# "Fifteen years ago, we locked a classmate in a locker. He came back wrong" Creepypasta

An episode of [CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1492008134), 27 May 2025, 44 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/66286935/fifteen_years_ago_we_locked_a_classmate_in_a_locker_he_came_back_wrong_creepypasta.mp3

CREEPYPASTA STORY► 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... CREEPY THUMBNAIL ART BY► SUGGESTED CREEPYPASTA PLAYLISTS- ►"Good Places to Start"- • "I wasn't careful enough on the deep web" ... ►"Personal Favourites"- • "I sold my soul for a used dishwasher, and... ►"Written by me"- • "I've been Blind my Whole Life" Creepypasta ►"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

[0:01] Speaker 1: Gregg had always seemed untouchable. He was the type of
[0:05] Speaker 1: guy who could talk a cop out of a ticket
[0:07] Speaker 1: or drunk and half conscious, then somehow get the same
[0:10] Speaker 1: cop to drive him home. So when his sister called
[0:14] Speaker 1: me crying, struggling to get her words out, I thought
[0:18] Speaker 1: something had happened to their mom. When she finally managed
[0:22] Speaker 1: to speak, I had to ask her to repeat herself.
[0:27] Speaker 1: It turned out that the police found Greg's body in
[0:30] Speaker 1: his apartment after his boss called in a wellness check
[0:34] Speaker 1: when he didn't show up to work for two days.
[0:37] Speaker 1: The responding officers broke down the door and found him
[0:40] Speaker 1: in the living room. They wouldn't let the family see
[0:44] Speaker 1: the body. From what his sister had heard when she
[0:48] Speaker 1: had caught the officers on brake discussing the scene, his
[0:52] Speaker 1: limbs were twisted, his spine curved like someone had wrung
[0:55] Speaker 1: him out from both ends, and his eyes were gone.
[1:00] Speaker 1: Ever had done it was sadistic beyond belief. There was
[1:04] Speaker 1: no forced entry or weirdly enough signs of a struggle.
[1:09] Speaker 1: The case was being ruled as suspicious, but that just
[1:13] Speaker 1: meant they didn't ever clue who was behind it. Despite
[1:18] Speaker 1: having a wide net of friends Gregg's funeral was small.
[1:23] Speaker 1: Only a few people made it in person. Jamie hugged
[1:27] Speaker 1: me outside the church. Her eyes were red and a
[1:30] Speaker 1: make up had started to smear, but she still looked
[1:34] Speaker 1: the same, sharp, blunt, unapologetic. The others were there too,
[1:41] Speaker 1: raff and legs. We all grew up together back then.
[1:46] Speaker 1: We used the joke that we were stuck with each
[1:48] Speaker 1: other for life, and for the most part we were. Sure.
[1:54] Speaker 1: We drifted apart for a few years during college, but
[1:57] Speaker 1: we always ended up circling back. But now Greg a
[2:02] Speaker 1: part of us was a closed casket and a photo
[2:06] Speaker 1: on an easel. The priest mumbled his way through a
[2:09] Speaker 1: handful of generalities, though I didn't really listen. I kept
[2:15] Speaker 1: looking around the room, half expecting Greg to appear at
[2:18] Speaker 1: the back and make some sarcastic comment about how weird
[2:21] Speaker 1: it was to watch people cry over you. For a moment,
[2:26] Speaker 1: I thought I saw movement near the exit, but my
[2:29] Speaker 1: brain had been plain tricks on me since the night
[2:31] Speaker 1: I got the call. After the burial, we stood in
[2:36] Speaker 1: a loose, uneasy circle in the parking lot. None of
[2:40] Speaker 1: us seemed ready to go home. Then Jamie brought up
[2:43] Speaker 1: that night at the lake when Greg fell off the
[2:46] Speaker 1: dock trying to chug a beer upside down. We laughed,
[2:51] Speaker 1: then we stopped. The laughter felt wrong. I still don't
[2:58] Speaker 1: get what the hell happened, Ralph muttered. Nobody knew how
[3:03] Speaker 1: to respond. Our silent grieving was interrupted by a man
[3:08] Speaker 1: in his late forties wearing a plain suit with thinning
[3:11] Speaker 1: brown hair. He moved with a kind of tired professionalism
[3:16] Speaker 1: that told me he'd been doing this a long time.
[3:19] Speaker 1: He stopped just outside our circle and introduced himself, Detective Harlan.
[3:27] Speaker 1: Sorry to intrude. His tone was respectful. You were Gregg
[3:32] Speaker 1: Sutton's closest friends, right, We all nodded. I was wondering
[3:38] Speaker 1: if I could ask a few questions. I understand to
[3:41] Speaker 1: day is not ideal, but I found people tend to
[3:44] Speaker 1: remember important things in the hours after a funeral brings
[3:48] Speaker 1: things into focus. I know you people have already been
[3:52] Speaker 1: interviewed and questioned. I'm aware that none of you are
[3:55] Speaker 1: deemed to be suspects, but Jamie crossed our arms. Go ahead.
[4:03] Speaker 1: Did Greg have any enemies? I'm aware you've been asked
[4:07] Speaker 1: this question before, but are you absolutely certain there's no
[4:11] Speaker 1: one from the past someone who held a grudge, maybe
[4:14] Speaker 1: something that didn't seem serious but could have been taken
[4:18] Speaker 1: the wrong way. No, Ralph said immediately. Everyone liked Greg.
