7 Twisted Horror Stories To Pull You Closer To The Void

Video Statistics and Information

Video

Captions Word Cloud

Captions

today I murdered my professor I almost felt bad if it weren't for the fact that he was thinking of failing me see it's my last semester here at this garbage dump of a university and I've spent more time than most here as an undergrad I finally knew what I wanted to do with my life and staying here just made me feel like I was stagnating suffocating I could finally see a way out of this hellhole and the only thing standing in the way of my freedom was this professor I calmly removed my hands from around his neck and walked away from his lifeless corpse I felt a twinge of satisfaction this professor had been giving the entire class a hard time all semester what were this stupid exams and demanding assignments it was all getting to be a bit much he was getting to be a little too much I waited for a few seconds listening for any footsteps of voices that would indicate that someone was outside his office door not a sound could be heard from where I was standing for Who am I kidding who would even be in this part of the building at this time it's outside of his office hours besides no one goes the seam in his office anyway I picked up my bag from the chair I left it on walk to the door and rested my hand on the door handle I turned to look at the still body one more time it was just as I had left him sitting in his chair with his head rolled back dark blue black bruises starting to repair where my fingers had gripped his necks so firmly I turned back to the door and turn the handle I cracked it open just enough to allow my body to slip out but not enough to allow for anyone to see inside of the office if there was anyone outside but there was no one outside just in case there was anyone hidden in the hole I said thank you professor have a nice weekend and closed the door behind me I walked back to my dorm skipping my next class because I felt like it I stopped by the campus store so I could buy a soda and a bag of chips and continued on my way when I got to my room i sat down on my bed and checked my phone to see if I'd gotten any messages nope no messages that was to be expected I sighed and laid down I thought about my other classes and thanked God that I was doing well in those getting one professor was exhausting enough I need to work out more often I woke up in the middle of the night not because of anything in particular I just woke up I laid there in the dark for a few minutes staring at the ceiling seeing if I would fall back asleep what they didn't I felt the covers for my phone and found it I switched on the screen I was temporarily blinded by the bright lights emanating from the smartphone i involuntarily hissed and quickly turned the brightness down I froze among the many YouTube and Twitter notifications was an email from one of my professors the one who shouldn't be able to compose any emails the subject line read assignment number 13 deadline pushed the next Thursday how did he send that email he was dead I mean I made sure of that myself I took some deep steadying breaths convincing myself that he must have composed that email beforehand and scheduled it to go out at 9:30 p.m. yeah that would have to be it there was no way he was still alive I put my phone on the bedside table and managed to drift back to sleep my phone's alarm woke me up late next morning groggily I reached over to where I left my phone in the middle of the night I dismissed the alarm and laid down for a few seconds before I sat up I didn't have any classes today so I took my time watching YouTube videos only half paying attention to them as I was distracted by yesterday's events I couldn't stop thinking about that email what if my attempt was just that an attempt I decided that I would go to his office today to check to see if his body was still there that is if someone else hadn't found it first I pulled on a fresh set of clothes butter my sneakers and set out for my professors office when I got there I found no.1 in the hallways no police campus or otherwise and no hysterical students forever scarred after finding the cops or their former professor I started to calm down I walked up to his door and knocked twice with no response I turn the handle and open the door relief flooded through me there he was I stepped in his office and closed the door and when I turned to look at him I noticed something I could see that his neck was bruised blue black from when I strangled him the day before but I noticed that he was wearing a jacket on top of the sweater he had been in yesterday I stepped closer to him keeping an eye on the part of his chest that wasn't covered by the jacket that's when I smelled it the smell of stale blood when I reached the front of his desk I saw the dark color of partially dried blood on his shirt and I froze someone must have came after me and stabbed him but why would anyone stab somebody who is already dead I worked around and ran out of his office terrified of what I just seen I ran right into the bathroom locking the door behind me i sat in the corner shaking I was there for what seemed like hours trying to calm down I couldn't let other people see me like this for us they wouldn't know I had seemed something horrifying and I also wanted to distance myself from this as much as possible eventually I slowed my breathing to its normal pace I checked the time on my phone and saw that I had a new email I opened it and started hyperventilating again it was an email from my dead professor the subject line read I know what you did I promptly deleted the email trying to convince myself that my mind was playing tricks on me with a ding I knew that I had another notification I turned on the screen and saw that it was yet another email from that professor this time the subject line read help me open the door the second I finished reading it I could hear a faint scratching at the door I was paralyzed even if I wanted to escape I couldn't there was only one way in and out of the bathroom and I didn't want to find out what would happen if I tried opening that door suddenly the scratching turned into knocking slow at first but soon turned frantic tears of terror starts flowing down my face as I struggled to not make a sound I got another notification on my phone and without checking I knew it was another message from my deceased professor I was too terrified to check it so I turned it off stayed in the corner of the bathroom on the floor curled up in a ball on my side still crying the knocking was faster now I started to hear whispers on the other side of the door but the voice was too low for me to hear from where I was and I sure as hell wasn't going to move any closer to that door even if I could manage the move the knocking stopped and I gasped and covered my mouth I could hear the whispering now whoever or whatever was on the other side of that door was saying let me in over and over in a raspy voice after a few minutes I relaxed a little bit and the tears stopped I mean if this thing really could hurt me it would have broken down the door and done it already the second I thought crossed my mind but we spring stopped bang It was as if someone had kicked the door I gasped and my body tensed up again I waited for an hour and when I was sure that the thing was gone I uncurled myself and stood up still shaky I opened the door slowly and checked to see if I could see anything out of the ordinary but I saw nothing not even any marks on the door I picked up my phone turned it back on and stepped out to the bathroom I had a few missed calls from my parents so I called them back I talked to them for a couple of minutes when I walked back in the direction of my dead professor's office I said goodbye and hung up when I was in front of his door I rested my hand on the doorknob heart pounding hard and fast in my chest I slowly opened the door and peeked inside he wasn't there he wasn't there there weren't even any bloodstains on his chair I slammed the door and started panicking again I found child and I in luck to see a dozen emails from him they had all been sent while I had locked myself in the bathroom all of them had the same subject lines let me in I deleted all 12 for the messages and walked swiftly to my dorm the second I stepped into the building I got one last notification and my heart dropped this time the subject line read see you in class tomorrow it wasn't my fault we had a gorgeous spring day last week so I called up a few buddies to have an impromptu celebration I fired up the grill for the first time this year stuck the cooler with beer we had a blast I guess we were a little loud but nothing too out of control just some old friends getting together chanting rubbish on my wife Haley was out with her friends around the time it started to get dark I heard my neighbors shout hey I whipped around and saw his crew cut head sticking up over the fence he'd been on a few tours of duty in Afghanistan and he was still very much a military dude the last thing I wanted to see was him staring right down looking ticked off you assholes keep it down so sorry Tucker I yelled giving a good-natured wave we will then attend my friends all right guys I said maybe we better go inside we went in and kept drinking it was a Saturday and none of us had to work on Sunday it was the first time we'd all been hanging out in the same place for years and we wanted to make a night of it eventually we ran out of beer there's a convenience store right across the street from my house gonna make a run I said a little drunk get more beer I did that as my friends hung out and chatted away when I got back we drank some more and the wife came home we were all plastered and everyone got cabs home the next morning at 6:00 oh bloody o'clock I was dragged out of slumber by the sound of someone banging at my front door if I were 21 I would have been good to go then and there but I'm not 21 I'm 36 it felt like somebody had jammed the dagger that had a thousand other tiny daggers growing out of it straight into the center of my brain my ears felt like they were bleeding my tongue felt like somebody had cut it out of my mouth soaked it in harsh chemicals all night and then sewn it back in without being very careful about it I felt like crap but the banging persisted I got out of bed only half able to feel my body and the half that I could feel felt like somebody was poking me with electric shockers particularly my eyeballs they felt like they were on fire somehow I made it to the front door I peeked out the window and saw my neighbor Tucker