# "The Rule Was Simple. Never Stay Past Dark" Creepypasta

An episode of [CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1492008134), 4 Apr 2025, 29 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/65352821/the_rule_was_simple_never_stay_past_dark_creepypasta.mp3

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## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: When I was thirteen. The summer we moved, we left
[0:05] Speaker 1: the city behind in a cloud of dust, trading, traffic
[0:09] Speaker 1: and noise for long, empty roads that stretched on forever.
[0:14] Speaker 1: On Newtown, hollow Brock was, for a lack of a
[0:18] Speaker 1: better term, frozen in time. Main Street had a diner,
[0:23] Speaker 1: a single gas station, and a convenience store that doubled
[0:27] Speaker 1: as a bait shop. Everyone seemed to know everyone. My
[0:33] Speaker 1: mom loved it instantly, my dad muttered something about peace
[0:37] Speaker 1: and quiet. Ay hated it. It wasn't just that I
[0:44] Speaker 1: had to leave behind my friends, my school, my entire life.
[0:49] Speaker 1: It was the fact that there was nothing here. No
[0:52] Speaker 1: movie theaters, no arcades, no malls, just houses, trees and
[0:58] Speaker 1: a school that looked like it had been built a
[1:01] Speaker 1: hundred years ago. The first few days were the worst.
[1:06] Speaker 1: Boxes stacked in every room, the smell of fresh paint,
[1:10] Speaker 1: the hum of Cicada's outside. No Wi Fi for the
[1:14] Speaker 1: first two days, which meant I had nothing to do
[1:17] Speaker 1: but help unpack or stare at the ceiling, counting the
[1:20] Speaker 1: tiny cracks in the plaster. Then I met Ethan Jake
[1:28] Speaker 1: and will it happened at the basketball court behind the school.
[1:34] Speaker 1: I wasn't even playing, just sitting on my bike watching.
[1:39] Speaker 1: Ethan was the first one to talk to me. He
[1:42] Speaker 1: had shaggy blonde hair, her red sox cap pulled low
[1:45] Speaker 1: over his face, and a kind of easy confidence that
[1:49] Speaker 1: made it impossible to dislike him. Jake and Will were
[1:53] Speaker 1: always with him. Jake was stocky, with a sharp jaw
[1:57] Speaker 1: and a habit of cracking his knuckles. Will was lanky, quiet,
[2:02] Speaker 1: always a step behind the others. Ethan dribbled the basketball
[2:08] Speaker 1: absent mindedly, squinting at me. So you just moved here, right,
[2:15] Speaker 1: I nodded, Yeah, last week? Where from? Jake added Boston.
[2:23] Speaker 1: All three of them looked at each other, then back
[2:26] Speaker 1: at me. Whoa Edan said, grinning city kid. Yeah, I muttered,
[2:34] Speaker 1: unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
[2:38] Speaker 1: Will spoke up for the first time. But it's way
[2:42] Speaker 1: better there, I shrugged. I don't know, I guess. Ethan
[2:49] Speaker 1: passed the ball to Jake, then turned back to me.
[2:52] Speaker 1: You have had a hideout before, I blinked, like a
[2:57] Speaker 1: real one. Jake snored, No, a fake one, I mean no. Never.
[3:07] Speaker 1: Ethan's grin widened. Dude, Then you're gonna love this. Jake smirked.
[3:15] Speaker 1: We gotta hide out. Best spot in town, Will nodded,
[3:19] Speaker 1: deep in the woods. No little kids there. I pugged
[3:23] Speaker 1: up for real, for real, Ethan said, we'll take you tomorrow.
