3 Hours of Horror Stories For Sleep | With Rain Sounds | Scary Stories Compilation vol.9

Hey there welcome to bedtime chills tonight we've got three hours of spine chilling horror stories with soothing rain sounds to help you relax and sleep can we hit 300 likes tap like share the chills and subscribe to join our Eerie crew where are you tuning in from drop a comment snule up and get ready for a night of Unforgettable scares we call my grandmother's place The house of dolls they're not exactly dolls grandma has always been weird not just the odd relative that everyone has but she's probably a witch kind of weird she lived near

a little Ravine with thousands of dolls well she called them dolls and mother made us call them dolls too even though everyone knew what they really were her ever dim house always smelled of nathene and long lost memories still there was some sort of calm that Drew my sister Mia to the odd Place and I always followed behind her always it was good that we were so fond of grandma because mother was prone to nervous breakdowns she always said how she wished we were boys how Madness ran in the family and we would inevitably end

up like Grandma how we were slothful and poorly behaved children and girls on top of that and that's why dad left us that really Hurt despite her strangeness grandma was always sweet always cheerful to see us she baked us pies and told us stories about each one of her dolls they sat perfectly lifelike on couches and by tea tables forever enjoying pleasantly lazy afternoons that's probably why I was sent to Grandma's house to recover after the accident mother couldn't bear to see the scars on my face being my especially a Kid who wasn't bright or

particularly witty like Mia so I only had my looks to hope for a better future so there I was 16 and not sure if I wanted to survive part of me wished that I had died grandma brought me dinner and sat by my bed to feed me I wasn't that badly injured but a couple of broken bones were not to need help with everything the first of them were my own you know She started what was far from a casual conversation the first five dolls they are your mother's siblings I spit the soup in surprise

when it came to the dolls she told us amazing tales of Adventure but never said anything about the people they were when they were alive I couldn't keep a Child Alive past age seven your mother was my little miracle I was already pushing 40 and back then a woman of this age was either Ready to be a grandmother or had no value of course I was called a witch for having so many misfortunes before my kids she smiled bitterly I kept telling you girls that your grandfather died but to tell you the truth I have

no idea I don't even remember who he was my husband had left me and I only wanted to have another baby so badly Grandma I tried to use a comforting tone but it only came off Awkward I know she hated her childhood and she hates me now think I'm of wi too but I'm so thankful she lived and had you she patted my head gently I took up tax at me after losing my first kid Gina her name was I lost her at only 3 to a devastating fever no one could do anything she was

so lovely I wanted her to be like that forever that that's why I did it I knew Gina she was one of the prettiest dolls In the house grandma was incredibly talented at stuffing corpses She Made Them Look peaceful and almost porcelain like maybe that's why she called them dolls my husband of course thought it was creepy and poor taste but he let me grieve back then men didn't Express their emotions he was disgusted but as long as I I kept my tax at orise toddler out of his sight he didn't say a word but

as our other kids died of accidents and Unknown diseases he blamed me said I was the problem that not burying the dead properly brought tragedy upon our family my whole body hurt and my heart ACH so much but I was truly curious I wanted to know where the other dolls came from when he left and I was childless for years my dolls were my only reason to live I started noticing how poor people couldn't afford to properly bury their young children who passed so I bought their little Corpses some teenagers too I just wanted these

people to have a beautiful ending you know she inhaled deeply like the most important part of her story was Yet to Come how long had it been since the accident was it possible yes it was possible I realized as she left the room very nimbly for an 80-year-old lady and came back almost instantly with a new doll sitting on an expensive looking chair the figure on The chair was tall and slender and looked a lot like me grandma did an amazing job reconstructing Nia's face deformed by the accident that broke my bones and killed her

my beloved older sister my grandmother the dull Master watched my face with a mix of tension and pride it was probably her best work so far strangely enough I didn't particularly mind that she turned me into a doll my last memory of her was her burnt face and mangled body one with The distorted mle of her car screaming at me to break free and leave her now I can remember her with an Angelic smile and unbroken body but one thing worried me horrified I approached my sister's tax Ator my's body and touched her belly something

wiggled inside I was the only one who knew she was 3 months pregnant I never thought I'd surviv to tell this story but here it is after driving for a few hours my Friend Steve and I stopped at a gas station it was a desolate place with neon lights Illuminating a parking lot with no cars and no people to the left and right nothing but Road for Miles there was a single gas pump I parked my van between faded W lines and looked back at Steve before going inside want anything Marboro obviously when I entered

a foul order hit me and the clerk was nowhere to be Found I went down the snack aisle and picked up a few things this was the second stop during our road trip and I wasn't sure if Steve noticed but with each stop the places seemed emptier it was as though we were driving towards the edge of a world where no one existed this place felt like the final stop in a way I sled my items on the counter and tapped a rusty old Bell for the Clerk I could see Steve growing impatient in the

passenger seat of the van he needed a smoke and honestly I did two after driving with him for hours sir The Voice startled me just these I said the clerk skin my items wiing me up and down like I was some mysterious newcomer to town he glanced at the glass entrance and noticed my friend in the van I am too you two heading down that road H his question caught me off guard lots of people had that way this time of Year camping and w not just be careful thanks I replied I appreciate it oh

and could you grab me a pack of cigarettes any kind the clerk towered over the counter and I had to look up while I spoke to him it's not unusual for employees to stand on something behind the register to appear taller and more intimidating but that wasn't the case here when he walked from all in the counter to place a wh floor sign he was Just as tall that'll be $11.35 he said after I paid he put my items in a plastic bag and we be each other goodbye be careful he warned again as I

was walking out the door you got it I replied his expression darkened I'm not joking boy be careful out there and as if that didn't unsettle me enough he added and whatever you do never ever under any circumstances pick Up a hitchhiker those folks out on the road putting their thumbs out D what you think they just ain't when I finally returned to the van Steve was just getting back from taking a piss near the dumpster he rushed inside slammed the door shut and yelled at me to hurry up and drive what what did you

do I asked bewildered the clerk was chasing our van Waving his arms wildly in the rearview mirror he seemed really really angry and it probably had something to do with whatever Steve did he caught me pissing behind this store Steve chuckled and you couldn't just go inside like a normal person we drove for a few more hours but I couldn't shake the image of the clerk his face his voice and his stern warnings kept replaying in my head Matt you okay Steve Asked yeah why did something happen in there that old guy was tall wasn't

he when he started chasing me I had to run with my pants around my knees he was so fast I paused before responding yeah he was a bit odd seemed concerned for our sake actually told me never to pick up a hitchhiker a how sweet Steve mck thanks for the advice old man like We're dumb enough to do something like that right I agreed the next few hours pass peacefully with no Hitchhikers in sight I'm hungry Steve announced it's 2: a.m. and we just ate a few hours ago I replied yes Matt he equipped we

eat gas station food that doesn't count as real food okay fine I'll stop the car so we Can find a place to eat why what do you mean why you said you were hungry yeah but all you need to do is stop the car just park over there we don't need to find a place to eat I was confused so you just want me to park the car in what we still need to find somewhere to eat no we don't Matt oh okay so were you cool with eating the gas station food you just Complained

about because that's all we have what are you talking about he said there's plenty to eat right here my mind flashed back to the store clerk when we left the gas station he was frantically waving his arms looking terrified terrified for us I doubted it was just because my idiot friend relieved himself on the back wall no that clerk was genuinely scared for me I glanced at Steve who was glaring at me slowly he placed his fingers at the Corners of his eyes and peeled his face off like a mask that wasn't Steve it grin

at me never pick up a hitchhiker I've worked as a police dispatcher for 9 years it's a career that requires a level of mental fortitude that not many possess I used to hate saying things like that I always thought it sounded pretentious but the truth is it takes a special kind of person to voluntarily Listen to some of the things we have to hear every day don't get me wrong the job wasn't always Grim it had its decent moments I've got enough funny drunk 911 stories to last several lifetimes but the reality of the job

was usually far darker I understood that and I felt equipped to handle anything the job threw at me I was right for a while for years I answered every call always able to keep a steady head despite facing horic Situations my confidence in my ability to handle the job never wavered until the last call I ever took as a police dispatcher I glanced at the time displayed on my computer screen 11:43 I yawned leaning back in my chair and stretching my arms I've been at the desk since 3: in the afternoon answering calls and dispatching

officers when needed which wasn't often in this town I lived to a Little Port Town in Washington about an hour or so outside of Seattle though we weren't without our fair share of crime our phones never rang off the hook that meant a lot of free time for me I was always okay with that as Soul rening as many of the calls could be moments of respit were more than welcome a notification on my screen CAU my attention and in an instant I was back in my seat with my headset on 911 what is your

Emergency I spoke into my headset automatically like any line repeated hundreds or thousands of times for a moment the line was silent before I heard a reply I need policeman I think somebody is in my house a child whisper on the other end I felt a nod beginning to form in my stomach I shifted in my seat do you know your address I asked adopting a firm but Lighter tone in response to the caller's age I heard shuffling and heavy breathing from the other end followed by a faint wait the caller returned and whispered her

address she was a little girl by the sound of her voice and she sounded scared good job what about your phone number the process repeated and I quickly relayed her information to the dispatched officers her address was on the edge of Town a little out of the way and I understood it might take a while before help arrived I stifled a sigh not wanting to vocalize my worry as I received the estimated arrival time is there an adult with you in the house I continued no the little girl replied breathlessly and I could hear the

anxiety rising in her voice my mom works late and my sister I There was a pause followed by an audible sniffle she's camping with her friends and somewhere on her end of the line there was a crash followed by a scream my heart dropped are you still there are you all right there was a repetitive thumping sound followed by the slam of a door I'm here the little girl spoke breathlessly into the phone are you all right I repeated yes she replied barely above a Whisper her tone worried me she sounded more than afraid sad

no Disturbed was the proper word then she began to cry not quietly but a deep helpless SOB that made my heart sink when she spoke again it stopped altogether please please please help me her sobs turned into his cries and I could hear loud repetitive thumps from her hand footsteps but they weren't hers they Were heavy far too heavy for a little girl without warning a shrill cry like microphone feedback rang through my headset the sudden assault on my ears made me jump and my heart raced like a jack rabbit I fought the instinct to

throw the headset off and instead clenched my eyes shut as the noise faded as suddenly as it had come I saw it she sputtered through sobs oh please please I don't know what It is the Frantic nature of her begging increased and a strangeness settled in the air that I couldn't quite place a quick glance around the room confirmed that most of the desks were empty I was on the call alone the thought made me feel very isolated and a growing uneasiness took hold of me that I couldn't shake something about the call felt wrong

police are on the way I said trying to sound assertive though I Feared the uneasiness might be audible in my voice can you tell me your name I asked Amber all right Amber are you somewhere safe a room with a door you can lock I'm in my room she said through sniffles I locked the door good I'm going to stay with you on the line is there anywhere for you to hide the sound of footsteps grew in the background as her voice lowered to a whisper I think under the bed she Whimpered okay is there

I paused thinking over my words before continuing anything you can use to protect yourself there was silence on her end for a moment followed by a hus as she dropped the phone I assumed to get a weapon the clamor from within the house grew closer and the piercing ringing sound returned I was almost certain there was something wrong with my headset or Amber's phone the sound grew to an Unbearable extent matched only by deafening thuds from somewhere nearby it sounded too close the hairs on the back of my neck began to rise and panic gave

way to an inexplicable fear the urge to look over my shoulder grew harder to resist as the th grew louder mirror it all sounded too clear I guess there was no static no white noise typical of a phone call nothing just footsteps Approaching closer closer i g into my instinct whipping around in my seat nearly losing my headset no one I had no time to settle my nerves as Amber returned to the line are you there she whispered yanking me back into the moment yes I replied struggling to shake off my fears something was very

wrong despite my worries I shifted my attention back To Amber I there isn't any weapon the girl muttered but I have something there was a pause okay what do you have I asked a rabbit a pink rabbit she said said and even over the phone I could hear a little embarrassment my dad gave her to me when I was little she sniffled he said she would keep me safe I didn't know what to say for a Moment but didn't want to miss a beat he was right I said as encouragingly as I could everyone knows

pink bunnies are great protection can you go back under her I was interrupted Amber I miss you I could hear a man's voice from within the house so the Intruder knew her I furrowed my brow Amber do you recognize that voice I asked hoping she could identify The Intruder there was silence for a moment before her response it it sounds like my dad why does it sound like my dad I blinked what do you mean that's my daddy's voice why does it have my daddy's voice I didn't know how to respond hell I didn't even

know what to think at his voice before I could ask what she meant We were interrupted by a sound that sound has taken me years to try to understand I've come to believe it was that things laugh at the time though we couldn't know it was the sound of metal crunching in a car accident as it met flesh a wet grinding shriek that shook me to my core I wanted to vomit and my vision began to blur I can only imagine what it was like for Amber hearing that in person Amber I Panted my senses

returning to me all at once she barely had time to respond before we heard it a voice or voices calling for her from somewhere nearby they spoke as one all with the same inhuman nature dripping with malice Amber my blood froze Amber began to cry her cries becoming pleased as she begged for help for her life for her mother five more Minutes just five more minutes I muttered midly cursing the timer displaying the estimated arrival time of the officers I pray you would be soon enough it's outside the room she whispered her voice filled with

utter Panic before breaking into a quiet SOB I silently swore under my breath Amber I need you to hide right now if possible the police are 3 minutes away Stay as quiet as possible there was no response but I assum from the shuffling sounds that she had gone back under the bed for a few moments there was silence then Amber spoke and my heart dropped I'm going to die you are not going to die Amber I began worry now audible in my voice I promise it it's reaching under the Door I oh my God she

muttered there was a crash L of than before and Amber began to shriek the noises continued and it began to Dawn me while I was hearing it was breaking down the bedroom door Amber's screams had dealed into horrified babbling and pleas for her life to whatever was on the other side of the door her screams were soon drowned out by the same noise as before that sick twisted Laughter what are you Amber shrieked loud enough to make my ears ring please where are you where are you he mocked in a voice that was a sick

