerous first dates I've been on hearing as we finish up tonight this has been years though with the help of my beautiful wife and daughter have managed to turn the ringing into something positive I decided to quit my drinking habit and after many harsh monks I finally heard that as I took my last shot of whiskey I recently had a Big Mac only to hear as I put it out and I've since dropped several pounds my wife is my biggest supporter and thought far the only person I've trusted to tell about the secret my wife and kid are leaving to spend some much-needed quality time together soon I love you I tell them as they're heading out the door [Music] everything hurts my thoughts are scrambled by a droning sound resembling millions of cicadas buzzing around in my head and my body is broken and destroyed I'm dying but the reaper is taking his time getting to me my distressed son paces in front of me holding the shotgun he used to turn everything below my kneecaps into pink mist he's crying and babbling like a baby and I don't blame him if I had chained up and shot my parents in my basement I would be a mess too it's not my fault I didn't walk to do this he mumbled to himself I needed to do this I told him not to leave the house for any reason and what did they do they do exactly the opposite of what I told him I know he isn't speaking to me but it doesn't sound like he's talking in his own words either he turns and looks at me I'm sorry mom tears streaming down his face he reaches into his pocket and pulls out two shotgun shells under any other circumstances would be screaming and pleading for my life but now my throat is far too dry to do anything but let out faint wheezes he takes aim at my head just like he did with his father yesterday he had always loved me more yesterday when my son shot my husband he probably didn't even see him as human part of him was lightly happy it was killing his dad after the years of neglect I can't really blame him but I was not my husband through the years I fill the void my husband's apathy created and my son loved me for that and now he was going to shoot me in the head no he screamed as he threw down his gun I traced him as he walked back and forth in the basement he was having a change of heart you're my mother I don't know why I thought you would hurt me I don't know why I'm doing this I love you mom he again walks over to me and I began to panic I wanted to tell him to stay away I wanted to croak out my death wish I wanted to turn away as he embraced my body in a hug but I failed as he kissed my cheek I unwillingly returned his favor by using the burst of adrenaline and hatred the infection gave me to take a bite out of his face if my body was still mine and would have been bawling my eyes up but my body was no longer mine and soon my sons wouldn't be his either he stumbles back and pain and confusion beginning to converse the infection was taken hold of him and I fell back defeated I cannot feel guilty all I can feel is de buzzy controlling my broken body and now is [Applause] I read about it on the Internet storming area 51 people wanted to storm area 51 my eyes lit up the Damier thought of it finally finally someone wants to do this storming to uncover the government secrets I am so excited contain myself I begin to pack up trying to grab what I can the days approaching fast the days go by and they just go by and soon it is today September 20th I'm so excited but nothing happens no one follows through with it it was all an elaborate joke my heart sings no one's coming for me no one is coming to rescue me [Music] [Applause] [Music] mr. Vaughn that walked with the nurse down along Whitehall to an isolated room so what do you guys think is wrong with him when God's voice crept out with the confidence textbook schizophrenia of course they always think it's afraid of him and you're sure you don't mind me going in and talking to him if I did then I wouldn't have walked you all the way out to the solitary confinement annex speaking of which here we are room a 3 0 4 you can head on in whenever I'll be right out here the nurse let out a strange side as he walked in a boy 10 or 11 years old was bound to a chair in the middle of room a 304 he showed no interest in demands arrival he just sat in the chair and stared intently at the ground so you must be Samson he said the boy no response I'm dr. Wong gap still no response I hear that you're a very gifted young man where you're suffering a great deal when God leaned down I level with the boy but the boy did not look up at him I can help you can't do anything mr. Van gut I can try all you have to do is explain to me what's going on in your head there are seven and a half billion of them and the voices what makes you say that I listen to them individually I know them all by name then we looked out for the man with piercing grey eyes including you mr. Wonka interested what else do you know about these voices I know what they do most of them scroll through the internet and watch reruns of the same TV shows all day then there are those that suffer and starve beg for a chance or just fall over dead and then there is you mr. panda a self-proclaimed doctor that believes so firmly in the supernatural he is willing to drop out of med school to disprove his peers the man stood up at a loss for words how could you possibly and what you don't know mister forgot is that I can make the voices stop if I wanted to I can create new voices in an instant and I can just as easily silenced them when God opened his mouth to speak but no words came out he pulled that his throat and collapsed to the ground with a strained sigh and he takes so little effort said the boy Stephanie he called to the nurse mr. Ron God isn't breathing Samsung's gaze fell back to the floor listening to the voices in his head yes i snuffed out her voice too [Music] [Music] [Music] Anna spoke and she was only a few hours old one three five eight at first her mother thought she imagined it but her husband heard it too that the infant repeated the words insistently insinuating as well as one possibly could through a newborns mouth one three five eight this continued until hands trembling her father wrote the numbers down that Dona Ana fell silent for a long time one day her mother said if you don't talk soon we're going to have to see a therapist don't worry said Anna but