[3:33] Speaker 1: That was how it started. Ethan showed up at my
[3:38] Speaker 1: house after lunch, knocking on the door. Before I even
[3:41] Speaker 1: saw him coming. He had his bike with him, one
[3:45] Speaker 1: foot resting laisely on the pedal. Come on, he said,
[3:49] Speaker 1: we're taking you with us. I berely had time to
[3:53] Speaker 1: grab my own bike before we're off, pedaling through the
[3:56] Speaker 1: quiet streets, cutting through yards, jumping over curve rubs. The
[4:01] Speaker 1: further we went, the fewer houses there were. Soon the
[4:06] Speaker 1: pavement turned to dirt and the town faded behind us,
[4:10] Speaker 1: swallowed by towering pine and at some point Ethan told
[4:15] Speaker 1: us to ditch our bikes. I expected them to stop
[4:20] Speaker 1: at some random part of the woods and then take
[4:22] Speaker 1: a hidden trail, but instead we ended up on a
[4:26] Speaker 1: narrow dirt road, tire tracks worn deep in the ground.
[4:31] Speaker 1: It snaked through the trees, winding up a gentle hill
[4:35] Speaker 1: before disappearing ahead. I squinted, Wait, if there's a road,
[4:42] Speaker 1: why don't you guys just ride your bikes all the way.
[4:46] Speaker 1: Jake chuckled, nudging my arm, where's the fun in there?
[4:51] Speaker 1: Ethan smiked, Yeah, what's cooler walking through the woods to
[4:55] Speaker 1: our secret hideout or rolling up on bikes like we're
[4:58] Speaker 1: going to the grocery store. Will grinned, we're off the gridman,
[5:03] Speaker 1: no roads, kind of I laughed, shaking my head, but
[5:10] Speaker 1: I had to admit it did feel cooler, like we
[5:14] Speaker 1: were heading somewhere no one else knew about. And then
[5:19] Speaker 1: I saw it. Perched in the thick arms of an
[5:22] Speaker 1: old oak tree was the tree house. It was perfect,
[5:31] Speaker 1: the kind of hide out every kid dreams of, big
[5:35] Speaker 1: enough for all of us, but not too big, like
[5:38] Speaker 1: it belonged in some fancy magazine. The wood was weathered
[5:42] Speaker 1: but sturdy, the boards nailed tightly together. A simple rope
[5:46] Speaker 1: ladder hung from the entrance, swaying gently in the breeze.
[5:51] Speaker 1: Ethan climbed up first, followed by Jake and Will. I hesitated,
[5:57] Speaker 1: staring up at it. I'd never been to a place
[6:02] Speaker 1: like this before, never had a clubhouse, a fort, a
[6:06] Speaker 1: secret spot to escape to. In the city. We had
[6:10] Speaker 1: cracked sidewalks and fire escapes. This was different. I grabbed
[6:17] Speaker 1: the rope ladder and climbed inside. The walls were covered
[6:22] Speaker 1: in drawings and initials carved into the wood. A feord
[6:26] Speaker 1: camping chairs were tucked in the corner. A flashlight and
[6:30] Speaker 1: a deck of cards sat on a crate. It smelled
[6:34] Speaker 1: of dirt, pine, and the faint smell of something I
[6:37] Speaker 1: couldn't place at the time. Ethan flopped onto the ground
[6:42] Speaker 1: in the corner. So what do you think, I sat
[6:48] Speaker 1: across from him, still taking it all in. It's awesome,
[6:54] Speaker 1: Jake grinned told you. For a while, we just talked
[7:00] Speaker 1: about nothing, the kind of stupid conversations kids have when
[7:05] Speaker 1: they're bored. Who would win in a fight Batman or
[7:08] Speaker 1: spider Man, if aliens are real, if we'd ever drink
[7:11] Speaker 1: beer when we're old enough. It felt normal, like I'd
[7:17] Speaker 1: always been here. Then Ethan leaned back and stretched man,
[7:24] Speaker 1: I wish we could just stay here all night. I
[7:28] Speaker 1: raised an eyebrow. Why can't you, Jake groaned, tilting his
[7:34] Speaker 1: head back dramatically, Because our parents are lame, Ethan sighed.