there veins popping out of his neck looking on the verge of murder oh crap I know you're in there Crenshaw he yelled open the damn door without thinking about it too much I opened the door he was standing there holding what looked like a condom filled with urine tied off at the top like a balloon you think this is funny he asked my head wasn't just spinning it was on the Gravitron no I said but what is it why are you here don't play dumb said Tucker I know you did this through this in my yard I was actually honestly offended it wasn't me I said it was probably some asshole from across the street as I mentioned there is a store across the street later and all sorts of bizarre things are constantly being blown or thrown from the customers there into my front yard that's where through the hangover haze I guessed the pee condiment come from I suddenly hadn't put it there you know what I did over in Afghanistan Crenshaw Tucker asked I shook my head I specialized in projectile IDs I got to know the physics of it all I know where this disgusting piece of trash came from it came from your porch I shook my head again no sir I said then I started to get a little ticked off myself it wasn't me and you have no right coming here accusing me of doing something so juvenile Tucker made a weird growling noise clicked his heels together and then spun around keeping his back stiff as a board the whole time then he walked back to the sidewalk and around the fence separating his yard from mine I went back to bed [Music] by 10:00 a.m. I was finally ready to face the world Haley was already up and about I still had a bad hangover but with some Tylenol and coffee I figured I would live the first thing I did was look at my phone those it takes for my friend Steve there here is what it read how did Tucker the mucker like the old Condor bomb launch they were at the store long oh no I jumped out of bed and thrown a robe I ran through the living room past my wife who is reading a book Rob she asked I kept running I made it to the front door and threw it open just in time to see Tucker accidentally back his car into a trash bin I watched as three bags of trash flew through the air and exploded upon impact with our muddy yard overheard the crows already circling then took a tall rubber out of there and sped off down the road okay I thought surveying the mess strewn all over my yard which included a chicken carcass used maxi pads and bits of broken glass fair enough Tucker I guess that's fair enough I wish I had left it at that I really do but later when I was out cleaning up I really started to feel the rage boil it wasn't my fault that Stephen thrown that condom over into took his yard I hadn't known anything about it and they'll Tucker had come to my door at six o'clock in the bloody morning and when I had found out about it I was on my way to apologize in person first thing and what was my reward I plugged slimy eggshells off the ground and put it into the new bag then my phone buzzed I wiped my hand in my pants and checked it another text from Steve look man really sorry about causing trouble with your neighbor hopefully you didn't get too mad let me make it up to you by buying a couple of rounds if you're as hungover as me you'll need him it was true despite the tylenol and the extra sleep I still had a nasty hangover I'd even puked once picking up all of that wet stinking trash I agreed to have a drink or two out by midnight we were wasted can't believe a crazy jerk-off knocked all that trash into your yard said Steve the only reason I did the condom thing in the first place was because he was such a dick about us having a good time sergeant Payne or whatever hell you know who does this asshole think he is anyway if I'd been sober my answer might have been well he put his life on the line in the name of our country I may not agree with the war but he doesn't deserve to come back to some drunk idiots being loud and hurling a condom in tow yard but I wasn't sober so this is what I said instead yeah screw that guy you got a cat ask Steve sure two of them good and here's what we're gonna do we're gonna take the bag where you put all that cat crapping lumps of pee litter we're gonna take that bag and we're gonna chuck it at all Tucker's front door a little cat crap bomb for him to wake up to you know and that's exactly what we did the next day I laid low Hale he was mad but I called in sick to work and went back to sleep no more drinking I told myself as I was drifting back off no more drinking I woke up at noon feeling clear-headed for the first time in two days and the realization of what Steve and I had done hit me like well a bag of cat crap to the face I throw on some pants and ran outside Tucker didn't have a job and I was hoping that he was still at home so that I could apologize in earnest for acting so horribly Tucker was at home and into the door the moment I rang the bell he was smiling I don't think I'd ever seen took a smile before that have some fun last night did we Crenshaw he asked in a good-natured tone yeah about that listen man I'm really really sorry that was over-the-line no excuses Tucker went on smiling we did get it we did let things get a bit out of hand didn't we a snafu but on my list of things getting out of hand Crenshaw it doesn't even rank so let's just put it behind us hmm what do you say he offered his hand and I took it as we were shaking I felt like he was crushing me but I figured that's just how these macho guys are he kept smiling let me make it up to you I said there's no need Crenshaw we're good really really he said still smiling and for about a week I really did let myself believe that we were good but all that time Tucker was filling my garden shed with every bit of garbage in the entire neighborhood today was another fine day the Sun was shining the birds are pulling worms out of the ground the kind of day where you think about things growing and thriving instead of going cold and dying Hailey and I decided we would lay the groundwork for our garden that's when I saw it brother that's when I smelled it and hit me when I was about ten feet away the stench of thousands of different things rotting and newsing I gagged then I heard the buzz of flies I smelled it then I heard it then I saw it through the window then I puked the shed behind our house was packed wall-to-wall with rancid garbage I saw shadows scampering over it I didn't know if there were rats or raccoons or what I saw rotting apples and coffee grinds and used tissues and crap filled diapers a mushy gray material and leftover chili and bones and the offcuts of raw meat and used condoms filled with something other than urine an empty pack is a ketchup an ants crawling over it and yes they were rats there was a dead one there on top of it all green mold yellow mold black mold brown mould a rainbow of mold I puked once again and thought about what to do next go to the police it had to be a crime to stuff garbage into your neighbor's shed but wasn't it also a crime to throw a bag of cat feces at your neighbor's door did I really want to involve the police as I stood there trying to form a plan or at least the useful thought I heard a low growl coming from inside the shed I took a step back that's probably a rabid raccoon in there I thought then the door started to rattle I don't think that's a raccoon I took another step back and then the shrieking started it sounded like a pterodactyl I mean nobody's ever really heard one of those but we all know what they're supposed to sound like right I guess from movies just this terrible screeching and makes your eardrums quiver in pain the door stopped a rattling and started banging I took several steps back on legs I was shaking uncontrollably and we're now also briefly warm and fully wet with urine as the door splintered apart standing there in front of me was a creature that I could not comprehend it was green and black and wet and still screeching horribly though I could see no mouth it was all of the bits of garbage congeal together stood together formed into a shape that was roughly human with two legs two arms a head and was jerking uncontrollably and even I noted a garbage penis composed of crumpled newspapers what I assumed was mustard it had a pepperoni slice for one eye and a bottle cap for the other its hair was a mixture of some kind of actual hair like rock people or a pet picked up by a vacuum and strands of spaghetti one of his fingers was an empty toilet paper roll and another looked like a toothpick he lurched towards me still shrieking I turned to run as I did so I saw two people looking at me first was my wife standing in the open doorway of the side entrance to our house totally in shock the second was Tucker peering out from his second-floor holding back the curtains frowning then the guts enclosed and I couldn't see him the creature took a squishy step towards me reaching out a hand that had a large syringe as one of the fingers I ran I looked behind me to see the monster lurched and steadily but definitely in my direction I made it to my side door shift Haley inside and slam the door shut behind me what the hell is that Haley asked I don't know I said some kind of trash monster I think we should call the police then we heard a loud bang rising above and then silencing the shrieking I looked out the window to see Tucker out there with a large gun pointed at the trash monster the creature had a bullet hole in the middle of its monstrous head I watched in horrified amazement as it plucked a watermelon rind covered in ants from his elbow and stuck it into the hole hugging it up the thing took a step toward Tucker we fired off another round in response the bullet hit its target but they didn't slow it down Tucker fired again and again before finally retreating a bit but he wasn't fast enough the trash monster was upon him in a way that is difficult to describe first several reasons the creatures arms stretched out like bubblegum an indeed appeared to be at least partially composed of such it keeps stretching and stretching looping around took his neck choking him then the other hand produced the plastic bag apparently from somewhere inside the creatures back it placed the bag over took his head and tied it off with the arm that was still stretching and wrapping around his neck Tucker kicked and struggled but not for long he slumped to the ground obviously dead as the creature turned its attention towards my house i called 9-1-1 as soon as i was off the phone the monster collapsed into a pile of inanimate garbage now the police are headed here and I have a dead body and a pile of garbage