parody of ambers Panic gripped me as a glance back at the corner of the monitor displaying the dispatched unit's arrival time 136 please God would it be sin enough Amber are you there I called Amber as suddenly as it had started everything went Silent somewhere in the distance I heard sirens I hear them Amber officers are a minute away silence my heart began to sink Amber are you there I could hear something shifting breathing I I think it's gone Amber said a surge of relief rolled through me and I let out a sigh leaning back

in the chair 027 the dispatch time read and the Sirens in the background grew lud her you did very well Amber police are all was there you did really well I couldn't think of what else to say I'd never had a call like this and something about it all felt so strange something Amber had said began to ring in my mind what are you Amber I began what did you see I was met with silence Amber Amber began to laugh Amber I said my voice is pleading a wave of Realization crashed down on me the

laughter grew more rockus and less human with every second somewhere in the background there was a knocking sound they finally arrived too late I asked the only thing I could think of at the moment why the laughter stopped abruptly as the thing on the phone spoke it was fun there was a click and The line went dead the house was empty when officers arrived no signs of forced entry anywhere except the door to Amber's bedroom the bottom of which had been torn Away by something leaving a wide space to crawl beneath and Amber or what

was left of her decorated the room whatever had been there left nothing behind to identify it only Carnage the case was never officially closed and everyone had their theories As to what had happened that day ranging from serial killers to a bare attack and everything in between the call was never made public not my decision but not what I necessarily complained about either I never want to hear that recording again I put in my two weeks notice that same night but I never returned to work after that day I've been content to try and forget

about that Call as callous as it may sound I was content trying to forget about Amber to forget whatever I had spoken to on that phone but I don't think it's done with me last night I dreamed or thought I was dreaming the sounds of footsteps running throughout my house as something screeched and laughed and locked me just outside my bedroom door I stayed in my bed long into the morning despite the sounds having Stopped Paralyzed by a mixture of fear and confusion until eventually I convinced myself to leave the bed I crossed the room

cursing every Creek the floor made under my weight I lowered myself to the ground holding my breath as I peered under my bedroom door there was something there but it wasn't moving I mustered up the little bravery I had left and Rose to my feet my eyes shut tight and a prayer on my Lips I pulled open my bedroom door slightly and stuck my head out just enough to see what L outside I stifled a gasp and tears flooded my eyes as I bent over to pick up the object plac right outside my door was

a little pink bunny covered in dark stains from somewhere within the darkness just beyond the bedroom door Amber's laughter echoed my hometown had very strict security Measures I was born in a small town in Eastern Europe I won't tell you its name or which country it's in I believe it's better if it remains free of tourists suffice it to say it was no place special it wasn't small enough that everyone knew each other by name but it was small enough that you recognize most people's faces it had a mall a movie theater nice Schools interesting

architecture more churches than we ever needed and the biggest point of Pride for the locals was our almost zero crime rate at worst some teens would vandalize an old building but other than that it was the safest town in the country if you ever went there you might attribute that to the Extreme Measures people took to ensure their house could not be broken into although you'd only see that if you Happen to visit on the last day of the month I remember the routine very well we repeated it every month of my life always on

the last day my mother would kiss my father as he left for work and sternly warn him to come back before Sunset my father always promised that he would he never broke that promise we never had school that day and most parents including my mother didn't allow their children to play outside kids and rebellious teenagers Were kept indoors all day along with pets I later discovered it wasn't always this way but you know how children are they start playing with their friends lose track of time and when Sunset comes around they still haven't made it

home it was safer to keep them from leaving home at all when my father came home he and my mother would immediately begin locking up my grandparents always came to spend the night with us I would sit in the living room with them and watch As my parents went about their careful procedure my father would carefully lock each and every door and window in the house my mother would follow him double-checking each lock and Crossing them off a list she carried when they were done they would make another sweep of the house my father triple

checking the locks and my mother pulling down the blinds and closing the curtains then they would place a steel plate over the fireplace screwing it in With practiced ease and do the same to the front and back doors in the morning they were removed and put back in the attic the nights were most awful during winter not being able to light up the fireplace meant that the only way to keep warm was to bundle up in blankets which never felt like they were enough even with six of them piled on top of us after the

Locking ceremony We Gather in the living room closing that door also And way out the night we could talk but not very loudly no one usually felt like talking anyway we could sleep but it was rare that anyone actually felt relaxed enough to even try we always open the sofa bed though to spare my grandparents backs if they wanted to they never did we were all too tense jumping at every side noise if the furniture made a cracking sound we'd almost have a collective heart Attack a sneeze could induce a panic attack we kept two

oil lamps burning not because we needed the extra light but so we wouldn't be left in darkness should one go out for some reason we had a third lamp to be lit should anyone need to go to the bathroom if so they never went alone you had to take two people with you why I needed to go my father and grandfather would take me the bathroom door was kept open while we were in there and we weren't allowed To flush no matter what we had done whoever accompanied you took my father's shotgun on the trip

those who stayed in the living room kept the hunting rifle ready to fire until the others returned I hated my body on those nights hated it in its need to urinate and relieve itself I would try to keep it in for as long as I could because nothing scared me more than having to cross a dark house with an armed man at my back and Another holding a lamp that cast the most horrible Shadows we weren't allowed to Simply turn on the lights no lights no sound nothing that might call their attention it was harder

for people with babies and small children they don't really understand the gravity of the situation they cry loudly and throw Tantrums more babies were buried in my Town than any other accidentally smothered by their mothers desperately trying to quiet them there was never an arrest or even an investigation everyone understood the terror that had driven them to that most kns were quiet I would distract myself playing cards alone or straining my eyes to read sometimes I could get bored enough to forget I was terrified but there were noisy Nights nights when they roam very close

to our house there was no forgetting on those nights none of us dared to leave the living room when they were close if we really couldn't hold it in we had to do it in a bucket you might be wondering what exactly drove us to such extremes the thing is I don't know any more than you do I never saw anything no one ever talked about what Happened on the last day of every month it was like it didn't happen I asked my parents once when I was very young but old enough to finally realize

this wasn't a normal situation what was out there on those nights my father shru evil he said I don't think he knew all either but it was evil of that I'm sure we could feel it in our bones an animal Instinct Rising up as the night got closer warning us that something was Wrong in this place it was always sunny on the last day of the month but it always felt cloudy I noticed that as the years went by every time the daylight felt bluish yet it also looked like well just your perfectly normal sunny

day it never rained the temperature was always 22° C all day regardless of the season the birds still Sayang dogs barked but they sounded underwater to me at least like I said Nobody mentioned what happened during the night if others noticed these things they kept it to themselves maybe they preferred to enjoy the normal days and face the night only when it came I don't know the rest of the month everyone lived a normal life and even seemed happy not me I just lived in nauseous expectation of the next night like I said I never

saw them but I heard them on those hellish noisy nights when they chose our home to Haunt they remind us that the danger was very real we would hold our breaths hearing them try every lock looking for the one we forgotten they were as meticulous in their attempted invasion of our home as my parents were in its defense they would turn the handles pull them make the door shutter as they grew frustrated they would try to open the windows making them Creak in their frames sometimes and God those were the worst of all it would

make me hug my Grandma tight and weep on her shoulder as she wept online even long after I could be considered a child sometimes they tried to chim me in the complete silence of our living room we would hear a sound a very sub rasping sound like fingernails sliding down on the wall then the clicks would start we hear them very delibery clicks on the other side of that steel plate like an impatient boss tapping his shoe my father would grab his shotgun And my grandpa or sometimes my mother would take the rifle and they

would aim it at the fireplace they shook so badly I doubt they could have hit anything while they were there clicking behind the plate we would feel the wrongness more than ever the room seemed dark ER at once sometimes I swear it was like one of the oil lamps went out what light there was felt bluish again God forbid someone had used the bucket the smell Grew so intense it was more like gasoline than urine they would click and click and click one time they knocked I will never forget that sound a polite knock from

a friendly neighbor in the form of a Warhammer beating on a steel plate the sound echoed and the plate was dented we had to have it replaced Then There came more clicks and finally we heard them sliding up the chimney again whoever had managed to not Drop their weapon would continue shakily aiming it at the fireplace until dawn another time we heard them upstairs they got in I mean they didn't get in they couldn't have or I wouldn't be here writing this we checked the locks and the the morning and we hadn't forgotten a single

one but we heard them we heard their Footsteps in the room above ours my bedroom walking very slowly stepping on every creaking floorboard we think they did it on Purpose they wanted us to know they were there my father was brave enough to get up and lock the living room door but then he came to us and we all huddled together crying as quietly as we could as they creaked their way downstairs and came to the door then they started scratching it not like an animal not with claws they just scratched it very Lively it

was dark I didn't see anything under the Door but it felt like they were there for hours scratching away at the wood in the morning my throat hurt from trying to smother my sobs for so long I couldn't sleep anymore even though we were supposedly safe the other nights of the month I begged my parents to move away I think at one point I literally got down on my knees and implored them to leave they told me to be quiet it was only one night nothing had happened they Didn't really get in we must have

gotten too scared and started hearing things they said so before the end of the month I ran away I was 15 I'd never looked back sometimes I I regret having been so rash I miss my family but I'm afraid of calling them or even sending them a letter as far as I know they only haunt that town I'm afraid that maybe my family didn't move because we're not Allowed to leave I don't know but I'm too afraid to risk doing anything that could make them find me and spread beyond that town I still lock every

door and window every night now just in case I have a girlfriend friend now she believes I have OCD and tolerates this behavior and she's helping me get over my fear of going outside past Sundown I'm afraid she's not having much success I know she'll probably get tired Of trying to fix me and leave I wonder sometimes if a life like this was worth the Escape what would have happened if they had gotten through that locked door I don't know that either all I know is that very rare early but still all too often someone

would make a mistake a husband wouldn't check the locks enough times a wife wouldn't close the shutters all the way a child would become curious and open a window just to See and in the morning the town would be short one family no one ever mentioned the Disappeared family again just like them it was like they never even existed their house would be sold the new owners would would look out for any crack they might come in through and the months would go on after what happened on my last night I'm certain all those security

measures were useless anyway they could always come in any Time they wanted I don't know what they are what they do to their victims if they eat them or drag them to hell or unmake them or what I don't know what's their connection to that town I do know that if they want to show me a lock door won't stop them I lock anyway just in case I'm from a small town I mean small nothing much happened other than take your tractor to work day I was a high school senior in a class of 42

people we had all known each other since Diapers I could give you the first middle and last name of every kid in my class the biggest thing that happened to our town was the day we got a Starbucks the only reason we got one was that we were right off the highway and people passing through made up for our small population size needless to say we were thrilled it was a small Cafe with not much of an inside but at least it had a drive-thru the building itself was Tucked right next to a strip mall

so it had a tiny parking lot the actual drive-thru was pinned against a brick wall once you you were in line you had no choice but to keep going this was especially annoying when the people in front of you had long orders the line could fit about six cars back to back and it was always full let me just say the Starbucks didn't last long 8 months after it opened it was shut down I got to see the reason why Firsthand it was spring break my mom and I were heading to the mall which was

on almost an hour away it was hot I was the one who suggested we stop at Starbucks before heading out my mom didn't want to she said it was a waste of money but I nagged her until she agreed we pulled up to the drive-thru and there were four cars ahead of us my mom side but got in line three more cars pulled in behind us we were all stuck Like peas in a pod sweating in the heat of the day I want something cold I wh to my mom she rolled her eyes strawberries and

cream yes please I pulled out my phone and snapchated at some friends getting fraps with the mom I typed as I snapped a pick of us my mom laughed and pushed the phone away suddenly a loud pop filled the air we looked at each other in Surprise It sounded like a gunshot I said softly no way she responded shrugging it off it was probably just a car backfiring we sat in silence for the next few moments I think we both sense something had changed then the scream came it was a man's instinctively I stuck my

head out the window to see what was going on because of how packed and we were against the building bus we couldn't Actually open our doors but I was small enough that I could get half my body out of the window to view the scene there was a figure standing on the hood of a car about four cars ahead of us he wore a gorilla mask in his hands was a gun he had it pointed down toward the windshield someone inside the car was screaming begging for help my mother pulled me back into the car

just before another pop filled the Silence the windshield shattered and the alley was lit up with fear we need to get out of here my mom said under her breath she looked around wildly knowing we were blocked in the cars behind us weren't moving and Ne there were the cars in front none of us could open our doors what the hell I whimpered it's going to be okay my mom put the car in reverse and slammed on the gas pass because we weren't moving We couldn't get enough speed she struck the car behind us which

faltered but didn't move my mom's Panic was getting worse she tried going forward but the same thing happened we could see the people in the other cars panicking as well the woman in front of us was banging her door against the brick of the building trying desperately to climb through she managed to hedge halfway out but got stuck The Man in The Mask calmly climbed Over the car he had just shot into and moved onto the next one I watched in horror as he tapped on their windshield there was a couple in the front seat

