Creepypasta Rewind- Best Creepypastas of 2018

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it was December of 1999 when she infested our quiet Midwestern home my father called me from downstairs I assumed it was time for dinner he was standing at the bottom of the stairs and had his hand up in an effort to keep me from coming down the moment I saw the panic in his eyes I knew something was wrong I want you to listen to me very carefully he said my heart started to race as he continued it's very important that you keep your eyes on me you're going to notice someone else in our home but you must ignore her as much as possible I almost started laughing my twelve-year-old mind trying to comprehend what he was getting at assuming this was some sort of out of character joke before I could respond he continued she's going to whisper things follow you and whatever else she can to get your attention he's going to be very difficult son but you must never interact with her I promise she will leave but only if you pretend she isn't there and try not to think about her promise me there was so many things I wanted to ask him but I was too frightened and confused I managed to spit out okay dad all right come downstairs it's time for dinner hurry I've made us stronger just by telling you but I had to I can't afford you looking at her by mistake just me now stay focused he barked I did as I was told and slowly crept down the stairs keeping my eyes glued to my father as he backpedaled into the kitchen I felt the temperature dropped significantly as I reached the first floor I smelled a familiar sickening and sour scent in the air he reminded me of the time a raccoon died in our wall and stunk up the house for a whole week my father and I sat down at the table at the same time my sister was across from me her head hung and her eyes stared at the empty porcelain plate in front of her my mother pulled a casserole out of the oven her eyes are swollen and tear-stained I kept my focus on my family but out of the corner of my eye I could see a blurry mess of dark matted hair and sickly gray skin there was no energy in the kitchen drained of all the warmth and laughter that usually accompanied our meals my sister grabbed my knee under the table and whispered can you see her too I nodded quiet my father hissed the woman walked forward with wet crackling footsteps the smell was nauseating she crept towards the table stopping directly behind my sister only a few inches away and rested a decrepid hand on her shoulder she winced and fear instead at me I immediately put my head down my mother served our dinner doing the best to pretend as if everything was okay I could see my father clutching my sister's hand under the glass table in an attempt to keep her from completely losing it my sister spent the entire dinner with a skeletal hand on her shoulder nearly inaudible whispers spewed from the woman's mouth and filled the room like white noise and that's how we lived for months doing our best to live a normal life despite the ever-present unwanted guests even if we left the house she was somehow able to follow us whenever the four of us were in the car she could be seen in the rearview mirror or standing on the side of the road my parents didn't let anyone visit never let us stay had friends homes during the months of Hell it wasn't easy turning down fun-sounding occasions at such a social age kids at school were always involved in getaways that I usually attended but due to this situation I was forced to deny every single one this hurt me socially as I was soon becoming the outcast kid that no one wanted to be associated with meaning there were more times I was alone meaning there were more times she was there it wasn't just me who was singled out each of us had our fair share of heckling from her she would test our patience and any filter any Twitter and eyebrow any tightening of lips any sign at all that her attempts of getting our attention had hit someone she would only another person for at least a day if not more it would take the rest of us to stop them from caving in we were able to whisper to one another when it was absolutely necessary to discuss her presence if she wasn't too close my father made us promise to never tell anyone that was the only way to quarantine her the parasite of attention we concluded that she infected a single household at a time unable to be seen by anyone outside the home unless their mind had been tainted with knowledge of her existence and learned a few years later that my father was the reason for her arrival his sister back in the 70s had been infected from another and it followed my aunt into their home from 1999 for whatever reason my father struggled to keep the thought of her at bar in turn he brought her back into his life and ours we kept the promise of keeping her a secret from others and it was the hardest thing we've ever done all of us tried leaving the house as a group and she followed we couldn't bring ourselves to break our family apart it was easier being together and being apart besides the comfort of being with a loved ones during a turbulent time it also made it so we did bolster each other if someone looked close to cracking it was a foolproof system when we were together but that couldn't always be the case there are times when you have to be alone when you shower when you go to the toilet or worse when you sleep these were the times where you'd notice a breath behind your ear or wet dank air slowly lowered and resting on the back of your neck this is where she had her fun it was hardest for my mother who was stuck alone with her while we were at school my father was at work everything changed the day my mother broke it was a snowy February night we'd finished dinner my mother decided to go to bed early she was sitting on their bed making herself almost impossible to ignore my mother couldn't take it I heard a screaming from the bedroom demanding that she leave us alone my father sprinted upstairs to try and stop her that was the last I ever saw of my mother a pool of blood on the white carpet was all that remained the woman was still there but my mother was gone in the following weeks she whispered to me she told me I could see my mother again all I had to do was look and ask how I never did the reason I'm telling you is because I want you to think about her I saw her again this morning for the first time in 18 years I cannot afford to lose my wife or children to the parasites I need you to think about her dark hair and gray skin think about her in your home so that she may leave mine you're already infected and eventually you're going to notice a woman in your home you must ignore her it's for your own good I'm so sorry you we moved out of our last house a week ago and I'm glad we did it was definitely not safe there especially for a man like me it was a young family to take care of I think if I hadn't decided to get the hell out of there I would have failed my family and would have lost them too eventually there was nothing obviously wrong with the house actually I suppose it was just a regular detached family home in a suburban neighborhood I think the first thing that struck me is off about it is the fact that all the houses in the street had been built sometime in the 1980s the out bit about that is the fact that nobody had actually lived there in almost three and a half decades nobody had ever lived in that house but what could be wrong with that he didn't ring any alarm bells apart from their normal sort like does the electricity still work and is the boiler outdated on top of that we had to check if there were any pests or squatters nope nothing there the house was well built and hadn't let anything in so it seemed at least once we were settled in we were actually very happy there I think although I find it hard to believe now we wanted the house to be our home for a good a long time bizarrely he just felt so perfect and right when actually there was something very deeply inherently wrong about the place the tensions began one typical gray London morning my wife was going to drop off her four-year-old at school it usually takes about half an hour it was the oddest thing as soon as she shut the door behind her and I was alone I became aware of a feeling that I hadn't felt before you could describe it as a feeling of being watched but I think it was something else a feeling of tension and discomfort arising from well nothing nothing at all happened no creaks no bumps and no whispers I had the heating on it was December and was listening to classic FM on the radio on first inspection it appeared to be a comfortable peaceful environment ideal for sitting down and getting on with my work but it wasn't I felt sort of agitated I suppose it was just down to this being a new house that I had only slept in for a few nights and I got on with my work except I didn't I couldn't settle down and concentrate I found myself wandering around the house walking slowly around every room there were a few boxes of things that still needed to be unpacked and some rooms that was still quite bare I refused to accept it but a tiny part of my subconscious expected that there was intruder in the house I was in the room farthest away from my study so I could just about hear bucks cello suite or whatever the heck it was playing upstairs I stayed at the window waiting for my wife to turn up in a car it was incredible how quickly the mood shifted as soon as my wife stepped into the house as soon as I was no longer alone the uncomfortable feeling lifted and I could actually feel the warmth of the central heating and my tea with a teaspoon of honey in it actually tasted sweet even the rain clouds which had started the drizzle outside seemed friendlier the next morning I did the school run just as a little experiment I was driving back when I got a call from my wife I don't think she wanted anything in particular apart from some company that owned was very casual it always sounded forced and she was only asking when I would be back but in a prolonged way as if she wanted to keep the call as long as possible made some idea why she was calling she was getting the feeling too she probably felt it more because women are more tuned in to these subtleties in an environment she didn't mention anything when I returned regarding the feeling but through her smile I could see that she was a tiny bit spooked to be honest it was nothing really just the feeling that people sometimes get the only odd things about it with that it happened when we were alone and that it happened to both of us well still some places are just like that a house that hadn't been lived in for decades might take some time to warm up to its new owners I guess the next day while my wife was out getting the groceries I made a little discovery a strange feeling grew more intense in certain parts of the house in the upstairs bathroom it was particularly strong and there was a corridor that connected the dining room and the living room where it was also quite noticeable the thing about these places is that they were the only parts of the house with mirrors in them with time I came to hate those parts of the house and those mirrors nothing new happened for about a week I just avoided being in the house by myself and I noticed my wife did the same although we never discussed the fact that we felt uncomfortable being alone it was new house we didn't want to spoil our first days there with negativity but a certain negativity hung about the place nevertheless it was not obvious it was not intense but it was always there I felt somewhat hostile as if we were sharing the home with something something that didn't like us being around I read up online while my wife wasn't looking at some places just have what they call negative energy apparently this is the result of many things such as poor lighting bad feng shui and bad things that have happened in the past in the place ironically we installed brand-new high-power light bulbs my wife had a whole book on keeping good feng shui and as for the whole bad things happening in the past thing nobody had ever lived in the house before I mean how could anything bad have happened if nobody had lived there before at least our little boy didn't seem affected he was playing just as happily as ever with his toys a work overload had preoccupied me and his mother lately so we didn't spend as much time with him as usual he didn't seem to mind even managed to invent an imaginary friend to play with there was this one night however when I came home from work late to find my son in bed and my wife waiting for me in the living room as soon as I came through the door I was greeted with a thick heavy presence he gave me a bad feeling immediately I knew at once that something was not right and yet everything seemed fine we ate dinner in front of the television washed up and then got ready for bed we both joined our son upstairs to sleep and soon enough we had both dozed off except I was suddenly disturbed from my sleep there was nothing unnatural in fact it was the very call of nature that woke me up I needed to use the loo I got up and put on my slippers and nightgown it was absolutely freezing being a winter's night but when I stepped into the bathroom I was shocked by how cold it was it was not safe how chilly it wasn't there I looked at myself in the mirror for a bit and sat on the toilet seat to do my business that mirror was giving me a bad feeling I kept imagining that I could see something moving around in the mirror and yet there was nobody else in the room but me not even a fly or a bug it happened at least three times then I got up washed my hands and just stared into the mirror for a while just to make sure it eventually made me uneasy so I hurried back to bed and actually found myself hiding my face in the duvet I think I saw something moving in the mirror again the next night and the next I think I even saw a face in the downstairs hallway mirror as I walked past for a split second of course I knew it was only my imagination definitely just a side effect of all the negative energy in the place it was getting more irritating and frightening so I decided a ring up one of those priests those spiritual sorts who know how to brighten up places with negative energy in them she turned up while our son was at school a frail old Japanese woman must have been 80 years old at least her son dropped her off since she was very weak and unable to walk the distance anyway she came in smiling faintly and terming us in broken English that she would just take a walk around the house to get used to it my wife and I sat quietly in the living room personally I don't think she was all too happy about the house being checked out by what she referred to as an exorcist I showed her the web pages about glaring negative energy and she agreed with a sigh after all it was good feng shui to have your house cleared the spiritual woman came downstairs after about 10 minutes in spite of how boney and old she was she made the place feel very secure and comfortable I almost wanted her to stay with us so that we could be assured that we would have no negative energy but something happened it made us wonder if it really was negative energies making our house the way it was anyway she came into the living room and told us that she had burnt incense in some of the rooms and that she was going to go over the rooms again just to clear out any remaining negativity but then she suddenly went stiff and a quivering smile became a screwed-up scowl and a watery eyes hardened we thought she was having a stroke and reached for the telephone to call an ambulance turns out she was fine she told us not to touch anything or move we listened and watched dumbfounded and she rushed to the wall with impressive speed impressed her against it she whispered some words which we couldn't hear and she seemed to be receiving a reply as her expression changed and contorted whatever she was hearing kind of thing good because she gave a shriek and sprang away from the wall the room darkened noticeably like when a cloud covers the Sun you know live in this house your ramen grabs my wife by the shoulders and shook her firmly as she said this why not I asked as my wife was too taken aback to reply man in the walls she shrieked there is man leaving the walls bad man man in the walls the old woman hurried through the hallway and without even putting his shoes on stepped outside the house and urged us that come out with her she called a son to pick her up on a little Nakia phone and refused to step back inside even though she needed to sit down because of her frailty I brought a chair outside for her and brought her shoes out - we waited with her outside and I can swear and when I went inside to fetch the chair I was not the only one in that house I cursed the old one for making me so nervous I was hearing whispers all over the house now her son picked her up and when he saw her in a nervous state he gave my wife and I an unfriendly look before driving away that had gone poorly we would have gotten mad at each other had it not been for what the old woman had said man in the walls it was chilling to hear that in the look of terror on the old woman's face convinced us that she was serious but being modern Cosmopolitan's we just agreed after some conversation that she was doing that to frighten us well that she was just old and batty we didn't want to believe a nonsense but the phrase stuck with me man in the walls I even admit I put my ears of the wall to see if I would hear anything nothing we were more uneasy now than we had been before the spiritual had come attention gathered all day until at bedtime and the house felt unnaturally dark as I was slipping into bed relieved that the day was over a cry from my wife got me out of bed she rushed into the bedroom with a look of utter horror on her face man in the mirror she screamed man man in the mirror I had enough sense to realize that she was not talking about the Michael Jackson hit she was genuinely terrified where bathroom I saw it I tell you I believe you I believe you I had to believe her I stormed into the bathroom and looked into the mirror it was just a normal reflection there was nothing there I stood there for a while then I began to cry what's wrong with this bloody place and cried man in the wall tell me is there a man in the wall no no there isn't my wife comforted me it was just my imagination I'll bet you it's just that damn to hold woman coming in here and telling us all this mumbo-jumbo about men in the walls it's nothing nothing at all then what the hell have I been seeing this place it feels wrong just wrong oh nothing don't worry there's nothing here that can't be let's just get some sleep that's what you need sleep I was too tired to carry on with this I forced myself to believe that there was nothing funny going on I didn't convince myself we went to bed and I was about to turn out the light when my wife told me something that made me shudder you know Daniel my son has been saying some weird things lately she said like what well it might just be coincidence but what that old woman said about a man in the walls it seems to fit was something that Daniel has been talking about oh really do you know anything about his imaginary friend I chuckled well I know that Daniel spends an awful lot of time with it what does he call it again all man oh yeah oh I