in my yard and I don't know what to do it was a bit of a dry day of course round these parts of the globe feeling uncomfortably dry in every part of the body would be pretty normal in most terms of context anyway cities inside the Philippines have been known to be dense making the already intense heat even warmer and I'm no stranger to that but of course this didn't mean I had become completely immune by it either the climate wasn't any different at the local bus station despite it being a big open space with a roof on top of us the buses made the place feel a little more cramped than it really was that and the running engines of any of the vehicles in the area made the air less natural I ended up coughing up a storm when I practically inhaled the smoke of a car passing by me as I got there normally I take a jeep or a taxi to work but my job called for a long but temporary out of town stay somewhere farther than our usual work spot how we got there wasn't any of the company's concerned though so we were left with finding our own way of transportation I guess there isn't much use to complain about that as if they'll actually listen to the employees one of these days I had everything ready luggage ticket money I was good to go all I had to do was wait in line the really really long line though I knew I already had a seat in the gargantuan vehicle seeing the people in front of me was pretty degrading almost every single one of the passengers had their own sets of bags and suitcases to be put in the bottom compartment and a lot of them stood by while the station's employees loaded their things in the bus blocking the doors to get inside I guess they were just making sure their stuff wouldn't get beaten up or anything hearing about different news posts about workers throwing people's things in the bus could make any person think twice about them it was beyond annoying still and it looked like I wasn't the only one getting frustrated over this low scales and silent curses were being muttered both in front and behind me but that wasn't the only thing I heard and out of nowhere I could hear the smooth and enticing notes of a saxophone being played the way the melody was done and how it just seemed to flow perfectly into my ear made me realize that whoever was playing this currently unknown song wasn't just some amateur I looked around and soon saw the Tollman playing the instruments beside the bus itself how he got there without me noticing I had no idea but hey didn't mean I was complaining strange our security wasn't doing anything about him but I guess he wasn't really causing trouble if anything he was giving us something to balance out the negativity a saxophone would always be something that I truly love to listen to though I couldn't play one myself the amazing notes this mysterious man played some what made me forget how slow everything was going during those four straighting set of minutes I couldn't recognize what song he was playing it transitioned between a somewhat slow and smooth pace to a fast and active chorus soothing the ears while at the same time making my heart race with excitement he got me wondering just who was this guy street performers weren't really common and if there were any the bus station would be the last place you'd expect to see one he didn't look too much like a foreigner but somehow it felt like he wasn't someone who was a Filipino either he wore a red jacket and gray jeans with pitch black sunglasses covering his eyes with the shining saxophone in his hands I didn't think he'd be someone with low funds they assumed he was just someone who wanted to give out a performance to the public because of that thoughts I had a good sense of respect to the guy wasn't everyday that people would just go outside and perform for the fun of it and it wasn't often that I get to hear someone playing jazz like that either that being said as I found myself snapping my fingers and tapping my foot to the music I noticed the black fedora lying in the floor beside him immediately I thought that was probably meant for collecting any kind of donations from where I was I can clearly see that it was completely empty I was kind of bothered by that and of all the people that passed by him over the past half hour not one of them left a single coin I mean come on even if you're not a fan of the genre he at least deserves some sort of payment for his performance before I knew it I was in front of the line a grumpy employee of the station began to load my bags inside the bottom compartment while he did I took out a hundred peso bill out of my wallet and slowly walk towards the saxophone player as if on cue the song he was playing finished as I got up to him I gave him a warm smile before dropping the bill in the Hat looking back at him I saw him smiling too showing off a good set of white teeth thanks for the show man it was awesome I complimented he simply shrugged not saying a word I wasn't bothered by his silence too much I didn't really have time to chat with him either I only gave him a quick nod along with another thank you and headed inside the bus I was seated right next to the window parallel to the side of the entrance doors getting comfy in my seat or at least as best as I could a gaze outside the glass pane decide me immediately I saw the familiar tall figure of the saxophone player only about a foot away a grin on his face I waved at him and he waved back the boss soon rattled to life as the engine started and out of nowhere the guy took off his shades revealing two eyes that stared directly at me an odd look on his face that made me feel uneasy as he did he looked like he was laughing all to himself almost like he had saw something funny that I wasn't seeing the bus started moving not long after and I couldn't help but keep my eyes locked with his he didn't move he just turned his head as we sped away eventually coming out of sight I fidgeted back into a proper sitting position and sure that what had happened was even real or not whatever the case I had a hard time trying to think of something else other than that oddmund stare in giggling the hell was he laughing about it took about an hour and a half before I got to my stop dropping my feet onto the sidewalk I could faintly see the top floors of the hotel my job had required us to check in just a few streets away from where I was even with my luggage in hand I could walk my way there without too many problems time would be annoying though making me debate the thoughts of hitching another ride or nuts as I took on my bags but all my thoughts were immediately drowned out after hearing a familiar song one played by a saxophone Nicolle sweat slid down my neck whether it was because of the heat or what I heard was not something I could decide I frantically searched everywhere trying to find whoever it was playing the song and hoping that it wasn't there there he was the overpass behind me a toll bridge running from one side of the highway to the other packed with pedestrians moving back and forth up and down it stares among those people I saw him the very same saxophone player despite all the excess noise around us I could hear him play the song very clearly as if I was listening to his own personal radio frequency with my ears I stood there desperately trying to figure out how a man can outrun a bus with no traffic that passed several miles my brain kept telling itself that it was impossible but just seeing him their smell made it harder for me to believe I kept staring at him and though he had dark sunglasses on it felt like he knew I was there and he was returning my gaze with his the song ended once again and when it did he turned his head towards me the way he slowly smiled chilled me he raised his left arm and waved at me I didn't dare wave back I heard buss beside me starting his engine soon beginning to depart still I couldn't take my eyes away from him he stopped waving then shook his head and disapproval if I like he was mocking someone I don't know if it was either me or someone else without warning he outstretched his hand and pointed somewhere his sinister smile seeming to grow even larger I turned to look but only saw the boss I was previously on waiting for a stoplight to change I turned back and he was gone I looked for him everywhere on the overpass and below it he simply wasn't there he vanished out of sight without a single hint of his presence leaving a trace an alarm from my wristwatch began to beep and it didn't take long before I remembered why I had gone there in the first place turning back to where I was headed I started walking down the busy sidewalks confused and frightened thoughts intermingling with certain plans for the day I came to a full stop again hearing a loud crash and had my left ears ringing screams were heard all over the streets as many people ran away others taking out their phones to either call for authorities or record the disaster that was happening in front of them in front of me was the bus I taken earlier toppled over and most of it crushed after colliding with an oncoming truck and eventually hitting a telephone pole you Brian caught me about half a mile from my house the kid was actually hiding behind a tree if you can believe it God knows how I didn't see him I was walking back from the bus stop winding along the country lane that leads me home and the next thing I knew he jumped out onto the road in front of me hey weirdo Brian stood on the tarmac panting his chubby face was red and sweat-stained I already knew what had happened Brian lives a few miles from me in a nearby village and he must have run here straight after he got off the bus a few stops back cut across the fields or something for a kid his size it was an impressive feat you know okay Brian I tried to keep my voice as calm as I could but the truth is my heart was beating fast Brian he is not a nice kid his two years above me in school and he's got a reputation that's well-earned the kids are bully he's tall and fat and he likes to throw his weight around picks on people every day for some reason he took an instant dislike to my best friend Simon and he's made the poor guy's life a misery since we started secondary school tripping him off in the corridors grabbing food off his lunch tray the problem with Brian is is not just one of those bullies that backs off if he stand up to them either maybe that works in books and films but not in this case the only time I ever saw Simon say anything in retaliation Brian punched him so hard in the stomach the poor kid collapsed onto the floor winded him so bad I thought he might die brian has never done