0:00

Angie. Is your home for everything

0:02

home and they've made it easier than

0:04

ever to connect with skilled professionals to

0:06

get all your home projects done well.

0:09

If. You own a home. You know how

0:11

much work it can take. Whether it's everyday

0:13

maintenance and repairs or making dream projects a

0:16

reality, it can be hard just to know

0:18

where to start. But. Now all

0:20

you need to do is Angie that

0:22

and find a skilled local pro who

0:24

deliver the quality and expertise that you

0:26

need. Angie has over twenty

0:28

years of home service experience and

0:30

they've combined it with new tools

0:33

to simplify the whole process. Bring.

0:35

Them your project online or with the and

0:37

yep answer a few questions and and you

0:40

can handle the rest from start to finish.

0:42

Or. Help you compare quotes from

0:44

multiple prose and connect instantly. Which.

0:47

Means you can take care of just

0:49

about any home project and just a

0:51

few steps. Because. When it comes

0:53

to getting the most out of your own home,

0:55

you can do this when you. Angie That.

0:58

Download. The free Angie mobile

1:00

app today or visit edgy.com.

1:03

That's. angi.com.

1:07

Isolator will track George Vi Resignation

1:09

A B C's hit series will

1:11

Draft is Back. To where they can

1:13

see like in his. Sixties it.

1:15

It's new types of it's and

1:18

for agis all the Cia creaks

1:20

are calling it. An entertaining, powerful,

1:22

heart racing drop a bomb in

1:24

his building. This entire thread has

1:26

joined the list of greatest team

1:28

detectives. Is literally send his objective

1:30

I. Will draft you Tuesday, states

1:33

of etc one A B C and

1:35

stream on google. Hey.

1:43

And when you download the Kroger Ap, you'll

1:45

enjoy over five hundred dollars in savings every

1:47

week with digital coupons. And don't forget few

1:49

points to help you save up to one

1:51

dollar per gallon at the pump. Wanna.

1:54

Save even more with a boost membership

1:56

you'll get double few points and free

1:58

delivery. Kroger

2:00

today. Kroger, fresh for everyone. Savings

2:02

may vary by state. Restrictions apply.

2:04

See site for details. The

2:07

following program is a production of Chilling

2:10

Entertainment and the creative team at Chilling

2:12

Tales for Dark Nights and

2:14

a proud member of the Simply

2:16

Scary Podcast Network. Visit

2:18

simplyscarypodcast.com to learn more about

2:21

this and our other weekly

2:23

storytelling programs and become

2:26

a patron today to show your

2:28

support and get instant access to

2:30

our extensive archive of downloadable ad-free

2:32

Tales of Terror. Thank

2:35

you for listening and enjoy the

2:37

show. Disclaimer.

3:41

Horror Hill is a horror anthology

3:44

podcast bringing you scary stories from

3:46

all corners of the internet and

3:48

beyond. As such,

3:50

certain stories include content that

3:52

some listeners might find offensive.

3:55

Listener discretion is advised.

4:00

Hello there, listeners, and welcome

4:02

back to Horror Hill. I'm

4:05

your host and narrator, Eric Peabody,

4:07

and tonight's episode features two stories

4:10

with a common theme, the

4:12

limitations of the human experience.

4:16

Chances are that all of us at

4:18

one time or another have felt frustration

4:20

with the constraints inherent to our experience

4:23

here on Earth. Whether

4:25

it's something as physical as not being as tall

4:27

as you'd like to be, or

4:29

as nebulous as ruing the banality

4:31

of daily life, this yearning has

4:33

fueled a quest for human improvement

4:36

that has spanned our history, and

4:38

these two tales tonight take that

4:40

admirable goal and bring it somewhere

4:42

a little dark. First

4:45

we'll be reading Evolution, Inc. by

4:48

Jackson Arthur. This

4:50

is a story about Marcus Salinger, a

4:52

man living in New York City without the

4:54

use of his legs. However,

4:57

Marcus is also a scientific genius,

4:59

and just so happens to be

5:02

heading a very interesting project at

5:04

Evolution, Inc. This

5:06

project isn't just interesting in its

5:09

potential promises to humanity, but

5:11

also in the ire it's raised among

5:13

a very vocal group of opponents. Here

5:16

is the tipping point between

5:18

medical advancement and traipsing

5:21

in God's domain, and

5:23

is Marcus sure that he's maintained

5:25

enough objectivity to know the difference?

5:29

Closing out this episode we'll be

5:32

covering Threshold by Brett O'Reilly. We

5:35

open with a janitor in an IKEA

5:37

store who is cleaning up a very

5:39

unlikely mess, a trail of

5:41

blood leading through the store to apply

5:44

wood partition with a door painted on

5:46

it. This facade of

5:48

a door is nothing more than a

5:50

decoration, but a strange man

5:52

walked through the door just earlier that

5:54

night, and is now gone. All

5:57

that's left behind is the trail of

6:00

blood that poured from the self-inflicted wound

6:02

on his wrist. As

6:04

the police investigate this strange occurrence,

6:07

they slowly realize that the situation

6:09

is far stranger than they initially

6:12

thought. Accompanying

6:14

me tonight are two guests,

6:16

Rissa Montanez in Evolution Inc.

6:19

and Melissa Medina in Threshold.

6:22

Please join me in welcoming them both back

6:24

to the show. You're

6:28

listening to the standard edition of

6:30

this program. If you'd like to

6:32

help support Horror Hill and also

6:35

remove these pesky ads, head to

6:37

chillingtalesfordarkknights.com and click patrons in the

6:39

upper menu to sign up today.

6:41

You'll get instant access to hundreds

6:44

of ad-free stories and we can

6:46

scale back some of our... less

6:50

savory means of generating money for

6:52

the show. By

6:54

the way, you wouldn't happen to still

6:56

have all of your organs, would you?

7:07

And now from author Jackson Arthur,

7:09

I give you Evolution

7:11

Inc. The

7:17

subway train shot beneath the city

7:19

like a shiny, elongated bullet, rubbing

7:22

and vibrating against the thin metal

7:24

rails. It sped,

7:26

twisting and turning throughout New York's

7:28

underbelly, the old decaying tunnels beneath

7:31

the flourishing capital of the world.

7:35

Marcus Salinger often wondered about the

7:37

subway system. New York City

7:39

seemed to be advancing at such a

7:41

swift rate that everything was always newer

7:43

and shinier every day, yet the subway

7:45

tunnels looked as if they were about

7:47

to crumble down around him. Why

7:50

didn't they get an upgrade? With

7:52

the sudden and unexpected popularity of

7:54

monorails, why did subways even still

7:57

exist? Maybe

7:59

some old ideas. ideas simply refused

8:01

to die. The

8:04

text of a science book, Angels

8:06

and Adams, filled a small

8:08

computer screen which extended from the arm

8:10

of Marcus's wheelchair. With

8:12

his head tilted down toward the

8:14

words, Marcus read, trying to avoid

8:16

eye contact from other riders. However,

8:20

a voice sang out from above,

8:22

making him peek. Evel

8:26

The word Evel, in light blue,

8:28

flowed through the flat television mounted

8:31

above the nearby exit. The

8:33

word also filled the many other screens

8:35

throughout the subway car. As

8:38

the word faded, a woman with

8:40

dark brown hair, curls falling to

8:42

her shoulders, appeared on the screen

8:44

wearing an all-blue jumpsuit. Her

8:47

frame was petite and her buttermilk-colored

8:49

skin was flawless, as if fake.

8:53

She spoke, The next

8:55

step in humanity has arrived. Immortality

8:58

is no longer myth or legend,

9:00

but as real as your own

9:02

mind. Suddenly

9:05

the jumpsuit faded and the woman was

9:07

left naked. Her skin

9:09

reminded Marcus of smooth rubber. On

9:12

July 4th, join us here

9:14

at Evel and let us take that

9:17

next step together. Slowly

9:19

her skin faded, leaving a

9:22

metallic android. And

9:24

skin will no longer hold us in,

9:27

and death will no longer hold

9:29

sway. It is time

9:32

to shed our dying and

9:34

live forever. The

9:36

woman disappeared, leaving only the word

9:39

Evel and then that was also

9:41

gone. Marcus

9:43

lowered his eyes again, but listened to the

9:45

murmurs among some of the other passengers. He

9:49

heard someone snicker and curse. He

9:51

heard someone begin to pray to their God. Both

9:54

responses were growing abundant these days.

9:58

Then Marcus heard something that he had heard. had not

10:00

experienced much of these days. Two

10:03

seats down from Marcus' personal chair, an

10:06

elderly gentleman turned to his companion

10:08

and whispered, "'God bless

10:10

them.'" "'Amen,'

10:13

the lady replied. "'I

10:16

only wish that all of this had come sooner,'

10:19

the man said. "'I would

10:21

be the first in line by damned. Wouldn't

10:23

that be nice, dear? Living

10:26

together, forever?'

10:28

She simply nodded. "'Today

10:31

could be the day, you know. I hope

10:34

so. Our times almost

10:36

stop.'" Marcus'

10:39

identification badge felt heavy in his

10:41

shirt pocket. He would

10:43

hurry, he thought to himself. Marcus

10:46

would hurry as if the Lord himself had kicked

10:48

him in the ass. He

10:50

would succeed, too, not only for himself,

10:52

but also for good people like the

10:55

old gentleman and his lady. The

10:58

old man reminded Marcus of someone. His

11:01

grandfather. The

11:05

bird leapt and pecked at the

11:07

falling breadcrumbs while George Salinger giggled

11:09

at the flapping feathers. "'Aren't

11:12

they beautiful, Marcus?' George

11:14

turned to his grandson and handed him a full

11:17

piece of bread. "'Break it

11:19

up nice and small so that one bird won't

11:21

hog the whole thing.' "'Okay,'

11:24

Marcus answered, fidgeting because the

11:26

park bench was uncomfortable against

11:28

his spine. With his

11:31

short fingers, Marcus began to break up

11:33

the dry, stale piece of bread. "'Okay,'

11:37

he repeated, wanting nothing but to

11:39

impress his grandfather with his bread-breaking

11:42

skills. "'All of

11:44

the Lord's special animals were given wings,'

11:47

George said. "'You hear me,

11:49

Marcus?' "'Wings.' "'That's

11:52

how I know that humans are

11:54

not God's chosen, because we were never

11:56

given wings. Birds, insects,

11:59

animals, and animals. angels. Not

12:02

mankind. Nope." Marcus

12:05

continued to squirm as the ache rolled up

12:07

and down the center of his back. Ignoring

12:10

the pain, he threw out the crumbs as

12:12

far as he could and watched as the

12:15

little birds attacked. Birds?

12:18

Insects? Angels? Not

12:21

people, Marcus added,

12:23

his prepubescent voice cracking.

12:27

What's wrong? George asked, recognizing

12:29

that Marcus was fidgeting against the

12:32

park bench. My

12:34

back hurts, Marcus

12:36

replied. Again? You've

12:38

been sitting here too long is why? George

12:41

told him. Go play with

12:43

the other children over by the fountain. I

12:46

can watch you from here. You don't need

12:48

to keep an old man company. Go,

12:51

run, be active. Marcus

12:54

noticed the other kids, three of

12:56

them, running and playing around the

12:58

giant tree made of white stone.