realized just then the creepy connection wall man Daniel's been saying things about his friend he told me the other day that he's got a round face with black eyes and a big smile and he's really thin so that he can't fit in the wall I found it cute at the time but now I don't know I got the biggest chill I'd got in a long time well there's more we were in the park just me and him nobody else was there I asked him if he wanted to invite one man for a picnic he said he couldn't he told me that woman is only in her house and never leaves that one made me laugh a bit when he told it to me but then he gave me this serious worried look and said don't worry mummy woman doesn't like you and daddy he hates you he says he only likes me I showed it and took a deep breath the air suddenly felt colder and more hostile you know I said to my wife after a period of silence I really do think we should move out I don't know if it's just a bad feeling I get about this place or if maybe that old Japanese woman was right this stuff is creeping me the hell out I don't think I can sleep now I don't feel safe nevertheless we both managed to fall asleep after a bit more conversation on where we could move to I had dreams who were mostly just plain random dreams but one thing stuck out is different I dreamt I came home to find the house empty I called to see if anyone was home and turned on a few lights I noticed very vividly there was somebody standing in the living room it was a man's figure very lean and about the height of a child he was facing away from me I could tell but the light wouldn't turn on in that room so I couldn't see anymore I think it was naked in my dream I called out Daniel but I felt certain that this was not my son I was scared of this figure in the living room the dream ended there and I woke up I blamed to all the weird events they were affecting my sleep I managed to get more shut-eye after that no dreams this time it was a Saturday next morning so we had a bit of a lion I'm getting the kettle on how many sugars would you like ask my wife before going downstairs to the kitchen to make some tea as I waited for the kettle to boil a voice caught my attention it was Daniel he was raising his voice I found him looking up in the mirror in the downstairs corridor in a heated argument with somebody no if you don't say sorry I won't be your friend anymore he cried hello then you all right there son I called to him he ignored me outright no no no no no he shrieked at whoever he was speaking to and I saw tears on his cheeks I don't want to you're not nice anymore go away go away he began to screech I don't want to go with you I rushed the monk and lifted him up carrying him away from that mirror his mother came downstairs roused by the shouting what's wrong dear she asked him wall men war men wants me to live with him in the walls he wants it take me in the wall but I told him I don't want to Oh God I muttered handing him to my wife my voice shaking I can't put up this nonsense any longer wall man where the hell are you come out here you asshole I never spoken in front of my son like that before but he didn't seem unsettled he seemed glad and I was angry at his imaginary friend my wife took him upstairs while I raged on for a bit right I said when my wife came back downstairs we've got to get rid of these goddamn mirrors they're creeping me the hell out it's okay it's fine no it's not fine it can't be fine it's like a portal or something like this evil coming straight out of them or some crazy nonsense like that okay okay we need to calm down she showed me let's just get some breakfast sorted and we'll see how things go we had breakfast in silence after a while it all seemed okay and then something happened that was amazing nothing nothing at all there was an even a weird feeling of anxiety anymore he felt like a normal home should we had her still the next day was fine too and nothing dodgy took place overnight we kept the mirrors I hadn't been entirely serious about throwing them out I just mean stressed out then a whole week went by and it was Sunday again without a single weird thing happening our house was beginning to at last feel like a home we had less work so we spent more time with Daniel and he seemed to forget about his imaginary friend which was actually a relief to us that imaginary friend had seemed like something else it seemed wrong to be coming from the imagination of a four-year-old we thought everything was going to be fine but then something made us think twice yellow mold had started to grow in circular patches around the house the batches were about the size of footballs and they gave off a rotten smell we decided to leave it be for a while but the patches turned up suddenly in more places and they were too ugly and stinky to stay we called in a man to investigate and sort out the mold problem and while he worked three of us paid a visit to my parents-in-law we got a call from the man dealing with a mold at about 8 o'clock in the evening he sounded troubled and he told us to come home quickly we were very agitated throughout the car journey and when we saw policemen and when we saw policemen standing around our home my wife looked as though she would cry at all that policeman stopped us in our tracks as we made our way towards the front door stop right there sir he said I highly doubt that you and especially your wife will want to see what's been found in your home you ain't suspected don't be afraid but I tell you mate it's ghastly he took off his hat and breathed out with disgust mommy daddy what's happening then you're kept asking we just let him back to the car I went back to the policeman and the inspector came and told me I could come in I went in to find and wear the patches of mould had been there were holes in the wall men in uniform and masks were carrying small objects in plastic bags out of the house the mold specialist was sitting down with a cup of coffee on the sofa his head in one hand he seemed deeply troubled I looked at him for a while and thought it might be better not to ask him what had happened but I didn't need to you ain't seen what you had in your walls yet he asked me his eyes bloodshot I never done a job like this one bloody shocking what was in my walls I asked my voice shaking tell me please I can't bear it any more can't tell you myself me buddy shocking suddenly the world around me became a blur and I collapsed on the ground I came to and my parents-in-law house had that been a dream no it was now 2:00 in the morning my son and my wife were upstairs they told me an inspector was waiting to speak to me what happened inspector what was there in my house I asked as patiently as I could now don't take this the wrong way sir we're not accusing you of anything the things we found date back at least a decade judging by the state they're in what did you find then I was told once I promised to remain calm behind each of the 16 punches amol the bones of a small child had been found holed up inside the walls the children were all between the ages of 2 & 5 and were recognized as children that had gone missing in the area the past 30 years or so now hearing that shocked me about as much as it would shake anybody in my position there was something else in the course of that house something evil and had things happen differently might have taken my son into the wall like those other children my wife and I still haven't gotten over our experiences in the house although our son seems to be indifferent to the whole thing he never got told about the children in the walls and hopefully will never ask so he won't have to tell him he never mentions his imaginary friend wall man and he seems to be happy enough in our new home as do all of us I don't want to tempt fate or anything but a new place seems just right nothing weird going on here but one thing bugs me and I don't think it'll ever stop bugging me as long as I live I still don't know what the heck it was in our house I refer to it as Worman because the name makes it seem less frightening but I can't get over the fact that I actually had contact the paranormal entity I'm guessing it's still there in that building fat chance anybody wants to buy that house now after the discovery made the local headlines there's one more thing a few days after he made his dreadful discovery the mold specialist arranged to meet me in my workplace he seemed deeply disturbed and told me that he had something to quote dead strange to show me it was a picture he had taken on his mobile phone on the day he had been at her house he was a picture of the mirror in the corridor although the quality was a little grainy her face could be seen very clearly in the mirror you just popped up at the bottom corner of the mirror a white face with a wide thin-lipped mouth and large black eyes it looked very clean neat teeth it didn't appear to have a nose or any hair but perhaps it was just because of the quality of the image it was grinning broadly and his eyes were wide open the picture was taken from an angle so that the photographer could not be seen only the face and the rest of the room but what scared me most about the face was the fact that it was there it was actually there real photographic evidence of something paranormal had been in our home all that time saw the bugger in the mirror and I didn't know what the bloody hell it was so I snapped a shot and we ran out of the bloody house that might explain to me he seemed shaken now I'm not sure why he showed that to me perhaps he was frightened and just wanted to get it off his chest perhaps it was just fascinating or incredible to him I don't care really because now that I've seen photographic evidence I won't stop thinking about it I never truly actually believed in the paranormal until then but now I'm open-minded I say my prayers before going to bed every night I've started being superstitious and avoiding creepy places and walking under ladders and everything I only have one mirror in my house now in the bathroom and I avoid it like the plague not to mention that I practice methods designed to keep my home free of negative energies my wife likes that and after all it is good feng shui and sometimes only sometimes when I am alone at home and it is quiet I press my head to the wall and listen carefully then I look into my mirror for a while just to make sure there isn't anything else there perhaps you should give it a go too after all some houses are strange and some houses have been there for a very long time with enough time I think things come into existence in empty places that shouldn't be allowed to exist you may find that those walls that protects you from the elements every day or in fact home to something that you might need protection from and that's where mirrors I guess they are like doors into the wall they show you not only what is behind you but what's behind them trust me if you see any strange faces in the mirror there's a possibility there could be something in your walls afraid my advice just brush your teeth quickly you it started as a joke my wife and I hosted a lot of parties and if you ever done clean up after a party you know that people leave things behind hats and coats constantly scarves purses whatever one time I found a pair of prescription glasses stuck between the couch cushions they were thick lenses too like Felmy thick I don't know how the owner made it out of the front door without them let alone how they drove home a lot of the time we'll get a call the next day or next week someone going hey so I haven't seen my jacket lately did I leave it at your place but sometimes no one ever claims it and Jenny and I Jenny's my wife we weren't about to call everyone who was at the party to ask if they're missing whatever we found so we just chuck it in a wooden chest we've got in the closet and leave it in there until someone does come looking so recently we had a winter party and someone left their pants here now it was not that kind of party so I was pretty surprised to find a pair of pants lying around afterward there were snow pants the kind you wear over your clothes to keep them warm and dry and they were folded up and stored in the corner I figured that someone probably had shown up in them to stay warm then taken them off since they got inside between the warmth of the house and the warmth of the alcohol they must have forgotten to put them back on when they left at the end of the night Jenny flipped through her pictures from the evening but didn't have any shots of anyone wearing those pants so into the trunk they went as Jenny was tossing them in she commented I bet we could close the whole person with what's in here we laughed but then I got to thinking that she was probably right so later on I took through the trunk and sure enough in addition to the pants we had a button-down shirt multiple jackets several hats a pair of gloves a couple of scarves and two pairs of shoes while Jenny was out of the house that night I put the shirt and a hanger hung the jacket over it clip the gloves to the sleeves and the pants to the bottom and wrapped a scarf around it then I hung the whole thing up in the hallway popped a hat on top and put some shoes beneath it the pants hung just to the ground so at first glance it really did look like someone lurking there especially with the lights off I heard the door slam when Jenny got home she started to call out a greeting but it abruptly cut off in a shriek I came into the hallway laughing to find Jenny standing there with a hand to her chest glaring at me the clothes Tommy swung quietly off to the side real funny she said you about gave me a heart attack I'm very sorry I said but I was laughing much too hard for her to believe me yeah you will be she said with mock seriousness but she was laughing too now that she was past the initial shock anyway I thought that was all extremely funny right up until I got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet I walked into the bedroom turned on the lights and shouted loud because Jenny had moved my clothes tummy into the bathroom and posed it sitting on the toilet from the bedroom I heard sleepy laughter do you know what happens when you scarce one who's on his way to the bathroom I demanded rags are under the sink clean up whatever you need to Jenny called back a lesser man would have to clean up I have iron self-control I told her is that why you screamed loudly enough to wake me up she teased I didn't dignify that with a response also I didn't have one so this became a thing Jenny and I would move the dummy around and after a while it wasn't even to scare each other anymore we named him Albert and he was just a feature of the house after a few weeks we'd put him in the kitchen the dining room wherever I came home a couple of days ago to find the clothes slung to my chair in front of the TV with one of my beers in his glove I just got another beer and took a seat on the couch Jenny came in later and said you're not going to move him he was here first I shrugged he ridiculous Jenny told me and took Albert's beer he's not gonna like that I said Jenny laughed what's he gonna do about it that was a couple of days ago like I said yesterday I came home to find Albert hanging by the picture window at the back of the house his clothes were splashed with something red and there was a dripping knife wedged in one of his gloves it was a pretty gruesome sight and I applauded Jenny's ingenuity did he get you honey I called no response obviously she wasn't about to give up the choke that easily hey the stuff is dripping on the floor I said loudly enough for her to hear me and wherever she was hiding I think it's thin the carpet still nothing so I got a paper towel and wiped up the quote-unquote blood then took Albert's knife away from him whatever Jenny had used really did look like blood I was starting to get uncomfortable honey okay you got me jokes over still no response so I went looking I went through the entire house and couldn't find her anywhere her car was out front but jenny was just missing I called her phone but it rang through to voicemail when she still hadn't shown up by midnight our starting to get panicked I'd called a few friends but no one had heard from her I decided to get a few hours of sleep and then figure out what to do in the morning I laid down turned out the lights and was falling asleep when I heard a slight noise in the hallway I opened my eyes to see Jenny in the doorway where have you I started turning on the lights but my voice died in my throat it wasn't Jenny it was Albert hanging from the doorway of my room swaying slightly back and forth above his shoes the knife was back in his hand my heart was hammering this was obviously just Jenny taking the joke too far but when I called out for her again and she didn't answer my fear spiked I took those clothes down carried them downstairs and even though I knew it was totally illogical I burned them in the fireplace I expected Jenny to come out and laugh at me once I got the fire going or at least to chide me first stinking up the house I don't know why they packed snow pants with but it smells terrible when you burn it but the fire burned down to ashes and I was still alone I slept for a bit and when I left for work this morning there was still no sign of Jenny and she still wasn't answering her phone I called the police to report her missing and they're supposed to be sending someone over to take a look around and interview me I guess I hope they get here soon because I just heard a noise from upstairs and when I went to look the door to our walk-in closet was standing open hanging from the bars aligned in two neat rows or a dozen of Jenny's outfits shirts still on the hangers pants clipped below she was lined up on the Neath the bedroom door only logs from the inside.what I closed it and used my tie to tie the knob to the banister in the hallway I was going to leave the house but there's a coat rack by the door and I really don't think I lined up my shoes underneath it like that when I got home I hope the police get it soon you I've been a national park ranger for close to two decades protocols have changed a lot in that time I write this just to try to keep people safe so the next time you venture to the big outdoors let me tell you about the last park I worked I can't be too specific about the location my job sake anyway we had clusters of campsites that we rotated annually the idea was to prevent one group from getting overused and worn down let nature regrow a little bit the winter had just passed in our big summer season was a few months away I'm sent out to check the sustainability of the campsites to decide which ones need time to recover from which ones we can open up winters here a cold not too many people camp during the winter aside from rugged masochists and Boy Scout troops led by people who believe they are rugged masochists I didn't expect to find much out of the ordinary the first site was clear and ready to go as I'm trekking to the next site I see what looks like some debris and junk down away in the river valley looks like some jackasses set up an unauthorized camp down there usually when that happens they leave garbage and smoldering fires this is going to be a pain to clear up I approach seeing the tell-tale wreckage of what must have been one hell of a party stuff scattered everywhere the skeletons of tents still raised up and blood I stop