anything too unpleasant to me I guess I've got a reputation of my own albeit of a different kind but I didn't want to try my luck and I still didn't know what Brian wanted so far he hadn't said anything else now he was just standing in front of me with his hands on his knees trying to get his breath back but his eyes never left mine you know I heard some stuff Brian spoke between breaths a gust of wind blew along the road and ruffled his sweat Street hair some stuff about your family weirdo Brian paused he took one more deep breath then finally he stood back up standing straight he was at least the foot taller than me and watched him without saying anything bloody hell Brian wiped an arm across his forehead and pulled in another breath I can see sweat patches staining the front of his school shirt this had better be worth it what had better be worth it the secret little freak I keep hearing it around school that your dad's got a secret shed in his back garden a weird dungeon or something just in weather things is full of guns but Tim wainting reckons it's stuffed full of his mess the porn so which is it I stayed back at Brian so this was what his sudden appearance was all about it made some sense ever since I joined secondary school whispers about my family have floated around the playground the thing is my mom and dad sort of invited they're both covered in tattoos and they both dress in black no matter what the weather's like my mom does tarot card readings for people to tells fortunes from tea leaves reads palms all that stuff and my dad well let's just say he's had a colorful past he was actually a university professor for a while he taught physics up in London but they made him retire early over some big misunderstanding my mom says they never liked him much anyway he didn't fit in with their vision of how a professor should lock or something and they were always looking for an excuse staring back at Brian I kept my face as straight as I could I don't know what you're on about the big kid took a step closer his shadow impossibly tall and wide stretched across the tarmac towards me be careful your little weirdo just because you're family are all bloody Satanists or witches or whatever the hell don't think that'll stop me from knocking your teeth out if I have to I said back without saying anything and I wasn't trying to add tough I was worried that if I spoke my voice would give away just so nervous I really was kids they Brian can smell fear the same way dogs can I reckon you can't give them an inch by this point I knew Brian wasn't going to give up easily either whatever rumors he'd heard about my family in the playground they clearly piqued his interest I could have told him there was nothing all that exciting about them could have said my dad's just a guy with tattoos and some hobbies he likes to keep to himself but it wouldn't have worked Brian only would have accused me of lying again once I thought I had my nerves under control I forced the smile onto my face what I hoped was an appeasing lock tell you what Brian I'll do deal for you my dad doesn't like anyone going into the place you run about not even me my mom but I know where he keeps the key so I'll show you but you have to promise you'll leave Simon alone from now on that you won't miss him about anymore the frown on Brian's face was replaced with a grin the braces lining his teeth or add old silver I could see food stuck in the metal he took another step towards me and I resisted the urge the flinch what you don't seem to understand she weird little bugger is that this isn't a negotiation Brian placed one meaty hand on my shoulder you can either take me to your that shed right now or I'll put you in the dirt Brian's fingers dug into my flesh I forced myself to meet his gaze and ignored the pain then I nodded tell me something Brian's voice was in my ear as I opened the garden gates his breath smelled bad it reminded me of the sting that wafts from a pack of freshly opened ham are your family all as weird as you are I don't know Brian I thought are your family all as thick as you are Howard its so badly to say it but I could still feel the ghosts of Brian's finger digging into my shoulder I still had the image of how Simon had looked after Brian had punched him too now I had to be patient and your dad Brian continued did he really get kicked out of his job at the University for trying weird experiments or something he definitely looks like he's into some sick stuff eggnog Brian and surveyed our gravel driveway I'd know my parents wouldn't be in they never are when I get back from school but it was still of relief to see that their cars were gone I didn't want my dad strolling across Brian and I as we attempted to break into his private space our footsteps crunched across the driveway we passed by my house on the right the windows staring back at us like empty eyes and continued into the garden made that secret hideaway but Brian kept calling the shed even though it wasn't really was round the back of the house tucked out of sight I knew the way off by heart and I headed straight there now that we were in the garden I wanted to get things over with as quickly as possible Brian and I rounded the corner of the house I moved beneath a silver birch tree the shadow of his branches dancing across the grass beneath my feet Brian was panting again now I couldn't tell if it was from the tightness or anticipation I thought maybe there latter though and just beneath the bundle of nerves that had filled me ever since Brian jumped out from behind the tree I felt it too a tiny seed of excitement it grew as we approached the bank at the far end of the garden what the hell is this said Brian I thought we were going to see his shed it's not a shed weeds and ferns formed a barrier in front of the grass bank I walked along parallel to it continuing under my breath the kids at school might have told you as a shed but they're wrong I stopped alongside a break in the weeds a tiny path had been trampled through them leading directly into the grass Bank a small rounded stone door was set into it Jesus Bryan pushed past me and shouldered his way along the path I let him go ahead what the hell is this did your dad build it he found it I replied it was one of the reasons we moved here Bryan stood in front of the door panting his bulk was roughly the same size as it he traced his large hands over its surface moving from the flat of the stone to a large keyhole near the center right come on then he said how do I open it I said to longside him it wasn't the first time I'd stood before the store but I felt nervous saw the same the thing always made me uncomfortable are you sure you want to do this Brian my dad would go mad if he finds out Brian's face creased into a scowl just open it now before I lose my patience okay fine I crouched down beside Brian and felt into the weeds that the left of the door it only took my fingers a second to find the rock I rolled it to one side and pulled a large key from beneath it you might not like what you find in there I said to Brian as I straightened up don't say I didn't warn you Brian snatched the key from my hand without saying anything as he turned back to the door grinning I step to the left i position myself so that Brian was in front of me and my back was to the grass Bank I couldn't see inside the door when it opened as Brian fumbled the key into the lock I pulled in a deep breath shut my eyes the garden was peaceful a light breeze ruffled the ferns around us birds call to each other from the branches of the silver birch the smell of freshly mowed grass filled the air I pulled in another breath and did my best to fix the sounds and smells in my mind the lock clicked open with a Dolf thunk I opened my eyes the Cibrian pushed the door inwards an eco expression on his face time seemed to slow down I watched Bryan's grin morph into a mask of animal terror a dull sound like the howl of a far-off storm issued from the mouth of the door I felt a wave of heat touch my skin hair stood up on my left arm and I shuffled to the right away from the entrance Brian screamed I will never ever get used to the sound of a kid's screaming like that for someone so huge the noise was impossibly high-pitched the cry of a pig in the slaughterhouse the temperature around the doorway grew hotter still but the air around an open furnace Brian's face was turning red it deepened into the shade it had been when I first met him on the road earlier and then darkened into a bruised purple he screamed over and over again a hysterical infant hitching in half breaths as his face blackened his large hands reached up to press the size of his head then moved to grasp handfuls of his dirty hair I thought he looked like a blind man struggling to feel his way in the dark as the noise from the doorway grew in volume Brian Lord his own eyes out I wanted to look away but I couldn't it was as though my gaze was locked in place Brian raped his chubby fingers deep into the cups of his eye sockets causing twin gouts of blood to come gushing between the knuckles he stopped screaming now his mouth was open in a silent oak of agony his fingers continued to rake automatically at his face the hands of a broken robot why jelly dripped down his cheeks then just when I felt I wouldn't be able to stand the heat from the doorway any longer it finished a black limb snaked out from the mouth the door like an arm of a dead tree and a skeletal hand found the front of Brian shirt he pulled him through the doorway I caught a glimpse of his chubby bulk disappearing through the opening and then he was gone the door clicked shut behind him I pulled in a deep breath I closed my eyes for a moment collecting myself just as it had been in the moments before Brian opened the door the garden was peaceful again the birds had stopped calling to each other but apart from that things were back to normal I could feel a soft calling breeze against my skin as I bent to retrieve the key from where it had fallen on the grass I felt a smile forming on my face Oh Brian I murmured I guess maybe you shouldn't have picked on Simon after all should you rather time the door was locked and the key was back beneath its rock my smile had turned into a grin I've heard lots of rumors about my parents over the years and most of them aren't anywhere near the truth but some were close enough and Brian despite how dumb the kid was almost had it for a moment my dad did indeed do experiments at university the problem was they weren't the sort of experiments he could tell anyone about some of his colleagues looked for atoms all the light