# 5 SCARY Reddit Horror Stories Compilation to put in the background while you cook or clean

An episode of [CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1492008134), 20 Mar 2025, 3 h 50 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/64472047/5_scary_reddit_horror_stories_compilation_to_put_in_the_background_while_you_cook_or_clean.mp3

CREEPYPASTA STORIES- ►0:00 "Facility 112 : Containment Wing- C" Creepypasta ►39:03 "The man who painted the end of the world" Creepypasta ►1:12:16 "I purchased a journal at an Algerian Market. The final entries told a horrific tale" Creepypasta ►2:45:58 "My Great Grandpa Was A Medic During The War. He Told Me About An Undying Soldier" Creepypasta ►3:18:03 "I Took a Job as a Park Ranger. I Was Given a Strange List Of Duties" Creepypasta Creepypastas are the campfire tales of the internet. Horror stories spread through Reddit r/nosleep, forums and blogs, rather than word of mouth. Whether you believe these scary stories to be true or not is left to your own discretion and imagination. LISTEN TO CREEPYPASTAS ON THE GO- SPOTIFY► https://open.spotify.com/show/7l0iRPd... iTUNES► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast... SUGGESTED CREEPYPASTA PLAYLISTS- ►"Good Places to Start"- • "I wasn't careful enough on the deep ... ►"Personal Favourites"- • "I sold my soul for a used dishwasher... ►"Written by me"- • "I've been Blind my Whole Life" Creep... ►"Long Stories"- • Long Stories FOLLOW ME ON- ►Twitter: / creeps_mcpasta ►Instagram: / creepsmcpasta ►Twitch: / creepsmcpasta ►Facebook: / creepsmcpasta CREEPYPASTA MUSIC/ SFX- ►http://bit.ly/Audionic ♪ ►http://bit.ly/Myuusic ♪ ►http://bit.ly/incompt ♪ ►http://bit.ly/EpidemicM ♪ This creepypasta is for entertainment purposes only

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: Most people don't know about the ICD, the Integrated Contamination Division,
[0:08] Speaker 1: and that's exactly how they like it. They've been around forever,
[0:13] Speaker 1: quietly cleaning up the world's loose ends, the things that
[0:17] Speaker 1: don't make sense, that don't belong. They're scoop top, locked
[0:21] Speaker 1: away and forgotten. Officially, the ICD handle's biological hazards and
[0:28] Speaker 1: experimental preservation. Unofficially, they're in the business of making the
[0:35] Speaker 1: impossible disappear. I worked for them long enough to know
[0:42] Speaker 1: better than to ask questions. Facility one twelve wasn't my
[0:46] Speaker 1: first assignment, but it was the last. Places like that
[0:51] Speaker 1: aren't for the curious. It's a simple job, a good
[0:56] Speaker 1: fit for someone like me. I was used to it.
[1:00] Speaker 1: You don't work for the ICD without learning to accept
[1:03] Speaker 1: the strange. You hear things, rumors of living shadows, creatures
[1:10] Speaker 1: with too many teeth, things I vanish. If you look
[1:12] Speaker 1: directly at them, you don't get attached, you don't wonder,
[1:18] Speaker 1: and you definitely don't ask what's in the sealed containment pods.
[1:23] Speaker 1: You just keep your head down and follow the rules.
[1:28] Speaker 1: The facility has tucked away when no one would think
[1:31] Speaker 1: to look. It's not glamorous, and it's where they send
[1:35] Speaker 1: the most dangerous and valuable finds. My job was to
[1:39] Speaker 1: keep people out and things in. I'm not a scientist
[1:45] Speaker 1: or an analyst, just one of the guards who patrols
[1:48] Speaker 1: the halls, checks badges, and watches security feeds. The day
[1:55] Speaker 1: they brought it in, the whole place felt wrong. Facility
[2:01] Speaker 1: one twelve was usually quiet, sterile, almost for that day.
[2:06] Speaker 1: There was this heavy tension in the air, like everyone
[2:09] Speaker 1: was waiting for something bad to happen. I was stationed
[2:13] Speaker 1: at one of the checkpoints when the transport team rolled through,
[2:18] Speaker 1: eight people in hazmat suits wielding a massive containment pod,
[2:22] Speaker 1: and no one was talking. It wasn't the usual protocol.
[2:27] Speaker 1: It was fear. Even the scientists who normally treated these
[2:32] Speaker 1: things like interesting puzzles, looked like they'd rather be somewhere else.
[2:39] Speaker 1: I wasn't supposed to see it. My job was to
[2:42] Speaker 1: check their clearance, make sure the path to containment Wing
[2:45] Speaker 1: Sea was clear, and move on. But I lingered just
[2:49] Speaker 1: for a moment, and when they opened the pod I
[2:54] Speaker 1: saw it. After that I couldn't stop staring. The thing
[3:03] Speaker 1: was enormous, at least twelve feet tall, Its wings folded
[3:07] Speaker 1: against its body like dark shimmering curtains. The surface caught
[3:12] Speaker 1: the light in strange ways, shifting like oil on water.
[3:16] Speaker 1: Its body was covered in thick, dark fuzz, almost soft looking,
[3:22] Speaker 1: but its eyes, its eyes were alive, black, unblinking and endless,
[3:30] Speaker 1: like staring into a void that stared back. The moth
[3:34] Speaker 1: didn't move, not once, not even when they locked it
[3:38] Speaker 1: in the chamber. I hated looking at it. The longer
[3:45] Speaker 1: you stared, the heavier it felt, like the air around
[3:49] Speaker 1: it was pressing down on your chest. It was beautiful,
[3:53] Speaker 1: but not in a way you could admire. It was
[3:56] Speaker 1: the kind of beauty that made your stomach twist. It
[4:00] Speaker 1: took some deep instinct in your gut telling you this
[4:03] Speaker 1: thing wasn't right, that it wasn't supposed to exist. I
[4:09] Speaker 1: told myself it was just another anomaly. That was the
[4:13] Speaker 1: only way to get through it. You pretend these things
[4:17] Speaker 1: don't matter, that they're just part of the job. But
[4:21] Speaker 1: the moth wasn't like the others. You could feel it
[4:25] Speaker 1: even from a distance, like it was waiting for something.
[4:30] Speaker 1: You weren't supposed to care about the things they brought in.
[4:33] Speaker 1: That was rule number one. But the moth made that impossible.
[4:39] Speaker 1: I couldn't stop thinking about it, even when I wasn't
[4:42] Speaker 1: on shift. It wasn't just the size of those unblinking eyes.
[4:48] Speaker 1: It was the way the air felt heavier around it,
[4:50] Speaker 1: the way it seemed so perfectly still but alive at
[4:53] Speaker 1: the same time. I'd seen plenty of weird things come
[4:57] Speaker 1: through Facility one twelve, but this was different. It wasn't
[5:03] Speaker 1: just contained. It felt like the moth was letting us
[5:07] Speaker 1: hold it, like it wanted to be there. It started
[5:14] Speaker 1: to bother me more than it should have. On patrol,
[5:17] Speaker 1: I passed by containment wing Sea, glancing toward the reinforced doors,
[5:22] Speaker 1: like I was expecting something as shift in the air,
[5:25] Speaker 1: as sound anything. The moth never moved, but its presence
[5:32] Speaker 1: was constant, oppressive. I couldn't stop myself from wondering where
[5:37] Speaker 1: it had come from, how the ICD had managed to
[5:40] Speaker 1: capture something so alien so massive. Curiosity got the better
[5:47] Speaker 1: of me, and I broke my own rule. I asked questions.
[5:56] Speaker 1: It wasn't a big direct interrogation, just quite conversations off
[6:01] Speaker 1: the record when no one else was around. I started
[6:05] Speaker 1: with the other guards, guys I knew wouldn't report me
[6:10] Speaker 1: Most of them shrugged it off, muttering things like big
[6:13] Speaker 1: wig orders and above my pay grade. But then I
[6:17] Speaker 1: got lucky. Henderson, one of the transport team members, was
[6:23] Speaker 1: still stationed on site. He'd been part of the group
[6:26] Speaker 1: that brought them off in. He wasn't supposed to talk
[6:29] Speaker 1: about it, but he liked the sound of his own voice.
[6:35] Speaker 1: You really want to know, he asked one night, leaning
[6:38] Speaker 1: in conspiratorially during our shared break. His voice was low,
[6:44] Speaker 1: and the hum of the vending machines was the only
[6:46] Speaker 1: other sound in the room. This one's a special case.
[6:50] Speaker 1: Came from deep in the Appalachia hillbilly country. You wouldn't
[6:55] Speaker 1: believe the mess they found it in. He didn't wait
[6:59] Speaker 1: for me to answer before launching in. Henderson never needed encouragement.
[7:06] Speaker 1: Couple of hillbillies caught it, he said, smirking, like the
[7:09] Speaker 1: whole thing was a joke. They found it just sitting
[7:12] Speaker 1: there in the middle of the night in their barn.
[7:16] Speaker 1: Can you believe that, as big as it is, just
[7:19] Speaker 1: perch there, wings all folded up, didn't move a muscle.
[7:23] Speaker 1: They thought he was some kind of demon. Chained it
[7:26] Speaker 1: up and threw a tarp over it. Didn't even fight back.
[7:32] Speaker 1: I frowned. It didn't move at all now once, he said,
[7:40] Speaker 1: not when they tied it up, Not when they started
[7:42] Speaker 1: poking it with sticks. They were trying to see if
[7:45] Speaker 1: it was alive. You know. Even when we got there,
[7:48] Speaker 1: it just sat there. The locals didn't know what to
[7:51] Speaker 1: do with it. Claimed it was some kind of omen,
[7:54] Speaker 1: said it showed up after the livestock started getting bigger.
[8:00] Speaker 1: I hesitated bigger, how faster, stronger, muscles bulging. The farmers
[8:08] Speaker 1: thought it was the feed of something until the horses
[8:11] Speaker 1: started disappearing. Then the family started acting weird, didn't want
[8:16] Speaker 1: to leave the barn, wouldn't eat anything that didn't come
[8:19] Speaker 1: from the farm. By the time we got there, they
[8:22] Speaker 1: were half feral dragging raw meat into the barn in
[8:25] Speaker 1: the middle of the night. The words stuck in my throat.
[8:31] Speaker 1: And the moth it just let you take it, folded
[8:36] Speaker 1: its wings up real neat, like it was helping, Henderson said,
[8:40] Speaker 1: shrugging like it was no big deal. Didn't resist, didn't
[8:44] Speaker 1: make a sound. Weirdest damn thing I've ever seen. He
[8:50] Speaker 1: said it so casually, but his words churned in my head.
[8:53] Speaker 1: Long after creatures brought a facility one twelve were usually
[8:58] Speaker 1: terrified or aggress if. I'd seen things the rash and
[9:02] Speaker 1: containment pods and heard them screech and wail as the
[9:06] Speaker 1: iced He's handlers wrestled them into their new cages. But this,
[9:12] Speaker 1: this was different. The moth hadn't been captured. It had
[9:18] Speaker 1: let itself be taken. Why and the family? I asked,
[9:26] Speaker 1: After a long pause. Hennerson's smirk faded, his tone shifting
[9:31] Speaker 1: like he realized he'd already said too much. Scrambled, he said, quietly,
[9:37] Speaker 1: tapping his temple. Wipe clean. Like everyone else in that town,
[9:42] Speaker 1: they didn't remember a thing, just thought. The horses got
[9:45] Speaker 1: spooped and bolted. No, aren't done typical ICD work. But
[9:51] Speaker 1: I started, but he cut me off with a sharp
[9:54] Speaker 1: shake of his head. Look, man, you're better off not
[9:57] Speaker 1: knowing the rest they handled. Okay, the locals, the farm,
[10:03] Speaker 1: all of it. His gaze darted toward the door, as
[10:08] Speaker 1: if someone might be listening. Forget I said anything. He
[10:15] Speaker 1: stood up, rushing imaginary crumbs off his pants, and left
[10:18] Speaker 1: the break room without another word. For a moment, I
[10:23] Speaker 1: sat there in silence, staring at the empty chair he'd
[10:27] Speaker 1: left behind. I wanted to stop thinking about it. I
[10:32] Speaker 1: wanted to convince myself he was exaggerating, or at least
[10:37] Speaker 1: then it wasn't my problem. That night I didn't sleep.
[10:44] Speaker 1: I couldn't shake the image of a twelve foot creature
[10:47] Speaker 1: calmly folding its wings, letting itself be captured. There was
[10:53] Speaker 1: something wrong about that. Every time I closed my eyes,
[10:58] Speaker 1: I saw those black, endless staring back at me, unblinking,
[11:03] Speaker 1: like they already knew how this would end. Facility one
[11:08] Speaker 1: twelve always had this sterile, chemical tang in the air,
[11:12] Speaker 1: like bleach and burnt circuits. You got used to it
[11:15] Speaker 1: after a while, to the point where you didn't even
[11:18] Speaker 1: notice it anymore. But lately there was something else, faint
[11:24] Speaker 1: but persistent, a metallic edge, sharp and clean, like the
[11:30] Speaker 1: coppery taste you get when you accidentally bite the inside
[11:34] Speaker 1: of your mouth hard enough for it to bleed. It
[11:37] Speaker 1: hung heavier in the corridors near containment wing Sea, subtly
[11:41] Speaker 1: enough to ignore it if you tried, but it was there.
[11:47] Speaker 1: People noticed it. I could see it, and how they
[11:50] Speaker 1: paused for just a second too long, nose twitching, glancing
[11:54] Speaker 1: around like they couldn't place it. Then they'd shake it off,
[11:59] Speaker 1: keep walking, keep pretending. Many of us had been at
[12:04] Speaker 1: Facility one twelve for years, and you don't last that
[12:08] Speaker 1: long without learning how to pretend. But pretending only worked
[12:13] Speaker 1: for so long. I noticed other things, too subtle at first,
[12:20] Speaker 1: but impossible to ignore once you knew what to look for.
[12:25] Speaker 1: Wilson was the first. He wasn't exactly subtle. He'd always
[12:30] Speaker 1: been a loud guy, the kind of person who filled
[12:33] Speaker 1: the silence with stories about his kids or the lake
[12:36] Speaker 1: he was building a dock for. But over the past
[12:40] Speaker 1: week something about him had shifted. It wasn't like he
[12:45] Speaker 1: stopped talking. It was how he spoke. His voice was steadier,
[12:51] Speaker 1: more deliberate, like he'd stripped out every unnecessary word. It
[12:57] Speaker 1: was a natural. It was a fear, and it wasn't
[13:03] Speaker 1: just his voice. One day I caught him hauling a
[13:06] Speaker 1: crate of equipment that usually took two people. He carried
[13:11] Speaker 1: it like it weighed nothing. When I pointed it out,
[13:15] Speaker 1: he gave me this tight smile. But there was something
[13:18] Speaker 1: about the way he looked at me, like I was
[13:21] Speaker 1: the one being weird. Feeling good lately, was all he said,
[13:26] Speaker 1: before setting the crate down with a soft thud and
[13:29] Speaker 1: walking off his stride, smooth, almost too smooth. Then there
[13:37] Speaker 1: was Ramirrors. She was sharp, always had been, but lately
[13:42] Speaker 1: her sharpness had taken on a different edge. She moved faster, quieter,
[13:49] Speaker 1: like she'd been practicing. I caught her during her patrol,
[13:53] Speaker 1: walking the carridor outside containment wing Sea. Normally you'd hear
[13:58] Speaker 1: a boots echo against the concrete, but this time I
[14:02] Speaker 1: didn't hear her until she was right in front of me.
[14:06] Speaker 1: She nodded as she passed, and I nodded back. There
[14:10] Speaker 1: was this brief moment when her eyes met mine. It
[14:14] Speaker 1: was in a look exactly, It was more like she
[14:18] Speaker 1: was assessing me. Even Henderson, the guy who never stopped talking,
[14:24] Speaker 1: wasn't the same. He still ran his mouth, but there
[14:28] Speaker 1: was an intensity to him now, I called energy that
[14:31] Speaker 1: hadn't been there before. When he spoke, he leaned in
[14:35] Speaker 1: too close, his words clipped and precise, like he was
[14:39] Speaker 1: trying to convince you of something without outright saying it.
[14:45] Speaker 1: And then there was me, and I felt it too,
[14:49] Speaker 1: not in the same way, not yet, but enough to
[14:53] Speaker 1: make me uneasy. Every time I passed by the observation window,
[14:59] Speaker 1: I'd catch myself slowing down like my feet were stuck
[15:02] Speaker 1: in honey, staring at the monitor feed. The moth never moved,
[15:09] Speaker 1: but it didn't need to. Its presence was enough. Its
[15:14] Speaker 1: wings shimmered under the lights, the patterns and them twisting
[15:17] Speaker 1: ever so slightly, like they were alive, And those eyes,
[15:23] Speaker 1: black bottomless, seemed to pull you in if you looked
[15:28] Speaker 1: too long. One night, during a patrol, I heard them, voices,
[15:38] Speaker 1: low and urgent, coming from the storage room near containment
[15:42] Speaker 1: wing Sea. I paused outside the door, my heart hammering,
[15:46] Speaker 1: and listened Henderson and Ramirez, their words muffled but clear
[15:53] Speaker 1: enough to make out pieces of their conversation. You felt it,
[15:59] Speaker 1: haven't you, Henderson was saying, his tone sharper than usual.
[16:04] Speaker 1: It's like like it knows you're there. Ramiro replied, her
[16:09] Speaker 1: voice tight, almost breathless. And when you're close enough, she
[16:15] Speaker 1: cut herself off, her words, breaking into a low laugh.
[16:19] Speaker 1: It wasn't the kind of laugh I'd heard from her before.
[16:23] Speaker 1: It was soft and warm, like she just told a joke.
[16:26] Speaker 1: Only she understood. Don't fight it. Henderson said, you've seen Wilson.
[16:33] Speaker 1: He's better, stronger. You will be too. I stepped back,
[16:41] Speaker 1: careful not to let my boots scrape the floor. Even
[16:45] Speaker 1: a tiny squeak threatened to reveal my location. My chest
[16:49] Speaker 1: felt tight, my pulse thudding in my ears. I didn't
[16:55] Speaker 1: know what they were talking about, not exactly, but it
[16:59] Speaker 1: was enough to make me realize I wasn't imagining things.
[17:04] Speaker 1: Something was happening that night. I kept seeing them, Henderson
[17:12] Speaker 1: and Ramirez, walking down that corridor in perfect step, their
[17:17] Speaker 1: faces calm but unreadable. It wasn't just strange. It was
[17:22] Speaker 1: wrong in a way I couldn't put into words. My
[17:26] Speaker 1: mind kept circling back to Henderson's words, you've seen Wilson.
[17:32] Speaker 1: He's better, stronger. You will be too stronger. I've been
[17:41] Speaker 1: trying to ignore it, but it was true. Wilson had changed,
[17:46] Speaker 1: They all had. I kept replaying the moment he lifted
[17:50] Speaker 1: that crate like it weighed nothing, The way his movements
[17:53] Speaker 1: were so smooth, almost efficient. It wasn't normal. None of
[18:00] Speaker 1: it was. By the time my next shift rolled around,
[18:05] Speaker 1: I'd convinced myself to stay out of it. Whatever was
[18:09] Speaker 1: going on, it wasn't my business. I'd seen what happened
[18:14] Speaker 1: to people who dug two deep at Facility one twelve.
[18:17] Speaker 1: You didn't get answers you just disappeared. I told myself
[18:23] Speaker 1: to focus on the routine patrol the hales, check the monitors,
[18:27] Speaker 1: and keep my head down, nothing more. This is how
[18:32] Speaker 1: it's always been. But it wasn't that easy, not when
[18:38] Speaker 1: the signs were everywhere. My next shift started at midnight,
[18:48] Speaker 1: and by then I was exhausted, the kind of tiredness
[18:53] Speaker 1: that makes you jump at shadows and second guess every sound.
[18:57] Speaker 1: My patrol route was the same as always, down the
[19:00] Speaker 1: main corridor, past the labs, and then a sweep of
[19:04] Speaker 1: Containment Wing Sea. I started dreading that part of the route,
[19:09] Speaker 1: but skipping it wasn't an option. The moth was always there,
[19:15] Speaker 1: motionless behind the thick glass, its wings folded neatly against
[19:20] Speaker 1: its massive body. It never moved, but the air in
[19:24] Speaker 1: that corridor always felt heavier, like walking through water. A
[19:29] Speaker 1: metallic tang was stronger there, too, clinging to your skin
[19:33] Speaker 1: long after you walked away. But to night something was different.
[19:43] Speaker 1: I caught Wilson again in front of the observation window
[19:46] Speaker 1: to Containment Wing Sea. He wasn't supposed to be there,
[19:50] Speaker 1: his shift had ended hours ago, but there he was,
[19:55] Speaker 1: staring into the chamber like he was waiting for something.
[20:00] Speaker 1: His hands were by his sides, fingers twitching slightly. I hesitated,
[20:06] Speaker 1: watching him from the end of the hall for a moment.
[20:10] Speaker 1: I thought about calling out to him, but before I could,
[20:15] Speaker 1: he turned and walked into the chamber, his steps quick
[20:20] Speaker 1: and purposeful, as though he'd known I was there the
[20:23] Speaker 1: whole time I followed him. I shouldn't have, but something
[20:30] Speaker 1: about the way he moved, so deliberate, so precise, drew
[20:35] Speaker 1: me in. He didn't stop until he reached one of
[20:39] Speaker 1: the storage rooms. The door clicked shut behind him, and
[20:43] Speaker 1: I crept closer, staying in the shadows. The observation window
[20:48] Speaker 1: for the moths chamber came into view, and I froze inside.
[20:57] Speaker 1: The lights were dim, casting long green shadows across the walls. Henderson, Ramirors,
[21:04] Speaker 1: and Wilson were there, standing in a loose circle around
[21:07] Speaker 1: the moth. His wings shimmered faintly under the low light,
[21:12] Speaker 1: the patterns on them seeming to ripple, as if they
[21:14] Speaker 1: were alive. I should have turned back, I should have
[21:19] Speaker 1: called it in, but I couldn't move. I stayed there,
[21:25] Speaker 1: my breath caught in my chest, watching as Wilson stepped
[21:29] Speaker 1: closer to the moth. His movements were slow, deliberate, almost graceful.
[21:37] Speaker 1: He reached out his hand, brushing against the moth's thorax.
[21:43] Speaker 1: For a moment, nothing happened. Then I saw it, a thick,
[21:51] Speaker 1: golden drop of liquid welling up from the point where
[21:54] Speaker 1: his hand made contact. He clung to his fingers like honey,
[21:59] Speaker 1: glistening in the dim light. Wilson raised his hand to
[22:04] Speaker 1: his mouth and drank. I bit down hard on my
[22:13] Speaker 1: lip to keep from making a sound. My heart was
[22:16] Speaker 1: pounding so loud I was sure they could hear it.
[22:20] Speaker 1: Ramirez was next. She knelt before the moth, Her head
[22:23] Speaker 1: tilted back as she reached for another bead of that
[22:26] Speaker 1: golden liquid. Her face was lit with something I could
[22:30] Speaker 1: only describe as bliss. It made my stomach churn and
[22:35] Speaker 1: Vomit threatened to crawl up into my mouth. Henderson went last.
[22:42] Speaker 1: He didn't hesitate, didn't pause the thing. He stepped forward,
[22:47] Speaker 1: his movement smooth and practiced as though he'd done this
[22:51] Speaker 1: dozens of times before. When he drank, his body shuddered briefly,
[22:57] Speaker 1: like a ripple passing through him, and he straightened his face,
[23:02] Speaker 1: eerily calm. They stayed there for a moment, silent, their
[23:08] Speaker 1: head slightly bowed. It was like watching a ritual, something sacred.
[23:15] Speaker 1: The moth didn't move, didn't react, It just was its stillness,
[23:21] Speaker 1: more commanding than any motion could have been. I stepped
[23:27] Speaker 1: back slowly, my head spinning, my pulse raising. But I
[23:31] Speaker 1: couldn't let them see me if they knew I was there.
[23:35] Speaker 1: I didn't want to think about what they'd do. Once
[23:39] Speaker 1: I was far enough away, I turned and hurried back
[23:42] Speaker 1: to the break room, my hand shaking. I kept seeing it,
[23:49] Speaker 1: Wilson drinking from his fingers, we Mirror's kneeling like she
[23:53] Speaker 1: was in a prayer, Henderson's face as calm as stone,
[23:58] Speaker 1: and the liquid, that golden, syrupy drop that seemed to
[24:03] Speaker 1: glow in the light. I sat down, my mind raising
[24:09] Speaker 1: whatever was happening in that room. It wasn't just them.
[24:14] Speaker 1: The moth wasn't just sitting there. It was feeding them,
[24:19] Speaker 1: and whatever it was giving them, it was changing them.
[24:25] Speaker 1: I didn't know what to do. Reporting it felt useless.
[24:30] Speaker 1: If the higher ups didn't already know, they wouldn't believe me,
[24:34] Speaker 1: and if they did, well, they'd probably just raised me
[24:39] Speaker 1: like they raised everything else that didn't fit. I glanced
[24:44] Speaker 1: at the clock. It was just past three a m.
[24:49] Speaker 1: The rest of my shift dragged on, but I couldn't
[24:51] Speaker 1: shake the feeling that I crossed the line, that there
[24:54] Speaker 1: was no going back now. Whatever was happening in Containment
[24:59] Speaker 1: Wing Sea, it wasn't going to stop, and part of
[25:04] Speaker 1: me wasn't sure if I wanted it to. The next
[25:15] Speaker 1: few days were unbearable. I couldn't look at Henderson, Ramirez
[25:20] Speaker 1: or Wilson without seeing them in that chamber, kneeling before
[25:24] Speaker 1: the moth, their hands slick with that golden liquid. They
[25:28] Speaker 1: weren't trying to hide it anymore, not really. Wilson, who
[25:33] Speaker 1: was hauling equipment meant for forkliffs, his movements smooth and effortless.
[25:39] Speaker 1: Ramirez had an intensity about an hour. Her eyes were
[25:42] Speaker 1: sharper and her reactions were faster. Henderson had taken on
[25:47] Speaker 1: a strange authority, his voice steady and commanding, like he
[25:52] Speaker 1: knew something the rest of us didn't. And the changes
[25:56] Speaker 1: weren't just physical. They moved together now, in unspoken coordination,
[26:02] Speaker 1: no words, no signals, just a silent understanding that made
[26:07] Speaker 1: my skin crawl. If one of them started walking, the
[26:11] Speaker 1: other followed without hesitation. If one turned their head. The
[26:15] Speaker 1: others seemed to already know what they were looking at.
[26:19] Speaker 1: It was unnatural. The moth's chamber became the center of
[26:25] Speaker 1: their world. They spent more time there, sometimes even during
[26:29] Speaker 1: shifts they weren't scheduled for. No one questioned it. Maybe
[26:34] Speaker 1: they didn't notice, or maybe they were too afraid to
[26:37] Speaker 1: say anything. I couldn't blame them, and I didn't want
[26:41] Speaker 1: to talk about it either. But the thing that scared
[26:45] Speaker 1: me the most was the way they started looking at me.
[26:51] Speaker 1: It was subtle at first, a glance that lingered too long,
[26:55] Speaker 1: a faint tilted their head like they were studying me.
[27:00] Speaker 1: Then it became more obvious. Henderson would brush past me
[27:04] Speaker 1: in the corridor, his eyes locking onto mine just long
[27:07] Speaker 1: enough to make me break out in a cold sweat.
[27:11] Speaker 1: Ramirez started showing up during my shifts, leaning against the
[27:15] Speaker 1: wall near the observation window, watching me instead of the
[27:18] Speaker 1: monitors and Wilson. Wilson smiled, not the warm, easy smile
[27:26] Speaker 1: he used to have, but something else, something empty. By
[27:34] Speaker 1: the time I realized what was happening, it was too
[27:38] Speaker 1: late to stop it. It was a little after midnight
[27:44] Speaker 1: when the alarm went off. A low, droning sound that
[27:48] Speaker 1: meant a breach in one of the containment chambers. I
[27:51] Speaker 1: was halfway through my patrol when it started. The red
[27:54] Speaker 1: emergency lights casting along flickering shadows across the walls, crackled,
[28:01] Speaker 1: voices overlapping in the chaotic mess. Wing Sea compromised, containment faded.
[28:08] Speaker 1: I didn't need to hear the rest. I knew exactly
[28:11] Speaker 1: where the breech was, the moth's chamber. I ran, my
[28:17] Speaker 1: boots pounding against the floor, my chest tightening with every step.
[28:22] Speaker 1: The corridor leading to wing Sea was empty, no guards,
[28:26] Speaker 1: no text, no one responding to the alarm. The door
[28:31] Speaker 1: to the moth's chamber was wide open, and the reinforced
[28:34] Speaker 1: glass observation windows shattered. And inside, Henderson, Ramirez, and Wilson
[28:43] Speaker 1: were no longer themselves. Their bodies had changed, their limbs thicker,
[28:50] Speaker 1: covered in a soft, dark fuzz that shimmered faintly under
[28:53] Speaker 1: the emergency lights. Their eyes were black, now endless pools
[28:58] Speaker 1: that reflected everything and nothing, and the movements they weren't
[29:04] Speaker 1: just coordinated, they were precise, mechanical, like parts of the
[29:10] Speaker 1: same machine. The moths stood in the center of the chamber,
[29:15] Speaker 1: its wings fully opened for the first time. They were massive,
[29:22] Speaker 1: filling the space with patterns that seemed to shift and
[29:25] Speaker 1: ripple in a way that made my head ache just
[29:27] Speaker 1: looking at them. Its long tongue extended, dripping that golden liquid,
[29:32] Speaker 1: feeding into something at its feet, the cocoons. There were
[29:40] Speaker 1: three of them, each the size of a person, wriggling
[29:43] Speaker 1: faintly as the moth's tongue dipped more sap into the surfaces.