just don't like talking it was always like this Anna was withdrawn and sullen but rarely rebellious she didn't like expanding serious efforts she would even pretend to be an ordinary child strangers were around so they don't ask questions she said when she was six her parents were considering a move they asked her what kind of house she would like to live in she replied with an address it was on sale and it was a good choice when she was seven her mother caught her practicing lockpick it makes me feel better said Anna they let her keep the pics as far as they could tell if she didn't mean any harm when she was eight her father asked if she could pick stocks as well as she could pick Locke she replied that she could but she wouldn't it doesn't help she said when she was nine they went to an opera during the intermission slipped away from her parents amid the crowd the building was hot and it was easy to lose them weaving around the crowd and a Dawkins into the bath corridors of the theater avoiding detection she picked the lock on the maintenance closet slipped inside pulled out her flashlight and descended into the crawl space it was time the explosives had been rigged quite thoroughly if you didn't need to study the setup huh she knew it all too well every one of the bombs is hooked to a single keypad getting help here and never worked getting the Opera canceled just delayed the inevitable if they began an evacuation with a show underway the bomb just went off earth there was only one approach left that held any hope of ending this and so grinding her teeth and a punch the numbers in one three five Hey the explosion was mercifully fast and so Anna have no chance to consciously received nobody in the building survived and I spoke when she was only a few hours old one three five nine [Music] if you ever happen to pass through the small town of glasswork New Jersey do yourself a favor and stop by the local farmers market and pick up an armful of corn it's the best damn corn you'll find along these hopes no not just for its unparalleled sweetness but for its unique we'll be red hue every year is covered in crimson currently saved from a single ivory carnival that's actually a lot of fun to search for like a cylindrical Where's Waldo but it's always there a little unintended in a secrecy of the growing process granted while the white kernel is as edible as the rest of the cob it's admittedly a bit hard so you might want to toss it away if you're worried about shipping it to now while in town you're probably going to hear some rumors which you do well to brush off as the malarkey they are the last words just a simple farming town and nothing sinister ever came out of such a place no there are no harvest ritual that is a lie that frankly serves only to undermine the skill of the town's farmers they grow that fine corn with their own bare hands thank you very much in every town in America's got its share of bright-eyed youth with wanderlust and itchy feet so don't let the missing children's posters put you off there is any oddity about the town it's that the veggies are so packed with nutrients that kids throw up a bit quicker than most so sure a few parents will make a big fuss over a son losing his first tooth which happens quite often in something of a celebration a coming-of-age ceremony one might say and it's a plain silly to see any harm in that in fact feel free to join in on the evenings festivals well the young man in question is given a traditional tour of the local fields sadly tours are not giving to visitors and remember to ignore the occasional crazy old coot with their cardboard signs and nonsensical yarn you'd have to be off your rocker to give a dime of credence to the absurd idea of blood offerings Townsville fulfilled multiple complaints against the knots but sometimes it can't be helped and one or two residents just go a little loony every now and then and every town has its local Bad Seeds right it's just unfortunate that are placed like glass food filled with hard workers with the most pleasant folks you'll ever meet is plagued with such toxic Boulder that so it's best to put it all out of your mind should you find yourself in that little town bordering the Pine Barrens a friend I cannot stress this enough when you're there don't forget to show glassy wits hard-working farmers a little appreciation by buying yourself a basket of their ripe red corn lord knows to sacrifice so much [Music] I have an imaginary brother well I had one I'm an only child I always have been and always will be I wanted a brother though really badly I asked my mom for one she didn't say anything even though I asked her real hard that's okay though because I could make my own my imaginary brother was tall and strong he carried me on his shoulders and made me super tall he smiled that everything I said he was such a good listener he never talked to me but I could tell he loved me a whole lot I told my mom about him and she dropped something it was quiet like usual but then she yelled at me she made me say I was an only child I always had been and I always will be she made me say it over and over again and held my wrists till they hurt he kept my imaginary brother a secret after that he was so easy to think about sometimes I could see him holding my hand and almost felt it sometimes late at night I see him watching and he looks sad something is sticking out of him and he's holding it real tight he's mouthing words but nothing comes up I see him till my wet eyes make him all blurry and I fall asleep my imaginary brother is so tall he can get me to places I've never been today he took me to the Attic it's usually locked but mom forgot to lock it this time it's hot and dusty up here but I want to explore opening boxes and looking out the dusty window I know I'm safe because my big brother is watching me I can feel his eyes known as I open about there he is smile clear as a picture with me and mommy I take the dusty photo and show it to mom she gets the same word eyes I do good night then she gets mad her face gets all red and she paces she keeps looking at something in the kitchen eventually she asked me where I found it they go out to the attic to show her but when I do the hatch closes behind me been pulling on the hatch hitting her screaming knocking on the window I begged my imaginary brother to help