[4:25] Speaker 1: I don't mean dislike, I mean resentment anyone he wronged,
[4:30] Speaker 1: even by accident. We looked at each other. I could
[4:36] Speaker 1: tell we were all thinking the same thing. No, I said, finally,
[4:43] Speaker 1: not that we know of. He nodded slowly, understood. Did
[4:50] Speaker 1: he mention anything strange recently, unusual messages, people showing up
[4:55] Speaker 1: where they shouldn't, anything like that? Head the last question,
[5:04] Speaker 1: Does the name Danny mean anything to you? There? It
[5:10] Speaker 1: was his tone hadn't changed, but I felt my chest tightened.
[5:16] Speaker 1: I glanced around. Everyone held the same expression as me. No,
[5:22] Speaker 1: Jamie said, doesn't ring a bell. The detective watched us
[5:27] Speaker 1: for a moment. I could tell he didn't buy it,
[5:31] Speaker 1: but he didn't press. He thanked us, gave us his card,
[5:36] Speaker 1: and walked off towards his car. As soon as he
[5:40] Speaker 1: was out of earshot, Ralph led out a shaky breath.
[5:45] Speaker 1: Danny true Low, I said, a name I hadn't said
[5:49] Speaker 1: aloud in over a decade. Danny had been in our
[5:54] Speaker 1: class from sixth grade until the middle of sophomore year.
[5:58] Speaker 1: He was a thin kid with a quiet voice and
[6:01] Speaker 1: thick glasses. He was always hunged forward, like he was
[6:04] Speaker 1: trying to disappear. He didn't fit in, and we didn't
[6:10] Speaker 1: let him. To make it simple, we bullied the kid.
[6:16] Speaker 1: The last time we saw him, we did something that
[6:19] Speaker 1: was supposed to be funny. A dare Raff said he
[6:23] Speaker 1: couldn't fit. Jamie said we should find out. It was
[6:27] Speaker 1: after school and the hallway was empty. Greg blogged the
[6:31] Speaker 1: nearest stairwell while I held the door down. He fought
[6:35] Speaker 1: harder than I thought he would. He cried, screamed, and begged.
[6:40] Speaker 1: It only made us more determined. I remember the heat
[6:44] Speaker 1: of his shoulder press against mine as we forced him
[6:47] Speaker 1: into a locker. I remember the sound of metal slamming shot,
[6:52] Speaker 1: the way it echoed, and his fists pounding from the
[6:54] Speaker 1: inside while we walked away. I don't know how long
[6:59] Speaker 1: it was stuck, Maybe until the janitor came in the
[7:02] Speaker 1: next morning, maybe longer After that. He was gone, and
[7:10] Speaker 1: that changed something in all of us. The school didn't
[7:14] Speaker 1: make a big deal of it, which in hindsight, was
[7:17] Speaker 1: to be expected. One of the guidance counselors said he transferred.
[7:22] Speaker 1: Some whispered that his parents pulled him out after a breakdown.
[7:26] Speaker 1: There were rumors about his mom showing up in tears
[7:29] Speaker 1: at the principal's office, demanding to know what happened. We
[7:33] Speaker 1: didn't face any consequences, and we stopped thinking about him
[7:41] Speaker 1: until now. I don't think it means anything, Raff said,
[7:48] Speaker 1: could be a coincidence. Someone with the same name. Jamie frowned.
[7:54] Speaker 1: He said, Danny not the full name. Sure could have
[7:57] Speaker 1: been any Danny, But why on earth did bring that
[8:00] Speaker 1: name up in the first place. What if it was him, though,
[8:05] Speaker 1: Leg said. Ralph rolled his eyes. Jeez, don't start, I'm serious,
[8:12] Speaker 1: Leg said. He said the name right after asking if
[8:15] Speaker 1: Greg had any enemies. That means something, Ralph snapped. You
[8:21] Speaker 1: really think some kid we bullied fifteen years ago came
[8:24] Speaker 1: back and twisted Greg into a goddamn pretzel. Raf softened
[8:29] Speaker 1: a little. We were bad, yeah, but we were kids.
[8:35] Speaker 1: I don't feel good about it either, he continued, But
[8:39] Speaker 1: that doesn't mean we jumped to wild ass theories. Greg's dead.
[8:43] Speaker 1: That's horrible enough without spinning it into a revenge fantasy.
[8:48] Speaker 1: We don't even know if Danny's alive. Jamie exhaled through
[8:53] Speaker 1: his nose. Look, if it turns out something more is
[8:56] Speaker 1: going on, we'll talk to the cops right now. We'd
[9:00] Speaker 1: sound insane. You want us to bring up a kid
[9:03] Speaker 1: we bullied fifteen years ago in a murder case. I
[9:06] Speaker 1: shook my head, no, exactly. We agreed not to bring
[9:14] Speaker 1: it up again. We went home, each returning to our
[9:18] Speaker 1: separate houses under the closed street light and the silent
[9:21] Speaker 1: orbit of patrol cars. I lay in bed for hours
[9:26] Speaker 1: with the covers pulled up to my chin, staring at
[9:28] Speaker 1: the ceiling and reminiscing. The next day, raph and I
[9:35] Speaker 1: were at his place, sitting on the couch of the
[9:37] Speaker 1: television on though neither of us was watching it. A
[9:41] Speaker 1: game was playing, but the volume was low, yet neither
[9:45] Speaker 1: of us had the energy for small talk. We hadn't
[9:48] Speaker 1: seen Jamie since the funeral and didn't talk about Greg anymore,
[9:53] Speaker 1: not because we were already moving on, but because we
[9:56] Speaker 1: didn't know how to carry the weight of what happened.