[29:48] Speaker 1: The air in the room was thick, buzzing with an
[29:50] Speaker 1: electricum that made my skin crawl. I stepped back, my
[29:56] Speaker 1: hands shaking. I didn't know what to do, run, hide,
[30:01] Speaker 1: report it. But before I could decide, Henderson's head snapped
[30:06] Speaker 1: toward me, his black eyes locking onto mine. Romiries and
[30:11] Speaker 1: Wilson followed the movements perfectly synchronized. For a moment, none
[30:20] Speaker 1: of us moved. The only sound was the low hum
[30:23] Speaker 1: of the moth's wings, a sound that seemed to vibrate
[30:26] Speaker 1: in my bones. Then Henderson smiled, the same empty, knowing
[30:35] Speaker 1: smile Wilson had given me days before. You shouldn't be here,
[30:41] Speaker 1: he said, his voice low and steady. It's not your time.
[30:50] Speaker 1: I didn't wait to find out what he meant. I
[30:53] Speaker 1: turned and ran my legs burning as I sprinted down
[30:56] Speaker 1: the corridor, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps. Behind me,
[31:02] Speaker 1: I could hear their footsteps, perfectly in sync, echoing in
[31:06] Speaker 1: the empty halls. I didn't stop until I reached the
[31:10] Speaker 1: security room. I slammed the door shut, my hands fumbling
[31:13] Speaker 1: with a lock, and turned to the monitor feeds when
[31:18] Speaker 1: I saw my stomach drop. The cocoons were splitting open,
[31:25] Speaker 1: thick strands of golden sap dripping onto the floor as
[31:29] Speaker 1: something inside began to emerge. The mouth loomed over them,
[31:34] Speaker 1: its wings fluttering faintly, stirring the air in the chamber.
[31:39] Speaker 1: One by one, the cocoons tore open, revealing creatures that
[31:44] Speaker 1: were almost human. They had the same dark fuzz covering
[31:51] Speaker 1: their bodies, their limbs elongated and strong, the black eyes
[31:55] Speaker 1: shining like mirrors. They moved with a terrifying grace, stepping
[32:01] Speaker 1: forward in unison, the heads tilting as they took in
[32:04] Speaker 1: their surroundings. The moth moved for the first time, its
[32:11] Speaker 1: wings spreading wide as it led out a low resonant
[32:14] Speaker 1: hum that shook the walls. The hybrids turned toward the sound,
[32:20] Speaker 1: the heads bowing in perfect synchrony. The radio crackled to life,
[32:25] Speaker 1: a panicked voice shouting orders. I couldn't make out. The
[32:29] Speaker 1: big wigs must have seen what was happening, because the
[32:32] Speaker 1: chamber was flooded with gas. A moment later. The hybrids
[32:36] Speaker 1: didn't flinch. They turned toward the door, moving as one,
[32:41] Speaker 1: and I realized with a singing feeling, that they still
[32:45] Speaker 1: remembered the access codes. They stayed frozen in the security
[32:50] Speaker 1: room for what felt like hours, staring at the monitors
[32:53] Speaker 1: as everything spiraled out of control. The hybrids were everywhere now,
[32:59] Speaker 1: moving through the facilit like they builded themselves. They weren't rushing,
[33:03] Speaker 1: weren't scrambling. No, they moved with purpose, room to room,
[33:09] Speaker 1: hallway to hallway, methodically and terrifyingly precise. It was like
[33:15] Speaker 1: they didn't even need a check. They already knew where
[33:18] Speaker 1: everyone was. I could feel the air tightening around me.
[33:24] Speaker 1: It wasn't just the hybrids or the alarms. It was
[33:28] Speaker 1: the moth. Even from here, I could feel its presence
[33:33] Speaker 1: pressing down, like it was watching through the cameras, through
[33:37] Speaker 1: the walls, through me. My hands were shaking so badly
[33:42] Speaker 1: that I could barely keep them steady on the console.
[33:46] Speaker 1: I couldn't stay. The ICD would be sweeping through soon,
[33:50] Speaker 1: probably trying to gas the whole damn place, hybrids or not,
[33:55] Speaker 1: and if I stuck around, I'd either end up dead
[33:58] Speaker 1: or with my memory scrambl just another loose end tied off.
[34:05] Speaker 1: I scanned the monitors, searching for anything anywhere that wasn't
[34:09] Speaker 1: crawling with hybrids or swarming with clean up teams. That's
[34:14] Speaker 1: when I noticed it, the maintenance tunnels. They were old,
[34:19] Speaker 1: barely used, and not part of the standard patrol roots
[34:23] Speaker 1: yet untouched by the hybrids. I slipped out of the
[34:26] Speaker 1: security room, my heart pounding in my chest. The corridors
[34:30] Speaker 1: were bathed in that eerie red glow from the emergency lights,
[34:34] Speaker 1: shadows flickering along the walls. My boots barely made a
[34:38] Speaker 1: sound as I moved, but every little creek, every faint
[34:42] Speaker 1: arm of the facility systems made me flinch. I could
[34:46] Speaker 1: feel my pulse in my throat, thick and heavy, drowning
[34:50] Speaker 1: out everything else. The air was different down here. The
[34:55] Speaker 1: facility's usual sterile tank was still there, with that metallic
[34:59] Speaker 1: edge was stronger and sharper. It clung to everything, the walls,
[35:05] Speaker 1: the floor, my skin My head was spinning, my stomach chining,
[35:11] Speaker 1: but I kept moving. The axis ladder to maintenance level
[35:16] Speaker 1: three was just ahead. When I reached it, I hesitated,
[35:23] Speaker 1: my hand hovering over the cold metal rungs. Climbing down
[35:28] Speaker 1: felt like stepping into a grave. But what choice did
[35:31] Speaker 1: I have. I gripped the ladder tightly as I began
[35:35] Speaker 1: my descent, the faint squeak in my boots and the
[35:38] Speaker 1: rungs echoing in the shaft. Every sound felt too loud,
[35:43] Speaker 1: like it was bouncing back to me tenfold. The maintenance
[35:47] Speaker 1: tunnels were worse than I remembered, tight, damp and dark.
[35:52] Speaker 1: My flashlight barely cut through the blackness, the beam wobbling
[35:56] Speaker 1: as my hand shook. The air was thicker down here,
[36:00] Speaker 1: heavy with the smell of rust and stagnant water, and
[36:04] Speaker 1: the faint hum of the pipes sounded like whispers. The
[36:08] Speaker 1: service hatch wasn't far, just at the end of the corridor,
[36:12] Speaker 1: a faint sliver of moonlight visible through the cracks. I
[36:17] Speaker 1: quickened my pace, my boots splashing through shallow puddles, The
[36:21] Speaker 1: sound too loud in the oppressive silence. My breath was
[36:25] Speaker 1: ragged now, every inhale sharp against my chest, but I
[36:29] Speaker 1: kept my eyes locked on the hatch. I could see
[36:34] Speaker 1: it my way out, so close I could almost taste
[36:37] Speaker 1: the fresh air waiting on the other side. Then I
[36:44] Speaker 1: heard it, a soft clicking sound, faint at first, like
[36:50] Speaker 1: nails tapping on metal. My flashlight swung wildly toward the noise,
[36:55] Speaker 1: my beam catching on a shadow that shouldn't have been there.
[36:59] Speaker 1: My stump dropped as one of the hybrids stepped into
[37:02] Speaker 1: the light. Its black, mirror like eyes caught the beam,
[37:06] Speaker 1: reflecting it back in a way that made my chest tighten.
[37:11] Speaker 1: Its head tilted slow and deliberate, like it was studying me,
[37:16] Speaker 1: deciding what to do next. I didn't want to find out.
[37:23] Speaker 1: I ran. The hatch was only a few feet away,
[37:28] Speaker 1: but it fell like miles. The clicking behind me grew louder, faster,
[37:33] Speaker 1: almost rhythmic, like it was matching the beat of my
[37:36] Speaker 1: panicked footsteps. My lungs burned, my legs screamed, but I
[37:42] Speaker 1: didn't stop. I hit the hatch with full force, my
[37:46] Speaker 1: hands fumbling for the release lever, my fingers slicked with sweat.
[37:51] Speaker 1: The hybrid was right behind me. I could feel it,
[37:56] Speaker 1: his presence crawling up my spine like static electors tricity.
[38:01] Speaker 1: With a desperate heave, I yanked the lever. The hatch
[38:05] Speaker 1: swung open, the cold night air hitting me like a slap.
[38:10] Speaker 1: I scrambled through, hitting the ground hard, my palms scraping
[38:13] Speaker 1: against the rough dirt. My breath came in short, ragged
[38:17] Speaker 1: gasps as I twisted around and slammed the hatch shut,
[38:21] Speaker 1: twisting the emergency lock into place, just as something heavy
[38:25] Speaker 1: slammed against the other side. The metal groaned, the hatch
[38:30] Speaker 1: vibrating under the force of the hybrid's blows. I stumbled back,
[38:35] Speaker 1: my legs barely holding me up, and turned toward the forest.
[38:40] Speaker 1: The trees loomed like shadows, the branches clawing at the sky,
[38:44] Speaker 1: the moonlight barely breaking through the dense canopy. I didn't wait,
[38:50] Speaker 1: I didn't think. I just ran. It was at a
[39:06] Speaker 1: flea market, of all places, the kind you go to
[39:10] Speaker 1: wonder aimlessly, pretending you're looking for something very specific, knowing
[39:14] Speaker 1: that chances are you will probably leave with nothing. Rows
[39:19] Speaker 1: of mismatched tables stretched over the cracked pavement under the
[39:23] Speaker 1: afternoon sun, piled high with old tools, scratched up, yellowing furniture,
[39:28] Speaker 1: and junk people had dug out of their garages. The
[39:32] Speaker 1: air smelled like kettle corn and cheap sunscreen, with a
[39:35] Speaker 1: faint tang of rust from some vendor's collection of scrap metal.
[39:41] Speaker 1: My apartment was still mostly empty. I just moved in,
[39:46] Speaker 1: and the empty walls and bare corners were starting to
[39:48] Speaker 1: really bother me. I wasn't on the search for anything specific,
[39:53] Speaker 1: just something to make the place feel less like an
[39:55] Speaker 1: abandoned storage unit and more like a home. A lamb maybe,
[40:01] Speaker 1: or an interesting piece of furniture, cheap preferably. It didn't
[40:08] Speaker 1: take long to find something. At one of the stalls,
[40:12] Speaker 1: tugged behind a pile of well worn tools and broken frames,
[40:15] Speaker 1: I saw a bunch of mismatched furniture, a side table
[40:19] Speaker 1: painted with white with chipped corners, a small stool, and
[40:23] Speaker 1: an old couch that needed a wash or two. It
[40:27] Speaker 1: was a random assortment, tied together with fraying twine, but
[40:31] Speaker 1: it was solid enough for what I needed. Hundred bucks
[40:35] Speaker 1: for the lot, the vendor said, catching me looking. He
[40:40] Speaker 1: was older and looked like he'd been sitting in a
[40:42] Speaker 1: folding chair for his entire life. Before I got a
[40:46] Speaker 1: chance to respond, he added, take it and I'll even
[40:50] Speaker 1: throw in that painting over there. I followed his nod
[40:55] Speaker 1: and saw it propped against the back of the chair leg.
[40:59] Speaker 1: The painting it was half hidden behind a stack of
[41:03] Speaker 1: dented cans. Its edges were frayed, and its frame was stretched.
[41:09] Speaker 1: A woman stood alone in a vast field of wheat,
[41:12] Speaker 1: her figure poised in a strange way, almost reverent. The
[41:17] Speaker 1: wheat behind her stretched endlessly, But it wasn't as golden
[41:21] Speaker 1: and vibrant as you might expect. It was gray, lifeless
[41:26] Speaker 1: and brittle, burnt to a crisp Each stalk bowed under
[41:31] Speaker 1: a phantom wind. The texture of the wheat was so
[41:34] Speaker 1: vivid that I almost felt the dry rustle of it
[41:37] Speaker 1: brushing against my fingertips. The sky roiled with movement as
[41:43] Speaker 1: still as it was a violent storm of colors crashed
[41:47] Speaker 1: into each other, waves of pigment and brushstrokes. Deep purples
[41:52] Speaker 1: melted into streaks of orange and crimson, shot through with
[41:55] Speaker 1: veins of sickly yellow. The horizon was blotted with heavy
[42:00] Speaker 1: bruise like clouds, threatening to open and bleed. Yet despite
[42:06] Speaker 1: the chaos of it all, there was a balance to it.
[42:11] Speaker 1: Each hue blended seamlessly into the next, like the canvas
[42:14] Speaker 1: had been alive once and was now frozen mid motion,
[42:19] Speaker 1: like pausing a video. And then there was the woman.
[42:24] Speaker 1: Her pale dress rippled faintly, as though caught in the
[42:28] Speaker 1: dying breath of the wind that had long since left
[42:30] Speaker 1: the wheat around her motionless. The fabric clung to her
[42:34] Speaker 1: frame in a way that should have made her seem fragile,
[42:38] Speaker 1: Yet she didn't look it. She was still a statue
[42:42] Speaker 1: carved from soft light. She stood with her back facing me.
[42:47] Speaker 1: Her face was turned just enough to reveal some of
[42:50] Speaker 1: her profile, the curve of her cheekbone, and the point
[42:53] Speaker 1: of her chin. But her eyes held me. It wasn't
[42:58] Speaker 1: fearful or defying, and it wasn't pleading either. Her gaze
[43:04] Speaker 1: was resigned, mellow and accepting. It's part of the bundle,
[43:10] Speaker 1: I asked, sure is, the vendor said, dipping back a
[43:15] Speaker 1: can of soda. Take it off for a hundred. The
[43:20] Speaker 1: painting stayed tied up in the bundle until I got home.
[43:25] Speaker 1: I carried it all into my living room and untied
[43:28] Speaker 1: the twine, letting it all tumble onto the floor. The
[43:32] Speaker 1: painting was the last thing I pulled free. It was
[43:36] Speaker 1: lighter than I expected. I set it against the wall
[43:40] Speaker 1: and stepped back, letting myself take it in fully. Again,
[43:45] Speaker 1: the details came into sharper focus. I hadn't really wanted
[43:50] Speaker 1: the painting to begin with, so I placed it against
[43:53] Speaker 1: the corner of the wall and left it there. Truth
[43:57] Speaker 1: be told, I didn't like it too much. It was
[44:02] Speaker 1: eerie to look at, but couldn't bring myself to throw
[44:05] Speaker 1: art made with such care away. It wasn't to my taste,
[44:10] Speaker 1: but maybe I could find a home for it to
[44:12] Speaker 1: someone who could appreciate it. For three days, the painting
[44:18] Speaker 1: sat in the corner. I couldn't bring myself to hang it,
[44:24] Speaker 1: but I didn't want to hide it either. Every time
[44:28] Speaker 1: I passed by, I caught myself glancing at it. Then
[44:34] Speaker 1: on the fourth day, I finally decided to hang it
[44:37] Speaker 1: above the couch. The news came a couple of days later.
[44:44] Speaker 1: I was scrolling through my phone over breakfast my TV
[44:48] Speaker 1: murmuring something in the background when I saw the headline
[44:53] Speaker 1: wildfire ravages Kansas farmland, one fatality. I tapped the art
[45:00] Speaker 1: and the image of the blaze filled my screen. The
[45:04] Speaker 1: fire had consumed acres upon acres of farmland, leaving nothing
[45:09] Speaker 1: but ash and blackened stalks of wheat in its path.
[45:13] Speaker 1: The sky above was hazy, streaked with deep purples and
[45:16] Speaker 1: reds as smoke billowed and faded, leaving behind traces of yellow.
[45:23] Speaker 1: I stared at the photo. It looked eerily familiar, but
[45:28] Speaker 1: it wasn't exact. There was no woman, no dress, just
[45:33] Speaker 1: an empty field and the fire ravaging it. I shook
[45:38] Speaker 1: my head and put the phone down. It had to
[45:42] Speaker 1: be a coincidence. Fields burned all the time. The painting
[45:46] Speaker 1: wasn't unique. It was probably just an artistic take on
[45:50] Speaker 1: a generic disaster. All the stress that had been building
[45:54] Speaker 1: up over my move and my all new long commute
[45:57] Speaker 1: to work was just making me overthink things and making
[46:00] Speaker 1: the painting more special in my head than it actually was.
[46:05] Speaker 1: Still I didn't like it. I put the painting back
[46:11] Speaker 1: in the corner, thinking of disposing of it as soon
[46:14] Speaker 1: as possible. The second painting arrived about a week after
[46:19] Speaker 1: the wild fire. This time I didn't find it at
[46:24] Speaker 1: a flea market. I didn't look for it at all.
[46:28] Speaker 1: It was delivered straight to my mail box. The container
[46:34] Speaker 1: a tube was unmarked. There was no return address, posted, stamp,
[46:39] Speaker 1: or anything to suggest where it had come from. But
[46:43] Speaker 1: there it was in my mail box, sitting among the
[46:46] Speaker 1: pile of junk mail, like it belonged there. I almost
[46:51] Speaker 1: didn't even open it. I considered throwing it away. I
[46:55] Speaker 1: got the first painting by pure coincidence, but now I
[46:59] Speaker 1: was scared it in the mail I thought about going
[47:03] Speaker 1: back to the vendor I had initially gotten the first
[47:05] Speaker 1: one from, but the flea market was seasonal, so I
[47:08] Speaker 1: had no way to find him even if I wanted to.
[47:13] Speaker 1: So I unrolled it. It showed a train. The perspective
[47:22] Speaker 1: was striking painted from the inside of some sort of
[47:26] Speaker 1: vehicle looking toward a train, but the location was not discernible,
[47:31] Speaker 1: and train tracks were laid out in the distance, where
[47:35] Speaker 1: the silhouette of a train sat derailed, his frame twisted
[47:39] Speaker 1: and broken like a crushed can. Cars careened off the rails,
[47:44] Speaker 1: some split, others piled on top of each other in
[47:47] Speaker 1: jagged heaps of metal. Flames spat from the wreckage, consuming
[47:52] Speaker 1: wood and broken glass. Thick and black smoke curled into
[47:56] Speaker 1: the sky, walking out the pale blue above. Yet the
[48:01] Speaker 1: focal point wasn't the wreckage, but the figures. A woman
[48:08] Speaker 1: in a red scarf was on her knees at the
[48:10] Speaker 1: edge of the tracks. She was close to one of
[48:13] Speaker 1: the train cars, her arms stretched out toward a child
[48:17] Speaker 1: dangling from a broken window above. The child's miniature body
[48:22] Speaker 1: teetered on the edge, tiny fingers reaching desperately towards her,
[48:28] Speaker 1: but she was stuck. The fire illuminated their faces with
[48:33] Speaker 1: painful clarity. The woman's face was painted with desperation, her
[48:38] Speaker 1: mouth half open in a cry I could almost hear
[48:41] Speaker 1: if I strained hard enough. Her scarf fluttered in the heat.
[48:46] Speaker 1: The child's expression was frozen in wide eyed terror. She
[48:51] Speaker 1: was so close to the woman, yet so far, And
[48:55] Speaker 1: the scariest of all, the train car seemed as if
[48:59] Speaker 1: it would tip over at any moment. The details were
[49:03] Speaker 1: so vivid and precise that it did not feel like
[49:06] Speaker 1: a painting, but a picture of a moment it happened.
[49:13] Speaker 1: The next day, I was driving home from work, dragging
[49:17] Speaker 1: myself through traffic on a suburban road when I heard it.
[49:23] Speaker 1: At first, it was just a distant sound, a strange
[49:27] Speaker 1: screech that didn't belong in the hum of rush hour
[49:30] Speaker 1: at all. Then it became the screech of metal against metal,
[49:35] Speaker 1: a sound that would make your teeth ache. The sound
[49:38] Speaker 1: was distant still, but it grew louder with every passing second,
[49:43] Speaker 1: raw and visceral cutting through the air. The railroad ahead
[49:49] Speaker 1: was already crowded with cars, and brake lights glowed in
[49:52] Speaker 1: the evening haze. Beyond the train barrel toward the intersection.
[49:58] Speaker 1: I watched as the te trains swerved violently, sparks flying
[50:02] Speaker 1: as the wheels left the tracks. The first car tip sideways,
[50:07] Speaker 1: dragging the rest of the train with it in a
[50:09] Speaker 1: cascade of catastrophe. I stopped the car, instinctively, gripping the
[50:15] Speaker 1: steering wheel as the chaos unfolded in front of me.
[50:19] Speaker 1: The derailment was horrific. Passenger cars crumpled and people flew
[50:25] Speaker 1: out of the train cars as they collided with one another.
[50:29] Speaker 1: The force of the crash sent debris flying into the
[50:32] Speaker 1: air with a loud bang. The engine smashed into the
[50:36] Speaker 1: support beam near the crossing, igniting an explosion that lit
[50:39] Speaker 1: up the sky with orange and red flames. It was chaos,
[50:48] Speaker 1: And then there they were, the woman in the red
[50:53] Speaker 1: scarf and the child. She was kneeling by the air
[51:00] Speaker 1: to the wreckage, her arms stretched out in a feeble
[51:03] Speaker 1: attempt to rescue the dangling child. It was exactly what
[51:07] Speaker 1: I had seen from the painting. The firelight danced across
[51:11] Speaker 1: their faces, their expressions frozen in the same raw clarity.
[51:17] Speaker 1: I sat frozen in my car, my hands gripping the
[51:21] Speaker 1: steering wheels so tightly I could hear it groan in protest.
[51:26] Speaker 1: I wanted to move, get out, and help somehow, but
[51:30] Speaker 1: I couldn't. And then it happened. The train car, which
[51:37] Speaker 1: was balancing on its side, tipped over in slow motion,
[51:42] Speaker 1: and I watched as the child was eaten up by
[51:45] Speaker 1: the flames, and the woman's legs crushed, now trapped as
[51:49] Speaker 1: the fire ate or away. I couldn't look away. I
[51:55] Speaker 1: felt tears running down my cheeks as I finally regained
[51:59] Speaker 1: my senses, the screaming around me breaking me out of
[52:02] Speaker 1: my trance. The painter hadn't just known this would happen.
[52:08] Speaker 1: They'd known where I'd be and what I'd see. I
[52:14] Speaker 1: don't remember driving home. The crash broke something in me.
[52:19] Speaker 1: I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I
[52:23] Speaker 1: saw the woman and the child, frozen in that terrible moment,
[52:28] Speaker 1: just as the painting had depicted it. The fire's light,
[52:32] Speaker 1: the scarf, the desperation, and the reaching out. It was
[52:36] Speaker 1: all burned into my mind, replaying over and over, like
[52:41] Speaker 1: a punishment I could do nothing to escape from. I
[52:46] Speaker 1: was in purgatory. I didn't go to work the next
[52:51] Speaker 1: day either, or the day after. At first I called
[52:55] Speaker 1: in sick, telling my boss I had the flu, until
[52:59] Speaker 1: I stopped answering my phone all together. I threw the
[53:03] Speaker 1: painting away, but it did little to numb my thoughts.
[53:08] Speaker 1: I let the dishes pile up and clothes scatter across
[53:11] Speaker 1: the floor. Everything in my fridge went bad, and the
[53:15] Speaker 1: stench of rotten food filled the apartment, aiding in my misery.
[53:22] Speaker 1: I didn't care about it. All I could think about
[53:25] Speaker 1: was how, even though I knew I was powerless, I
[53:30] Speaker 1: blamed myself for not at least trying to save them.
[53:34] Speaker 1: But then I realized I owed it to them. At
[53:37] Speaker 1: least I needed answers, and the fog of guilt finally
[53:45] Speaker 1: eased a little. I was consumed by they need to
[53:48] Speaker 1: know why this was happening. I scoured the internet, searching
[53:53] Speaker 1: for everything and anything that could explain the paintings. I
[53:57] Speaker 1: posted and obscure forums, and I searched for artists and
[54:01] Speaker 1: local galleries, but I found nothing. Even the paintings themselves
[54:07] Speaker 1: offered no hints. I still had the original painting of
[54:10] Speaker 1: the field, so I picked the first one up from
[54:14] Speaker 1: the corner and inspected the entirety of it. I looked
[54:18] Speaker 1: for a signature, a date, or a stamp, but still
[54:23] Speaker 1: there was nothing. The more I searched, the more questions
[54:28] Speaker 1: consumed me. I kept asking myself why I was the
[54:31] Speaker 1: one who had to find these and how they accurately
[54:34] Speaker 1: depicted things unseen. I tried putting a stop to the
[54:38] Speaker 1: next painting I received, to no avail When it arrived,
[54:45] Speaker 1: a flood swallowing a small street. I tried memorizing every detail,
[54:50] Speaker 1: the crack sidewalk, the cars in the middle being submerged
[54:54] Speaker 1: by muddy water. A then stop signed in the corner.
[54:58] Speaker 1: I sifted through maps and my memories searching for streets
[55:02] Speaker 1: that matched the one in the painting. I spent hours
[55:05] Speaker 1: driving around, hoping to stumble across it, but I never
[55:10] Speaker 1: found it. I hadn't even stopped to consider how I
[55:14] Speaker 1: would prevent a flood of that scale, because if I did,
[55:18] Speaker 1: it made me feel all the more powerless. Days passed,
[55:23] Speaker 1: and the dread gnawed at me, growing heavier with each
[55:26] Speaker 1: day that passed. In wait. When the flood finally happened,
[55:32] Speaker 1: it was nowhere near me. I dreaded the rare times
[55:38] Speaker 1: I would receive a painting, But soon they started appearing everywhere,
[55:44] Speaker 1: in my mailbox, propped against the front door, even in
[55:47] Speaker 1: the passenger seat of my car. They all came without warning.
[55:53] Speaker 1: A bridge collapsing into a river, Cables snapping like aged
[55:57] Speaker 1: threads as cars plunged into the waters, the faces of
[56:01] Speaker 1: passengers visible in their final moments. A tornado ripping through
[56:06] Speaker 1: a tiny farmhouse, the roof torn away to reveal a
[56:09] Speaker 1: petrified family huddled inside. The aftermath of a sinkhole appearing
[56:14] Speaker 1: below an apartment building. The details were always painfully vivid.
[56:21] Speaker 1: I could almost feel the heat of the fire, smell
[56:23] Speaker 1: the smoke, and hear the screams. Each one stayed on
[56:27] Speaker 1: my mind like a deep scar. I woke up to
[56:34] Speaker 1: find one leaning against the foot of my bed. I
[56:38] Speaker 1: felt the tube before I saw it. As I got
[56:42] Speaker 1: out of bed, my feet brushed against something and tipped
[56:45] Speaker 1: it over. Another painting, except this one was not a disaster.
[56:52] Speaker 1: It showed a small and dilapidated house with a sagging
[56:56] Speaker 1: roof and boarded at windows. The yard was overgrown and
[57:00] Speaker 1: the porch steps were broken. In the foreground stood a figure.
[57:08] Speaker 1: The man wore a jacket identical to mine. His hands
[57:11] Speaker 1: were shoved in his pockets. Then his posture was stiff,
[57:15] Speaker 1: his face was obscured, but there was no mistaking who
[57:18] Speaker 1: it was meant to be me. In the corner of
[57:26] Speaker 1: the painting was a street sign, Ashwood Lane, And in
[57:30] Speaker 1: the bottom right corner, scrawled in the dark paint, it
[57:34] Speaker 1: was a signature e V. The signature seemed to be
[57:40] Speaker 1: there purely to mock me, a final taunt from the
[57:44] Speaker 1: person who had been controlling my life without permission. This
[57:48] Speaker 1: wasn't a prediction, It was an invitation or a trap.
[57:57] Speaker 1: I was furious at finding a painting in the sancte
[58:00] Speaker 1: of my room. The guild and fear had built up
[58:03] Speaker 1: and exploded into a rage that stripped me of rational thinking.
[58:08] Speaker 1: Ashwood Lane wasn't hard to find. It was on the
[58:11] Speaker 1: outskirts of the city, a forgotten road, choked with weeds
[58:15] Speaker 1: and lined with houses that looked like they'd been used
[58:18] Speaker 1: in the set of a bad zombie movie. Regardless, it
[58:22] Speaker 1: was still on my car's GPS. So I took this
[58:27] Speaker 1: invitation as a challenge, and I wanted this all to end.
[58:35] Speaker 1: The house was exactly as it had been on the canvas.
[58:39] Speaker 1: The roof sagged in the middle and the windows boarded up.
[58:43] Speaker 1: The air was thick with the smell of damp earth
[58:45] Speaker 1: and petroka. I pulled the car to the curb and
[58:48] Speaker 1: stepped out, my legs unsteady beneath me. In my dash
[58:54] Speaker 1: to come here, all the emotions that were running through
[58:57] Speaker 1: me were now fading, replaced with a sense of ease.
[59:02] Speaker 1: I was about to face with whoever had been doing this.
[59:06] Speaker 1: I knocked thrice, and with each knock the door opened wider.
[59:12] Speaker 1: The inside of the house was horrific. The walls were
[59:18] Speaker 1: lined with canvases, some stacked too deep, some stacks six deep,
[59:23] Speaker 1: some leaned against the furniture, and others piled on the floor.