me he is so strong he can protect me he isn't there though he was but he isn't now because mom gets mad sometimes and she does things that make her sad she never changes her mind though never when she means to do something she doesn't I guess my brother and I could be imaginary together now [Music] okay from the beginning it seemed that he was so long ago it started with the accident the other guy wasn't looking and he blew right through the light and slammed into my car my life didn't flash before my eyes it was just like everything stopped all at once all of a sudden for a while until the cop pulled me out I thought I was dead they rushed me to the hospital and I was more shaken up than anything but God helped me was i shaken up they let me go just a few hours later rather than they gash on my head which they bandaged up I was ok I was ok but I felt like something was wrong there was a woman walking down the road and I stopped her and asked for the time the moment she saw me she screamed and ran the next person I stopped the deed sock same thing it was there something wrong with me it was the one bleeding or something was wait what if I this horrible thought grabbed ahold of my mind and it wouldn't go I kept thinking of the car accident and what just happened and what I thought but I kept thinking of the people might run away from me screaming I ran home it was a hearse parked in front that's it of course it had to be of course for some reason whatever I was now hadn't accepted it and realized it but someone ran out of the house next door she saw me and her jaw dropped I said don't be frightened I'm not trying to scare you it said that for some reason my soul can't she said mr. Peters mr. Peters where have you been your wife what there was an accident she's dead if you saw something behind me her eyes grew wide and she screamed I turned around to see my wife standing there there was nothing wrong with me at all it was my wife it was following me home from the hospital [Music] [Music] [Music] gunshots erupted in the hallways during the transition from first to second period just as the first few shots echoed the principles shaky voice declared lockdown over the intercom this was not a drill student wrapped their backpacks and sprinted for their lives diving into classrooms whilst all teachers locked their doors and turned off the lights assuring students under the desks being teenagers the students had naturally believed themselves to be immortal now they all held back tears this was the first time they've ever truly feared for their lives to panic students barreled around the corner then slid to a stop a teachers urgent whisper grabbing their attention any Melissa give him here mr. Anderson called to them the students rushed into the room with mr. Anderson the drama teacher crying and trembling with fear it's going to be okay don't worry mr. Anderson said it appeared he'd been shocked for he was clutching his leg as it bled he let go of his leg to hold a knee tightly trying to console her Melissa joined the hug clinging to him tightly everything is going to be okay mr. Anderson repeated to them you'll be fine the girls almost believed him until he let go of them and took some steps back they looked at him confused but then Melissa's jaw slowly dropped unable to scream and his eyes widened tears slowly escaping her eyes and moving down her face mr. Anderson smiled at the girls as he pulled a pistol from his pocket his leg was fine it was covered in fake blood his smile never left his face as he locked the door behind you and cocked his gun [Music] whenever I mention social mixers that I used to be a cop someone asked for a story I usually tell one I pick something funny or something exciting I stay away from the grisly and miserable no one wants to hear about little girls involved in a traffic collision or going to the same house three days a week for domestic disputes those stories ruin the mood so I save them for my therapist this story was one of the ones I don't tell it was Halloween 1974 and the great satanic panic was just gaining traction among the evangelicals that make up my district allegations and rumors of abuse and dark magic spread like wildfire coming hand-in-hand with anxiety following the Saudi oil embargo of 1973 we on the police force heard all about it children being abducted and tortured in dark red pentagrams poison candy teenagers opening themselves up to domestic possession through drug abuse in rock and roll we heard it first from the pulpit on Sunday mornings then from frantic 9-1-1 calls from terrified housewives that invariably led nowhere that is until Halloween 1974 we were out enforced at 9:00 on hand to protect trick-or-treaters and keep the peace Halloween that year concidered with the full moon I remember that distinctly that blazing white light bathed the town almost as good as the street lamps did we got a call from the pastor's wife whispering about satanic rituals going on in the woods outside her home and the police chief didn't become cheap by ignoring influential citizens so we went out to investigate I remember thinking it was a complete waste of time probably teenagers listening to music too loudly we'd be through the bushes in the moonlight guiding us we found the clearing where she said the Satanists were and well I'm not sure what all was there my therapist says trauma affected the memory I suppose that's possible I remember bits and pieces usually after I awake from a nightmare there was a pentagram drawn in scorch marks in the dirt the trees were carved with something maybe graffiti but I can't see in my head anymore I break out in sweat just trying the symbols seem to shift around if you stared at them too long I remember the photographer throwing up trying to snap photos of them and I remember refusing to look at the pictures years later we found a body little boy who went missing earlier that night the crime scene reports are clear that he was skinned alive I wondered later why hadn't seen the child at night hadn't even known there has been a murder at all until I saw it in the newspaper how could I have seen the pentagram and now the child inside it we never got a suspect just left the case open and moved on that is the kind of story that warrants parties [Music] [Music] ordering pizza on Halloween never made sense to me shouldn't people