13:01

From several man-made pours built into

13:04

the stone tree flowed streams of

13:06

water. Dusk was near

13:08

and the low sunlight reflected across

13:10

the flowing water, giving it the

13:12

illusion of liquid fire. Marcus

13:15

sluggishly agreed to join the other kids

13:17

but when he jumped from the bench,

13:20

his feet couldn't feel the ground.

13:22

His entire body toppled over,

13:25

causing Marcus to cry out. He

13:28

immediately reached for his legs, but

13:31

without sensations, Marcus could

13:33

not at once find them. Pushing

13:38

a button, Marcus scrolled to the next

13:40

page in Angels and Atoms and came

13:42

across a sentence that stood out. He

13:45

finished reading it, went back and

13:47

then reread the sentence a second time.

13:50

It was ironic that he would read

13:52

this passage on this day. The

13:55

sentence went, if science

13:57

and faith refused to find a common

14:00

ground and work together, humankind

14:02

will never progress any further.

14:06

As Marcus considered what he had read,

14:08

the train's air brakes hissed, bringing the

14:10

machine to a slow stop. Fresh

14:13

passengers entered and tired commuters

14:15

exited. Without completely

14:18

raising his eyes, Marcus noticed a woman

14:20

and her young son come aboard. They

14:22

sat directly across from Marcus. He

14:25

thought about nodding or smiling at them,

14:28

but didn't. Distant

14:31

background noise suddenly became clear

14:33

to Marcus as CNN4 returned

14:35

from a commercial break.

14:38

The voice of a female broadcaster caught his

14:40

attention. �Evel!� Susanna

14:43

Prepon began before pausing to shuffle

14:45

her note cards. �The

14:47

self-proclaimed makers of miracles hope to accomplish

14:49

their grandest miracle to date. A

14:51

miracle worthy of the Almighty Himself. One

14:54

that they simply call, Angel. They

14:57

will do this today, July 4th, a

14:59

day known in history as the celebration

15:02

of independence and freedom. Is

15:04

there symbolism in using this day? One

15:07

can only speculate.� Another

15:09

train stop came and went,

15:11

doors opened and closed, but

15:14

Marcus kept his attention on the television.

15:17

�The mystery of the human brain has

15:19

been solved, or so,� Evel claims. And

15:22

according to Evel, this long-awaited triumph comes

15:24

with an endless array of possibilities. An

15:27

end to disease. An end to hunger.

15:30

Maybe even an end to death.

15:33

But how? And what exactly is

15:35

Angel? Apparently, according to an

15:38

Evel spokesperson, the human mind works

15:40

like an advanced computer, only specific

15:42

to each and every person, but

15:44

a computer nonetheless. Like

15:47

the data on your computer, everything in it

15:49

that makes it unique can be transferred to

15:51

another system. And this idea

15:53

is the foundation for Angel. The

15:56

Evel spokesperson refused to give any more

15:59

details, but through commercial. that have been

16:01

running for several weeks, the idea is

16:03

pretty obvious. Humans could

16:05

become robots. There

16:07

is one man, though, who refuses to

16:09

stand by and let this happen." A

16:12

picture of Senator Long appeared in

16:14

the corner, his dark eyes sitting

16:17

behind thick-rimmed glasses. Senator

16:19

Arthur Long, the woman

16:22

continued, is angry. They

16:24

are going to take away our flesh and

16:26

replace it with metal. They want us all

16:28

to be robots. Long has been

16:30

quoted as saying, Senator Long

16:33

is an active leader of a growing

16:35

movement known as Skin Against

16:37

Metal, or SAM, who are, at

16:39

the moment, continuing their stern protest

16:42

outside of Evel Headquarters in New

16:44

York. Senator Long, a

16:46

war veteran, has adamantly spoken out

16:49

against Evel and the use of

16:51

cybernetics. Senator Long promises

16:53

that the protest will remain peaceful, but

16:56

some worry that the growing tension, which has

16:58

been building steadily over the past year or

17:00

so, will erupt very

17:02

soon. Could the members

17:04

of SAM and the supporters of Evel ever

17:06

find common ground, or will

17:09

this turn into a bitter battle for years

17:11

to come? We will have to

17:13

wait and see. With

17:15

these final words, a male newscaster appeared

17:18

on the screen and began to report

17:20

on the peace treaty between China

17:22

and North Korea, which did not interest

17:24

Marcus. Wait

17:27

and see. No more

17:30

waiting. Today the world will

17:32

see, Marcus was thinking, when

17:34

suddenly he recognized a young man that was

17:36

sitting several feet from him. Marcus

17:39

knew the face, but

17:41

how? When the

17:43

young man returned Marcus' creepy stare,

17:47

it came back to him. Johnny.

17:50

His name was Johnny. And

17:52

Johnny's right eye was a portion of a

17:54

second slower than the other, because

17:56

it was robotic. Marcus

17:58

recalled that Johnny's real lie had

18:01

been torn out by a dog as

18:03

a toddler. Angie

18:05

is your home for everything home, and

18:08

they've made it easier than ever to

18:10

connect with skilled professionals to get all

18:12

your home projects done well. If

18:14

you own a home, you know how much

18:16

work it can take, whether it's everyday maintenance

18:18

and repairs, or making dream projects a reality,

18:21

it can be hard just to know where

18:23

to start. But now all

18:25

you need to do is Angie that, and

18:27

find a skilled local pro who will deliver

18:29

the quality and expertise that you need. Angie

18:32

has over 20 years of home service

18:35

experience, and they've combined it with

18:37

new tools to simplify the whole

18:39

process. Bring them your project

18:41

online or with the Angie app, answer a

18:43

few questions, and Angie can handle the rest,

18:45

from start to finish. Or

18:47

help you compare quotes from multiple pros

18:50

and connect instantly. Which

18:52

means you can take care of just about

18:54

any home project in just a few steps.

18:57

Because when it comes to getting the most out

18:59

of your own home, you can do this when

19:01

you Angie that. Download

19:04

the free Angie mobile app today,

19:06

or visit angie.com. That's

19:09

angi.com. It's

19:18

time to turn off the lights,

19:21

and turn on the dark. This

19:32

is Chilling Tales for Dark

19:34

Nights. Good evening, listener.

19:37

I'm Steve Taylor, your

19:39

host to a horror anthology

19:41

podcast, where we ask

19:43

you to depart from your

19:46

safe perception of reality, to

19:48

descend with us into the

19:50

frightening depth and dark corners

19:52

of twisted imaginations. Get

19:54

carefully curated original tales of terror

19:56

each week. Our deepest rooted fears

19:59

are... brought to the forefront

20:01

by a diverse cast of

20:04

voice-gallant and masterfully eerie sound

20:06

design that bring these stories

20:08

to life. We'll

20:11

give you tales of unnerving encounters

20:13

with the occult, harrowing

20:15

hauntings, and sinister

20:18

seances that show

20:20

just how darkness knows

20:22

no bounds. If

20:25

you're like us here at Chilling

20:27

Tales and enjoy feeling your stomach

20:29

filling with dread as dastardly demons

20:31

dance in your head, make

20:34

sure to check out Chilling Tales

20:36

for Dark Nights on Apple Podcasts,

20:38

Spotify, or wherever you get your

20:41

podcasts. To subscribe now to always

20:43

be the first to enjoy The

20:46

Horror Show. Evel,

20:57

that was how Marcus recognized Johnny.

21:00

But did Johnny recognize Marcus in return?

21:04

Probably not. Marcus had handled the

21:06

case from a distance, never meeting the young

21:08

man face to face. Why

21:11

did Johnny continue to stare then,

21:13

even after Marcus had stopped? Marcus

21:17

already knew the answer. The

21:19

young man, like many others, was

21:21

staring at a cripple, a broken

21:24

man in a world where nothing seemed

21:26

to remain broken for too long. If

21:29

a toddler was made whole after an angry

21:32

dog had taken his eye, why

21:34

couldn't Marcus be made whole too?

21:39

What about robotics? George

21:42

Salinger asked, trying to keep his voice

21:44

from shaking as he spoke to Dr.

21:46

Peterson. I hear there are

21:49

lots of improvements in the field. Reconstruction,

21:52

rebuilding, cybernetics, replacing

21:54

bones, and even organs. Dr.

21:58

Peterson replied, True,

22:00

cybernetics is rapidly growing,

22:03

but I don't believe that would be able to

22:05

help your grandson, Mr. Salinger. Can't

22:08

they rebuild or replace whatever's

22:11

broken? If they can

22:13

rebuild an entire working arm for that marine

22:15

over in the desert, can't they rebuild or

22:17

fix my grandson?" Marcus

22:20

sat next to his grandfather, taking

22:22

in the conversation with only half

22:24

attention. It was difficult for

22:27

him to focus when he was so

22:29

dreadfully uncomfortable. He tried

22:31

to adjust his spine by fidgeting, but

22:33

the warm pain remained. "'His

22:37

brain is faulty, Mr. Salinger,'

22:40

the doctor answered. "'That

22:42

is the major problem here. The

22:45

brain is having problems sending and receiving

22:47

signals with the body, and

22:49

the brain will eventually lose signal completely

22:51

with certain parts of the body, like

22:53

the legs, for example. There's

22:56

just no way for us to build or engineer

22:58

parts of the brain. It's too

23:00

complex for any kind of machinery to

23:02

replicate. It can't be done

23:04

right now. It may never be

23:07

possible." George

23:09

Salinger looked defeated. "'Is

23:12

there anything that we can do

23:14

for him?' "'The

23:16

signals have begun to slowly deteriorate,'

23:19

Dr. Peterson said. But

23:22

it will take time for them to completely shut

23:24

down. The lack of

23:26

sensation and movement ability that Marcus

23:28

is experiencing right now is temporary,

23:31

but will eventually become permanent.' "'Okay,'

23:35

Dr. Peterson continued. I

23:38

know of a medication that might work at

23:40

slowing down the deterioration. That

23:42

would be our best option right now. His

23:45

body and his brain are having problems

23:47

with their communication, Mr. Salinger, and this

23:50

med will work as an intermediary, like

23:52

a marriage counselor or a preacher talking

23:54

to God for his congregation. What

23:58

about the pain?' Marcus

24:00

seems to be feeling mild discomfort right

24:02

now," Dr. Peterson began.