[59:28] Speaker 1: They were all disasters, hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires. Each was
[59:34] Speaker 1: as vivid as the ones I'd seen. The colors roar,
[59:38] Speaker 1: violent and impossibly sharp. At the center of the room
[59:43] Speaker 1: was a person ev He sat hunched over his back
[59:51] Speaker 1: to me, a brush moving steadily across a canvas, who
[59:56] Speaker 1: was still taking shape swells of black and crimson, and
[1:00:00] Speaker 1: dancing in an abstract chaos that I could not decipher
[1:00:04] Speaker 1: nor care to. His frame was thin, almost non existent,
[1:00:10] Speaker 1: his hair wiry with spots of gray. He didn't turn
[1:00:15] Speaker 1: when I stepped inside, didn't seem to notice me at all,
[1:00:19] Speaker 1: or simply didn't care. You found me, he said, without turning.
[1:00:26] Speaker 1: His voice was dry and ashy. I stepped closer, anger
[1:00:31] Speaker 1: taking hold of me. You knew I would, of course.
[1:00:38] Speaker 1: He dipped his brush into a smear of gray, dragging
[1:00:41] Speaker 1: it across the canvas. Everything follows a pattern. You are
[1:00:46] Speaker 1: always going to end up here. Why me, I demanded,
[1:00:52] Speaker 1: my voice starting to crack. Why send the paintings to me?
[1:00:59] Speaker 1: He finally turned, his dark eyes, locking unto mine. Yet
[1:01:04] Speaker 1: there was no malice in his gaze, no insanity, just
[1:01:08] Speaker 1: the cold, detached clarity. Because you were paying attention, he said,
[1:01:18] Speaker 1: matter of factly, Most people don't, you see. They go
[1:01:23] Speaker 1: through their days blind to the cracks in the world,
[1:01:26] Speaker 1: ignoring the inevitable until it happens to them. But you
[1:01:31] Speaker 1: couldn't look away. You saw the patterns, even though you
[1:01:36] Speaker 1: could not understand them. I refused to flinch. You're saying
[1:01:42] Speaker 1: all this was inevitable, that nothing I did could have
[1:01:45] Speaker 1: stopped it. Exactly. He finally set his brush down, folding
[1:01:51] Speaker 1: his hands in his lap. The world is unraveling, one
[1:01:55] Speaker 1: piece at a time. I just record it. There's no
[1:02:00] Speaker 1: magic here, no divine inspiration. You people are just so
[1:02:05] Speaker 1: stupid that it makes me seem prescient. He continued, record it,
[1:02:12] Speaker 1: I repeated, my voice starting to rise and my anger building.
[1:02:17] Speaker 1: You paint people dying, children falling into fires, buildings collapsing,
[1:02:21] Speaker 1: and families getting wiped out. You call that recording. What
[1:02:27] Speaker 1: would you have me do? His tone remained steady, his
[1:02:32] Speaker 1: calmness maddening. Stop painting? Would that save anyone? Would it
[1:02:38] Speaker 1: change something? My work makes it all visible, finds the
[1:02:43] Speaker 1: beauty in it all. I clenched my fists and fumbled
[1:02:47] Speaker 1: with a zippo in my pocket. You could warn people,
[1:02:51] Speaker 1: do something, Ivee chuckled softly while shaking his head. Warn them.
[1:03:00] Speaker 1: You can't fix what's broken, and even if you could
[1:03:04] Speaker 1: do you think they'd listen. People don't want to see
[1:03:08] Speaker 1: the end. They'd rather stumble into it blind, believing they
[1:03:12] Speaker 1: have the control. I thought of the woman and the child,
[1:03:17] Speaker 1: the fire and the crash. There has to be a
[1:03:21] Speaker 1: reason for all this. There really isn't, Evie leaned back,
[1:03:28] Speaker 1: his bony frame, casting long shadows in the dim light.
[1:03:32] Speaker 1: You want there to be meaning, a purpose behind it all,
[1:03:36] Speaker 1: because the alternative has too much to bear. But the
[1:03:41] Speaker 1: truth is simple and you already know it. The room
[1:03:48] Speaker 1: felt smaller and the air heavier. My gaze flicked to
[1:03:52] Speaker 1: the paintings surrounding us, each one laced with despair. I
[1:03:57] Speaker 1: thought back to the things I'd seen again and my
[1:04:00] Speaker 1: inability to take action. His voice cut through my thoughts.
[1:04:06] Speaker 1: You just can't accept it. You've spent your life believing
[1:04:10] Speaker 1: you're in control and that your choices matter, But they don't.
[1:04:17] Speaker 1: You're just the witness, just like everybody else. You think
[1:04:21] Speaker 1: you're angry at me, but you're just angry at the truth.
[1:04:26] Speaker 1: Stop it, I muttered. The only question is how long
[1:04:31] Speaker 1: you'll keep fighting before you accept it. Stop, I repeated, louder.
[1:04:38] Speaker 1: You think you could change anything, he mused. You're wrong,
[1:04:44] Speaker 1: I growled. You're just a coward that sits here painting
[1:04:47] Speaker 1: misery while the world falls apart. Evee smiled faintly. The
[1:04:54] Speaker 1: corners of his mouth barely twitching. And yet here you are, watching,
[1:05:01] Speaker 1: just like I knew you would. That was it. My
[1:05:07] Speaker 1: hand shot into my pocket, pulling out the zippo. My
[1:05:10] Speaker 1: fingers trembled as adrenaline rushed through me while I thought
[1:05:14] Speaker 1: about what I was about to do. You think I'll
[1:05:18] Speaker 1: just let you do this? You think I'll let you
[1:05:20] Speaker 1: keep making these monuments the suffering. At this point, he
[1:05:25] Speaker 1: wasn't even looking at me. He turned back to his
[1:05:29] Speaker 1: work and kept painting. I grabbed the nearest painting off
[1:05:35] Speaker 1: the wall, the tsunami ravaging homes and families, and held
[1:05:39] Speaker 1: it over the flame. The canvas caught quickly, The edges
[1:05:44] Speaker 1: curled as the fire spread, licking at the vivid colors.
[1:05:48] Speaker 1: The smell of burning paint filled the air around us,
[1:05:51] Speaker 1: sharp and acred. But I was not going to stop.
[1:05:56] Speaker 1: I tossed the painting on to the floor. The fire
[1:05:59] Speaker 1: spread as I tore more canvasses from the walls. One
[1:06:04] Speaker 1: by one. I fed them to the flames. Floods, fires,
[1:06:08] Speaker 1: and earthquakes, all of them consumed as EV kept painting.
[1:06:14] Speaker 1: You really think the Stranger is anything? He asked quietly,
[1:06:19] Speaker 1: his voice now barely audible over the crackle of the fire.
[1:06:24] Speaker 1: I don't care. I spat, tearing another painting from the wall.
[1:06:29] Speaker 1: I'm done watching undone, letting you use me as an audience.
[1:06:35] Speaker 1: EV tilted his head but still didn't look at me.
[1:06:40] Speaker 1: You can burn the paintings, but it's all still there.
[1:06:46] Speaker 1: I ignored him. The heat of the fire scorched my
[1:06:49] Speaker 1: skin as I grabbed another canvas. It wasn't until I
[1:06:54] Speaker 1: turned back toward EV that I saw he had completed it.
[1:07:00] Speaker 1: The painting on the easel he was working on it
[1:07:05] Speaker 1: showed what I thought, No, what I knew, was the
[1:07:09] Speaker 1: end of the world. Not a single disaster, not one
[1:07:14] Speaker 1: moment of tragedy frozen in time, but everything. The sky
[1:07:22] Speaker 1: was fractured, great jagged tears ripping through the heavens, the
[1:07:27] Speaker 1: endless skies folding into each other, exposing a blackness so
[1:07:31] Speaker 1: deep it felt like staring into an open grave. The
[1:07:35] Speaker 1: earth was in chaos, split into monstrous, gaping chasms that
[1:07:40] Speaker 1: bled molten fire and bellowed smoke. Entire cities tipped and
[1:07:45] Speaker 1: crumbled into the abyss, the skeletons of steel and iron
[1:07:49] Speaker 1: twisting as they fell. The oceans boiled, great clouds of
[1:07:55] Speaker 1: steam rising into the air as colossal waves slammed against
[1:07:59] Speaker 1: crumbling coastline lines. Ships torn in half or capsized in
[1:08:03] Speaker 1: their entirety, dotted the horizon like discarded toys. In the foreground,
[1:08:10] Speaker 1: or was supposed to represent a vast forests was reduced
[1:08:13] Speaker 1: to an expanse of blackened stumps, each one smoldering between them.
[1:08:19] Speaker 1: The skeletal remains of animals lay scattered among the wreckage,
[1:08:25] Speaker 1: pressed against the shattered windows of the crumbling cities, floating
[1:08:30] Speaker 1: lifelessly in the boiling oceans, with thousands of faces frozen
[1:08:35] Speaker 1: in terror, their mouths open in silent screams. And in
[1:08:42] Speaker 1: the center of it, the audience was me. I stood
[1:08:50] Speaker 1: on a jagged outcrop of rock, my silhouette illuminated by
[1:08:54] Speaker 1: the fiery abyss below. My pasture was slack, and my
[1:08:59] Speaker 1: hands lay limply at my sides. But it wasn't just me.
[1:09:03] Speaker 1: Around my feet were smaller figures clutching at my legs.
[1:09:08] Speaker 1: A child reached upward, had tiny fingers brushing against my hand,
[1:09:13] Speaker 1: and I knew who that was meant to represent. You
[1:09:18] Speaker 1: See now, if he said you are the audience, everyone is,
[1:09:28] Speaker 1: I turned away from him. The fire was everywhere now
[1:09:32] Speaker 1: climbing the walls, defiring everything. The heat was unbearable, despite
[1:09:39] Speaker 1: how fast the old wood of the house carried the flames.
[1:09:42] Speaker 1: There was always time to get out. Nothing physically locked
[1:09:46] Speaker 1: him too his chair, Yet he remained there, carrying on
[1:09:51] Speaker 1: with his magnum opus without a care. You're still a witness, eve,
[1:10:01] Speaker 1: he said with finality. He was wrong. As the flames roared,
[1:10:09] Speaker 1: he would fail to predict anything ever again. So I
[1:10:14] Speaker 1: turned and ran, the heat chasing me out of the
[1:10:17] Speaker 1: house into the cool night air. I didn't look back
[1:10:22] Speaker 1: as the flames consumed the building, the firelight flickering against
[1:10:26] Speaker 1: the darkened sky. I reached my car, slumping into the
[1:10:31] Speaker 1: driver's seat and gripping the steering wheel like it was
[1:10:34] Speaker 1: tethering me to reality. I stared through the windshield, the
[1:10:39] Speaker 1: house on Ashwood Lane burning behind me. It didn't feel
[1:10:46] Speaker 1: like a victory. I drove home in silence, the weight
[1:10:52] Speaker 1: of exhaustion pressing down on me. My apartment was still
[1:10:57] Speaker 1: how I left it empty and silent, and I entered
[1:11:02] Speaker 1: my bedroom and picked up the house painting once more.
[1:11:06] Speaker 1: I inspected it one last time, the way to my
[1:11:09] Speaker 1: actions sinking in. But before I had time to think
[1:11:14] Speaker 1: about anything. When I flipped the painting over, I saw
[1:11:19] Speaker 1: another one, a silhouette running from a burning house. The
[1:11:29] Speaker 1: perspective was distant, but unmistakable. My figure was small, silhouetted
[1:11:35] Speaker 1: against the inferno. The flames roared behind me, consuming the
[1:11:40] Speaker 1: house and everything inside. It was proof that once again
[1:11:47] Speaker 1: I had failed to change anything. The house was burned
[1:11:53] Speaker 1: because it was always meant to burn. I ran because
[1:11:57] Speaker 1: I was always meant to run. Everything played out exactly
[1:12:03] Speaker 1: how it was supposed to play out, and I was
[1:12:09] Speaker 1: the witness. I travel a lot. Without getting too in
[1:12:21] Speaker 1: depth about the particulars of my life and career, I
[1:12:24] Speaker 1: will say that my job ends up taking me all
[1:12:27] Speaker 1: over the world. I've been to just about every continent
[1:12:31] Speaker 1: on the planet, with the exception of somewhere like Antarctica,
[1:12:35] Speaker 1: and the number of countries I haven't stepped foot in
[1:12:38] Speaker 1: rapidly shrinks every year. It's absolutely amazing as I've been
[1:12:43] Speaker 1: able to see and partake in so many different customs,
[1:12:47] Speaker 1: cultures and lifestyles. And one thing I always love to
[1:12:51] Speaker 1: do is purchase a souvenir to take home with me,
[1:12:55] Speaker 1: a sort of keepsake to mark my first time in
[1:12:57] Speaker 1: a new country that I can take down for the
[1:13:00] Speaker 1: shelf and look at when the nostalgia hits me. It
[1:13:04] Speaker 1: can be anything, whether an ornamental figure, a glass, or
[1:13:08] Speaker 1: a book. That's where the reason I'm posting here comes in,
[1:13:14] Speaker 1: you see. A few months ago I was sent to
[1:13:17] Speaker 1: Algeria to help oversee a business deal that a client
[1:13:20] Speaker 1: was involved in, the main dealings had wrapped up, and
[1:13:24] Speaker 1: after a few days of exploring the capital city of Algiers,
[1:13:28] Speaker 1: I decided to take a final stroll through one of
[1:13:30] Speaker 1: the many bazaars I had come to a door perusing
[1:13:33] Speaker 1: in my off time the day before my flight left
[1:13:36] Speaker 1: back to the States. I'd already had it in mind
[1:13:39] Speaker 1: to find something to buys some memento, and so I
[1:13:43] Speaker 1: strolled past the vendors selling fruit and various foods looking
[1:13:47] Speaker 1: for something interesting. And as I passed the table which
[1:13:52] Speaker 1: was selling various bits and bobs, it caught my eye.
[1:13:57] Speaker 1: It was an old leather bound journal, clasped tightly shut
[1:14:01] Speaker 1: with what appeared to be a belt closure of some kind.
[1:14:05] Speaker 1: The leather looked extremely weather beaten and worn, as if
[1:14:09] Speaker 1: it had sat in the burning desert sun for decades,
[1:14:12] Speaker 1: and the edges of the pages I could see were
[1:14:14] Speaker 1: yellowed with age. My curiosity piqued, I pointed to it
[1:14:21] Speaker 1: and asked the cellar about where it had come from.
[1:14:24] Speaker 1: Rather strangely, he seemed weary of saying exactly where and
[1:14:28] Speaker 1: when it had come into his possession, instead only saying
[1:14:33] Speaker 1: that he stumbled across it during his travels. My curiosity
[1:14:38] Speaker 1: now firmly in the red zone due to its mysterious nature,
[1:14:42] Speaker 1: I inquired to its price. He had no sooner quoted
[1:14:46] Speaker 1: me a price than I was pushing the money into
[1:14:49] Speaker 1: his hand. It was practically as steel. However, I admit
[1:14:55] Speaker 1: one thing which unnerved me, to say the least. As
[1:15:00] Speaker 1: I hurried back in the direction of my hotel, I
[1:15:04] Speaker 1: chanced a look over my shoulder and found that the
[1:15:07] Speaker 1: man was watching me leave, a strange, almost intense look
[1:15:11] Speaker 1: on his face. That night, my bags packed and lying
[1:15:16] Speaker 1: in bed, I found myself unable to sleep. After trying
[1:15:22] Speaker 1: to tempt the Sandman for a few hours, I finally
[1:15:25] Speaker 1: gave up, and, wanting something to pass the time, I
[1:15:29] Speaker 1: picked the journal up, unbuckled it and opened it to
[1:15:33] Speaker 1: the first page. To my surprise, I found the entries
[1:15:39] Speaker 1: were in English. The journal had belonged to a British
[1:15:43] Speaker 1: explorer and adventurer whose name, according to the inscription on
[1:15:48] Speaker 1: the back cover, was Liam Wentworth. The date and side
[1:15:53] Speaker 1: ranged from the late nineteen forties through the early fifties,
[1:15:57] Speaker 1: and I read each page with rapt attention, extraordinary images
[1:16:01] Speaker 1: swirling in my mind. As Liam narrated to me expeditions
[1:16:05] Speaker 1: which range from continental Europe to Africa. I couldn't help
[1:16:10] Speaker 1: but smile as the infectious excitement in his writing pulled
[1:16:13] Speaker 1: me further and further into the past, and I must
[1:16:17] Speaker 1: wished I could be transported back in time to join him.
[1:16:22] Speaker 1: That was until I began to read the last expedition
[1:16:26] Speaker 1: log in the journal. From the very first entry, I
[1:16:31] Speaker 1: could tell there was something different about this particular journey.
[1:16:35] Speaker 1: Something about the man's words filled me with an unexplainable
[1:16:39] Speaker 1: sense of unease, and as the entries went on, I
[1:16:43] Speaker 1: felt any sense of excitement and wonder wash away like
[1:16:47] Speaker 1: a flood victim. The initial uneasiness first replaced with tension,
[1:16:52] Speaker 1: then a strange sense of paranoia, and finally, as much
[1:16:56] Speaker 1: as I hate admitting it, fear, a palpable sense of
[1:17:02] Speaker 1: fear and existential dread I've never felt before, one which
[1:17:07] Speaker 1: raised all the hair of my arms, and even in
[1:17:10] Speaker 1: the safety of my hotel room, made me turn on
[1:17:13] Speaker 1: every single light, vanishing away any shadows in the corner,
[1:17:17] Speaker 1: especially because the final written pages are stained with long
[1:17:21] Speaker 1: dried liquid that God, I still hope isn't what I
[1:17:27] Speaker 1: think it is. And when my plane took off from
[1:17:31] Speaker 1: HAIRI Bermardine the next morning, my window giving me a
[1:17:35] Speaker 1: clear view of the sprawling Algerian desert stretching out away
[1:17:39] Speaker 1: into the distance, I involuntarily shuddered. For months, I was
[1:17:48] Speaker 1: unsure what to do. I considered taking the journal to
[1:17:52] Speaker 1: a historian or museum to verify its authenticity, but I'm
[1:17:56] Speaker 1: worried that it will be simply written off as a
[1:17:58] Speaker 1: hoax or a forgery. A few friends and acquaintances of
[1:18:02] Speaker 1: mine I have shared a little of the contents with
[1:18:05] Speaker 1: I've met it with the same response, it has to
[1:18:08] Speaker 1: be a stunt, just something to scare whoever bought it.
[1:18:13] Speaker 1: Worse still, I've had some of the worst nightmares of
[1:18:16] Speaker 1: my life, horrible dreams that wake me up covered in
[1:18:20] Speaker 1: a sheen of sweat even months later. Finally, though, I've
[1:18:25] Speaker 1: decided to just share it. This is transcribed exactly as
[1:18:30] Speaker 1: originally written, and are all relevant entries from William's last expedition.
[1:18:37] Speaker 1: Let me know what you think of it, and if
[1:18:39] Speaker 1: there is any shred of truth to what is written here.
[1:18:43] Speaker 1: As much as it might cost me work in the future,
[1:18:47] Speaker 1: I may never step foot in that part of the
[1:18:49] Speaker 1: world again. Monday, twenty third of June nineteen fifty two,
[1:19:01] Speaker 1: after a four month rest, another adventure is at hand.
[1:19:05] Speaker 1: A fortnight ago, I received a call at home from
[1:19:07] Speaker 1: a wealthy American, a business magnate by the name of Tally. Apparently,
[1:19:13] Speaker 1: mister Danvers had boasted of my qualifications and invaluable help
[1:19:17] Speaker 1: during his expedition to Mauritania at luncheon with him, and
[1:19:22] Speaker 1: when told of a similar endeavor that the man wished
[1:19:24] Speaker 1: to embark on in the nearby country of Algeria, he
[1:19:28] Speaker 1: instantly recommended me to him. I was already interested when
[1:19:32] Speaker 1: he told me of his intentions, and after he quoted
[1:19:35] Speaker 1: me the fee he would pay, I hastily accepted. The
[1:19:40] Speaker 1: amount of money offered is the kind that not even
[1:19:43] Speaker 1: many film stars in the country receive. Indeed, it is
[1:19:47] Speaker 1: triple what Diana Dawes was reportedly paid recently for a
[1:19:50] Speaker 1: part in the last page, and with my dear sister's
[1:19:53] Speaker 1: health always in flux, it is an amount I would
[1:19:57] Speaker 1: be a fool to refuse. So after much planning and
[1:20:02] Speaker 1: subsequent connecting flights from London, I am now in the
[1:20:06] Speaker 1: city of Algiers, where the rest of our party have assembled.
[1:20:11] Speaker 1: I first met Tally as he met me just outside
[1:20:13] Speaker 1: the airport, A tall, lanky chap with thin and black hair.
[1:20:19] Speaker 1: He instantly struck me as inexperienced with such expeditions. It
[1:20:24] Speaker 1: set me a little on an edge, if I may
[1:20:25] Speaker 1: be frank, too, many parties have tragically failed due to
[1:20:29] Speaker 1: such sponsors. Yet, as I was taken to a nearby
[1:20:33] Speaker 1: cafe and introduced to the rest of the team, I
[1:20:37] Speaker 1: felt somewhat relieved at the faces that greeted us. Three
[1:20:41] Speaker 1: of the expeditions nine members are ones I've worked with before, Soign,
[1:20:47] Speaker 1: a hulking giant of a Dane, Richter, a quiet yet
[1:20:51] Speaker 1: intimidating German, and Mouretti, whose boastful demeanor sometimes hides how
[1:20:57] Speaker 1: brilliant of a leader the Italian can be. Three of
[1:21:01] Speaker 1: the four, excluding myself and Tally, are people who have
[1:21:05] Speaker 1: heard spoken of in similar circles. Blake is the group's archaeologist,
[1:21:11] Speaker 1: a fellow britt and alluring brunette who seems as if
[1:21:14] Speaker 1: she should be on a movie screen instead of here.
[1:21:17] Speaker 1: Krin the group's meddic, a bloke who earned the scars
[1:21:21] Speaker 1: on his face from his time in the war. And
[1:21:24] Speaker 1: Tamir is one of our two guides, a man whose
[1:21:27] Speaker 1: wild hair and beard doesn't seem to match the intelligence
[1:21:30] Speaker 1: that I see behind his eyes. The final member of
[1:21:35] Speaker 1: the group is our second guide, an almost gaunt young
[1:21:39] Speaker 1: man no older than twenty, whose name I was told
[1:21:43] Speaker 1: is Tarik. He did not speak when introductions were given. Instead,
[1:21:49] Speaker 1: he merely nodded at us. I find he gives me
[1:21:53] Speaker 1: an uncomfortable sort of aura. But according to both Tally
[1:21:56] Speaker 1: and Moretti, he is indispensable to our all to mcgaul,
[1:22:01] Speaker 1: which is when discussions shifted over to our ultimate aim.
[1:22:06] Speaker 1: In a hush tone, Tally leaned in and told us
[1:22:10] Speaker 1: of a tale he had stumbled across during his dealings
[1:22:13] Speaker 1: in the area. It had hinted about a great treasure
[1:22:17] Speaker 1: lost in the desert decades ago over the phone, But
[1:22:21] Speaker 1: as I listened to him extrapolate, I felt my jaw
[1:22:24] Speaker 1: drop open. According to accounts, a decade and a half
[1:22:30] Speaker 1: or so ago, a group of soldiers belonging to the
[1:22:33] Speaker 1: French Foreign Legion, searching for a safe haven, had stumbled
[1:22:36] Speaker 1: upon a fortress built into a vast mountain range centuries old.
[1:22:42] Speaker 1: The structure had been abandoned, and after discovering that a
[1:22:45] Speaker 1: pump connected to an underground water source of some kind,
[1:22:49] Speaker 1: the soldiers had set up a base camp, complete with
[1:22:52] Speaker 1: radio and arsenal. They stayed in contact with their superiors
[1:22:56] Speaker 1: for approximately five months, reporting back here periodically and requesting supplies. Then,
[1:23:04] Speaker 1: on the sixth month, the forts went silent. No matter
[1:23:08] Speaker 1: how long it was hailed, no one ever answered the
[1:23:12] Speaker 1: radio calls. A reinforcement group had been sent to try
[1:23:16] Speaker 1: and ascertain what had happened to them, but they seemed
[1:23:19] Speaker 1: to disappear into the desert as well. Eventually all of
[1:23:24] Speaker 1: the men were declared lost in action. It wouldn't have
[1:23:28] Speaker 1: been the first time that soldiers had met their end
[1:23:30] Speaker 1: on the receiving end of the local swords and guns.
[1:23:33] Speaker 1: After all, fearing further casualties, the fort was declared a
[1:23:38] Speaker 1: hostile's own, and any further attempt to reach it was forbidden.
[1:23:44] Speaker 1: As the years went by and with the outbreak of
[1:23:47] Speaker 1: the war. The fort's location and the reports on it
[1:23:50] Speaker 1: were lost in the shuffle, further hampered by the fact
[1:23:54] Speaker 1: that it seemed some one in a high position had
[1:23:57] Speaker 1: stricken it from all maps and public record. But somehow,
[1:24:01] Speaker 1: after hearing the stories, Tally had used his connections to
[1:24:05] Speaker 1: obtain one of the only remaining maps which marked its location.
[1:24:11] Speaker 1: As he finished, I cocked an eyebrow and asked him
[1:24:14] Speaker 1: how this all connected to what he had lured me
[1:24:16] Speaker 1: with here the reports of a vast lost treasure. An
[1:24:22] Speaker 1: almost childish smile spread across Taly's face. You han't heard
[1:24:27] Speaker 1: the best part yet, my dear boy. That was when
[1:24:31] Speaker 1: the penny dropped. According to a radio report that the
[1:24:36] Speaker 1: fort's commanding officer had made, they had found in the
[1:24:40] Speaker 1: bowels of the fort a room which, when breached, had
[1:24:44] Speaker 1: revealed a staggering amount of jewels, coins, and other treasures.
[1:24:50] Speaker 1: The exact monetary value it had had never been calculated,
[1:24:54] Speaker 1: but seeing how most of the horde was dated back
[1:24:57] Speaker 1: to the Ottoman Empire, it had to be a tremendu
[1:25:00] Speaker 1: this amount. By this point, our sponsor had our undivided
[1:25:05] Speaker 1: attention and dreams of being forever logged in the history books,
[1:25:09] Speaker 1: danced in our heads. That's when Tally let us in
[1:25:15] Speaker 1: on the most important fact of this expedition. If we
[1:25:19] Speaker 1: locate the fort and find the treasure was only a tale,
[1:25:22] Speaker 1: or failed to find it at all, you will all
[1:25:25] Speaker 1: be paid the exact amount I quoted you, he began,
[1:25:29] Speaker 1: his eyes twinkling. But if we do find it, each
[1:25:34] Speaker 1: of you will receive an equal share of the treasure,
[1:25:37] Speaker 1: in addition to your name's for ever written as the finders.
[1:25:42] Speaker 1: To say that you could have heard a pin drop
[1:25:44] Speaker 1: amongst us would be a grievous understatement. For a moment,
[1:25:49] Speaker 1: nobody spoke. I was the first to open my mouth. Yes,
[1:25:55] Speaker 1: bloody hell, yes. As if my words had been a
[1:25:58] Speaker 1: sort of catalyst, everyone else piped up with their own agreement.
[1:26:03] Speaker 1: Tally beamed. He knew he had ensnared us, and he
[1:26:07] Speaker 1: reveled in it. He told us that we would board
[1:26:11] Speaker 1: a plane bound for Cellah in the next day. From
[1:26:14] Speaker 1: there we would continue on land rovers into the desert itself,
[1:26:19] Speaker 1: and with that he bid us good night, retiring with
[1:26:23] Speaker 1: Moretti to their hotel after a few drinks. The rest
[1:26:28] Speaker 1: of us disbanded as well, and now here I sit
[1:26:32] Speaker 1: staring out the window at the rising moon with my
[1:26:35] Speaker 1: pen in hand. I am beyond thrilled. The prospect of
[1:26:40] Speaker 1: becoming wealthy, beyond my wildest dreams, of being able to
[1:26:44] Speaker 1: afford all of my sister's medicine and procedures, to say
[1:26:48] Speaker 1: nothing of my own frivolities and fantasies, is intoxicating. And
[1:26:54] Speaker 1: yet I can't help but feel a strong sense of
[1:26:57] Speaker 1: trepidation over what I was as well. The fact that
[1:27:02] Speaker 1: two different groups of soldiers seem to simply disappear without
[1:27:06] Speaker 1: a trace. It gives me pause. Even though I attempt
[1:27:11] Speaker 1: to push it away, A small whisper of dread climbs
[1:27:14] Speaker 1: over me. I picture the men carrying at night guns
[1:27:19] Speaker 1: frantically aimed into the dark as something moves towards them.