I could see them holding each other in despair roll down your window The Mask man said loudly the seconds ticked by people in the cars around us were screaming my M and I were Silent R it down now the driver's side window slowly rolled down we could hear a man's voice from inside please we have kids in the car don't hurt us we're good people please The Mask man leaned toward the open window and shot the couple twice blood erupted from the car their windows were painted red now we could hear the cries of children

my mom grabbed my hand she swallowed Slowly get down she said what I couldn't comprehend what was happening get down as far under the seat as possible he may not see you but Mom my words were interrupted by A Chorus of gunshots the kid's cries ceased without another word I folded myself into the space under the dashboard I got as small as possible my mom angled her purse next to me nearly covering the spot I was in she Was breathing hard a woman's voice pierced the alleyway why why are you doing this I realized it

must be the woman trying to get out of her car door she was stuck between her car and the wall I shut my eyes trying not to pick hanging there just waiting to be shot down even my mom looked away as the shot rang out blood sprayed my mom braced herself against the steering wheel she looked ahead as If entranced I sobbed quietly I could feel the man jump onto our car's Hood his footsteps were loud above us I glanced toward my mother she didn't dare look at me the gorilla mask hung down over the

open window on my mom's side the gun was pointed at her Temple I couldn't see his real face but I got the feeling he was smiling my mom suddenly reached out and Grabbed the gun I nearly knocked my head against the dashboard in Surprise the man must have been surprised too because the gun came easily out of his grip she AED upward and pulled the trigger she shot him as many times as she could before the bullets ran out blood was dripping down the windshield and all over her clothes the mask was covered in holes

she kept pulling the trigger even Though nothing came out I breathed a huge sigh I couldn't believe she just did that my mom a small town housewife just killed a murderer but before I could crawl out another pop sounded it came from my side of the car I watched in horror as my mother's head exploded out of the back of her skull she fell forward onto the steering wheel her nose on the Horn I slowly turned my head to my side of the car where someone wearing a Barbie mask was peering down she cocked her

head to the side surveying her work she must not have seen me because she disappeared I felt her step off her car onto someone else's I tried to breathe but nothing came out I stayed under my seat for nearly an hour the police arrived within 20 minutes of the first shot but I couldn't give myself to move they only Found me after using the jaws of life to open up the top of her car to pull my mom out when the officer saw me her face crumpled she could see the fear still edged onto my

face I was the only Survivor from the drive-thru altogether 13 people were shot to death including three kids under the age of 10 the man in the gorilla mask was later identified as a radical eot terrorist they planned this event to Protest Starbucks impact on the environment despite their intent no one who worked at Starbucks was injured it was just those of us in line they never found the other person my mom died bravely and I still cling to that never in my life would I have expected her to grab a gun from a craze

killer she did it for me to save me there is one thing that still eats me up inside because despite their horrible actions all the death and destruction Those murderers caused the event actually worked at least for me I know I will never go to a Starbucks again during the the months of June July and August I spent many hot summers of my childhood at my grandmother's house further west on the island of Cape Bren the forest was plentiful the plains were a vibrant green and my grandmother's house was a rickety old two-story built sometime

in the ' 50s that looked like It didn't belong despite its shortcomings my childhood summer spent there were some of the best I ever had there were no other children to play with for Miles toward town but I made my fun running through fields of grass and smelling flowers in my grandma's Garden I can still recall the scent of her butterscotch muffins walking through an open window sweet Heavenly and beckoning me Inside I still remember the sound of cicas and the warm breeze brushing my skin I still remember my grandma's face watching me from underneath

the porch step smiling with all her teeth and calling me to come inside there were a lot of rules at my grandma's house like no running inside with shoes on and no playing in the garden some of the rules didn't make sense to me like locking the windows and doors before bed even though we liveed Miles from society turning off the television 8 and being in bed by 9 was the worst especially on nights with no school there were even unspoken rules things I didn't ask her about like not sleeping with our arms and legs

off the bed checking the windows and doors twice not pulling the sh shower curtain all the way closed hiding under beds and in closets or pulling the attic Court off the nail it was wrapped Around though some things were odd my grandma was very well-liked she was life with long silver hair that Shone like a reflected the Moonlight while she usually kept it up in a tight bun making the frown lines on her face prominent when her hair was down she could have been called Beautiful when my grandpa was alive he would call her a

her Fox she had been young beautiful and quick-tempered but she was also the only One who could say something Woody and clever to one of my grandpa's quips age softened her her children made her emotional and my grandpa passing away made her sad and distant but I never questioned her love for me Grandpa spent a lot of time out west so his visits home were rare but wonderful my grandma used to say she liked having me around during the summer time time when he was gone because it made her feel Useful looking back on it

now I guiz my Nana was lonely I will try to detail the events that happened chronologically but I was little and I blocked out a lot of my childhood here for good reason my grandma lived under the house I never saw her go to bed not once I didn't think tooo much about it as I was a big kid and I could sleep alone with my covers tucked around me and my fingers and toes safely away from The edge of the bed however there were a few times she would visit me from the window standing

in her garden bed and whispering things to me from behind the glass my grandma's face would be pressed up against the window pane smiling with all her teeth her hands cued around her face to see inside a little better I never questioned it why would I I was just a kid with a silly Grandma there was nothing more to it Sweetie can you open the door for me I'm a little chilly out here she told me once her lips moving just slightly to sound out the words she spoke from behind the glass the window was

high enough that I could only see above her collar bone but I could tell she wasn't wearing anything I laughed a childish laugh and responded with something like that's silly Grandma you have a key to get Inside come in before you get cold my grand grandma wouldn't respond after that but her smile never wavered for even a second she would still be standing in what would have been Nana's Garden one of the things she never let me do although she wouldn't say anything directly to me whenever I turned away from the window I could hear

her Whispering I couldn't make out what she was saying and I thought it might have been just Nonsense I didn't turn to face her for some reason I was uncomfortable with looking at her so I lay in bed listening to her Mumble incoherent things until I fell asleep it became a routine I would listen to her soft Whispers until I slept and by morning she'd be in the kitchen making breakfast and pretending like nothing happened my grandma would call me silly when I tried to confront her about it Telling me I had a vivid imagination

the way adults often tell kids after that I never really brought anything up to her again it was like a game between us every couple of nights my grandma would come to the window and ask me to let her inside sometimes she would tell me I was a good kid and sometimes she would call me a bad child only once did I see her smile Drift from her face she had been pestering me every night since she Started this game between us I would ask beg and plea with her to go away and let me

sleep that I was too tired to play and didn't want to anymore it wasn't until I became aggravated enough to yell at her that she left me alone for a few days but not for very long I already told you I don't want to play anymore just come inside yourself and go to sleep her smile turned into a frown but the look in her eyes made me Uncomfortable she didn't whisper to me that night but every few moments I would turn around and find her watching me frowning and glaring I don't I don't know how

I managed to fall asleep but I do remember waking up to the smell of bacon on the frying pan and the sound of my grandma humming a song one night I decided to purposefully unlock the door I waited until my nana went to bed to creep across the cold floor unhooked the latches from the front door and then Ran to my room to hide beneath the covers waiting for my grandma to finally give up the game she didn't come to the window that night she came through my bedroom door I could hear her get on

all fours I could hear her Shuffle across the floor I could hear her crawl under my bed that night I heard her Whispering from underneath my mattress my ear pressed up against the bed and the Coverage pulled over my head I'm hungry I'm so hungry I can smell you I shifted on the bed my back facing the wall and the window I didn't want to play this game anymore I can smell your damn liver the helplessness of knowing there was no I could call to wake me from this nightmare was a feeling I never want

to experience again I'm going to crawl into your insides you little bag of Filth I can't tell you what she continued to whisper to me from underneath the mattress I blocked most of it out curling myself into the blankets and making sure no part of me was sticking out before I fell asleep I do remember however while open my eyes just a crack peering out from the blankets I could see my grandma's eyes watching me from the bottom of my bed I don't know how long I lay there Paralyzed with fear but eventually I fell

asleep and managed to wake up the next day thankfully without my nana watching me from under the bed if she noticed the unlatched door she didn't say anything the look she gave me was a curious side eye as she put eggs on my plate I could tell I broke her heart aone I asked to go home from that night on and for the few remaining nights before I left I made sure the door was locked Twice she visited me repeatedly until I left I didn't watch the house grow smaller in the rearview mirror afraid that

if I did I might see her watching me back I didn't return to that house during the summertime my grandma came to visit me quite a few times at my place but nothing out of the ordinary happened the nightly visits were over and a few years later my grandpa was diagnosed with late stage Alzheimer's my grandma and grandpa were two of the most in-law people you could have met without being overly showy my grandpa's sneaky kisses behind our backs and my grandma's smile when he asked her if her coffee were proof enough I could see

the pain in her eyes whenever she talked about how he had forgotten her name again that day or couldn't remember their kids' names I watched my grandma suffer through my grandpa's disease as he Slipped slipped and finally Slipped Away my grandma passed away a while after that hooked up to hospital tubes but still sassy to the nurses thankfully she never had to endure the deterioration of her mind as Alzheimer's took her from us my grandma was spry beautiful clever and a little weird it wasn't until we went back to clean our things from the house

that I asked my mom about it she told me a lot of things I wouldn't have been told as a Child she explained that my grandpa was a war veteran who had married a much much younger girl who worked at a flower shop they lived in poverty for most of their lives and when he couldn't afford an engagement ring he built her a house with his own two hands instead in the middle of her conversation I asked her about my childhood I didn't mention the things I had experienced I felt like she would brush it

off with A wave and a comment about my overactive imagination as a kid your grandma was a little superstitious for a while we thought she might have been getting Alzheimer's herself my mother side as she Tu photographs into a cardboard box there were just little things like not remembering where she put her keys for getting to tend her garden just little things suddenly I felt as though weight Had been lifted off my chest that could very well have explained The Oddities and weirdness it felt a bit rude to say it out loud though my mother

had me help her pack boxes into the back of the car we were preparing to move my grandma's things from the house and let it become an abandoned Shack in the middle of nowhere once we finished packing I oped into the passenger seat lit a smoke and glanced back to give one final farewell To the place where I had SP spent so much time with my favorite grandma in the world but here's the thing why as we were driving away did I see her watching me from beneath the steps smiling with far too many teeth

the gray lady have you ever heard of the gray lady I remember hearing campfire stories about her when I was a kid but I haven't been able to find much information about her here's why I remember supposedly People see her in remote places mountaintops deep forests and Out in the Country she appears to be an old very tall thin woman who wears a long gray dress people report seeing her during times of great physical duress usually when they believe themselves to be close to death and almost exclusively when they are alone they say she always

has a big smile I found a story online a few years ago about a hiker who got lost in British Columbia and saw her everything in this story is true but I kind of hope this part isn't I'd already been out there for about 4 days doing some off Trail hiking I was having a great time I used to love going out in the woods by myself and enjoy the Solitude I must have gotten turned around because I didn't end up back where I wanted to be by the end of my trip later I found

out that I had been Going in the almost complete opposite direction of my car it was about 3 days after I was supposed to be home when things started to get strange I began seeing things just at the edge of my vision Shadows I'd look but there would be nothing there at night I heard noises outside my tent at first I thought it was just animals and I'm sure some of the sounds were but Others I heard scratching and sometimes late at night I I'd wake up to hear breathing not like any animal I'd call

out thinking maybe someone was there but I'd never get an answer this went on for a few days I thought maybe it was just the woods getting to me you hear horror stories about hunters who give lost and start hallucinating or who die of thirst with water in their packs the forest can mess with you but About a week after I got lost I saw her off in the distance maybe two 200 ft away her hands were at her sides and she was tall 6 or 7 ft with her head craned downward like she was

deformed or something but she was still looking at me she wore a dirty dress that hung down to the ground I called out but she didn't do or say anything I started running towards her I was scared but by then I was Worried that I wasn't going to make it out of those woods I got within maybe 100 ft but she stepped behind a tree and when I got there I was alone I don't know where she could have gone for the next couple of days I didn't see anything and the nights were quiet I

just kept following a creek hoping I'd find something anything I ran out of food on the 10th day and that night I woke up not sure What time it was to the sound of laughter outside a low gigling that lasted for a few seconds had I dreamed it I opened the flap of my tent and called out but all I could hear was the sound of running water it was strange there should have been bugs deer wind something but it was just so quiet then a loud snap from about 20 ft away I shined my

flashlight and saw her there half hidden poking out from behind a tree grinning at me I got Better look at her than before she was old her hair done up in a bun her face was distorted her nose was too long and crooked her eyes were too close together and too big black we stared at each other for a long time and I called out to her her grin just got whiter I sat there Frozen looking at her I yelled again asking her what she wanted she just laughed a scratchy painful Laugh then she stepped

out of the light and I couldn't find her again the rest of the night I heard things outside even the constant bubbling of the creek scared me I wanted out I was hungry exhausted and scared for my life I truly believed I was going to die in those woods at first light I set out walking as fast as I could away from my campsite sometime in the late afternoon I came across an old walking Road it didn't Look like it had been used in years and I knew it didn't mean I was safe yet but

still seeing that sign of humanity was the happiest moment of my life it was getting dark and I felt like I was going to pass out but I didn't want to stop I don't think I could have slept anyway somehow I found the energy to keep going about 2 hours after after I started following the road it was Pitch Black and it started to rain I've been lucky enough to have good weather for my Trip but within a few minutes it was pouring I was plotting along as fast as I could when I heard footsteps

behind me I'd stop and listen and they would stop too I'd start walking and I'd hear them again a few times I thought I could see her stopped not too far behind me more than once I heard her laughing that disgusting laugh it was almost Dawn when I came to the top of a hill and saw lights lights Civilization I practically fell down the hill stumbling to the door of a small house I must have looked like some kind of monster dirty wet exhausted but they took me in it was an old couple they gave

me some food in a bed to sleep in I woke up and they told me I had slept for 15 hours I told them about the woman I had seen and nice as they were I could tell I was making them uncomfortable they said it was just the Hunger but I know what I saw out there deep in the woods and I'll never forget the laughing my na Grandma's wisdom there are a few things you should know before I I tell my stories first off I come from a maternal Navajo line in case you didn't

know Navajo women pass their teachings and sacred medicines onto their daughters and granddaughters second there is only one Maternal granddaughter in each generation of our family thirdly I was my grandmother's favorite grandchild she taught me everything she knew lessons that to this day serve me well when a grand mother speaks in a Navajo family everyone and I mean everyone stops and listens that being said my grandmother had one daughter and four Sons her sons were quite a handful Mischievous and tricksters Beyond imagination my grandmother married an Irish farmer and raised their family on a farm