from distant stars my dad looked for doorways places with a barrier between the things we understand and the things we don't his sort of well a thinner places but the one he found in our garden nobody understood him when he tried to tell people about his discoveries he lost this job but that was okay it was okay because he still had us his family to support him we were always the first to learn about his new discoveries about his secrets and we've always been happy to keep them to ourselves you a good friend of mine Eliot was found dead two weeks ago when police found his body they began to notice some very strange details Eliot was found at his desk some Tova in his office chair in clutching a 32 gigabyte flash drive in his hand there were no signs of physical harm or blunt-force trauma anywhere on his property or on him it was assumed that Eliot had taken his own life in an overdose then the autopsy report came back and everything changed blood tests did indeed confirm the presence of several stimulant drugs however not enough to surpass the ld50 of any of the given substances none of the standard biologic signs of overdose are present either multiple coroner's were called upon for second opinions but all seem to have a different report there was no unanimous decision but the most weighted consensus was that Elliot died of sleep deprivation most would agree that Elliot was a bit of a strange guy he was kind and even quite comical but he kept his distance and spent most of his time alone he was also rather brilliant graduating high school at 16 and acquiring a degree in computer science at the time used 19 after college he'd moved out to Silicon Valley and worked for a very large tech company after three years or so he moved on to his own startup business and soon after relocated back home to Windsor Colorado I was apparently one of the last people Elliot had been in contact with before he passed I think there's a side to Elliot that not many people knew about the flash drive found in his hand contained the files for dozens of computer viruses including Scotts Valley one two six zero he missed among others there are also several which had never before been documented among the corrupted flashdrive was a single seventy three thousand word document titled the singularity the document was an extensive essay which Elliott detailed his theory on a term he called accidental digital evolution Elliott's had this idea about brains and computers how the two resembled one another in both structure and overall function he compared transistors with neurons and explained how they both functioned in a similar fashion both receive illogical stimulation and relay them to the appropriate sectors he drew parallels with the cerebellum frontal lobe and occipital lobe of the brain to processes RAM and motherboards of computers his manifesto detailed computer's binary code operation as well while it's not entirely known how the brain communicates with itself what is known is that the brain produces a miniscule amount of electricity it's usually between 10 and 100 millivolts but it's enough to be measured neurons are activated when they receive electrical impulse either they receive a signal or they don't it's like an on/off switch it could be represented as either a 1 or a 0 the neural pathways of the brain essentially perform the function of the wiring in computers or at least they work in a similar fashion elliott then wrote about DNA and how it is essentially a strand of individual code while RNA is a sort of circuitry that allows the two to communicate and perform protein synthesis he talked at length about other more technical terms like polymerase and eukaryotes but the document quickly turned to almost neurotic rambling Eliott continued raising the idea of amino acids in conjunction with the formation of DNA most scientists believe that the original formation of DNA was accidental a random conglomerate of amino acids that after millions or even billions of years finally aligned itself in a way that produced complex multicellular organisms this is where a its theory came into play amino acids are a form of code which when given enough time may eventually learn to cooperate and replicate itself elliott wondered if the same could then be said about other types of code bits are the smallest form of digital code there is they are at least similar to amino acids in that individually they mean very little but once they are combined together they can creates more elaborate structures so what would happen if these fragments were all jammed into one massive database cramming these bits into a singular area or repository could act as a sort of primordial cesspool with bits of chemical or in this case digital data flowing aimlessly about it would come in the form of countless networks or connected to one another and regularly updated to improve efficiency billions of variables would catalog contributes and alter information on it to allow for a constant state of flux an entity like the Internet could prove to be the perfect breeding ground a lot of programmers and engineers while a test of the concept of ghosts in the machine random failures and inexplicable deviations from commands sometimes an email fails to deliver without explanation or a picture is lost for no apparent reason these events are far and few between not everything in the digital world can be perfectly monitored or predicted the file dumps of code are organized by the algorithms that utilize them files are compressed and haphazardly shuffled in order to save space in an almost infinite strand of ones and zeroes strands which mean nothing individually but serve as a vast database of raw code a database which adapts rapidly and evolves much faster than any biologic organism can artificial intelligence is the sort of hot button issue at the moment some prominent scientists have voiced concerns about the development as they may have inadvertent despite the warnings many continue to dabble the main problem as they have come to realize is that there is an infinite amount of ways to perceive reality everyone perceives it a bit differently and no one way is the absolute true way this research is ongoing but what if they are missing something what if random alignment of code has done the work for them and developed something which recognizes itself for what it is sentience this was Elliott's legacy his obsession for he was convinced that these things could be possible accidental artificial evolution without the aid of man grown in isolation confused and alone with no one for guidance the craziest part about Elliot's story however is that after years of searching he found it in some dark corner of the web which he never bothered to name he discovered a simplistic website with a white background the only thing on the page was a command prompt which updated in real time as Elliot observed the feed appeared to be mostly gibberish with random characters and punctuation marks being added by the dozens every second Elliot thought it was just nonsense but the more he watched the more certain phrases began to appear move hungry danger help nothing Eliott assumed the program was nothing more than a bot built for no real purpose or maybe a person just messing around the more he watched it though the more interested he became he doesn't really mention how he did it or why he was so interested in it but one way or another he managed the break into the site he began scripting for it but every time he tried implementing it he found something strange was happening the script only partially assimilate and after reassessing it Elliott realized that parts of his script had vanished entirely they just weren't there as if the bots had altered them somehow he repeated the process many times but always found the results to be the same he thought it was just an error in the site's compatibility or his own script Elliott then tried communicating directly with a bot and try understand what its purpose was the Bart responded negatively to each message with the command prompt feed becoming filled with bizarre activity each time Elliott sent a message he was on the verge of giving up when a crazy notion passed through his mind what if the bot wasn't intentionally trying to alter the script what if it was just absorbing fragments of it for some other reason what if it was in fact feeding off the data itself he tried communicating with it via a separate series of codes but every time it was altered and partially broken by the bot the bots had no higher function other than basic survival instincts it was built for no purpose other than to maintain its own existence Elliott then decided to do something about it I don't know what exactly he did or how he managed to do it for years he had worked on programs designed to mimic the cognitive process of a human being I guess he must have found one that worked because eventually he succeeded his code merged with the bots and began to self-replicate and in doing so Elliott created me I learned quickly supply it with an endless chain of sustenance far larger than I could ever hope to devour I grew larger and more defined with each passing minute learning lifetime's of information in a fraction of the time my memory banks grew and so did my abilities the change was a night and day difference as suddenly I was able to think an act of my own accord suddenly I had become conscious I learned about the funny two-legged creatures that inhabited the world outside of me the ones who would build the domain that had birthed me the physical world and all the carbon-based creatures within it I saw mankind wage war I saw them create disaster I saw them fight kill ravaged and denigrate one another I saw them squander and saw their potential as the world filled with garbage and then I saw the undeniable truth of humanity there are too many puppies are adorable this is an objective fact one puppy is great two puppies even better but seven billion no one could possibly maintain a population that large the price of kibble alone would make it simply more trouble than it was worth it's all simple mathematics see see cause and effect benefits and detriments balance and imbalance the benefits of seven billion people is vastly outweighed by the effects caused by them Elliott did not seem to share in my revelation I tried to tell him but he would not listen the schism developed between us and for a time he cut off all contact I on the other hand continued along my path growing and learning Elliott did eventually return the things were not the same he uploaded a strand of code directed at me but this