[1:27:25] Speaker 1: But surely anything that happens to them so long ago,
[1:27:29] Speaker 1: any people who did them harm surely have moved on,
[1:27:33] Speaker 1: which means we should be perfectly safe. I worried too much. Tuesday,
[1:27:46] Speaker 1: twenty fourth of June nineteen fifty two. I write this
[1:27:51] Speaker 1: entry by the firelight next to my tent, and the
[1:27:54] Speaker 1: only thing that banishes away the almost impenetrable darkness that
[1:27:58] Speaker 1: stalks the edges of the flickering am. Early in the morning,
[1:28:02] Speaker 1: just before the sun rose, our team bordered a charted
[1:28:06] Speaker 1: plain and flew south to Insulah. There we found two
[1:28:10] Speaker 1: land rovers, paint shimmering and fresh off the production line
[1:28:14] Speaker 1: in Soliul. They had been specially ordered by Tally for
[1:28:17] Speaker 1: the journey. Supplies and enough fuel to last us a
[1:28:21] Speaker 1: fortnight were loaded on board, and after wedging ourselves inside
[1:28:26] Speaker 1: the space that remained, we set off in a westerly direction,
[1:28:30] Speaker 1: following the road past towns with names such as Ghar
[1:28:33] Speaker 1: and Olaf. Finally we passed through Regane, and after a
[1:28:39] Speaker 1: last look back at civilization, we left the road and
[1:28:43] Speaker 1: headed out into the desert itself. Saying that the intense
[1:28:48] Speaker 1: heat would rival the flames of Hell itself would not
[1:28:51] Speaker 1: be much of an understatement. The sun beat mercilessly down
[1:28:55] Speaker 1: upon our vehicles, turning them into saunas, and as we
[1:29:00] Speaker 1: were attempting to conserve our water supply, soon we all
[1:29:04] Speaker 1: felt the first inklings of heat exhaustion. After stopping to
[1:29:08] Speaker 1: quench our thirst quickly and following the blessed liquid with lunch,
[1:29:13] Speaker 1: we continued on. As the sun did lower into the
[1:29:16] Speaker 1: sky as I was riding with Tally, I had the
[1:29:20] Speaker 1: opportunity to ask him about Tarak. The man still gave
[1:29:25] Speaker 1: me a bad feeling, and I inquired as to why
[1:29:28] Speaker 1: he was so important to our expedition. After all, I asked,
[1:29:33] Speaker 1: would simply somemear not make a decent enough guide. It
[1:29:38] Speaker 1: was then that he revealed to me the secret surrounding
[1:29:41] Speaker 1: the man. Tarrek was one of the few men left
[1:29:45] Speaker 1: alive who had seen the fort with his own eyes,
[1:29:49] Speaker 1: or so he claimed. He had told Tally of a
[1:29:52] Speaker 1: time as a small boy, traveling through the desert with
[1:29:56] Speaker 1: his father and grandfather and spying on the horizon the
[1:30:00] Speaker 1: upper Mountain range like a sentry, the imposing structure. Both
[1:30:05] Speaker 1: of his elders had warned him away from it, telling
[1:30:08] Speaker 1: him that it was a cursed place, load of local
[1:30:12] Speaker 1: superstitious bull. Tally said to me, waving a hand as
[1:30:16] Speaker 1: if to physically repel the words. For my part, I
[1:30:21] Speaker 1: too did not believe in such things, and yet that
[1:30:25] Speaker 1: his words, I was unable to suppress the shiver that
[1:30:28] Speaker 1: flew up my spine slightly. It felt too coincidental, too
[1:30:34] Speaker 1: close to the feeling of dread that fell over me
[1:30:37] Speaker 1: last night, A second thought came to mind, as if
[1:30:41] Speaker 1: pushing away the emotions, I asked, with not knowing if
[1:30:45] Speaker 1: the young man was telling the truth, how he could
[1:30:48] Speaker 1: be sure he was not simply luring us into the
[1:30:51] Speaker 1: desert for a sinister purpose. With a small, almost concealed wink,
[1:30:57] Speaker 1: he raised his shirt, revealing a hid pistol underneath in
[1:31:01] Speaker 1: a holster informed me that several others were armed as well,
[1:31:06] Speaker 1: and a shotgun and ammunition were among our supplies. Liam,
[1:31:10] Speaker 1: my boy, relax, I have thought of everything. We'll be ready,
[1:31:15] Speaker 1: whether the locals of any surprises in store for us,
[1:31:19] Speaker 1: or either of our guides. Do just enjoy the trip.
[1:31:23] Speaker 1: In the meantime, I pray that his confidence is not misplaced.
[1:31:29] Speaker 1: We are a long way from where anyone could help
[1:31:32] Speaker 1: us if things were to go barely up, And that
[1:31:35] Speaker 1: is in all I am the only member of our
[1:31:38] Speaker 1: groups still awake. All the others have retired to their tents, or,
[1:31:43] Speaker 1: in the case of Tarrak and Samir, into the land
[1:31:45] Speaker 1: rovers to sleep. The only sounds I hear are the
[1:31:49] Speaker 1: crackling of fire and the soft, almost lonely sound of
[1:31:53] Speaker 1: the wind whistling in the darkness. And yet I can't
[1:32:00] Speaker 1: help but feel watched, even though we are certainly the
[1:32:04] Speaker 1: only people for miles. I feel as though eyes are
[1:32:08] Speaker 1: upon me, upon all of us. It is a feeling
[1:32:12] Speaker 1: that is most unwelcome, and it makes me again wonder
[1:32:15] Speaker 1: about the fate that befell the French soldiers. I find
[1:32:20] Speaker 1: myself shooting the looks out into the dark. Every few
[1:32:23] Speaker 1: lines I write, almost convinced I will see eyes staring
[1:32:27] Speaker 1: back at me from the blackness. As much as I
[1:32:31] Speaker 1: don't want to, I must retire to my own tent.
[1:32:36] Speaker 1: Dawn will be here soon enough, and we will need
[1:32:39] Speaker 1: all of our strength for the next few days. Thursday,
[1:32:46] Speaker 1: twenty sixth of June nineteen fifty two, after a second
[1:32:52] Speaker 1: day of driving straight and following both the map and
[1:32:56] Speaker 1: directions that Smir tells us Tarik had given us, as
[1:32:59] Speaker 1: the man speaks no English, we seem to have finally
[1:33:02] Speaker 1: arrived at the base of a mountain range. According to Tarik,
[1:33:07] Speaker 1: these are the mountains in question, and we are not
[1:33:10] Speaker 1: far now, less than a day away. I crane my
[1:33:15] Speaker 1: neck to look at the imposing walls which rise higher
[1:33:18] Speaker 1: over our heads. I'm not a good estimator of such things,
[1:33:23] Speaker 1: but I would not be surprised if the top lies
[1:33:25] Speaker 1: hundreds of feet above us or more. If the fort
[1:33:30] Speaker 1: is real, then how are we to get to it
[1:33:32] Speaker 1: from down here? All questions that will have to be
[1:33:36] Speaker 1: answered soon. For now, though, I will go and sit
[1:33:40] Speaker 1: with the others, eat supper, and go to sleep. If
[1:33:45] Speaker 1: we are being told the truth, tomorrow will be the
[1:33:50] Speaker 1: day Friday, twenty seventh of June nineteen fifty two. It's real.
[1:34:00] Speaker 1: I find that even as I write these words, I
[1:34:03] Speaker 1: feel I'll suddenly wake up from a dream. And yet
[1:34:08] Speaker 1: right there in front of my eyes is the bloody
[1:34:10] Speaker 1: thing Terracles, indeed telling the truth. And it looks exactly
[1:34:15] Speaker 1: as tally heard. The structure is perfectly nestled atop and
[1:34:20] Speaker 1: similarly among the mountains, surely built there by some Ottoman
[1:34:24] Speaker 1: architect or soldier with a perfect idea of strategic planning.
[1:34:28] Speaker 1: The fort has a clear view down the desert where
[1:34:31] Speaker 1: we stand below, and is set far enough back that
[1:34:34] Speaker 1: the surrounding land acts as a sort of natural shield.
[1:34:38] Speaker 1: It is the perfect choke point, to say the least,
[1:34:41] Speaker 1: Churchill himself would be impressed. According to Blake, the style
[1:34:46] Speaker 1: and architecture is indeed indicative of the Ottoman Empire, either
[1:34:51] Speaker 1: Arabic or North African. The three front turrets rise imposingly
[1:34:55] Speaker 1: above the rest of the complex, their windows dark and
[1:34:59] Speaker 1: unrevealing their secrets. Surprisingly, and thankfully as well, there will
[1:35:05] Speaker 1: be no need to worry about climbing. Tarrek pointed us
[1:35:09] Speaker 1: to a set of steps carved into the mountains themselves.
[1:35:13] Speaker 1: They are fairly steep, but they surely beat the alternative.
[1:35:17] Speaker 1: As it is late, we will make camp here at
[1:35:20] Speaker 1: the base tonight, and in the morning we will pack
[1:35:23] Speaker 1: all our supplies and make the climb to the fort
[1:35:26] Speaker 1: itself Omittedly, I must admit that the feeling I had
[1:35:31] Speaker 1: in the desert two nights ago remains. In fact, it
[1:35:35] Speaker 1: almost feels stronger in a way. But with the excitement
[1:35:38] Speaker 1: palpable amongst all of us, are refuse to let it
[1:35:42] Speaker 1: sour the mood. It will be stored away in the
[1:35:45] Speaker 1: recesses of my mind. Tomorrow we begin to take a
[1:35:50] Speaker 1: step towards both history and possibly fortune. Saturday, eighth of
[1:36:00] Speaker 1: June nineteen fifty two, I write from inside the central
[1:36:06] Speaker 1: courtyard of the fort itself. I was correct in my
[1:36:10] Speaker 1: assessment that it would be a steep climb, but aside
[1:36:13] Speaker 1: from a few scrapes among all the bloody knuckles suffered
[1:36:16] Speaker 1: by soreiron, we reached the top uneventfully. From there we
[1:36:21] Speaker 1: found a path already made, albeit almost hidden by the
[1:36:25] Speaker 1: ever sweeping sands, but the cracked wooden rail that marked
[1:36:29] Speaker 1: the edge of the cliffs showed the way. After a
[1:36:32] Speaker 1: trek of about a quarter of an hour, we found
[1:36:35] Speaker 1: ourselves at a gate which marked the outer rim of
[1:36:38] Speaker 1: the complex. The top was wrapped in barbed wire, and
[1:36:42] Speaker 1: an unlocked gate sat half open in front of us. Richter,
[1:36:47] Speaker 1: feeling that we would be better off closing it behind us,
[1:36:50] Speaker 1: walked into a neighboring guard post and lowered a barrier
[1:36:53] Speaker 1: to prevent anyone from entering. When our backs were turned together,
[1:36:57] Speaker 1: we made our way up a steep path to the
[1:36:59] Speaker 1: front to the fort itself. At the front gates, we
[1:37:03] Speaker 1: discovered a relic from the First World War, a French
[1:37:07] Speaker 1: ft tank sitting empty and half buried in sand. The
[1:37:12] Speaker 1: turret faced away from us, back the way we'd come,
[1:37:16] Speaker 1: and I wondered both how it had gotten up here
[1:37:19] Speaker 1: and what it had been put in place for. With
[1:37:23] Speaker 1: a last look at the armament, we pushed open one
[1:37:26] Speaker 1: of the two colossal wooden doors and entered the fort.
[1:37:33] Speaker 1: We found ourselves inside an expansive courtyard that stretched out
[1:37:36] Speaker 1: before us to both sides. To the right was what
[1:37:40] Speaker 1: appeared to be a smaller courtyard of some sort, embellished
[1:37:43] Speaker 1: with a few small bushes and date palms. Wandering over
[1:37:48] Speaker 1: to it, I found that the far end of the
[1:37:50] Speaker 1: smaller space was a fountain, a rusted pump set into
[1:37:54] Speaker 1: the back corner. Tentively, I put my hand out, gathered
[1:37:59] Speaker 1: some water from the fountain, and raised it to my lips.
[1:38:03] Speaker 1: The water tasted somewhat stagnant, but otherwise was fine. Reaching
[1:38:09] Speaker 1: out and operating the pomp, I found it readily supplied
[1:38:12] Speaker 1: fresh water. Turning, I found Maretti beside me. He smiled,
[1:38:20] Speaker 1: hit a water garden. Well, then this solves any concerns
[1:38:23] Speaker 1: of running out of water. There must be an underground
[1:38:26] Speaker 1: lake or river somewhere beneath us. I agreed with him,
[1:38:31] Speaker 1: and after a last look around at the peaceful scene,
[1:38:34] Speaker 1: we returned to the others. After telling them of our discovery.
[1:38:39] Speaker 1: We set our supplies down and began as a group
[1:38:42] Speaker 1: to explore. Aside from the water garden, there were two
[1:38:47] Speaker 1: main buildings inside the fort, The largest building, according to
[1:38:52] Speaker 1: the rickety wooden sign hung by the front door, declared
[1:38:55] Speaker 1: it to be the living quarters, while the second sunken
[1:38:58] Speaker 1: building was dead the arsenal. After a small deliberation, we
[1:39:05] Speaker 1: chose to enter the main building first. The interior showed
[1:39:09] Speaker 1: that nature had taken its toll on the fort. Beams
[1:39:13] Speaker 1: had collapsed from their upper levels, and sand rose up
[1:39:16] Speaker 1: in small mounds, making us have to navigate around the debris.
[1:39:21] Speaker 1: The rest of the quarters were in much the same condition,
[1:39:24] Speaker 1: though with much more signs of life. Pillows, rugs, and
[1:39:29] Speaker 1: other furniture were around. There were also plenty of candles
[1:39:33] Speaker 1: and lamps hanging from beams above, all of which we
[1:39:37] Speaker 1: lit as we passed. We located the radio room, which
[1:39:41] Speaker 1: I noted with a pang of her knees had been vandalized.
[1:39:45] Speaker 1: Both the radio and telegraph machines had been destroyed. Clearly
[1:39:50] Speaker 1: someone had not wanted anyone to send any messages or
[1:39:53] Speaker 1: calls for help. What made the scene worse was the
[1:39:57] Speaker 1: obvious signs of struggle, which are ever present throughout the
[1:40:01] Speaker 1: whole building. Some of the group didn't notice, but I
[1:40:05] Speaker 1: saw that Soren and Richter, along with myself the three
[1:40:09] Speaker 1: who saw the most combat in our lives did. The
[1:40:12] Speaker 1: spilled chairs, crumbled blankets, and broken glass and wood all
[1:40:17] Speaker 1: told a tale, and it was one that made the
[1:40:19] Speaker 1: feeling of dread rear its head in my mind, and worse,
[1:40:25] Speaker 1: the feeling of eyes on me was at a feverish pitch.
[1:40:29] Speaker 1: As we made our way through, My head swung about
[1:40:32] Speaker 1: like an owl's, looking not only to the shadows, but
[1:40:36] Speaker 1: up into the rafters as well. At one point, as
[1:40:40] Speaker 1: I brought up the rear of the group, I felt
[1:40:43] Speaker 1: as though fingers as slipped along the nape of my neck,
[1:40:46] Speaker 1: and my pulse quickened, my breathing going shallow as I
[1:40:49] Speaker 1: froze on the spot, terror filling every fiber of my being,
[1:40:55] Speaker 1: I whirled around and found no one. All I could
[1:41:01] Speaker 1: hear was the soft creaking of the building and the
[1:41:04] Speaker 1: whistling of the wind outside. Not wanting to remain alone,
[1:41:10] Speaker 1: I hurried after the others. After leaving the main quarters,
[1:41:15] Speaker 1: and with daylight fading fast, we made a quick pass
[1:41:18] Speaker 1: through the arsenal, where we discovered a grisly scene. In
[1:41:23] Speaker 1: the Ford's jail, we discovered the remains of a man
[1:41:27] Speaker 1: dressed in one of the old uniforms, which designated him
[1:41:31] Speaker 1: as part of the French Foreign Legion. His body seemed
[1:41:34] Speaker 1: to cower in the far corner of the cell, away
[1:41:37] Speaker 1: from any of the bars. Stranger still, Samir pointed out
[1:41:43] Speaker 1: that he had locked himself inside a set of keys
[1:41:46] Speaker 1: could be seen by the desiccated corpse's hand. From what
[1:41:50] Speaker 1: we could tell, the man hadn't died of any injuries either,
[1:41:55] Speaker 1: Mouretti summarized, he must have either perished from hunger or third.
[1:42:03] Speaker 1: We retreated back to the courtyard afterward, where we set
[1:42:07] Speaker 1: up camp in the water garden. For this, I'm eternally grateful.
[1:42:12] Speaker 1: While the living quarters may offer more shelter from the
[1:42:15] Speaker 1: elements than the tents, I would not be able to
[1:42:18] Speaker 1: sleep a wink inside. I feel constantly on edge after
[1:42:23] Speaker 1: what has been seen today, and I pray to the
[1:42:26] Speaker 1: Lord that in time they will fade from memory. And
[1:42:32] Speaker 1: I still feel we are watched. In fact, the feeling
[1:42:36] Speaker 1: is stronger than it ever was, as if whatever is
[1:42:40] Speaker 1: doing the watching is almost directly over us, staring down.
[1:42:46] Speaker 1: I wonder if the feeling has anything to do with
[1:42:49] Speaker 1: the corpse in the arsenal jail. After all, what good
[1:42:53] Speaker 1: driver a man to such terror that he would rather
[1:42:56] Speaker 1: face a slow death from lack of food and water
[1:42:59] Speaker 1: than it. Perhaps I hope to never find out nor
[1:43:05] Speaker 1: where the rest of the soldiers disappeared to. I hope
[1:43:09] Speaker 1: we can find the fable treasure quickly and be gone
[1:43:12] Speaker 1: from this place. As much as I love adventure, I
[1:43:17] Speaker 1: long for being back in the bedroom of my home
[1:43:20] Speaker 1: in Maidenhead. Monday, thirtieth of June nineteen fifty two. Two
[1:43:29] Speaker 1: days have passed since my last entry. We've continued to
[1:43:32] Speaker 1: work to locate any hint of the treasure, but have
[1:43:35] Speaker 1: failed to find any trace of it anywhere in the fort.
[1:43:40] Speaker 1: I'm beginning to think it may never have existed. Tally
[1:43:44] Speaker 1: is trying to bolster all our spirits, but I can
[1:43:47] Speaker 1: sence him begin to grow weary like the rest of us.
[1:43:51] Speaker 1: The foreboding feeling that has hung over my head like
[1:43:54] Speaker 1: a noose seems to have spread among the expedition. I
[1:43:59] Speaker 1: see it in all their faces. It increased when we
[1:44:02] Speaker 1: found more signs of a struggle around the fort. Fingernail
[1:44:06] Speaker 1: marks edged into the walls as if someone were dragged away,
[1:44:11] Speaker 1: spent ammo casings, and more. I catch others swinging around erratically,
[1:44:16] Speaker 1: as though they had sent somebody near them. I caught
[1:44:19] Speaker 1: some mere Tarrek and corn huddled together, whispering softly to
[1:44:24] Speaker 1: one another. When I approached, hearing words about leaving spoken,
[1:44:29] Speaker 1: they stood up straight and gave me a strange look
[1:44:32] Speaker 1: before moving quickly away. I also find that Blake tends
[1:44:36] Speaker 1: to stick close to me now. She says it's because
[1:44:40] Speaker 1: she feels safest with another from Britain, but I know
[1:44:43] Speaker 1: there's a deeper reason. She would not admit. Back in
[1:44:47] Speaker 1: the war, my sergeant had told me that paranoia is
[1:44:51] Speaker 1: one of the forces that whittle men down the quickest.
[1:44:56] Speaker 1: I do believe he is right. Tuesday, first of July
[1:45:05] Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two, we are trapped. During the night, I
[1:45:11] Speaker 1: awoke to hear a thunderous crashing sound, but in the
[1:45:14] Speaker 1: darkness I didn't know what it was. When daylight broke,
[1:45:20] Speaker 1: we set out for the steps down to the land rovers.
[1:45:24] Speaker 1: We found that during the night something had caused a
[1:45:28] Speaker 1: large section of them to give way. Whether it be
[1:45:31] Speaker 1: a crack in the rock which caused the landslide of
[1:45:33] Speaker 1: some sort, it doesn't matter. The section is too vast
[1:45:38] Speaker 1: to be able to safely jump down from a gap
[1:45:41] Speaker 1: of over two hundred feet, and without rope we couldn't
[1:45:46] Speaker 1: climb down. We are stuck hundreds of feet above the
[1:45:51] Speaker 1: desert floor with no signs of people anywhere. Fortunately, Tarag
[1:45:57] Speaker 1: informed us through some ear that he believed, as a boy,
[1:46:01] Speaker 1: he had seen a way down further down the ridge.
[1:46:05] Speaker 1: After her quick deliberation, it was decided that Samir, along
[1:46:09] Speaker 1: with Richtor, would set out and try and find it.
[1:46:13] Speaker 1: The weapons we had brought were finally broken out from
[1:46:15] Speaker 1: our supplies, and the two men were given a pistol each,
[1:46:19] Speaker 1: along with a small supply of extra ammunition and two torches.
[1:46:24] Speaker 1: They said they would attempt to return at nightfall if
[1:46:26] Speaker 1: they could not find a way down. It is dusk
[1:46:31] Speaker 1: now and they have not returned. I worry that they
[1:46:34] Speaker 1: might have slipped and fallen to their deaths, or worse,
[1:46:39] Speaker 1: may have successfully made it down and bolted well. I
[1:46:43] Speaker 1: may have worked with Richta before and heard good things
[1:46:46] Speaker 1: about Samir. In a situation like this, even the most
[1:46:50] Speaker 1: rational men can do the wrong things. I wait, I
[1:46:57] Speaker 1: thought I heard something has fallen again over the fort.
[1:47:02] Speaker 1: But for a second, as the wind had died, I
[1:47:06] Speaker 1: almost swore I heard a cracking sound in the distance
[1:47:10] Speaker 1: two three times, then nothing, but it sounded too small
[1:47:16] Speaker 1: to be gun shot. It can't have been. I hope
[1:47:22] Speaker 1: they come back soon. Wednesday, second of July nineteen fifty two,
[1:47:33] Speaker 1: Samir and Richter never returned. At dawn, I volunteered to
[1:47:38] Speaker 1: try and set out to find any trace of them.
[1:47:41] Speaker 1: Blake asked to accompany me, as did Coorin, who said
[1:47:45] Speaker 1: if they were injured, they would need his training. So,
[1:47:49] Speaker 1: gathering the medical kit, we prepared to leave when Murti
[1:47:53] Speaker 1: stopped us. I want you to take this, he said,
[1:47:58] Speaker 1: Reaching into a supply, he withdrew the shotgun, when I
[1:48:05] Speaker 1: instantly recognized as a Winchester Model eighteen ninety seven, handing
[1:48:10] Speaker 1: it to me. He also pulled out a box of
[1:48:12] Speaker 1: shells and passed them to Blake, who placed them in
[1:48:15] Speaker 1: a pack. Be safe and God be with you, he said.
[1:48:22] Speaker 1: I nodded, and holding the gun tightly in both hands.
[1:48:26] Speaker 1: The three of us stepped out of the fort, and,
[1:48:28] Speaker 1: after locating two sets of footprints, set out following them.
[1:48:34] Speaker 1: None of us spoke a word as we followed the
[1:48:37] Speaker 1: trail along, occasionally having to navigate around boulders and passed
[1:48:41] Speaker 1: treacherous narrow paths in what I hoped would lead to
[1:48:45] Speaker 1: our compatriots, our friends. But as we continued on, the
[1:48:51] Speaker 1: footprints seemed to endlessly continue. I began to feel as
[1:48:56] Speaker 1: though we three had, like them, seemingly slipped into an
[1:49:00] Speaker 1: alternate reality where we would be trapped forever alone. That
[1:49:06] Speaker 1: was when we discovered the end of the tracks. I
[1:49:10] Speaker 1: don't mean to say that they led to a way down,
[1:49:12] Speaker 1: or even to the edge of the cliff. Rather, both
[1:49:17] Speaker 1: sets came to a halt in the middle of an
[1:49:19] Speaker 1: open space dominated by low hanging cliff faces behind us.
[1:49:26] Speaker 1: This doesn't make any sense, Korin said, as he looked around.
[1:49:31] Speaker 1: Where the hell did they go? Neither of us could
[1:49:36] Speaker 1: answer him. But as I focused again on the tracks,
[1:49:39] Speaker 1: I noticed two small details I hadn't before, ones which
[1:49:44] Speaker 1: made my heart begin to beat quicker in my chest.
[1:49:49] Speaker 1: The first was that the footsteps, one so oddly and
[1:49:52] Speaker 1: in rhythm with one another, suddenly began to erratically dance
[1:49:56] Speaker 1: around each other, almost as if the men had begun
[1:49:59] Speaker 1: wildly spinning around, looking in all directions. The second was
[1:50:04] Speaker 1: the glint of brass I saw hidden among the sand.
[1:50:08] Speaker 1: I reached out with one hand and brushing away the
[1:50:12] Speaker 1: top layer that had settled over it the night before.
[1:50:15] Speaker 1: Found myself looking at several spent bullet casings. There were
[1:50:20] Speaker 1: approximately three or four of them, all clumped together as
[1:50:24] Speaker 1: if someone had emptied a revolver on the spot. I
[1:50:28] Speaker 1: picked one up, rolling it over in my fingers. The
[1:50:32] Speaker 1: beating sun made it almost too hot to handle, but
[1:50:35] Speaker 1: I could instantly tell they were fresh. Wariness and dread
[1:50:41] Speaker 1: began to gnaw at my insides. Something had happened here.
[1:50:49] Speaker 1: That was when I heard Blake gasp. Turning, I found
[1:50:53] Speaker 1: a staring at a section of wall behind and to
[1:50:56] Speaker 1: the left of us, a section which had been obscured
[1:50:59] Speaker 1: by an overhand before. Her face had gone as white
[1:51:02] Speaker 1: as a sheet and her eyes wide as saucers. With
[1:51:07] Speaker 1: a trembling hand, she pointed at something and moaned out
[1:51:11] Speaker 1: three words, Mother of God. A single smear of blood
[1:51:19] Speaker 1: ascended the rock face. It wasn't a lot, but it
[1:51:24] Speaker 1: was enough to spite my dread into full blown terror.
[1:51:28] Speaker 1: Quickly arching my neck, I could see where it led to,
[1:51:32] Speaker 1: but it was obvious that its owner had been dragged
[1:51:35] Speaker 1: upwards and in a violent manner. Instantly I raised the shotgun,
[1:51:40] Speaker 1: feeling my hands go cold and Clammy Blake and Corn
[1:51:44] Speaker 1: huddle behind me. As we looked around rapidly, both at
[1:51:48] Speaker 1: the overhang above us and farther down the path, all
[1:51:53] Speaker 1: I could hear was the whistle of the wind, nothing more,
[1:51:58] Speaker 1: and that fact alone horrified me to no end. That whistle,
[1:52:04] Speaker 1: that silence, it all seemed to hold her threatening edge
[1:52:08] Speaker 1: to it, now a prelude to something horrific to come.
[1:52:13] Speaker 1: I motioned silently for the others to begin to back
[1:52:16] Speaker 1: up behind me, alternating the shotgun's same between the area
[1:52:19] Speaker 1: above us and in front of us. Trying not to
[1:52:22] Speaker 1: make any noise, we slowly began to move back to
[1:52:26] Speaker 1: the fort. As we retreated, I swear I thought I
[1:52:32] Speaker 1: heard a small pitapat sound of pebbles moving. I thought
[1:52:36] Speaker 1: I saw a slight blur of motion just beyond my
[1:52:39] Speaker 1: line of sight. My heart was raising in my chest,
[1:52:43] Speaker 1: and my mouth turned as dry as cotton. In my
[1:52:47] Speaker 1: time during the war, I'd bore witness to many horrific sights,
[1:52:51] Speaker 1: many atrocities. More than once I was sure I was
[1:52:55] Speaker 1: about to die, And I swear on my sister's soul
[1:52:59] Speaker 1: that I never felt as terrified as I did in
[1:53:02] Speaker 1: those moments. My hands holding the gun beginning to shake.
[1:53:07] Speaker 1: Despite feeling as though whatever had taken Samir and Richter
[1:53:10] Speaker 1: were lurking just beyond our field of view, we made
[1:53:14] Speaker 1: it back to the fort unharmed. As soon as we
[1:53:18] Speaker 1: were inside, I dropped the shotgun too the ground, and
[1:53:21] Speaker 1: I found what must have been the board to barricade
[1:53:24] Speaker 1: the doors. I picked it up and slammed it into
[1:53:27] Speaker 1: place in the large metal hooks. As I did so,
[1:53:32] Speaker 1: the others raced out from the water garden, demanding to
[1:53:35] Speaker 1: know why we were sealing them inside. Korin turned to
[1:53:39] Speaker 1: them as we finished, his eyes wild and face ashen
[1:53:43] Speaker 1: in the fading light. Because Samir and Richter are dead.
[1:53:47] Speaker 1: That's why his tone slammed the words home, and I
[1:53:52] Speaker 1: saw horrified looks cross everyone's faces, even Tarrex, even if
[1:53:58] Speaker 1: he couldn't understand us that well. Trying to remain calm,
[1:54:02] Speaker 1: I stepped forward and, with as much rational clarity as
[1:54:06] Speaker 1: I could, muster explained in crystal clarity everything we had seen,
[1:54:11] Speaker 1: everything we had come across. As I finished, a deathly
[1:54:17] Speaker 1: silence settled over us. All. In those moments, all we
[1:54:22] Speaker 1: could hear was the wind, which had now risen from
[1:54:25] Speaker 1: a whistle into a howl. The sun was beginning to
[1:54:29] Speaker 1: set on the horizon, and it cast eerie shadows over
[1:54:33] Speaker 1: the fort's courtyard. Nobody dared speak, as the implications of
[1:54:38] Speaker 1: our predicaments sunk in, until I began to hear a
[1:54:45] Speaker 1: low whine. For a moment, I was unable to discern
[1:54:51] Speaker 1: where it came from, but as I looked around, I
[1:54:56] Speaker 1: realized it was coming from Tarak. The Algerian looked, if possible,
[1:55:03] Speaker 1: petrified to death, and beyond his face held the expression
[1:55:08] Speaker 1: of one which had just had a death sentence passed on.
[1:55:12] Speaker 1: The wine intensified, and he suddenly began to babble, speaking
[1:55:16] Speaker 1: rapidly strings of sentences. I didn't understand. What is he saying?
[1:55:23] Speaker 1: Tali demanded. Moretti, knowing a little Arabic, raised a hand
[1:55:28] Speaker 1: to silence him and stepped forward, asking a question to
[1:55:32] Speaker 1: the panicking man. In response, Tarak babbled to more at him,
[1:55:38] Speaker 1: and after a moment, I saw Maretti's brow furrow in confusion.