and time stops with me rules of blood are spread out along the ground makes the signs of something heavy being dragged into the brush I pour my radio off my belt and pause then I pull my Glock 22 out of my holster and rack one round I'm a certified law enforcement officer but I haven't had to use my gun in a long time I quickly look around for any movement then get on my radio and call in for backup while I wait I listen silence silence in nature isn't good break it quiet when they sense a predator I hope all the birds are being still on my accounts my edge forward slowly looking for anyone or anything a shredded plastic cooler a tent that has been annihilated with more blood splashed on the walls and inside people died here and know it you can't lose that much blood and just walk off but no people shreds of clothes and a little viscera drawing all the goddamn flies here but no people I've seen bears Romans through camps and destroy anything that looked edible there are wild hogs here that could trails of the deep brush nor even more dangerous than the Bears but this is an either of them the devastation here it's just too much some scourge of God came through here and just ripped everything to pieces finally back up arrives and I'm sent to report to HQ they even brought medics out there I don't know why there's no one here to save one of the new recruits from vomits at the scene I'm glad to get the hell out of here I get back an HQ is a buzz only four people work here but calls are ringing printers printing and the air feels electrified the manager sees me and signals me to his office his pale ashen looking with bloodshot eyes I sit down by his desk and he goes through the door unlocks it I've never seen him lock that door he asks me what I saw and talam uninterrupted he looks even paler afterward and his hands tremble a little there's a very long pause and I expect more questions he doesn't ask any my leave then hear the door locked behind me after a few minutes my harem called someone up and a long low conversation ensues I never see him again where it comes down from on high we were assigned the new manager one who excels of what he calls crisis his first order of business a controlled burn of the unauthorized camp and the site's closest to it I'm not arguing I watched the smoke rise in the distance and pray that's the end of it new orders relocate the existing camp sites closer to HQ before we do that we stake out a few trail cameras at the new locations just to make sure it's not in the middle of some nesting ground we put up a few cameras pointed at the hog trails through the brush for good measure a couple days pass we go out to collect the footage new manager takes it all and start studying it in his office a couple hours into reviewing he freaks out start screaming and yelling gets on the phone calling up the line spitting more obscenities he spends the rest of the day and that night in the office calling up scientists and planners next morning I show up for a meeting manager doesn't look like he slept massive changes afoot he lays out our new plans including massively bright lampposts circling the park border as well as flood lights around the ranger station campsites need to be moved even closer in clear lines of sight from the light if possible my button telling him that defeats the point of going camping if you're just going on a short walk through the grass then setting up so close you can see the parking lot he tells me to shut up but it's just the start the park now closes at sundown sharp also we're now required to have a long gun on our person at all times now this isn't uncommon for Rangers to carry an ar-15 or a Remington 870 shotgun going out in the deep woods there are wild and rabid animals out there the real concern massive park goers these aren't your chill neighbors who hide a few plants behind the tomatoes they were in this spectrum from large-scale suppliers we would like their privacy and dislike law enforcement so anti-government crazies you think we have no right over them true patriots both groups have a few common points they tend to be well armed they do not like lawmen and they won't shy away from taking a potshot as some dump or Ranger who finds himself in their fields keep in mind Eliot Ness mr. I fought Al Capone and won got scared of busting of Al packing moonshiners because they constantly sniped at him in the foothills they shoot to kill those are the reasons we keep big guns around not routine patrols I drew the short straw and got the overnight shift manager tells me more changes to protocol will be listed when I return overnights used to be easy monitor the radios bust up the parties if needed check for poachers if they're operating nearby make sure the forest doesn't burn down my clock in and per instructions go to the gun cage my things have changed our shotguns have new rifled barrels so they can handle the solid slugs we've been issued that's the kind of firepower you want to take down a charging bear god forbid you ever needed the ar-15 s have been stepped up to the old 15 round magazines have been replaced by 30 round ones someone even snuck us in hollow point rounds makes no goddamn sense shooting in the woods you need Full Metal Jacket ammo so the rounds don't go wild when they touch at wagon hollow points just exists to do more tissue damage this is ridiculous this is overkill we're not in a war zone we don't need this firepower next to the radio there are new instructions we're not allowed to directly respond to emergency calls we can reply figure out what the issue is then we report to a new phone number I don't recognize time passes slowly tonight I'm not even allowed to leave the building and or Sun up a few uneventful nights pass the new flood lights and lampposts are frying my eyes it's so bright out there a blind man could see a week later some kids roll into the lot they grab their backpacks and start hiking up the ridge I know what they were up to no one is booked to campsite that night cheap young ones going on a campout that will be a raging party I wait for the sundown to go confirming they're not out for a day hike I call my manager to report he instructs me to call the new number I reports up to them now the Curt voice answers the phone he asks my Park then pauses he asks the issue a bunch of kids on an unauthorized site oh I'll go break it up I can see their campsite out on the ridge right now no do not leave the building do not attempt communication that is all reports if there are any developments right after daybreak the manager writes up it's clearly early have you seen them did they leave no the class still there let him rest they're probably all hungover curse it's nonstop and goes inside to make a call I'm outside walking up the ridge when he exits the station one ar-15 his hand another one strapped across his back walk on his hip he marches single-mindedly toward his car I asked him what in God's name he's doing but he isn't listening or responding he takes a jerrican of gasoline from his car marches up the ridge I yell after him it's a no reply I consider following him but that doesn't seem like a good idea go back inside and call the number the same Kurt voice the same direct questions yeah the manager just went up for the campsite armed to the teeth and carrying gasoline what the hell do I do stay there do not interfere backup is inbound reports if there are any developments about the same time I started to see smoke wafting off the ridge two vans right into the lot at a screeching speed it doesn't men heavily armed and armored exit quickly I go out to check who are you guys what's going on the men are all lined up with that impeccable military precision one of them a commander I assume exits the vehicle last he says which direction did he go I mean he's up there my point at the increasing smoke the men fan out and start jogging up the ridge I hear rifles cocking as they leave I tried to shout after them but no response look at the van they came in large nondescript they just say do I response team on the side I've no later they return dragging the manager with him he's bound in zip ties he screams I did what needed to be done trust me it's worse than they thought we can't stop this burn it all they throw him into the back and sedate him the commander approaches me my neck has bristling cold fear I need to see the office all computers and anything with a hard drive is coming with me he mentioned video tapes I need those two i unlock the door and they ransacked the place everything gets taken printed reports from the last few years disappear into those bands the video tapes get bagged up and held by the commander himself he studies the gun cage cute you're out of your league me scoffs finally they found everything they looked for the commander tells me call the number tell them it's contained you need a new supervisor also don't talk about this to anyone they leave just thank you the fire brigade and a few news vans show up the fire is contained the news reports say rumors of missing campers are unsubstantiated at this time still the rumors alone are enough to scare off this season's campers the quick change up of managers is chalked up to bureaucracy the press dies down after a week or two the new manager is very good at dealing with them thankfully with no new campus and are now even shorter open hours we can get more work done around there rebuilding the station took some time and we just set up the new camp sites they're practically spitting distance from the station nothing dramatic happens for a few days then on a whim the manager tells us to set up some cameras around the station and the camp sites there's usually so much human activity around there all you see are some raccoons maybe the rare Hungry Bear well we humor him and set them up all around a couple of days pass we collect the footage I play poker with one of the rookies while the manager watches hours of footage of an empty brilliantly illuminated parking lot then he gets to the footage around the station screams come from the office we barge in and he's stamping on the camera hard drives to bring things I can't understand along the lines of told me it was clean safe no recent activity here bullcrap here I'm not gonna do it barks at us to leave later makes a call rocky goes up to the door and listens in rocky comes reporting back yeah he's demanding a transfer says they lied to him something about they didn't do their jobs properly he's not prepared or equipped here then I just heard the phone click and some sobbing I was later my manager exits the office his shoulders are slumped defeated we cut our hours even further practically open on weekends only we'll have a full staff ready those hours but a skeleton crew the rest of the time campus are required to check into one of the closest sites no campsite and they're told to leave we're not authorized to leave the station after dark under any circumstances in an emergency do not call 9 on one call the number and do exactly what they say we draw straws for who gets the overnight shifts why we need to stay overnight if we can't do anything is beyond me ask the manager about it he just said that standard protocol is to have someone on hand to report any irregularities overnight I have to work my overnight shift and keep my phone close the number dialed in ready if I need to call it is a bad night I just wind up pacing around with my shotgun glancing into the bright floodlights trying to see what's past them I hear crickets and it relaxes me prey is quiet when predators are around it's a long night the next night my manager draws the short straw he seems resigned in the end we all have to take a turn he brings the brightest damn tactical flashlight I've ever seen said he bought it just because he's afraid of the dark he isn't really he's afraid of the things in the dark call a 3:00 a.m. it's him here now and bring guns wow you have a damn Arsenal now oh I swear to god I screwed up oh man I think they're attracted to the light I called that number and all they said was back would be here in the morning damn damn god damn I hear the pacing staccato of gunshots the pause war gunshots screaming scuffling the line goes dead I caught the number and neuters voice answers look I work at the park I just got off the phone with the manager I just spoke with the manager what can you report something bad happened it's serious I heard gunshots we will have backup there as soon as possible did he say anything else yeah he said he thought they were attracted to the light doesn't make sense to me interesting thank you for your report the bog is now closed you will be reassigned goodbye click officially the park was closed to be rescheduled for a controlled burn that the old trees die and make room for the new ones there was nothing in the official report about what happened to the manager on duty the public understanding was bureaucracies needed to be shaken up on occasion no one asked any more questions I had transferred to a new park halfway across the country change of scenery and beautiful they've got some odd rules here too don't go far after dark don't carry a flashlight I'm concerned about why why can't you use a flashlight at night when you need one they won't tell me be safe everyone [Music] you downward spiral I didn't even notice I was in hell my first year every day seemed the same - one particular detail nothing good happened ever I had a secure job relationship and life we fell apart all of those little doubts I had about myself ate away at me until there were full-blown paranoia then it became reality my company kept suffering loss after loss until the problems were eventually pinpointed to being solely my fault after I lost my job I lost my fiancee to my best friend and no one seemed to be on my side every person in my life was cold and distant even the little things that didn't matter were awful food always tasted terrible my favorite shows were canceled and something in my apartment always needed to be repaired each day was cold with the rainy overcast and the nights were eerily dark with no stars or moonlight there is absolutely no enjoyment in hell but the first year is child's play compared to the rest silence during the second year I came to two possible conclusions the first was that I had gone completely insane in the second was that I was no longer in the same world I was born into it started in the morning when I powered up the TV the morning news was on but I couldn't hear anything I turned the volume up to max still nothing I set the remote down and I couldn't even hear him at the table he started to panic and immediately assumed I lost my hearing i spoke aloud but i was able to hear my voice just fine i walked down to the corner store everyone stopped what they were doing and looked directly at me everything froze like time was standing still my stomach turned a sea of people stared in my direction but their faces were a jumble of features eyes noses and mouths all swirled in a mess of flesh hair and teeth even if i wanted to speak to one of these monstrosity z' i couldn't they remained still dead silence was everywhere I went and every person stopped and turned in my direction always watching my every move with him misplaced eyeballs L was studying me and it only got worse seclusion if you've ever wished you could be in complete seclusion I'll be the first to tell you it's not worth it one day out of nowhere I was completely alone no jumbled faced people animals cars or life in general the world was a holler reminder of what used to be with no plans in mind I started wandering the Depression started to wear me always alone I had no idea what was going on where I was eventually it was too much and the loneliness weighed down and me I gave up I jumped off the tallest building I could find I felt the entire impact of the fall I heard my bones shatter but death never came after three agonizing days of lying on the cold black asphalt the excruciating pain started to fade and my body remained intact even though it should have been completely mangled shadows the suicide attempt seemed to accelerate things but I was awarded with one luxury and I used that term lightly I could hear sounds again it wasn't worth much in an empty world but nevertheless and it returned but like everything in hell there was a reason my hearing allowed the shadows to terrify me on unimaginable levels I'm not really sure what these things are but I can try my best to describe them you know that feeling when you're walking in a dark room or going down a flight of stairs in a creepy basement the feeling that something is right behind you so you start moving a little faster to get to the light multiply that fear by a hundred I would catch glimpses of them out of the corner of my eye tall black humanoid figures darting quickly behind buildings or trees I could feel them getting closer the creeping paranoia consumed me one night I was taking a shortcut through an apartment complex the entrance doors were open and a flickering fluorescent lights partially illuminated the narrow ground floor hallway halfway down the corridor the lights went out and darkness washed over me the hair and the back of my neck stood straight up and I had the unmistakable feeling of something behind me I prepared to run but it was too late with a high-pitched howl one of the shadows had me it's cold dead hands wrapped around my arms as it sank its teeth into the top of my skull the pain was indescribable I thrashed around in agony as more shadows emerged from the open apartment doors in my fit of pain and terror I pulled my head free from the fangs and stumbled to my feet I ran for what seemed like hours I learned quickly that traveling in the evening was no longer an option i barricaded myself in any shelter I could find every night the shadows always pasted around my doors until they would leave each morning as the dull gray cloud covered sunlight drove them off abyss eventually my nomadic lifestyle was impossible to continue I unlocked the door of the small two-bedroom house I'd been sleeping in and walked outside it was raining it was always raining despite all that I'd been through what I saw took me by complete surprise the first change was the gates black iron bars that surrounded the neighborhood they extended from the ground and rose impossibly into the sky I was trapped the second thing I saw what the jumble faced people they had returned dozens of them were lined up on the streets in perfectly straight rows they were different though in groups of four dressed in black robes they walked hand-in-hand towards a massive swimming pool sized hole in the ground without hesitation a group of four or fallen and after a few seconds the next group would follow suit I turned around to head back inside the home but I couldn't the iron bars had somehow closed in and were just a few feet away I looked back towards the people and so the bars across the street and moved in closer as well I was pushing me towards the hole I panicked and grabbed the bars with both my hands and began to shake them they didn't budge I started running the entire perimeter looking for any way out the bars began to move ripping through the earth and concrete pushing me closer and closer to the dark abyss by this time the grows of people were gone I planted my feet in the ground and began pushing with all my strength the bars continues to