[7:40] Speaker 1: They don't like us being out past nine. Will rolled
[7:45] Speaker 1: his eyes, especially after Sarah went missing. That name stuck
[7:51] Speaker 1: with me. I'd heard it before on the news, a
[7:56] Speaker 1: girl from school gone without a trace. I frowned. So
[8:02] Speaker 1: if they think kids are getting kidnapped or something, Jake scoffed, Dude,
[8:08] Speaker 1: parents think everything is out to get you. They hear
[8:11] Speaker 1: about one kid going missing, and suddenly they act like
[8:14] Speaker 1: we're going to get snatched off the sidewalk. Ethan nodded, yeah,
[8:20] Speaker 1: like I get it, but it's annoying. We're not little
[8:24] Speaker 1: kids anymore. Will grinned, knocking his knuckles against the wooden wall.
[8:30] Speaker 1: I mean, come on, we got our own house and everything.
[8:35] Speaker 1: Jake sat up, smirking exactly. We got a house, we
[8:40] Speaker 1: got furniture, we got food. Ethan held up a half
[8:44] Speaker 1: crossed bag of Dorito's rations. Will laughed. We're practically grown ups.
[8:52] Speaker 1: We even cleaned sometimes. I grinned, Yeah, except your house
[8:58] Speaker 1: doesn't have a bathroom. Jake tossed the bald up napkin
[9:03] Speaker 1: at me. Dude, it's called nature. We all cracked up
[9:09] Speaker 1: after that, and for the first time since moving, I
[9:14] Speaker 1: felt like I wanted to be here. As the afternoon
[9:18] Speaker 1: stretched on, the air cooled, and the trees outside cast
[9:22] Speaker 1: long shadows across the forest floor. Sometimes we find stuff
[9:30] Speaker 1: moved around Jake said, after a particularly long stretch of silence.
[9:36] Speaker 1: I looked up. What do you mean? He shrugged, like,
[9:42] Speaker 1: we'll come back in A chair has been moved, and
[9:45] Speaker 1: one of our flashlights is missing. I frowned. You think
[9:50] Speaker 1: someone else knows about this place? Jake shook his head. Nah,
[9:55] Speaker 1: we never told anyone. Will leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
[10:02] Speaker 1: If we started asking around, people might get curious. They'd
[10:06] Speaker 1: come locking, and then we wouldn't have it to ourselves anymore.
[10:11] Speaker 1: Ethan sighed, So we just ignore it. The sun was
[10:17] Speaker 1: beginning to dip behind the horizon when Ethan suddenly checked
[10:20] Speaker 1: his watch. Crap, it's almost nine, Jake groaned, standing up
[10:27] Speaker 1: and dusting off his jeans. Ah, fine, will side. I
[10:34] Speaker 1: guess we gotta be responsible and head back. By my
[10:40] Speaker 1: second week, I couldn't go anywhere without hearing about Sarah.
[10:45] Speaker 1: Her face was still on Flyers taped the telephone poles
[10:49] Speaker 1: pinned up in the school office, stabled to the bulletin
[10:52] Speaker 1: board at the grocery store, missing last scene, Hollowbrook Elementary.
[10:59] Speaker 1: It didn't feel like something people talked about in whispers.
[11:03] Speaker 1: It felt like a weight everyone carried. The teachers looked tired.
[11:08] Speaker 1: Parents were extra careful about pickups, and kids traded stories
[11:12] Speaker 1: in hushed voices at lunch. Things like this didn't happen
[11:17] Speaker 1: much in a small town like this, But there was
[11:20] Speaker 1: one person who didn't carry that heavy energy with him,
[11:25] Speaker 1: mister Harris. He was the kind of guy every kid liked.
[11:30] Speaker 1: Tall and broad shouldered, with a thick mustache and an
[11:33] Speaker 1: easy smile. It wasn't like other adults. He actually listened
[11:38] Speaker 1: when kids talked, didn't yell when someone ran in the hall,
[11:42] Speaker 1: even slipped us candy sometimes when teachers weren't locking. How
[11:46] Speaker 1: are you liking hollow Brook, he asked me one afternoon.
[11:51] Speaker 1: I had stayed after school to grab a notebook I
[11:53] Speaker 1: left in my locker. Mister Harris was mopping near the gym.