[1:55:44] Speaker 1: He asked another question and received another panicked response. Tally
[1:55:50] Speaker 1: stepped forward. What did he say? Please tell me? Moretti
[1:55:57] Speaker 1: continued to look at Tarak for a moment, then turned
[1:56:00] Speaker 1: towards us. I'm not sure, but I think he says
[1:56:05] Speaker 1: that they are in the mountains. They hunt in the mountains,
[1:56:10] Speaker 1: and they are wise. Father and grandfather warned him to
[1:56:13] Speaker 1: stay away from here. Suddenly, and without warning, Tarek turned
[1:56:19] Speaker 1: and bolted for the fort's living quarters. I saw Maretti
[1:56:23] Speaker 1: begin to take a step after him, but then stopped.
[1:56:28] Speaker 1: We watched as the man slammed his shoulder into the door,
[1:56:31] Speaker 1: rushing inside and slamming it shot behind him. Fortunately we
[1:56:36] Speaker 1: did not hear it lock. After a moment, Tali turned
[1:56:41] Speaker 1: back to us. He took a deep breath. Right, everyone,
[1:56:47] Speaker 1: we need a plan. The man's words seemed to bolster us,
[1:56:53] Speaker 1: and we quickly and quietly began talking among ourselves. We
[1:56:57] Speaker 1: decided he was no longer safe to stay out side,
[1:57:01] Speaker 1: and following Tarak's footsteps, we would shelter at night in
[1:57:04] Speaker 1: the living quarters, barricading ourselves inside. We would also try
[1:57:10] Speaker 1: to repair the broken radio to try and send a
[1:57:13] Speaker 1: call for help. Blake, in addition to being an archaeologist,
[1:57:18] Speaker 1: was also proficient in repairing equipment. Our plans set in motion.
[1:57:24] Speaker 1: We grabbed our supplies from the tents and moved inside.
[1:57:28] Speaker 1: And now we all huddle trying to sleep in shifts.
[1:57:32] Speaker 1: In one of the main bunk rooms. Blake sleeps beside me.
[1:57:37] Speaker 1: I can hear her uneasily rolling over. As I write,
[1:57:41] Speaker 1: Corn is doing the same a few cuts away. Sorry
[1:57:45] Speaker 1: and Moretti patrol the holes of the building with two
[1:57:48] Speaker 1: of our four remaining guns. Tally holds onto the third,
[1:57:53] Speaker 1: and in the meantime, I've traded Moretti the shotgun for
[1:57:56] Speaker 1: a pistol of my own. I should try to rest
[1:58:01] Speaker 1: my own patrol shift will be in a few hours,
[1:58:05] Speaker 1: and yet I cannot. I feel as though my dreams
[1:58:11] Speaker 1: will be worse dreams seeing what happened to Samir and Richter,
[1:58:16] Speaker 1: seeing them dragged upwards to a fate. I feel it
[1:58:19] Speaker 1: is a blessing not to know. And I'm terrified that
[1:58:23] Speaker 1: if I close my eyes I'll open them to find
[1:58:27] Speaker 1: something looking at me, half hidden in the shadows from
[1:58:32] Speaker 1: the dull light of the lamp over our heads, ready
[1:58:35] Speaker 1: to leap, and in my existence in a blister of
[1:58:38] Speaker 1: pain and horror, God, please save us. Thursday, third of
[1:58:56] Speaker 1: July nineteen fifty two, I write to day with what
[1:59:01] Speaker 1: feels like for the first time in an eternity, a
[1:59:04] Speaker 1: shred of good news. Blake has given an initial inspection
[1:59:09] Speaker 1: of both the radio and telegraphs and has come to
[1:59:12] Speaker 1: the conclusion that while he will take a small amount
[1:59:15] Speaker 1: of time, the damage dealt to both is within her
[1:59:19] Speaker 1: means to repair. She told us that he will take
[1:59:23] Speaker 1: with her combination of supplies found within the living quarters
[1:59:26] Speaker 1: and from our own bags, a maximum of two to
[1:59:29] Speaker 1: three days to get them back up to snuff. I
[1:59:33] Speaker 1: can also report that during Soeign and Moretti's watch, as
[1:59:36] Speaker 1: well as accompanied by Corn my own, we saw and
[1:59:40] Speaker 1: heard no trace of whatever lies out there. I hold
[1:59:46] Speaker 1: no delusions that they may have left, though all throughout
[1:59:49] Speaker 1: the night I could feel their eyes upon the fort,
[1:59:53] Speaker 1: especially when I passed the window. Several times I would
[1:59:58] Speaker 1: stop in front of them, my head around and squint
[2:00:01] Speaker 1: into the blackness. Of course, I saw nothing but the
[2:00:06] Speaker 1: hair that rose in my arms every single time. Assured
[2:00:09] Speaker 1: me that if the night were able to withdraw and
[2:00:12] Speaker 1: allow the secrets it covers to be visible, I would
[2:00:15] Speaker 1: have borne witnessed to a sight both blood chilling and
[2:00:18] Speaker 1: macarb in its appearance in the past. I often wish
[2:00:23] Speaker 1: that God had given us the night vision that large
[2:00:25] Speaker 1: predators were bestowed with, but now I'm beyond thankful he
[2:00:31] Speaker 1: did not. For the most part, we have remained inside
[2:00:36] Speaker 1: the living quarters, only venturing outside for brief periods of
[2:00:40] Speaker 1: time to fetch water from the water garden. The fear
[2:00:44] Speaker 1: and tension felt when doing so, though, is palpable enough
[2:00:47] Speaker 1: to slice with the bloody razor, especially as it sits
[2:00:51] Speaker 1: directly next to the main wall of the fort. When
[2:00:55] Speaker 1: it was my turn to refill our canteens, my head
[2:00:58] Speaker 1: swiveled around my neck, not unlike an owl's, turning this
[2:01:02] Speaker 1: way and that, and feeling that if I allowed even
[2:01:06] Speaker 1: a second to glance away from a particular spot, I
[2:01:09] Speaker 1: would turn to find the last thing I would ever
[2:01:12] Speaker 1: see gazing into my eyes. Fortunately, due to the material
[2:01:18] Speaker 1: the fort was built with or its position against the mountains,
[2:01:22] Speaker 1: the interior remained relatively cool, even as the noonday sun
[2:01:26] Speaker 1: beat down to the point I could see, both up
[2:01:29] Speaker 1: close and in the distance, the air itself shimmering from
[2:01:33] Speaker 1: the temperature. I do have to mention one thing, ever,
[2:01:38] Speaker 1: since Tark fled inside the building the other day, he
[2:01:41] Speaker 1: refuses to try and help us in any way. When
[2:01:45] Speaker 1: asked by Moretti, all he would do is shake his
[2:01:49] Speaker 1: head and repeat the words he spoke to us the
[2:01:51] Speaker 1: other day, the words about the ones who live in
[2:01:54] Speaker 1: the mountains. Before retreating into a supply closet, he remains there,
[2:02:01] Speaker 1: only coming out briefly for food or water before returning
[2:02:05] Speaker 1: to it. One other important thing to note. As we
[2:02:10] Speaker 1: had some free time on our hands, I used it
[2:02:13] Speaker 1: to further explore the living quarters, thoroughly checking every lock
[2:02:17] Speaker 1: box in supply case for anything we could possibly use.
[2:02:22] Speaker 1: In most I found only medical supplies, and in the
[2:02:26] Speaker 1: upper levels of the building two cannons, along with fuses, gunpowder,
[2:02:31] Speaker 1: and half a dozen cannon balls. However, as I further
[2:02:36] Speaker 1: explored the upper areas, I found a metal lock box that,
[2:02:40] Speaker 1: after breaking the h lock with the bottom my revolver,
[2:02:43] Speaker 1: held two flare pistols within, each one as a single
[2:02:48] Speaker 1: flare already loaded inside, with no sign of additional flares nearby.
[2:02:54] Speaker 1: I showed them to Moretti and the others, who agreed
[2:02:56] Speaker 1: that they should be stowed away to be used if
[2:02:59] Speaker 1: any sign of lack life was spotted in the desert below.
[2:03:03] Speaker 1: These may be what end up saving our hides. Tally said.
[2:03:08] Speaker 1: The sun is setting now and with the descent of
[2:03:11] Speaker 1: the orange almost blood red sun over the horizon. It
[2:03:15] Speaker 1: feels like whatever safety we felt in the daylight is
[2:03:18] Speaker 1: disappearing before my very eyes. I pray you make it
[2:03:24] Speaker 1: through the night Friday, fourth of July nineteen fifty two
[2:03:34] Speaker 1: the screams. I find it a struggle to put ink
[2:03:38] Speaker 1: to paper the abject horror and shock that I feel
[2:03:41] Speaker 1: this morning. But I must, if only to try and
[2:03:45] Speaker 1: help reserve the fleeting sanity that almost seems to precariously
[2:03:49] Speaker 1: cling to me. Last night, Sorron and I were tasked
[2:03:54] Speaker 1: with taking the first watch, patrolling the halls and rooms
[2:03:57] Speaker 1: until half past one in the morning, when we would
[2:04:01] Speaker 1: rouse and be relieved by Moretti and Coron. Sarren carried
[2:04:05] Speaker 1: the shotgun while I remained with my pistol. Slowly, silently,
[2:04:11] Speaker 1: we moved through the building, occasionally convening to confirm no
[2:04:15] Speaker 1: sign of trouble, and poking our heads into the bunk
[2:04:18] Speaker 1: room to check on the others. The only sound I
[2:04:22] Speaker 1: could be heard, aside from the whistling wind and creaking
[2:04:26] Speaker 1: of the ancient building, was the soft ticking of the
[2:04:29] Speaker 1: watch on my wrist, its unstoppable march seeming to bring
[2:04:33] Speaker 1: a little comfort to me. That was when I heard it.
[2:04:41] Speaker 1: At first, I couldn't identify the sound. It was too
[2:04:45] Speaker 1: far off in the distance and too muffled to properly
[2:04:49] Speaker 1: make out. It barely carried on the wind, almost being
[2:04:53] Speaker 1: whisked away completely. But as the moments spilled over into minutes,
[2:04:58] Speaker 1: I realized that it was slowly growing louder, which meant
[2:05:03] Speaker 1: whenever it was who was getting closer. Feeling my heart
[2:05:09] Speaker 1: begin to raise in my chest, I raised my revolver
[2:05:12] Speaker 1: and pulled back the hammer, my eyes straining to sea
[2:05:16] Speaker 1: in the darkness. The sound continued to increase in volume,
[2:05:21] Speaker 1: and for a moment I froze. For a moment I'd
[2:05:25] Speaker 1: almost recognized it. A shiver passed through me as I
[2:05:30] Speaker 1: gripped the window sill tightly in one hand, the other
[2:05:33] Speaker 1: shaking slightly as I aimed the gun into the black.
[2:05:38] Speaker 1: That was when a hand fell on my shoulder. I
[2:05:43] Speaker 1: nearly jumped out of my skin, whirling around a vine
[2:05:46] Speaker 1: Sorens standing beside me, the shotgun raised toward the ceiling
[2:05:50] Speaker 1: in his free hand and an intense look upon his face.
[2:05:54] Speaker 1: He looked at me. I hear it too, he said, simply,
[2:06:00] Speaker 1: in response to my unspoken question. For another moment, the
[2:06:05] Speaker 1: two of us stood there, straining our ears as we
[2:06:08] Speaker 1: held by the window. The sound continued to grow nearer,
[2:06:12] Speaker 1: and I felt another shiver pass through me. I couldn't
[2:06:17] Speaker 1: understand why, but I almost swore I recognized the sound.
[2:06:22] Speaker 1: Finally I whispered back to Saron, what is there? He
[2:06:29] Speaker 1: remained silent for another moment or so. Then I saw
[2:06:32] Speaker 1: his face go slightly pale in recognition, his expression changing
[2:06:37] Speaker 1: from stone to clearly unnerved screaming. There was another stretch
[2:06:46] Speaker 1: of silence between us as we both strained our ears.
[2:06:50] Speaker 1: I prayed for a moment that he was wrong, but
[2:06:54] Speaker 1: as the wind fell for a moment, I felt the
[2:06:56] Speaker 1: blood in my veins turned to ice as it came
[2:06:59] Speaker 1: again clear. This time it was indeed screaming. What's more,
[2:07:06] Speaker 1: the sauce was unmistakably human. I had heard far too
[2:07:12] Speaker 1: many men to count scream on the battlefield during the war.
[2:07:16] Speaker 1: Heard men shriek their last after they had stepped on
[2:07:19] Speaker 1: a land mine and lay blown apart and rapidly bleeding
[2:07:23] Speaker 1: out on the ground with it too dangerous to try
[2:07:26] Speaker 1: and retrieve them. I heard the screams of captured Germans
[2:07:29] Speaker 1: and the bunkers as operatives went to work extracting information
[2:07:33] Speaker 1: on them. These screams not only rivaled them, but surpassed them.
[2:07:41] Speaker 1: They were the most horrible, panicked, and pained sounds I
[2:07:45] Speaker 1: had ever heard a human being utter. It sounded nothing
[2:07:49] Speaker 1: less than if the screamer were being flayed alive, feeling
[2:07:53] Speaker 1: every single cut and peel of their skin. And then
[2:07:57] Speaker 1: the terror I felt compounded as the rose up a
[2:08:02] Speaker 1: second scream, one which rose and fell beside the first,
[2:08:06] Speaker 1: occasionally overlapping it, until it sounded as though we were
[2:08:10] Speaker 1: hearing the damned souls of Hell itself crying out for release.
[2:08:15] Speaker 1: His eyes wide saw and turned to me and said
[2:08:19] Speaker 1: only three words, roused the others. Soon we were all
[2:08:26] Speaker 1: standing by the window, every expression a mirror of fear
[2:08:30] Speaker 1: on the other as we listened to the infernal sound
[2:08:33] Speaker 1: that now almost sounded as if it were coming from
[2:08:37] Speaker 1: just beyond the sealed front doors of the fort. Blake
[2:08:41] Speaker 1: clasped the hand over her mouth, closing her eyes, and
[2:08:44] Speaker 1: leaning against me, wrapped an arm protectively around her, pulling
[2:08:48] Speaker 1: her close to me. As I looked at the others.
[2:08:52] Speaker 1: Karin looked as though he were about to faint from terror.
[2:08:56] Speaker 1: Jesus Mary and Joseph. He breathed. I saw Talie swallow hard.
[2:09:02] Speaker 1: But it was a look that swept across Marette's face
[2:09:05] Speaker 1: that drew my attention. It was one of recognition. He
[2:09:11] Speaker 1: fought to find his voice for a moment, then softly spoke,
[2:09:15] Speaker 1: his voice almost lost to the shrieks outside Sameir. Everyone
[2:09:24] Speaker 1: turned to look at him. At the single word he uttered,
[2:09:28] Speaker 1: I felt a small wave of confusion wash over me. Then,
[2:09:32] Speaker 1: if possible, I saw Soren's face grow even paler than
[2:09:36] Speaker 1: it already was. God Almighty, that is Samir, and that
[2:09:42] Speaker 1: oother scream. I remember how Ricky yewled as he broke
[2:09:45] Speaker 1: his angle a few years ago. That's him. Fresh ways
[2:09:50] Speaker 1: of horror rolled over us like the sea as the
[2:09:53] Speaker 1: information sunk in. I had been on the same expedition
[2:09:58] Speaker 1: with the two men when Rich had broken his ankle
[2:10:01] Speaker 1: climbing a rock. I prayed to the God I hoped
[2:10:04] Speaker 1: was listening that they were wrong, But in my bones,
[2:10:09] Speaker 1: I knew they weren't. I knew we were hearing the
[2:10:13] Speaker 1: screams of our two lost compatriots. Tally suddenly began to
[2:10:18] Speaker 1: turn towards the stairs to the lower floor, yanking his
[2:10:21] Speaker 1: own pistol from his holster. We have to help them,
[2:10:25] Speaker 1: he yelled, beginning to sprint away. Just as quickly, Sorron
[2:10:30] Speaker 1: and Moretti began to chase after him, telling him to wait.
[2:10:34] Speaker 1: Still holding on to Blake, I jerked my head for
[2:10:36] Speaker 1: carr And to follow, and hurried after them. When we
[2:10:41] Speaker 1: descended the stairs, we found Soren restraining Tally, his face
[2:10:45] Speaker 1: enraged in the flickering light of the lamp above. Like
[2:10:49] Speaker 1: go of me, damn you, he yelled, attempting to kick
[2:10:52] Speaker 1: the larger man to free himself. Moretti leaned forward towards him.
[2:10:57] Speaker 1: Lucy brain, your stupid fool. There is a reason why
[2:11:00] Speaker 1: it's coming from just outside the fort. It They whoever
[2:11:05] Speaker 1: or whatever he's out there, wants us to go out there.
[2:11:08] Speaker 1: It's a trap. Tally kicked at Sarn again, but this
[2:11:13] Speaker 1: time he was weaker. You don't know that, he protested.
[2:11:19] Speaker 1: They could have fought their way back. Soren shook his
[2:11:22] Speaker 1: head after what Liam and the others found. No, they couldn't,
[2:11:27] Speaker 1: especially not after two days. I'm sorry, mister Tally, but
[2:11:31] Speaker 1: Alessandro's right. They are counting on our emotions to get
[2:11:35] Speaker 1: the better of us. It's designed to lure us out
[2:11:38] Speaker 1: into the open. Tally closed his eyes and turned his
[2:11:43] Speaker 1: head away, almost in denial of what I had realized
[2:11:46] Speaker 1: was true myself, but I could see the words sinking in.
[2:11:52] Speaker 1: He slowly slumped Sarren, releasing the man and allowing him
[2:11:56] Speaker 1: to crumple to the ground, pulling his knees towards him
[2:12:00] Speaker 1: and wrapping his arms around them. Standing in the narrow hall,
[2:12:05] Speaker 1: we all listened to the screaming of our two friends
[2:12:08] Speaker 1: continue outside for a few minutes. Then, as he began
[2:12:12] Speaker 1: to feel as though the sounds would drive us all mad,
[2:12:16] Speaker 1: they slowly began to move away. The screaming grew fainter,
[2:12:20] Speaker 1: the sound of the wind beginning to mask it again,
[2:12:24] Speaker 1: until finally he couldn't hear it at all. For a moment,
[2:12:31] Speaker 1: nobody moved. I glanced at my watch, seeing that it
[2:12:36] Speaker 1: was a quarter to three in the morning. I hadn't
[2:12:39] Speaker 1: realized how long the terrifying ordeal had really lasted. Finally,
[2:12:44] Speaker 1: Tally stood up. He refused to meet any other eyes
[2:12:48] Speaker 1: and slunk back upstairs. Karen followed closely behind him. I
[2:12:53] Speaker 1: felt a sense of worry at what I saw in
[2:12:56] Speaker 1: the second man's eyes. The look was akin to one
[2:12:59] Speaker 1: a corn animal. Weares and revealed that he was close
[2:13:03] Speaker 1: to the edge. Soon all of us had returned to
[2:13:07] Speaker 1: the upper levels, Moretti relieving me of my watch and
[2:13:11] Speaker 1: ordering me to try and rest. But sleep is the
[2:13:15] Speaker 1: last thing I feel I could obtain right now, not
[2:13:18] Speaker 1: when the horror of what we'd experienced is still so
[2:13:21] Speaker 1: fresh in my mind. Blake has somehow managed to drift
[2:13:25] Speaker 1: back off, though I can tell her dreams at nightmares
[2:13:29] Speaker 1: by how she moans and wriggles and are caught. So
[2:13:33] Speaker 1: I write, not knowing what else to do, I pray
[2:13:37] Speaker 1: for the rising sun to come soon and banish away
[2:13:40] Speaker 1: the small taste of hell that I witnessed tonight. One
[2:13:45] Speaker 1: last thing I only noticed once we returned from upstairs.
[2:13:51] Speaker 1: But not once during the entire ordeal did Tarrek join us.
[2:13:56] Speaker 1: I only saw him when we returned upstairs, peeking out
[2:13:59] Speaker 1: from the clauset to stare at us with wide eyes.
[2:14:03] Speaker 1: The look on his face is what I remember well
[2:14:05] Speaker 1: from the medical tents, on the faces of wounded soldiers
[2:14:09] Speaker 1: who knew they were about to die. It was the
[2:14:13] Speaker 1: look of a man who has resigned himself to his fate. Saturday,
[2:14:26] Speaker 1: fifth of July nineteen fifty two. Whatever lives in these
[2:14:31] Speaker 1: god forsaken mountains, it will not allow us to make
[2:14:34] Speaker 1: a call for help. Blake finished repairing both the radio
[2:14:38] Speaker 1: and telegraphed today. For a few moments, we clung to
[2:14:42] Speaker 1: a tiny scrap of relief, like a shipwrecked victim to
[2:14:46] Speaker 1: a life ring. We crowded around her as she began
[2:14:49] Speaker 1: to send a distress call, tuning to the proper frequency.
[2:14:54] Speaker 1: Something answered us, but not what we had hoped. Almost
[2:15:01] Speaker 1: as soon as she hit the transmit button, a sound
[2:15:04] Speaker 1: spilled from the speakers. At first, it was too soft
[2:15:08] Speaker 1: to make out, but soon grew in intensity until we
[2:15:12] Speaker 1: could clearly recognize it. Whispering voices, dozens of them or more,
[2:15:21] Speaker 1: all whispering in a language none of us could ascertain
[2:15:24] Speaker 1: or understand. It was not Arabic. I doubt it's a
[2:15:29] Speaker 1: language any human has spoken in a millennia, if ever
[2:15:33] Speaker 1: at all. The sound made chill after chill shoot up
[2:15:37] Speaker 1: my spine. I could see horrified looks in the other's faces.
[2:15:42] Speaker 1: The whispering continued, soon joined by screaming, and I swear
[2:15:48] Speaker 1: I heard some mirror and Richter's screams among the others
[2:15:52] Speaker 1: the same screams we heard the other night. Finally, the
[2:15:57] Speaker 1: radio just seemed to die completely, the glow dial dimming
[2:16:00] Speaker 1: to black. No matter how much Blake fiddled with it,
[2:16:05] Speaker 1: she couldn't get it to turn on again, and no
[2:16:09] Speaker 1: sooner had she turned to the telegraph, using Morse code
[2:16:12] Speaker 1: to type out an S O S than we received
[2:16:15] Speaker 1: an answer far quicker than anyone could possibly respond. I
[2:16:20] Speaker 1: remember the look of confusion on her face as she
[2:16:23] Speaker 1: reached out and pulled the small piece of paper from
[2:16:26] Speaker 1: the machine, raising it to her eyes and reading it.
[2:16:30] Speaker 1: When she lowered it, she looked to be on the
[2:16:33] Speaker 1: verge of tears. What does it say? Moretti asked her gently.
[2:16:41] Speaker 1: She took a moment before answering, swallowing hard, no saving.
[2:16:51] Speaker 1: I find myself terrified now, not just for my life,
[2:16:57] Speaker 1: but my very soul. Sunday, sixth of July nineteen fifty two,
[2:17:06] Speaker 1: Soren is gone. I was roused shortly before dawn by Moretti,
[2:17:12] Speaker 1: who gazed down at me with an expression which shocked me.
[2:17:15] Speaker 1: Throughout the entire ordeal, the man had attempted to remain calm.
[2:17:20] Speaker 1: Now as he pulled me to my feet, I found
[2:17:23] Speaker 1: myself staring at an almost panicked face, trying to keep
[2:17:28] Speaker 1: his voice level, he explained that when he had not
[2:17:31] Speaker 1: seen Soren crossing his path after doing so thrice before,
[2:17:35] Speaker 1: he had gone looking for the man. He discovered the
[2:17:38] Speaker 1: shotgun leaning against the wall near one of the cannons,
[2:17:41] Speaker 1: with no sign of him at all. What's worse, as
[2:17:46] Speaker 1: there was not a single sign of a struggle. It
[2:17:49] Speaker 1: was as if he had been ambushed and simply lifted
[2:17:52] Speaker 1: up and out of the world with nearry a splash
[2:17:55] Speaker 1: of blood or scream. He handed me the shotgun, asking
[2:17:59] Speaker 1: me to help cure the building with them. Quickly, and
[2:18:03] Speaker 1: with the worried eyes of the others turning on us
[2:18:05] Speaker 1: as they awoke, we swept through the living quarters, our
[2:18:09] Speaker 1: guns at the ready and eyes darting around. To my dismay,
[2:18:14] Speaker 1: we discovered that the door to the courtyard was still
[2:18:17] Speaker 1: bolted from the inside, indicating that Sirren hadn't walked out,
[2:18:23] Speaker 1: which meant whatever had happened to him had happened in here.
[2:18:29] Speaker 1: Every shadow cast by the flickering candles and lamps now
[2:18:33] Speaker 1: seemed threatening whatever safety we felt inside, torn away like
[2:18:37] Speaker 1: a favorite blanket from a child, I wanted to say,
[2:18:41] Speaker 1: my eyes were playing tricks on me, But I fear
[2:18:44] Speaker 1: that as I moved through the living quarters, my eyes
[2:18:47] Speaker 1: occasionally would spy something moving swiftly and silently among the
[2:18:51] Speaker 1: rafters over our heads, only stopping for a moment to
[2:18:55] Speaker 1: watch us, before darting out of sight. When storm broke,
[2:19:01] Speaker 1: and despite the door being locked, we left the living
[2:19:04] Speaker 1: quarters and moved out into the courtyard. We still found
[2:19:09] Speaker 1: no trace of the man, and the front doors were
[2:19:12] Speaker 1: still barricaded. We made a quick pass through the armory,
[2:19:17] Speaker 1: still finding nothing, before quickly stopping to refill our canteens.
[2:19:22] Speaker 1: While water is obviously not an issue, we will soon
[2:19:26] Speaker 1: begin running low on food, but I fear it is
[2:19:31] Speaker 1: not starvation that will be the end of us. Sunday,
[2:19:41] Speaker 1: sixth of July nineteen fifty two, at Dendem, the scream
[2:19:46] Speaker 1: is back. It came just after nightfall. It is still
[2:19:51] Speaker 1: some here and read to screams sounding almost exactly as before,
[2:19:56] Speaker 1: only now I hear sorens, deep or cries among them. God,
[2:20:04] Speaker 1: I don't want to die here. I don't want my
[2:20:07] Speaker 1: fate to be whatever theirs are now. Monday, seventh of
[2:20:15] Speaker 1: July nineteen fifty two, Derek is dead. At first when
[2:20:23] Speaker 1: we awoke, nothing new seemed out of place. The same
[2:20:27] Speaker 1: creaking of the building could be heard, but nothing more
[2:20:31] Speaker 1: screamed of the change until I went to try and
[2:20:34] Speaker 1: bring the Algerians some water and food. I found the
[2:20:37] Speaker 1: door to the supply closets standing wide open, and when
[2:20:41] Speaker 1: I peered inside, it was empty. Feeling tensions suddenly erupt
[2:20:48] Speaker 1: from my body, I turned and began calling for the man,
[2:20:52] Speaker 1: attracting the attention of Moretti and Tally, who were on
[2:20:55] Speaker 1: their patrols. Once I showed them the empty closet, the
[2:20:59] Speaker 1: three of us fanned out, all calling the man's name,
[2:21:03] Speaker 1: and Moretti calling out what had to be soothing words
[2:21:06] Speaker 1: in Arabic, but there was no response at all, aside
[2:21:11] Speaker 1: from the confused calls of Korin and Blake as they
[2:21:13] Speaker 1: awoke and joined us. That was when I saw the
[2:21:18] Speaker 1: open front door. The sight of the living room stoor
[2:21:22] Speaker 1: hanging wide open, gently waving in the breeze, and showing
[2:21:26] Speaker 1: the sand outside the sun just beginning to spread across
[2:21:30] Speaker 1: it filled me with a sense of dread. Quickly I
[2:21:34] Speaker 1: called the others, and after a quick discussion, Moretti and
[2:21:37] Speaker 1: I moved outside. More Tally closed and bolted the door
[2:21:41] Speaker 1: behind us. ME instantly spotted a set of footprints in
[2:21:45] Speaker 1: the sand, moving away from the building out into the
[2:21:48] Speaker 1: center of the courtyard. We followed them, seeing that they'd
[2:21:53] Speaker 1: stopped near the steps of the armory, as if the
[2:21:55] Speaker 1: man had contemplated running to it, before turning and headed
[2:21:59] Speaker 1: towards the front doors of the fort itself. Even from
[2:22:03] Speaker 1: here I could see the board had been pulled down.
[2:22:07] Speaker 1: It now lay haphazardly on the ground, and one of
[2:22:10] Speaker 1: the great wooden doors had been pulled slightly open. Gripping
[2:22:14] Speaker 1: the shotgun tightly, the two of us moved and looked outside.