30 mes outside a small town on the Utah Colorado border they had 15,000 Acres of pinto beans and wheat their Farm barded the naval nation which they visited often now I was my grandmother's favorite grandchild I was the only daughter of her only daughter for whatever reason my mother And grandmother were not close so my grandmother took to teaching me her old ways someone to carry on our traditions and medicines we spent Summers Gathering sear berries and making them into protective necklaces we gathered plants and herbs for teas made Sage bundles and she taught me

how to survive alone in the forest she poured all her wisdom into me one summer we had a family Reunion we all decided to stay at my grandmother's old farmhouse all my cousins came and we decided to stay in the upstairs bedroom that's a whole story in itself but we were excited to be together safety and numbers right the upstairs bedroom and the old Farmhouse had a huge window overlooking the farm it was 4 ft High by 8 ft long there was a door that open to the outside but no porch or stairs if you

went out that door you Would fall a full story to the ground before bedtime my uncle built a huge bonfire and all of his cousins roasted marshmallows my grandmother was initially okay with me going out to do this but she wanted me to stay within the light of the fire and not to wander off off it was Pitch Black out there no neighbors no outside lights and you wouldn't be able to see your hand in front of your face without a light Source like a flashlight or fire we were all happy roasting marshmallows and visiting

when we started to hear kyo's yipping in the distance my mom and her brothers hearing this started to H back see my mother can mimic any animal noise on the planet she was calling the coyotes closer because we could hear them getting nearer this is when my grandmother came out and got me she shushed my mother and her brothers telling them not to call Out to things in the night they laughed it off but continued after my grandmother took me inside she got me ready for bed I always slept with my grandmother knowing I was

safe with her but being a special occasion I wanted to sleep upstairs with my cousins my grandma tried to discourage me me but I wouldn't be seded I was too excited so my grandmother put my Cedar Berry necklace on me and we went Upstairs to SMUD the room I would be sleeping in she told me if I heard or saw anything I should run to her room as fast as I could she also told me not to make noises to be quiet and to go straight to sleep my cousins and I were all set in

our beds for the night giggling and talking I reminded them of what grandma had told me we shouldn't be so loud where something might hear us my cousin Jay laughed it off and said it was just Old Indian Superstition he called out and started whistling this gave me goosebumps we were never to whistle at night no matter what never we sat and waited a couple of minutes and nothing happened I breathed a sigh of relief a couple of hours later we were all about ready to drift off when the hairs on the back of my

neck stood on end I looked around very carefully so as Not to draw attention I didn't see anything but I could sense it at first it started quietly I could hear scratching on the outside of our house I kept telling myself it was probably just a mountain lion and everything was okay we were on the second floor so we were safe but I still still had goosebumps and my scalp was crawling I started to hear what sounded like claws softly crawling up the side Of the house I slowly rolled over to face the window if

something was going to come in I wanted to see it first so I could be the first one out of there I should have gotten up right then and gone to Grandma but I wasn't a particularly scared child I thought I could handle whatever it was a few minutes later the door handle on the outside door started to jiggle at first I was scared then I thought no it's only Uncle Z you see Uncle Z was always playing scary tricks on his kids I thought for sure it was him so I kind of chuckled thinking

he was going to scare my cousin's good I slowly turned my head and every single one of my cousin's eyes were wide as saucers this gave me a good giggle I turned turned back around toward the window and the door handle was still jiggling it was then that my cousin SE asked me to go look and see what it was I said okay I didn't want anyone to think I was a scary cat so I got up and tiptoed over to the door I grabbed the door handle firmly so whoever was messing with it couldn't

turn it anymore I turned around and smiled at my cousins every single one of them had a look of sheer horror on their face at the time I thought geez what a bunch of limps then my cousin Jay started to say Something but Jay had a bad stutter when he got too excited or scared he was saying na na n and pointed at the window I slowly turned around my hair still standing on end on my neck and arms and what I saw y' let me tell you I thought my uncle Z had outdone himself

with a scary mask this time there was a cow skull with just its eyes barely peeking over the window now our window was open because it was hot and I was standing right by It a couple of things hit me all at once the smell there was this horrible odor of Decay it was so bad I could hear my cousin be gagging behind me the cow skull had two huge horns on it like a Texas this long horn but we didn't have that type of cow no one did there there were pale animalistic eyes staring

straight at me slowly very slowly these long bony bloody fingers made their way over the window sill but I couldn't stop Looking at was the cow's SK it was wet not with water but with blood and senu a smile broke over its face as if it knew I was starting to realize this was not my uncle's see it opened its mouth and a huge grin showing dozens of razor sharp teeth that pointed inward like the teeth of a snake designed so that prey cannot Escape once swallowed the smile cracked its skin and pus-like stuff oozed

out several things happened at once it reached its hand Toward me and the Hand started to instantly smoke as if it were burning it yanked its hand back and gave me a look of pure hatred I instantly thought how wise my grandmother had been to smudge then its long bony finger with huge bloody claws started moving to Beck in me over it was smiling again p and all I naturally reached up and held my Cedar Berry necklace it saw this and turned Instantly enraged it let our vile scream a immediately I screamed Uncle zisa gun

Naval wolf almost instantly he barged through our room with his44 Magnum in his tidy witties he saw it and blew a hole through the window the nav wolf jumped and started to run off into the timber screaming impossibly loud the entire way it was enraged at being denied what it had come for my uncle searched all night For it planning to kill it but they never found it Grandma had me in her arms almost right away never again did I leave my grandmother at night that scream will stay with me until the day I die

although that was not the last time I heard it the next morning when we went outside there were huge claw marks down the side of the house I can't even begin to imagine what those claws could do to a human body thank goodness for my grandmother's Wisdom and preparation to this day I still have my Cedar Berry necklace a word of advice from Grandma never and I mean never call into the night because you never know it will answer you back unknown caller 2:41 a.m. beep beep beep the fourth infernal mechanized tongue was enough to

shake me out of my Slumber and force me to open my heavy sleep-filled Eyes I remembered where I was in my bed under my covers which just a minute it previously had felt like the softest and most comforting thing in the world but now felt like a straight jacket restricting me and trapping me in I kicked them off and reached for my phone its harsh brightness assaulting my tender eyelids I squinted it trying to see what it wanted 241 a.m. call from unknown number I sighed cursing myself for Bothering to see what it was but

I had gotten this far right I swiped the green bar and raised the phone to my ear muttering hello in a less D polite tone I waited for a second hearing nothing I began to grow impatient and was about to slam it down and try to get back to sleep I heard very faint breathing over the line hello who is this you think it's funny to call someone at this hour I retorted into the phone the Breathing slowly grew louder as if the person were coming closer to the phone I noticed it sounded labored and

harsh the person on the line sucked in air and weeed loudly this time then whispered two words that sent shivers down my spine look outside I jumped having gone from grumpy to terrified in a matter of seconds I leapt out of bed unsure of what to do call the police I lived in the inner city and it Was a Friday night no chance considering it could easily be a practical joke I stared at the curtain across my room knowing what I had to do I gulped feeling the hair stand up on the back of my

neck it occurred to me to look for a weapon or something but I was a college student in a meor apartment and had very little that could help me I sigh and positioned Myself by the window I put one hand on the curtain ready to draw it back but simultaneously Terrified I wondered what could be out there images from horror flicks flashed through my head as I pondered a mad man with a bloody knife standing just outside my window giving me a toothy smile I tried to put it out of my head realizing that was

ridiculous with a deep breath I withdrew the curtain in one fluid motion exposing myself to the outside world and whatever lay beyond the relative safety of my room and stare outside my eyes furtively Glancing from side to side I saw nothing just my completely empty neighborhood as it always was waves of relief pulsated through me realizing it was probably just a poorly executed prank by a friend trying to get a rise out of me however this relief was shortlived suddenly I realized that even though my phone was on my bed on the other side of

the room I could still hear the breathing just as clearly as when my phone had been to my ear Emanating from directly behind me I have never told anyone what really happened to my brother when the sickness came to our small appalation town in the summer of 81 I was the only one who knew the truth but I never said a word despite being asked a lot first I was questioned by the sheriff who was just trying to get to the bottom of things young lady this was followed by an awkward one-sided conversation with an

official from the CDC and then a real interrogation from the team of FBI agents brought into help with the investigation they even grilled my parents who had been out of town arrived after what felt like hours a nice psychologist from Social Services took one look at me and declared that I was in shock which was understandable given the circumstances and insisted I'd be left alone until I was ready to talk about it I thought I would never be Ready to talk about it mostly because they would never be ready to hear it but that was

before now more than 30 years later the time has come I should tell someone what happened while I still can you see I have had a fever for 3 days now stop rolling your eyes I am aware the fever is no real cause for concern in a healthy adult but this is something different for the last 72 hours my temperature has held steady At exactly 2.6 de F you think I probably just need to replace the battery in the old digital thermometer right well I did that and then I used an old school glass and

mercury thermometer a plastic fever strip and an electronic ear thermometer and they all reported the same temperature 102.6 de F every Single time you do not know the the significance of this yet but you will let us take a 6-day journey to rural Small Town West Virginia in the year 1981 day one it was hotter than hell when I woke up the plastic box fell on the floor rattling as it moved hot air from one side of my room to the other the light shining through the windows told me I'd woken up later than usual

but there was no one there to nag me about it because Mom and Dad had been on The road since before Dawn hauling a load of K up by 64 to the stockyards in Louisville I figured Andrew had probably slept in his well but when I walked past his room on the way to the kitchen I was surprised to see the door open and the bed neatly made I decided he must have gone with mom and dad so he could walk around the city while they did business I was excited to have the whole day

to myself it did not happen very often so I Planed to fill my dat by swimming at the creek and eating way too many of my mom 's apricot hand pies it was as glorious as it sounds later that night I was making myself pancakes for dinner when I decided to turn on the radio it only picked up a few stations all of which could be divided into two categories classic country or Evangelical preacher damning Sinners to hell as comical as the latter could be At times I was shooting for the former I did not

get either I got stabbed IC I had to roll the dial up and down the line with careful Precision at least four times before I got anything close to a broadcast well hey there folks you're listening to 102.6 the fever playing all your favorites from the' 60s 7s and Today where did you come from I whispered a smile spreading across my face up next we've got a little Dawn Of Summer for you followed by the goes and trust me when I say their lips are sealed but first a message from our sponsors I shuffled back

to the stove top to flip my momentarily forgotten pancake when an haunt series of beeps bells and buzzes erupted from the Radio's modest speakers I froze mid- flip focusing on each individual sound picking out the pattern straight away I was just beginning to make sense of the sequence when Andrew charged into the kitchen yanked the plug from the outlet and threw the radio across the room when it continued to produce those and brawling sounds he smashed it against the floor a dozen times and Chuck the pieces out into the yard What's going on true I

asked affronted what's going on right back at you sis he snapped nudging me out of the way so he could tend to the smoking mess on the stove I glanced at the melted spatula in my hand and wondered how long I had been standing there I guess I spaced out for a minute huh I said with a nervous laugh what are you even doing here anyway I thought you went with Mom and Dad Andrew kept his back to me taking his sweet time with rinsing out the skillet and scraping the chart clump of pancake into

the trash can well I asked crossing my arms and tapping my foot to emphas Iz my impatience I went out to the barn around 7 this morning to feed thought I had to check on Hickory too she's about done cooking we ought to have a fall by the end of the month he said still not Turning to look at me that was like 12 hours ago where have you been all day she had some tables and Burrs in her me and she's just so fat and miserable right now I decided to spend an hour or

so giving her a good breath rushing thought I'd listened to the radio while I worked it was already tuned into that new station while I turned it on so I just left it there he said pausing to clear his throat so he continued 1 minute on Digging out the curry comb listening to Jesse's Girl and the next thing I know I'm waking up on the barn floor hours later to the sound of that weird racket blaring through the speakers I don't know what's going on sis but I feel like absolute gar Gage and don't ask

me how but I know it has something to do with that cursed radio station he finally turned to face me and that's why I noticed that he looked like absolute garbage as well his eyes were Roomy and bloodshot his dark hair damp with sweat emphasizing the sickly poor of his skin I didn't need to touch him to know he was burning out with a fever that would explain why he was talking like a maniac maybe you should go lie down Andrew I suggested and he nodded want me to warm up some soup for you sure

that sounds pretty good just a sec I said when he started toward his Bedroom I want to take your temperature Andrew stood leaning against the counter for support while I dubed the thermometer case out of the junk drawer I shook it until the red line was under the 95 Mark then shoved it under his tongue I counted to 60 in my head and said all right let's take a look I held it up to the light and the results were just what I expected yep I said matter of factly you've got Fever pretty good one

too how high is it he asked narrowing his eyes at me almost 103 I said rinsing off the thermometer before tossing it back in the case what was it exactly looked to be about 102.5 or 6 I replied with a shrug you should probably take some aspirin no I'll be fine I'm going to bed don't worry about the soup see you in the morning he said tousling my hair That was the last coherent conversation I had with my brother day two I woke up on the couch the next day a painful Creek in in my

neck I had been waiting up for Mom and Dad to let them know Andrew was sick but I must have fallen asleep before they made it back Mom I called out wondering why she hadn't shoot me off to bed when she and dad got home last night no response Mom Dad anybody Home silence I had a bad feeling but when I opened the side door and noticed the truck h and trailer were still gone I was slipping into fullon paniced territory I barged into Andrew's room to see if he had heard from Mom or Dad

but just like the day before his bed was made and he was gone I went straight to the kitchen and grabbed the phone book to look up the non-emergency number for the police Department I will my hands to stop shaking long enough to dial the phone and I held my breath when it started to rain you have reached the County Sheriff's Office please be advised that as of 2000 on July 23rd the Centers for Disease Control have implemented a countywide quarantine to prevent the spread of an unidentified communicable disease All County access roads have been

closed until further Notice any individuals found in violation of the quarantine order will be detained for your safety the CDC has issued a boil water advisory for Municipal Water customers as well as those residents who access water from private Wells and springs for more information please tune in to x8.3 FM the call disconnected at the end of the Message I was equal parts freaked out and relieved relieved because if the roads closed at 200000 last night that explained why Mom and Dad didn't make it home freaked out because holy smokes are quarantine my next order

of business was tuning in x8.3 FM for more information I went out to the barn to find a working radio but it seemed Andrew had smashed that one Beyond repair as well awesome I gave Hickory a pat tossing a scoop of sweet feet into her trough Before heading back outside I was looking around the paddock for signs of Andrew when I noticed a police car in the distance stirring up a cloud of gravel and dust in its wake as it came down the road I sprinted down the driveway and stood in the middle of the

road waving my on like a maniac the car sked to a halt a good 5 ft from Where I Stood and Deputy Mills stuck his head out the window what in the world are you doing Girl trying to get yourself hurt He barked no sir of course not it's just that my brother is missing all our radios are broken I think my parents are trapped outside the quarantine and I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing right now I said my is briming with tears he gave me a sympathetic sigh and motioned me

closer to the car look don't cry it makes me uncomfortable he said bluntly the best thing you can do right Now is go back inside your house lock the doors and wait for the quarantine to pass it shouldn't be longer than a few days don't let anyone in not even if your brother shows up okay you don't look sick to me but if you start to run a fever you need to call the number on this card I took the card from his outstretched hand and I noticed he was careful not to touch me what'll

happen then I asked the folks from the CDC will come take you to the facility they've Set up inside the quarantine area they'll give you medical attention and see if they can figure out the source of the infection I thought it was the water that's just a standard precaution nothing has been rolled in or out yet now get inside and don't come back out until you hear it's all clear we're updating the outgoing message at the station every day so you can check in there day Three no change no sign of Andrew no word from