[11:58] Speaker 1: I shrugged. It's all right, not too boring for you,
[12:03] Speaker 1: he chuckled. Kids from the city usually think were a
[12:06] Speaker 1: bunch of weirdows. I don't know, I said, I kind
[12:11] Speaker 1: of like it. He nodded, leaning against the mop handle. Yeah,
[12:17] Speaker 1: this town grows on you. Always been real close knit.
[12:22] Speaker 1: I shifted, unsure what else they say? He must have noticed,
[12:27] Speaker 1: because his expression softened. All right, kid, go off, now
[12:32] Speaker 1: make sure to pick up those packages over there, like
[12:34] Speaker 1: Miss Wren asked you to all right, see you, mister Harris,
[12:40] Speaker 1: see your kid. The treehouse became more than just a hideout.
[12:48] Speaker 1: It became home. Anytime I was upset, frustrated, or needed
[12:53] Speaker 1: to be away from the world for a bit, I'd
[12:56] Speaker 1: find myself biking down the dirt road, cutting through the trees,
[13:00] Speaker 1: climbing up that rope ladder. And I wasn't the only one. Ethan, Jake,
[13:07] Speaker 1: and Will used it the same way. If one of
[13:10] Speaker 1: us showed up alone, the others would always come, no
[13:14] Speaker 1: questions asked. We didn't talk about it, but we all
[13:18] Speaker 1: needed the tree house. It was a place where nothing
[13:22] Speaker 1: else mattered. The thing was, the longer we used it,
[13:28] Speaker 1: and the more comfortable we got with each other, the
[13:31] Speaker 1: less we thought about the rules. At first, we were careful,
[13:36] Speaker 1: always watching the time, always heading home before the sky
[13:40] Speaker 1: went dark. But after a few weeks we got comfortable
[13:45] Speaker 1: if the sun set while we were still in the treehouse,
[13:48] Speaker 1: we didn't panic. If we stayed a little later than usual,
[13:53] Speaker 1: no one seemed to notice, so when Ethan joked about
[13:57] Speaker 1: staying overnight, it didn't calm as a surprise to anyone.
[14:03] Speaker 1: We basically live here anyway, he said, stretching out one
[14:07] Speaker 1: of the old cushions. Jake laughed, Yeah, we got food,
[14:11] Speaker 1: we got supplies. We'll like a step away from moving in.
[14:16] Speaker 1: We'll leaned forward. Imagine how cool it a beat to
[14:19] Speaker 1: wake up here? No parents than nag us. I hesitated, Yeah,
[14:26] Speaker 1: but I child off. We all knew what I was
[14:30] Speaker 1: going to say. We weren't supposed to stay after dark,
[14:35] Speaker 1: but no one else seemed worried. Dude, Jake said, shaking
[14:39] Speaker 1: his head. They're all stupid anyway. Our parents just don't
[14:44] Speaker 1: want us out late because they're paranoid. You really think
[14:47] Speaker 1: something bad's gonna happen if we sleep here for one night.
[14:50] Speaker 1: Ethan grinned. I say we do it. Let's prove our
[14:55] Speaker 1: parents wrong, man, prove to them that nothing would happen,
[14:58] Speaker 1: Jake said, in a hush tone. That part got to me.
[15:03] Speaker 1: It made the whole thing feel like a challenge. It
[15:06] Speaker 1: wasn't about breaking rules, it was about proving we could.
[15:11] Speaker 1: I looked around at the others. No one seemed scared.
[15:16] Speaker 1: Finally I nodded, all right, one night. That was all
[15:22] Speaker 1: it took. The plan was set that night, I waited
[15:27] Speaker 1: and til my parents went to bed. I stuffed my
[15:30] Speaker 1: sleeping bag into my backpack, grabbed a flashlight, and quietly
[15:35] Speaker 1: slipped out the back door. The cool night air hit
[15:38] Speaker 1: me as I stepped onto my bike. The town was quiet.