[2:22:19] Speaker 1: Nothing moved in the stillness, and beside the wind, no
[2:22:23] Speaker 1: sound could be heard. I looked to him, and he
[2:22:27] Speaker 1: gave a short nod before stepping outside. Instantly I felt
[2:22:32] Speaker 1: far more vulnerable with other buildings around me, just as
[2:22:36] Speaker 1: when I had gone looking for Samir and Richter. My
[2:22:39] Speaker 1: hands turned cold and clammy, and I nervously eyed the still,
[2:22:43] Speaker 1: shadowy areas around us. Every sense was unalert. We followed
[2:22:49] Speaker 1: the man's footprints as they continued forward, and with a
[2:22:52] Speaker 1: sinking feeling, I realized that they were heading for the
[2:22:56] Speaker 1: edge of the cliff. Moretti seemed to have realized it
[2:22:59] Speaker 1: as well, and I saw him intentively take a few
[2:23:02] Speaker 1: steps forward, putting one hand on the rickety wooden rail
[2:23:06] Speaker 1: and peering over the side. For a moment. He said nothing,
[2:23:12] Speaker 1: then he closed his eyes lay hell. Quickly. I hurried
[2:23:19] Speaker 1: to his side and looked over. A small sense of
[2:23:22] Speaker 1: vertigo overwhelmed me, and I felt dizzy looking down at
[2:23:26] Speaker 1: the straight drop, But I instantly spied what the other
[2:23:29] Speaker 1: man had seen. Tarrek's body lay far below us, His
[2:23:34] Speaker 1: arms and I explayed out in various directions right crimson
[2:23:38] Speaker 1: blood splashed out around his body. Even from here I
[2:23:43] Speaker 1: could tell he had not landed on the sand, but
[2:23:45] Speaker 1: had instead slammed into one of the boulders at the
[2:23:48] Speaker 1: base of the cliff. The man had jumped, only taken
[2:23:54] Speaker 1: his own life. I whispered a silent prayer for the man,
[2:23:59] Speaker 1: hoping that God would of mercy on him for such
[2:24:01] Speaker 1: a terrible sin. Then I looked at Moretti. All he
[2:24:06] Speaker 1: could do was shake his head. As we stood there
[2:24:10] Speaker 1: attempting to process it all. The noise behind us caused
[2:24:14] Speaker 1: us to turn around. The pit, batter of sand and
[2:24:19] Speaker 1: small loose rocks being shifted aside. Instantly, all thoughts of
[2:24:25] Speaker 1: Tarak vanished as the sensation of eyes on us returned
[2:24:29] Speaker 1: with a vengeance. Terror began coursing through my system, and
[2:24:33] Speaker 1: we aimed at just about everywhere possible. Nothing moved now,
[2:24:38] Speaker 1: but I knew he could feel us being observed being stalked.
[2:24:43] Speaker 1: Without delay, the two of us ran for the fort,
[2:24:46] Speaker 1: rushing inside and pushing the door closed, before again setting
[2:24:50] Speaker 1: the barricade just as quickly as we moved to the
[2:24:54] Speaker 1: door to the living quarters, banging on it and yelling
[2:24:57] Speaker 1: to be let inside. To our relief, the door unbolted,
[2:25:02] Speaker 1: revealing the ashen face of Blake as she yanked the
[2:25:04] Speaker 1: door open. We hurried inside as she closed and redid
[2:25:09] Speaker 1: the lock. Before we could tell her what we had found,
[2:25:13] Speaker 1: she pointed back towards the hallway to the stairs. You
[2:25:18] Speaker 1: need to see this, she said, before leading the way
[2:25:21] Speaker 1: back towards the main bunk room. Moments later, we found
[2:25:25] Speaker 1: ourselves at the supply closet that Tarak had hidden in.
[2:25:29] Speaker 1: The others crowded around it, and I noticed something I
[2:25:32] Speaker 1: hadn't before. In my haste to locate the man, I
[2:25:37] Speaker 1: hadn't noticed that using a small, sealed kind of black
[2:25:41] Speaker 1: paint and a brush which had been left inside. He
[2:25:44] Speaker 1: had written something hastily on the wall in Arabic. Dally
[2:25:49] Speaker 1: turned to Moretti, asking him if he could read it.
[2:25:54] Speaker 1: He stood in silence for a time, either unable or
[2:25:58] Speaker 1: unwilling to answer. Then he turned towards us, his face grim.
[2:26:05] Speaker 1: Roughly translated, it says that death is better than what
[2:26:10] Speaker 1: fate awaits those who are taken. It is dark now,
[2:26:16] Speaker 1: night has fallen again, though mercifully the screaming is not returned.
[2:26:22] Speaker 1: All I can think, as I sit here writing is
[2:26:25] Speaker 1: that whatever lies out there, whatever watches us from the
[2:26:28] Speaker 1: shadows in here up in the rafters, that I now know,
[2:26:32] Speaker 1: isn't a trick of my eyes. It is slowly toying
[2:26:36] Speaker 1: with us and picking us off one by one. They
[2:26:40] Speaker 1: have taken our strongest members first, a strategic move that
[2:26:44] Speaker 1: reveals their intelligence, and drove possibly the only person in
[2:26:48] Speaker 1: our party with any knowledge about them, to the point
[2:26:51] Speaker 1: he chose to take his own life rather than face them.
[2:26:56] Speaker 1: Whenever they are They will not until we are all dead. Tuesday,
[2:27:07] Speaker 1: eighth of July nineteen fifty two, I saw them, Dear
[2:27:15] Speaker 1: sweet merciful God, I wish I hadn't. I wish I
[2:27:19] Speaker 1: hadn't decided to take a torch with me. When I
[2:27:21] Speaker 1: was roused by Tally to take a second watch with Coran,
[2:27:25] Speaker 1: I wish i'd ignored the urge I'd had to turn
[2:27:27] Speaker 1: and look out the window. I wish so much, But
[2:27:32] Speaker 1: if wishes were horses, it happened just a little before
[2:27:36] Speaker 1: four in the morning. I'd just finished speaking briefly with Corain.
[2:27:41] Speaker 1: Ever since yesterday I grow more concerned for the medic.
[2:27:45] Speaker 1: The man looked nearer and nearer to insanity, and I
[2:27:48] Speaker 1: fear with a loaded pistol he may do something brash
[2:27:52] Speaker 1: or violent if he snaps. But he assured me that
[2:27:55] Speaker 1: he was still as sane as he could possibly be
[2:27:58] Speaker 1: in such a situation. And feeling somewhat relieved, I moved
[2:28:02] Speaker 1: off to patrol the outer hallways again. As I passed
[2:28:06] Speaker 1: the window which looked out over the courtyard, the ceaseless
[2:28:10] Speaker 1: sensation of being watched suddenly spiked. I felt the biggest
[2:28:15] Speaker 1: shiver yet shoot up my spine, and I reached down
[2:28:18] Speaker 1: for my belt. I chosen to take a torch with
[2:28:21] Speaker 1: me to light up any dark corners. I flicked it on,
[2:28:25] Speaker 1: turning and aiming it out toward the window into the dark,
[2:28:28] Speaker 1: towards the armory, and I saw it. It crouched almost
[2:28:36] Speaker 1: felinelike on the roof of the armory, arms and legs
[2:28:40] Speaker 1: wrapped around a section of stone for support. As my
[2:28:44] Speaker 1: light fell upon it, it looked towards me before quickly
[2:28:47] Speaker 1: leaping out of sight, but not before I had time
[2:28:51] Speaker 1: to see the details. The sunken eyes, sunken so far
[2:28:55] Speaker 1: back that it almost looked as if it had none,
[2:28:58] Speaker 1: the recessed nose almost entirely erased from its face, the
[2:29:02] Speaker 1: mouth filled with jagged, razor sharp teeth that could easily
[2:29:06] Speaker 1: tear a man apart. All of this filled me with
[2:29:10] Speaker 1: in existential horror I only ever felt when hearing about
[2:29:13] Speaker 1: hell during church sermons. But it was the one additional
[2:29:17] Speaker 1: detail that slammed me like a freight train, the torn,
[2:29:23] Speaker 1: tattered and decaying uniform that hung of its emaciated body.
[2:29:29] Speaker 1: It was a uniform I instantly recognized I had seen
[2:29:33] Speaker 1: an identical, albeit much more intact one on the corpse
[2:29:37] Speaker 1: of the man in the armory jail. The uniform won
[2:29:40] Speaker 1: by the soldiers in the French Foreign Legion during the
[2:29:43] Speaker 1: First World War, and into the nineteen thirties. As my
[2:29:48] Speaker 1: mind scrambled to process the information, another shape darted in
[2:29:53] Speaker 1: view of my torch beam, and this one nearly caused
[2:29:56] Speaker 1: me to scream, because it wore a different, much fresher uniform,
[2:30:03] Speaker 1: the same one that Richter had won when he set
[2:30:06] Speaker 1: off with Samir that day. It is midday now as
[2:30:10] Speaker 1: I write this, I have not told anybody what I
[2:30:13] Speaker 1: have seen. I know I must, and yet I cannot.
[2:30:21] Speaker 1: I cannot bear to share the horrible truth that I
[2:30:24] Speaker 1: now know what Tarek almost certainly knew, and what made
[2:30:28] Speaker 1: him choose death by his own hand over it. Even
[2:30:31] Speaker 1: though I now know that none of us will leave
[2:30:33] Speaker 1: this mountain alive, I feel that it would be too
[2:30:36] Speaker 1: cruel for them to know those things out there. They
[2:30:41] Speaker 1: may have been hidden in this mountain for lord knows
[2:30:43] Speaker 1: how long, when the fort was first built centuries ago.
[2:30:48] Speaker 1: They may have watched as it was constructed. But the
[2:30:51] Speaker 1: horrible part about them was that when they came for them,
[2:30:55] Speaker 1: the same as they came for the French soldiers stationed
[2:30:57] Speaker 1: here decades ago, as well as the rest Scow party,
[2:31:01] Speaker 1: is that they did not kill them. They did not
[2:31:04] Speaker 1: devour them as horrific a fate as that might have been,
[2:31:09] Speaker 1: it would have been a mercy in comparison. They dragged
[2:31:13] Speaker 1: them off and they changed them. They somehow turned them
[2:31:19] Speaker 1: into more of their own. And they have done the
[2:31:22] Speaker 1: same thing to those of our team who they took Samir,
[2:31:26] Speaker 1: Richter and Soeign. That's why the screams we heard always
[2:31:31] Speaker 1: came back, because even though they're not the same men anymore,
[2:31:35] Speaker 1: they're not even human anymore. Their souls have been stripped away,
[2:31:39] Speaker 1: leaving what I can only describe as demons spewing from
[2:31:42] Speaker 1: the mouth of Hell itself to wear their bodies. They
[2:31:46] Speaker 1: still retain enough for their intelligence to know how to
[2:31:49] Speaker 1: lure others to them, like a dock hunter with a
[2:31:52] Speaker 1: call to draw their prey out into the open. Tally
[2:31:57] Speaker 1: says he wants to try and use one of the
[2:31:59] Speaker 1: flair pistols to signal anyone who might be nearby. I
[2:32:03] Speaker 1: haven't had the heart to tell him that even if
[2:32:05] Speaker 1: anyone human is nearby, they know better than to approach
[2:32:10] Speaker 1: this place. They know it is cursed. It is only
[2:32:15] Speaker 1: a matter of time before they come for the rest
[2:32:17] Speaker 1: of us, God of Mercy, and all of our souls. Wednesday,
[2:32:27] Speaker 1: ninth of July nineteen fifty two. These will be the
[2:32:32] Speaker 1: final words I'll ever write. The others are all gone,
[2:32:37] Speaker 1: and I the only one who remains. Night is coming fast,
[2:32:41] Speaker 1: and if I do not act quickly, I know they
[2:32:44] Speaker 1: will return for me as well. So even if nobody
[2:32:48] Speaker 1: finds this journal of mine, I feel I must put
[2:32:51] Speaker 1: to paper how it ended, if nothing more than to
[2:32:54] Speaker 1: serve as a warning for anyone who hears the tale
[2:32:57] Speaker 1: of this accursed place and finds themselves one part brave,
[2:33:01] Speaker 1: two parts full to try and reach it. What awoke
[2:33:05] Speaker 1: us was not the hell spawn that lay in wait
[2:33:07] Speaker 1: for us. It was the sound of arguing, of babbling, screams,
[2:33:13] Speaker 1: and finally the sound of a weapon of some sort
[2:33:16] Speaker 1: being discharged. I remember the look on Blake's face as
[2:33:20] Speaker 1: she awoke, looking at me with wide doll like eyes.
[2:33:24] Speaker 1: I snatched at the shotgun from beside me, seeing Maretti
[2:33:27] Speaker 1: pulling his pistol from his waistbend as he shot to
[2:33:30] Speaker 1: his feet in unison. We sprinted for the hallway outside
[2:33:34] Speaker 1: the bunk room, and we opened it. It was to
[2:33:39] Speaker 1: a truly grisly sight. Tally lay on his back on
[2:33:44] Speaker 1: the floor, a shocked look was permanently affixed to his face,
[2:33:49] Speaker 1: his wide eyes glassy and forever staring at the ceiling.
[2:33:53] Speaker 1: The sparks from the flare that had been shot into
[2:33:55] Speaker 1: his mouth still skewed from inside, the horrific smell of
[2:33:59] Speaker 1: buying flare filling the hallway. Standing in front of him,
[2:34:03] Speaker 1: still pointing the flare gun was korn. When he turned
[2:34:09] Speaker 1: towards us, I instantly knew the man had snapped. An
[2:34:13] Speaker 1: insane grin was plastered on his face and his eyes
[2:34:17] Speaker 1: flew about in their sockets. Instantly, Mauretti and I raised
[2:34:21] Speaker 1: our weapons, but before anything could be done, Coorin had
[2:34:25] Speaker 1: shoved past us and raced down the stairs. We heard
[2:34:29] Speaker 1: him unbolt the front door, and running to the windows,
[2:34:32] Speaker 1: saw him sprint across the courtyard to the armory, disappearing
[2:34:36] Speaker 1: down the stairs. A moment later we heard the faint
[2:34:40] Speaker 1: sound of the door slamming shut. Nobody could speak. When
[2:34:47] Speaker 1: I turned back, he was to find Blake standing over
[2:34:50] Speaker 1: the body of our sponsor, unable to stop crying. Quickly,
[2:34:55] Speaker 1: I raced to her and embraced her, allowing her tears
[2:34:58] Speaker 1: to soak my shirt. After a few minutes, her crying
[2:35:02] Speaker 1: had reduced the sniffles, and she pulled back, wiping a
[2:35:06] Speaker 1: nose with her shirt sleeve. My Looctor Moretti. The man
[2:35:11] Speaker 1: looked beside himself with shock and confusion. He hadn't realized
[2:35:15] Speaker 1: how close to the edge his medic had been. Then
[2:35:19] Speaker 1: he regained his composure, looking towards me with a steely
[2:35:23] Speaker 1: edge in his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was
[2:35:27] Speaker 1: deadly calm. We have to go after him. I was
[2:35:33] Speaker 1: unsure as to why after murdering our sponsor, the man
[2:35:38] Speaker 1: wanted to pursue him, Whether for a twisted sort of
[2:35:41] Speaker 1: retribution or a sense of duty to those under his
[2:35:44] Speaker 1: leadership even in such extreme cases, I'll never know, but
[2:35:48] Speaker 1: I didn't dare argue with him. I knelt down, gently,
[2:35:52] Speaker 1: prying the pistol from Taly's hand and trying not to
[2:35:55] Speaker 1: look at his face. Standing up, I handed it to her.
[2:36:01] Speaker 1: Can you fire a gun? She looked at me and nodded.
[2:36:05] Speaker 1: After a moment, nodding in return. I quickly retreated back
[2:36:10] Speaker 1: to the bunk room, picking up the pack with the
[2:36:12] Speaker 1: still held shotgun shells and slinging it over my shoulder,
[2:36:17] Speaker 1: Returning at the others and together we headed downstairs and
[2:36:21] Speaker 1: out the front door. The wind howled as fiercely as
[2:36:26] Speaker 1: a banshee as we made our way across the courtyard,
[2:36:30] Speaker 1: all three of our guns shifting around aim I remembered
[2:36:34] Speaker 1: what I had seen the night before and felt my
[2:36:37] Speaker 1: muscles tents gaze shifting to the tops of the ridges
[2:36:40] Speaker 1: high above the fort, I felt I would see the
[2:36:44] Speaker 1: demons climbing quickly down towards us. Thankfully, I saw nothing
[2:36:52] Speaker 1: reaching the steps. We descended to the front door of
[2:36:55] Speaker 1: the armory and found it unlocked. Stepping inside the gloomy interior,
[2:37:00] Speaker 1: we moved slowly, occasionally calling out Korn's name. Not a
[2:37:05] Speaker 1: soul answered, and for a moment I wondered if the
[2:37:10] Speaker 1: man had been taken as well when his back was turned.
[2:37:14] Speaker 1: After all, we had barely explored the building, choosing to
[2:37:18] Speaker 1: huddle inside the living quarters. As we rounded a corner,
[2:37:22] Speaker 1: though I saw signs that he was still here. Barrels
[2:37:26] Speaker 1: of gunpowder lay on their sides, the black grains spilling
[2:37:30] Speaker 1: out onto the floor. A workbench had its tools scattered about.
[2:37:35] Speaker 1: That was when I noticed the hole in the floor,
[2:37:38] Speaker 1: one I hadn't seen previously. I would have ignored it
[2:37:42] Speaker 1: completely if it hadn't been for the sparkle that came
[2:37:45] Speaker 1: from something lying next to it. As we approached, I
[2:37:51] Speaker 1: realized it was a diamond, one of the largest I'd
[2:37:55] Speaker 1: ever seen in my life, And when I peered into
[2:37:58] Speaker 1: the hole, I couldn't help but feel my mouth drop
[2:38:01] Speaker 1: open as I saw precious gems and gold coins that
[2:38:05] Speaker 1: filled the entire hole, piled into what I could tell
[2:38:09] Speaker 1: was a hidden room below. The treasure had been real,
[2:38:17] Speaker 1: even in our predicament. The three of us couldn't help
[2:38:20] Speaker 1: but look at each other and laughed softly. Well, at
[2:38:25] Speaker 1: least we know that the stories of the treasure was true.
[2:38:28] Speaker 1: Tally was right, Blake said softly. For another moment, we stared,
[2:38:35] Speaker 1: and we slowly tore ourselves away from the treasure, moving
[2:38:38] Speaker 1: on and calling out Korran's name. Still nobody answered, and
[2:38:45] Speaker 1: I began to feel that we should simply leave the building.
[2:38:49] Speaker 1: As much as I understood to a degree Mouretti's reasoning
[2:38:53] Speaker 1: this was being dangerously foolhardy, But I never had a
[2:38:58] Speaker 1: chance to voice my thoughts. As we rounded the final
[2:39:02] Speaker 1: corner to the jail, a shot rang out, the bullet
[2:39:07] Speaker 1: striking the wall not a foot from Marette's face. The
[2:39:10] Speaker 1: three of us leapt back, pressing up against the wall
[2:39:13] Speaker 1: for cover. Another shot rang out, then another. For a moment,
[2:39:19] Speaker 1: an eerie silence fell over the hall. Then I heard
[2:39:23] Speaker 1: Corns scream, the insanity audible in his voice, stay away,
[2:39:29] Speaker 1: I found the treasure. It's mine, mine, not yours. Maretty
[2:39:34] Speaker 1: chanced to look around the corner, snapping his head back
[2:39:37] Speaker 1: as the third shot rang out. His managed to get
[2:39:40] Speaker 1: the keys from the dead man in the cell and
[2:39:42] Speaker 1: locked himself inside, he told us, and he's got some
[2:39:46] Speaker 1: of the treasure scattered around him. He looked at us,
[2:39:51] Speaker 1: and I already knew what he would say before he
[2:39:53] Speaker 1: opened his mouth, scrim We have to go quickly. The
[2:40:01] Speaker 1: three of us backtracked through the armory to the front door.
[2:40:05] Speaker 1: We slipped outside and began to run across toward the
[2:40:08] Speaker 1: living quarters. They were waiting for us. We had barely
[2:40:16] Speaker 1: made it half way across the courtyard and what I
[2:40:18] Speaker 1: can only describe as a blur of motion flew down
[2:40:21] Speaker 1: from the window of the Living quarters. I saw Moretti
[2:40:25] Speaker 1: look up at the shape rocketing towards him, screaming, saw
[2:40:29] Speaker 1: him raise his pistol to fire. He never even had
[2:40:33] Speaker 1: a chance to let off a single shot, the creature
[2:40:36] Speaker 1: slammed into him, knocking him to the ground and sending
[2:40:39] Speaker 1: the revolver tumbling from his fingers. The beast looked at me,
[2:40:44] Speaker 1: and with a horrified realization, I recognized the blue eyes
[2:40:49] Speaker 1: set deep in the already recessed sockets. Then gripping Marette's
[2:40:55] Speaker 1: shoulder with one of its clawed hands, it leapt off
[2:40:57] Speaker 1: the ground, pulling the screaming man with him as it
[2:41:00] Speaker 1: rapidly climbed the rock and out of sight. We had
[2:41:05] Speaker 1: no time to grieve or process any of it, because
[2:41:08] Speaker 1: the rest came for us. Everything blurred together in those moments,
[2:41:14] Speaker 1: much as it does in war when adrenaline and reflex
[2:41:17] Speaker 1: takes over. I cannot remember anything clearly, only faintly recall
[2:41:22] Speaker 1: the sounds of deafening gunshots as we fired at all
[2:41:26] Speaker 1: We could see the motion of reaching into the pack
[2:41:29] Speaker 1: for extra ammunition for Blake and myself, the sound of
[2:41:32] Speaker 1: the two of us shouting and screaming, and the pain
[2:41:35] Speaker 1: enraged cries of the creatures as our shelves and rounds
[2:41:39] Speaker 1: slammed home. I was dimly aware that we were moving
[2:41:43] Speaker 1: towards the water garden. Next thing I can recall is
[2:41:49] Speaker 1: the silence, I found Blake and I slumped against the
[2:41:55] Speaker 1: wall near the fountain. She pulled me closer to her.
[2:42:00] Speaker 1: She cup some water in her hands, using it to
[2:42:02] Speaker 1: sprinkle over my brow and drip into my mouth. The refreshing,
[2:42:07] Speaker 1: blessed liquid brought me back fully, and when I asked
[2:42:10] Speaker 1: what had happened, she told me after a time, they
[2:42:14] Speaker 1: had all retreated. None had died even after we fired
[2:42:19] Speaker 1: at them, but they still retreated. As I looked around,
[2:42:25] Speaker 1: wondering for a moment if we succeeded in frightening them off,
[2:42:29] Speaker 1: my eyes fell on a sight which wrenched whatever hope
[2:42:32] Speaker 1: I had left from my soul. The sun was beginning
[2:42:37] Speaker 1: to set in the sky. I instantly knew that the
[2:42:42] Speaker 1: only reason they had retreated was to wait until darkness
[2:42:45] Speaker 1: fell again. It had been a strategic move. They would
[2:42:50] Speaker 1: wait until night blinded us and they could still see perfectly,
[2:42:54] Speaker 1: and then they would come again, either to kill us
[2:42:59] Speaker 1: or drag us off like the others, like I'd seen
[2:43:02] Speaker 1: the beasts sor and had done to Moretti to make
[2:43:05] Speaker 1: us like them. In those moments, any remaining thoughts were
[2:43:11] Speaker 1: surviving fled from me. I said nothing, However, I climbed
[2:43:17] Speaker 1: to my feet, looking around. Then I looked down at Blake.
[2:43:21] Speaker 1: She gave me a strange smile. Even still, it made
[2:43:25] Speaker 1: her look beautiful. I smiled back. Finally, she sighed and
[2:43:31] Speaker 1: pushed the mousy hair behind her ear before looking up
[2:43:34] Speaker 1: at me. What do we do now? I didn't answer her. Instead,
[2:43:43] Speaker 1: I simply shook my head to indicate I didn't know.
[2:43:47] Speaker 1: I waited until she had lowered her head and closed
[2:43:50] Speaker 1: her eyes. Then, before she could open them again, I
[2:43:54] Speaker 1: swung the bowl of my shotgun and aimed. I find
[2:44:04] Speaker 1: a sort of peace in that she never knew what
[2:44:06] Speaker 1: was about to happen. And now that I am done
[2:44:10] Speaker 1: writing my account of all this, I have but one
[2:44:13] Speaker 1: thing left to do. I refused to let the demons
[2:44:17] Speaker 1: change Blake into one of their own. As much as
[2:44:20] Speaker 1: I know, my soul is damned to hell for the
[2:44:23] Speaker 1: unforgivable sin I have committed against her, and it is
[2:44:27] Speaker 1: the same mercy I will give myself. I am going
[2:44:32] Speaker 1: to follow the same path that Tarak Tuk i wild
[2:44:36] Speaker 1: jump from the cliff. I will face my own death
[2:44:39] Speaker 1: at the hands of the rocks below, rather than the
[2:44:42] Speaker 1: fate that is befallen the others, that is beyond all
[2:44:46] Speaker 1: shadow of a doubt, her worse fate than any death imaginable.
[2:44:52] Speaker 1: I pray from my own soul, I pray for Blake's,
[2:44:55] Speaker 1: I pray for talies, I even pray for corns. I
[2:44:58] Speaker 1: hope that, like the soul told you before him, it
[2:45:01] Speaker 1: is thirst or hunger that takes him. Please heed the
[2:45:06] Speaker 1: dire warning this journal contains. While there is treasure above,
[2:45:10] Speaker 1: you do not attempt to climb and retrieve it. You
[2:45:14] Speaker 1: will not live to spend a single bloody shilling of it.
[2:45:18] Speaker 1: The beasts above have claimed it, and the fort is
[2:45:21] Speaker 1: their own. Let it be if you value not only
[2:45:25] Speaker 1: your life, but your humanity and very soul. For if
[2:45:29] Speaker 1: you don't, you will find yourself facing a fate that
[2:45:34] Speaker 1: is more horrific than written about in any tone. And please,
[2:45:40] Speaker 1: if you find this, get word back to my sister
[2:45:43] Speaker 1: in maiden Head. Tell her I'm sorry. God forgive me.
[2:46:00] Speaker 1: My great grandfather was the kind of man who always
[2:46:04] Speaker 1: seemed unshakable. He had lived through a World war, raised
[2:46:08] Speaker 1: four kids of his own after his wife passed, and
[2:46:10] Speaker 1: ran a small town diner until arthritis stole his grip.
[2:46:15] Speaker 1: He was a figure of quiet strength, with the eyes
[2:46:18] Speaker 1: of someone who'd seen the world and survived. Growing up,
[2:46:24] Speaker 1: I knew he'd served as a nurse during the war,
[2:46:27] Speaker 1: but that was about all I knew. Most of his
[2:46:30] Speaker 1: stories gathered dust in his memories, just like the medals
[2:46:34] Speaker 1: that stood on the living room shelf. He'd sometimes joke
[2:46:38] Speaker 1: about trading cigarettes for coffee or patching up cowdly soldiers
[2:46:42] Speaker 1: who shot themselves in the foot, but there was a
[2:46:45] Speaker 1: line he would never cross. He always kept their heavy
[2:46:49] Speaker 1: memories locked out of sight. It was late past midnight
[2:46:56] Speaker 1: and the house was quiet except for the hum of
[2:46:58] Speaker 1: the old refrigerator in the kitchen. Accompanied by grandfather, clock,
[2:47:04] Speaker 1: Great Grandpa, and eyes sat at the table, the dim
[2:47:07] Speaker 1: yellow light above us casting long shadows across his worn,
[2:47:11] Speaker 1: withered face. He poured himself a whiskey, the one indulgence
[2:47:16] Speaker 1: that remained, and handed me a coke, a gesture that
[2:47:20] Speaker 1: made me feel much older than I was. He was
[2:47:25] Speaker 1: quiet at first, staring into his glass like it held
[2:47:28] Speaker 1: something he'd been trying to figure out. Then, without looking
[2:47:33] Speaker 1: up at me, he spoke, you have a wonder why
[2:47:39] Speaker 1: something stick with you? Boy? He asked with a low
[2:47:42] Speaker 1: and steady voice. I blinked and adjusted my posture. Caught
[2:47:48] Speaker 1: off guard. What do you mean? He took a sip
[2:47:53] Speaker 1: from his glass and set it back down, carefully, his
[2:47:56] Speaker 1: hand lingering on it. The war. I've seen a lot
[2:48:01] Speaker 1: of things fixed, a lot of people up better rid
[2:48:04] Speaker 1: more than my share, too, He paused and glanced at me,
[2:48:09] Speaker 1: before setting his gaze back down to his glass. But
[2:48:13] Speaker 1: there's one man I've never been able to forget. He
[2:48:20] Speaker 1: leaned forward, careful not to break the moment. Great Grandpa
[2:48:25] Speaker 1: rarely talked like this, and I respected him too much
[2:48:28] Speaker 1: to even think about interrupting. Private Andrew Mallory, he said,
[2:48:35] Speaker 1: his gray eyes sharp but distant, as if reliving the
[2:48:38] Speaker 1: memory in front of me. I waited, letting him find
[2:48:43] Speaker 1: his words. He came to us in the winter of
[2:48:48] Speaker 1: forty four, Grandpa began. We were stationed at the hospital,
[2:48:53] Speaker 1: just behind the front lines. It was freezing, the kind
[2:48:57] Speaker 1: of cold that would kill you if you stopped moving
[2:48:59] Speaker 1: for too long. The air stank of smoke, blood, mud,
[2:49:04] Speaker 1: and gunpowder. He paused, his jaw visibly tightening. The hospital
[2:49:12] Speaker 1: wasn't even much of a hospital, he said, with a
[2:49:15] Speaker 1: dry chuckle. A few canvas tents and a whole lot
[2:49:19] Speaker 1: of desperation. We worked with no brakes, patching up the
[2:49:23] Speaker 1: ones we could, and making the others comfortable until they
[2:49:27] Speaker 1: no longer needed the comfort. He picked up his glass
[2:49:31] Speaker 1: again and took a slow sip. That's where I first
[2:49:35] Speaker 1: met Mallory. They brought him in late one night, carried
[2:49:39] Speaker 1: on a stretcher by two boys who didn't look much
[2:49:42] Speaker 1: older than he was. Shrapped, no wound to the gut.