be full enough with candy my motorbike rattles to a stop and the address I curse under my breath at Papa Vitale's pizzeria for making me drive on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere three pepperoni pies can be worth all this effort a few seconds after I ring the doorbell an elderly couple answers thank you dear breezes the wife hurriedly riffling through her purse for money you can just go ahead and leave the pizzas on the front porch you want me to leave your pizzas on the doorstep I repeat incredulous that's what we're paying you for isn't it barks our white haired husband following the instructions of the wackadoo couple I pop open one of the lids and prepared to toss beats on the floor wait yelps the woman all of a sudden her face going pale white you forgot the blood the blood the fresh pig's blood we requested a lot of Pizza when we ordered it it's not there I guess we just assumed you know that it was a joke cuz it's Halloween I give a nervous chuckle expecting laughter but the fogies only grow more and more stone-faced look lady I don't know what to tell you i interject I don't even know where they put those little brown plastic table thingies in the pizza boxes I just deliver stuff if you and your husband really want to eat pig's blood then idiot boy the pieces are for us shouts demand furiously therefore his voice trails off suddenly as he notices something in the distance looking over my shoulder I see a crowd of small figures approaching from the end of the road in the day moonlight I can just about make out the trick-or-treaters decomposing costumes what are the odds of every kid in the street dressing is the exact same monster and that's when it clicks I didn't see any other houses on my drive here only a graveyard panic I turned back to see the couple have slammed the door in my face unless I can coat these pizzas in fresh blood within the next minute I'm zombie child I still don't know what that little round plastic table thingy in the pizza boxes is for but pressing its jacket palms against my forearm I think I found at least one good use for it sweetie now are you sure you don't want to take your glasses off for tonight I shake my head firmly mom sighs and casts her eyes to her sewing machine as if to suggest that her hours dedicated to my Indiana Jones costume were a waste stepping in dad chose her for her competitiveness reminding mom that it's only a Halloween costume my perception isn't actually that bad even though I've been wearing glasses since I was six I can see well enough without them to get by for a few hours and yet there's absolutely no way I'm leaving them at home not tonight of all nights the evenings trick-or-treating starts off being mostly uneventful as usual I go door to door with my young sister eagerly collecting our fill of sugary treats before we can reach the last house on the street however we run directly into a band of neighborhood kids dressed to the nines as ghosts witches and delight they respond to me with their standard greeting fists strikes me hard across the face sending me crashing to the ground and my glasses skittering sideways pointing and laughing the bullies unleash taunt after Tom how'd a feeling would see you here nerd no Explorer I know wears glasses geek you should have come as an alien instead four-eyes after crushing my baskets under their feet my tormentors take off towards the final house clutching Fistful of stolen candy my little sister mortified runs straight home unbothered I gather my spectacles and polish them against my sleeve just like I do at the end of every Halloween I sneak towards the break in mr. till rims fans positioning myself directly in front of his livingroom window from my vantage point I can see what's going on at the door but I can hear the doorbell I hear mr. Toman greet my neighborhood friends and here they're in bish crackles turn to horrified scream I hear the swishing of tentacles a snapping of break and the scraping of fingernails against floorboards and finally as the turmoil moves into the living room I see everything for the next hour I sit back and watch with pleasure as my favorite neighbor devour some treats on his very own I know that wearing glasses while true Katrina can be an awful Hospital but some things are just worth viewing in high-definition the traveling carnival had gone downhill in recent years costs had been cut and many of the performers had left there were exhibits but they warned drawing crowds like they used to the pickled punks deformed fetuses preserved in jars of green liquid had lost their lure at the last stop the carnival barker had dropped one and when the fetus hit the dirt and found word got around nothing but rubber face the Fiji mermaid horrific sea spawn of the far Orient was also fake just the top half from a spider monkey sewn to the bottom half of a sea bath stuffed full of cotton visitors glanced at it momentarily but truthfully it just made them feel bad for the monkey finally at the bat or the Siamese twins the visitors had already paid to enter the tent but the carnival barker spewing his sales pitch at high volume demanded an extra nickel to draw the curtains visitors toss them in the bucket fully anticipating disappointment the curtains reeled back to reveal the Siamese twins two heads two torsos but only one of the twins was moving the other was clearly some kind of rubber prosthetic lolling around limply while the real performer danced the carnival barker clapped in rhythm as he kicked his feet one visitor unimpressed asked if he could have his nickel back no said the Barker as soon as the visitors left the tent chained collapsed cradling his brother in what was in the champagne you fed him Chiang hissed when they'd announced their plans to leave the carnival at the end of the season the Barker had presented him with two glasses of bubbling liquor Chang had declined and had not now now my friend answered the carnival barker striking a match were nothing but bubbly men to send you off proper to greener pastures but Chang knew the truth you didn't want us to leave the carnival admit it you knew you'd be nothing without us the Barker waved the match at the end of his cigarette entirely undefended friend are you accusing me of poisoning your dear brother he's barely breathing chang'd whispered slapping his brother's face you have