[15:44] Speaker 1: I peddled fast, cutting through the streets, heart hammering for
[15:48] Speaker 1: no reason at all. It wasn't like I'd never snuck
[15:51] Speaker 1: out before. By the time I reached the dirt road,
[15:56] Speaker 1: my pulse had settled up. Ahead. I saw three familiar
[16:01] Speaker 1: figures waiting for me, their bikes already tossed to the side. Ethan, Jake,
[16:08] Speaker 1: and Will. We grinned at each other, no turning back now.
[16:15] Speaker 1: We made our way through the trees, flashlights bouncing off
[16:18] Speaker 1: the trunks, a crunch of leaves the only sound in
[16:21] Speaker 1: the stillness. The closer we got to the treehouse, the
[16:26] Speaker 1: more real it felt this was happening. We climbed up,
[16:33] Speaker 1: one by one, the old wooden boards creaking beneath our weight. Inside,
[16:40] Speaker 1: I was greeted by the same comforting scent we'd all
[16:43] Speaker 1: gotten used to. Jake unzipped his backpack and dumped out
[16:48] Speaker 1: a pile of snacks, chips, candy bars, soda cans, Ethan grinned.
[16:55] Speaker 1: We were all excited. We set up our sleeping bags,
[16:59] Speaker 1: tie on the flashlights, and started telling stories. It felt
[17:04] Speaker 1: like every other night, like we'd done this a hundred
[17:08] Speaker 1: times before, like nothing bad could ever happen. After we
[17:14] Speaker 1: got tired of ghost stories, we played card games by flashlight,
[17:18] Speaker 1: laughed about stupid things, and ate way too much drunk food.
[17:23] Speaker 1: The tree house felt safe beyond words. And then we
[17:29] Speaker 1: heard the rumble of an old engine. I barely noticed
[17:33] Speaker 1: it at first, half thinking it was just the wind
[17:37] Speaker 1: or a plane overhead. But then headlights. Bright beams cut
[17:45] Speaker 1: through the trees, casting strange, stretching shadows through the cracks
[17:49] Speaker 1: of the wooden floorboards. The light flickered as the vehicle turned,
[17:55] Speaker 1: angling toward the treehouse, illuminating the lower part of the trunk.
[18:01] Speaker 1: We froze for a moment. None of us panicked. Ethan
[18:08] Speaker 1: sat up, rubbing his eyes. Is that Jake shifted closer
[18:14] Speaker 1: to the window, squinting. Is that your dad? That made sense?
[18:22] Speaker 1: One of our parents must have noticed we were missing.
[18:25] Speaker 1: Maybe someone woke up, checked our beds, put the pieces together.
[18:31] Speaker 1: I waited for the headlights to cut out, for a
[18:33] Speaker 1: card door to slam for the familiar sound of an
[18:36] Speaker 1: angry dad calling a name. But when the engine turned off,
[18:43] Speaker 1: no one called for us, No voices, just silence. Jake swallowed,
[18:51] Speaker 1: that's not my dad's truck. The air changed. Ethan grabbed
[18:58] Speaker 1: his flashlight over the window sill. Could be a hunter,
[19:03] Speaker 1: he whispered, or someone camping. That didn't feel right. No
[19:10] Speaker 1: one hunted at this spot in the woods. I moved closer,
[19:15] Speaker 1: heart hammering, peering out through the crack in the wooden planks.
[19:20] Speaker 1: The truck was old, dented, covered in dust, and then
[19:26] Speaker 1: a door opened. Someone stepped out. Their footsteps crunched against
[19:32] Speaker 1: the dirt, slow and careful. Will breathed out. Who the hell?
[19:41] Speaker 1: I could barely see them, just the dark outline of
[19:44] Speaker 1: a figure moving through the trees. My stomach twisted. Jake
[19:51] Speaker 1: slowly moved away from the window, eyes wide. Why are
[19:55] Speaker 1: they coming straight here? No one had an answer. The
[20:01] Speaker 1: person reached the base of the treehouse. For a second,
[20:06] Speaker 1: they just stood there. Then the creak over foot and
[20:11] Speaker 1: the first rung of the ladder. Ethan sucked in a breath. Guys,
[20:19] Speaker 1: and second footstep they were climbing. I felt it in
[20:24] Speaker 1: my chest. Now the slow creeping realization that something wasn't right.