force me closer to the endless hole despite my efforts after a few moments it was too late I was right on the edge I remember clawing at the ground begging for help accepted the inevitable fact that I was going to descend into the darkness but just before I fell a flash of light blinded me electric pain filled my chest I woke up in an emergency room back on earth according to the paramedics I was only dead for a few seconds I began rambling about all that I had seen and been through nobody seems to acknowledge or believe me this story it's not a lesson I'm not telling you to change your life or be a better person this is a warning with nothing in your life is going well it might not be coincidence you may be in hell [Music] you I'm going to tell you about a town a town you should never go to for your protection I wouldn't tell you the name or location but I'll tell you this if you ever think you might be in this town get the hell out of there and don't look back it happened some years ago I was on my way to visit an uncle hide never met meandering around trying to read a rather confusing map when I ran out of gas stupid I know but I can never make heads or tails of those damn things the dangers of hitchhiking were disconcerting though there wasn't much choice so I didn't bother fussing about it and started up the road the midday Sun was oppressive my fore head ached from all the squinting and my clothes were soaking up a gallon of sweat my tired arm hung lower and lower as did my hope of hitchhiking a ride but in the distance came into view a red pickup truck please stop please stop I repeated sticking my thumb out as far as it would go as the truck grew closer I waved my arms around until it eventually slowed down and stopped in the road let your car back there that's the friendly old coupe from behind the wheel yes sir I ran out of gas hop in we'll get you some of the next stop capi what a nice guy he was he sure liked to talk about his family but they were entertaining stories his son was fighting overseas and I could tell his kindness was inspired by the admiration he felt for my generation heroes he called us he wouldn't catch me on the front lines though always been one to shy away from danger I didn't tell Cappy that didn't want to disappoint him after some time I started to wonder when this town would show up and I expressed my concern that it might be too far away it didn't seem to bother Cappy I guess he had nothing better to do still never found out where he was headed the road was getting bumpy then turned into two brown strips with grass down the middle I could finally see a town peeking over the wild fields pitiful yet quaint it was textbook small-town America faded blue houses with white trim a few brick-and-mortar businesses with hand-painted signs town square big red barn Whitechapel on a hill cars were parked here and there some without tires though I didn't see any people around it I wasn't surprising for such a remote hamlet what did surprise me was that despite the barn I didn't see any animals there was no official fueling station but we found an old garage with a gas pump out front Cappy kept apologizing for lending his gas can to a neighbor while we search through the cluttered garage a rancid odor would come and go making me sicker each time I better go find someone I said and tell them what we're doing so they don't think we're robbing the place really I just wanted to get away from that smell look for a cask and in case I can't find one Roger that the town seemed deserted but I could hear voices echoing from somewhere so I followed them two children appeared from the tall grass chasing each other down the road in the distance was an apple orchard with kids running to and fro tossing apples at each other some of them on all fours as he approached laughter and playful screams came from all sides it seemed like a normal child behavior but then I noticed they were all wearing dog masks there were a few children sitting at a pint-sized picnic table playing with something that looked like cake smashing it in their hands and smearing it on their clothes I assumed from the cake the masks and the occasional party favors that there was a birthday party going on trying to seem as non-threatening as possible I strolled over and attended to question them I'm sure someone begged that cake to be eaten not played with I said trying to sound like an authoritative parent the children stopped what they were doing and looked up at me I got the shivers the way they all turn their heads at the exact same moment all wearing those dog masks and these one cute cartoon dog masks the attentive realism lend them a disturbing quality I'm sorry but could you nice children take off those masks for a minute the kids looked at each other then back at me I started to feel embarrassed so whose birthday is it one of the children made a little yipping noise oh it's you another child mimics the other then it's you hmm is it your birthday a third child joined in maybe it's all your birthday he's they didn't seem to be listening and continued to imitate puppies finally I got a little testy all that walking in the heat had already worn me down and now these kids were poking at a beehive if you listen here all your parents say if they saw you being so rude why don't you take off those masks and act like children not dogs the kids started the yep louder then transition to wharfs followed my short barks stop that where are your parents I have car trouble and I need an adult right away the children didn't heed my requests and instead threw cake in my face and tasted horrible in hindsight I don't think it was cake fine then when I find your parents they're going to hear all about this it was like they didn't even know what I was saying I turned to leave but all the children that had been there frolicking now standing side-by-side blocking my way instead of telling them to move I simply walked to the left and then attempt to go around them but as I went one way so did they and as I went the other way so today cut it out I didn't want to push them they were just kids I'll give you brats to the count of three to move or else I'm going to walk right through you my children stood there and said nothing then was living more than a dozen gaping at them in all those masks it was so surreal no two masks were alike each one was a different breed of dog with expressions ranging from docile to enraged as I started counting three a few of the children began making faint low grumbling noises I continue to count down to and more children joined in with the nasty growls I gave a heavy sigh knowing they weren't going to move alright then one all at once the children began barking loudly I was startled by how ferocious and angry they sounded stop that I commanded they only bugs louder one of them took two rotten apple at me you know it the other kids followed suit and soon I fell victim to the spoiled fruit version of an old-fashioned stoning I started to yell wait till I find your parents I took an apple to the face before I could finish a few kids pushed me while I was distracted and I lost my balance they all rushed me kicking and scratching that does it I was done fooling around what the hell is wrong with you kids I yelled shoving them one by one to the ground but they remained unfazed continuing to kick and scratch and make those irritating noises the cacophonous howl and fierce barks made my blood boil I started striking the children not caring about their safety or what their parents would do in retaliation after realizing what I had done I ran off to find Cappy the children chased me into town they were just kids but I was spooked as all hell the masks the noises I didn't even stop when I hid them I caught sight of cabbies truck but I didn't see him the children were gaining on me as I tripped and fell again I was surrounded by those violent brats I tried to get up but there was too many kids on me my cries for help brought no assistants take off those goddamn masks my harlot attempting to pull one off it was tied on tight barking turns out laughing and I feared there might be other adults watching mocking me instead of shooing away their insane offspring my anger was just reaching his threshold and the children suddenly stopped attacking they all turned their heads in the same direction and ran off together howling cheering joyfully I stumbled to my feet inspecting myself for scrapes and bruises Cappy I shouted looking all around my voice echoed for miles the children were out of sight so I ran back towards the truck hoping to find him still searching the garage I stopped at the general store first to see if anyone could help us but no one was inside they didn't seem to be in business shells were mostly empty and caked with dust I checked in the back nobody there then I heard some kind of opera coming from outside I peered out the window but didn't see anyone so I opened the door a little and turned my ear I was sure something was going on with those kids the only noise in the whole town was coming from that one direction part of me knew I should go back to the carriage but I wanted to see if the children were being scolded for their behavior I followed the echoes and said I clearly heard a kotero anguished scream the screaming continued as I banged on the nearest front door hey is anybody home please magic open up aggressively locked there was another house about 30 yards away so I banged on their door as well still no one home or they just weren't answering I circled the house pounding on the windows but it was no use I had to make a decision what would a Harrow do I asked myself and horrid towards uncertainty the commotion was coming from afar house at the bottom of a hill near the orchard I ran so fast I nearly fell head over heels though I hesitated when I got to the house the door was wide open and there were dug masks on the ground I needed to know what was happening but I wasn't prepared to find out I thought oh I'd yelling for help again of a Cappy but I couldn't make a sound when the screaming died down a little I crept up the porch steps and beaten but didn't see anyone inside masks littered the floor god help me I couldn't just leave where would I have done without a vehicle it's not like I could've Hawaii cabbies truck I had to go in my footsteps made the boards creak but I knew they wouldn't drown out the ruckus a trail of masks led me closer to the disgusting sounds and through the dilapidated house to an open door leading down into the basement a stench beyond foul almost knocked me over listening closely I tried to identify what was happening it was those kids for sure growling barking whimpering slobbering now and then a gurgly desperate moan of agony would come through I didn't want to go down there but I had to see it with my own eyes crouching a bit I crept from one wet sticky step to another a single light bulb illuminated most the room and didn't quite reach the stairs so I knew I'd be hidden in the darkness the floor was covered in muck that's lost around as a few of the children scampered through it tossing handfuls of it and each other most were gathered in the centre underneath the light it seemed like they were eating something or feeding rather I watched in disgust as the children toured the meat blood dripping down their chins and squirting on their faces and how God their faces how can you have an underbite and an overbite at the same time the turnip noses and far apart eyes it was hideous beyond that they all had various facial deformities of which I'm not equipped to describe but laughter was almost more horrifying than anything because it meant they were having fun I say this because I knew what they were eating I just knew I couldn't see what was the left of his face and his clothes were ripped to shreds but I knew I knew that you were eating Cappy I covered my mouth and tried not to scream or reg gagged a few times but I didn't draw attention my body tensed up so bad I could hardly move but I weld it to inch backwards up the stairs through the kitchen and the front door I pray to God those kids wouldn't follow I assumed I was free once I reached the door but the most gruesome fellow was standing there at the bottom of the porch steps he wore a ghastly beard and a toothless smug grin his frame was massive and I could smell him from nine yards away at first we just glared at each other I swear he had a wooden I expected him to lunge at me instead he pulled a small whistle from the front of his overalls he pressed it to his lips and seemed to blow into him but there was no sound sobbing and stumbling I ran from house to house banging on every door the joyful roars of the children were drawn closer so I took refuge in the store they raced all around like it was a game of hide-and-seek while I barricaded myself in the back room waiting for those monsters to give up the search the front door rattled a few times and I suddenly realized I was a sitting duck in there if that big guy broke in I still don't know why he never came after me eventually the voices and footsteps faded away in the town fell silent once more night came and the children could be heard howling in the distance I wondered if they knew where I was I was simply waiting until I came out to terrorize me my thoughts of pork happy and how delighted he was to help a total stranger he didn't deserve to die in such a grisly manner I wanted to find that gas can now more than ever not so I could escape so I could burn that house down hell I wanted to burn the whole damn town the howling past so I snuck out the back door crawled on my belly to the woods planning to wait for sunup been hiking to our main road there are no lights on in the town as I spied from the trees I was worried the children like a wandering at night I never find my way back in the dark a single silhouette could just barely be seen coming closer and I could hear the rustling of the weeds it was one of those savages he hesitated to run Ferenc that hear me and alert the others there were a few rocks of substantial weight near my feet so I picked one up and held it tight and listened as the child snatched up an animal that left from the brush as they gnawed at the poor creature and moved in they snarled and growled as they ate masking the crinkles of dead leaves beneath my feet I held my breath stepping into arm's length or slowly lifting a rock over my head over and over I bashed a child's head beyond recognition I never thought I could do that to a child especially with such abandon but I didn't do it so much for my own safety as I did it sure Cappy the Sun began to rise and I observed the boy's body when I saw him lying gold limp on the ground head caved in and bloody I regretted what I'd done sure I wasn't a damned cannibal but I felt like I'd stoop to their level I murdered a child and I can never take that back bits of laughter echoed from the town startled I ran off in the wrong direction tired and hungry had trudged through the fields and over hillsides until the Sun was directly overhead now and then I'd hear the faint sound of an engine though I couldn't find a road the weight of everything that had happened and it difficult to go on but that weight lifted a bit when a wrench came into view on the horizon as I approached the unwelcome sound of children playing echoed across the meadow if you were galloping here and there making strange noises it seemed like normal child behavior but then I noticed they were all wearing horse masks you I should have been studying but instead I was browsing a heap of websites to check for the various Black Friday sales if there was a time to spend a heap of money on things I didn't need it was this weekend on top of that I was keeping an eye out on potential items for Christmas my guilt of all the overworked retail staff and delivery drivers I weighed my avarice for cheap goods I was fully relaxed usually my family were all doing their separate things and distracting me from whatever I did for fun on the family computer but this time it was all mine and I was happily alone around me were various oven cooked quick meals and a heap of snacks usually reserved for the families movie nights I was in charge of watching the house while my parents are away so I took raiding the kitchen as payments for my amazing service my job was simple make it look like the house was occupied while the family were gone there had been a string of suspicious behaviors reported around my neighborhood so my parents wanted to be extra careful because I was doing the unhealthy habit of sitting in the dark staring at a brightly lit screen it was very noticeable when another light into the room I turned to see the curtains to the front window glowing this meant one thing the motion detector out front had picked up movement I turned back knowing my neighborhood had a number of dog owners including the neighbor next door Gary who usually cut across our yard rather than weave around his flower arrangements an annoying habit but one we got used to I turned back and returned to scrolling through the many sales pages of Amazon when the glow clicked off however not long after it came back to life this made me pay more attention trying to read into the details when a dog walker strolled past they usually only set off the detector once if it went off a second time this meant one thing in my head a dog was going to poop on the yard I hated this as this usually ended up as my job to sort out as the rest of the family were squeamish at the thought an excuse I could never prove was false I took this as my chance to catch whoever did this in the act so I briskly made my way to the window ready to peek at the culprit as I pulled the curtain aside I was taken aback and how different the scene in my front yard looked compared so how I'd imagined it there was no dog in the yard but there was still something which seemed to be setting off the sensor it was a person at all adult figure standing ominously in the middle of the yard barely illuminated and teetering on the edge of the motion light sensor I stared for a bit wondering what was going on I wanted to call out and see if they needed help but I was too irrationally unnerved to gather attention I settled on just slowly dropping the curtain and getting back to my computer hoping they thought the place was vacant as I stood there behind the closed curtain the light soon dimmed out and I took this as my cue to leave however as I turned the light soon burst to life once more lighting up the window miss time though I jumped back and let out an audible Yelp as I did so my heart raced my eyes widened as adrenaline shot through me something was different this time rather than the light simply lighting up the whole window in a dull glow through the entire curtain there was a dark spot in the middle of the curtain was the silhouette of a person very close to the glass looking like they were trying to stare in and there was no way they weren't aware I was in there in a flight-or-fight response like bursts of the front door to check if it was locked and to my relief it was I added the latch to be extra-careful and used the safety to be more cautious my next immediate reaction was to call the police there was no way I wanted to handle this situation by myself so I patted down my pockets to which I remembered there were none thanks to the pajama bottoms I stole from my girlfriend I had