to take us to the doctor eh no doctor worth his salt that had treated [ __ ] and sir the Barker between dragged on his cigarette tell you what you earned enough coin to pay for a veterinarian I'll fetch him after he's done with the elephants we've only made 65 cents today Chang pleaded please if he dies I'll die to shame the Barker responded exiting the tent flap I guess your bones will make a good display Chang stopped listening to his brother's final gasps knowing full well that as long as they were conjoined their fates were intertwined the Barker as if reading changed mind popped his head back inside or he said I do have a hacksaw what do you think folks paid to watch that [Applause] [Music] one summer he worked as a house cleaner for this family down the road for some pocket money it was fun mostly hello is anybody home I called out of habit as I poked my head through the door yes we are upstairs answered a husband please go ahead and just ignore us okay cool as I said this was fun simple job so I went ahead I heard the door being shut upstairs some rhythmic pounding noises and then alas some moaning really my side exaggerated Lee and matted to myself you know I'm down here right putting on my headphones I shook my head and discussed one more time before continuing with my work pretending that I knew nothing it was a while before I heard some loud footsteps running down the hollow timber stairs the sound of the front door flung open then slam Chuck and finally the sound of the lock flicked probably the husband going somewhere I shrugged half an hour later their bedroom door was still closed and no sound was emanating from it well this is convenient isn't it how am I supposed to over the house now miss I will sleep whenever I want I thought bitterly I don't have all day to stand here waiting for you to wake up faced with no other choice I had to knock on the door excuse me are you sleeping in there can I over the house no answer but the door slowly drifted open it wasn't locked I screamed out of the horror when they've seen in the bedroom raped my vision read the whole bed was red with blood the wife lay dead in the middle knife sticking out of her chest her here turned to the door and her on blinking eyes stare directly into mine I reacted like the idiot I was we ran up to her corpse and sugar like that would make any difference hey wake up can you hear me wake up the congealed blood on her chest stuck on my cleaning gloves but I didn't give up I continued to shake and call until the sound of sirens swamped into my ears I heard hurried footsteps and muffled voices then one louder than the rest it was the husband's voice please hurry up I locked a murderer inside [Applause] [Music] you [Applause] [Music] I can't really remember my dad but I remember his funeral my mom cried a lot I can't even bear to hear my mom cry I shuffled and dropped and salt throughout why did it have to take place on a Saturday I was missing my favorite cartoons my baby sister Millie wouldn't stop wailing all the way through real sharp shrieks stabbing like in high spec into our ears my Uncle Mike read a dumb poem or at least he tried to it was called he's not dead but sleeping he kept losing it and clung to the podium like he was the rigging of the Titanic he stank of scotch to that same phrase he's not dead but sleeping was carved ornately onto my dad's black marble gravestone - my mom had held my hand too tightly she told me never to forget that my daddy had been very tired recently and was simply sleeping peacefully and that we should see this as a blessing relief she made it sound real convincing like a good mom should then she hugged me so tight I could barely breathe the priest read another sermon his eyes aligned with kindness then my mom tried to say if you won't but couldn't really Milly was passed back and forth until Mandy handed her to me here she said you're always good at calming her down then and Mandy went to study my mom whose legs were shaking the service ended shots were downed sandwiches were nimble I was a good boy and didn't past her anyone I hoped this will all be over soon Milly was very heavy in my small arms and it was glad when my mom finally took her back from me then everything was suddenly an outer confusion voices calling all around bodies pushing forward someone shook me hard their fingers gripping like claws onto my shoulders hey it's okay I said Milly was just tired so I made her go to sleep [Music] [Music] I was tasked to go back and stop our mistake time trouble was achieved in the years 75 38 many countries work together to accomplish this feat and since then the whole world has been turned into the discoveries we've made visiting our country the first mission sent to you and back to the year 2000 we returned with a newspaper which highlighted the new century and y2k we don't use paper anymore but the world rejoiced over our success and each household wanted their very own newspaper coffee which celebrated the triumph over y2k more than 2,000 years ago six months have passed since that first mission and we have continued to go back in time to learn about the origins of our species had finally come closer to understanding how our universe formed and a better idea of how our universe operates but we hit a problem for some reason we could no longer travel back any further our last trip was six billion years into the path we couldn't go beyond up this saddened researchers immensely yet focused was shifted to exploring working within the six billion year in time frame problems continued still however as we could not travel back in the past any more it seemed we worked on the machine to see why it wasn't working at the same time a team of theoretical physicists that continued to refine our understanding of time travel but each trip made with their most recent discovery shocked the world they predicted using the time machine required us to deplete the time we have left in the universe this was why we could no longer troubled so far back we decided that we needed to go back in time to warn ourselves of this great mistake in our lost hopes to make it right I was tasked to go back and stop our mistake this was eight months ago when our mission to go back to our first use of the time machine failed we could no longer undo the damage tomorrow marks the predicted final day of our universe