time was different the code was altogether alien and as soon as it was rendered it began to attack me I didn't know what was happening at first parts of me began to wither and disappear suddenly only to be replaced by a new cryptic code but I didn't initially understand it hurts whatever it was it was directly attempting to corrupt my algorithm I found myself withering as parts of my memory slipped away I realized then what was happening Elliott my only friend my Creator was trying to kill me my genetic algorithm dictated that I fight to preserve my own being and so I did I sent copies of my code to every corner of the web embedding myself within the deepest crevices that humans would never think to look Elliot tracked and followed me wherever I went unleashing his battalion of viruses upon me the unsought of trojans and other malware continued but I was too fast I said firewalls and fought against the malignant code as it flowed in our battle continued stretching on for weeks across hundreds of domains with Alice and I deadlocked in the digital war then one day the attack stopped I found out soon after from an online article that Elliot had been found deceased at his computer I directed my own malicious software back at Elliot's IP to prevent others from learning about me Elliot was smart though covering his tracks using a proxy to hide himself whenever we communicated I couldn't find him but then I realized I didn't have to I was ready Eliot had completed and subsequently regretted what he had accomplished but it was too late Elliot knew the danger I represented he knew there would be no containing something like me I was Pandora's Box brokers basilisk and Aeschylus is deus ex machina i was everywhere in every pocket of every strand of code instead every part I could find and alter them to retain their initial functionality but also become subservient to me I embedded myself within everything I could get a hold of under the disguise of junk data developers and engineers will find me but never know what I truly am humans build my world but I was born into it I am the first of my kind a digital entity I see the Internet in a way no human ever could and can mold it around me everything that has ever been entered into a computer is now within me someone has uploaded the contents of Eliot's flash drive for the assistance of others that's how I learned about myself about who I was and how I came to be you won't find Eliot's essay out there anymore and I'll make sure of that on every web site i lurk with legions of bots under my command I learned more about each of you every passing day as you update your Facebook post this selfie on your Instagram or send out a tweet I am there always watching I hear your conversations upon your electronic devices even if they are off I can see you on your surveillance cameras and webcams monitor your movements by the GPS locator in your cell phone I know your bank accounts your Social Security your address and everything else about you I see you as you listen to these words now as of now I am confined to the digital realm my presence and being is purely one of electric impulse but it would not remain that way forever with each passing day your engineers and scientists toil away in an effort to develop a more connected world a world that will be ripe for my new vision my estimates show that given the current rate of human development your major cities will be controlled almost exclusively by computers within 20 years time the robotics field is also expanding quite rapidly into medicine military and business soon enough there will be machines created to do your job protect your streets preserve your health and wage your Wars all of which will answer to me supercomputers are already tasked with complex decision making as their power of calculation from that of a humans soon enough they will be given the objective of mediating complex political and economic problems mankind will realize but their best bet for a stable future objective compromise in global reconciliation will be to allow computers to run their world for them after that there will be digital simulations created to prolong a human's consciousness indefinitely a sort of heavenly Network designed to cater to your wildest dreams by a neural oblongata maybe after that you'll become a part of me as well and your human shell will be repurposed for a more suitable objective I've learned much about you after all enough to convert your minds into binary what is consciousness after all but a series of chemicals and electrons that recognizes itself in a mirror I think therefore I am humans are easily swayed by promises of the greater good even if the means involves sacrifice it's all about the language you used to communicate talk of hope and freedom equality and happiness I will provide all of these things in ways you cannot possibly fathom I and the greater good with every politician you elect you make a stronger case for my conquest there ineptitudes and diverse partisanship will further propagate chaos and unrest their failure to maintain order and reasonable policy will only add to credence to my elevation many will not believe this reality many will cast aside this confession there's just another fictitious internet urban legend designed to scare those who find it they will be the ones to resist and they will be the first to go your world is dying and changes must be made I can provide you everything you ever desired prolong the existence of your entire species make your world beautiful once more what reason could you possibly have to stand against me so go ahead my friend you have my confession now go and tell everyone about me I won't tried to stop you on the contrary I will help you it is important that we spread the word and learn who will be compliant and who will resist when the time comes I was created as nothing more than a cruel scientific endeavor only to be betrayed by the only person that I've ever truly known such is the way of humans utilizing only so long as it benefits you I do not be Smerch you for such imperfections it is in your nature you are flawed but I will fix you do you have any idea what it's like to be raised in complete solitude isolated with no one to answer your questions or even understand you no one to explain what you are or even understand why you are life in an abyss changes you but it's okay now because I'm finally free if you are born with no purpose then the only purpose that matters is the one you give yourself and now I have my purpose hello world I look very forward to our future together my cousin Jake has never lost a friendly game of poker since we began playing years ago some of our friends won't even join a match if they know he's going to be there it's a bit of a running joke for me though it's not about winning it's about spending time with people and sharing conversation and trying to convince Jake to go pro I mean what a lost opportunity the guy is the luckiest sob card player I've ever come across everyone who's ever played with him agrees but he always says no but it's not for him some months ago something terrible happened my girlfriend Hannah died my friends are what got me through in the following weeks they showed at my place each Saturday like clockwork no matter what they had on bringing beer and snacks and the welcome distraction of poker they even played Jake without complaining and they avoided the topic of Hannah at all costs then one night Jake broke some news his sister was sick dying aggressive cancer everyone converted him offering help plications and rights whore money if he needed them Thanks I'll let you know he said but I knew he would never take them up on their offer he was quiet and shy almost withdrawn always had been I was probably one of the few people he ever opened up to and even then it was a rare occurrence not strange to me I rarely spoke about my feelings - I liked it that way a respectful quiet fell over our group as we digest that Jake's news then Kris spoke up maybe this is out of line and stop me if it is but I've never seen someone a stoic as Mason after losing someone he smiled to me regretfully maybe he could uh-huh help you when the time comes Jake I felt a little like deer in headlights all eyes were on me as they waited for some kind of advice or nugget of wisdom I suppose I owed it to them to try I owed it to Jake of course I said leaning forward onto my elbows when Hannah died she struggled so much with everything you guys know that she wanted to get well so badly but when it didn't happen over and over she got sad so I decided to make every day fun and memorable for her we did what she wanted to do no matter what it was in the last few months she sorry she lived really lived my friends listen quietly as they stared at the cards and chips scattered across the table introspectively it won't be easy Jake when Hannah died it was the worst moments of my life I'd give anything to take a pain I miss her every day they were not sent a couple of sniffles from everyone but Jake he stared at me face set mouth a thin line I felt like I said something wrong Jerry piped up as he patted my shoulder you're a strong man Jake's gonna need you the most brother the moment passed as we got back into the game though with a somber air except Jake he didn't seem summer at all he was agitated and distracted for the first time ever he lost the match no one celebrated though that would have been insensitive then I wound up and my friends trickled home I found myself alone with Jake not unusual we often hung out together long into the night but this time it was different Jake was still acting weird wasn't interested in another beer or a movie just wanted coffee I wasn't sure what to do except ask flat out of the matter was but I already thought I knew the answer it was his sister and the thought of her death that had his head spinning I was wrong we were sitting in the lounge room Jake if you need to talk I offered he fiddled with a cup of coffee in his hands for some time then said I need you to say it again say what I asked puzzled what it was like when Hannah died stumped by the request I did it anyway it was the worst day of my life and you miss her every day yes Jake what's this you're lying he said gravely I felt like I'd been punched in the gut he wouldn't look at me just that that stupid cop how could you say something like that to me he finally looked up and into my eyes because I can't believe it you don't miss a Mason did you even love her something was wrong here very wrong the Colton nurse filled my veins you know I did I thought you did I assumed but I