24:05

"...but the pain will slowly intensify over

24:07

the years. The medication will

24:10

not help with that pain. We

24:12

should start Marcus on a pain management regimen

24:14

as soon as possible. We don't

24:16

want to rely completely on drugs. We're

24:19

going to use other forms of pain management as

24:21

well." Thank

24:23

you, Dr. Peterson. "...don't

24:26

give up hope," Dr. Peterson

24:28

said. "...Evel is still

24:30

considered to be a young pup and we're

24:32

still growing, and miracles happen

24:34

here every day." The

24:39

lobby of Evel headquarters was nearly

24:41

empty, with only one receptionist and

24:43

two guards watching the front entrance

24:46

of glass. Though

24:48

empty, the main lobby was far

24:50

from quiet. The doors

24:52

were not soundproof, and the roar

24:54

of the outside protesters traveled easily

24:57

through the wide-open room. Marcus

25:00

felt the vibrations as he steered his

25:02

chair into the elevator. Marcus

25:05

knew that the rest of the building would be nearly

25:07

as empty. Any employees

25:09

not assigned to Angel had been told

25:11

to remain at home. The

25:14

possibility of an aggravated outburst by the

25:16

protesters made it necessary that only the

25:18

bare essential staff were here, and

25:21

most were waiting for Marcus on the 38th

25:23

floor. Marcus

25:26

had come into the building by way of

25:28

the subway entrance, positioned on the side, away

25:31

from the view of the protesters. He

25:34

had to use it because the front doors were

25:36

to remain locked. The subway

25:38

entrance was rarely used, and Marcus was

25:40

not entirely sure why it even existed.

25:43

It required an ID card

25:45

swipe, retina scan, and voice

25:48

recognition to activate. With

25:50

all the precautions, Marcus could not help

25:52

but feel a sense of impending doom,

25:54

and it made him a little

25:57

nervous. on

26:00

his armrest, Marcus turned his chair 180

26:03

degrees to face the elevator's panel.

26:06

Doors closed, he muttered, and

26:08

once they had slid shut, he reached into

26:11

the shirt's front pocket for his ID card.

26:14

Suddenly, his left arm began

26:16

to tremble uncontrollably, his

26:18

spine and left forearm filled

26:20

with liquid fire. A

26:23

harsh breath escaped him while the pain

26:25

continued to flow and burn him on

26:27

the inside. The

26:29

tremble in his arm became a

26:32

familiar convulsion. Using his

26:34

right arm, Marcus clutched the other and

26:36

forced it onto the armrest. Quickly,

26:38

yet carefully, he managed to lock

26:41

two straps across his left arm,

26:43

keeping it secure. Marcus

26:46

had taken his meds already. It was

26:48

too soon to take them again. Opening

26:51

the compartment in the top of the right

26:54

armrest, Marcus plucked out a vial tipped with

26:56

a needle. Looking at

26:58

his still-shaking arm, Marcus knew that

27:00

he would never hit a vein.

27:03

He took several seconds to consider

27:06

the options, and the overwhelming pain

27:08

chose for him. Swiftly,

27:10

he stabbed the needle into the side

27:12

of his neck and injected it. The

27:15

drug was cold as it spread out

27:17

and doused the fire in seconds. However,

27:21

the shaking continued.

27:25

Swiping the ID card, mumbling,

27:28

38th floor, Marcus got

27:30

the elevator to move and he began

27:32

to ascend the tower. As

27:35

Marcus rolled from the elevator and into his

27:37

lab, he noticed there were two groups of

27:39

people waiting for him, the

27:41

executive suits and the lab assistants.

27:44

The sum of them barely made a

27:46

dozen. Millions of

27:48

lives might rest upon this

27:50

test, Marcus knew, but only

27:53

a handful of people would actually witness

27:55

it. He wondered if this

27:57

was how it felt the day that they tested

27:59

the first atomic bomb, quiet

28:01

suits and assistants willing to

28:03

change the world. "'Big

28:06

day, Marcus,' CEO Stockholm

28:08

said, his hair in a suit

28:10

black." Marcus

28:13

ignored the words as he glided

28:15

past the tie-wearing men and women.

28:17

He headed directly toward the row of windows

28:20

behind his desk. Through

28:22

the tall windows, Marcus looked out across

28:24

a sea of people that hated him

28:26

and hated what he was trying

28:28

to do. He could

28:31

not help but hate them back. The

28:34

crowd had been reaching close to a thousand or

28:36

more. They did not

28:38

block the streets, but instead filled

28:40

fruition garden, a strip of land

28:42

across the Evel headquarters. Evel

28:45

had bought the plot and torn down the

28:47

abandoned hospital that had once sat there. Over

28:50

several months, Evel covered the seemingly

28:53

useless piece of earth with soil

28:55

and flowers and trees

28:57

and sculptures of animals and people.

29:01

At the center of this beautiful garden

29:03

was a giant marble fountain in the

29:05

shape of the tree of life, streams

29:08

of water flowing out from within the

29:10

bark. Marcus

29:12

loved to sit and stare at the garden.

29:15

He was reminded of childhood times with

29:17

his grandfather. Now

29:20

the garden may be forever tainted.

29:24

Forming a human barrier between the

29:26

protesters and Evel headquarters were the

29:28

city police officers and they

29:30

were dressed in full riot gear. A

29:33

precaution, Marcus assumed, but

29:35

the police presence at Kent State University in

29:38

1970 might have started

29:40

as a simple precaution as well. Marcus

29:43

glared at the massive crowd. He

29:46

was looking for a podium or a stage,

29:49

any place from which Senator Long

29:51

would speak. Marcus

29:54

knew that. Giving up the search Marcus

30:00

reached with his steady hand and slid

30:02

the window open. A roar

30:05

flooded into the once sound-proofed room.

30:08

"'I want to hear them,' Marcus

30:10

stated. "'I want to hear

30:13

them all.'" Marcus

30:15

turned and once again wheeled past

30:17

the suits, this time coming to

30:20

a large computer terminal. His

30:22

assistance remained motionless, simply

30:24

watching. Something

30:26

was already prepared, waiting for Marcus

30:28

to finish. They were

30:30

merely present in case something went wrong. "'Your

30:34

arm, Mr. Salinger," assistant

30:37

Ross pointed out. Marcus

30:40

shook his head. "'Salinger,

30:43

password Prometheus,' Marcus

30:45

spoke, bringing the computer screen to

30:47

life. Open Marcus'

30:50

Salinger mental scan." A

30:52

virtual file appeared and then opened,

30:54

spilling out images. At

30:57

the top left corner was Marcus,

30:59

his full body profile slowly spinning.

31:02

Next to his profile was a digital

31:04

brain, spotted by blues and reds. Across

31:07

the bottom, waves flowed from left

31:09

to right. All

31:12

of this was Marcus, not

31:14

the skin, but the presence. Every

31:17

neuron and cell and connection

31:20

and misfire that was Marcus

31:22

Salinger had been mapped, scanned,

31:24

and downloaded into this computer,

31:26

faulty wiring not included. Or

31:30

so he hoped. Before

31:33

Marcus could continue, a voice boomed

31:35

from outside. "'They

31:37

want us to shed our skin,' Senator

31:40

Long began, his powerful voice

31:42

filling large speakers. They

31:46

want us to give up the very gift that God

31:48

has given us, our flesh.

31:51

They say that they can make us live

31:53

a longer life, possibly forever, no

31:55

more sickness or dying. What

31:58

about our souls?' They

32:00

say that we're nothing but fire and

32:02

neurons, but are our souls

32:05

nothing but neurons? No!

32:08

Our souls are more! Our

32:10

souls are our one true link to

32:13

the Lord above, and they are treating

32:15

it as just another computer glitch! Who

32:18

do they think they are? God?

32:21

No, they are not God!"

32:25

No! Over a

32:27

thousand mouths replied. Marcus

32:30

had heard enough. "'Activate

32:33

Angel One' program," he

32:35

proclaimed. Soldier

32:39

refuses cybernetic legs, a

32:42

voice said from the television, causing Marcus to

32:44

halt his pen tip and look up from

32:46

his desk. As usual,

32:48

CNN4 was on the television,

32:50

mainly for background noise. Marcus

32:53

knew the voice to be Alan Cummings. Colonel

32:57

Arthur Long, a soldier with the United

32:59

States Army and his unit were ambushed

33:01

by a group of hostiles during a

33:03

daily patrol yesterday. After nearly

33:05

an hour of exchanging bullets, Colonel Long

33:07

managed to fix a broken radio and

33:09

call for reinforcements, but while reinforcements were

33:12

en route, an explosion hit Colonel Long,

33:14

damaging both of his legs to the

33:16

point that they had to be removed.

33:19

If the Colonel was a decorated soldier wounded

33:21

in the line of duty, the government was

33:23

willing to pay the bill for a pair

33:25

of cybernetic legs. The legs

33:27

would work and feel like his own legs,

33:29

along with the sensation of touch and pain,

33:32

but Colonel Long turned the offer down. Marcus's

33:36

hand tensed and his grip tightened around

33:38

the blue pen. One

33:41

asked why, Colonel Long had this to

33:43

say. Colonel

33:46

Long appeared on the screen. It

33:48

is God's will that I lost my legs.

33:51

I don't feel that it's my right to try to

33:53

replace them with metal ones, even if that means that

33:55

I have to spend the rest of my life in

33:57

a chair. That is God's will.

34:00

His will!" God's

34:02

will? Marcus

34:04

grew angry. He looked

34:06

around his tiny office, remembering why he was

34:08

a devil and all that he wished to

34:11

accomplish. The hard work. Two

34:14

college degrees. The debt. The

34:17

nerve of that man. How

34:20

could anyone turn down the chance to

34:22

walk, the chance to run alongside everyone

34:24

else? Marcus

34:26

pointlessly hurled the pen at the

34:29

television screen and watched it harmlessly

34:31

bounce off. Marcus

34:35

returned to consciousness and was

34:37

immediately confused. He didn't

34:40

remember falling asleep. He

34:42

was lying on something hard, possibly metal,

34:44

and it was giving him sensations in

34:47

his spine, but for the

34:49

first time in many years it

34:51

wasn't discomfort. It wasn't pain. It

34:55

was some other kind of sensation. He

34:58

couldn't place the feeling. It

35:00

was different. Another

35:02

set of sensations called for Marcus' attention,

35:05

not because they were different, but

35:07

because they should not exist at all. He

35:11

could feel his legs. Both

35:14

of them. Opening

35:16

his eyes, Marcus was bombarded by

35:18

light, which was overwhelming for a

35:21

second, but quickly focused. Rising

35:23

to sit, Marcus turned to

35:26

let his feet fall and touch the floor.

35:29

The floor held a chill, the

35:31

most wonderful chill that he had

35:33

ever felt. Marcus

35:36

was in his own lab. He knew

35:38

that much. At once,

35:41

Marcus saw himself still

35:44

in the wheelchair and staring back.

35:47

There were others in the room as well,

35:49

also staring. For

35:51

a moment he was startled, but

35:53

then he realized what must have been taking place.

35:57

Marcus was now Angel. Angel

36:01

saw that he was naked except for a

36:03

pair of white boxer briefs. He

36:06

admired himself. He

36:08

was perfect. Every

36:11

inch of his new skin was

36:13

flawless. He was muscular,

36:15

like the statue of David. This

36:18

was him, now, he knew, and he

36:21

loved the idea. The

36:24

roar continued to pulse throughout the room,

36:26

and Angel, after removing a few wires

36:28

that were stuck to his shaved skull,

36:30

went to the open window to peer

36:33

down upon them. He

36:35

ignored the CEO who tried to speak to

36:37

him. Angel was only

36:39

interested in the protesters. He

36:42

could see them clearly, every

36:44

head, every hair, each

36:46

and every smirk, as if they

36:48

were inches away. Angel

36:51

could also hear them individually

36:53

instead of in an overwhelming

36:55

bundle. He could especially

36:57

hear Senator Long, who continued to

37:00

preach. Angel

37:02

isolated the voice. He

37:04

might be able to follow it. Without

37:08

warning, Angel broke out the window

37:10

screen and leapt through. He

37:12

allowed the earth to pull him, but

37:14

only briefly. The

37:16

fall was incredible. Angel

37:19

felt the rushing air brush every inch of

37:21

his skin. Pleasure signals

37:23

sped throughout his body, but the

37:25

exhilaration of the plunge was short-lived.