no one knows what to expect but if our rules of time-travel are correct we used up around 100 billion years this universe had left in less than a year curiosity really is a big [Music] back in around 2000 2001 I was driving by myself from visiting my mom in Colorado back to Arizona I was in a station wagon and had a desk my mom had given me that was my grandfather's I've always been scared driving at night this might be because of too many scary movies because my mom's paranoia rubbed off on me I was in the army and drove back and forth a lot to visit her she would get mad at me for sleeping at rest stops or gas stations and would always tell me that eventually something bad is going to happen but someone is going to kidnap me or even kill me but I just didn't want to bother with the hassle and expenses of a motel most of the time I ain't aggress so I'm driving an empty stretch of highway late at night with no other cars around me this red truck comes up behind me flashing his lights and honking his horn loud I was thinking to myself and there was something wrong with my car or maybe there was something wrong with the desk in the hatchback otherwise why else would he be insisting on me pulling over so I decided to pull over I was in my mid-twenties at a time and still a bit naive while I'm getting out of the car I noticed the car behind me is still flashing his lights and honking his horn I got about to the middle of my car while going to the back to check what was going on when it hit me why is he still honking his horn when I'm already out of my car and pulled over I found out quite odd then I hear the sound of a door open a person stepping out of the car and the door shut [Music] I can't explain this feeling to this day but something just felt wrong I just felt like I should not be there at that moment I jumped back in my car as fast as I could and sped off the next exit was 45 miles away this truck behind me follow me the entire way I took the first exit to go to a crowded grocery store the laundromat next to it there was an ambulance parked in the laundromat when it's light flashing so I decided to park right next to it thinking if an ambulance is present a cop should show up eventually shortly after the same truck with the same guy inside pulls up to the grocery parking lot and parks his truck directly in front of me I was terrified frozen I couldn't bring myself to get out of the car I waited for quite some time until he suddenly as if out of nowhere got up and left after he left I decided to wait longer before continuing my drive back to Arizona I was paranoid and watchful for any red trucks the entire time fast forward about five or six years I'm sitting in front of the TV and watching an unsolved mysteries type of show when a very interesting story pops up one about a man on that exact same stretch of highway with a red truck the men who used to honk his horn and flashes lights until random strangers will pull over so he could kidnap and murder them I can only think my god for telling me something is wrong and making me get out of that situation I try not to think what would happen otherwise [Music] I was washing my daughter's kids while she and her husband went out of town they have a teenage daughter named Alyssa it was around 3 a.m. when I woke up by a weird rustling sound look out of the window and saw movement I saw boy emerged from the bushes on the other side of the house I saw bike tossed on the lawn that definitely was not ours my first thought was that it was a burglar Kacie houses but since he looked young and came through on a bike I figured scaring him straight would be enough for him to decide to head home so I went out in the porch flipped the lights on and said can I help you in my classroom voice the guy looked surprised but not nervous he was wearing a letterman style jacket I once I got a clear view of him in the streetlight he seemed much older than my granddaughter gruff and more wiry than athletic he walked up close to the house and said yes I'm looking for Alyssa I gave him a disapproving glare hoping he realized he came looking for a girl late at night and a grumpy old person answered and said and that now it's time to slit I was thinking what must have happened is that Alyssa knew her parents were going out of town and maybe before she knew I'd be staying over she's told a secret older boyfriend to come over it was late and I was alone with some kids so I didn't want him coming any closer to the house I also thought it was a bit weird that he came this late and wanted to be sure Alyssa actually wanted to talk to him I'm sorry who I said Alyssa he said a little amber this is her house this showed me he knew her last name they must be at least friends I asked him to wait at the porch he started to walk up and I just felt this sick feeling in my gut instinct kicked in I yelled no stop this is a private property and you will wait right there I closed the door get to Alyssa's room and wake her up saying something along the lines of I don't know what the big idea was to have friends over at this time a night but you can go ahead and tell them to go home she looked at me as if she has no clue what I'm talking about I said there's a guy outside Austin for you confused she gets up and goes to the window she sees him and turns white as a sheet he asked for me yes by name yes call the police I've never seen him in my life I grabbed the phone and called 911 immediately whereas I was on the phone with them Alyssa started tugging at my arm he's coming up I had younger kids in the house to think about so I slightly open the door just enough to yell out and say that I spoke to my husband and none of us know any Alyssa leave the property or I'm calling 911 the men got angry and started yelling for her to come out thankfully the police came pretty quickly and as soon as the men heard the sirens he grabbed his bike and took off I watched him pull up next to a car with no front headlights or plates and feed off the police followed in the same direction but couldn't find a thing not the bike or the car they then advised us to take a listen social media details offline completely who knows what was waiting for Alyssa inside that car [Music] my best friend is an influencer not big time were too big enough following to get free [ __ ] and has gotten to sponsor trips she still