Mom or Dad the only difference on the outgoing message from the Sheriff's Office was the date day four see day three day five I was officially Stir Crazy the only thing I did regularly was feed the animals and check on Hickory but that only filled 15 minutes in a 24-hour day so I cleaned I knitted because you can never have too many Scars in July and I paced around the house like a zombie day six I had taken to sleeping on the couch I don't know why but I just didn't feel feel safe in my

room anymore it was close to 2,200 and I was curled up with one of my Nancy Drew books when I heard light knocking on the front door I held my breath and didn't dare move the knocking grew louder and louder then turned to banging I buried my head under the quilt And covered my ears the banging stopped I uncovered my ears and peeled back the quilt there was a voice so faint I could barely hear it but unmistakably Andrews I slid from the couch to the floor an inch closer to the door until I could

make out what he was saying don't open the door sis he pleaded no matter what don't let me in Dre I murmured what is happening Where Have You Been it came through the radio He rasped the fever 102.6 I can still hear it buzzing in my head it's telling me to hurt you to hurt everyone you're not making any sense Andrew I cried I only came back to warn you I can't tune it out much longer and then I won't be able to stop do you understand I will hurt you I will hurt everyone he

shouted banging on the door Dre buddy listen to me I know where you can get some help Deputy Mills gave me a number to call it's the CDC I'll call them right now and they'll come get you I heard strange laughter from the other side of the door Andrew silence then all hell broke loose Andrew started trying to kick the door in you know I wish that I had Jesse's Girl he Sayang maniacally I wish that I had Jesse's Girl kick where can I find a woman like that crash I retreated to the other side

of the room watching in horror as Andrew used his body like a battering ram and broke down the door I ran to the kitchen grabbing a butcher knife from the drawer knowing full well I would never be able to use it to hurt my brother it was fortunate for me that the thing that trudged into the kitchen After me looked nothing like my brother stay back Andrew I have a knife I swear I'll use it I threatened and he did stop he stood about a foot away from me and caught to the side like he

was trying to make sense of something he opened his mouth and I thought he was about to speak but instead out came a series of beeps bells and buzzes that beautiful familiar pattern he was giving me another chance to Figure figure it out the sequence was so enticing I may have been lost forever had Hickory not chosen that exact moment to kick down her stall door and run through the yard her KNE sounding more like a human scream I dropped the knife covered my ears and charged at Andrew knocking him to the ground with surprising

ease I fled through the same door he broken down and ran for the main road I ended up in one of the quarantine Barricades blubbering about my sick brother and the CDC dispatched someone to my house immediately he was pronounced dead at the scene turns out they had been tracking him for days as he was the last living carrier of the fever only they called it a mutated strain of Toxoplasma gandi the next 12 hours were a blur of hazmat suits and decontamination Chambers the quarantine was lifted and I was reunited with Mom and Dad

who were Devastated over the loss of their only son and fiercely protective of their remaining daughter I've been in denial for 36 years convinced that everything I saw the night Andrew died was the product of a scared 15-year-old girl's imagination but after what happened on Thursday I can no longer afford the luxury of denial you see like any middle-aged liberal I enjoyed listening to NPR while I cook dinner only when I switched on the radio that evening instead of the dula tones of aie Cornish I heard well hey there folks you're listening to 102.6 the

fever playing all your favorites from the90s 2000s and today I woke up on the floor the next morning and well you know the rest 70 years ago a UFO crashed in Roswell New Mexico now whether a balloon or a Satellite or any other clandestine top secret human main object no it was a UFO and I'm tired of repeating myself of the ridicule of the coverups I've got ilen Moore running in my blood see my grandfather owned the ranchu jeson into the one where it crashed then my dad after him and now me I've grown up

around countless Tales told and retold about what happened that night exactly 70 years ago some I've memorized By heart I think the detail that always stuck out to me was the one about the beans according to my grandfather there were three aliens one died at the site one died in custody who knows where the third one went and that's what gets me where is that one did it Escape is it still living out there somewhere in the desert is it Afraid or planting Revenge sometimes late at night I'll stay up speculating about what happened to

it I'd like to think that it's still out there somewhere watching waiting at least that's what I believe and dad always told me all that matters is the belief I'm sure you all know that in early July 1947 something crashed into a field in Roswell and you've probably heard all about the debris and the speculation and Those who were labeled conspiracy theorists for contesting those speculations but have you heard about how the Animals still avoid the crash Sight To This Day how compasses go crazy when you walk through the area that sometimes at night you

can hear a strange Keening sound boiling up from the ground like something is buried way way beneath the surface now if you've ever seen breaking bad you know just how desolate New Mexico can be you can hide a lot out there even whole flying saucers and sometimes I wonder what if they never took the thing what if they left it right where it was hidden in plain sight or at least underneath it what if that's why strange things still happen around here thoughts like those kept me up for longer than I'd like to admit so

I did the only logical thing one could do in this situation I figured out how I could profit off of it so I Started giving tours letting those who want to believe peruse my land scour the sky make a decent Buck off it too too but I'm not here to brag about my business savvy no I'm here to write about something else I saw last night slipping between the Stars obscuring the moon told myself I'd finish it before the tour tonight so here we are there were only three of us that night including me Which

was odd I figured the anniversary would attract more people out then again I suppose the thrill that r well once held in the consciousness of most Americans has dwindled in recent years so it goes I guess the moon was waxing gibbus so it wasn't exactly ideal UFO watching conditions but I didn't get any notice of cancellation so at exactly 2,300 I left my house to meet them and for those wondering I find the best time To gaze Up is on nights when the moon is new and the sky dark you'll see more much more I

saw them standing by the edge of my property dimly lit by the Light of the Moon as I got closer I could see that it was a man and a woman but it wasn't until I was right next to them that I saw it might have been a dad and his daughter the guy was wearing a black suit and at first I felt anger and fear rise up thinking back to all the stories I heard of the Men in Black but he didn't seemen the type leaning carelessly against the fence reading something on his phone

and he had no tie that was something both my grandfather and dad were ad him been about they always wore black suits black ties black shoes black hats Black sunglasses and drove black cars always only their shirts were white the girl next to him in her teens maybe Younger or older had one foot propped up on the bottom L of the fence she looked annoy she was wearing a faded black wolves in the throne Lim shirt jeans and those token red high tops the shirt looked a few sizes too big for her and I looked

at the man wondering if it might be his hello I called over to them waving the guy looked up from his phone and waved back smiling but the girl Stayed where she was the look of complete indifference on her features hey nice night the man replied so let's have names I'll go first on Taylor Edward the man said then looked over at the girl she looked away clearly in a bad mood so he continued and this is uh my niece Elanor I paused for a beat thrown off by his hesitation and naming the girl then

Said oh like Elenor Roosevelt but she sighed and replied no like Elanor Gardner daughter of Sam wise kmg uh Sam wise Edward cleared his throat her parents are big fans of Tolen oh like the Lord of the Rings yep exactly Edward said I'm surprised they didn't name you something more overt like Arwin or galat Trio he laughed right Elanor she rolled her eyes Right Edward and it's h now remember Edward smirked oh yes how could I have ever forgotten I thought the girl Elanor H was going to give him attitude again but instead she looked

up at him beaming I told her dad I would take her to a super fun place it was between this or Area 51 El said which is still an option if you want to go she sighed long and heavy I told you I don't want to die Edward grinned brightly and I told you you'll be with me I looked between them both amused and beused then said I take you your KNE likees aliens in the sort Edward burst out laughing Elanor rolled her eyes and said absolutely Lo them I laughed lightly Unsure how to read

the two wondering for a moment if the guy Edward might have kidnapped the girl then said shall we I took them out to the area where the UFO Crashed of course we couldn't technically cross over into the crash site proper but we got close enough Edward was carrying expensive looking binoculars his leather shoes crunching against the rocks and dust and dirt of the desert you ever seen a UFO before he asked me handing the binoculars to Elanor and then looked up himself I've seen things unexplainable things whether they're from out of this World we're not

as still up for debate I glanced at Elanor she wasn't looking at the stars but the moon and I glanced up to just in time to see a cloud Race Across its face you Edward was quiet for a moment thinking seven pardon I've seen seven truly unidentified flying objects he of you count the one over Black Mountain but I'm not so sure you've seen exactly seven UFOs Edward looked down at me and nodded yeah at least we didn't have any documentation on them at the time now we do of course but I'm sure you could

imagine our frustration at finding things we didn't know about he suddenly flicked his arm out checking his wristwatch what is it you do again instead of answering he walked over to the girl and tapped her shoulder oh he took the binoculars from Her held them up to his face and pointed them directly above us a and here it is right on time here what is that Elanor is beside me pointing up with her right arm guiding my gaze and then I saw it this thing up there shaped like a triangle pling across the sky I

could tell it was there from the way it blocked out the specks that made up the Milky Way but it wasn't until it slid across the surface of the Moon that I gasped it was like nothing I had ever seen before and I've seen some strange things out here at night suddenly a sound rang out from above us underneath us around us and I yelled covering my ears moving to crouch you know that sound that tripods make from more of the world worlds that loud booming horrifying sound that's what it sounded like the only thing

I can compare it to it was Loud so loud and I shook my head trying to rid myself of it next to me Edward stood stock still gazing up as if he couldn't hear anything at all and for a moment I wondered if I was really hearing anything or if the sound was being projected into my mind from whatever that thing in the sky was but then I saw that Elanor was looking at Edward and her face was a mask of Terror see she stopped suddenly glanced at me then up then back at her Uncle

Edward I'm scared I know but it's okay I'm pretty sure that's at33 so they won't be coming down here they're just watching Edward paused for a beat then said and waiting and waiting I heard myself say for what for the signal to invade were abduct he grinned sinisterly from underneath the binoculars Elanor made a displeased Noise and he chuckled only kidding he only kidding as we watched the triangle disappeared behind the clouds and Back Into Obscurity Edward looking over at Elanor suggested we head back it was late I glanced at the girl it looked like

she might cry and nodded in agreement we walked back to my house in relative silence Edward glancing up every so often then checking his watch Elanor trailed behind him her head down like a sad puppy and as soon as we arrived back she immediately went to ever's car a black jeep and shut herself inside Edward turned to me sorry about that I held up my hand and said oh it's no problem I know how teens are he nodded then opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off unable to stop myself what was

that thing do you know was it was it really a UFO Edward opened his mouth again closed it thought for a moment then said just be careful and thank you for the tour confused I said yeah yeah sure you're welcome hope you get home safe he smiled turned and got into the Jeep I waved them off as they drove down the dirt road in the direction of Colorado and stood watching them until their headlights died away into the darkness this morning I woke up to my Phone pinging inflicted on half a dozen notifications apparently everyone

who was registered for my tour tonight canell and then for men took their spots one of them messaged me told me he was excited to talk to me to pick my brain whatever that means so that's it I saw something unexplainable last night something that is indicative of something dark and Sinister and hidden but that's not what terrifies me what terrifies me is Knowing that they're just up there waiting for the right moment and those who know about them down here here don't seem too concerned shouldn't we be concerned shouldn't we question everything and with

that in mind don't listen to me go see for yourself go out at night look up the police told me there was nothing down there I know they're lying I never wanted to be a Mother a child happened to me I didn't ask for for it after you've had a child you never get peace and quiet I don't mean that in a resentful way just a fact there's the crying phase the screaming phase the yelling phase the N All Phase Etc and you never get time you don't have time for hobbies and distractions raising a

child is two full-time jobs it's not that I didn't try to do Everything I could for him it's not that I didn't try to be a good parent I did I gave it everything I had but deep down I think he could tell that I didn't want him kids know I had a part-time job I didn't get paid very well but it was enough it was just office work nothing exciting my sister would look after him while I wasn't around I didn't really have the money for daycare I knew that things weren't working out like

they should have and I did what any self-respecting human being would do I bought a book I've always heard that you should read to your child every night and that doing so would make them smart and well adjusted well I had nothing to lose I'm not really an Amazon person so I paid a visit to my local bookstore a dark slightly grubby independent place that shuns all but the most obsessive of Bookworms standing in the narrow dimly lit aisles surrounded by towering bookshelves jammed with volumes at every angle I wondered briefly what do people normally

