0:08

So

0:08

it was right around here. I remember

0:10

that farm. It

0:13

was

0:13

cruising along around midnight and someone broken

0:16

on the side of the road, so I pulled over. It

0:19

was a guy, his timing belt

0:21

was shot, and it was done.

0:23

He knew it. So I to give him a ride up

0:26

to Embraer. He was only

0:28

about forty, but he he walked off the

0:29

cane pretty slow. And

0:33

the entire left side of his face

0:36

was not bandage,

0:38

but kind of sleeved.

0:41

therapeutically. He's black

0:43

sleeve. Quiet guy.

0:46

We're driving along and he says he's on his way to

0:48

a teacher's difference. And he says

0:51

about my injury.

0:55

Like, he sort of knew I was wondering about

0:57

it. He said it happened in

0:59

Tasmania six months before.

1:02

He was down there teaching

1:05

natural healing technique or something and he was

1:07

walking a mile outside of a

1:10

a fishing village little after dawn,

1:13

just a morning walk. He

1:15

asked me if I'd ever heard of the bowl

1:17

ant, memorabilia,

1:21

very aggressive nasty

1:24

ant with ugly thing.

1:26

You said if you cut one and a half, the

1:29

head and the tail will

1:31

fight each other.

1:34

So he comes to this guy walking.

1:36

He said the woods were cloaked

1:38

and missed that morning, so he was quite

1:41

where he thought he was. He

1:43

didn't know that in

1:45

the timber all around of two

1:48

big, bull ant factions

1:51

living. Only about fifty yards from

1:53

each other. Always vying for the resource

1:55

races. There'd been a drought. It

1:57

was only getting worse. What

1:59

he also didn't know was that there was

2:02

a a fungus infecting

2:05

ants all over the coast. It was attacking

2:07

the brain function that controlled there.

2:10

But motor detection mechanism. It

2:12

was making them even more aggressive. It

2:15

was turning them into zombies in a

2:17

way their brains were being full into

2:19

thinking

2:21

what what was food and what was it that

2:23

they were. They were sinking their

2:25

jars to anything plants would

2:28

to birds, animals and

2:31

locking their fruit to your life.

2:34

Then after the fungus slowly

2:36

killed the ant

2:38

and consumed them and sought out a

2:40

hunger host.

2:42

He walked into an

2:44

area aware where there had been rising

2:46

the skirmishes between the eight colonies as the

2:48

drought intensified. And

2:50

it's negotiated.

2:51

You know, they they they send out nicators.

2:54

But in this case,

2:56

it wasn't working.

2:58

The whole thing was being studied by a pair of technologists

3:01

from Brazil. They were just about put

3:03

video cameras in the trees that

3:05

week. This

3:08

teacher heard something off to his left

3:11

disturbance

3:12

in a pile of timber.

3:15

And he looked and he saw a

3:18

black mask coming towards him

3:20

on the ground. He

3:21

turned to run and from the other direction

3:23

here came the opposing

3:26

army.

3:27

this was the morning they were gonna battle to

3:29

the death. Something

3:31

about the barometer or the wind

3:33

maybe sent them It turned

3:35

out more than half of them had been infected by

3:38

the fungus. They were insane.

3:42

He had no time to make it out of there.

3:44

He looked down and he saw

3:46

hundreds of bull ants to

3:48

flow over his boot.

3:51

He said it all made no sound,

3:53

not even a whisper.

3:56

He didn't remember anything after

3:58

that except One image,

3:59

one image and all that chaos that got distorted

4:02

in his memory. Maybe

4:04

it was just from a dream after lost much of

4:06

this. But he he remembered

4:10

falling to his knees in

4:12

the dust and

4:13

holding a hand up to the sky eye, the

4:16

sun was burning its way through the clouds,

4:19

the silver ring,

4:21

and he saw on his wrist.

4:24

above ants,

4:28

all locked in one frantic.

4:32

battle,

4:32

this ball began to tumble

4:34

down his arm toward his

4:37

face at different end. This states

4:42

believed

4:42

themselves to be on the side of some

4:44

great mountain maybe.

4:47

When

4:47

he woke up, he was near death, massive blood

4:49

long. months of rehab.

4:53

I had to ask him, man. Can you if

4:56

can go near insects

4:59

of any kind now. He

5:03

smiled

5:03

and he in kind of a creepy way,

5:05

rolled up a shirt sleeve. The skin

5:07

of his forearms patching

5:09

and the color wasn't right at all.

5:12

He had a tattoo of an ant

5:14

there. He

5:16

said the skin wasn't too bad of to get it up

5:18

any higher.

5:20

He had four tattoos, one

5:22

marking every major event

5:25

in his life. his

5:27

daughter's face would have to be redone

5:30

some day. He said,

5:32

all the bites took it away in

5:34

the attack. And

5:36

to get the topic I asked about the other tattoos.

5:39

One was Japan.

5:45

It wasn't smart anymore what he mentioned,

5:47

the last one. Quite

5:51

the opposite.

5:54

It was a shock.

6:04

Hey, it's

6:06

me.