37:29

Angel's wings opened. He

37:32

felt the feathers grab the air. The

37:35

sky was a clear blue. A nice

37:38

day for a flight.

37:41

Following the voice of Senator Long, Angel

37:43

flew toward a short podium sitting beside

37:45

the tree of life. Angel

37:48

could clearly see Long in his

37:50

permanent sitting position, gripping the microphone

37:52

as if he were speaking to

37:54

the entire world. In

37:56

some ways, he might be. One

38:00

by one, people in the crowd began

38:02

to notice Angel. Their

38:04

alerted heads shifted in a massive

38:06

wave. "'They have

38:09

done it!' Senator Long

38:11

screamed into the microphone. "'They

38:14

have disroned God! They

38:16

have damned us all!' Swiftly,

38:19

the crowd imploded. The

38:21

police had no choice but to respond. Angel

38:24

was stunned at how immediately the

38:27

violence came. Why

38:29

couldn't they understand? Didn't

38:31

they see the perfection?" But

38:34

then something went wrong. Both

38:37

of his legs began to twitch

38:39

and then shake before going completely

38:41

numb. "'No!' Angel

38:44

grunted. His brain had

38:47

been scanned, but the underlying problem,

38:49

the one that Marcus had been

38:51

convinced had been left behind with

38:53

his flesh, still existed.

38:55

It had been more

38:57

deeply rooted than Marcus had realized. Angel

39:01

cursed and damned his creator.

39:05

His right wing went limp, sending

39:07

him spiraling toward the crowd. He

39:10

fought, left wing flapping crazily,

39:13

but he landed nonetheless. The

39:16

crowd of suits turned to Marcus

39:18

to shake their heads. They had

39:20

watched the rise and the fall

39:22

from their tower. "'Angel

39:25

1, failure,' Marcus

39:27

told the computer. The screen

39:30

was already filling up with data being

39:32

thrown back to them from the fallen

39:34

angel. What had been

39:36

the mistake? Marcus would

39:38

know soon enough, and then he could

39:40

fix it, and then he

39:42

could move on to Angel 2. It took God

39:46

six steps to make the world, but

39:49

maybe it would only take Marcus two

39:51

steps to change it.' You've

40:01

been listening to Evolution, Inc.

40:03

by Jackson Arthur. And

40:07

now, to close out tonight's program,

40:09

I present Threshold

40:12

by Brett O'Reilly. The

40:18

Trail of Blood led through the

40:21

showrooms to the marketplace past the

40:23

concession and beyond. Patton

40:26

followed the trail diligently, from its

40:28

origin in children's, through kitchen and

40:30

dining, circumventing lighting and bathrooms, but

40:33

not home organization or textiles, to

40:35

the open breadth of the floor

40:38

full of registers and the as-is

40:40

showroom beyond. The trail

40:42

was there and Patton followed it,

40:44

a bloodhound with a mop. He

40:48

found his quarry in the

40:50

recovery department amidst Allen Keys,

40:52

electric drills with Phillips' screwdriver

40:55

heads, half-erected Kvitny wardrobes, and

40:57

pallets loaded with Billy bookcases.

41:01

Eight feet across and six tall

41:03

it stood, monolithic in its stature

41:05

away from the showroom floor, a

41:08

plywood partition covered in cartoonish equestrian

41:10

images with a facade of a

41:12

purple door not more than five

41:14

feet in height framed in the

41:16

center. A

41:18

small, solitary, and entirely non-functional

41:21

burnished steel doorknob protruded from

41:23

the false door, inscribed

41:26

along the door frame, which

41:28

itself was colored soft rose

41:30

pink, finger painted in

41:32

blood, were images neither

41:34

equestrian nor cartoonish. Patton

41:38

recognized none of the strange symbols

41:40

and found focusing on any one

41:42

for too long her desires. Strugging

41:45

to himself, he reached out to

41:48

touch one of the bloody sigils,

41:50

a mixture of morbid and professional

41:52

curiosity guiding his hand. Hacky.

41:56

Not quite fresh, but still sticky.

42:00

That was all. Patton released

42:02

a breath he hadn't realized he was holding

42:04

in. He chuckled to himself.

42:07

He itched. He wiped

42:10

his hands on his coveralls and thought to

42:12

himself, You're not in a

42:14

Stephen King movie, knock on wood. One

42:17

hand still on his mop, he reached

42:19

out with the other and lightly wrapped,

42:22

once, twice, thrice,

42:24

on the purple partition that wasn't

42:26

a door. To

42:29

his surprise, the symbols on the

42:31

doorframe one by one glowed with

42:33

a crimson light in a seemingly

42:35

random order. When

42:37

all seventeen had come to life,

42:40

he heard a distinct click and

42:42

a glow muted. The

42:45

door that wasn't a door opened

42:47

a crack. Seconds

42:50

turned into minutes as Patton stood

42:53

frozen, staring at the open edge

42:55

that shouldn't be at the doorknob

42:57

that shouldn't pull. A

43:00

lifelong fan of horror, from

43:02

movies to novels to campfire

43:04

ghost stories, he knew he

43:06

should walk away, run even,

43:08

put as much distance between himself and

43:10

the door as possible. His

43:14

hand reached out, enveloping

43:16

the child-sized doorknob. He

43:19

pulled the door open. A

43:22

pale purplish light poured softly out

43:24

of the doorframe. He

43:26

leaned down to peer through, then

43:28

blinked in confusion as his mind

43:30

struggled to reconcile the sight before

43:33

him. Hesitantly,

43:35

he extended one hand over the

43:38

threshold. Patton

43:40

had the briefest moment of

43:42

clarity before he was taken, a

43:45

story he had read long ago about

43:47

an ancient city on the shores of

43:50

a forgotten lake. Then,

43:52

he was gone. The

43:55

door closed behind him, sealing his

43:57

screams from the empty space that

43:59

was written. The

44:01

mop, with no hand to hold

44:03

it, clattered to the floor.

44:08

Once more, from the top. With

44:12

feeling, came the reply. Detective

44:16

Mike Hennessey shot his partner a look.

44:18

It was after 1am and he was still

44:21

struggling with the shift change. 6.19pm.

44:26

Our suspect walks into the store, as we

44:28

can see here. He

44:30

tapped one of the dozen black and white

44:32

screens with the eraser end of the pencil. The

44:35

frozen image of a man in

44:37

a black suit with a matching

44:39

fedora, halfway through the IKEA's sliding

44:41

glass doors, rested under the pink

44:43

rubber tip. The downward

44:46

angle of the camera left most of

44:48

the man's face concealed. But

44:50

little could be seen of the jawline

44:52

was round and unnaturally pale, so much

44:55

it stood out even in the monochrome

44:57

glow of the security monitor. Witnesses,

45:00

the few who remained

45:02

on the scene, described him as a...

45:06

Hennessey checked his notebook. Tall

45:09

albino in sunglasses. No

45:12

one thought much of him wearing the

45:14

sunglasses indoors. They all presumed

45:16

his eyes were probably light sensitive from

45:18

the albinism. Detective

45:21

Cass Mercer did a slow, lazy

45:23

turn in the desk chair she'd

45:26

commandeered, unenthused with a third walkthrough

45:28

of events. Absently,

45:30

she wondered what the current rate

45:32

was for all-inclusive travel packages for

45:34

Costa Rica. With

45:37

vacation time closing in, she needed

45:39

a plan, lest she end up

45:41

spending three weeks on the couch

45:43

with her cat, Rory, binge-watching New

45:46

Who on Netflix and eating Hoggandah's

45:48

coffee ice cream. Except,

45:50

lying on a white sand beach

45:53

with a fruity tropical drink was

45:55

not Mercer's idea of a holiday.

45:58

What she needed was an adventure. Instead,

46:01

she had Rory, the cat, and

46:04

her partner, Hennessy, whom she realized she

46:06

should at least pretend to listen to.

46:10

Into Children's, where he picks the one

46:12

corner where the cameras can't actually see

46:15

him. Hennessy

46:17

ran his pencil along three screens,

46:19

all showing a child's bedroom display.

46:22

The pink and purple washed out to

46:24

gray on the security screens. Two

46:27

of the angles included a pony-painted wall,

46:29

but failed to capture all but an

46:31

edge of the door frame the detectives

46:33

had been told was there. This

46:36

is where things get weird. Hennessy

46:39

stared at the closed circuit tableau inside.

46:42

We can't see him, but the

46:44

witnesses can. And what

46:47

they see... He gestured

46:49

to other static images, each

46:51

capturing families and couples with

46:53

expressions of horror. He's

46:56

not pretty. Mercer

46:58

shivered at the thought. She'd

47:01

seen some crazy stuff in her twelve

47:03

years working with Hennessy, but this was

47:05

new. She decided

47:07

then and there that she needed a

47:10

proper vacation. Somewhere

47:12

exotic. Somewhere new.

47:15

Our suspect pulls out a knife. Not

47:18

just a knife, mind you. Oh

47:20

no, not a butcher knife, not a

47:22

switchblade, not even a paring knife. No,

47:25

he pulls out some kind of curved

47:27

ceremonial dagger like something out of a

47:29

horror movie, which he then

47:31

uses to slit his own wrist, on

47:34

the showroom floor, in a

47:36

little girl's bedroom display. Hennessy

47:39

shook his head in disgust. And

47:42

then what does he do? Mercer

47:44

spoke up. He paints.

47:48

Hennessy nodded. He paints. He

47:51

dips his finger into the blood pouring out

47:53

of his wrist and he paints. People

47:57

standing around staring. Little

47:59

kids watch. He gestured

48:01

at a screen with a still image

48:03

of two crying children, their mother attempting

48:05

to shield them from the sight. And

48:09

he fucking finger paints all over an

48:11

imaginary door. Uh,

48:13

actually he painted on the frame, not the

48:15

door, and it's not an imaginary door,

48:17

it's called a...flaccid...fake? Yes,

48:20

imaginary? No. Hennessy

48:23

fixed Mercer with a scowl. She

48:26

shrugged it off. So,

48:28

as I was saying, he uses

48:30

his own blood to finger paint

48:32

a bunch of symbols on the

48:34

door...the door frame. People

48:37

start freaking out. Some call 911,

48:39

some go running for security, some

48:41

just stand around and gawk. And

48:44

that's when things get really weird. Hennessy

48:48

paused and stared at the images

48:50

of the bedroom display as Mercer

48:52

shifted impatiently in her commandeered chair.