buy for their kids The Very Hungry Caterpillar he was a bit old for that besides I think that's one of those books that parents buy because they think it's kitchy not because their kids will actually enjoy it among the slightly destroyed secondhand roll doll Books and Dr sus anthologies I found a book that stuck out it was old and bound in what looked like real leather but it was in surprisingly good shape it wasn't too long but it proclaimed its suitability for children aged 4 to 6 he was five it was called the trapo no

author no other details I picked it up and skimmed through the first few pages and it seemed an ideal fit it was written in an irregular rhyming meter and was FES with Colorful scratchy illustrations that depicted a boy strikingly similar to my son the picture was already forming in my head we'd read it we'd Bond and we'd smooth over the cracks I know it was just a book but for the first time in my life I realized I was excited to spend time with my son that night after I tucked him into bed I sat

down on his shark duvet he liked sharks and spraying the book upon him once long ago and far away there lived a Boy of five or so with a rounded face and hair like hey and a mind that yearned to learn and grow the boy lived in a mud Fleck land of Rolling Hills and sheep and styles and Brooks and trees and miles and miles of hinder lands and Ranch hands long ago there was a war of petty Kings and Border Lords the Earth did drink the blood of those who died for Honor or Rose

the boy was happy as could be in The cottage on the hill his mother his only company who loved that boy with all her will it's challenging material for a 5-year-old but it was educational it was stimulating I had only a faint idea of what the War of the Roses was actually about but I did a good job of pretending that that I did we said our I love yous and I closed the door things were going to be okay the next day the next evening I didn't have to mention the book he Asked me

to read the next few pages he wanted to know what happened to be honest so did I and so once more I sat down on the shark cuvet flicked through to find our place and began reading but in that Cottage of Darkness dwelt for hidden beneath the floor there lay a trapo with rusted hinges molded and encrusted with Decay and that trap door was a gate to hell foolishly the mother said there is no door now go to bed but these thoughts Echoed in her son's head and sin the woman would be dead mother said

he he spoke to me the Creature From Below the door he says he'll come 3 days from now he says he'll drag me straight to Hell the mother resolved to enter the door to slay the Beast to save her son to be the hero of this book or at least a die like one it's funny he didn't seem to mind that much he was terrifi for half of the Brave Little Toaster but this book didn't phase him in the Slightest he asked more of the usual questions we said are I love yous I closed the

door and he was out like a light I know I know you're wondering why I didn't keep reading I wanted to read the book with him and I knew I wouldn't be able to pre-screen everything he ever reads besides I didn't care that the subject matter was a bit dark all kids books are a bit dark half of them are about eating People but there was a little voice in the back of my head gwing at me telling me to keep reading I ignored it that night I stayed up until well beyond my normal bedtime

drank some of the wine I've received for Christmas and tried to think about something else for our 4year anniversary my boyfriend took me to Marse instead of staying in a nice hotel we stayed in a hostel and instead of Lounging in the near Mediterranean heat we spent our time exploring and discovering the beauty of the city's culture art and Cuisine it was one of the best weeks of my life on the last day as a surprise he took me to look out to showes we enjoyed a beautiful meal reminisced about our past and dreamed about

our future and at the end of it in the middle of a crowded restaurant he Dropped onto one knee and produced a beautiful but understated rose gold engagement ring and there in front of the patrons and the serving staff with tears rolling down my face I looked him right in the eyes and told him I can't I loved him there's no doubt about it I told him repeatedly on the way back of course I loved him but I couldn't take the plunge it was too much for me to agree to right there on the spot

and I don't Know what to do or say I say no I wanted to keep things the way they were I didn't want to hurt him but I had this heavy aching feeling in my chest that wouldn't go away after an uncomfortable 2 weeks we broke up I have a bit of a lump in my throat just from writing about it I took a solemn vow then and there next time I would commit I would see things through to the end about a month later I found out that I was pregnant The next day was

a Saturday I had to pick up some groceries not many it took me maybe 20 minutes and I left my son at home he's pretty used to that and as I mentioned my sister lives a couple of blocks away so if there's anything he needs he can call her we were out of detergent and milk he was a bit of a milk feiend to tell the truth when I got back I found him in the basement prying up Blues floorboards with his bare Hands I'm looking for the trap door he said sweetie there is no

trapo I said it's just a story there I has a trapo he said the demon said there was he's going to come and get me children have such vivid imaginations one by one he removed the boards I couldn't help but watch I should have stopped him but as crazy as it sounds I wanted to make sure that the trapo wasn't there for myself underneath the floorboards there Was a layer of dirt and gravel it's called a subfloor void and a lot of places have them he was standing in the void when he spotted something in

the darkness a few feet away something metallic I joined him in pulling up the last of the boards I ripped them out hastily and propped them against the wall all that remained was a relatively unassuming metal hatchway deeply rusted with peeling gray paint and a circular Chrome Handle protruding from the top I told you so he said the Demon's going to come and get me gingerly I outstretched a hand and touched the handle it was cold I began to turn the handle it was stiff but it moved but I realized I didn't want to see

whatever was down there whatever was below that hatch could stay down there I twisted the handle back tight and forbade my son from going into the Basement I read the rest of the book in private without him the rhyming scheme gets more and more erratic and eventually disappears altogether the illustrations go from color to black and white sketches and the characters which are quite well defined in the beginning begin to look shaky and crude the boy saw her open the hatch Darkness poured out and nothing more shadows and Echoes and Paranoia fed by secrets and

trap doors the mother climbed for hours and hours eventually she reached the ground and after but a moment's silence the boy heard a piercing sound a scream cut through the total darkness reverberating up the shaft and the boy knew she had expired she was dead the demon laughed the Beast began to climb the ladder the woman's blood was but a taste the demon knew his time was scant the demon knew He must make Haste The Boy felt the tears Welling the boy felt them on his cheek the tears dropped into the darkness and the boy

heard the demon shriek his tears melted through its flesh and in an instant the demon was vanquished but all the tears in the world cannot bring back the Dead the boy paralyzed and traumatized stood outside the terrible basement the tears streaming down his face dripping into that accursed place he cried for a 100 Days and 100 nights until the tears filled it to the brim then he closed the door and tried to carry on to L as though he did not care what he had lost the end as I reached the end of the book

I started to feel sick I felt like I was choking like I couldn't breathe and it felt like my heart was palpitating I thought I was going to die I genuinely believed with every bone In my body that I was going to die I swear I'm not superstitious but something in that book was scratching away at the back of my brain I reached for my phone with trembling hands and struggled to hit the numbers to call my long-suffering sister I wasn't in a particularly articulate mood and I don't remember exactly what I said but she

suggested that I come and stay with her for a while I must have sounded Crazy I was crazy I felt a little better after staying with her for a couple of days I insisted on cleaning up after myself cooking for the whole household and she kept me company in the evenings because she knew I was afraid she's always been there for me ever since I was a little kid after a few days I began to think that things would go back to normal the first night my son asked if I Could read some more of

the book to him I told him no I said we get another book two books three books a PlayStation anything that would dissuade him from reading the rest of the trapo grudgingly he agreed on the third day we both got into the bed in the guest room said her I love yous and went to sleep on the third night I woke up at 3:00 in the morning and he was gone and it all came back the shaking the choking the Feeling of not really being real my memory smudges together one moment I'm sitting in bed

wide eyy and open mouth the next I'm running through the streets and alleys at by the dim orange glow of the street lights feeling nothing beneath my bare feet running like I never thought I could run as I approached the house I saw that the door was open as I descended the basement stairs I heard a noise the trap door slamming and the handle being turned From the inside I grabbed the handle and wrestled with it until my fingers bled and my arms achd but it would not move I grabbed my phone and dialed the

police screaming and crying in incoherently trying desperately to explain but not finding the words I think they got the gist of it the car showed up at my house in 5 minutes and all the while I had been pwing at the handle accomplishing Nothing but taking the skin off my hands the cops thought I was crazy and one of the younger ones had to grab me and Lead me out of the basement he took a jacket from the hallway put it around my shoulders and told me that everything would be all right that they get

the hatch of open and that I should go for the time being and try to stay calm when I got back to my sister's place she was trying hard to be Supportive she told me that it wasn't my fault she told me that it would be all right she told me that I did the right thing but I could see the judgmental look in her eyes the mother in the story went down that ladder to her death to save her son because she loved him with all her heart but me I ran away I hid

I was selfish I didn't sleep that night I didn't do anything I just lay in bed I Stared at the ceiling and in my mind I played back an itemized list of my failures as a human being over and overall Loop every time I thought I might have been nding off I heard the trap door slam jolting me awake echoing into the darkness I saw Dawn break through the window blinds that peculiar gray pre-dawn light turned to red and then to Orange I heard the cops knock at the Door and I felt hope I felt

like they might have found him I ran to the door I'm sorry said one of them we couldn't find your son said the other we were able to open the hatch it leads down around 20 ft into a small fallout shelter the boy was nowhere to be found We examined every crevice every possible place that a person could hide nothing there was no Trace that anyone had been In that room for decades they apologized and left saying that they would file a missing person's report they were lying I knew they were lying there was no

way the house was even old enough to have a cold war a palom shelter there was no mention of a shelter in any of the official documents what's more they sealed the hatch they won't let me go down there myself ostensibly because it was Dangerous since the incident I've been leading a halflife I get up in the morning although only just I don't make breakfast anymore I go to work and I work long hours at the office every day when I get home I microwave a ready meal and eat inside silence every evening I sit

on the couch and I watch TV or do Sudoku puzzles or clean the house or do anything that will Let me escape from my own thoughts suddenly I have more time than I know what to do with at night when I go to bed it's silent it's totally silent all the time 24/7 peace and quiet screaming into my ears I move the washer and dry her up into the kitchen I don't go to the basement anymore but I hold out hope that one day the hatch will open once more and the demon will Drag Me

to Hell Where I Belong my last lie as a child I lied a lot I don't know why maybe just to appear more interesting I guess I always felt that life was pretty mundane and my life in particular was nothing special or no worthy I've always been drawn to the Fantastical the maob the otherworldly I used to sit up late in the darkness watching Tales from the Crypt The Twilight Zone and Are You Afraid of the Dark my interest in Horror Made my lies always had a Sinister tint for example I lied that I could

read tarot cards I used to draw nonsense Cliffs on my arms and would act super mysterious if anyone asked what what the characters meant I told other children that I had seen a snake in the long grass near the running track at the back of our school Looking Back Now it was pretty messed up then something happened that made me never tell another lie again This is the story of my last lie I was in grade four and our year level at its first Camp my classmates and I were dropped off early at school by

our parents eager and ready for an adventure after a buzz trip that seemed to take forever we finally arrived at Camp it was way out in the bush and consisted of maybe a dozen cabins scattered in a rough horseshoe shape the wood cabins were dwarfed by towering gum trees Surrounding the area it was hot but the trees provided welcome shap from The midm Morning Sun induction included the usual conventions meeting the Camp staff teachers explaining the rules pointing out the toilet block and walking down from the cabin area to the dining hall which was closer

to the entryway of the complex we were also show our cabins each cabin was a simple rectangle with a small porch up front inside was one open room with six beds and some Junkie old furniture I was assigned to the gold cabin with four of my friends Emily Andrea Lauren and Tanya we unpacked rolled out our sleeping bags and and carried on as 9-year-olds too in the afternoon we were rounded up for craft activities bushw walking and playing kick the C at dusk we were called to dinner in a big dining hall and afterwards made

our way back to the cabins to sit around a big Fire I remember how creepy that walked back from the dining hall was it was an overcast night and even though the adults had torches the surrounding Bush was Pitch Black my friends were talking and being terribly casual so clearly it didn't bother them but I remember how uneasy I felt being so far away from everything surrounded by nothing but Wilderness Tanya must have noticed my worried face because she asked if I was Okay I lied and said I was once we reached the glow of

the massive fire I felt better and listened intently as the camp leaders told stories from the dream time soon it was time for bed and the girls were saying how cool it was that we didn't have a grownup in Gold cabin we made a plan to stay up after we were given the lights out order talk and eat the chips Lauren had smuggled out at dinner sure enough after the teacher checked in on us and wished us good Night we all yawned very convincingly on came the Torches and out came the decadent Smith's chips I

stayed up for a long time but then must have dozed off let me explain I always felt very a place around my friends they all seemed prettier smarter sportier and cooler than me I was a bit of a forgotten child at home and didn't get a lot of care so while my friends were outgoing bubbly and confident I was a bit awkward Withdrawn and self-conscious I only explain this because maybe where other kids would laugh off what happened next I was utterly humiliated and distraught because I was already down on myself it was morning and

I could hear the other campers heading to the toilet block the gold cabin girls grabbed their toothbrushes and towels and we started heading to the showers as we walked other kids began Laughing when they saw me I had no idea why and just sort of sheepishly smiled back I remember Emily Andrea stifling laughter behind their hands I was really confused until we entered the toilet block and I saw my face in the mirror above the sinks I had black marker all over it sharp dashes and lines crisscrossing my face Emily and Andrea were dying to

explain what happened and blurted out that when I fell asleep they put markers In my hands and tickled my face when I brought my hands up to S away the tickle I ended up drawing on myself they apologized through their laughter saying it was just too funny and too easy and I shouldn't have fallen asleep first I felt my whole head go hot and tears burn behind my eyes I turned around and screamed at them saying how stupid their joke was because I was allergic to some ink I Wasn't and they could have killed me

they couldn't have I ran into a toilet cubicle sat down on the seat and cried Tanya and Lauren asked if I was okay but I told them to leave me alone looking back on it now it was a pretty good prank that wasn't what upset me it was that my suspicions were true I was the on one out they all plotted against me and laughed at me because I was different from them no one would have pulled a Prank on Emily I sat there until I heard the toilet block empty and then had a shower

as I furiously scrubbed my face with hot water and a bar of soap a teacher came in and told me to hurry up I got the marker off but my face was red raw from the scrubbing that day we had to visit a sawmill and I was miserable I didn't talk to my friends and I kept a low Profile I just wanted to go home that night at dinner the girls all apologized and it seemed a bit more sincere after my daylong Suk session I accepted their apology and we made up as it was the

last night of camp and we should be having fun instead of being angry at each other why any anyone was angry at me I couldn't work out then I told them that I had gone to sleep early the previous night because I knew about the legend they pred me about it And I reluctantly told them that my brother had attended this Camp a couple of years ago true and that there was a story about gold cabin why the story went that our camp used to be a settlement area for the men who worked at the