[10:00] Speaker 1: H sat between us like a third person in the room.
[10:04] Speaker 1: We were speaking about some things, trying to crack the
[10:07] Speaker 1: silence that loomed when we were interrupted by an incoming
[10:11] Speaker 1: call on RAF's phone, his mom. He answered it on speaker, Raf,
[10:18] Speaker 1: she said, and a voice cracked half way through his name.
[10:22] Speaker 1: Something happened at Les's apartment complex. He sat forward slowly,
[10:29] Speaker 1: eyes narrowing, already braced. What do you mean someone's dead?
[10:36] Speaker 1: She said, it's bad. Have you not seen the news?
[10:40] Speaker 1: They said? She couldn't finish. You both stared at the phone.
[10:46] Speaker 1: Ralf asked for details. She didn't have many. He hung
[10:50] Speaker 1: up without saying good bye, then turned to me, pale
[10:54] Speaker 1: and still we need to go check up on legs.
[11:00] Speaker 1: On the drive to Lex's place, Ralph drummed his fingers
[11:03] Speaker 1: on the steering wheel the entire time, A nervous ticket
[11:06] Speaker 1: had since middle school. By the time we pulled up
[11:10] Speaker 1: to the complex, who was blocked off with please tape.
[11:14] Speaker 1: Flashing lights turned the lot into a mess of collar
[11:16] Speaker 1: and shadow. An officer out front was talking to a reporter.
[11:22] Speaker 1: She asked if he was related to the sudden case.
[11:25] Speaker 1: The officer said they couldn't comment. The reporter kept pressing.
[11:30] Speaker 1: She mentioned the name we weren't expecting to hear Les.
[11:38] Speaker 1: We got back in the car without saying anything. We
[11:41] Speaker 1: drove straight to the police station. Ralph ran to red light.
[11:46] Speaker 1: I didn't stop him. Our silence had turned heavy, and
[11:50] Speaker 1: there was less shock and more fear. Now we walked
[11:54] Speaker 1: through the glass doors, and we met with a sound
[11:57] Speaker 1: of voices, paper shuffling, and phones ringing. The front desk
[12:01] Speaker 1: officer looked up, recognized us somehow, and nodded us through
[12:05] Speaker 1: without much hassle. Jamie was already there. She sat in
[12:10] Speaker 1: one of the waiting chairs near the front, arms folded,
[12:14] Speaker 1: foot tapping. Her hair was tied back in a loose
[12:17] Speaker 1: bun and looked like she hadn't slept. Her face went
[12:22] Speaker 1: stiff when she saw us. I heard already, She said,
[12:28] Speaker 1: did you Ralph nodded yeah. I wanted to contact you guys,
[12:35] Speaker 1: but I was in such a rush to get to
[12:36] Speaker 1: the police station. I was so scared after find the
[12:39] Speaker 1: count I Jamie stood and walked down the hall with us.
[12:45] Speaker 1: I already told them we need to talk to Detective Harlan.
[12:48] Speaker 1: He's in a meeting. This wasn't a coincidence, I said,
[12:53] Speaker 1: and I hated how thin my voice sounded. This person
[12:57] Speaker 1: is clearly targeting our group, Danny, Jamie said, biting down
[13:03] Speaker 1: on the word. You think it's him, I don't know
[13:07] Speaker 1: who else it could be. We waited. Eventually Harlan came
[13:14] Speaker 1: out of a side hallway. His eyes moved across the
[13:17] Speaker 1: three of us before settling. He didn't look surprised. He
[13:23] Speaker 1: waved us into a back room without a word. Once
[13:27] Speaker 1: the door shut, Jamie spoke, first, we lie to you
[13:32] Speaker 1: about Danny. The detective nodded slowly. I figured, Ralph stepped forward.
[13:41] Speaker 1: We knew him a long time ago. We went to
[13:44] Speaker 1: school together. His name is Danny Truieloh what happened? We
[13:51] Speaker 1: bullied him? I said hard. It wasn't teasing, It was
[13:56] Speaker 1: full and cruelty. We pushed him out of that school,
[14:00] Speaker 1: maybe out of his mind. We locked him in a
[14:02] Speaker 1: locker and left him overnight. Then he was gone. The
[14:10] Speaker 1: detective took a breath and rubbed his jaw. You didn't
[14:14] Speaker 1: mention that, no, Jamie said, because well, we didn't want
[14:21] Speaker 1: to bring him up. We thought we were all being
[14:23] Speaker 1: weird of conspiracy theorists. You think he's doing this after
[14:28] Speaker 1: all these years. He was the last person we ever hurt.
[14:32] Speaker 1: I said, Danny going away changed us. We felt guilty.
[14:39] Speaker 1: He looked at the table, then back at us. We've
[14:43] Speaker 1: had that name at both scenes. Danny, no other traces
[14:47] Speaker 1: or clues. Whoever did it definitely knew Greg and now Les.
[14:53] Speaker 1: If you're saying this person might be Danny Shruillo, then
[14:56] Speaker 1: that gives me something to go on. We'll start pulling
[14:59] Speaker 1: rend records and see what we can dig up. If
[15:02] Speaker 1: you think you'll target, I'll make sure patrols stay in
[15:05] Speaker 1: your area in case this person comes back. Find him.
[15:11] Speaker 1: Raf said, please. After we left the station, I couldn't sleep.
[15:20] Speaker 1: I kept picturing my dead friends. I waited until morning
[15:25] Speaker 1: and then started calling around. The high school secretary remembered me.