no pockets which usually meant I left my unattended phone on the computer table I carefully meandered back to the living room PC but I barely got part way across the room when I stopped dead in my tracks the light from my brightly lit PC monitor was casting a shadow I knew it shouldn't it was the long shadow of a person standing in the living room the fear set in that the figure had already gotten inside out of reflex I flicked my head around back to the front window and confusion set in the silhouette from before was still there standing eerily still in front of the illuminated windows curtain I jumped again at the sight of this since I wasn't expecting it at that time around and sadly my reaction made a sound I heard another sound of response and turned to see the figure in the living room react and started heading in my direction I gave up any semblance of stealth and ran to the front door screaming at the person in the house to stop whether these two figures were working together or not wasn't my concern in that moment all I thought was that I felt trapped in my house and in my head I had a better chance in the open outside world then confined in a small house while unlocking the door the person in the house started screaming back he screamed at me to stand still and to stop it was naive of him to think I would listen this only made me move faster knowing the only way to survive would be to do the opposite of what he wanted I managed to fumble the front door open and ran into the darkness outside the motion light seeming to have clicked off while I was messing with a front door lock I took a chance and ran to the tall figure outside now standing back in the middle of the grass once a source of fear now a beacon of hope if there was a suspicious person entering my house and this person was someone who might have been trying to warn me I got right up to him and turned back to the front door now feeling a bit more secure knowing I was with someone the abnormally slow motion light finally reacted to my movements and flashed on hitting me in the eyes when my eyes adjusted I realized who I was squinting at standing in the front door was my neighbour Gary who my parents gave about dorky to in case of emergency he screamed at me over and over a late warning to stay away from the figure outside my house my heart sank deep into the pit of my stomach bile rising in my throat not just from the panic of realisation setting in but the rotting smell emanating from the figure beside me I dared not look up at its face but seeing the twisted rotting skin on its hand by its side was enough to paint the picture that I'd made a horrible mistake I took one last glance at Gary to see how he was going to help me he just mouthed he's sorry and closed the front door after I heard the front latch click I picked up on a slight movement the sounds of a head turning and looking down in my direction I just carried on staring forward in denial my view of the front door blurring of Terry eyes you I always enjoyed my Sunday visits with grandpa he wasn't able to take care of himself anymore so the family hadn't moved him into a retirement community being an independent person grandpa had made a big fuss about moving in at first however once he started to get to know the other residents and learned about all of the activities that went on in the home he felt a little better about being there after grandpa moved in I would visit him every Sunday and join him in the weekly game challenge the game changed depending on the week sometimes it would be gin rummy all the times it was shuffleboard sometimes it was bingo the games were chosen ahead of time by the residents from a list that had all of the games available written on it when the game was decided upon the entire hall would be converted into an arena for the game of choice this week the residents had chosen to play backgammon admittedly not one of my favorites after we played a few rounds of the weekly game grandpa and I would get some lunch from the retirement home dining hall and then head back to his room so he could tell me all of his favorite stories grandpa told all sorts of stories about gnomes fairies Giants and other supernatural creatures even told me about the urban legends like the alligators living under the sewer he had heard while growing up in New Jersey it was always great fun hearing grandpa stories and I always looked forward to hearing a new one every week the years passed and I entered high school I didn't stop by to visit grandpa Rose often anymore because I became busy with hanging out with friends doing homework and starting the date girls for the first time even though I didn't have the same amount of free time as when I was younger I would still try to visit grandpa as often as I could in join in on the Sunday games I would have lunch with Grandpa and listen to one of his tall tales when we went back to his room I was older but I still loved listening to his stories it seemed like he would never run out of subjects to talk about he even told me about his experiences as a pilot in World War two it was always great fun listening to the trouble he got in as a pilot flying on the billboards to see how low he could make his personal plane that he bought after the war go finally it came time for me to go off to college I would not be back for a while so I wanted to spend a lot of time with grandpa before I left I noticed that his health had taken a turn for the worst but he never brought it up I never brought it up either because I didn't like to think about the fact that grandpa's health was fading I visited him like usual up until the last day I had free before the start of the new semester this would turn out to be a visit and I would never forget we had our usual schedule by a game chat over lunch about all of the new things in both of our lives go back to his room for a cup of coffee but two scotch cookies and one of his tall tales we sat at the table next to one another dunking our cookies into a hot coffee and into them one by one today grandpa seemed more introverted than usual he hadn't really said much over lunch either I figured that this was because he was having one of his bad days well the days when his bones ached and he had a hard time getting around however I didn't think this anymore when I saw grandpa promptly stop eating the cookies in front of him and give me the most serious look I'd ever seen him give me in his life I put down my cookies as well and listened for whatever it was grandpa was about to tell me it cleared his throat and in a gray tone said you are older now Thomas you are about to go off to university and experience a whole new chapter in your life that is why today I have to give you some advice I smiled and urged for him to go on grandpa nodded and continued where he left off you are the first person I'm telling this to I told myself I would only tell my most devoted grandchild the story in the hopes that they would not make the same mistake I did in life and you must promised me that you will only tell this story to your most devoted grandchild so that every generation is given a fair warning remember post made sure I was going to keep the promise I swore that I would on my life and then he continued on you know about your grandmother don't you you were only five or so when she passed away at this he paused when he saw my expression changed the bit after patting my shoulder for a moment he went on yes I miss her too I always loved her dearly it is at my old age that I've had a lot of time to reflect to my past actions I wish that when we were married I could have treated her better if I had treated her better maybe she wouldn't have turned out like that I was taken aback a bit by his statement what do you mean Grampa side this is what I wanted to talk to you about some advice I want to offer for you as you head off into the world and want to make a life for yourself you see your grandmother and I got married in the 50s in those times men were king of the house and their wives had to attend to their every need I'm not saying it is right it is just the way things were back then I was the same as most men of that era I was fresh out of the military service from World War two and had just settled down with your grandmother we bought a cheap house under a government program to encourage homeownership and I got a job working at an office unfortunately like most men of the era I was always very hard on your grandmother who like most women of that era stayed at home I always demanded the best from her the best housework the best meals the best hosting when we had neighbors over I insisted that she always dress up wear makeup and put on her fine jewelry when managing the house no wife of mine was going to be a slob and get me mocked by the neighbors looking back now I realize how silly I was to demand all of that of her but I suppose we were both victims of the culture of that time I think my strictness got to your grandmother at times because there are occasions when I would see her weeping to herself as she made dinner in the kitchen when she was like that I would leave her alone I had tried to suggest that we watch one of her shows on the Women's Network or listen to a cooking show on the radio but my suggestions always just made her more upset so I learned to give her space and choose in one of her moods however one night she was so upset that she burned our meal even after burning it she still served it in both of our dishes at the table and sat down to eat her own portion still weeping as she shoveled the burnt pieces into her mouth this was unacceptable to me a chastised her for what she had done and told her to go back in the kitchen make a new dinner for both of us I told her if she couldn't get herself together to simply make me a sandwich that ought to calm her down a bit it was then that something changed in her the tears suddenly stopped and a small smile crept over her face she laughed a bit and I laughed along to my whole situation was a bit comical I apologized for being strict and she shook the whole thing off she brought the dishes back to the kitchen and set forth to making a second meal which when served for the second time was up to her usual quality of cooking after that incident your grandmother didn't cry again she went about happily doing the housework and preparing the meals when she was chastised she would just smile and say she'd do better she was the model housewife it was around that time when one of my good friends Jerry went missing your grandmother knew his wife Edith and together they got all of the housewives involved in trying to find him they put up fliers and the like but unfortunately Jerry was not seen again it was a few months later when another one of my friends Stan went missing the housewives got together again and tried to find him with little success after that the excitement died down although the men were not found no one else went missing from the neighborhood it became somewhat of a local mystery none of the men had a reason to go missing they both worked at the same office that I did and they both had stable home lives even to this day the neighborhood is still talking about the circumstances surrounding their disappearances incident did bring the community closer together the housewives ended up forming their own Club which became a national sorority it was open for many years and during that time donated a lot of its time helping less fortunate people in the community I was one of the people who always wondered what happened to Jerry and Stan they were good friends and I was always sad to lose them it was when your grandmother's health started failing many years later that we got to talking about my old time friends yeah my grandfather paused as if the subject was hard to talk about but when he saw my concerned expression he continued on don't worry about me lad I'll be okay now where was I oh yeah many years later your grandmother and I were talking about Jerry and Stan and that is when she brought up all of the great things she cooked while we were looking for them the mouth-watering roasts she had prepared and fed to all of the members of the search party the roast beef sandwiches she had packed for the lunches I took to the office the blood pudding she had made for the neighbors she went on like this naming off all of the different meats she had cured and served to people of the years I recalled all of her meals with warmth what was a bit confused to why she would have brought it up when I was talking about my old friends and that is when the smile came over her face that same smile that had come over her face at the dinner table those many years ago an unsettling kind of grin that seemed to reach in and tug at my very soul they've already been cooked dear she said in a crackling uneven tone I felt myself retch abit and a thought of consuming the terrible thing I had your grandmother just chuckled and continued on I cooked them along with all of the people you complained about and your job remember how you complained about stan and jerry getting promoted before you i took care of that did I I made sure the supervisors who were bullying you moved away of course they didn't really go anywhere other than my cooking part I always made sure to cook a perfect meal out of all the naysayers just for you grandpa stubbed his tail to retch a bit and I stared at him with my mouth open I could feel the color draining from my face at this point I was visibly shaking when he got ahold of himself he continued on shortly after your mother told me she passed away peacefully and asleep that same creepy smile was painted on her lips when I found her after her funeral came and went a last words haunted me I wanted to know more I started reading through her old journals and I learned that the Women's Club she had formed the Jersey whitehat Club had a very dark practice that they put into place should any man give them a hard time it was not above them to punish him in any way possible they outlined all of the ways they could punish their significant others boyfriends or other troublesome men in their lives there were recipes for poisons instructions on how to psychologically torture people it was so many dark things I read in those journals that I don't even want to repeat them one of their most twisted games was taking a friend of the troublesome men in their lives and serving it to him in the form of food they had all sorts of recipes about cooking and preparing human beings those journals were some of the most horrible things I have ever read in my life I would have burned them all if I didn't have to turn them in to the police station for evidence that's what I did instead the police read the journals over in complete disbelief I gave them the journals with the specific conditions of keeping my family out of the media and the investigations I told them that was the only way I would hand over the evidence since I knew the head of the local police station he pulled some strings and focused much of the investigation on the living members of the sorority like your grandmother's best friend Edith they investigated the local Jersey white hat club and brought in all of the current members for questioning our family sat on the sidelines watching the whole thing in disbelief as you know Edith had been one of our close family friends for years everyone was shocked that she was actually a member of such a dark cult if they knew everything that I do about your grandmother they would have been more horrified fortunately that was not a truth that any of them had to bear later the police found out that every chapter of the sorority across the United States was still practicing the dark rituals written in your grandmother's journals they were able to successfully shut down the sorority two years ago after being active for all those years but I heard recently a new club had started up under a different name this is the advice I want to give you if you meet a girl wearing a white opal stone shaped like a moon on a left ring finger under no circumstances have any relationship with a reporter and whatever club she's affiliated to the police that is their secret calling card and just to be safe yeah grandpa paused to take a drink of a glass of orange juice beside his coffee to calm his nerves and then continued on never I repeat never mock a girl by asking her to make you a sandwich don't demand anything from a tree - Rico Letta - as she pleases if I had learned to be kinder to your grandmother all of those years ago I wouldn't have created the months that she became be kinds of the ladies in your life grandson the consequences for doing otherwise are dire with this grandpa fell silent his hands were wrapped around the glass with the orange juice for support but they were visibly shaking I was shaking too all of this was too much they're taken I can only sit there staring at my grandfather in silence every time words came to my mouth he quickly left me two of us didn't talk for the rest of our visit I simply got up from the table and walked to my car without another word when it was time to leave the words of my grandfather's story echoed throughout my mind and the long drive home four years after my visit and shortly after I received my bachelor's degree my grandfather passed away attended the funeral in the late spring the whole family was there my mother my father his two brothers my cousins my sister and her husband of course more obscure family members were there too like my grandfather's sisters the cousins three or four times removed another assorted relatives your standard fare for the typical family gatherings it was an open casket funeral so the family could come up and look at him lying peacefully in his new home I came up and paid my respects I silently promised my father that I wouldn't tell what I knew to anyone in our family and thanked him for all of the good times we shared it was then that one of my female cousins came up and paid her respects to Grandpa - she tried to lighten the mood a bit by teasing me about finding a girlfriend I told her that I was in no hurry to find one and she rolled her eyes as she went to talk to the other family members I got a sight of something white on a finger my heart started beating loudly in my chest at the sight of it it was an opal stone cut in the shape of a moon she wore it on a left ring finger my eye shot around the rest of the room my aunt's wore the ring my female cousins watering my grandfather's sisters wore it as well even my my mother wore a my head started spinning as I realized that all of the female members of the family were the same whirring I felt my heart pounding louder and louder in my chest my grandfather had made a big mistake not getting our family involved in the investigation this thought washed over me as I saw more family members into the funeral house wearing that infamous ring and the walls felt more and more like they were closing in on me you a man came into my house last night I'm the one who let him in but I don't know how this happened why I know I would never let a stranger someone whom I've never seen or heard of before come into my home like that especially at such a late hour I have a sensible person just as much as everyone else and yet I did let him in there are some gaps in my memory but I'll do my best to describe the events of last night maybe it'll help us get a