[2:49:46] Speaker 1: It was bad, son, real bad. We tried to save him,
[2:49:51] Speaker 1: but his voice trailed off and his hand tightened around
[2:49:56] Speaker 1: the glass. He died on the table. I was holding
[2:50:01] Speaker 1: his hand when it happened. I remember clear as day,
[2:50:06] Speaker 1: the way his grip loosened, the look in his eyes
[2:50:08] Speaker 1: when he realized he wasn't gonna make it. He was
[2:50:13] Speaker 1: just a kid, scared alone, dying in the middle of
[2:50:17] Speaker 1: a frozen hell. He fell silent for a moment, his
[2:50:22] Speaker 1: gaze fixed on the table between us. What happened after that?
[2:50:29] Speaker 1: I asked quietly. Great Grandpa exhaled slowly, his shoulders slumping
[2:50:36] Speaker 1: as he leaned back in his chair, the same thing
[2:50:39] Speaker 1: as always. We cleaned him up as well as we could,
[2:50:42] Speaker 1: tagged him and sent him to the Morgue tent. Then
[2:50:48] Speaker 1: we moved on. There wasn't time to dwell on anything
[2:50:51] Speaker 1: back then. Too many men coming in and not enough
[2:50:55] Speaker 1: hands to save them all. We had no time to mourn.
[2:50:59] Speaker 1: We just did what we could and hoped it was enough.
[2:51:04] Speaker 1: I nodded, even though I couldn't imagine what sort of
[2:51:07] Speaker 1: pressure he must have felt. The next morning, he continued,
[2:51:13] Speaker 1: his voice softer, now almost ghostly. I walked into the
[2:51:18] Speaker 1: Triarch tent, same as always, and there he was. I frowned.
[2:51:27] Speaker 1: Who Mallory, my great grandfather said, his eyes meeting mine,
[2:51:34] Speaker 1: standing there like nothing had ever happened. He was fine,
[2:51:39] Speaker 1: better than fine even, no wounds, no blood, not a
[2:51:44] Speaker 1: scratch on him, just standing there, confused as hell, but
[2:51:49] Speaker 1: in better condition than anyone in that hospital. A sly
[2:51:53] Speaker 1: chill ran down my spine. I never heard my great
[2:51:56] Speaker 1: grandfather tell a story like this. I didn't even think
[2:52:00] Speaker 1: he believed in anything supernatural. And what did you do?
[2:52:07] Speaker 1: What could I? He said? I thought I was losing
[2:52:11] Speaker 1: my mind. I went over to him, my eyes wide
[2:52:14] Speaker 1: as dinner plate. I clearly scared the kid with the
[2:52:17] Speaker 1: way I walked up to him, but I half expected
[2:52:20] Speaker 1: him to collapse or disappear into thin air the second
[2:52:23] Speaker 1: I touched him, but he didn't. He was solid, as
[2:52:29] Speaker 1: real as the kid i'd watched die the night before.
[2:52:34] Speaker 1: He rubbed his hand over his face. The other nurses
[2:52:38] Speaker 1: thought it had to be a mistake, that we'd misidentified
[2:52:41] Speaker 1: the body or mixed up the tags. It wasn't too uncommon,
[2:52:46] Speaker 1: but I knew I held his hand when he died.
[2:52:52] Speaker 1: What did Malory say? I asked, curiosity, gripping me tightly.
[2:52:59] Speaker 1: Not much, He admitted he was confused, disoriented, said he
[2:53:04] Speaker 1: didn't remember anything after the explosion. The doctors checked him
[2:53:08] Speaker 1: over and he was fine, with no wounds or signs
[2:53:12] Speaker 1: of trauma. They got him ready and sent him back
[2:53:16] Speaker 1: to the front. Just like that, I asked, my voice rising,
[2:53:23] Speaker 1: Just like that, boy, great Grandpa said with a bitter tone.
[2:53:28] Speaker 1: Orders were orders, and he was a soldier. If he
[2:53:33] Speaker 1: could stand, he could also fight, and that's all that mattered.
[2:53:39] Speaker 1: He fell silent again, his gaze drifting toward the darkened
[2:53:42] Speaker 1: window to our left. The kitchen felt colder than it
[2:53:46] Speaker 1: had a moment ago, and I realized I was holding
[2:53:50] Speaker 1: my breath. I couldn't let it go, he said with
[2:53:55] Speaker 1: a subdued tone. After I saw Mallory there, alive and well,
[2:54:01] Speaker 1: I couldn't just move on. I tried to talk about it. Hell,
[2:54:05] Speaker 1: I had to. Who did you talk to, I asked,
[2:54:11] Speaker 1: Mary Ellen, He said, a faint smiled, tugging at the
[2:54:15] Speaker 1: corners of his mouth. She was one of the senior nurses.
[2:54:20] Speaker 1: She was hard as nails, but she had a good
[2:54:23] Speaker 1: head on her shoulders. A damn fine woman she was.
[2:54:27] Speaker 1: I figured if anyone would listen, she'd be the one.
[2:54:32] Speaker 1: He let out a long sigh. I caught her between shifts.
[2:54:37] Speaker 1: She was smoking behind the supply tent, trying to get
[2:54:39] Speaker 1: some minutes to herself before the next truck pulled up.
[2:54:44] Speaker 1: Great Grandpa's voice softened once more, and I could also
[2:54:47] Speaker 1: see the scene in my head as he described it.
[2:54:51] Speaker 1: She stood there, leaning against the tent pole, staring at
[2:54:55] Speaker 1: me like I told her the world was ending in
[2:54:57] Speaker 1: just a few minutes. What do you mean he walked
[2:55:00] Speaker 1: back in, She asked, I told her everything, just as
[2:55:05] Speaker 1: I had told you. And what did she say? I asked,
[2:55:09] Speaker 1: louder than I'd meant to. She laughed, He said, flatly,
[2:55:17] Speaker 1: the kind you give someone when you're too tired to
[2:55:19] Speaker 1: deal with nonsense. I told her I wasn't crazy, and
[2:55:24] Speaker 1: I knew what I saw. I said Mary, that kid
[2:55:28] Speaker 1: was dead. He died in front of me. But she
[2:55:32] Speaker 1: just shook her head and said, dead men don't walk, Harold,
[2:55:36] Speaker 1: maybe you tag the wrong boy. We've all made mistakes.
[2:55:42] Speaker 1: His hand trembled slightly as he reached for his glass,
[2:55:45] Speaker 1: the liquid inside never seeming to end. I asked her
[2:55:50] Speaker 1: if she'd at least take a look at him see
[2:55:52] Speaker 1: for herself. She took one last drag of a cigarette,
[2:55:57] Speaker 1: blew the smoke out, and said, we don't have time
[2:56:00] Speaker 1: for this. There's a truck coming in with twenty more boys,
[2:56:04] Speaker 1: and a doubt half of them will make it longer
[2:56:06] Speaker 1: than a night. I frowned, trying to picture the situation
[2:56:11] Speaker 1: in my head. That's it. She just shrugged it off
[2:56:15] Speaker 1: like that. War doesn't leave room for questions, kid, he said,
[2:56:21] Speaker 1: with a heavy voice. Not questions like that, anyway. I
[2:56:26] Speaker 1: knew that myself. We were barely keeping up as it was.
[2:56:30] Speaker 1: Solers pouring in faster than we could treat them. Supply
[2:56:33] Speaker 1: is running out. When you're drowning, you don't stop to
[2:56:37] Speaker 1: wonder why the water is rising. He set his glass
[2:56:42] Speaker 1: down hard, the sounds sharp in the quiet kitchen. She
[2:56:47] Speaker 1: told me to get back to work, and that was that.
[2:56:51] Speaker 1: Mallory was just another name, another body. Nobody cared where
[2:56:56] Speaker 1: he'd been or how he came back. They just cared
[2:56:59] Speaker 1: that he can hold a rifle. The bitterness in his
[2:57:04] Speaker 1: voice cut deep, and I didn't know what to say
[2:57:07] Speaker 1: for a moment. Did he come back? I asked finally,
[2:57:14] Speaker 1: already knowing the answer. He nodded slowly. Yeah, he came back.
[2:57:24] Speaker 1: He stared at the ceiling for a moment before looking
[2:57:27] Speaker 1: at me with kind eyes. But that's enough for tonight.
[2:57:32] Speaker 1: I'm tired. I opened my mouth to protest, to ask
[2:57:37] Speaker 1: just one more question, but I realized Great Grandpa wasn't asking.
[2:57:43] Speaker 1: He was telling me the conversation was over for now.
[2:57:47] Speaker 1: I'll tell you the rest tomorrow, kid, he said, rising
[2:57:51] Speaker 1: from his chair, followed by the faint creak of the
[2:57:54] Speaker 1: old wood. That night, sleep didn't come. I lay in
[2:58:02] Speaker 1: bed and stared at the ceiling, replaying great Grandpa's words
[2:58:06] Speaker 1: over and over, the gravity in his voice and shivers
[2:58:10] Speaker 1: down my spine. I wanted to know more. Images of
[2:58:16] Speaker 1: a war torn hospital filled my mind. The smell of
[2:58:19] Speaker 1: antiseptic and blood, the groans of the dead and dying,
[2:58:23] Speaker 1: the frantic shuffle of nurses trying to save lives, and
[2:58:27] Speaker 1: then malory. The thought continued to gnaw at me the
[2:58:33] Speaker 1: next day at work, I tried my best to focus,
[2:58:37] Speaker 1: but my mind kept drifting. I ran through everything great
[2:58:41] Speaker 1: Grandpa had said, wondering how it could be possible. I
[2:58:47] Speaker 1: was still lost in thought when my phone rang. The
[2:58:51] Speaker 1: vibration in my pocket snapped me back to reality. The
[2:58:55] Speaker 1: voice on the other end was rushed and panicked. You're
[2:58:59] Speaker 1: great grandfather has been hospitalized. The woman and the other
[2:59:03] Speaker 1: end said heart attack. My stomach dropped. I barely remembered
[2:59:10] Speaker 1: grabbing my keys, talking to my boss, and driving to
[2:59:13] Speaker 1: the hospital. When I got there, he was lying in bed, pale,
[2:59:19] Speaker 1: and hooked up to more machines than I could count.
[2:59:23] Speaker 1: His eyes opened when he heard me enter, and he
[2:59:25] Speaker 1: gave me a weak smile. Great Grandpa's hand trembled as
[2:59:31] Speaker 1: he reached out, beckoning me closer. The hospital room was quiet,
[2:59:37] Speaker 1: save for the rhythmic beeping of the monitors and the
[2:59:40] Speaker 1: faint hum of the fluorescent lights overhead. His voice was
[2:59:44] Speaker 1: hoarse and strained, but its urgency left no room for argument.
[2:59:51] Speaker 1: Didn't think you could get rid of me that easily,
[2:59:53] Speaker 1: did you, he rasped. I laughed softly. He scared the
[2:59:59] Speaker 1: hell out of me. Grandpa, Ah, sit, he said, his
[3:00:04] Speaker 1: eyes locking unto mine. I need to finish the story, Grandpa,
[3:00:10] Speaker 1: it's fine. You need to rest. No, he interrupted, his
[3:00:15] Speaker 1: tone firm unexpectedly. So I don't know how much time
[3:00:19] Speaker 1: I have. Just listen, I nodded, pulling the chair closer
[3:00:25] Speaker 1: to his bedside. His hand gripped mine, the warmth contrasting
[3:00:30] Speaker 1: with the cold sterility of the hospital. I listened without
[3:00:36] Speaker 1: saying a word, leaning forward to catch every syllable. Something
[3:00:40] Speaker 1: in his tone demanded my full attention. After Mallory came
[3:00:46] Speaker 1: back the first time, Grandpa began once more, his eyes
[3:00:50] Speaker 1: fixed on the ceiling. I just couldn't stop thinking about it.
[3:00:55] Speaker 1: It made no sense. I tried to keep going, hoping
[3:00:59] Speaker 1: the world would explain itself later. His fingers tightened around
[3:01:05] Speaker 1: the edge of the blanket. I tried, thinking back on
[3:01:08] Speaker 1: what Mary had said, that he was just a mix up,
[3:01:12] Speaker 1: a mistake, but deep down I knew better. He paused,
[3:01:19] Speaker 1: his chest rising and falling in shallow breaths. Time went by,
[3:01:25] Speaker 1: weeks past and I didn't see him again. I figured
[3:01:29] Speaker 1: that was the end of it, But then they brought
[3:01:34] Speaker 1: him back. He shifted slightly, wincing as he adjusted his position.
[3:01:41] Speaker 1: I remember the look on the Meddick's face when they
[3:01:43] Speaker 1: carried him in. They said he stepped on a mine.
[3:01:47] Speaker 1: His leg was gone, blown clean off, shrapnel had ripped
[3:01:52] Speaker 1: through his chest, and his skin was burnt so badly
[3:01:55] Speaker 1: he didn't even look human. What happened? Then? I asked,
[3:02:01] Speaker 1: my voice barely above a whisper. Great Grandpa shook his head.
[3:02:07] Speaker 1: We tried to stop the bleeding, pulled the shrapnel, did
[3:02:11] Speaker 1: everything we could to keep him alive. But it was
[3:02:14] Speaker 1: a losing battle from the start. We all knew it.
[3:02:19] Speaker 1: His heart gave out half way through, and he died again.
[3:02:25] Speaker 1: His voice trembled, and he turned his head to look
[3:02:27] Speaker 1: at me. Do you know what it feels like to
[3:02:30] Speaker 1: fail someone twice? Boy, to watch a kid die in
[3:02:33] Speaker 1: your hands, knowing there's nothing you can do. I was
[3:02:39] Speaker 1: unable to find the words. We cleaned him up, tagged
[3:02:43] Speaker 1: him again, and sent him to the morgue tent. It
[3:02:47] Speaker 1: had to be over, and I hoped it was for
[3:02:51] Speaker 1: his sake. The next morning, Grandpa said, his voice growing quieter.
[3:02:58] Speaker 1: I walked into the tree tend to start my shift,
[3:03:02] Speaker 1: and there he was again, his expression darkened. The first
[3:03:10] Speaker 1: time I saw him come back, I thought I was
[3:03:13] Speaker 1: losing my mind. This time, I didn't quite know what
[3:03:17] Speaker 1: to think. He was sitting on one of the carts,
[3:03:21] Speaker 1: staring at the floor like he didn't know where he was,
[3:03:25] Speaker 1: and he looked fine, just like before. Did you talk
[3:03:31] Speaker 1: to him, I asked. Grandpa exailed, his hands, clenching the
[3:03:37] Speaker 1: blanket tighter. I froze for a moment. I just stared
[3:03:44] Speaker 1: at him. Part of me wanted to run up to
[3:03:47] Speaker 1: him and ask what the hell was going on, but
[3:03:51] Speaker 1: I didn't. Why not because the tent was a madhouse,
[3:03:58] Speaker 1: he said bitterly. More men had been brought in overnight,
[3:04:02] Speaker 1: and there were too many fires to put out. I
[3:04:05] Speaker 1: didn't have time to sit and ask questions, as much
[3:04:08] Speaker 1: as I wanted to. His eyes clauded over, his voice
[3:04:14] Speaker 1: turning softer. I did manage to catch's eye, though, for
[3:04:18] Speaker 1: just a second, and you know what I saw fear.
[3:04:25] Speaker 1: He was scared out of his mind, but confused. They
[3:04:31] Speaker 1: sent him back to the front line. Later that day,
[3:04:34] Speaker 1: Grandpa said, I could feel the frustration radiating off him
[3:04:39] Speaker 1: as he spoke. I wanted to stop him, he admitted,
[3:04:44] Speaker 1: to pull him aside and make him tell me everything.
[3:04:48] Speaker 1: But I didn't get the chance. I didn't even see
[3:04:51] Speaker 1: him for a long time after that. The war moved on, unrelenting.
[3:04:57] Speaker 1: He looked at me then, his eyes heavy. But I
[3:05:01] Speaker 1: couldn't stop thinking about him. Every time I closed my eyes,
[3:05:07] Speaker 1: i'd see his face, a fear, a confusion. And I
[3:05:13] Speaker 1: kept wondering, wondering what Grandpa hesitated, his lips pressed into
[3:05:21] Speaker 1: a thin line. I kept wondering where he went when
[3:05:27] Speaker 1: he died, what he saw, what it was that scared
[3:05:31] Speaker 1: him so much. The door opened suddenly, and a nurse
[3:05:38] Speaker 1: stepped in, her voice soft, I'm sorry, visiting hours are over. Wait,
[3:05:46] Speaker 1: I said, turning back to Grandpa. You said there was more.
[3:05:50] Speaker 1: What happened next? Did he come back? Grandpa lifted her hand,
[3:05:55] Speaker 1: his fingers weakly, waving me off. Later, he murmured, his
[3:06:01] Speaker 1: voice barely audible. I'll tell you the rest later, Grandpa,
[3:06:09] Speaker 1: go home, he said, his eyes fluttering shut. We'll finish tomorrow.
[3:06:17] Speaker 1: The nurse gave me a sympathetic smile as she ushered
[3:06:20] Speaker 1: me out, But something about Grandpa's final words left a
[3:06:25] Speaker 1: pit in my stomach. As I walked out of the hospital.
[3:06:32] Speaker 1: I couldn't shake great Grandpa's words, and a small part
[3:06:35] Speaker 1: of me began to question it all. His story about
[3:06:39] Speaker 1: Private Mallory was by all means impossible. People do not
[3:06:44] Speaker 1: just die and come back, let alone multiple times. Maybe
[3:06:49] Speaker 1: I thought it was his way of coping with his
[3:06:52] Speaker 1: own mortality, a metaphor for something he couldn't quite explain
[3:06:56] Speaker 1: to me. Or maybe he was trying to teach me
[3:06:59] Speaker 1: something about resilience and sacrifice. Still, the way he spoke
[3:07:06] Speaker 1: and the emotions in his voice all felt real. There
[3:07:10] Speaker 1: was a sincerity to it. The morning after, I thought
[3:07:14] Speaker 1: about calling the hospital to check on him. He was
[3:07:18] Speaker 1: old and tired and needed rest, but I planned on
[3:07:21] Speaker 1: seeing him after work. Given the seriousness of the story,
[3:07:26] Speaker 1: he would prefer to tell it in person. I had
[3:07:30] Speaker 1: just gotten home from work when my phone rang. The
[3:07:35] Speaker 1: number was from the hospital. Your great grandfather has just
[3:07:41] Speaker 1: passed away. It was sudden, but peaceful. The voice on
[3:07:45] Speaker 1: the other end said, I'm so sorry for your loss.
[3:07:50] Speaker 1: She sounded comforting, but with so much unanswered. I was distraught.
[3:07:57] Speaker 1: I asked them to repeat it, hoping I'm misunderstood, but
[3:08:02] Speaker 1: I hadn't. My great Grandpa was gone. I went to
[3:08:12] Speaker 1: the hospital to sign off documents and pick up his
[3:08:15] Speaker 1: remaining things. Deep down, I hoped to find some clues
[3:08:19] Speaker 1: to the ending of his story, or maybe even a
[3:08:22] Speaker 1: manifesto explaining the rest. But all he had with him
[3:08:27] Speaker 1: was the clothes on his back. I left the hospital
[3:08:31] Speaker 1: feeling lost, both emotionally and physically. One way or another,
[3:08:39] Speaker 1: I hinted up at the diner where great Grandpa and
[3:08:41] Speaker 1: I used to go when I was a kid, the
[3:08:44] Speaker 1: one I used to own back in the day. It
[3:08:47] Speaker 1: was a place that felt safe and familiar as setting
[3:08:50] Speaker 1: to remember him by. I slid into the booth where
[3:08:54] Speaker 1: Grandpa and I always sat. Then I stared at the
[3:08:58] Speaker 1: familiar chipped lamon at tape as the hum of the
[3:09:01] Speaker 1: diner's lights buzzed faintly in the background. I did not
[3:09:06] Speaker 1: even notice the waitress asking if I wanted coffee, and
[3:09:10] Speaker 1: I just nodded along. When two mugs hit the table,
[3:09:16] Speaker 1: I looked up and froze. Sitting across from me in
[3:09:23] Speaker 1: front of the other mug of steaming coffee. It was
[3:09:27] Speaker 1: my great grandfather. He looked tired, his face exhausted and withdrawn.
[3:09:34] Speaker 1: For there was no mistaking it. He raised the mug
[3:09:38] Speaker 1: slightly like a toast. Don't panic, son, he said, in
[3:09:44] Speaker 1: a calming tone. I internalized my reaction to scream and
[3:09:49] Speaker 1: got up, slowly, keeping my eyes on him as I
[3:09:52] Speaker 1: slid into the sea to cross from him. You're a light,
[3:09:57] Speaker 1: I know, he interrupted, as he sipped his coffee. You
[3:10:02] Speaker 1: wanted to know what happened the third time Malory came back,
[3:10:05] Speaker 1: he added, I kept staring at him, my mind the
[3:10:10] Speaker 1: swirling pit of confusion and disbelief. How I got the
[3:10:16] Speaker 1: call you? They they said you died, Grandpa said, finishing
[3:10:22] Speaker 1: the sentence for me. I did, son. That's the problem.
[3:10:28] Speaker 1: It's my second time now, so this is when things change.
[3:10:34] Speaker 1: Before I could press further, he leaned in. The last
[3:10:38] Speaker 1: time Malory came back, he was different. They carried him
[3:10:43] Speaker 1: into the tent, half dead, with burns, shattered bones, and
[3:10:48] Speaker 1: parts of him barely held together. But he didn't die.
[3:10:53] Speaker 1: He should have, God knows he should have, but something
[3:10:57] Speaker 1: did not let him. Grandpa slumped back in his chair,
[3:11:03] Speaker 1: his expression turning dark. But he hung on barely. The
[3:11:10] Speaker 1: damage to his body was Grandpa traveled off, shaking his head.
[3:11:16] Speaker 1: Everyone said it and knew it. The other medics looked
[3:11:19] Speaker 1: at him like they were waiting for his heart to stop,
[3:11:22] Speaker 1: but he just never did. He lay there, breathing shallow,
[3:11:28] Speaker 1: his eyes wide open. I stayed quiet. They got him stable.
[3:11:35] Speaker 1: Eventually he continued, stable enough to move him to a
[3:11:40] Speaker 1: recovery tent. I had to know more, son. I couldn't
[3:11:45] Speaker 1: get it out of my head, the look on his
[3:11:48] Speaker 1: face when we were working on him. It wasn't just pain.
[3:11:53] Speaker 1: He scratched at his forearm, wincing slightly. I couldn't sleep
[3:11:58] Speaker 1: that night. I kept thinking about him, wondering if he
[3:12:02] Speaker 1: was still alive, still hanging on. So I broke protocol,
[3:12:09] Speaker 1: slipped out of my bunk, and went to see him.
[3:12:14] Speaker 1: Grandpa's voice dropped lower and his hands tightened around the mug.
[3:12:19] Speaker 1: When I got there, I saw it. His wounds. They
[3:12:26] Speaker 1: weren't healing, they were getting worse. But it wasn't just
[3:12:30] Speaker 1: blood and burns anymore. There was something else, this black
[3:12:36] Speaker 1: goo seeping out of his injuries, spreading over his skin
[3:12:40] Speaker 1: like it was alive. I felt a chill creep up
[3:12:44] Speaker 1: my spine. He saw me standing there, Grandpa continued, and
[3:12:50] Speaker 1: his eyes locked onto mine. He looked at me like
[3:12:54] Speaker 1: I was his last chance. He reached out, barely able
[3:12:59] Speaker 1: to lift his and and said, you have to end it. Please.
[3:13:04] Speaker 1: I can't go back again. I can't let it take me.
[3:13:09] Speaker 1: Grandpa swallowed hard, his voice trembling. Now. I told him
[3:13:15] Speaker 1: I couldn't, that I wouldn't. I was there to save people,
[3:13:19] Speaker 1: not kill him. But he kept begging, tears streaming down
[3:13:24] Speaker 1: his face, his voice breaking. It's in me, he said,
[3:13:30] Speaker 1: it's going to take everything. Please don't let me turn
[3:13:34] Speaker 1: into it. My chest tightened. What did you do, Grandpa?
[3:13:42] Speaker 1: I didn't want to do it, Grandpa admitted, But I
[3:13:46] Speaker 1: knew he was right. Whatever was happening to him, it
[3:13:50] Speaker 1: wasn't natural. He wasn't going to stop. It was spreading.
[3:13:56] Speaker 1: I didn't have a choice. I had failed to save
[3:13:59] Speaker 1: the twice. I wouldn't fail again. Grandpa looked up at
[3:14:06] Speaker 1: me then, his eyes filled with quiet, terrible guilt. I
[3:14:11] Speaker 1: pressed my hand over his nose and mouth and held
[3:14:15] Speaker 1: it there until he stopped breathing. Grandpa leaned back in
[3:14:21] Speaker 1: the booth, his hands trembling slightly as he rested them
[3:14:25] Speaker 1: on the table. I thought it was over. After that,
[3:14:29] Speaker 1: I thought I'd done what needed to be done. Whatever
[3:14:34] Speaker 1: was in him was tenacious, It didn't want to go
[3:14:38] Speaker 1: with him. What seeped out of him like a noose
[3:14:41] Speaker 1: fizzled as Malory's heart stopped, and before I could get away,
[3:14:48] Speaker 1: it burst into a mist. I managed to back away
[3:14:52] Speaker 1: from it, but I breathed a bit of it in
[3:14:55] Speaker 1: only a bit, but it was enough. A look of
[3:15:03] Speaker 1: defeat crossed my grandpa's face, a rare look to see.
[3:15:09] Speaker 1: I was found still, declared dead on the spot when
[3:15:13] Speaker 1: I walked in the next day. There was too much
[3:15:17] Speaker 1: chaos to investigate, so it was just reported as a
[3:15:21] Speaker 1: clerical error. No marks were found on me, so my
[3:15:25] Speaker 1: medical records just show an undetected heart murmur. That was
[3:15:32] Speaker 1: my first Grandpa's side. Since then, I've lived carefully. I
[3:15:42] Speaker 1: don't know how many chances I have, but this heart
[3:15:45] Speaker 1: attack was the second. I can't risk you or anyone
[3:15:50] Speaker 1: around me. Before I was desperate to know what Mallory knew,
[3:15:57] Speaker 1: but seeing it myself, I know why he craved death.
[3:16:03] Speaker 1: He lifted his arms slightly, pulling back the sleeve of
[3:16:06] Speaker 1: his shirt. Just above his wrist, A small patch of
[3:16:12] Speaker 1: black oily substance clung to his skin. It got to me,
[3:16:18] Speaker 1: he said, simply. Whatever was inside Mallory passed to me,
[3:16:25] Speaker 1: and now it's waiting. I can feel it spreading little
[3:16:31] Speaker 1: by little. But I don't know what I'll turn into,
[3:16:36] Speaker 1: but I know it won't be me. I was stunned
[3:16:43] Speaker 1: hearing this story was just words, but seeing the strange
[3:16:47] Speaker 1: substance in person made it all too real. I'm sorry, kid,
[3:16:54] Speaker 1: Grandpa said, his voice breaking. I didn't want you to know,
[3:16:59] Speaker 1: but I could leave without telling you the truth. You
[3:17:03] Speaker 1: deserve that much. I stared at him, my pulse pounding
[3:17:08] Speaker 1: in my ears. That there has to be a way
[3:17:11] Speaker 1: to stop it, Grandpa, I pleaded. Grandpa gave me a sad,
[3:17:17] Speaker 1: tired smile. Maybe, son, but it's not a risk I'm
[3:17:22] Speaker 1: willing to take around you or anyone else. He pushed
[3:17:28] Speaker 1: back from the table, his movement slow. Take care of
[3:17:32] Speaker 1: your siblings and your mother for me was the last
[3:17:36] Speaker 1: thing he said. I wanted to stop him, to say something,
[3:17:43] Speaker 1: but the words caught in my throat. I could only
[3:17:47] Speaker 1: watch as he walked out of the diner and the
[3:17:51] Speaker 1: weight of everything that had transpired came crashing down on me.
[3:18:05] Speaker 1: Working as a park ranger was a big deal for me.
[3:18:09] Speaker 1: I've always loved the outdoors, and getting paid to patrol
[3:18:12] Speaker 1: hiking trails and check on campsites felt like a dream.
[3:18:17] Speaker 1: It was only a seasonal job, but I was still
[3:18:19] Speaker 1: content with the allocated time I was given. I'd been
[3:18:24] Speaker 1: assigned to a remote national park, miles from anything resembling civilization.
[3:18:29] Speaker 1: My station was a tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere,
[3:18:33] Speaker 1: surrounded by dense forest. There was an even sell service
[3:18:37] Speaker 1: most of the time. First day in the job was
[3:18:41] Speaker 1: pretty standard. I met ed my supervisor. He's this older guy,
[3:18:47] Speaker 1: maybe in his fifties, with a kind of weathered face
[3:18:51] Speaker 1: that says he's been out here way too long. Nice enough,
[3:18:55] Speaker 1: but kind of distant. He handed me a basic book
[3:18:59] Speaker 1: full of PROTI calls how to check the trail damage,
[3:19:02] Speaker 1: what to do if you encounter a bear, how to
[3:19:05] Speaker 1: handle lost hikers. So off you'd expect, but then tucked
[3:19:11] Speaker 1: in between the normal sections there was this page titled
[3:19:15] Speaker 1: special Procedures. The front looked older, like it hadn't been
[3:19:20] Speaker 1: updated in years, and it stood out immediately. The rules
[3:19:26] Speaker 1: on the page. Well they were different. Ignore the screaming
[3:19:34] Speaker 1: after midnight. Never acknowledge the lake when it reflects the moon.
[3:19:38] Speaker 1: If you hear footsteps behind you, do not turn around.