[15:30] Speaker 1: She didn't remember Danny, not until I gave her his
[15:34] Speaker 1: last name. I lied and told her it was for
[15:37] Speaker 1: an old alumni project. She gave me the principal's name
[15:41] Speaker 1: from that year and said he'd retired but might still
[15:44] Speaker 1: have some information on him. I contacted Raff and Jamie
[15:48] Speaker 1: about it, and we all tried getting as much information
[15:52] Speaker 1: as we could. Later that day, Jamie sent a message
[15:56] Speaker 1: in the group chat and she told us she drove
[16:00] Speaker 1: to the local records office. She had a hard time,
[16:04] Speaker 1: but apparently she managed to get something. Danny's parents were
[16:10] Speaker 1: found dead in their home less than a week after
[16:13] Speaker 1: he moved. Both bodies showed signs of massive internal trauma,
[16:19] Speaker 1: blunt force and tearing. No weapon was recovered and no
[16:23] Speaker 1: one was arrested. The case was marked undetermined and closed
[16:28] Speaker 1: after eight weeks. The report was cold and clinical. He
[16:34] Speaker 1: was relocated to a state facility, new residents sealed per
[16:38] Speaker 1: court order. That was it. There was no trace of
[16:43] Speaker 1: him after that. It was as if he disappeared completely.
[16:50] Speaker 1: I stared at the block of text on my phone.
[16:53] Speaker 1: My hands were shaking, but I didn't notice until my
[16:56] Speaker 1: phone started to slip from my grip. I used to
[17:00] Speaker 1: think guilt was something you felt in moments right after
[17:03] Speaker 1: something happened, or when someone confronted you about it. But
[17:08] Speaker 1: it wasn't like that. It spread. It pushed into your
[17:12] Speaker 1: ribs and your spine and made it hard to breathe.
[17:16] Speaker 1: I knew what we did to him was cruel. I
[17:19] Speaker 1: knew that for years, but I never thought about where
[17:22] Speaker 1: he went, or what came next, or who he had
[17:26] Speaker 1: become to survive. Jamie came over the next night. I
[17:32] Speaker 1: heard a knock and felt a flash of panic in
[17:34] Speaker 1: my chest before I saw her through the people. She
[17:38] Speaker 1: was holding two coffees in a tray and a fast
[17:40] Speaker 1: food paper bag. Her hands were shaking slightly. I let
[17:46] Speaker 1: her in and we sat in the living room with
[17:48] Speaker 1: the TV off. I keep hearing him, she said after
[17:54] Speaker 1: a while. Gregg I nodded, yeah, I am. I haven't
[18:02] Speaker 1: slept since they found legs. I'm scared to close my eyes.
[18:06] Speaker 1: I feel like something is watching me when the lights
[18:08] Speaker 1: go off. I told her I felt the same. We
[18:14] Speaker 1: laughed for a second. The laughter came quick and shallow,
[18:18] Speaker 1: with no weight to it. We sound crazy, she said,
[18:24] Speaker 1: Probably are, I replied. Then we went quiet again. The
[18:31] Speaker 1: conversations after was short and awkward, but he felt good
[18:35] Speaker 1: to be in some one's presence. I'm sure that's why
[18:39] Speaker 1: she came over in the first place. We parted ways
[18:43] Speaker 1: shortly after that. She texted me the following afternoon. The
[18:49] Speaker 1: police approved it. I'm going into protective custody. They're placing
[18:54] Speaker 1: me in a secure prison unit. It's the safest place
[18:57] Speaker 1: they've got. I called her immediately. She didn't answer. Ten
[19:05] Speaker 1: minutes later, she sent a voice message, I'm sorry, I
[19:10] Speaker 1: can't keep doing this. I'm losing my mind. Every sound
[19:14] Speaker 1: at night makes me flinch. I barely eat. I'm scared
[19:18] Speaker 1: I'll end up like Gregg and Les, and I don't
[19:20] Speaker 1: want to die screaming. This place is safe and you
[19:25] Speaker 1: guys should probably do the same. I texted back that
[19:31] Speaker 1: I understood. I told her we'd miss her and that
[19:34] Speaker 1: i'd stay in touch however I could. She replied with
[19:38] Speaker 1: her thumbs up and a broken heart emoji. Later, Raph
[19:43] Speaker 1: and I sat together in his living room. He'd packed
[19:47] Speaker 1: a duffel bag, but didn't know where he wanted to go.
[19:51] Speaker 1: He said he didn't trust any systems meant to protect people.
[19:55] Speaker 1: I didn't argue. I felt the same, and we decided
[19:59] Speaker 1: that we would be going into anything like protective custody.
[20:03] Speaker 1: He ended up crashing on my couch that night. We
[20:07] Speaker 1: made a deal to stick together for now. We had
[20:10] Speaker 1: each other, we had a weapon, and we had police
[20:13] Speaker 1: patrols circling the block. We tried pretending life could go on.
[20:19] Speaker 1: Ralph kept sleeping on my couch and I stopped logging
[20:22] Speaker 1: into work entirely. We stocked up on groceries, though most
[20:27] Speaker 1: of what we bought stayed unopened. I didn't say it
[20:30] Speaker 1: out loud, but we both believed Jamie was safer than us.
[20:35] Speaker 1: She was supposed to be the one that made it.
[20:40] Speaker 1: The call came from the detective, not the news. He
[20:44] Speaker 1: didn't speak right away. I remember his breathing more than
[20:48] Speaker 1: his voice. He came through the speaker like it'd been
[20:52] Speaker 1: running or pacing. When he finally said a name, my
[20:57] Speaker 1: legs buckled. I sat down on the floor next to
[21:00] Speaker 1: the coffee table, while Raft stood frozen by the door.