48:55

According to witnesses, the door that

48:58

isn't a door opens up and

49:00

our suspect walks through. Only

49:03

he doesn't come through on the other side because

49:06

there is no other side to come through

49:08

on. The other side is a

49:10

kitchen and the folks on that side don't even know

49:12

what's going on. Hennessy

49:14

tapped a screen showing a middle-aged couple

49:16

investigating a kitchen countertop and set of

49:19

cupboards. So our

49:21

suspect has literally stepped through a

49:23

door that doesn't exist and

49:26

has vanished. He's

49:28

nowhere. He's not on

49:30

any footage after the incident. There's no sign

49:32

of him leaving the store. By

49:34

the time security gets there, ass is

49:36

there. The door that all the witnesses

49:38

say was a door is no

49:40

longer a door. It's a...

49:44

Hennessy reached for the word. Mercer

49:46

handed it to him. Fisot.

49:49

Yes, thank you. A facade.

49:52

A facade with bloody finger paint around

49:54

it. Hennessy

49:57

turned his back to the TVs and leaned

49:59

against the security. desk, rubbing the bridge

50:01

of his nose with two fingers. Mercer

50:04

watched him for a moment with mild concern.

50:07

The thought that she wasn't the only one

50:09

who needed a vacation crossed her mind. You

50:13

want me to pick it up before you, you

50:15

know, stroke out? She

50:17

gave him a gently patronizing smile.

50:21

Hennessy grimaced, his eyes narrowing, which

50:23

only made his partner's smile wider.

50:27

With a sigh, he surrendered. The

50:30

sheer implausibility of the incident was grinding

50:32

on his nerves, adding to

50:34

an undefined edginess he'd been carrying

50:36

around all night. He

50:38

could feel his agitation floating right below the

50:41

surface but didn't want to take it out

50:43

on his partner. Easier

50:45

to capitulate. By

50:48

all means, be my guest, he

50:50

said. Mercer

50:52

leaned forward, eager to get on with

50:55

things. So,

50:57

the manager and security. She

51:00

hooked a thumb at the closed door to the

51:02

security office. Cordon off the

51:04

kids area while the general duty officers are

51:06

showing up. The GDs take statements

51:09

from the looky-loos, assess the scene, decide

51:11

there's no threat and no need for

51:13

forensics, give the home team the okay

51:15

to clean up, which, of course, is

51:18

what brings us here. The

51:20

start closes, everyone goes home, except

51:23

staff, of course. Two

51:25

of whom take the vandalized partition from the

51:27

bedroom set and move it to the maintenance

51:30

room. Mercer scooted

51:32

her chair forward to point at an

51:34

image of a man and a woman,

51:36

both in golf shirts, pushing the wheeled

51:39

partition towards a set of oversized, swinging

51:41

double doors. Steve

51:43

Cody and Lynn Tyler. Both

51:46

were supposed to clock out after they finished moving the

51:48

partition. Neither did. In

51:50

fact, no one sees them again. According

51:53

to the cameras, they went into the maintenance

51:55

room but never came out. And

51:58

of course, today just happened. to

52:00

be the day the cameras in the

52:02

maintenance room suffer from an electrical short.

52:05

As for everyone who's been in the

52:07

room since, no one's seen any sign

52:09

of them, with the possible exception of...

52:12

She pointed to a screen containing Jeremy

52:15

Patton and his mop bucket. The

52:17

janitor. Custodian. Maintenance.

52:19

Engineer. Whatever he is. Hennessy

52:22

checked his notebook. Uh,

52:24

Jeremy Patton. Yes,

52:26

Jeremy Patton, the man with the mop, starts

52:28

at the scene of the crime and works

52:31

his way through the store, mopping up the

52:33

blood trail left by the partition, which, if

52:35

you think about it, is a lot more

52:37

blood than you'd think there'd be. Mercer

52:40

mused, more to herself than her

52:42

partner, before returning to her train

52:44

of thought. Anyways, he's

52:46

very clearly good at his job. Doesn't miss

52:48

a single smear. You might say he's good

52:50

to the, uh, last drop. Hennessy

52:55

winced. Anyway,

52:57

he too enters the maintenance room.

52:59

He too, upon crossing

53:01

that threshold, mysteriously vanishes.

53:05

Five other people enter and leave the

53:07

room without ever seeing any of the

53:09

missing staff. Two of the

53:12

five were security guards actively looking.

53:15

No luck, no sign of them. Which

53:17

is when we get called in. And

53:20

now? Well, we've

53:22

run through the script with the GDs,

53:24

again with security, and now just the

53:26

two of us. Now, I'd

53:28

say, time to take the tour. Great.

53:33

Hennessy flipped his notebook shot. Where

53:35

do you want to start? Mercer

53:38

stared at the bank of cameras, focusing

53:40

on the screen showing the tall, pale

53:42

man in the main entrance. Let's

53:45

start at the beginning.

53:47

In the bedroom. Mercer

53:50

stood up and led the way out

53:52

of the security office and into the

53:54

hall, where the store manager, a tiny

53:57

woman named Camilla Parsons, waited with three

53:59

store security security guards. Hennessy

54:02

took a last look at the televisions before

54:04

following Mercer into the hall. His

54:07

eyes found the only clear shot of

54:09

the pale man's face, the eyes hidden

54:11

behind dark glasses. Something

54:14

about the man's face was off, though

54:16

Hennessy couldn't put his finger on it.

54:19

Whatever it was, it only increased

54:22

his apprehensiveness. The

54:24

sensation remained long after he'd closed

54:26

the door. Remy,

54:30

as the store manager liked to

54:32

be called, and a short, well-muscled

54:34

security guard named Rob Yamato escorted

54:36

Hennessy and Mercer to the scene

54:38

of the bloodletting. Of

54:40

which, there wasn't much to be seen. With

54:43

the partition removed, there was a

54:45

child's bedroom display on one side

54:48

with a pale lavender busunge extendable

54:50

bed and white stuva wardrobe. On

54:53

the other side, a farmhouse

54:55

kitchen furnished with a betrot

54:57

range and bobbed-in fronted cabinets.

54:59

The remaining walls decorated in

55:01

sunflower yellow with blue cornflowers.

55:05

The two detectives gave the displays

55:07

a careful once-over. No

55:09

hidden doors, no secret compartments, not

55:11

even a kitchen cupboard big enough

55:13

to hold a pale stranger with

55:15

slit wrists. As

55:17

for evidence, Jeremy Patton had done

55:19

his job well. No

55:22

traces of blood were visible anywhere. Looks

55:25

like this is a wash. Mercer

55:27

spoke up. Hennessy ignored

55:29

her slight smile. She

55:32

turned to Cami. Can you take

55:34

us to the maintenance room? Uh,

55:37

certainly, although it's not the maintenance

55:39

room, we call it the

55:41

recovery department. It was

55:43

apparent to both detectives Cami was

55:46

not so much eager to please

55:48

as eager to have done with

55:50

the whole situation, despite her friendly

55:52

demeanor. Please, follow

55:54

me. She strode

55:56

off through the IKEA corridors, swimming

55:58

upstream against the yellow. arrows

56:00

that lay scattered along the floor. Mercer

56:03

marveled at the woman's size in

56:05

comparison to their security escort. Yamato

56:08

wasn't more than two inches taller than

56:10

Kami, yet was twice as thick in

56:13

the torso. "'Probably

56:15

bench presses VW's,' she

56:18

mused to herself. "'Too

56:20

bad he's not my type.'" She

56:22

followed Kami through the store as the

56:24

two men trailed behind. The

56:26

route was quicker than the one Patton had taken.

56:29

Shortcuts abounded through the store. Here,

56:32

an unobtrusive doorway which cut

56:34

from bathroom to textiles. There,

56:36

a narrow aisle that circumvented most

56:39

of home decor, with its shelves

56:41

lined with histhmus decorative twine balls,

56:43

barakna vases, one hundred packs of

56:46

glimmer tealites, and a thousand other

56:48

items with names Mercer was sure

56:50

were made up by the marketing

56:52

department while on a weekend bender.

56:56

Once upon a time, Mercer would

56:58

have delighted in wandering the Swedish

57:00

maze, measuring a malstja glass door

57:02

cabinet with her eyes, or imagining

57:04

how the three-set of piatrid seascapes

57:06

would look above the sofa in

57:08

her living room. Now,

57:11

however, she felt like a

57:13

ghost moving through an abandoned mansion

57:15

of do-it-yourself Nordic furniture, an

57:18

incorporeal traveller passing from one realm

57:20

to the next. And

57:23

really, she thought to herself, isn't that what

57:25

you do in IKEA? Move from

57:27

one realm to the next? From

57:29

living room world to the bathroom

57:32

state to the kingdom of textiles,

57:34

taking a little of each with you as you

57:36

go? She glanced

57:39

at her partner, flashed him a

57:41

trademark smirk when she realized he

57:43

was watching her, perhaps a little

57:45

too closely. He's

57:47

worried about me, she thought. Worried,

57:50

but not understanding. Not

57:52

really. He was

57:54

a good partner, and had been for all

57:57

her twelve years as a detective, but

57:59

there were some things she didn't know how

58:01

to explain, not even to Hennessey's

58:03

wife Irene, who was convinced the issue was

58:06

her lack of a love life. Irene

58:09

was always trying to fix her up

58:11

with every lesbian she knew, a very

58:13

small pool to say the least. She

58:16

dated the last one, a redhead in her

58:18

late twenties, for just over a month before

58:20

the two went their separate ways, which

58:23

was fine by Mercer. The

58:25

sex had been lackluster, despite

58:28

some doctor slash companion role-playing.

58:31

Her sense of humor, sarcastic,

58:33

hadn't been truly appreciated, and

58:36

in the end, it didn't fill the

58:38

void in her soul. What

58:41

would, she didn't know. What

58:44

wouldn't fill that hole was a relationship,

58:46

that much she knew. Thankfully,

58:48

so did Hennessey, even if he couldn't

58:51

convince Irene of it. And

58:54

then, there were the dreams. They'd

58:57

started a month or so ago and

58:59

only fed her waking ennui. Dreams

59:02

of a great, dark lake and

59:04

a vast, lighted city set against

59:06

a horizon of painted indigo. A

59:09

colossal stone bridge of granite

59:11

or possibly marble straddled the

59:13

lake, leading from some unknown

59:16

blackness behind to the city

59:18

beyond. As her

59:20

palanquin crested the bridge, the cloaked figures

59:22

who bore her sat their burden down

59:24

and knelt on the stone. An

59:27

immense arch spanned the width of the

59:29

bridge, unknown symbols carved into

59:31

the length of its face. In

59:34

front of this monument, they

59:36

all waited. For

59:39

what Mercer never knew? Every

59:41

time something was about to happen, that someone

59:44

was coming to greet them, she

59:46

would wake up. Flushed with excitement

59:48

or terror, or perhaps

59:50

both. She was never quite

59:52

sure. What she was

59:55

sure of was the dream, every

59:57

detail. An unknown tableau to

59:59

to which she found herself powerfully drawn,

1:00:02

despite it being just a dream. If

1:00:05

that wasn't an indication she needed a

1:00:07

vacation, she didn't know what was, aside

1:00:10

from a desperate desire for David Tennant

1:00:12

to show up on her doorstep with

1:00:14

a vigorous cry of, Alonzi! Preferably

1:00:17

with the lovely Rose along for the

1:00:19

ride. She couldn't

1:00:21

imagine explaining any of it to Hennessy. Sure,

1:00:24

he listened to all her critiques of the

1:00:26

latest episodes of Doctor Who. She

1:00:29

found Jodi Whittaker quite fetching. But

1:00:32

some things, some things you

1:00:34

just didn't share with your partner, even

1:00:36

when you trusted that partner with your life. Here,

1:00:40

past our Aziz department.