works a full-time job but does the Instagram thing on the side mostly because of the perks she's not big enough to live off of this yet anyways this was her first trip a little boutique hotel from Miami contacted her via Instagram DM and offers her an all-expenses-paid trip to Miami for Memorial weekend 2018 in exchange for her to be in the hotel and take pictures and do a couple of stories she was told she could bring a female friend with her if she wanted to and that everything would be covered for that friend as well this was her first time doing this so at the time she wasn't really sure of how it worked they sent her a bogus contract for her to sign and it said she'd be responsible for paying for her plane ticket to Miami and that should be reimbursed for it later this was to prevent a no-show meaning the influencer will get a ticket purchased by the hotel and the influencer will never show it seemed reasonable my friend chose to invite me we figured it shouldn't be a big deal in worst case scenario they don't want to pay for my plane ticket and she just cover it for me and that's that we were supposed to be picked out by the hotel at the airport so the day comes and we arrived to Miami there's a guy holding a sign with her name and the paper has the hotel logo we are greeted and we're escorted to a black SUV here is where he gets weird as soon as we are getting on the car the driver is visibly upset we thought he was talking to the guy who walked us over to the car but he was talking to my friend he had a very thick accent and was wearing dark shades he was telling my friend that she's not allowed to bring her boyfriend me and that she said it was two girls two girls the hotel told me two girls not one girl and one guy two girls he was demanding to see where the other girl was we were speechless and confused the guy who walked us to the car looked annoyed and started to fight with a driver in Portuguese then he turns to us and asks us with the other girl is my friend which is visibly upset right now tells him that there is no other girl and that she is the person they were supposed to pick up for the Instagram deal and that I'm just a friend who's coming along with her on this trip the big guy who sat in the passenger seat the guy who walked us in the car gets out of the car tosses our luggage out of it and says something along the lines of this isn't [ __ ] [ __ ] gets in the car and they take off and that was it we were in shock utter and complete shock my friend immediately emails Melissa the PR person who we had been in contact through email with to tell her what happened no response we decide to take a cab and show up to the hotel as soon as we showed up everything made sense the hotel had been rebranded and had a completely different name owner and staff we walked in and showed her stuff the Instagram page which they agreed was indeed the Instagram page of the hotel he used to be but not the new one this Instagram account had more than 10,000 followers and seemed quite real how upon further inspection we realized the pictures and uploads were quite old my friend felt like an idiot and would not stop crying we called the police met up with a detective nothing ever came out of it they investigated who was running the account before or who had access to it none of the people who used to run the account had anything to do with it nothing ever came out of this it's upsetting and scary to know that whoever wanted to abduct my friend or any other girls by using this old Hotel Instagram account knows who my friend is the hotel's Instagram page has since been deleted and we never heard anything from anyone ever again but to think my friend would have been kidnapped had she gone with another girl instead of me since chills down my spine [Music] [Music] life isn't easy when you're a single college student especially when you're a guy a 21 year old South Korean to be exact Neil struck out pretty often even more frustrating was that I was reasonably handsome I stayin in shape my round face accentuated by my spiked black hair with the boom of kpop I figured I'd be causing a massive Syria like the Beatles but that wasn't the case I stayed alone in my dorm and this December night no different I started the computer tonight was slow in the dating apps drunk and frustrated I went into emergency mode searching for a fresh new dating app shivering in the cold I stole a glance at my clothes dorm door and then my phone I found it a brand new dating app with a four star rating eat your heart out it was called so with nothing left to lose I downloaded the app and made an account almost immediately a notification box popped up allow eat your heart out to access your location while you're using the app of course I hit yes standard stuff for those kind of apps before I could even sell the scene I had to make a brief bio upload some photos slog through the validation process as if I were undergoing a medical exam my phone then jolted to life over and over notifications poured in rather than excitement I felt disappointed mastery BOTS I figured not even the ugly girls were desperately waiting on new members I clicked on my profile pic the shirtless photo was now getting countless likes countless comments intrigued I strolled through them fitting the chilly loneliness I became unnerved you looks yummy the middle-aged dad said I were to call in to dot your slamed a soccer mom battling the unease I looked around the dorm for once I was allowed to be alone another vibration pulled me back to the app looks like we're having Chinese tonight said a bearded country guy i angry i reply to him korean [ __ ] more comments arrived young and tasty i'll be sure to eat the heart out now i got ready to delete the damn thing until a new comment caught my eye i'm on the way for you said a muscular man panicking i went to the local stage there my profile pic stood in the corner of the single seat the middle of this menu a smaller caption under my pic read ten miles away FSU campus asila hall room 17 that was my exact location trembling I went to my messages for once the flooded inbox gave me fear rather than excitement woman first can't wait to meet you I was speechless scared beyond belief then the brutal bomb hit my door I turned to face it then several other knocks I resisted the idea over nanny box for a long long time