[21:05] Speaker 1: They found her that morning, dead in her cell. Her
[21:10] Speaker 1: body was destroyed, and somehow there were no traces. The
[21:16] Speaker 1: prison's availing system had failed overnight. All footage from a
[21:20] Speaker 1: wing was blacked out. Between three o two and three
[21:23] Speaker 1: seventeen a m. Three guards were found unconscious outside a unit,
[21:30] Speaker 1: and again that name, Danny Raph and I sat in silence.
[21:37] Speaker 1: After the call ended. He put his head in his hands.
[21:42] Speaker 1: I could hear him whispering to himself. He didn't cry,
[21:46] Speaker 1: but he shook hard enough that the glass on the
[21:48] Speaker 1: table rattled. Detective Harlan came to the house later that day.
[21:54] Speaker 1: He looked like hell. Look, he said, voice low. I
[22:00] Speaker 1: understand you boys don't want to be placed in police custody,
[22:04] Speaker 1: not after what has happened. But I say this as
[22:07] Speaker 1: a friend, not as a government body. Now, pack your
[22:11] Speaker 1: things and get the hell out of here. We didn't reply,
[22:17] Speaker 1: but he continued, I've got nothing to go on, he said, solemnly.
[22:23] Speaker 1: We're increasing patrols, I've pulled favors for federal assistance. But
[22:28] Speaker 1: this person, who we assumed is Danny Truillo is skilled
[22:33] Speaker 1: to a degree I've never witnessed in my life. The
[22:36] Speaker 1: thing's happening at these scenes don't make sense. I've seen
[22:40] Speaker 1: twenty year veterans from it, and what was left of
[22:42] Speaker 1: that girl. He shook his head and stood, we'll keep
[22:49] Speaker 1: a car outside, but if I were you, I damn
[22:52] Speaker 1: it all to hell and go as far away as
[22:55] Speaker 1: you can. After the detective left, rap and I decided
[23:01] Speaker 1: to follow his advice. I brought up a plan. Said
[23:06] Speaker 1: we could go west, stay with my cousin, disappear until
[23:09] Speaker 1: this all blew over. We wanted this case solved, we
[23:14] Speaker 1: truly did, but we were too scared. Raff said going
[23:19] Speaker 1: west would still mean being close. Jamie was in a
[23:23] Speaker 1: maximum security location and Danny somehow got to her, repacked
[23:29] Speaker 1: our things, decided we'd start the following morning, drove until
[23:33] Speaker 1: we reached the coast, and then decided from there. I
[23:39] Speaker 1: woke to the sound of something pounding that night. It
[23:43] Speaker 1: took a few seconds to understand what I was hearing.
[23:47] Speaker 1: My mind was still fogged with sleep. I sat up
[23:51] Speaker 1: and reached for the gun instinctively. I'd replayed what if
[23:55] Speaker 1: situations hundreds of times my mind already. The pounding came again,
[24:01] Speaker 1: three dull thuds, somewhere on the other side of the house.
[24:06] Speaker 1: I called out a Raf. No answer. I moved toward
[24:11] Speaker 1: the hallway, keeping the gun raised. I tried not to
[24:15] Speaker 1: think about why. The air smelled sour. I tried not
[24:18] Speaker 1: to think at all. RAF, I whispered, still nothing. I
[24:26] Speaker 1: reached the door to the guest room and stood outside it.
[24:31] Speaker 1: I could hear something moving on the other side, a wet,
[24:34] Speaker 1: dragging sound like wet meat pulled across the wood floor.
[24:40] Speaker 1: My fingers closed around the doorknob. I turned it and pushed.
[24:48] Speaker 1: The door opened slowly, hinges creaking loudly. The smell hit
[24:53] Speaker 1: me first, rot and bile. The room was dim. The
[24:59] Speaker 1: blackout curtains kept most of the light out, but there
[25:02] Speaker 1: was enough from the hallway to make out shapes. Raf
[25:08] Speaker 1: was on the bed, oh what was left of him.
[25:13] Speaker 1: His body was bent in half, his spine cracked backward.
[25:18] Speaker 1: One arm had been torn, cleaned off, and tossed against
[25:21] Speaker 1: the wall. His jaw hung open from one hinge, the
[25:25] Speaker 1: tongue swaying beneath it. It, on the other hand, was
[25:31] Speaker 1: hunched over him. The creature looked up when I stepped inside.
[25:37] Speaker 1: Its skin was tight and gray, pulled so thin. I
[25:40] Speaker 1: could see every bone beneath it. Saws ran up its
[25:44] Speaker 1: back and neck, leaking a dark yellow fluid that clung
[25:48] Speaker 1: in thick strings. Its arms were long, ending in hands
[25:52] Speaker 1: that dragged down to the floor. Each finger tipped in
[25:56] Speaker 1: what looked more like bone than claw. Its chest with uneven,
[26:01] Speaker 1: wet breaths. It didn't move. I raised the gun and
[26:08] Speaker 1: emptied the clip into its torso each shot hit, but
[26:13] Speaker 1: it didn't fall or seemed phazed at all. It stepped
[26:18] Speaker 1: toward me like the bullets had annoyed it. I turned
[26:23] Speaker 1: and bolted down the hallway behind me. The door exploded.