1:00:43

Cami walked past the concession where one could

1:00:45

get a hot dog and a soda or

1:00:47

a cinnamon bun as a prize for finishing

1:00:50

the maze. Mercer snapped

1:00:52

out of her reverie and took a deep breath.

1:00:55

Recovery department. Missing

1:00:57

employees. Graffiti doorway.

1:01:01

Time to go to work. With

1:01:03

a spring in her step that was there more

1:01:05

for show for Hennessy, she followed

1:01:08

Cami, the store manager, and wondered if

1:01:10

she was single. Behind

1:01:13

them, Hennessy studied his partner

1:01:15

with concern. Something

1:01:18

was wrong. What, he didn't

1:01:20

know. The last couple of

1:01:22

months he'd watched his partner drift into a

1:01:24

funk and he felt powerless to do anything

1:01:26

about it. She'd talk

1:01:28

about her cat, her favorite TV

1:01:30

show, even about her last relationship.

1:01:33

He'd known from the start it wouldn't work and

1:01:35

had tried to warn Irene not to set them

1:01:38

up. But whatever was on

1:01:40

Cass's mind, she was intent on keeping

1:01:42

it to herself. She'd

1:01:45

always been the quick-witted contrast

1:01:47

to his stoic sensibilities, but

1:01:49

lately...lately wondered

1:01:51

if the Wisecracks had become a mask for

1:01:53

what was really going on. He

1:01:56

knew she had vacation time coming up and

1:01:58

as long as she went somewhere... somewhere, and

1:02:00

didn't do the dreaded staycation, she'd

1:02:03

likely be fine. And

1:02:05

if she did stay home... well,

1:02:08

he'd keep an extra close eye on her then.

1:02:12

He shook off the train of thought and let his

1:02:14

mind return to the case. There

1:02:16

was something... eerie about the

1:02:18

whole thing. Something he didn't

1:02:20

like. The fact that

1:02:22

Mercer, who usually was far more

1:02:24

intuitive than he, wasn't getting the same

1:02:27

vibe as him, meant either he was

1:02:29

off his game or she

1:02:31

was. Neither of which was a

1:02:33

good thing. He

1:02:36

continued on, the women ahead, Yamato

1:02:38

by his side. Silence

1:02:40

followed behind. Yamato

1:02:44

held open one of the large swinging

1:02:46

doors to the recovery department, while Cami

1:02:48

dismissed the staff members who had been

1:02:51

uneasily standing guard. The

1:02:53

room on the other side was

1:02:55

cavernous, filled with tables, tools, and

1:02:58

furniture displays in various stages of

1:03:00

assembly. On the far

1:03:02

side hung a gunmetal grey roll-up door

1:03:05

leading to an underground waste disposal and

1:03:07

loading docks. Neither

1:03:09

detective needed to inquire about the

1:03:11

roll-up. The security footage had

1:03:13

shown the door remained shut for the

1:03:15

entire duration of events, as

1:03:17

well as two staff appearing on the

1:03:20

other side to stand guard on Cami's

1:03:22

instructions. Whatever

1:03:24

had happened, no one had

1:03:26

left the room who wasn't accounted for. The

1:03:30

object of notoriety itself wasn't

1:03:32

difficult to locate. It

1:03:35

loomed near the back of the room, not

1:03:37

far from the roll-up, in an open space

1:03:39

at the end of a row of assembly

1:03:41

benches. Shuttered, startled

1:03:43

at the thought, he glanced

1:03:45

surreptitiously at Mercer to see if she had the

1:03:53

same reaction. To his surprise,

1:03:56

she seemed intrigued, even

1:03:58

excited. obviously

1:04:00

not the same reaction. "'Shall

1:04:03

we?' he said. "'We

1:04:06

shall,' was her response. Cami

1:04:10

and Yamato stood back as the

1:04:12

two detectives began slowly combing the

1:04:14

recovery department, working their

1:04:16

way towards the crouching partition. Methodically,

1:04:19

they checked corners, crevices, and

1:04:22

cupboards, anywhere a person could

1:04:24

hide, or where a

1:04:26

body could be stashed. "'Hey,'

1:04:30

Mercer called out as she slid home

1:04:32

the door on a black Hemnes wardrobe.

1:04:34

"'If you find one that's bigger on the inside, let

1:04:37

me know. I need a new wardrobe,' Hennessy

1:04:39

grunted in response from across the room.

1:04:44

They arrived at the partition together. Hennessy

1:04:47

spoke first. "'Nothing.

1:04:50

No signs of struggle. No signs of

1:04:52

anything being,' he

1:04:54

gestured at the general clutter of the room.

1:04:57

Abnormally disturbed. Nothing

1:05:00

seems out of place except the mop and

1:05:02

bucket." He turned

1:05:04

to the wheeled yellow pail, its well

1:05:07

full of cold brownish water. The

1:05:09

mop lay a few feet away, in front

1:05:11

of the partition. "'Not

1:05:14

much in the way of exits, either,' Mercer

1:05:17

pointed out. "'The doorway came

1:05:19

in, the roll-up, which is locked,

1:05:21

and a few ventilation ducts, on

1:05:24

which all the grates are firmly

1:05:26

bolted.' She waved absently

1:05:28

at steel grates mounted high in the

1:05:31

walls, her attention on the partition and

1:05:33

the false door outlined on its

1:05:35

face. The partition

1:05:37

itself was set into a metal frame

1:05:39

with heavy-duty casters on the bottom for

1:05:41

easy transport about the store. Across

1:05:44

its surface cavorted cartoon ponies

1:05:46

Hennessy recognized from his niece's

1:05:48

fifth birthday party. Thin

1:05:51

pink strips of wood formed a narrow

1:05:53

door not more than five feet high,

1:05:56

centered in the door was a tiny

1:05:58

metal doorknob. On the

1:06:01

pink strips of door frame, embossed in

1:06:03

crimson, were symbols Hennessy had

1:06:05

never seen before. They're

1:06:08

like hieroglyphics.

1:06:11

Mercer knelt down for a closer examination.

1:06:15

Hennessy dropped to his haunches and joined her,

1:06:17

unsure of exactly what he was looking at.

1:06:20

Symbols, for sure, but

1:06:22

symbols that gave him a headache and forced him

1:06:24

to avert his eyes. He

1:06:26

had difficulty focusing on anyone long enough to tell

1:06:29

what it was supposed to be. Was

1:06:32

that one supposed to be a starburst?

1:06:35

And that one an axe, organ

1:06:37

elaborately drawn pee fallen down on

1:06:40

its curve? Was that

1:06:42

one a person? He

1:06:44

couldn't force himself to look long enough to be

1:06:46

sure. There was one

1:06:48

detail he did manage to catch, though

1:06:50

Mercer was the second ahead of him.

1:06:54

When did the pale man do his finger painting again? What

1:06:56

time of day? Mercer asked their

1:06:59

Ikea escorts. Cami

1:07:01

glanced at Yamato for confirmation. It

1:07:04

was right around the dinner rush at six

1:07:07

o'clock, six thirty. Yamato

1:07:09

shrugged, having only started his shift an

1:07:12

hour previous. Mercer

1:07:14

glanced at her watch, then at

1:07:16

Hennessy. It's just

1:07:18

after one a.m. now, approximately seven hours.

1:07:21

These should be dry by now. The

1:07:24

two detectives looked curiously at the symbols

1:07:26

on the doorframe, which glistened as if

1:07:28

they were freshly painted. I

1:07:31

feel like I should know some of these

1:07:33

symbols, but I don't recognize them. It's like

1:07:36

some ancient language, although

1:07:38

that one looks like a telephone booth, she

1:07:41

added. Impulsively,

1:07:43

Hennessy reached out for the

1:07:45

doorknob. Cami, Yamato

1:07:47

and Mercer all froze in

1:07:50

place, watching as his

1:07:52

hand haltingly closed around the steel

1:07:54

orb. Not

1:07:56

daring to breathe, Hennessy

1:07:58

turned the knob. It

1:08:01

didn't move. All

1:08:04

four exhaled together with relief and

1:08:06

the slightest touch of embarrassment. Hennessy

1:08:09

shook his head and straightened up. Sometimes

1:08:11

a facade is just a facade. He

1:08:14

looked around at the expanse of the room. Still

1:08:17

doesn't explain what happened to our missing people, though.

1:08:21

A mildly disappointed Mercer glanced at

1:08:23

the roll-up. Maybe they

1:08:25

did get out the back somehow. Ended

1:08:28

up in the loading bay. She

1:08:30

turned to Cami. Do you have a key for the

1:08:32

door? Actually I do.

1:08:34

I don't normally carry it, but I thought you might need it.

1:08:38

Hennessy looked at the ring of keys

1:08:40

on Yamato's belt, then at Yamato himself.

1:08:43

The security guard shrugged but didn't

1:08:45

say anything. Hennessy

1:08:47

concealed his smile. Mercer

1:08:50

turned to her partner. I'll

1:08:52

poke around up there if you want to keep an

1:08:54

ear out for the door. Haha,

1:08:57

very funny. Cami

1:09:00

unlocked the roll-up and opened it,

1:09:03

revealing two nervous staff in yellow

1:09:05

IKEA shirts. Sending

1:09:07

them off to their regular duties, Cami

1:09:09

led Mercer out into the store's back

1:09:12

bays, leaving Hennessy and Yamato alone with

1:09:14

the door. Hennessy

1:09:16

drifted around to the other side of the partition

1:09:18

to view the scene. The

1:09:20

reverse was kitchen decor, the now

1:09:22

familiar sunflower yellow with a framed

1:09:24

painting of a farmhouse hanging over

1:09:26

a tea towel rack. No

1:09:29

doorknob, no door frame. Just

1:09:32

a slice of rural life. Yamato's

1:09:35

voice floated over from the opposite

1:09:37

side. You know,

1:09:39

these symbols remind me of a Stephen King

1:09:41

story. Everything's eventual. Ah,

1:09:45

how's that? Hennessy

1:09:47

studied the house and the frame and

1:09:49

contemplated life on a farm. Promptly

1:09:52

dismissed the idea. Well

1:09:54

the story's about this kid who sees symbols in

1:09:57

his head which he can then write down to

1:09:59

kill people. He calls them Sankofites.