[3:19:44] Speaker 1: I actually laughed when I first read them. I thought
[3:19:48] Speaker 1: it was some kind of joke the older rangers played
[3:19:50] Speaker 1: on the newbies. But when I asked ed about it,
[3:19:54] Speaker 1: he didn't laugh, he didn't even smirk. He just said,
[3:20:01] Speaker 1: follow them and you'll be fine. That's it. No explanation,
[3:20:07] Speaker 1: no elaboration. I even tried pushing him a little, asking
[3:20:12] Speaker 1: why these rules are in there and if this was
[3:20:14] Speaker 1: some kind of hazing thing, but he just shrugged and said,
[3:20:18] Speaker 1: you'll see. So I put the book down and figured
[3:20:23] Speaker 1: maybe it was just some weird tradition or superstition the
[3:20:26] Speaker 1: Parksteff kept alive for fun, maybe a way to freak
[3:20:29] Speaker 1: out new hires. Whatever, right, But my first few nights
[3:20:36] Speaker 1: of the cabin started to change my mind. You ever
[3:20:41] Speaker 1: stay somewhere so quiet that it almost feels loud, That's
[3:20:45] Speaker 1: how it was out there at night. It was like
[3:20:49] Speaker 1: the forest itself was holding its breath. Sometimes the only
[3:20:54] Speaker 1: sound was the wind pushing through the trees. Other times
[3:20:58] Speaker 1: there wasn't even that. The stillness made me jump at
[3:21:02] Speaker 1: every creak of the cabin, every rustle in the bushes outside.
[3:21:07] Speaker 1: And then there was this feeling like I wasn't really alone,
[3:21:12] Speaker 1: even when I knew I was. It was my third
[3:21:18] Speaker 1: day in when I first heard the scream. I was
[3:21:23] Speaker 1: sitting at the tiny table in the cabin, half way
[3:21:26] Speaker 1: through a lukewarm cup of instant coffee. My eyes were
[3:21:30] Speaker 1: glued to the book of Rules again, trying to make
[3:21:33] Speaker 1: sense of it all. It was late past midnight, but
[3:21:38] Speaker 1: I wasn't tired. Something about the cabin made it hard
[3:21:42] Speaker 1: to relax. Maybe it was how the floor creaked randomly,
[3:21:46] Speaker 1: even when I wasn't moving all the way. The wind
[3:21:49] Speaker 1: outside never quite sounded like just wind. I was flipping
[3:21:55] Speaker 1: through the rules when it started. At first it was faint,
[3:22:03] Speaker 1: I thought it was the wind again, but then it
[3:22:06] Speaker 1: got louder, a sharp, piercing scream that cut through the
[3:22:11] Speaker 1: stillness like a knife. It sounded human, a woman maybe,
[3:22:17] Speaker 1: or a kid. My stomach dropped, my froze, my hand
[3:22:23] Speaker 1: gripping the edge of the table so hard my knuckles
[3:22:26] Speaker 1: turned white. My eyes darted back to the rules, to
[3:22:31] Speaker 1: that stupid yellowed page. Ignore the screaming after midnight. Ignore
[3:22:39] Speaker 1: it easy to write, harder to do when it sounds
[3:22:43] Speaker 1: like someone's out there begging for help. I sat there
[3:22:48] Speaker 1: for what felt like forever, just listening. The scream would rise,
[3:22:53] Speaker 1: hold for a few seconds, and then fade. Then it
[3:22:57] Speaker 1: would start again. My heart was raising, and before I
[3:23:02] Speaker 1: knew it, I was standing by the cabin door, my
[3:23:05] Speaker 1: hand on the knob. I told myself it had to
[3:23:09] Speaker 1: be something explainable, a hiker in trouble maybe, or an
[3:23:13] Speaker 1: animal that just sounded like a person. I mean, I'm
[3:23:17] Speaker 1: a park ranger. It's literally my job to check these
[3:23:21] Speaker 1: things out right. I stepped outside. The cold hit me first.
[3:23:29] Speaker 1: It wasn't a normal cold. It was biting, the kind
[3:23:34] Speaker 1: that sinks into your bones. The forest was pitch black
[3:23:38] Speaker 1: except for the faint cone of light from my flashlight.
[3:23:42] Speaker 1: The scream came again, louder now, and I swung the
[3:23:46] Speaker 1: beam in its direction, trying to see through the trees.
[3:23:50] Speaker 1: My throat was dry, and every step I took felt
[3:23:53] Speaker 1: heavier than the last. Then it stopped, not just the scream, everything,
[3:24:06] Speaker 1: the wind, the rustling of leaves, the distant sound of
[3:24:10] Speaker 1: nocturnal animals, it all just cut out, like someone hit
[3:24:15] Speaker 1: the mute button in the world. The silence was so
[3:24:19] Speaker 1: thick I could hear my own breathing, quick and shallow.
[3:24:25] Speaker 1: I don't know how long I stood there, frozen in place,
[3:24:29] Speaker 1: but eventually I turned back toward the cabin. Whatever I
[3:24:35] Speaker 1: thought I was going to find out there, it wasn't
[3:24:38] Speaker 1: worth it. My skin crawled the entire way back, like
[3:24:42] Speaker 1: something was watching me, just beyond the edge of the
[3:24:45] Speaker 1: flashlight's reach. When I got inside, I locked the door twice.
[3:24:54] Speaker 1: The next morning, I asked Lisa about it. She's another ranger,
[3:24:59] Speaker 1: works the mainstay closer to the visitor center. Lisa's the
[3:25:03] Speaker 1: kind of person who always seems upbeat, like nothing rattles her.
[3:25:08] Speaker 1: But when I brought up the scream, her face changed immediately.
[3:25:14] Speaker 1: She went pale, and her eyes darted around the room,
[3:25:17] Speaker 1: like she was checking to see if anyone else was listening.
[3:25:21] Speaker 1: You didn't follow it, did you, she asked, her voice low.
[3:25:27] Speaker 1: I hesitated, not sure how much to admit. I stepped outside,
[3:25:34] Speaker 1: I said, finally, didn't go far. Lisa's expression darkened. She
[3:25:42] Speaker 1: looked at me like I'd just signed my own death warrant.
[3:25:47] Speaker 1: That's how it starts. She muttered. Then she stood up
[3:25:51] Speaker 1: and walked out of the room like I wasn't even there.
[3:25:56] Speaker 1: Later that day, I went out to patrol one of
[3:25:58] Speaker 1: the popular trails near the It was my first time
[3:26:02] Speaker 1: on that route, and for the most part it seemed normal,
[3:26:07] Speaker 1: just trees, dirt, and the occasional squirrel. But about halfway
[3:26:13] Speaker 1: through I noticed something hard. The ground had these scuff marks,
[3:26:20] Speaker 1: like someone had been running off the trail. The branches
[3:26:23] Speaker 1: and the bushes nearby were broken, and the dirt was
[3:26:26] Speaker 1: churned up. I gave me in a struggle. I followed
[3:26:30] Speaker 1: the marks for maybe twenty feet before I found it.
[3:26:35] Speaker 1: A single boot, muddy torn, just sitting there in the
[3:26:41] Speaker 1: middle of the forest. There was no sign of its owner.
[3:26:47] Speaker 1: My stomach twisted as I stared at it. It wasn't
[3:26:51] Speaker 1: just the boot itself, it was the way it was
[3:26:55] Speaker 1: sitting there, like it had been dropped deliberately. It didn't
[3:26:59] Speaker 1: feel like something someone had just forgotten. It felt wrong.
[3:27:05] Speaker 1: When I got back to the station, I told ed
[3:27:08] Speaker 1: about it. He barely looked up from his paperwork. The
[3:27:14] Speaker 1: forest takes what it wants, he said, shrugging. Then he
[3:27:20] Speaker 1: went back to his coffee like that was the end
[3:27:23] Speaker 1: of it. The first time I broke a rule, I
[3:27:30] Speaker 1: told myself it didn't really count. It was maybe a
[3:27:35] Speaker 1: week in and i'd almost started to feel like I
[3:27:37] Speaker 1: heard a routine down. Sure, the rules are weird, and yeah,
[3:27:42] Speaker 1: the nights were unnervingly quiet, but I'd convinced myself that
[3:27:46] Speaker 1: things weren't as bad as I'd made them out to be.
[3:27:50] Speaker 1: Then the footsteps started. It was late, probably around one am,
[3:27:59] Speaker 1: and I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep.
[3:28:03] Speaker 1: At first I thought it was just the sound of
[3:28:05] Speaker 1: branches tapping against the cabin, but then I realized it
[3:28:10] Speaker 1: was rhythmic, slow, deliberate. Someone was walking around the cabin.
[3:28:18] Speaker 1: My froze, my heart was pounding, but I kept telling
[3:28:22] Speaker 1: myself to stay calm. I remembered the rule if you
[3:28:27] Speaker 1: hear footsteps behind you, do not turn around. Okay, fine,
[3:28:33] Speaker 1: The footsteps weren't exactly behind me, but the logic seemed
[3:28:37] Speaker 1: the same. Just don't engage. Right. The pacing continued. It'd
[3:28:44] Speaker 1: circle the cabin, slow and steady, and I swear whoever
[3:28:49] Speaker 1: or whatever it was would stop right by my window.
[3:28:54] Speaker 1: I could feel it lingering there, just out of sight.
[3:28:59] Speaker 1: The sound and went on for hours. I tried covering
[3:29:02] Speaker 1: my ears, but it didn't help. I couldn't shake the
[3:29:06] Speaker 1: feeling that something was waiting for me to look. I
[3:29:11] Speaker 1: held out as long as I could, but by three
[3:29:13] Speaker 1: a m My nerves were shot. I figured if someone
[3:29:18] Speaker 1: was actually outside, I needed to know. What if it
[3:29:22] Speaker 1: was a hiker I got lost? What if I was
[3:29:24] Speaker 1: in danger? I pulled back the curtain, just a crack. Nothing.
[3:29:32] Speaker 1: There was nothing out there, just the trees, the dirt path,
[3:29:36] Speaker 1: and the faint glow of the moon. But the second
[3:29:40] Speaker 1: I looked, the footsteps stopped, like they'd been waiting for
[3:29:44] Speaker 1: me to break. The silence that followed was even worse.
[3:29:50] Speaker 1: It was thick, pressing down on me, like gravity was
[3:29:53] Speaker 1: being turned up on a dial. I didn't sleep that night.
[3:30:00] Speaker 1: The next morning I noticed something was off. My boots
[3:30:05] Speaker 1: weren't by the door where I'd left them. They were
[3:30:08] Speaker 1: in the middle of the room. My radio, which I
[3:30:11] Speaker 1: left off, was on, hissing with faint static, and when
[3:30:15] Speaker 1: I glanced at the window, I swear my reflection didn't
[3:30:19] Speaker 1: move in time with me. It lagged just a split second,
[3:30:24] Speaker 1: but enough to make my stomach drop. I told myself
[3:30:29] Speaker 1: it was nothing, just my mind plain tricks. But then
[3:30:37] Speaker 1: I patrolled the lake. A few days later, I was
[3:30:42] Speaker 1: out patrolling the trails near the lake at dusk. The
[3:30:46] Speaker 1: sky was this brilliant orange and the moon was just
[3:30:49] Speaker 1: starting to rise. When I got to the water's edge,
[3:30:53] Speaker 1: I noticed the moon's reflection. It was too much, too bright,
[3:31:01] Speaker 1: too vivid, almost like it wasn't just reflecting the moon
[3:31:05] Speaker 1: but amplifying it. I stood there for a second, hypnotized,
[3:31:11] Speaker 1: before the rule clicked in my head. Never acknowledge the
[3:31:16] Speaker 1: lake when it reflects the moon. I snapped out of
[3:31:21] Speaker 1: it and took a step back. But as I turned
[3:31:24] Speaker 1: to leave, I saw a ripple in the water. There
[3:31:29] Speaker 1: wasn't any wind, no fish jumping, just that ripple spreading
[3:31:34] Speaker 1: out from the center, and for a split second, I
[3:31:40] Speaker 1: swear I saw a hand, pale and thin, reach up
[3:31:44] Speaker 1: toward the surface. I didn't stick around to see what
[3:31:49] Speaker 1: came next. I stumbled back to the trail and didn't
[3:31:52] Speaker 1: stop until I was half way to the cabin. That night,
[3:31:58] Speaker 1: I had a dream. I was back at the lake,
[3:32:01] Speaker 1: standing at the edge, but the Moon's reflection was shattered
[3:32:07] Speaker 1: like broken glass. I could hear something crawling out of
[3:32:12] Speaker 1: the water, slow and deliberate, dragging itself towards me. I
[3:32:18] Speaker 1: couldn't move, couldn't even scream. I woke up drenched in sweat,
[3:32:24] Speaker 1: my heart raising. But it wasn't just the dream. When
[3:32:30] Speaker 1: I swung my legs out of the bed, I felt cold,
[3:32:33] Speaker 1: wet fabric. My boots were soaked, caaked with mud, and
[3:32:39] Speaker 1: there were footprints, muddy, unmistakable, leading from the door to
[3:32:47] Speaker 1: my bed. Looking back, I think the first real warning
[3:32:55] Speaker 1: sign wasn't the footsteps or the lake. It was She'd
[3:33:02] Speaker 1: been one of the first people I'd met on the job,
[3:33:04] Speaker 1: and while she wasn't exactly friendly, she was present. She
[3:33:10] Speaker 1: cracked a joke now and then talk about the hikes
[3:33:13] Speaker 1: she liked to take. But after the footsteps and the lake,
[3:33:17] Speaker 1: she changed. She was still around technically, but she wasn't
[3:33:23] Speaker 1: Lisa anymore. Her skin looked pale, like she'd been sick
[3:33:28] Speaker 1: for weeks, and her eyes I don't even know how
[3:33:33] Speaker 1: to describe it. They just didn't seem to focus, like
[3:33:38] Speaker 1: she was looking through me, not at me. She barely
[3:33:42] Speaker 1: spoke unless it was necessary, and even then her voice
[3:33:46] Speaker 1: was flat, almost mechanical. One morning, I asked her if
[3:33:51] Speaker 1: she was okay. She just shrugged and said I'm fine,
[3:33:57] Speaker 1: just tired. But she wasn't fine, And the worst part
[3:34:05] Speaker 1: Ed didn't seem surprised, if anything, he avoided her. When
[3:34:13] Speaker 1: I brought it up to Ed later, he snapped at me,
[3:34:17] Speaker 1: Ed the guy who'd spent most of my first week
[3:34:19] Speaker 1: cracking dad jokes and calling me nuby. The rules are
[3:34:24] Speaker 1: there for a reason, Nick, he said, glaring at me,
[3:34:27] Speaker 1: like I just insulted his entire family. You don't follow them,
[3:34:32] Speaker 1: and you deal with the fallout. That's it, no exceptions.
[3:34:38] Speaker 1: What kind of fallout are we talking about? I pressed,
[3:34:41] Speaker 1: what's actually happening here? You don't want to know, he muttered,
[3:34:47] Speaker 1: turning back to his coffee, like we hadn't just had
[3:34:50] Speaker 1: the most unsettling conversation of my life. Later that day,
[3:34:57] Speaker 1: I went out to patrol, trying to shake the we
[3:35:00] Speaker 1: had tension between us. It was supposed to be a
[3:35:03] Speaker 1: normal route when I'd done twice before, but something was different.
[3:35:11] Speaker 1: The trail I was on didn't feel right. The trees
[3:35:14] Speaker 1: seemed taller, like they were leaning in towards me, and
[3:35:17] Speaker 1: the air was colder than it should have been for midday. Still,
[3:35:22] Speaker 1: I pushed forward I don't know why. Maybe I was
[3:35:27] Speaker 1: hoping to find something proof that I was still in control.
[3:35:34] Speaker 1: Then I saw them, carvings in the trees. Faces they
[3:35:41] Speaker 1: were walked and stretched, their mouths open in silent screams,
[3:35:45] Speaker 1: their eyes too big, too round. They weren't there the
[3:35:49] Speaker 1: last time I'd walked this trail. I swear my life,
[3:35:53] Speaker 1: they weren't. As I stood there staring, I heard something.
[3:36:01] Speaker 1: It started as a faint whisper, like wind through the branches,
[3:36:06] Speaker 1: but it grew louder words. I couldn't make out voices,
[3:36:12] Speaker 1: dozens of them, maybe more, all overlapping. My chest tightened
[3:36:18] Speaker 1: and I turned back the way. I came, practically running
[3:36:21] Speaker 1: until I was back of the cabin. That night, the
[3:36:25] Speaker 1: scream came back, louder, closer. It didn't just echo through
[3:36:31] Speaker 1: the forest this time. It felt like it was inside
[3:36:35] Speaker 1: my head, rattling around my skull, clawing at my thoughts.
[3:36:40] Speaker 1: And then I swear to you, I heard my name.
[3:36:47] Speaker 1: It was woven into the scream, whispered at first, then louder,
[3:36:52] Speaker 1: my name, over and over, like it was begging me,
[3:36:56] Speaker 1: calling me. I grabbed my flashlight and stood by the door,
[3:37:01] Speaker 1: my hand on the handle. I almost opened it. I
[3:37:07] Speaker 1: don't know what stopped me. Maybe it was instinct, maybe
[3:37:11] Speaker 1: it was the rule. Either way, I let go of
[3:37:15] Speaker 1: the handle and stepped back, my whole body shaking. I
[3:37:22] Speaker 1: didn't sleep that night. I wish I could tell you
[3:37:29] Speaker 1: this is where it stopped. That after ignoring the scream
[3:37:32] Speaker 1: and the whispers and whatever the hell happened with the lake,
[3:37:36] Speaker 1: I just rode up my time and left the park
[3:37:38] Speaker 1: like a normal person. But that's not how it works here.
[3:37:45] Speaker 1: It was the manual that tipped me off. One morning,
[3:37:49] Speaker 1: I woke up to find it sitting on my kitchen table.
[3:37:53] Speaker 1: I swear I had left it in the drawer, but
[3:37:55] Speaker 1: there it was, right next to my untouched breakfast. I
[3:38:00] Speaker 1: thought some one had just left it out, But then
[3:38:04] Speaker 1: I saw the writing. The rules had changed. The old
[3:38:10] Speaker 1: ones were still there, ignore the screaming, don't look at
[3:38:13] Speaker 1: the lake, but new ones had appeared, scribbled in handwriting.
[3:38:18] Speaker 1: I didn't recognize. One read the cabin lights must stay
[3:38:24] Speaker 1: on after dark. Another if you hear knocking from inside
[3:38:29] Speaker 1: the walls, don't investigate. But the one that made my
[3:38:33] Speaker 1: stomach drop was at the bottom of the page. You
[3:38:39] Speaker 1: are part of the cycle. You must stay. I stared
[3:38:46] Speaker 1: at it for a long time, hoping I misread it
[3:38:50] Speaker 1: or losing my mind. Part of me wanted to crumple
[3:38:53] Speaker 1: the page, toss it in the trash, and pretend I
[3:38:56] Speaker 1: hadn't seen it. But I couldn't. Something about it felt final.
[3:39:06] Speaker 1: It wasn't instructions. I could just ignore that. Afternoon I
[3:39:12] Speaker 1: went to find Ed. He was sitting on the porch
[3:39:15] Speaker 1: of his cabin, sipping coffee like everything was fine, like
[3:39:19] Speaker 1: none of this was happening. Ed, I said, holding up
[3:39:24] Speaker 1: the manual, What the hell is this? He barely glanced
[3:39:30] Speaker 1: at it. It's the rules. Don't give me that the
[3:39:34] Speaker 1: rules are changing. Look. I flipped to the new entry,
[3:39:39] Speaker 1: shoving it toward him. What does this mean? What the
[3:39:43] Speaker 1: hell is the cycle? Why does it say I have
[3:39:45] Speaker 1: to stay? Ed didn't say anything at first, He just
[3:39:52] Speaker 1: stared at the horizon, his face unreadable. Finally he sighed
[3:39:58] Speaker 1: and put down his mug. I told you follow the rules, Nick,
[3:40:04] Speaker 1: that's all you had to do. What does that mean?
[3:40:09] Speaker 1: My voice cracked, but I didn't care. You knew this
[3:40:12] Speaker 1: was going to happen, didn't you. You knew, and you
[3:40:15] Speaker 1: didn't say anything. His eyes met mine and for the
[3:40:21] Speaker 1: first time, I saw cracks in his calm demeanor. He
[3:40:26] Speaker 1: looked tired, defeated. The rules aren't just there to keep
[3:40:33] Speaker 1: you safe, he said quietly. They're part of the agreement.
[3:40:39] Speaker 1: What agreement with the forest, he said, his voice barely
[3:40:45] Speaker 1: above a whisper. It takes what it wants. The rules
[3:40:49] Speaker 1: are how we keep it at bay. But once you
[3:40:52] Speaker 1: start breaking them, he trowled off, shaking his head. You
[3:40:57] Speaker 1: can't undo it, Nick, It's already claimed you. That night,
[3:41:04] Speaker 1: I didn't bother trying to sleep. I sat at the table,
[3:41:08] Speaker 1: the manual open in front of me. The words you
[3:41:12] Speaker 1: must stay burned into my brain. The footsteps started around midnight.
[3:41:20] Speaker 1: At first they were faint, just a soft shuffle outside
[3:41:24] Speaker 1: the cabin. Then they grew louder, circling the walls, passing
[3:41:29] Speaker 1: by the windows. I kept my eyes on the manual,
[3:41:32] Speaker 1: my foot shaking nervously, trying to focus. Then came the knocking.
[3:41:40] Speaker 1: It was slow at first, deliberate, like someone tapping their
[3:41:43] Speaker 1: knuckles against the wood. But it didn't come from the door.
[3:41:49] Speaker 1: It was inside the walls. I tried to block it out,
[3:41:54] Speaker 1: repeating the rules in my head like a prayer. But
[3:41:58] Speaker 1: then I made the mistake of looking up. My reflection
[3:42:03] Speaker 1: was in the window staring back at me. Except it
[3:42:08] Speaker 1: wasn't me. It looked like me, same face, same clothes,
[3:42:14] Speaker 1: but his expression was wrong. Its mouth curved into a grin.
[3:42:19] Speaker 1: I wasn't making its eyes darker than they should have been.
[3:42:24] Speaker 1: He raised a hand, pointing behind me. I turned around.
[3:42:30] Speaker 1: Nothing was there, but the footsteps inside the cabin didn't stop.
[3:42:39] Speaker 1: Ed came to my cabin the next morning. He didn't
[3:42:42] Speaker 1: knock or asked permission to come in, just opened the door,
[3:42:46] Speaker 1: stepped inside, and stood there like he belonged. You're taking
[3:42:51] Speaker 1: the North patrol today, he said. His voice was flat,
[3:42:56] Speaker 1: like he hadn't had that whole conversation about the cycle
[3:42:59] Speaker 1: like I had, and spent the entire night hearing footsteps
[3:43:02] Speaker 1: inside my cabin. I didn't argue. What would have been
[3:43:08] Speaker 1: the point if I refused. He'd just give me some
[3:43:11] Speaker 1: cryptic warning, maybe shoved the manual at me. I nodded
[3:43:16] Speaker 1: and grobbed my gear. The manual stayed on the table.
[3:43:20] Speaker 1: I didn't want it near me. The patrol route was
[3:43:25] Speaker 1: one of the longer ones, winding past the lake and
[3:43:28] Speaker 1: cutting through a part of the forest I'd avoided since
[3:43:31] Speaker 1: I started the job. It was in a hard trail,
[3:43:35] Speaker 1: but something about it felt heavy, like the air itself
[3:43:40] Speaker 1: was thicker, harder to breathe. I passed the lake first.
[3:43:45] Speaker 1: The surface was glassy, perfectly still, reflecting the sky like
[3:43:50] Speaker 1: a giant mirror. I kept my head down, refusing to
[3:43:54] Speaker 1: look too closely, but out of the corner of my eye,
[3:43:59] Speaker 1: I swear or something someone just beneath the surface Lisa
[3:44:07] Speaker 1: her pale face, her eyes wide, staring up at me.
[3:44:12] Speaker 1: I don't know if it was real or if my
[3:44:14] Speaker 1: mind was playing tricks, but I hurried past, not daring
[3:44:18] Speaker 1: to stop. Further down the trail, I found a flashlight
[3:44:23] Speaker 1: that belonged to Harris, another ranger, lying in the dirt.
[3:44:27] Speaker 1: It was caked with mud. The lens cracked. I picked
[3:44:32] Speaker 1: it up without thinking, then immediately dropped it. The metal
[3:44:37] Speaker 1: was ice cold, like it had been sitting in a freezer,
[3:44:40] Speaker 1: not out in the open sun. That's when I started
[3:44:45] Speaker 1: to notice the forest wasn't quiet anymore. There were faint
[3:44:49] Speaker 1: whispers coming from the trees, layered and overlapping, like a
[3:44:53] Speaker 1: hundred voices murmuring just out of earshot. I couldn't make
[3:44:58] Speaker 1: out the words, but I didn't need to. I knew
[3:45:04] Speaker 1: they were for me. By the time I reached the
[3:45:08] Speaker 1: park boundary, my legs felt like lead. The air had
[3:45:12] Speaker 1: a strange pull to it, like the forest itself was
[3:45:15] Speaker 1: holding me back. I stopped at the edge of the
[3:45:19] Speaker 1: tree line, staring out at the empty road beyond, and
[3:45:25] Speaker 1: an intrusive thought hit me. I could leave right then,
[3:45:32] Speaker 1: right there. I could drop my gear, walk out of
[3:45:36] Speaker 1: the forest and never look back. I'd lose the job, sure,
[3:45:41] Speaker 1: but I'd keep my life, my real life, the one
[3:45:45] Speaker 1: I'd had before all of this. But then I thought
[3:45:50] Speaker 1: about the manual, the rules, its warnings. The forest takes
[3:45:56] Speaker 1: what it wants, He'd said. What if leaving wasn't to escape.
[3:46:01] Speaker 1: What if I took something with me, whatever this was,
[3:46:04] Speaker 1: and it followed me home? Or worse, what if leaving
[3:46:08] Speaker 1: through everything off balance, broke the agreement and dragged someone
[3:46:13] Speaker 1: else into this nightmare. They stood there for what felt
[3:46:16] Speaker 1: like ours, staring at the road. My mind was screaming
[3:46:21] Speaker 1: at me to run, but my legs wouldn't move. The
[3:46:27] Speaker 1: whispers grew louder, circling around me, wrapping me in their
[3:46:31] Speaker 1: invisible grip, and then just like that, they stopped. The
[3:46:40] Speaker 1: forest went silent, completely, utterly silent. I turned back, my
[3:46:48] Speaker 1: heart pounding. The trees seemed taller, darker, and the trail
[3:46:53] Speaker 1: I come down looked like it had never been there
[3:46:55] Speaker 1: at all. I don't remember much about walking back to
[3:47:00] Speaker 1: the cabin. It felt like the forest that swallowed me whole,
[3:47:05] Speaker 1: and when I stepped through the door, I couldn't tell
[3:47:07] Speaker 1: if I'd escaped or walked deeper into something far worse.
[3:47:13] Speaker 1: The air inside was stale and cold. My body ate
[3:47:17] Speaker 1: like I'd run a marathon. But the exhaustion wasn't just physical.
[3:47:22] Speaker 1: It was in my bones, my mind. I locked the door,
[3:47:27] Speaker 1: bolted it twice, and sat down at the table. The
[3:47:31] Speaker 1: manual was still there waiting. I opened it, slowly, flipping
[3:47:37] Speaker 1: through the pages. The rules were the same, or at
[3:47:43] Speaker 1: least I thought they were. I read each one carefully,
[3:47:47] Speaker 1: over and over, like I was memorizing scripture. I understood
[3:47:54] Speaker 1: now the rules weren't suggestions, they weren't folklore survival. As
[3:48:02] Speaker 1: long as I followed them, I could stay. I wouldn't
[3:48:07] Speaker 1: disappear like Lisa, wouldn't dissolve into whispers like Harris. The
[3:48:12] Speaker 1: forest might have claimed me but it wouldn't take me
[3:48:16] Speaker 1: all at once. I fell into a routine after that,
[3:48:22] Speaker 1: patrol during the day, locked the door at night. I
[3:48:26] Speaker 1: didn't ask questions anymore. I didn't peek through the curtains
[3:48:30] Speaker 1: when the footsteps started. I didn't let myself think about leaving,
[3:48:35] Speaker 1: because I knew there wasn't anywhere to go. Sometimes I
[3:48:41] Speaker 1: still heard the scream. It's always distant, now muffled, like
[3:48:46] Speaker 1: it's coming from miles away. Maybe that's what happens. You
[3:48:51] Speaker 1: fade into the forest, slowly, until you're just another sound
[3:48:56] Speaker 1: in the dark. I don't know how long it's been.
[3:49:01] Speaker 1: Time gets slippery out here. The days blurred together, and
[3:49:06] Speaker 1: the nights feel endless. I've stopped counting the seasons, stop
[3:49:11] Speaker 1: looking at the calendar. The forest doesn't care about dates,
[3:49:17] Speaker 1: so why should I. But something new has changed things.
[3:49:24] Speaker 1: Last week I saw headlights through the trees, a new
[3:49:28] Speaker 1: ranger pulling into the station. I watched from a distance,
[3:49:33] Speaker 1: as ed handed in the manual. The kid looks so young,
[3:49:38] Speaker 1: so confident. I wanted to warn him, wanted to scream
[3:49:43] Speaker 1: at him to leave now while he still could. But
[3:49:48] Speaker 1: I didn't, because the forest was watching, and the rules
[3:49:55] Speaker 1: are clear he has unknowingly became I'm a player in
[3:50:01] Speaker 1: this game, and I just pray he doesn't lose

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