[26:29] Speaker 1: I felt pieces of it bounce off my back. The
[26:33] Speaker 1: thing was moving faster now I could hear its feet
[26:36] Speaker 1: slapping the floor. I reached the bedroom, slammed the door,
[26:41] Speaker 1: and locked it. I grabbed the dresser and pushed it
[26:44] Speaker 1: in front of the frame, then the bookshelf. My breath
[26:48] Speaker 1: came too fast, my chest climbed down in waves. I
[26:52] Speaker 1: could barely see straight. I darled nine one one, but
[26:56] Speaker 1: before the operator could even pick up, glass burst behind
[27:00] Speaker 1: me in an irruption of sound and wind. It came
[27:05] Speaker 1: in all at once, the window imploding inward, spray sharps
[27:09] Speaker 1: across the room. Hands grabbed me from behind. One clamped
[27:15] Speaker 1: around my wrist, the other gripped my shoulder. The next
[27:19] Speaker 1: thing I knew, my feet were off the floor and
[27:22] Speaker 1: a voice was barking into my ear. Move He dragged
[27:28] Speaker 1: me through the broken window frame, and I hid the
[27:31] Speaker 1: lawn hard. My shoulder slammed into the dirt. I rolled,
[27:36] Speaker 1: tasting blood in the back of my throat. Behind us,
[27:40] Speaker 1: the bedroom door cracked open. Get up, the man said,
[27:46] Speaker 1: He bawled me again. We ran through the yard, past
[27:50] Speaker 1: the clapsed garden bed, over the gravel path that tore
[27:53] Speaker 1: up my souls. My legs moved on instinct, powered by
[27:57] Speaker 1: nothing but fear. I didn't even know what was going
[28:01] Speaker 1: on anymore. There was a car parked two houses down.
[28:06] Speaker 1: We got to it, and the man yanked the door
[28:08] Speaker 1: open and shoved me inside before climbing in after me.
[28:12] Speaker 1: He started the engine without hesitation. It spluttered and groaned,
[28:17] Speaker 1: but it roared to life. We peeled away from the curb.
[28:23] Speaker 1: I turned to the man behind the wheel, heart pounding.
[28:28] Speaker 1: What the hell was that thing? I asked? And who
[28:31] Speaker 1: even are you? He looked over at me slowly. His
[28:36] Speaker 1: face was worn down to the bone. Deep creases were
[28:40] Speaker 1: carved across his cheeks and forehead. His eyes darker than
[28:44] Speaker 1: I remembered anyone's eyes being, watched me for a second,
[28:48] Speaker 1: longer than felt comfortable. It's me, Danny, he said. My
[28:58] Speaker 1: mind refused the process. He told me this man couldn't
[29:02] Speaker 1: be the same kid we stuffed into a locker. This
[29:05] Speaker 1: man looked like he'd walked through deserts and lived in
[29:07] Speaker 1: parking garages. His beard was wild, patchy around the jawline,
[29:12] Speaker 1: thick in the middle. His voice carried gravel in every word.
[29:18] Speaker 1: You're Danny, trueilo, He nodded. Before I could respond, he
[29:26] Speaker 1: spoke again. I just want to say I forgave you,
[29:32] Speaker 1: he said a long time ago. I wanted to speak,
[29:39] Speaker 1: but I let him continue. I used to lie awake
[29:42] Speaker 1: every night, he said, back when I lived at home.
[29:47] Speaker 1: I used to pray to anything that might have been listening. God, demons,
[29:53] Speaker 1: shadows on the ceiling. I didn't care what it was.
[29:57] Speaker 1: I just begged for something to take them all away.
[30:00] Speaker 1: Everyone who hurt me, my parents, the kids at school,
[30:05] Speaker 1: anyone who made me feel smaller than dirt. His hands tightened,
[30:10] Speaker 1: and the steering wheel. And one night after you guys
[30:14] Speaker 1: stuffed me in a locker, I was more adamant that
[30:17] Speaker 1: something answered than ever before. And something did answer. He
[30:24] Speaker 1: stared ahead again, eyes glassy expression. Still he wasn't recalling
[30:30] Speaker 1: it like a memory. He was reciting it something he
[30:35] Speaker 1: told himself so many times the words had become carved
[30:39] Speaker 1: into the inside of his skull. The first to go
[30:43] Speaker 1: were my parents. I found them in the living room.
[30:47] Speaker 1: My dad's back was snapped in half. My mom she
[30:51] Speaker 1: looked like she'd been folded into the carpet. The police
[30:55] Speaker 1: said it was some kind of free collapse. They moved
[30:58] Speaker 1: me into a home two towns and that should have
[31:01] Speaker 1: been the end of it, but it wasn't. He finally
[31:08] Speaker 1: looked at me again. He kept going every name I
[31:13] Speaker 1: had ever whispered in anger, every person I wished harman,
[31:18] Speaker 1: every curse I made with tears in my eyes. It
[31:22] Speaker 1: hunted them down, one by one, sometimes years later, sometimes
[31:28] Speaker 1: across the country. His voice dropped lower. You were the
[31:34] Speaker 1: last because you were far. That's it. You lived too far,
[31:40] Speaker 1: and it took time. I didn't know what to say.
[31:46] Speaker 1: I didn't know it would last this long, he said.
[31:49] Speaker 1: I thought it would burn out or turn on me.
[31:52] Speaker 1: I tried to keep ahead of it. I really did.
[31:56] Speaker 1: I moved every six months. I tried attacking it, and
[31:59] Speaker 1: every you could think of I've probably tried it. It
[32:05] Speaker 1: didn't help. I'm sorry about Gregg, I'm sorry about Les
[32:09] Speaker 1: Jamie Raff. I tried my best. The car sat in
[32:17] Speaker 1: silence for a long time. Danny's story drifted through the
[32:20] Speaker 1: air like a bad smell that wouldn't leave. I turned
[32:25] Speaker 1: toward him, my voice catching before it escaped my throat.