SoMo in the 1930s there was a woman named old Meg who lived on the spot where go cabin now stood with her five boys the boys started working at the Sal yum and Meg would do odd jobs around the Settlement to make money while her boys were at the Mill anyway old Meg was cursed her husband had died years ago from millness and then her boys started dropping dead in the space of a year all five Sons met violent horrible deaths not one of them reaching 16 a couple of them died in accidents at the

Mill falling into to machinery and getting sliced or crunched up another was kicked in the head by a Horse one got stabbed in the neck one night after work by a vagrant and the youngest her favorite died in his bed old Meg now mad from the sorrow of losing all she loved smothered her youngest son one night because she believed something awful would come of him in her Madness she thought that him going peacefully by her hand in the night was a better fate my friends listen intently to every word of my Tale I dropped

the ending on them I said and the legend is that now gold cabin is haunted by the ghost of old Meg stuck in a loop replaying the tragic night with her youngest boy while camper should be sleeping she creeps into the room and hovers over the bed of some poor kid if you keep your eyes closed and don't make a sound she will think you are dead and move on but if you are awake if you open open your eyes or if you make a single peep she will lunge down at you you will Look

into her horrid Twisted face and see all her sorrow and anger and you will be driven mad or die of fright I told them that over the years a few kids had been found dead in G cabin and it was chopped up to heart attacks or aneurysms to keep the place open but the legend told the true story of how they died it was time to walk back from the dining hall like we had done the previous night and I could tell the girls were Nervous I was loving it Tanya suddenly grabbed my arm and

pointed into the trees what was that she asked what was what I replied she said she saw something move out in the trees I knew she was on edge for my story and that the dark was messing with her like it had with me the previous evening so I said in my coolest voice PSS H nothing you're just scared she nervously smiled back at me That night in the cabins everyone got straight into bed the girls talked a little bit to pretend they weren't frightened by my story but I could tell they were soon we

all fell asleep I woke up in the middle of the night meeting to pee I looked around me and the Moonlight filtering through the flimsy curtains showed the room pretty clearly all the girls were asleep I had a brilliant Idea I would go to the toilet then creep back wearing my black hoodie I'd settle up to Emily's bed and stand over her maybe Pro her a bit to wake her up and then scare the ever loving Daylights out of her it would be great if the other girls saw me and thought I was old Meg

too oh man this was going to be great Revenge the next day I could laugh and say it was just too funny and too easy they shouldn't have fallen asleep First I carefully slid out of bed found my hoodie and a torch and made my way out of the cabin I was so happy that I was quiet enough not to wake the girls I ran to the toilet block because honestly it was a bit scary out there in the night all by myself after I relieved myself and practiced my scariest face in the mirror I

exited the toilets and started back towards the cabin I kept the torch off In case it Shone through any windows and woke someone after my eyes adjusted it really wasn't so bad out in the night under the gums all alone I could see pretty well because of the full moon and without the torch on I had much better peripheral vision thinking this as I walked I looked up at Gold cabin and saw the door close [ __ ] someone's Awake I thought or maybe a teacher was checking in I hadn't seen anyone else in the

toilets or walking around outside whoever it was must have been entering the cabin and I just missed them or maybe I left the door jar and one of the girls had woken up seen it open and closed it I stood Frozen for a moment thinking about my next move I decided that through the crappy curtains I should be able to see into the room and figure out who was awake From outside the cabin if everything looked settled again and it was just one of my friends closing the door I could wait 10 minutes for them

to fall asleep again and go through with my plan I'd come this far hadn't I the window on the far side of the cabin had a big met box just to the left of it I think it must have been covering Plumbing pipes or power cables or something I could jump up on that because without the porch that ran along The face of the cabin I wouldn't be able to reach the window yeah it also meant that if it was a teacher I wouldn't get caught as they came back out the front door I crept

across the field and duffed around the outside of the wooden building I was now around the back of our little house and behind me was the bush I shimmy up the side of the metal box as quietly as possible stood on my tiptoes and leaned carefully to my right hugging the wall to line my face up to The window there was a small gap between the curtains and the sill so I had to Clear View into the room although the limited light meant I had to wait a moment for my eyes to adjust and my

brain to piece together the shapes of the Interior I could see our beds bags and the lumpy outlines of my friends under their covers I also saw black shape by Emily's bed that I couldn't recognize I squinted my eyes trying to Make it out in the space of seconds this is what flew through my mind it was definitely a person and far too tall to be one of my friends it was wearing black and had a long dark ponytail down its back it was turned away from me so I couldn't see its face but I

knew it wasn't any of my teachers or any of the camp leaders I had met I was certain I did not know this person this person who was just standing there over Emily's bed looking down at Her Terror jolted through my body and in that instant I knew you it was old mag as a lover of all things horror I had been scared before a couple of movies even made me cry and close my eyes I was so frightened but nothing had ever and nothing would ever feel the same as the undiluted fear that gripped

me in that moment something was in that rooming where it shouldn't be my mouth hung open but I couldn't Scream short ragged breaths shot in out of my lungs and my heartbeat so fast that my chest hammered the wooden wall pressed against it every single hair on my body was standing on end and somehow I was unbearably hot and cold all at once and I couldn't move I couldn't force my wide eyes away from that form I watched as it bent down and covered Emily I could see her legs thrash wildly And the dark figure's

arm sore jerk close to her for a moment if I hadn't already emptied my bladder I would have went myself in that moment another second of struggling and Emily's legs stopped moving old M straightened and began to turn towards one of the other beds one in my direction my stomach dropped so hard and fast it felt like the moment you fall on a roller coaster I'm sure the force of it was What pulled me down out of view I sat on the metal box for a moment where I couldn't move before now all I wanted

to do was run I jumped off the ma box and landed in the dirt I scanned the trees ahead should I bolt into their cover what if Meg saw me escaping I looked down and noticed there was a small gap between the bottom of the cabin and the ground I could squeeze into the space and hide I hit the deck and wiggled Under there were stones and sharp sticks that rubbed against my belly arms and legs but I barely noticed them I crawled as silently and as quickly as possible until I was in as far

as I could go I was facing the way of the porch as the adrenaline screaming through my body eased off under the safety of cover I felt more present no way it was old mag I made it up I lied it wasn't possible the thump of my heartbeat in my Ears lessened and I could hear the floor creaking above me I looked up and saw the wooden boards thinking this is all that is separating me from it what was happening in that room what was happening to my friends I closed my eyes put my hands

over my ears and cried silently into the dirt why did I lie why hadn't I run for help I could still go get help I could outrun it I could scream but I didn't I was was a Coward a lying coward I don't know how long I lay there with that voice repeating over and over in my head lying coward it was as if that was all there was in the world and it would never stop those two words were an all consuming truth and my only reality ahead I heard movement and the sound of

Angi squeaking as the front door opened holy [ __ ] my eyes pierced ahead Of me waiting to see a face drop down at any moment a horrible Twisted face the face of death the last face I would ever see instead I saw two feet in men's work boots I watched as they cautiously moved around the perimeter of the cabin I twisted my head around following them until I couldn't see them anymore I was expecting cold hands to wrap around my ankles at any time and I'd be done but nothing happened it was gone I

don't remember what happened after that I probably fainted or just checked out for a while then I heard a woman screaming more cries and wailing sunlight beam through the Gap ahead of me I could see feet shuffling near the porch and hear the floorboards about being pounded by frantic feet people called my name Sirens eventually someone looked under the cabin and saw me there like a trapped animal and pulled me Out everything following was a haze I was taken to the hospital questioned many times and stayed home from school for a couple of weeks my

siblings treated me like I was a China plate that would break at any moment and my mother frowned a permanent line into her forehead from all the worried looks she gave me we learned from the investigation that followed that my four friends Emily Andrea Lauren and Tanya were murdered that night in The cabin security cameras near the dining hall revealed that a man had entered the camp and loitered in the trees watching waiting he wor all black had a black stocking over his head and more work boots he entered gold cabin and strangled each girl

one at a time in their beds before leaving through the bush he ran on foot for some time before Driving off in an aluda I think about my poor friends lying there with that man hurting them people asked why none of them screamed or shriveled too much but I know why it was because of that stupid story I told them they kept their eyes closed tight while he wrapped his big hands around their necks and stole their last breaths I imagine Their Fear in those moments and it physically hurts what if anyone them had Screamed

I never told the police the story of old Meg they knew I went to the toilet before it happened they knew I saw something terrifying and hi and that's why I survived as the case grew cold they asked many times if I had seen him and could explain what he looked like if I had seen him my description could have helped them catch him and punish him for what he did this is the last lie I ever told but it is the same one I tell Myself every day I tell myself that on that night

in the moment I doed away from the window I didn't see him as he turned towards me then I moved away too fast I tell myself that my eyes didn't look straight into his that I didn't see his lip curl into a smile and watch as he lifted an index finger up to his mouth pressing it there warning me to stay silent but a horrible truth Burns deep down inside me and it is one that I can never Forget I know it every time I close my eyes to sleep the truth is it's not the

madeup face of a ghostly old woman I see every night in my dreams old mag does not hun me but he does a stocking pulled back over his head as he gestures directly to me hush I lie I can still help them but I'm a lying coward I saw his face why I stopped playing video games Dad woke me up at 6:00 a.m. as he normally does on school days I never bothered setting an alarm clock as I knew he was more than happy to loudly knock on the door and exclaim how great the day

was my dad sure did love his morning coffee sometime passed perhaps 20 minutes or so and dad jumped in front of the ajar door once more demanding that I get up and enjoy a day fit for Kings or something like that after some Persistence knocking he entered the room his morning smile quickly faded he asked me what was the matter as he approached my bedside I quickly turned away and clutched my forehead I could sense his thoughtful look of concern however my head didn't hurt and actually that look of pain wasn't genuine no those were

real Shivers clutching my forehead was his Ultimate weakness and I used that move sparingly I was faking sick after Dad said his final goodbyes to the poor sickly boy and his car spit away from the driveway suddenly that poor sickly boy was animated once I knew the coast was clear I would take off down the hall and Sprint around the dining room table I would Sprint upstairs pling along the steps as if I couldn't feel that burning sensation in my stomping Feet and then Sprint past the TV room I ran all the way to the

desktop computer my dad's old PC in a time framed too little from my eager brain to register I had already logged into my account and had loaded my favorite game at the time when I was alone I felt like I own the world a true introvert nothing could spoil the afternoon of mindless mashing of keys rapid mous clicking and a Readiness to explore when left alone I was flicked on Like a switch and energized or bunny that never stopped hopping the afternoon was winding down My Shrunken eyes were unbearably dry from having hardly blinked for

a good 7 hours my stomach AE from not eating my bladder swelled up to the size of a baseball glove my twitching fingers were sore with the early onset of arthritis all of my hard work might have been realized on that day or the next it didn't matter What mattered to me was The progression earning experience points speedrunning through the various missions maneuvering around the laughable AI in fact when the games ended the satisfaction of beating the game was shortlived I needed more more challenges more achievements perhaps I was letting reality slip my grades my

relationship with Dad and the few friends I had one might ask if it was all worth it and if One is asking this well then they probably don't know what a speed run time of 56 seconds on damn means I was a gamer and a destined gamer for life or so I thought after my 7-hour binge I decided to take a break why I always chose the 7-h hour mark back then I don't really know but it's around that time when the hunger gets unbearable and fingers start scratching dangerously close to the surface of an