better understanding of what happened but something tells me it won't make a difference I don't remember whether he knocked on the door or rang the doorbell but then again there's also the possibility that he didn't do any of those things I only recall standing in front of the door with my hand already in the doorknob yet not quite sure how I gotten there in the first place or what even prompted me to get off the couch I was just there and all I can say is somehow I knew there was someone on the other side of the door and that they were waiting in the porch for me to let them in I know I tried forming certain thoughts in my head such as what am i doing or what's going on but they always seemed to fizzle before completion instead my actions and speech seemed to be under some kind of outside influence my hand wouldn't let go of the doorknob you get to twist it and finally let the stranger inside I wanted to ask who is it but the only thing I blurted out was yes the man on the other side of the door replied immediately as if on cue I'm here to see your house there was a strange air of familiarity to his voice and yet at the same time it was a smothering violently uncanny aspect to it it sounded deep it distant friendly but intrusive this immediately raised some flags but any and all concerns I'd have would disappear just as quickly as they'd come I wanted to say I'd be calling the police if he didn't leave but I literally couldn't utter any of those words I couldn't even say no the more I tried to speak my mind the more confused I had become the effort I was making was such that I could feel cold sweat forming all over my body of course were the words that came out of my mouth on their own I can see him I can visualize him in my mind but as soon as I try picturing or describing any of his traits I feel like something pushes me back something's preventing my own thoughts and memories of him from becoming fully formed and that alone is simply too terrifying to comprehend I remember opening the door I remember thinking he is very tall I didn't even see his face immediately what I saw was his chest he was tall very tall he grabbed the top of my doorframe and slightly ducked underneath it as he walked into my home it was slowly closing the door behind him and locking it shut my door frame stands about seven feet I know because I'm the one who assembled it I'm six one he was tall more than I'm able to say and his face I know I saw it whether willingly or not but I can't quite tell what was wrong with it despite knowing fully well that there were many alarming things about it no hair very distinctive eyes and mouth his skin both its tone and texture were just maybe a mask was it something sewn into the skin I can't be sure there was something inherently revolting and dangerous about his face that much I'm sure of it made me feel this terrible uneasiness in the pit of my stomach which was nothing but yet another thing that I couldn't voice or express no matter how much I tried he didn't have any kind of odor attached to him but he exuded this absolutely impenetrable unfathomable madness and incomprehensible dimensions Christ I don't even know what I'm trying to say here this all sounds so insane I don't know how long we stood in the entryway of my home almost in absolute darkness if it weren't for the moonlight coming through the windows behind him I know we stared at one another for a while but I can no longer see his eyes I remember only darkness dripping oily smeared darkness all around the corners of his eyes show me where you eat he asked I found myself standing in the living room the man had his back to me as he slowly ran his hand on the dining table as if tracing an invisible line I couldn't do anything but watch as I stood there completely still as an unseen force prevented me from moving this will do he said it suits you I replied words once again coming out of my mouth without me having a say show me where you sleep he asked fear instantly tightened its grip inside my chest not because I would be leading him shortly into my bedroom without being able to do a thing about it but because my wife was sleeping on our bed the mere thought of seeing this dark figure standing in our bedroom and she slept was simply too much to bear but I was powerless the next thing I recall is standing outside my bedroom the door was wide open and I could see the man inside as he slowly approached my wife's side of the bed while she slept under the blankets he's at right next to her mattress creaked under his size and white my wife called out to me and I could immediately tell she was terrified beyond words by the sound of her voice I could tell that she too wasn't quite saying what she wanted to say she wasn't moving or making any attempts to get out of bed even in the presence of this terrifying stranger we were both equally helpless the man perhaps sensing the concern we felt for one another said to her do not be upset I came to see your house as he said those words his face drew closer to hers I wanted to stop him entering the bedroom was all I was trying to do but I found my hands gripping the sides of the doorframe preventing me from taking a single step inside dark thoughts flashed through my mind but when I heard him mumble some words I realized he was merely whispering something into her ear I say merely because he could have done anything he wanted to her at that point if he wanted to and yet the words he spoke to her it just as bad as anything else she started sobbing slowly at first and then uncontrollably as if an unspeakable thing had been done to her Saab's turned into screams and screams became piercing shrieks it was heartbreaking and in my helplessness I found myself thinking how I could just die then in there if I had the chance I didn't understand anything anymore who was this man what did he want and what could he have possibly said to my wife to elicit such a reaction from her I just wanted all of it to end and that's when he turned his head to me and said show me the children now I felt like my heart got caught up in my throat I had forgotten about my kids until he mentioned them he stood in between their beds is my wife's violent shrieks could still be heard coming from down the hall but my kids were somehow still asleep the strange man stood tall before me perfectly still he would turn his head slightly to the right and then to the left as he observed each of my two daughters for what felt like a painfully long amount of time good children he whispered he moved without a sound and stopped as he left their room to look at me in the eyes once more as we both stood out in the hallway good flesh this is a good house his words made me snap back to reality we were back at the entryway but this time around I was the one with my back to the door not him he laid the back of his hand softly on my shoulder and its weight felt infinite you will now pass ownership of this house unto me it's not so much what he said but how he said it there was a certain sense of complete and utter finality to that statement I knew that if I gave him what he wanted I wouldn't be forfeiting just my home but a lot of other things as well maybe everything I had to do something and I still do not know how exactly I managed there was no word for my sorry mental state at the time so I don't think it was a conscious effort at least not entirely this man he was after something he seemed to want my house which appeared to be good enough for him for reasons that were beyond me but I could only say what he wanted to hear this is a good house I repeated there was a brief pause yes he said you deserve the best house I continued his face inched closer to mine as he bent over slightly yes there are better houses I said he stopped abruptly almost as if frozen in time for a few seconds I remember his head producing a slight twitch which would have gone unnoticed if he wasn't so damn close to me down the road I said as I shot a log to the side he straightened himself up his eyes now fixated on a window behind me and what lay beyond as he did I found that it was getting easier for me to speak on my own terms so I kept at it better houses bigger families his head slowly turned to face me once again and I could tell he was trying to verify how factual my statements were he walked past me and went over to the window where he stood in silence I realized then that my wife wasn't screaming anymore I heard him mumble something but I couldn't quite make out what he was saying except for the word skin things he then took a few steps back before approaching the door I will go see more houses in robbed the door and opened it I couldn't believe he was actually leaving you can sleep for now as he said those words I felt a crushing wave of exhaustion suddenly coming over me I fell to the ground but barely registered anything as my body went numb I saw this massive figure once again ducking under the doorframe as he stepped onto the porch he said something else on his way out but I wasn't able to make out what it was nor did I care I was just glad to see him gone my wife startled me awake as I realized where I had fallen asleep and the memories of the previous night slowly came back to me I hoped that it had been nothing but a nightmare coupled with a brief sleepwalking episode even though nothing of the sort had ever happened to me in the past it took just one look at her face to know that it had been real all of it she didn't remember seeing much as she had never left the bed but she remembered enough the tall man the indescribable terror the words that wouldn't come out of the body that wouldn't move his face our daughters on the other hand was seemingly oblivious to everything that transpired so we did our best to not freak them out too much we made sure they weren't hurt but there was just no way we could send them off to school after what happened we made up a lie and said the school will be closed for the day maybe the whole week my wife and I sat down and we both tried to figure out what the hell had happened but we kept hitting the same mental barriers we thought what's about calling the cops would we be taken seriously we can barely describe the man even though his image is forever burned in our minds more we tried discussing it the less it makes sense but at least we agree on something we are leaving today and he won't find us here if he ever comes back he can take this house and claim it as his own I don't care but that's as much as I'm willing to compromise we will never go through this again not if we can help it who knows what he'd do to us you it was an utterly normal day for me well actually I'd gotten a parking ticket and the jury summoned so it was a pretty bad day for me however neither of those would seem of any consequence when I got home at the end of it to find my computer infected but maybe I'm going a little too fast let me take a step back and we'll start from when I returned from work that day as always the things I did was go through the mail feel free to imagine my aggravation of the summons here it didn't help either but everything else was junk mail and bills whatever just one of life's many joys preferring to relax a bit before dealing with them I went straight to my computer to do well nothing at all there's some browsing check my email etc doing nothing can be good for the soul I noticed my computer running much slower than usual though certainly slower than it was just yesterday my first reaction was to look at my taskbar to see if my antivirus was updating or maybe Windows was downloading new features or something you know the usual culprits but alas no such luck I tried to put up with the slow speeds for a while just wanting to get a level head before I had to deal with troubleshooting this thing yet another nuisance on this day that seemed so ripe for them eventually my patience reached its limit though my attempts to relax at the terminal having crashed and burned I went to address this problem now determined to find a way to wind down if it killed me upon opening the my computer folder a red flag raised my harddrive had no free space left on it at all to put things into perspective I have a one terabyte internal hard drive with almost nothing on it I got this computer from a friend of mine much takea I and while I don't know nearly as much about computers as she I know that a terabyte is a lot of space and that my entire computer didn't even use ten percent of it yesterday clearly something was going on and I suspected some kind of virus or malware I've heard there are some out there that will create garbage data on your system flooding it with pointless files just to fill it up and make it run slow I'd always wondered what possible benefit there could be in this but my friend told me there are some scammers who will infect a computer with one of these viruses then try charge you a fee to clean and speed up your PC fortunately I hadn't received any such contact yet still my suspicion seemed grounded I gave up and performed the scan with my antivirus program a full scan sure one might think a quick scan would be faster but if it didn't turn up anything and I was then forced to do a full scan afterwards it would just wind up taking longer than if I went with a full scan from the start kind of a roundabout logic but I just wanted to get this resolved so that I could finally just relax and my computer I went to watch some TV for a while nothing good on I really just wanted to go browsing a couple hours later I heard the little scan complete chime from my speakers I went to go examine the results no viruses no malware I was baffled however there was one thing of note on the screen one file could not be scanned due to corrupted data values the window had three options list report and dismiss I clicked list to see the details of the file and he showed a file that made up a bunch of square characters square square square square square anima was the file name this was no file that I put there and I'm sure it wasn't there before I'd never installed any kind of language extensions on my computer so the file name was written in characters from some other language maybe Japanese or Arabic or something I'd also never heard of the duck anima file type but that could wait the file location was listed in some secluded subfolder from system32 that's where viruses like to hide out right I made my way to the folder and examined the file as expected it read as an unknown file type my computer didn't know what program would open it not that I had any plans of doing so just yet besides what surprised me more was the file size a rather a lack of one there was no file size listed that is it was just a garbled mess of text if you could call it that it looked like some sort of glitch but maybe there was some kind of special characters I'd seen people make signature art using what looked like garbled masses of text before one of the first things I learned about computers is that a computer does what you tell it to not what you want it to but is everything happens for a reason someone had to program this behavior make it display like this I didn't know what the file was but I knew I didn't need it spamming up my system as I was sure I was doing so of course having found the little bugger I immediately deleted it all the problems went away I was able to browse in peace once again the traffic ticket was overturned and I managed to weasel out of my cherry duty that's what I'd like to say instead a little Windows message popped up telling me that the file could not be deleted access was denied there was no question at this point definitely some kind of virus I tried and tried but nothing I did was able to get rid of the bugger after four attempts the second window appeared over the usual cannot delete message this one was formatted like a Windows message except that there was no title in the top bar of the window and there was only one word of text stopped this was accompanied by two choices yes or no I considered my options but knowing that this was a virus and it wasn't willingly going to allow me to delete it I chose yes thankfully the window terminated as it should have and I went back to the explorer window I decided to do some research as I probably should have done before messing that file at all in retrospect putting up with the incredibly slow browsing speed I ran a search for the file name by copying the characters when that turned up nothing I just tried to search for the animal file type which I'd never heard of no results maybe this was some brand-new kind of virus maybe the antivirus software hadn't found a way to recognize it yet and no one online had encountered it thus far maybe I was his very first victim I was outraged this is just perfect I said to myself being all sorts of vulgarities the likes of which would have resulted in no less than a dozen slaps from even a salty sub nuns I didn't want to deal with this right now I didn't want to deal with it ever but I especially didn't want to deal with it now I left the computer for a while after that to just find some other way to wind down I wasn't that successful the next day I was still pretty annoyed but I was at least a little more level-headed than I was the day prior and this was my weekend so I would have plenty of time to figure this out I called up the friend of mine who mind gotten the computer from and she attested that she had no knowledge of any such file on it nor of how it could have gotten there she did offer to help me troubleshoot it thankfully after I told her all that I had done thus far she seemed pretty convinced of my theory that it was some brand-new kind of virus without any currently known method of dealing with it unfortunately she wasn't nearly skilled enough to try picking apart an unknown virus fresh off the market so her helped end it there great with nothing left to do I decided to experiment with a file it took a full day to back up my important files and a separate drive hopefully without the virus carrying over with it and the following day I was able to start dealing with the thing the file wasn't a standalone executable or it would have run by itself when I double clicked it having no knowledge of what program the file was intended to run with I started cycling through all the programs on my computer trying to find something that would work first up was notepad as I've found a lot of unknown files can be read in text format this one turned up as a bunch of the missing character box symbols again so it could be read as a text file but it was all in another language I guess that's a start for lack of anything else to try I continued through the list of programs next up was Windows Photo Viewer I didn't expect anything to happen since the file had been opened in notepad that meant it had to be some kind of text-based file rights well somehow Photo Viewer was able to read the thing and it came up with an image of a nice little suburban house somewhere if it weren't for the subtle cultural hints like the buildings in the background and the style of mailbox I would have assumed it to be an American suburb unfortunately there wasn't any kind of text anywhere in the image so I couldn't determine the country of origin I tried to move the window to the side for later but accidentally closed it instead so I tried to open the program again with Photo Viewer and it works again but this time I got a different