1:10:02

The symbols, that is. Only

1:10:04

the person they're meant for can look at him. Anyone

1:10:07

else gets a headache. And judging by

1:10:09

the one I've got coming on, I think I'm

1:10:11

safe. Knock on wood." Hennessy

1:10:14

heard Yamato rap on the panel three

1:10:16

times. With the

1:10:19

last knock, Hennessy's veins inexplicably

1:10:21

filled with ice. On

1:10:23

the opposite side of the partition, he

1:10:26

heard a click. A

1:10:29

door opening. What

1:10:32

the hell? Yamato's

1:10:34

voice was full of amazement. From

1:10:37

his side of the wall, Hennessy heard

1:10:39

a door swing open on hinges that

1:10:41

didn't exist. Before him,

1:10:43

the kitchen facade remained exactly that.

1:10:46

The facade. Nothing more. Instinct

1:10:50

pushed aside reason as he rounded the

1:10:52

corner of the partition, one hand snapping

1:10:54

open the holster of his Glock without

1:10:56

pulling the chunk. Yamato, short

1:10:59

to begin with, was bent slightly over,

1:11:01

looking through the door that had opened

1:11:03

in the partition. Across

1:11:06

the threshold, purplish light spilled out,

1:11:08

bathing the guard and the surrounding

1:11:11

floor in its luminescence. Along

1:11:14

the frame, the symbols, the Sankofites

1:11:16

as Yamato had called them, were

1:11:19

glowing a soft crimson. Yamato,

1:11:23

step away from the door, Hennessy

1:11:25

warned, slowly advancing. It's

1:11:29

so. It's so.

1:11:32

Yamato put a hand on either side

1:11:34

of the door, leaning forward to better

1:11:36

see. Hennessy stepped

1:11:38

behind Yamato and started to kneel down

1:11:41

to see for himself. When

1:11:43

it struck, snaking around Yamato's right

1:11:45

arm to the elbow and pulling

1:11:47

taut, Hennessy thought it was

1:11:49

a tentacle at first. However,

1:11:51

the undulating ridges of muscle, combined

1:11:54

with a muted whitish coloration, made

1:11:56

him think of a worm, albeit

1:11:58

one of colossi. muscle size. Yamato

1:12:02

lurched forward with a yelp, his right

1:12:04

hand slipping off the doorframe, his left

1:12:07

clutching at the edge. His

1:12:09

own reflexes honed by adrenaline. Hennithy

1:12:12

wrapped both arms around Yamato's chest and

1:12:14

pulled, gaining a few inches of ground.

1:12:18

Both men planted their feet against

1:12:20

the bottom of the partition and

1:12:22

strained against the alien appendage, Yamato's

1:12:24

face written over in pain and

1:12:26

terror. Help

1:12:29

me. Yamato's plea was

1:12:31

a murmur. Fear and

1:12:34

concentration melded together. Hennithy

1:12:36

found himself thankful Yamato was a

1:12:38

weightlifter. Whatever the appendage

1:12:41

belonged to, it was strong. Strong

1:12:44

enough that without Yamato's extra muscle, both of

1:12:46

them would have been easily pulled through the

1:12:48

door. Adjusting

1:12:51

his position for a better angle, Hennithy

1:12:53

was horrified to realize that what he

1:12:55

thought was one appendage were actually three,

1:12:58

all with gaping orifices at their

1:13:00

ends. Suddenly, multiple

1:13:03

thin, milky white tendrils shot

1:13:05

out of each orifice, penetrating

1:13:08

the skin on Yamato's muscled

1:13:10

arm. Hennithy could

1:13:12

see the tendrils moving under the

1:13:14

surface, like living strands of twine.

1:13:18

Yamato half shrieked, half whimpered.

1:13:21

Oh, God, oh, God, they're inside

1:13:23

me! He

1:13:25

writhed momentarily in Hennithy's arms.

1:13:28

Then went slack. The tug

1:13:31

of war ceased. Hennithy's

1:13:33

mind reeled in horror as the

1:13:36

long, pale strands began to pulse

1:13:38

under Yamato's skin, and

1:13:40

Yamato began to… lesson

1:13:43

in his arms. An

1:13:46

eighteen-year veteran of the Force, Hennithy

1:13:48

had never come as near to

1:13:50

breaking as he did in that

1:13:52

moment, as Yamato deflated like a

1:13:54

tetra pack through a straw. In

1:13:57

all of those eighteen years, Hennithy's body was

1:14:00

Hennessy had only drawn his weapon three

1:14:02

times, and only once was he forced

1:14:04

to use it. There

1:14:06

was no hesitation to do either this time.

1:14:10

His glock barked three times. A

1:14:14

horrid, keening sound arose from the

1:14:16

other side of the door as

1:14:18

the milky tendrils withdrew from Yamato's

1:14:20

shell with frightful speed, and the

1:14:23

ropey appendages that housed them withdrew

1:14:25

from the guard's arm and into

1:14:27

the queer purplish light. Hennessy

1:14:30

caught a brief glimpse beyond of

1:14:32

a vast bridge that sloped down

1:14:35

to a lighted city of impossible

1:14:37

angles and a... something.

1:14:41

Some entity whose proportions his

1:14:43

mind refused to register, appendages

1:14:46

flailing about. Then

1:14:48

he stumbled backwards, still clutching

1:14:51

the late Akio Robert Yamato,

1:14:54

as the door swung shut. He

1:14:57

might have kept his feet had it not been

1:14:59

for the abandoned mop bucket. He

1:15:01

managed not to overturn it, but still

1:15:03

fell to the floor with his gruesome

1:15:05

cargo. As pain

1:15:08

shot through his tailbone, he

1:15:10

scrambled away from Yamato's corpse,

1:15:12

horrified. The security guard's

1:15:14

skin had turned yellowish-orange and hung

1:15:16

loose on what had been a

1:15:18

solidly muscled frame not more than

1:15:20

a minute ago. Hollow

1:15:23

was the word that leapt to Hennessy's

1:15:26

mind. Footsteps

1:15:28

announced the arrival of Cami and

1:15:30

Mercer, the latter who came around

1:15:32

the partition first, glock drawn and

1:15:34

pointed low. She

1:15:37

froze at the sight of Yamato. Bewilderment

1:15:39

crossed her features. She

1:15:42

looked at Hennessy with questioning eyes. A

1:15:45

moment behind her, Cami came around the edge

1:15:47

of the partition and screamed

1:15:49

the tableau. Her

1:15:51

breath started to come raggedly as

1:15:54

hyperventilation set in. Mercer

1:15:56

ignored her and instead moved forward

1:15:58

for a closer look at Yamato's

1:16:00

diminished remains. What

1:16:03

the hell happened? Mercer's

1:16:06

voice was full of horror and fascination.

1:16:09

Cass, I don't even know how to tell you. The

1:16:12

door... it opened. It

1:16:14

actually opened. There was this... this

1:16:17

thing on the other side. Hennessy

1:16:21

struggled to his feet as the two women

1:16:23

circled fully around to the purple side of

1:16:25

the partition. Hennessy still struggled

1:16:27

to get her breathing under control. Mercer,

1:16:30

weapon still in hand, stepped up to

1:16:33

the door and tried the knob. Nothing

1:16:36

moved. She looked at

1:16:38

Hennessy, concern written on her face. I...

1:16:43

Hennessy shook his head. I

1:16:45

swear it opened! Wait!

1:16:49

Hennessy struggled to recall the details. He...

1:16:53

he knocked. She knocked three

1:16:55

times. Mercer,

1:16:58

still clearly worried, reached out to

1:17:00

the door without taking her eyes

1:17:02

off Hennessy and wrapped

1:17:04

three times. Both

1:17:07

detectives and the store manager held

1:17:09

their breath. A

1:17:11

yellow glow began to build from the

1:17:14

sanctifieds outlining the door. Both

1:17:16

Mercer's and Cami's eyes went wide

1:17:18

in disbelief. Hennessy

1:17:21

raised his weapon and leveled it at the door. Hennessy

1:17:25

stepped away from the door. Now!

1:17:28

Still in awe, Mercer stepped

1:17:30

back, giving the partition space.

1:17:33

The yellow glow grew brighter and

1:17:36

brighter before a click resonated in

1:17:38

the air. The sanctifieds

1:17:40

dimmed but did not extinguish

1:17:42

as the door swung open,

1:17:45

purplish lights spilling into the room.

1:17:48

A figure stepped through the door.

1:17:51

A tall, pale man dressed in

1:17:53

a black suit with dark glasses

1:17:55

and a fedora. The

1:17:58

man from the security footage. He

1:18:01

was taller than the cameras had conveyed. Thinner,

1:18:03

too. Hennessy would

1:18:06

have said, gone, but the pale

1:18:08

man's face was full and roundish.

1:18:10

Abnormally so. Hennessy's

1:18:13

apprehensiveness from earlier crept back. However,

1:18:17

with it also came a sudden moment of

1:18:19

clarity. Pardon

1:18:21

my intrusion. The man's

1:18:23

voice was crisp and clean of any

1:18:25

accent. I have come

1:18:28

seeking Louise Casilda Mercer. Hennessy

1:18:31

and Mercer glanced at each other in confusion.

1:18:34

Both raised their guns and kept them leveled

1:18:37

at the pale stranger. Shakily,

1:18:40

Mercer spoke up. Who

1:18:44

the hell are you? The

1:18:46

pale man spread slender arms and

1:18:48

long fingered hands as he gave

1:18:51

a slight bow. I

1:18:53

am a messenger. I have

1:18:55

come to deliver an invitation. One

1:18:58

hand was suddenly holding a yellow

1:19:00

envelope with black brocade. As

1:19:03

impressed as Hennessy was with such slight

1:19:05

of hand, it also ratcheted up his

1:19:08

inner tension. If the pale

1:19:10

man could produce an envelope before they had

1:19:12

time to react, what else could

1:19:14

he pull out? I

1:19:16

presume one of you would be Madame Mercer?

1:19:19

The messenger's head swiveled between Cami

1:19:22

and Mercer. Mercer

1:19:24

backed up a few steps and gestured towards

1:19:27

the nearest work table with her clock. Put

1:19:30

it there. Something

1:19:32

in her voice tweaked at Hennessy. Something

1:19:35

he couldn't quite grasp in the moment. It

1:19:37

was like the mask she'd been wearing these

1:19:39

last few months was starting to slip. The

1:19:43

mask. Finally

1:19:47

Hennessy thought. Finally

1:19:49

something clicks. The

1:19:52

messenger complied with slow, meticulous movements,

1:19:54

then moved to the far side

1:19:56

of the door frame. Hennessy

1:19:59

was about to speed. speak, when Cami

1:20:01

burst out, the messenger glanced

1:20:03

in the direction of Yamato and conked his

1:20:09

head. After a

1:20:11

brief pause, he responded, My

1:20:14

apologies, Madam. The portal

1:20:16

is... keyed to open

1:20:18

for a particular individual. Anyone

1:20:21

other than that individual attempting to cross

1:20:24

the threshold may find themselves in

1:20:27

less than hospitable circumstances?

1:20:30

I'm sorry for your loss. Hennessy

1:20:33

seized the moment to interject. Let

1:20:36

us see how sorry you are. Why don't you

1:20:38

take off the sunglasses and the mask? He

1:20:41

kept his gun leveled at the messenger's center

1:20:43

mass, though his arms had begun to ache

1:20:45

from the effort. The adrenaline

1:20:48

surge from trying to help Yamato had

1:20:50

fled, leaving him weak. Mask?