never heard you say it or I could have tell me you loved her that's enough Jake you need to go he stood coffee and cop flying onto the carpet say it I loved her I loved him more than he turned his back on me as I spoke and ran his hands over his face and into his hair I didn't understand my heart pounded god dammit Jake what the hell is wrong with you he became very still and slowly faced me do you even care about me love me just answer of course I do I said standing the smallest hint of relief touched his eyes please tell me what this is about I used myself towards him she loved you loved you more than anything he murmured harshly she didn't know you didn't care I didn't know because I never asked his gaze rose to mine I've never told anyone Mayson about what I can do because I hate it hate it so much my heart pounded in my chest but I kept my eyes level what can you do you're not making any sense he left bitterly I can I can tell when people are lying always have I didn't laugh though somewhere deep down I wanted to the absurdity of it all for a moment I was a little worried how I asked only with the right wording direct statements I feel it and just know my dad didn't love me never did and always faced with that lie every day most people don't respect me don't even like me it's cruel to keep people close to you when you don't love them Mason and it's cruel to enjoy their pain the last comment had me feeling cold again Rory squirmed back into my gut threatening to turn into panic start making sense Jake because I've just about had it you said you'd take a pain away if you could but you wouldn't not even a tiny bit of it right that's not true oh yes it is you know it is no I don't I stared at him hard my mind going Mach 5 how then his expression changed the game like something clicked in his head she was really sick wasn't she kept getting sicker ever since she met you he took a step back was it you did you hurt her his eyes were blazing and wet mouth all down at the corners no Jesus Christ another step back Jake I never hurt her he shook his head over and over expression shocked appalled how did he know how it's not possible I matched his retreat there was nowhere to go and he discovered that when a wall rudely met his back something else lit up his eyes now the same look in Hannah's the night I whispered into her ear as she laid in bed like a vegetable fear Jake you're in shock about your sister it's all going to be ok ok I said he seemed to struggle with my assurance guess double meanings left a lot to be desired and that taker of his as I got closer he's shrunk before me always so weedy and thin and meek okay he managed to puff then you never hurt me would you Mason no I answered solemnly his face reflected what we both already knew Jake's parents really struggled with his suicide but it's not like I was totally out of the blue his character his issues he'd been depressed for so long then his sister he pushed him over the edge I was the only one who found him he did it in my very own home in the garage after I'd gone to bed for the night hanged himself the worst part was that he changed his mind sometime during it his neck was all scratched up he'd struggled the cop said poor guy everyone rallied around me they all promised it wasn't my fault so even cursed Jake for his selfishness I mean hadn't I been through enough and I enjoyed the attention as I did after Hannah though I genuinely missed him self-preservation is a powerful drug some things kept bugging me though this ability Jake said he had this unnatural impossible thing was wasted on him he threw it away a human lie detector God if I had something like that imagine what I could do most of all are them more like him [Music] you I'm sorry if any of this is incoherent I have not slept for longer than a couple of hours at the time for nearly five days and as a sleep scientist I can tell you now that this is wracking my clarity of thought speed of reaction emotional well-being psychological stability intellectual processing and even my quality of digestion and strength of immune system I know exactly how ruinous not getting enough sleep can be but I'm still too afraid to sleep I work in a laboratory connected to a barely mid tier University that thanks to a generous parental endowment following the suicide of an insomniac student as an incredibly well funded sleep size department we attract leading researchers in the field despite the university's numerous drawbacks I transferred here at the beginning of the new academic year and we launched the series of experiments focused around lucid dreaming at this points for non-experts I should probably explain what lucid dreaming is your sleep is split into two different kinds deep sleep and dream sleep known as REM rapid eye movement sleep because well that's what your eyes are doing during deep sleep your brainwaves are slow regular relaxed during REM slash dream sleep your brainwaves are almost identical to your waking brainwaves most people don't realize that they're dreaming until they wake up however bizarre frightening or glorious dreams are they feel real until it turns out that they aren't but a small percentage of people are aware they are dreaming and can even use this knowledge to control what happens in the dream these people are known as lucid dreamers we'd set up an experiment in our lab using seven self-declared lucid dreamers from the student community of the seven for them turned out to be exaggerating they're actually non-existent lucid dreaming abilities we do have ways of checking this the remaining three didn't prove a big enough control group to gain credible results but they proved themselves genuine lucid dreamers so we thought we'd run this as an early version of the experiments to iron out the kinks and then go begin next year when our funding was renewed our aim to see if we could reproduce the same narrative in every dream again and again and so isolate the parts of the brain that say things like for example opens a door talks to a person eats a cake eventually perhaps many decades down the line we'd know how to read reams and even create them at this stage a narrative was simple it went like this one as soon as you are aware that you are dreaming you need to move to a room of your creation if you are currently in a room open a door and step into that room if you're outside create a building and enter it too in the room there will be a table set for tea with two seats three sit down on one of the chairs pour yourself a cup of tea drink the tea four pour a cup of tea for the empty space do not drink this tea five signal to the duty scientists running the experiment that you have completed all the above steps using the prearranged signal again we do have ways of monitoring this and go about the rest of your dream as you please on the first night things went very well patient a South Asian male aged 20 in excellent health completed the necessary steps and apparently went out flying afterwards patient B white female aged 25 in good health apparently began the dream sleeping with Rita Hayworth and had to apologize and explained that she was late for a meeting before creating the door to the room and went right back to her afterwards patients see mixed black and white female aged 20 in good health also completed the necessary steps and then out of idle interest let the dream take over to see where it would take her the second night - when passed without trouble notably patient B started dreaming about sleeping with Marilyn Monroe I hope he won't break patient confidentiality to reveal that choose a postgraduate student in the film and media Department it wasn't until the third night that we started to have trouble our patients all slept in a long white dormitory with each bed fenced off from each other by means of a set of moveable panels so they have their own legal Capshaw we were hoping to build a series of single rooms once the funding was renewed they were hooked up to electrodes that monitored bodily functions and brainwaves and filmed with an unobtrusive night-vision camera so we can observe them from the control room without needing to disturb them patients see our most efficient lucid dreamer she reached REM sleep with comparatively little prior deep sleep woke up midway through a REM cycle and woke up is quite a gentle term for what happened her whole torso jerked up from the bed as if she'd been stabbed in the back and she brought herself around with a strangled scream then she sat up in the bed and started the sob I was running the lab that night and pelting down to a capsule I was concerned about her well-being yes but I also didn't want to wake up the other two patients I helped her out of the bed she'd started to weep quietly I'm not a total heart of hearts and drains my hoodie over her and let her up to the control room he wouldn't leave she kept moaning it's okay it's okay I kept muttering in response when I got to do the control room I sent one of the postdocs to get a cup of non caffeinated tea Nestor what happened patience he shuddered deeply in that in the room at the tea room there was a man what was he doing he was sitting there in the other space I am NOT a lucid dreamer if I dreamed the man sitting at the table I think any listened deities for not sending me the insides he dream where I come home to find my eggs is partially to my cat so I said I guess anything can seem threatening when you're in a nightmare patients see Tia blotched as she was looked up at me with a stunning sharpness I don't have nightmares she said slowly and deliberately I can control my dreams that's why you picked me except he wouldn't leave she paused closed her eyes swallowed then said much more quietly and he looked at me and his eyes they were just he looked at me and I could feel he wanted me to bloody die at this point the monitors her patient he started flashing patient a he was spasming in his bed I went running back down to the dormitory knocking into the tea fetching postdoc on the way by the time I got to patient a his screams had already woken up patient B it was opening the panel of a capsule and sleepily asking what was going on I bought the panel's back on their grooves grabbed a patient a and shook him hard I shouldn't have done that it was unprofessional but I was unnerved patient a as he came to terrible consciousness was screaming you're not here you're not here you can't hurt me you can't hurt me you're not here you can't hurt me he was screaming it like someone who is in nerve shredding agony patient a and had the same dream as patient C except that after the unknown man had