image this one of the inside of a car driving on a brick road from the drivers perspective how was this possible even assuming the file could be read in both notepad and photo viewer it's just one file opening it should come up with the same result each time if this was a virus it seemed to mess with the functions of my machine something fierce I opened the file once again in photo viewer and this time I got a string of big bold white symbols on a black background I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure they were Russian characters is that where this file is from Russia and the images - unfortunately it was an image so I couldn't copy the text and paste it into a search engine I was curious though I decided to take a screenshot of the text so I could look at it later one bring screen and mspaint open later I tried to pace what I'd copied but again the image wasn't the same this time it was a young woman dressed in formal attire looking at the camera expectantly it was the craziest thing every time this file appeared on the screen it was a new image from there I used the undo and redo keyboard commands to quickly erase and repays the image over and over again every time it was something different a grocery store a theater someone's living room a man looking into a mirror a pair of gravesites after that the next time I refreshed the image I got this it was a black screen with white text that read get out this made me jump a bit was this supposed to be addressed to me is this what the Russian text before translated to someone had to preload all these images into a slideshow and program them into this file maybe there were images of this message in all sorts of languages and these were just the two I happen to encounter first still something about the big bold white text message got to me and I shut down paint still I was curious now I wanted to know what other programs might be able to open this file I tried Windows Media Player Next hereis of how it might interpret the file apparently read it as audio but curiously the little seeker bar didn't move as the vial played the time count went up but the bar stayed at the far left like it might if it were playing some kind of online live stream the audio was a very clear recording of several people talking in Russian hearing yet I was now more certain of what language it was it was also a hint that I heard dishes clanking and liquid being slut as the word washed came up from time to time I could only assume this was a recording of some family dinner or something why it was in the file I have no idea the audio was pretty mundane after five minutes or so of nothing particularly interesting happening I closed out and this time tried opening it in VLC media player this time it was read as video I don't know why it would be any different between the two players but the same thing happened in BLC whether time count went up but the bar never moved due to my computer's infection the video ran extremely Chapa Lee but what I could make out seemed to be a first-person view of someone sitting in an office working on an assortment of paperwork at times I saw the viewers reflection on his computer monitor and it looked to be the same man who was looking at himself in the mirror in that image that appeared before curious just to see what happened I skipped ahead with the seekbar trying to find the other parts of the video but as soon as I tried to move it from its position glued to the left of the side window VLC crashed and I was forced to shut it down when I did another Windows message had appeared beneath the window again no title in the top bar and only one line of text stay out again the options were yes and no just to see what would happen this time I clicked No that may have been a mistake the window didn't close but out of nowhere my computer started worrying as if it were under an incredible strain and the screen practically locked up I tried moving my mouse but I was unable to move out of this stay out window which still at both options selectable thinking that maybe the computer was having trouble processing the command that once again clicked no this time the reaction was even stronger countless message windows began popping up over the current one all of them identical stay out stay out stay out stay out one after another I rapidly began popping up over the last slowing my computer to a literal snail's pace I tried to move the mouse and it very very slowly crawled its way away from the no button hoping to just end this calamity at this point I got it to meander over the yes command and finally clicked it just like that the windows stopped appearing and the hard drive stopped wearing and everything seemed to go back to normal or at least it went back to the way it was before I clicked no the file was still there and it still had to be taken care of I tried once again to delete the file this time a message popped up reading - not with the only clickable option being okay odd this message was different from the one I got last time I tried to delete it trying to X out of the message window did nothing so I reluctantly clicked ok and it closed I tried copying the file onto a drive moving it off my computer but I'd then received the Windows error message telling me that the file could not be moved because it is being accessed by another program the same message came up when I tried just moving it to the desktop for easier access I was curious to see whether this was true or not and actually I hadn't taken a look at my processes to see if maybe there was something going on there that was making my system drag so much I opened up task manager and switched over to the processes tab and sure enough at the top of the list was one called anima it was taking up almost a full 100% of my computer's processing power did that mean this file was not only occupying my whole hard drive but most of my ram as well how big was this thing without another thought I chose to end the process this resulted in another Windows message no title this one said please know these titleist messages weren't written by any purely surprise winner that's for sure the clickable options were no and no again unable to exit i clicked one of the two knows and the window closed underneath it there was the typical Windows message asking me if I was sure I wanted the force and the process glad that the virus didn't interfere with this function I clicked in process and my hard drive word for a moment then just like that the process vanished my CPU usage went back down to its normal levels and finally I was able to use the Machine freely again however file was still there the folder I could have deleted it then and there but I wanted to check it once again to be sure that no one else had encountered this little buggy yet so now that I was running at almost full speed I did another search for dot anima file type still no results on a final hunch based on the name of the process I saw running I tried doing a search for just anima all this returned was that anima was a Latin word but functionally translates into English as soul when I read that it all hit me like a ton of bricks but file it couldn't possibly have been cut it was that the anima file a human soul and had to be some kind of prank played by someone trying to horrify people for a cheap laugh all of this had to be programmed a great big illusion messing with my systems functionality and creating all of these pop-up messages images and files just a trick me into thinking this could be a real person in digital format of course very idea is preposterous even if there were such a thing as a haunted computer or some military experiment to extract a human soul into digital format there's no reason no way it would wind up on my computer how could that even have come about granted I have no better explanation of how such a virus could have found its way into my system a logical side of me knows better than to believe in some pranksters games but still the possibility however small it may be still haunts me what if it really had been a person in their life their memories their thoughts and feelings if so what had I just done by ending the process and terminating it from my system this wasn't something I wanted to think about I was determined to just the leaper file so I would never have to think about it again but before I did that I had to no curiosity got the better of me and I tried running the file again in all of the programs I tried previously no bad now read it as an empty document no matter what other program I used he read only as an empty black screen with faint static audio there was nothing left nothing [Music] you I never really considered myself to be much of an explorer or even a particularly brave man however that hasn't seemed to stop me from getting in the predicament I'm in now he was around three months ago but my girlfriend of four years left me for another man and she really was the last tether keeping me grounded to any semblance of a social life don't get me wrong I have friends that I'd love to see but most live across the Metroplex about an hour's drive so it's a rare day when I make the effort to drive out there and even more rare to have them drive out to see me for the past three months I've gone through most of the stages of a breakup sorrow self-pity hopelessness and anger it even after taking a look at myself I decided there were a few things I could improve and although I'm not in particularly bad shape now what did the school my physique does something more attractive to women this is a problem as I'm a fairly lazy man and everything in my life has to be handed to me but I've learned to put the least amount of effort into any and all the activities as possible so rather than buying a gym membership and taking the 5-minute drive down the road I decided I'd simply build myself a home workout center and do some ab blasting in my apartment I only recently moved in this place about a month before my eggs left me sharing a two-bedroom with absolutely no one it lies in the far corner of the complex on the second story and the balcony gives me an excellent view of the enormous soccer fields and the woods beyond that the only problem is the landlady lives underneath me and I learned fairly quickly that the whole home gym setup was a bust as almost immediately when doing reps with the weights our BOTS I heard the crotchety old woman banging on my floor with a broom handle commanding me to keep it down as irritating as it was walking on eggshells all the time I supposed it was understandable so I opted to cut corners some other way and rather than doing the smart thing and hitting the gym my eyes turned to the vast fields and my very doorstep the fields was simply massive stretching back several hundred yards surrounded by dense woodland on all sides other than the front which faced my apartments and the equally large parking lot which was sunken in such a way as to be unseen from the main road that led to it it was October when I first checked out the fields I live in Texas so it doesn't get cold here until December if at all so I had plenty of time to get familiar with the area before winter hits I only went at night preferably past midnight or even 1:00 a.m. when the large floodlights were shut down and all the late night teenagers were done with their shenanigans I would slip through the thick rapid fence that shuttle II guarded my apartment and disappear into the night and during this time I felt amazing completely uninhibited and alone just the way I liked it I would bring up my weights do laps around the field and heck I even brought a few buddies out there once or twice to have some drinks and play soccer once it had cleared out and although I will admit going out there in pitch black alone with nothing but the moonlight could be slightly unnerving at times it was far better than the alternative at least at first as my isolation grew my sleep schedule strayed from the norm and it wasn't long before I found myself awake at odd hours of the night and about a week ago was a particularly rough one after fruitlessly lying in bed for almost an hour and not even feeling my eyelids flutter once I realized my efforts the four sleeeeep a futile and I found myself crawling out of bed at 1:00 in the morning it's strange many of the times I find myself drawn to the field it's almost as if I'm not in control of my body movements or even my own thoughts and as I throw on a jacket in preparation for the chilly embrace outside I glanced out my bedroom window finding to my bemusement that the floodlights in the field still on because it was so late I figured one of the workers must have forgot to turn off the light for the night and initially he thought little of it grabbed my phone and headed outside I was feeling strangely courageous that night confidently strutting out onto the barren field dropping off my shirt and my jacket near the edge feeling like the biggest man in the world and after putting some music on my phone I headed to the center of the wasteland after expecting to see someone out there waiting for me the overpowering luminescence of the floodlights combined with a sharp contrast of the utter and complete darkness of the forest encompassing it made for an odd sensation indeed but I still found myself walking to the center of the field and simply observing my surroundings in the darkness in the early hours of the morning it is easy for one's mind to play tricks on them and it was not uncommon for me in the past to do a double-take over my shoulder whenever I thought I saw a shadow sprinting for the night I don't need to see a harmless flag or feel a wave of fear crawl up my spine when I heard a rustling behind me only to discover a plastic bag in the breeze but this night felt different the glaring lights cast long dark shadows across the field and as I marched around cold and alone with only David Bowie blaring from my phone to keep me company I felt remarkably uncomfortable after kicking a soccer ball around the fields but less than five minutes strongest and wind hit my shirtless body leaving me shuddering involuntarily but this was met by a loud climbing sound of metal on metal from the woods at the edge of the field which halted my shuddering almost immediately as I stood still as a statue with goosebumps quickly forming up my arms as I mentioned it was not uncommon for there to be noises around the field even at night am i quickly rationalized that the wind had knocked something against the large metal garbage can at the edge of the field creating the clanging noise I had heard earlier and I continued with my work out still in the zone what alert David Bowie abruptly shuts off jarring me into glancing at my phone damn it I thought out loud the battery had died that's when I heard the clanging noise again and my head snapped back towards where I perceived the noise to have originated from I waited several seconds no win this time for those who don't know a large field such as this it's nearly impossible it's a pinpoint where a noise is coming from because of the effect echos can have in such a wide unobstructed space but I had the distinct feeling it was not coming from the garbage can at the other end of the field I did no fun for the night without glancing back I put my phone in my pocket and started jogging away from the center of the field and back towards the hole in the fence that led directly to my apartment and that's when it happened the flood lights went out I kid you not every single one of the damn lights turned off instantly here I was damn near naked eyes watering from the cold and goose bumps covering every inch of my body when darkness took the field that's my jog turned into a sprint I felt exposed alone and oh so vulnerable I'm not a feeble or cowardly man but I knew anyone or anything out there messing with me so late at night had to be even crazier than I was I still had about a hundred yards to run when I glanced behind me I don't know whether to be grateful or terrified that I saw nothing in the shadows of the night but either way I ran harder and faster than I had no long long time my terror was so severe I completely forgot to grab my shirt or jacket but immediately relief overtook me once I entered the premise of the complex squeezing through the broken fence racing up the stairs and slamming and locking the door behind me breathing heavily I stumbled over to the kitchen table my legs and lungs both burning with white-hot pain I was shaken but I was alright after on a shirt almost completely forgetting about the one I left behind and started boiling some water for some tea and I knew I could finally relax and that's when I heard it knock-knock-knock three knocks on my door my front door at 2:00 in the morning law enforcement that was the first thought ad they had finally busted me for trespassing all those times but I figured if I just can't explain myself maybe they'd let me off with a warning I walked over to my door and grabbed my doorknob but something stopped me from turning and hauling it open instead I lowered my eye to the circular peep hole in the door figuring I might as well see who it was before I opened my Shaklee backed away from the door with goosebumps immediately reemerging in my arms and neck as the familiar sensation of dread radiated throughout my body I glanced at the door to make sure it was locked and for good measure ran up and threw on the deadbolt when a second series of the thumps reverberate it throughout my small apartment my view of the peephole had been completely black meaning someone had covered it for a reason that God only knew but it couldn't have been good I went out to get my jacket and shirt the next day when the Sun was high in the sky bringing some semblance of warmth and order to the world the field is full of parents and kids happily playing soccer but my articles were gone along with any signs that anyone or anything was out there the night before that was five days ago and every night since the lights in the field have remained on until 2:00 a.m. without fail and every single night at the same time I hear that metallic clanging in the field whether there be wind or not followed soon by that familiar thudding Amador I suppose going to my apartment immediately after was a poor choice as now what if is out there in that field knows who I am and knows where I live I don't know what to do I think I should move maybe I'll move back with my parents I don't know I need to get away and and I'm terrified it was this morning that really sent me over the edge I opened my door at 8 a.m. in order to head to work when I nearly stepped on something I picked up a ragged piece of cloth apprehensively thinking it to be a garments of some homeless vagrant when it dawned on me although horribly mutilated and torn to shreds it was still recognizable I dropped the cloth in horror it was my jacket even now as I write this I regret to inform you I hear it knock-knock-knock you I have always been a scrawny person since I was in elementary school granted due to my semi-decent sense of humor I was never bullied well to the opposite sex I was never deemed attractive or dateable friendzone was the nation i inhabited and until the age of 25 I was completely fine with it of course I craved the attention when it came time for the homecoming dance or prom but I always managed to get a friend that went with me has a pity