[20:31] Speaker 1: Jake turned toward the trap door, eyes darting, what do
[20:35] Speaker 1: we do? And back toward the window. We need to go,
[20:42] Speaker 1: but no one moved another step closer. Now, whoever it was,
[20:49] Speaker 1: they didn't hesitate. They were coming up. I turned back
[20:55] Speaker 1: toward the window, gripping the ledge. My pulse pounded in
[20:59] Speaker 1: my ears. Another step closer, then they spoke a voice, low, familiar.
[21:12] Speaker 1: What the hell? I turned just in time to see
[21:17] Speaker 1: the man's head push up through the trap door. His
[21:20] Speaker 1: face was partially shadowed, covered by a hoodie, but I
[21:25] Speaker 1: could still make out the shock in his expression. Whoever
[21:29] Speaker 1: this was, he wasn't expecting us. His eyes flickered between us,
[21:36] Speaker 1: scanning the room, and then his expression changed, a slow
[21:41] Speaker 1: realization like he had just been handed something he wasn't
[21:45] Speaker 1: expecting but wanted. That was all I needed to see.
[21:52] Speaker 1: I didn't wait. I jumped. I grabbed the windowsill and
[21:59] Speaker 1: threw my myself forward, twisting my body mid air as
[22:03] Speaker 1: I plunged toward the ground. The fall knocked the breath
[22:06] Speaker 1: out of me, pain jolting on my legs as I
[22:09] Speaker 1: hit the dirt, But I was already scrambling forward, arms
[22:13] Speaker 1: pumping above me. Chaos, go go, Ethan yelled. Jake was
[22:22] Speaker 1: already pushing past him, diving for the window. Will hesitated
[22:27] Speaker 1: too long. The man lunged. Ethan jumped, but the man
[22:33] Speaker 1: grabbed for him at the last second. His fingers brushed
[22:36] Speaker 1: Ethan's ankle as he twisted him mid air, the force
[22:39] Speaker 1: throwing him sideways. Then a sickening crack. Ethan's screams ripped
[22:47] Speaker 1: through the trees. I skid it to a stop, chest heaving.
[22:52] Speaker 1: He was on the ground, clutching his leg, face twisted
[22:56] Speaker 1: in agony, my leg His voice was raw broken. I
[23:03] Speaker 1: stepped toward him, about to help, but then a thud.
[23:09] Speaker 1: The man had jumped down, following us. He wasn't waiting.
[23:15] Speaker 1: His boots hid the dirt hard, sending up a cloud
[23:18] Speaker 1: of dust. Then he straightened, staring at us. Jake grabbed Ethan,
[23:24] Speaker 1: trying to haul him up. Come on, dude, we gotta go.
[23:29] Speaker 1: Ethan choked back a sob. I can't. My head spun.
[23:35] Speaker 1: We couldn't carry him, not fast enough. The man took
[23:40] Speaker 1: a step forward. I took a step back. I ran.
[23:46] Speaker 1: I hated myself for it, but I ran branches tore
[23:51] Speaker 1: up my face, leaves whipping past as I bolted through
[23:54] Speaker 1: the trees. My breath was ragged, my legs A blur
[23:58] Speaker 1: beneath me, behind me, a cacophony of noise. I didn't
[24:05] Speaker 1: dare look back. The only thing I focused on was
[24:09] Speaker 1: getting home. The dirt road loomed ahead, glowing faintly under
[24:14] Speaker 1: the moonlight. I tore through it, sneakers slamming against the
[24:19] Speaker 1: packed down earth. The town was a blur street lights, houses,
[24:26] Speaker 1: the distant glow of my own porch. I sprinted up
[24:31] Speaker 1: my driveway, heart in my throat, slamming into the front door.