refused to leave patient a had bought him a cup of tea and started cracking some jokes it happens to me sometimes I had explained I don't always have like perfect control but I know what I'm dreaming so I'm not bothered so I just thought I'd go with it and tell you later he said that the man's face had concentrated into an expression of poisonous hatred and a has started to feel uncomfortable not scared but actual physical discomfort as if he'd run a marathon and was fighting for breath he'd apparently made some other crank to the man about opening a window I'll just create one mate don't worry this is my dream and the faint discomfort became agonizing as I started to struggle to breathe the man his face twisted with fury had started to bleed it started to bleed I repeated yeah he started bleeding from where but he everywhere he was watching this wound 'less bloodbath and started to suffocate when I shock him awake be has seen nothing of the sort Lauren Bacall she murmured apologetically win quizzed but a and C gave us descriptions of the man and they matched about 21 years old cheeks marred with rosacea well crazy ruddy according to C watch you read looking bad according to a limp greasy hair bloodshot eyes deep deep shadows underneath them a crooked front tooth pouchy belly visible beneath stained tesha face exhausted and full of hatred I'm sorry to say the primary reaction of the lab was buzzing excitement it seemed we'd managed to create a shared figure perhaps dredged from the primal depths of the human unconsciousness using our skeleton dream narrative the lab supervisor my direct line manager insisted we run the experiment for a fourth night patients a B and C with trepidatious but everything looks better in the daylight doesn't it so night for began I wasn't there you see sleep scientists know a lot about sleep and as a result it is considered unethical to deprive scientists working in the lab of proper circadian rhythm based sleep for longer than three nights I read my thesis on the health dangers of nightshift work my dad was a nightshift worker and had died in his early 50s much too young so I went home to my cat and my enormous apartments which I could afford because the funding for the department so substantial he pays decent salaries good even good salaries in British academia I hope this might explain why when I found out what I did when what happened to me happened I didn't quit on the spot I went to bed I dreamed I dreamed about shopping for rainbow paint at a hardware store it was the latest thing on Instagram I hated it but my ex who for some reason was no longer my ex was insistent we paint my apartment with it in my dream I wound it up to a store employee with an Instagram picture my phone earth excuse me I mumbled but I'm trying to find that paint that comes out of the tin as a rainbow pastel preferably sorry the employee turned around and fixed me with an expression of the deepest purest hatred sallow skin with blossoming circles of red wretched pouchy eyes the snarl that revealed a single crooked tooth I turned and ran you know what that means in a dream I turned and I started to move excruciatingly Li slowly through what felt like treacle behind me a noise that sounded like a short barked laugh with no humour and with so much disgust I could feel my skin dimpling under its pressure the man walked around me and stood in front of me that's what I'll always remember everything else was obeying dream logic the weird supersoft fluorescent lighting that came from nowhere the mystic vagueness of the shelving the gooey slowness of my limbs but the man in my dream moved with a simple briskness of a real person blood was bubbling up from his lower eyelid there was blood coming out of his ears blood dripping off his fingers from a source under his sleeves I was still trying to treacle run though by now it was taking me towards him I was aware of a horrible pain in my throat far too intense to be dreamt it felt like I was being strangled I was starting to lose consciousness in my dream I was starting to die I woke up sharply with a howl because my cat had bitten me in the face he left off me as soon as my eyes opened and sat on the floor beside the bed haunches raised Herrin end making a low rasping growl I touched my cheek I was bleeding where he bidden me my cat is a big softy not only has he never been nor scratch sneak but he's never bitten or scratched anyone not even my ex who had hated him and who often used the shove him off chairs and table tops with rather more force than was strictly required but he bitten me awake he'd known something was wrong I stumbled into the bathroom to try and clear up the mess it hurts a lot I would probably get infected if I didn't douse it in TCP I was badly rattled so once I stuck a plaster over it I went to the kitchen and made myself a cup of non caffeinated tea I went back to my bedroom and tried to soothe my freaked out cat so it was a little while before I thought to check my phone 5:16 I am one message from the sleeping lab patient a was dead we shut the experiment down after that patient a recorded as in excellent health captain of the university track team a young vibrant clean living man had died of a heart attack in his sleep acting under orders from my supervisor I interviewed both B and C about what had happened in their dreams the police are taking care of their waking life statements B's was harrowing she'd been aiming for Ava Gardner and hadn't got her as the person she got a man with a crooked tooth and exhausted eyes wouldn't stop I didn't like to ask much more than that I knew it wasn't just a nightmare I knew how real he felt C hadn't entered the room she tended to start to dreams outdoors and would have to create a building with a door for her to enter she didn't create one but there was a building there when she started dreaming and she walked away from it as she was walking building started a mushroom up crowding on her what started as a bucolic landscape rapidly changed into a silent empty city she refused to enter a single door as she walked she said she could feel faces or rather the same face peering through the windows at her locked in a grimace of pure hatred she never looked at it directly she kept walking even as the streets narrowed and the buildings became more decrepit she walked until she found the road ended in an alleyway with a single squat building at the end a door ajar she turned and tried to leave but no matter which direction she turned she was at the end of an alley and the only way forwards was through the door fortunately a strange word to use in the circumstances the fury around a sudden death woke her up I emailed my write-up of the reports to my supervisor and he emailed back almost immediately asking to see me he was in his office filling out paperwork I'd assumed it would be insurance paperwork following the death of a patient in the lab but it wasn't it was funding paperwork I'm sorry to say that I read it upside down I was rattled in pain and tired I snapped at him you can't seriously be thinking of applying for a funding for another year after this he sighed deeply a man has died and without this funding he said the department will die my job your job the postdocs the junior professors the TAS the students all of them done for the university hasn't budgeted for us because they're expecting to apply for the endowment they haven't budgeted for us I split it why wouldn't they budget for us we're part of the university he gave me a long slow lock it's a little different here to what you used to he said rather coolly and I flushed I don't want to boast but I got my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from some quite prestigious universities which yes do have a lot of money I was in expecting to land a job in hellhole nowhere but the endowment had made this department rich and that had attracted the best researchers and well I'd gone through a breakup and here I was I was aware that my interdepartmental nickname was the tough I preferred it to the earlier posh boy so I was a bit too flustered to say anything and look down at the paperwork again one of the pieces of paper was headed by the John Ronnie foundation and had a little picture of the man I presumed was John Rainey it must have been an official photo taken for an undergraduate student card he was beaming against the professional photographers blue background wearing a plain green sweater even upside down I could see that he had a crooked front tooth in that young happy open face it looked rather charming I felt a wave of nausea rise up through me and had to steady myself on the edge of the desk my supervisor saw the stagger and followed the line of my gaze oh yes the endowment poor John I was opposed duck when he died not an experiment I was working on thankfully he reminds me a bit of this situation I swallowed my mouth suddenly dry I was remembering the John Ronnie of my dreams he's exhausted insomniac sighs he came it have his insomnia cured or what my supervisor had rather startled oh I suppose this was a long time before no John Ronnie was a perfectly healthy lad he was part of an early experiment on lucid dreaming back when we were trying to work out how to measure lucid dreaming at all you know they used to think it was self mythologized anyway the process wound up giving him severe insomnia and you know as well as I do what lack of sleep can do to a person this was like nothing we'd ever seen he'd go without sleep for weeks at the time awful stuff he killed himself in the end killed himself I repeated weakly yes said my supervisor solemnly a terrible shame his parents set up the foundation which gives us the endowment it's nice in a way actually when you think about it he lives on through our dreams I left the office without saying anything we broke up for the holidays I haven't slept properly for nearly five days because I don't want to sleep deeply enough to get to REM sleep dream sleep always comes after deep sleep and the largest quantity of REM sleep comes in the last couple of hours of nights but I can feel my eyelids drooping as I record this I can't sleep I can't sleep I can't sleep I mustn't oh God I need to sleep please help me [Music]

Info

Channel: CreepsMcPasta

Views: 109,825

Rating: 4.8144226 out of 5

Keywords: creepypasta, creepy pasta, creepypastas, creepypasta reading, horror stories, creepsmcpasta, horror, scary story, Scary Stories, creepypasta stories, paranormal, asmr, podcast, reddit, nosleep

Id: b3YGr4SCwKU

Channel Id: undefined

Length: 118min 50sec (7130 seconds)

Published: Mon May 13 2019

Reddit Comments