[32:30] Speaker 1: How do we stop it? He didn't answer right away.
[32:36] Speaker 1: He reached between the seat and the center console and
[32:39] Speaker 1: pulled out a dented metal firmace. He unscrewed the lid
[32:43] Speaker 1: and took a sip. The smell that rose up was
[32:46] Speaker 1: sharp and chemical. My stomach turned. I've been preparing for years,
[32:53] Speaker 1: he said, testing things. I don't know if It's alive
[32:58] Speaker 1: in the way you and I are, but it reacts
[33:00] Speaker 1: to pain. I've harmed it before, so it can die.
[33:07] Speaker 1: How I've built something that might work. Ammunition soaked in
[33:12] Speaker 1: a mix I've been tweaking for the better part of
[33:14] Speaker 1: a decade, silver powder, industrial salt, lye, iron fillings, a
[33:20] Speaker 1: few other things. He reached into his pocket and took
[33:25] Speaker 1: out a single round. The casing shimmered, not with polish,
[33:30] Speaker 1: but something deeper, something buried in the metal. He held
[33:35] Speaker 1: it between his fingers with care. I created the first
[33:40] Speaker 1: version of this bullet a few months ago. I hit it,
[33:44] Speaker 1: and that was the first and only time I've ever
[33:47] Speaker 1: heard it make a sound. My throat was dry. How
[33:53] Speaker 1: many of those do you have? Three? And that's enough? Maybe?
[34:02] Speaker 1: I leaned back, mind racing. Every instinct in me was
[34:07] Speaker 1: telling me to run, to take whatever car I could
[34:10] Speaker 1: find and disappear into the back roads until the fuel
[34:13] Speaker 1: ran out. But there was nowhere left to run. I'd
[34:17] Speaker 1: seen what happened to people who tried hiding. What do
[34:22] Speaker 1: you need from me? I asked Danny looked over his
[34:27] Speaker 1: voice quieter. Now it needs bait, and you're the last
[34:33] Speaker 1: name left. I nodded. There was nothing else to say.
[34:41] Speaker 1: We made it to an abandoned house. Eventually the porch
[34:44] Speaker 1: leaned toward the dirt. We drove in under the moonlight
[34:48] Speaker 1: and killed the engine a few hundred feet back to
[34:51] Speaker 1: avoid drawing attention. Inside the house was worse. The walls
[34:58] Speaker 1: were covered in pages, scribbled diagrams, symbols, names, ingredients. Half
[35:04] Speaker 1: of them I didn't recognize. The other half made my
[35:08] Speaker 1: skin itch. There were dozens of shellcasings lined up on
[35:13] Speaker 1: a cracked bugshelf. A single mattress lay in one corner,
[35:17] Speaker 1: soaked through with old sweat. Danny opened a chest in
[35:22] Speaker 1: the back and pulled out the weapon. It was a
[35:25] Speaker 1: hunting rifle, heavily modified, with wire wrapped around the barrel
[35:30] Speaker 1: and scratches etched into the stalk. He held it like
[35:34] Speaker 1: a man holding a relic, not a tool. I'll take
[35:39] Speaker 1: the shot, he said. You stay in the center of
[35:43] Speaker 1: the room, try to distract it. We waited. Hours passed,
[35:51] Speaker 1: the moon drifted. Every sound made my muscles twitch. I
[35:56] Speaker 1: sat on the floor with the empty gun from my
[35:59] Speaker 1: house across my line. It was useless now, but I
[36:03] Speaker 1: couldn't let go of it. At some point the wind died.
[36:09] Speaker 1: Danny raised the rifle without a word. The door exploded inward.
[36:16] Speaker 1: It moved through the door, leaving no trace behind. His
[36:21] Speaker 1: chest rose and fell in quick jerks. Plus spilled from
[36:24] Speaker 1: the holes in his shoulders. His head tilted as it
[36:28] Speaker 1: found me. Danny fired. The creature shrieked, a high, rattling
[36:38] Speaker 1: sound cut straight through my brain. It reared back, Smoke
[36:43] Speaker 1: rising from the impact point. His chest steamed. The flesh
[36:47] Speaker 1: there blistered and pealed. It lunged. I talked behind the
[36:53] Speaker 1: table while Danny reloaded the thing through the couch aside
[36:57] Speaker 1: and slammed its clawed hand into the floor. Outan seconds earlier,
[37:02] Speaker 1: wood split open. I rolled and kicked out at its ribs.
[37:07] Speaker 1: It didn't flinch. Danny shouted and fired again. This time
[37:12] Speaker 1: it hit the spine. The thing screamed again, louder, and
[37:17] Speaker 1: twisted in itself in mid air. His body started to
[37:21] Speaker 1: clapse inward. His torso folded over its own shoulders, cracking
[37:26] Speaker 1: like ice under pressure, It swung toward Danny. I moved
[37:32] Speaker 1: before it could reach him. I grabbed a fire poker
[37:36] Speaker 1: from the hearth and jabbed it into the side of
[37:38] Speaker 1: its skull. Its head snapped to the side, black icos
[37:42] Speaker 1: spilling around the wound. The stench hit hard, my eyes watered.