Hy eyeball after after a Quick stop at the bathroom and a short visit to the kitchen I awkwardly made my way back to the computer seat burdened by the many chips and granola bars I had gathered from the pantry letting the mountains of chip bags and delicious treats Dro to the carpet I jumped back into my seat to start the game again something was a Miss though the game was closed my eyes traced up and down the desktop Background apart from the game being aborted with without permission something else caught my eye to the far

left were all of my important files and game shortcuts but in the middle of the screen was an icon I had never seen before it looked like another application shortcut but the unfamiliarity of it caused me to stare for several minutes before fully relaxing in the chair the image of the shortcut was a blue face with red eyes The blue face had a grin that stretched from side to side of the square space it inhabited without thinking I quickly dragged the icon into the trash pin how did this thing get onto my desktop the app

also had no title which I had thought to be impossible a Google image search of the image produced nothing the downloads page revealed items that were all accounted for Dad's antivirus software Was up to date and a close inspection revealed nothing of any threat what gives was this a bug maybe the computer suffered a freakish glitch and combined copies of gaming apps into That Hideous image only after I emptied the contents of the trash pin did I let my guard down my next thought was to begin my couple hours of gaming before Dad came home

but the suddenness of seeing that face made me a bit shy of the monitor I decided some cartoons would Take my mind off of the image that kept entering my head there was something off about those red eyes those red eyes seemed to have follow me when I shifted in my seat it was just an image yet even as I watched cartoons a favorite episode of mine I couldn't stop seeing the blue face application on an empty desktop background even when Dad called the house I was still lost in my thoughts even after dad left

a voicemail explaining that he was caught up and Work and wouldn't be able to say good night I was still imagining those eyes those eyes that moved it was getting late I expected dad to be home already but I didn't call I never liked initiating phone calls it always gave me a feeling of anxiety a feeling of uncertainty the cartoons were going into the latter hours the show's always got more Monday the longer you Watched my eyelids grew heavy and although I knew I would have nightmares of that Eerie face I saw I could fight

sleep no longer I remember my eyelids finally sliding shut while I heard a deafening static noise that came from the PC speakers the noise was over in a Flash but it sounded like the roof at Ken I shot up from the couch half expecting the monitor to claw through the door frame and chase me throughout The house what caused that sound slowly I crept from the couch to dad's office from the door I could see the monitor was on either even though I had turned it off 3 hours ago the light of a dim screen

hardly illuminated the room and a flip of the light switch was met with my look of confusion the lights were out my heart was beating faster than a racehorse at this point because for one I have a phobia of being alone at night and two I had no idea when Dad was getting back the TV rooming was only illuminated By the Light of the television but that and the monitor did little to help I was between two Avenues of Darkness both containing flickering lights I was trapped in a nightmare house any Prospect of sleep was

soon forgotten my unnatural phobia of the dark even seen that for some reason the TV and PC were still working reduced me to a quivering mess I wanted to call my dad but with him being busy at work I had to try and muster some semblance of Bravery with trem hands I moved the computer chair towards me and sat down the blue face with red eyes and a wide grin was in the exact spot as it had been before as if I never deleted it what do you want from me I recall Whispering of course

there was no Answer the app was just a virus a unique virus that couldn't be removed and avoided detection of all the security software in place the realiz followed me as I shifted slowly from one side of the seat to the other the application image must have had some intricate tracking system was it even an application anymore I double clicked the icon expecting the screen to flood with a million replicas of that original Disturbing face instead a medium-sized window popped up the background was black and the text was in bald white obviously a quickly thrown

together program the text block read welcome to a game of cat and mouse are you ready to play next to this text block was a bubble at the word start in the top right of the window was a small plunk cartoon drawing of a human figure a round belly and wearing a blue Mask the image almost seemed comical after glancing over the program a few times the rational part of my brain was screaming for me to leave to exit that app and unplug the rational part of me pleaded with a raging frustration pleaded for me

to call my dad but another side of me wanted the game to start I wanted the experience if it was a virus the harm that could ensue was limited to the Computer and I could exit out at any time all I had to do was unplug I clicked the start button the black screen took up the rest of the desktop one my have thought that the monitor had died if it wasn't for that gray border that aligned the sides of the screen initially the program was black nothing happened for maybe a minute and my fears

of being alone in the dark introduced their way back into my spine My hair stood on end then the black screen flooded with a moving image there was an initial flash of bright light that temporarily blinded me but then adjusted to a dark green glow and there was an image of a piece of metal there was an image of what appeared to be a hinge on door although the image was of an eerie greenish Hue it was unmistakable the monitor presented me with a door hinge that image lasted for around 3 Minutes and I was

beginning to grow impatient then the image transformed into moving video I quickly discovered I was watching behind the lens of a camera seeing the camera open a closet door and move into what appeared to be a bedroom space I became frustrated I was annoyed that I couldn't control the first person movements hitting the WD keys and Shifting the mouse around did nothing Was this an opening scene the cameraman moved past a bed and open a drawer then I realized something was wrong something was terribly wrong that was my bedroom I clasped a hand to my

mouth as my eyeballs p Ed the trembling of my hands and knees were uncontrollable a scream was on the edge of my tongue trying to force its way out the camera moved around very slowly seeing through a lens that I now Suspected was a sort of night vision did this mean the entire rest of the house was Pitch Black who was the person filming this I froze an unmoving statue as I listened to it with a soft but present shuffling of feet on the the floor below me this person was filming live in the house

how it was being broadcasted to this unwelcome program I was too terrified to stop and consider all I could do was stare at the Monitor the night vision camera opened the drawer next to my bed careful not to reveal a hand in doing so shirts and socks were carefully inspected by the lens tears slowly streamed down my cheeks what did this person want the camera moved past the doorway and into the Hall the muffled squeaking of the wood echoed the noises this time clear I heard downstairs the camera floated through the hall into the living

room all of the Furniture was Blended together only distinguished by different shades of green and black reaching the end of the hallway the cameraman seemed indecisive as to where to go next I prayed that this was a joke that this was fake the camera walked up to the screen door the camera's green light was reflected off the glass the dark shadow of a short plump man with a smile that stretched from ear to ear could barely be seen against the Background of patio chairs outside his smile was disfigured and contained long sharp teeth almost like

the jaw of a shark my stomach turned over on itself and disgust my tears were now overflowing from my scrunched eyelids and I couldn't help but let out a mournful whimper upon hearing this whimper the camera spun around with remarkable swiftness and aimed at the ceiling Pointing directly where I was the man or the thing that looked somewhat human since my presence I forced my eyes shut as if by not seeing the situation unfold before me I could somehow Escape curiosity forced my swollen eyes open once more and now I saw that the camera was

flying up the stairs the Sou of heavy footfalls and the grunting of a demonic Beast Rose in volume in the video the sound was a constant blur of Panting and thumping in reality I could hear the faint noise of a massive creature approaching a noise that steadily grew louder and lter until it was roaring past the TV room the squealing filled my eard drums and I collapsed to the floor then I woke up the bed was stained with sweat and my face was still covered in tears my mouth opened to say something but I didn't

know where I was then Dad entered The room he was surprised to see me awake he said I had been out for two full days two days doctors apparently had been in and out of my room a hospital bed with a view my dad had said apparently I had a fever and it was nothing serious so they waited for me to sweat it out I have to tell you I was relieved but not convinced it was all a dream and I was right it was not entirely fake because after the advo pills after The few

nausea spells I had after the food and drink that came in inless Supply once I finally came back to my senses my dad asked me a question that could have easily put me into another fever induced sleep he asked me why I was playing with his camera he asked me why I had broken into his personal belongings and used the camera with the N9 Vision lens he told me I should never use that camera that it was work Rated then he asked why I was recording random parts of the house and he asked me how

long I've been doing it Dad said there had been tapes daing back two years tapes of the camera exploring the place at night my dad was baffled by it all he couldn't understand how I could work the equipment and why I was sobbing uncontrollably he he was oblivious to the app the app one knew was waiting for me on his old PC the app with that blue face and red Eyes an image with a smile that stretched ear to ear this is a story my dad passed down to me and he swears to this day

that everything about it is 100% true my dad went to Indiana University and after he graduated he and my mom bought a small cabin house in Brown County several miles away from campus if you know anything about IU you know that if you drive for 20 to 30 minutes in any direction you'll soon Find yourself in the middle of nowhere that's where this place was I've been there before and you get a calming Yury feeling of isolation when you're out there my dad was an outdoors kind of guy so I can see why he picked

it he lived off the land chopping down trees to heat the home and cell well my parents had me and when I was about 2 my Dad decided it was time to move out and started building a home in the suburbs of Indie as the home near Completion I mainly stayed with my grandparents as my parents were busy either working on the house or moving out of the cabin and getting it ready for sale this story takes place on the very last night my parents were living in that cabin I was with my grandparents so

it was just my mom and dad staying in the cabin as most people would feel spending their last night in a home they've lived In for many years they felt an eerie sense of nostalgia and nervous anticipation for their new home they' lived there for years and they were moving to a new home in a New Life Style in the city but they had a big day tomorrow so they went to bed early in the evening at around 0200 a woman's voice yelling cut through the silence Like a Knife waking up both of my parents

The Voice continued having a Conversation with another woman's voice at a high volume and the sound seemed to be coming from the basement my dad grabbed his Baretta 3 handgun took a flashlight and started to walk gingerly down the stairs after getting to the bottom of the stairs he turned around to check the back of the basement he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was just the TV which had somehow turned on but then all Of a sudden ahh my mom let out your piercing scream and my dad sprinted up the

stairs with the gun he stumbled through the bedroom door shining the flashlight around in all directions everything seemed fine what happened he shouted at her something grabbed my feet she whispered back apparently my mother who was wide awake at the time felt cold hands grabbed at her feet while my dad was gone He tried calming her down saying that it was nothing that ghosts areen real Etc when he told her about the TV downstairs she really started to panic as they continued talking the phone a landline with an old sty bell ringer started ringing it

was about 2:30 at this point and they were both quite spooked so the phone shocked them who could it be my dad answered the phone only to hear hello sir sir un with Sentinal alarm Company we're reporting a Breakin at the new House's address do you want us to send the police my dad was shocked and told them to send out a squat car well the cops showed up at the new home and didn't find any sign of a Breakin or anything missing apparently it was just some kind of glitch with the brand new alarm

system to this day my parents have no idea what caused the events that night or why they happened But after everything that happened that night they never spent another night in that old Lo cabin they say if you lose one of your senses your other senses get stronger I love when you smile you have a beautiful smile those were the last words I ever heard I became deaf at the age of 24 I was driving in the car with my girlfriend and we were unnatural and a little bit of an unnatural ey from the Concert

we had just left I couldn't stop smiling as I drove us through downtown I glanced at her when she said it my grin growing wider she was smiling back just as broadly her blonde hair tuck behind her ears her lips were stained with the lipstick she had been wearing earlier I remember thinking I had never seen anything so perfect I didn't get a chance to respond before Her face illuminated in white and then everything went black the next thing I remember I was in a hospital bed Julie was sitting in a chair beside my bed

her face W with tears when she saw my eyes flutter open she jumped up excitedly her mouth was moving but no words were coming out I remember weakly cocking my head to the side wondering if she was having some kind of seizure After a moment her mouth stopped moving she Drew her eyebrows together and mouthed my name she mouthed over and over again before finally mouthing can you hear me I shook my head and she ran from the room a team of doctors and nurses came back with her the next couple of hours were a

blur but basically this is what was explained to me by a pen and paper a driver had run a red light and te- on the driver driver's side of the car my head bounced off of The driver's side window fracturing my skull and bursting both of my eardrums the doctors didn't know if I would ever hear again 2 years later I think they were right Julie did what she could for me but in the end it got too much for her she was 23 years old she didn't want to communicate only by pencil and pad

of paper forever I was too self-conscious I just to speak and she couldn't bear it there wasn't music loud enough in the world to Drown out the silence that made her ears ache I understand why she left I really do but it didn't make it any easier after she left sometimes I would sit in my car and scream as loud as I could I would sob and punch my steering wheal until my knuckles were yellow with bruises still my world was silent Julie had a choice and she chose sound no I don't blame her truthfully

I envy her last I heard or saw rather she Was Ling across the country she's engaged now and expecting her first child anyway I'm not turning to No Sleep to talk about my broken heart or my broken Spirit no that's not why people come here you know how people say say that when you lose one sense your other senses become stronger like when you are in a dark room and you can hear every little Noise something as quiet as someone's heartbeat they say that your other senses become heightened to make up for the loss of

one it's kind of cool really I first noticed the truth of this a couple of months after the accident Julie came home from a late shift at work one night immediately I noticed the alcohol on her breath she confessed that she had brushed her teeth and even chewed gum but to me the alcohol may as well I've been using from her Pores it was a fun little trick having a greater sense of smell and sight at least I once thought it was you see a couple of nights ago I woke up from a dead sleep

it was pitch dark and I couldn't hear anything but I could feel that something wasn't light every nerve in my body was vibrating I turned on my lamp and looked around my room everything appeared normal I still felt uneasy so I started making my way through my house when I Got to the living room I noticed the front door was open at this point my stomach was cold as ice I quickly spun around looking around my dark living room was there someone in my house if there was how could I find them I couldn't hear

anything I slammed my door shut and locked the deadbolt I methodically went through Every room every corner every crevice there was nothing I didn't sleep that night and I haven't really slept since every night since then I have woken up at the exact same time with the exact same feeling and every night my front door door has been wide open except last night was a little different my brother came to stay with me after I told him everything that had been happening he decided to sleep on The couch and I in my room when I

inevitably woke up with chills down my spine I realized that my brother was actually shaking me awake he was leaning over my bed looking down at me behind him I saw something it was pitch dark but I could see someone standing in my doorway they were staring at me head cocked to the side their mouth hanging open I turned on my lamp as quickly as I could but my room was empty safe for my brother fear was Playing tricks with my remaining senses he thrust a notepad into my hands loud mes banging the no bread

I didn't hear anything I said out loud and we both just looked at each other trying not to laugh in such a serious situation he took the notepad back and started scribbling furiously he handed it back to me scary as [ __ ] something is wrong here I nodded Finally understanding why my nerves were always tingling when I woke up even though I couldn't hear the noises my body could feel them I couldn't help but wonder how long this had been happening how many things have gone bump in the night that fall on De ears

we walked in silence to my living room my front door was open like usual my brother handed me the notepad with a fresh note at the bottom it wasn't open when I woke you up I shut it Quickly and bolted the dead bolt before I walked away I noticed small scratch marks above my door knob I squinted to look at them and I saw the scratches were acting words when I read them my head started to spin you have a beautiful smile I reeled backward and tripped over my ottoman falling to the floor lying on

the floor trying to Steady My Breath is why I noticed all the other scratch marks along my Door I could read the words from where I was lying you have a beautiful smile you have a beautiful smile you have a beautiful smile for sentences scratched into my door for nights that I had found my door wide open in the middle of the night what happened what are you looking at my brother wrote I pointed to the door words there are words I don't see them he wrote Quickly they say your other senses hidden to make

up for the loss of one I refused to tell him what the word said we stayed up on the couch until the sun started to come up my brother said that there were no more noises he left to go to work but he promised he would be back tonight I went to my car when he left and screamed I screamed as loud as I could until my lungs fell Raw I screamed until tears streamed down my face my brother is here now and we are lying in the living room a baseball bat propped against the

coffee table people he says it has been silent but I think his idea of Silent is a little different from mine read it what's happening I'm not a godly man I don't believe in ghosts or demons or anything Supernatural all I know is that as I'm typing this I see what looks like a Person standing on my porch my brother says he doesn't see anything in all fairness his eyes aren't as good as mine