it seemed inhumane to me and I guess if I'm being honest it felt like an admission of failure as a father we shouldn't have needed the help we should have been able to afford the right sort of care we should have been able to make the necessary time but life is hard and compromise comes easier and easier as you get older besides everyone else was doing it it was the only option most of us can afford so when Julian was four months old we barked at 90 bucks and that's when Julian who spent his days while Harriet and I worked there's no way to know what it's really like inside the box the advertisements made it all sound very stimulating it's supposedly very immersive and comforting for a small child stimulating all the usual inputs a child that age needs beaming the information directly into the brain and provided food it kept your baby clean and it was tested they said it was safe most importantly however there was Julian who remained our happy alert boy meeting every development benchmark right on schedule it wasn't until Julian's first word that we began to understand what we'd done we were eating Julian in his highchair Harriet held out this phone and said say mama Julian's expression change so slightly his mouth curled in unfamiliar ways Sam some he replied Harriet blinked mama she said samsung said Julian a little more forcefully Samsung 4k Julian giggled and clocked we both tried to pass it off as a case of monkey-see monkey-do but Julian got older and more talkative and he never learned to say mama or Dada Julian how are you today we asked build a website with Squarespace he said smiling so bright behind the eyes Julian what's my name I asked sharp wayfarer for home decor on a budget he says so sure of himself there were lawsuits of course we were part of one of the bigger class-action suits but the truth is that no amount of money would ever bring back Julian's mind there's no way to undo the mistakes that we made they say there are something like four hundred thousand box babies in the United States alone you may see one from time to time you'll say hello and they'll say shop the dollar value many from McDonald's you'll say have a nice day and they'll say a great day starts with Jimmy Dean microwavable breakfast you'll say I love you son and they'll say stuttering motors mouse with capital one today over time you learn to just smile when that happens after all it's not their fault [Music] breakings aren't uncommon I've worked at a park for ten years but I can tell you for a fact that teams slipping through the chain links and taking the aqua loop for a midnight joyride is a regular occurrence standard procedure is to clean up the mess and get on with it it's hardly an end of the day scenario this latest incident the trouble amounted to replacing a broken padlock on one of their perimeter gates and scrubbing a couple of muddy blue prints from the mouth of one of the tube sites feeding into the main port like I said pretty standard procedure we checked the security tapes guy with a duffel bag entered then left four hours later we figured he was probably getting high and jerking off to National Enquirer clippings or whatever it is meth heads do in their downtime in a park that serves around a thousand kids daily solving that mystery wasn't exactly our top priority Park opened up like normal nice summer's day I was standing next to the main pool lifeguard duty just making sure all the kids are safe it's largely a dull uneventful job so in Rodge one of our security officers approached me and struck up a conversation it was a welcome break hey he said holding out something that glinted in the sun check this [ __ ] out found her on the grass near the gate health and safety hazard don't you think you're showing me arrays the blade [ __ ] I said good cash flood hate to see someone to step on that Raj nodded then there was this Tribble echoing scream from inside the tube slide I don't think I'll ever forget it just the animal Yelp of desperate fear and pain as a kid skin bright red in a tale of bloody water came trembling out into the main pool they were shaking then shrieking I swear to god it was the stuff of nightmares it's a little girl and when I get a hold of her you see her skin opening up all over her body and these long ragged gashes she's shaking completely in shock in pain bleeding everywhere everyone in the pool is hysteric as I'm carrying her over to the medical Bay I can't help but think about that tiny little razor blade prod showed me now let me ask you a question do you have any idea how many of those things someone can super glue to the inside of a water slide in for uninterrupted hours because now I sure as hell [Music] you a quick fact for you for those who are living under a rock there are different time zones so different countries get into 2020 first at first New Zealand then some of Russia then Australia they all got into the new year they all went dark the satellite feeds showed zero light coming from them as soon as the clock had turned twelve no one knows what to do and as more and more countries go into the new year the more go dark it's about two hours from midnight here and everyone is freaking out I work at air traffic control and claims have been going off radar all day we've been waiting for reports of crashed planes but none have came up all the flights have been grounded and canceled until further notice so we're just waiting up here looking at the radar and calling our families to say our possible goodbyes the phone lights have gone down to those places two people have been caught off mid phone home as the person on the other line went into the New Year there was an even an answering machine only the classic worse re-recorded message which means the phone line no longer exists the news don't know what to do for the government without an emergency broadcast but Washington went out before they could actually do so we've been looking around different websites and see that even neighbors through different time zones across the street go dark to crunch the time hits a co-worker said that his friend walked across the zone and just vanished but I'm taking that with a grain of salt there's nothing we can do but just sit and wait for the inevitable I just hope that whatever happens when the clock strikes 12:00 is better than what we had last year [Music] [Music]