1:20:55

Camilla appeared at the stranger with

1:20:57

fearful curiosity. The

1:20:59

messenger's thin, lipless mouth seemed to form

1:21:02

a trace of a smile. Sir,

1:21:06

I am not wearing a mask. The

1:21:08

mouth moved, though barely. Not

1:21:12

a mask, Cami whispered, her

1:21:15

voice edged with fear. Mercer

1:21:18

broke in. A wedding? A

1:21:21

royal wedding? Madam,

1:21:23

she was stunned to see she'd holstered

1:21:26

her weapon and was holding the envelope

1:21:28

and a similarly decorated invitation in her

1:21:30

hands. Yes. The

1:21:33

messenger turned to her. Yes.

1:21:36

His majesty extends his personal invitation, not

1:21:38

just to attend the ceremony but to

1:21:41

participate in the choosing of his bride.

1:21:45

Mercer's eyes narrowed. I'm

1:21:48

not... His bride-to-be? No.

1:21:51

She will be chosen through a special ceremony.

1:21:55

And you're not... No.

1:21:58

I am only a messenger. And

1:22:01

how did you know I'd be

1:22:03

here? Now that

1:22:05

I'd knock on the door?" The

1:22:08

messenger replied, "'Some

1:22:10

things are simply written in the fabric

1:22:12

of reality, as unchangeable as

1:22:14

the stars, as destined as

1:22:17

your answer.'" Hennessy

1:22:20

glanced back and forth between the two

1:22:22

in angry confusion. "'Kiss,

1:22:25

you're not seriously considering going with this

1:22:28

freak, are you?'" "'I

1:22:30

don't know. I don't

1:22:32

know, Mike. I mean, think

1:22:35

about it. This isn't just a chance to

1:22:37

go to a wedding, a

1:22:39

royal wedding at that. I mean, this is a chance

1:22:41

to see.'" She gazed

1:22:43

at the yawning doorway. "'A

1:22:46

whole other world. Mike,

1:22:49

this is the vacation of a

1:22:52

lifetime, the vacation of... Mercer

1:22:55

hesitated as the whole truth of

1:22:57

her next statement dawned on her.

1:23:00

"'Mike, this is

1:23:02

the vacation of my dreams.'" "'Kiss,

1:23:05

are you serious? This

1:23:07

isn't your madman in a blue box

1:23:09

you're always on about. This is some...

1:23:12

pallet freak in a mask who killed

1:23:14

Yamato.'" Hennessy gestured

1:23:16

wildly at the security guard's corpse.

1:23:19

"'And probably killed the missing staff

1:23:21

as well. You don't know what

1:23:23

it'll do to you on the other side of that

1:23:25

door. You can't trust him.'" Mercer

1:23:29

looked at her partner and gave a

1:23:31

strange, sad smile. "'Hey,

1:23:35

I know you don't understand, Mike. You

1:23:37

never really have.'" She nodded at

1:23:39

him. "'But that's okay.'"

1:23:42

She turned to the messenger. "'It's

1:23:45

bigger on the other side, isn't

1:23:48

it?'" "'World's bigger,'

1:23:50

came the reply. Mercer

1:23:53

stepped up to the door, hesitating at

1:23:55

the threshold. "'I'm

1:23:57

sorry, Mike,' she said." looking

1:24:00

back at her long-time partner. I

1:24:04

am too, Cass. I am

1:24:06

too. Hennessy

1:24:08

squeezed the trigger of his Glock three

1:24:10

times. All three shots struck

1:24:12

the messenger in the upper chest, launching

1:24:15

him back against the partition which threatened

1:24:17

to topple over. His

1:24:20

face! Cami started

1:24:22

to shriek. It's not

1:24:24

a mask. His face! It's

1:24:26

not a mask! Hennessy

1:24:29

gaped in horror at the

1:24:31

messenger's face. The

1:24:33

dark sunglasses had fallen askew and

1:24:35

hung from one ear, revealing a

1:24:38

bare patch of white flesh, indistinguishable

1:24:41

from cheek to forehead. On

1:24:44

the other side, a single

1:24:46

milky eye the size of

1:24:48

a billiard ball, with a pupil as big

1:24:50

as a silver dollar, darted

1:24:52

back and forth from Hennessy

1:24:55

to Cami to Mercer. With

1:24:58

a popping sound that reminded Hennessy

1:25:00

of pulling a rubber mat from

1:25:02

the bottom of a bathtub, the

1:25:04

messenger's face began to separate itself

1:25:06

from what Hennessy realized was its

1:25:08

host body. The

1:25:10

messenger had not been wearing a mask.

1:25:14

It had been wearing a costume. With

1:25:18

dispassionate control, Hennessy readjusted his

1:25:20

aim and fired twice. During

1:25:24

the coming attack, the messenger, the

1:25:27

real messenger, pulled itself

1:25:29

to one side, causing the first

1:25:31

shot to impact with a skinless,

1:25:33

eyeless human head. Muscle,

1:25:35

bone, and grey matter splattered across

1:25:38

ponies dancing on a field of

1:25:40

purple. The

1:25:42

second shot struck home, not

1:25:45

in the horrid cyclopean eye, but

1:25:48

the messenger's pallid flesh. It

1:25:50

started to keen so violently that Hennessy

1:25:52

was forced to cover his ears from

1:25:55

the pain. He

1:25:57

stumbled forward to pull his stunned partner from

1:25:59

the door. door, but the messenger

1:26:01

was quicker. Insectile legs

1:26:03

propelled it from its now defunct

1:26:06

host to Mercer, knocking her over

1:26:08

the threshold as the door closed

1:26:11

behind it. Hennessy

1:26:13

hit a blank wall. The

1:26:16

sanctifieds, which had glowed throughout,

1:26:19

faded away, not just

1:26:21

in illumination, but as if

1:26:23

they never existed. When Hennessy

1:26:26

twisted the doorknob, it wouldn't

1:26:28

turn. When he pounded

1:26:30

on the door three times, no

1:26:32

click was heard. No seam

1:26:35

appeared, nor did one

1:26:37

on all his successive attempts, which

1:26:39

was how security found him, having

1:26:42

been summoned by the sound of gunshots. Pounding

1:26:45

on a purple-colored partition, surrounded

1:26:48

by frolicking ponies, cast

1:26:52

over and over again, oblivious

1:26:55

to two corpses, one

1:26:58

desiccated and one disfigured, as

1:27:00

well as to Camilla Parsons' endless

1:27:03

mad litany. Not

1:27:05

a mask. Not a mask.

1:27:08

Not a mask. You've

1:27:21

just heard Threshold by Brett

1:27:23

O'Reilly. Well,

1:27:26

folks, that does it for tonight.

1:27:29

I'd like to thank Jackson, Arthur, and

1:27:31

Brett O'Reilly for their stories this evening,

1:27:33

as well as their publisher, Villek's Books.

1:27:36

You can find collections containing these

1:27:38

stories over at their website, www.velox.com.

1:27:47

Also, Rissa Montanez and Melissa

1:27:49

Medina deserve a mention for

1:27:51

their exceptional performances this evening. I'll

1:27:55

be back next week with a

1:27:57

particularly harrowing story of childhood's superbness.

1:28:00

The a glass. Until

1:28:02

then, listeners. Stash.

1:28:07

You've been listening to the

1:28:09

Horror Hill Podcast, a production

1:28:11

of Chilling Entertainment in the

1:28:13

Creative Team A Chilling Tales

1:28:15

Nice. Tonight's episode was hosted

1:28:17

and narrated by yours truly,

1:28:19

Eric Peabody. Original. Music

1:28:22

provided by Eric Peabody and

1:28:24

Dt Mcsorley. Finalization by Eric

1:28:27

Peabody and Craig Groups. Got

1:28:30

a terrifying tale of your own that

1:28:32

you'd like performed. Email. It

1:28:34

to us set Natalie at Chilling

1:28:36

Tales for Dark nights.com to have

1:28:39

your work considered for future production.

1:28:42

Seeing. As how we're all living

1:28:44

in a technological nightmare is our own

1:28:46

devising. I'll ask you to follow Chilling

1:28:49

Tales for Dark Nights on social media

1:28:51

and up Vote subscribe and hit the

1:28:53

bell notification icon if you're listening to

1:28:55

this on youtube. Not only

1:28:58

will you have appeased the dark

1:29:00

Gods of cyberspace and you'll be

1:29:02

tapped into Loop as we prepare

1:29:05

more terrifying content. If

1:29:07

you'd like access. To uninterrupted whore

1:29:09

ads and these annoying

1:29:11

or can segments. Might

1:29:13

I recommend becoming a patron? You'll

1:29:16

get access. To hundreds of episodes.

1:29:18

This show. As well as everything

1:29:21

from the other programs and the

1:29:23

chilling tales or Dark Nights cabal.

1:29:25

That means all of Odis try

1:29:27

or is scary stories told in

1:29:29

the Dark Drew Blood Start Tales.

1:29:32

Hall J, Mcsorley Sphere from

1:29:34

The Heartland and more. It's

1:29:37

a veritable smorgasbord of horrific

1:29:39

delights. As for

1:29:41

me personally, I'm on most

1:29:43

social media as Viking Guitar.

1:29:45

Or Viking Qatar productions.

1:29:48

I'm always on the lookout for

1:29:50

new stories to narrate and new

1:29:52

music projects to mix or master

1:29:54

is that is interesting. Feel free

1:29:56

to reach in we can talk

1:29:58

turkey. Also, I will

1:30:01

be back next week with more

1:30:03

terrifying tales to keep you up

1:30:05

all night. If

1:30:07

darkness is what you're after,

1:30:09

listener, your search is over.

1:30:12

Yet, let it be known that

1:30:15

you haven't found the darkness.

1:30:18

The darkness has found you. Angie

1:30:44

is your home for everything home, and

1:30:46

they've made it easier than ever to

1:30:48

connect with skilled professionals to get all

1:30:50

your home projects done well. If

1:30:53

you own a home, you know how much

1:30:55

work it can take, whether it's everyday maintenance

1:30:57

and repairs, or making dream projects a reality,

1:30:59

it can be hard just to know where

1:31:01

to start. But now all

1:31:03

you need to do is Angie that, and

1:31:05

find a skilled local pro who will deliver

1:31:08

the quality and expertise that you need. Angie

1:31:11

has over 20 years of home service

1:31:13

experience, and they've combined it with new

1:31:15

tools to simplify the whole

1:31:17

process. Bring them your

1:31:19

project online or with the Angie app, answer

1:31:21

a few questions, and Angie can handle the

1:31:24

rest from start to finish, or

1:31:26

help you compare quotes from multiple pros

1:31:28

and connect instantly. Which

1:31:30

means you can take care of just about

1:31:33

any home project in just a few steps.

1:31:36

Because when it comes to getting the most out

1:31:38

of your own home, you can do this when

1:31:40

you Angie that. Download

1:31:42

the free Angie mobile app today,

1:31:44

or visit angie.com. That's

1:31:47

angi.com.