[37:48] Speaker 1: Danny raised the rifle one last time and fired into
[37:52] Speaker 1: its throat. That did it. The body froze, Its lips
[38:00] Speaker 1: trembled and bent inward, collapsing against its own weight. A
[38:05] Speaker 1: low moan echoed through the room. Then it fell apart
[38:09] Speaker 1: into ash. I dropped the poker and stood, coughing through
[38:14] Speaker 1: the smoke. Danny leaned against the wall, one hand pressed
[38:19] Speaker 1: to his ribs. The silence after the creature fell apart
[38:24] Speaker 1: pressed on the inside of my skull. My ears rang
[38:29] Speaker 1: not from the volume, but from the vacuum that followed it.
[38:33] Speaker 1: Dust drifted to the air where it had been. Danny
[38:37] Speaker 1: dropped the rifle and slid down the wall. His knees
[38:41] Speaker 1: gave out first, and he ended up sitting on the
[38:43] Speaker 1: floor with his back to the crumbling dry wall. His
[38:47] Speaker 1: breathing was uneven, and he had one arm pressed against
[38:51] Speaker 1: his ribs. I saw a line of red seeping through
[38:55] Speaker 1: his shirt, trailing down from beneath his elbow. He looked
[39:00] Speaker 1: up at me through strands of sweat drenched hair. We
[39:05] Speaker 1: did it, he said, I nodded, I didn't have anything
[39:10] Speaker 1: to say. My throat was raw and my chest ached
[39:15] Speaker 1: dan He motioned for me to come closer. I stepped
[39:19] Speaker 1: over to him. He reached behind and pulled out a revolver.
[39:25] Speaker 1: He didn't lift it toward me. He held it between
[39:28] Speaker 1: his knees. I need you to shoot me. I stared
[39:36] Speaker 1: at him. What in the side? Nothing vital enough to
[39:42] Speaker 1: look real? I took a step back. Why would I
[39:48] Speaker 1: do that? Because the police are going to need someone
[39:52] Speaker 1: to blame. They're not going to take this story and
[39:55] Speaker 1: put it in a report. You know that. He tilted
[40:00] Speaker 1: his head and met my eyes. His voice stayed, calm,
[40:05] Speaker 1: You shoot me. Tell them I lost it. Tell them
[40:09] Speaker 1: I killed your friends, came for you next. You fought back,
[40:13] Speaker 1: barely survived. I take the blame. It's over, and you
[40:19] Speaker 1: go home. That's insane. You've saved my life. His gaze
[40:26] Speaker 1: didn't waver. I crouched next to him and grabbed his arm.
[40:31] Speaker 1: There has to be another way. There isn't. He pressed
[40:37] Speaker 1: the gun into my hand. No one's gonna believe what
[40:41] Speaker 1: we saw. You know that. You can barely believe it yourself.
[40:45] Speaker 1: I can see it all over you, what we killed
[40:48] Speaker 1: didn't leave proof. There's no body or explanation you can
[40:52] Speaker 1: give to the copse. They'll think you snap too, unless
[40:57] Speaker 1: you have some one to point to. I'm not doing this.
[41:03] Speaker 1: Danny leaned back and let his head rest against the wall.
[41:06] Speaker 1: His eyes closed for a moment, then opened again. If
[41:11] Speaker 1: you don't do this, they'll keep digging. You'll end up
[41:15] Speaker 1: locked away, worse blamed for it. They already think I'm
[41:20] Speaker 1: a ghost. Make it real. I sat there, gripping the revolver,
[41:28] Speaker 1: feeling its weight press into my palm. You don't owe
[41:32] Speaker 1: me this, I said. He didn't answer. I raised the
[41:39] Speaker 1: gun slowly, hands trembling. I aimed at the soft space
[41:43] Speaker 1: below his ribs. Do it, he said. I pulled the trigger.
[41:53] Speaker 1: Then he groaned and slumped sideways, one hand clamping down
[41:57] Speaker 1: over the wound. Blood poured between his fingers and darkened
[42:01] Speaker 1: his shirt. He didn't scream, he didn't even fall fully.
[42:07] Speaker 1: He slid until his shoulders hid the floor, then gave
[42:11] Speaker 1: me a small nod. Call them, he said, through his teeth,
[42:17] Speaker 1: Tell them it's over. I did. The sirens reached us.
[42:23] Speaker 1: Twenty minutes later. I stood outside, blood on my shirt,
[42:28] Speaker 1: hands raised gun on the ground, They moved fast, weapons drawn,
[42:34] Speaker 1: shouting commands. I gave them the story Danny told me
[42:39] Speaker 1: to give. The detective didn't argue. Danny was loaded into
[42:44] Speaker 1: an ambulance under heavy restraint. I never saw him again.
[42:51] Speaker 1: The press latched onto the narrative, a local tragedy, a
[42:55] Speaker 1: case with decades of history. An unstable man allegedly traumatized
[43:00] Speaker 1: by years of bullying returned to take revenge. Authorities called
[43:05] Speaker 1: it her revenge, free rooted in trauma and delusion. The
[43:10] Speaker 1: public swallowed it whole. I was left empty in a hollow.
[43:16] Speaker 1: Everyone that surrounded me was now dead. I spent a
[43:21] Speaker 1: few months organizing funerals and accompanying grieving parents and siblings.
[43:28] Speaker 1: I would later to find out that Danny died in custody,
[43:33] Speaker 1: wounds from the bullet I had given him. I wrestled
[43:37] Speaker 1: with that for a while. I had killed him twice,
[43:42] Speaker 1: the first time in a locker and the second time
[43:46] Speaker 1: with a bullet, and I don't know which one I
[43:53] Speaker 1: regret more

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