after high school I went to a local college and graduated five years later I ran out of fun so I worked in sales after my sophomore year to make enough money for my last two years on my graduation day I looked back on the years I spent in college and immediately felt regret every day after my classes I would just go back home and eat dinner with my parents and go to my bedroom where I would spend the whole night serving the web and reading I made a couple of friends and had a date that hinted terribly but I just felt like I never truly utilized college for all of its worth I was accepted into an out-of-state college but I decided against it because I did not want to get out of my comfort zone after college I tried to find a job that went along with my major English and found that it is pretty much impossible to get a teaching job in the town I lived in after four months of looking for a job I decided that any job was as good as any and went to the local electronics store for my old job back the manager was more than happy to take me back as I was the top seller every month I was there I don't like to go out and make friends but I was definitely good at making people spend their money when I came back for my first day back three days later I realized it was a completely different crew except the manager there were three salesmen Mack Vance and Jonathan and the manager Anthony before I came back in Mack was the top salesman for the past six months and we automatically did not like each other Vance was the lowest salesman but he always cleaned the store up and made sure all of the inventory was correct Jonathan was the middle tier salesman and we became fast friends there really isn't much to talk about in the world of sales people come in looking for eggs object and we sell them eggs object while trying to add on necessaries sometimes we'll get them to loosen on their original budget and go for a higher end model that is about as far as sales really go to me it gets me a paycheck and I could pay the rent my mother and father suddenly started charging me three weeks into working there Jonathan asked me if I wanted to go over to his house hang out and drink a couple of beers I agreed and after work we went there and turned on a couple of movies while downing beer after beer after three hours I decided it was time for me to go home but Jonathan rationalized with me about the dangers of driving drunk he brought out two pillows and a blanket he pointed at the couch and I sat back down he put the blanket in bellos beside me and told me goodnight while he walked back to his room I don't know when I fell asleep but I remember snapping awake I have this thing ever since I was young where I would slightly open my eyes in case it's already bright but I found the room to be completely dark I slightly glanced up trying to figure out where I was but what I saw made me close my eyes completely and start shaking little Jonathan was standing in the hallway while staring at me I waited around ten minutes and slightly opened my eyes once more to see that he was going back into his room the next morning I woke up to the smell of bacon I quickly got out of bed and went to his kitchen he was cooking and looking like his normal self so I just let my paranoia slide off and I asked him if he needed any help with a wave of his hand he just told me to sit down and enjoy my hangover I sat down on the couch until I was done cooking and we ate bacon and pancakes we went to work right after breakfast and by the end I completely forgot about him staring at me in the middle of the night the next weekend he asked me if I wants to go out to a club an hour away from us and without hesitation I told him yes I told him I would wear my black suit to look extra spiffy and while laughing he told me he would pick me up from my house around 10:00 p.m. around 10:15 I heard him honking and I went outside and got into his car when I saw him I had to take a double take he was wearing the exact same thing as me black suit and a white button-up shirt I just decided to ignore it we got to the club at 11:00 right as the doors are open and before it was midnight I was having the time of my life for the first time in my life I was meeting girls that seemed to take an interest in me and I even got to dance with a couple of them the only thing that really threw me off was that Jonathan seemed to be staring down every girl that even gave me the slightest bit of interest and too Jonathan came up to me and told me it was time to go home so I went to the bar to pay off my tab while I was paying my tab a girl that I danced with earlier came up to me and slipped me a piece of paper in my pocket while giving me a light peck in my cheek I know I blushed but I maintain my composure enough to give her a wink and a smile when I got into the car I took out the piece of paper and show Jonathan nearly bouncing in my seat with excitement I told him that she was definitely a girl that I would not mind dating he asked me what she looked like so I told him that she was little shorter than me brown hair and green eyes then I started to explain to him how pretty she was but I had noticed he changed his expression from happiness it's what seemed like anger the whole car ride was filled with old silences and sideways glances from Jonathan I felt like he had gotten a bit too weird for me so I started to avoid him at work it worked for the first three days but I noticed that he had started to follow me around when I was driving home I would see his car from a distance away sometimes when I was lying in bed I would spot a set of ice coming from the trees in front of my house but every single time I would walk up to the window I would see the eyes vanish I didn't really know it was him until I saw a figure with bright green shoes running down the street I know Jonathan is the only person I have ever seen wear bright green shoes there were the shoes he wore whenever he went out running whenever he exercised I decided that the next day would be the best day to approach him and tell him that I noticed him following me have to work and looking into my window I was going to tell my only and best friend that I would really appreciate it if he could just give me some space and that I thought he was back to normal that next day the store was closed the store was closed because Jonathan was found in the middle of the night by the police with a giant gaping hole in his chest his heart was removed and placed in his mouth whereas how it should have been was a credit card from our store the magnetic strip was rubbed off and the name of the card was grinded off on his stomach was a series of cuts to reveal a little note was it worth the sale I know I wanted him to give me some space but I never wanted him to die he was my only best friend in the grief that filled my heart when my manager called and told me the news caused me to hang up on him and fallen on my bed with deep subs I felt the world was crashing down on me and I never felt like he ever knew how much he really meant to me today is the day after Jonathan was found dead I decided to go to the mall to clear my head I went outside to my car found a letter stuck in my window I grabbed the letter read it in my car hey Dan I'm sure you've noticed that I ain't following you around and that I've been acting weird around you I know on the first night you spent over you saw me staring at you on the couch I just wanted you to know that on the first week Mac convinced an older woman to make an $8,100 TV purchase using our store credit card the next day the woman came back with the TV it had a big crack in the middle of the screen she told us it had come that way normally we just return it and get our money back from the manufacturer but Mac did not want to lose out on the commission it was the last one we had in stock and he wanted to have the upper hand on you she starts at the begging plea to just take the TV back and let her buy a cheaper model she told him that she didn't even have the money to pay the monthly bill he just told her she was out of luck and made her take the TV back into a car that night she killed herself she was clutching remote in the left hand an empty bottle of pills in her right hand the daughter came in three days later it was your day off but Mack was there she went up to him and told him about the death of a mother she didn't seem sad but I could tell she was not here to ask about what can be done about the bill with a smile she asked who the salesman was in the asshole told her it was you described what you looked like with a smile she skipped out the door and drove off in a red sedan when you spent the night I woke up to the sound of a car engine starting up around 2:00 a.m. I looked out the window and saw that same red sedan when we were going to the club I saw the red sedan following us when you described to me about the girl that gave you her number it matched what she looked like exactly I just wanted to make sure you were safe so I followed you home and I kept to watch over you tonight I invited her over I took the piece of paper she wrote you her number on and texted her she said she will be here at 2 a.m. I know I may not be alive when you read this but I want you to know that I love you man I know we haven't been friends for long but just know that I acted like a creep around you because I wanted to make sure you were safe you I'll ethnics this one kid who always had bandages wrapped around their whole head even covering his face I remembered his name is Wilbur a 12 year old boy never left his house sometimes he looked out of his bedroom window on the top floor and all of the kids who would play outside while Wilbur sat and watched I remembered his window had metal bars on them so there was no way he could climb out of his bedroom windows he sometimes communicates it to each other by writing to each other on pieces of paper since what we can't hear me because the windows were locked Wilbur only does it when his parents aren't around since they're weird his mother and father were one of those parents that were insanely crazy about science and chemistry according to Wilbur they would stay in the basement and work all day and night except at the times where they had to give Wilbur some food daily now they're not treating him like an animal his parents were just very busy they told Robert that he shouldn't go outside to make contact with anyone until his face got better he told me that he accidentally slipped on one of his parents's chemicals and fell face-first ruining his appearance and his parents feared that he would be made fun of by the other kids in the neighborhood I remember one time a couple of all the kids were throwing rocks and pebbles at his windows laughing and pointing at Wilbur as he looked down at them he told me that they'd do it a few times but he's used to it but to me he's a great guy and still is I have never been inside his house but he showed me some cool stuff he collected like comic books he had lots of them from Marvel to DC to other non superhero comics he was a huge superhero fan even said that he felt like a superhero a normal human being who became affected by dangerous chemicals and then became a powerful superhero he once wrote on a piece of paper and had it put up to his window as he pretended to be a superhero I had a collection of action figures and video games that amazed Wilbur he told me that he never played a single video game in his life which was quite sad he also told me that his baby sister took them away from him before he could play them and burnt them in front of his eyes Wilbur had a mean babysitter named miss Fitzgerald a tall mean lady who never liked kids at all this started before his face became messed up he told me she was basically every kid's nightmare of all the things I heard she has done miss Fitzgerald had babysat many kids before and trust me it was not pretty well we're told me that the last kid she babysat a four-year-old girl she made a live through seven hours of Hell Wilbur said that miss Fitzgerald staffed her and surrounded a bed with a few bear traps and the worst thing that happened the parents didn't know about her deed she would lie to them just to get paid of all the things I've heard she is a foul cruel woman with no soul at all and now she had to babysit this poor guy Ruba was old enough to make his own decisions except for some his parents apparently hired an evil witch the parents had to go to Texas to a science convention so Waldo was left alone with her one time I was writing about her to show him but then I saw miss Fitzgerald also really pulling him away from the window and that was the rest of my day without talking to him the next day I looked through my window to see Wilbur I saw someone lying down on his bed looking at the person's wrapped head I banged my fist in the window trying to get well was attention he slowly sat up on his bed wiping away tears from his eyes he seemed to be crying which that gave me a thought I had a worried look at my face as I saw the bruises all over his arms and legs a faded dark tone of purple he went to write something down on a piece of paper then as well but finished writing he went up to the window and pressed the note against the glass what he wrote terrified me the whole situation still burned in the back of my mind something I knew I wouldn't forget he wrote help me what made it worse was that his handwriting was scribbled onto the paper and was almost illegible well we kept banging on the window with his other hand then suddenly I saw someone else run into his bedroom next to him it was her you know who she had something in both of a big chubby hands in one hand was a lemon and then the other was a pair of scissors what miss Fitzgerald did terrified me even more miss Fitzgerald ran up to well Bert grabbing his head holding it still I saw him screaming in pain and fear so I knew I had to do something at the same time I couldn't stop watching she used her scissors to cut open the bandages and unwrapped them off his head and threw them to the side what I saw almost made me vomit something that's second me I was utterly shocked at looking at well was real deformed face his whole head was completely covered by bandages and what was underneath I knew the purpose too I saw his face almost melted off show the dark red layer underneath I can only imagine his face looking like melted cheese on a cheeseburger well his whole face even one of his eyeballs were burnt a bit the chemicals messed him up badly miss Fitzgerald sliced the lemon in half with the scissors pinning Wilbur down on his bed then she threw the scissors to the side next to the bandages and held his head with one hand with the other hand she squeezed lemon onto Wilbur's head to his eyes into the red layer of his face the painful expression on his face his loud muffled screams his face stinging from the acid of the lemon juice she used the other lemon to squeeze under his face again torturing Wilbur with extreme pain I decided to bang my fist on the window which was a bad idea miss Fitzgerald looked over to the bedroom window right at me I jumped back she noticed me she ran back out of the bedroom shoving Wilbert down as he screamed and agony and pain I knew what she was going to do so I ran out of my bedroom and ran downstairs the good thing about this situation was that my parents don't know about Wilbur and the fact that they are at work for a little bit I locked the front door hoping that miss Fitzgerald wouldn't burst into my house I looked around for the house phone but as I was a loud bang rang in my ears I looked behind myself at the door noticing her red sweaty face and a curly blond hair by the looks in her eyes and knew there was going to be some trouble she kept banging up the door nearly screaming her head off as I looked around for the phone I finally spotted it next to the couch on the coffee table I ran towards it dialing 9-1-1 says sounds of Miss Fitzgerald's threatening screams were heard from outside waiting for a few rings I finally hear the operators voice usual greeting from a 9-1-1 operator i started explaining the whole situation from beginning to end as quickly and clearly as possible they told me to wait patiently as the police will arrive at my house soon it took a few minutes for the police to arrive at my house not only did they arrive but my parents arrived early from work as well apparently they got a call from the police explaining my situation and decided to come home my parents were extremely worried and frightened they asked me more questions about it and the police did I had to explain everything from being friends with Wilber to how his parents had left him with an abusive babysitter to what she tried to do but an hour later a police officer came to me he had something he wanted to tell me about the horrible atrocities that took place next door the truth about the babysitter the parents and Wilber was truly shocking based on the evidence they found Wilbur's parents weren't his actual parents at all they adopted well we're from an orphanage that's out of town only to perform an experiment on him it was the reason why they moved to takes us to hide a babysitter miss Fitzgerald was part of the experiment too in fact Wilbur wasn't the first kid to get adopted by the scientists they had done illegal experiments on those orphans and it was to find out how much pain a child can take before death based on the cause of death in the age of the child 38 children between the ages of 2 and 13 were reported missing in Wilbur was one of them there were security cameras on the outside and inside of the house right now they arrested miss Fitzgerald the child cruelty and the deaths of many children and are on the case to find the two scientists all of that and I was friends with someone who would have been killed if I didn't call the police apparently Wilbur also tried to lie about almost everything he told me he was trying to protect himself he was sent to a new trusted family a married couple who lived out of town since then I never saw him again until now 20 years later I went to a bar to get myself a few drinks by myself when a man approached me remember me he said that familiar man smiling at me I smile back realizing how long it had been since I last seen Wilbur in fact he looks like a nice healthy man now without his bandages he was a brown haired man the sky-blue eyes you almost looked like a complete stranger after that we talked and drank a few glasses finally speaking to each other in person Wilbur and I knew that nobody would try to keep us apart the scientists and the baby sister are probably locked away right now after all I still couldn't stop thinking of the fact that this man would have been killed if I didn't help save his life [Music] you

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Channel: CreepsMcPasta

Views: 335,863

Rating: 4.6644297 out of 5

Keywords: creepypasta, creepy pasta, best creepypastas of 2018, best of, creepypasta compilation, best creepypastas, creepypastas, creepypasta reading, horror stories, creepsmcpasta, horror, scary story, Scary Stories, creepypasta stories, paranormal, asmr, podcast, reddit, nosleep

Id: eRedJXmH5Qk

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Length: 224min 31sec (13471 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 02 2019

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