[24:36] Speaker 1: I banged my fists against the wood, sobbing. Mom Dad
[24:41] Speaker 1: opened the door. A light flicked on inside, A shadow
[24:46] Speaker 1: moved behind the glass. The door swung open, and I
[24:50] Speaker 1: fell into my dad's arms. Son, What is call the cops?
[24:56] Speaker 1: I screamed. My mom was already grabbed the phone. I turned,
[25:03] Speaker 1: chest still heaving, expecting to see a dark figure standing
[25:07] Speaker 1: at the end of the driveway. The police arrived within minutes.
[25:13] Speaker 1: By the time we got to the treehouse, the area
[25:16] Speaker 1: was already swarming with officers. Red and blue lights flickered
[25:20] Speaker 1: through the trees, casting long shadows across the dirt. The woods,
[25:25] Speaker 1: which had always felt like our sanctuary, now felt like
[25:29] Speaker 1: the most unsafe place in the world. I stood next
[25:33] Speaker 1: to my parents, shaking, wrapped in my mom's arms, as
[25:38] Speaker 1: we watched the officers search the area. They moved quickly,
[25:43] Speaker 1: flashlights bouncing against the trees, the radios crackling with updates.
[25:51] Speaker 1: Jake was found first, just at the base of the treehouse.
[25:56] Speaker 1: He was alive, but shaken. His face was streaked with dirt.
[26:00] Speaker 1: His hands were shaking, but he was breathing. Then they
[26:05] Speaker 1: found Ethan. He was curled behind a tree, barely visible
[26:10] Speaker 1: in the darkness. His leg bent at a horrible angle.
[26:15] Speaker 1: When they carried him out on a stretcher, his face
[26:18] Speaker 1: was pale ay He's hollow. He barely spoke, barely reacted,
[26:24] Speaker 1: then came well. For one terrifying moment, I thought he
[26:31] Speaker 1: was gone, But then a radio crackled. An officer had
[26:36] Speaker 1: found him running down the dirt road toward town. He
[26:41] Speaker 1: said he just ran and didn't stop. I didn't blame him.
[26:47] Speaker 1: We all got to go home that night, and for
[26:50] Speaker 1: a while that was enough. I learned the rest from
[26:55] Speaker 1: news reports, police chatter, and hushed conversations between my parents.
[27:02] Speaker 1: At first, no one knew who had done it. The
[27:06] Speaker 1: cops only had bits and pieces. The whole town went
[27:09] Speaker 1: on edge. People whispered about who it could have been.
[27:14] Speaker 1: The stranger had drifted, passing through some local guy. No
[27:18] Speaker 1: one suspected. The answers came. Days later, the police found
[27:25] Speaker 1: the truck again. It had been left in a creek,
[27:28] Speaker 1: half buried in mud, and in the trunk they found Sarah.
[27:37] Speaker 1: She had been missing for weeks. She'd been there the
[27:41] Speaker 1: whole time, cold wrapped in plastic, stuffed beneath a pile
[27:46] Speaker 1: of tarps. But it wasn't until the police tracked the
[27:50] Speaker 1: truck's registration that the real horror set in the name
[27:55] Speaker 1: attached to the vehicle, mister Harris. I remember the exact
[28:03] Speaker 1: moment I found out. I was sitting at the kitchen table,
[28:07] Speaker 1: picking at my cereal while my parents stood by the counter,
[28:10] Speaker 1: talking in low voices. I wasn't really listening until my
[28:15] Speaker 1: mom said his name. For a second, I thought I misheard,
[28:20] Speaker 1: thought she was talking about something else, But then my
[28:24] Speaker 1: dad's sighed, rubbing his face. Jeez. I felt like my
[28:31] Speaker 1: stomach had been ripped out of my body mister Harris
[28:35] Speaker 1: was still on the loose and a curfew was set.
[28:40] Speaker 1: I never saw Ethan Jacob will at school after, so
[28:45] Speaker 1: I don't know what came of them. I kept thinking
[28:49] Speaker 1: about how lucky we were. If we hadn't heard that
[28:53] Speaker 1: truck pull up, would one of us have been next?
[29:07] Speaker 1: Us s

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