6:08

Something really odd. I

6:10

I was here in the basement late

6:13

last night. I was sorting on this junk out from

6:15

the move in. and

6:17

I was listening to BBC World News

6:20

on this little clock radio I forgot I

6:22

had. It was just before one and

6:25

someone appeared outside. There's

6:27

a small like a rectangular window

6:30

that lets in a little light from the yard

6:32

during the day. It was

6:34

this woman a long

6:36

dress. And she

6:38

bent down to peer in and I just cut a glimpse

6:41

of her. It was so dark out there.

6:44

She got back up and and disappeared after

6:46

maybe two seconds. You

6:49

know, by the time I got to window, she was gone.

6:51

I had to kind of get on to

6:54

tell to really see out.

6:56

But what she was doing, who

6:58

knows, Give

7:01

me kind of a shock. Anyway,

7:04

I will call

7:06

you tomorrow after I have another go at

7:09

cleaning this place up.

7:14

Okay.

7:16

It just happened again. pretty

7:19

much exactly twenty four

7:21

hours since the woman came

7:23

the first time. and

7:26

something is deeply weird

7:28

here. She was wearing the same thing.

7:31

I couldn't hear her, but I happen to be crossing

7:34

the basement to the drier.

7:36

I looked up right away this time. She

7:38

must have come from around the side of the house instead

7:40

of right across the lawn. I would

7:42

have seen that. She bent

7:44

down real fast just like last night, and she she

7:47

peered into the window again. And

7:49

then an exact repeat as soon

7:51

as her knees touched the grass

7:53

and she had one

7:56

or two second look in at me. she got

7:58

back to her feet,

7:59

moved past

7:59

the window, toward

8:02

the north side of the house, gone.

8:06

Alright. Why don't I see this time?

8:08

Her hair was long,

8:10

kind of unwashed.

8:13

and she had I

8:16

swear, like, paper shoes on

8:18

that. It could be wrong. I

8:20

I think, like, paper slippers. it

8:23

was just too dark out to see any details of

8:25

her her face or anything. But

8:28

the real thing

8:31

is that I look at the clock radio

8:33

when she left. And I wouldn't have even done

8:35

that, but last

8:38

night, I remember she came just as the BBC

8:40

World News was playing it and

8:42

music, which would have been in about, you know,

8:45

twelve fifty six, twelve fifty seven.

8:48

So she's been gone for five

8:50

minutes now

8:52

which means I saw her

8:54

at twelve

8:56

fifty six, twelve fifty seven.

9:00

I'm looking at the window here. I'm standing

9:03

on the laundry basket.

9:08

Call

9:11

me when you get this. Right?

9:18

What do you mean? She had no reaction? I

9:20

mean, she didn't flinch. I was

9:23

waiting for her right inside the window

9:25

this I planned it. I came down here special

9:28

when I thought it might happen. I was standing on

9:30

this step stool and

9:32

I banged on the window as soon as she

9:35

appeared. I yelled at her, but

9:37

there was not a single variance

9:41

in her movement. It's like she she

9:43

she was programmed to do what she does.

9:47

So she She looked in,

9:49

got right back up, and went away.

9:52

off behind the corner of the house. Yep.

9:55

And by the time I get up these stairs

9:57

and across the kitchen and out onto

9:59

the porch where I can actually see something in the

10:01

dark. she she could be anywhere. You

10:05

need to get video. Yeah. Clearly.

10:08

I'll do tomorrow night, I guess. You

10:10

see a face to time? Little.

10:14

What'd she look like? Just

10:19

pale.

10:26

I have twelve, fifteen six.

10:29

Now Yeah.

10:31

We're pretty much aligned. You're

10:34

recording? I

10:36

am recording. What

10:39

do you put the odds out of her coming back

10:41

again right on time? I'm

10:43

sure she will.

10:49

Alright. The clock says twelve fifty

10:51

seven. I'm gonna put you on speaker and then

10:54

turn the phone camera on. Let's see if you stay

10:56

connected. It's

10:58

twenty twenty two. I think it'll work.

11:03

there. Hello? I'm

11:05

here. Okay. It works.

11:16

Oh, Jesus. Here she is. Hold on.

11:25

Okay. I got it. The whole thing.

11:28

Yeah. Let me just play it back here make sure.

11:35

Okay. I'm sending it over. Take

11:39

me off speaker.

11:43

You get it? Yeah.

11:48

True dark.

11:54

Jeez, that's spooky.

11:56

Go up right now. See if you can see her up

11:58

there. Alright. I'll I'll call you back if something happens.

12:13

Are you

12:13

even in the basement?

12:14

Yes. It

12:18

just turned twelve fifty six, like,

12:20

thirty seconds ago.

12:22

I'm aware.

12:24

what are you doing this time? Are you videotaping?

12:31

What am I listening

12:32

for.

12:38

Twelve fifty seven. She income?

12:42

I'm not sure. What do you mean?

12:44

You're not sure? I'm

12:46

sitting on the floor under the window, but

12:48

I'm facing the staircase. I didn't

12:50

even look out. What

12:53

are you hoping to

12:54

accomplish by that?

12:55

I don't know.

12:58

So she's probably gone. Didn't sense

13:00

anything?

13:02

I did I

13:04

did sense her out there.

13:08

Why

13:08

didn't you go out in the yard this time?

13:10

Wait for her.

13:14

Because I find it extremely

13:17

scary. Can

13:21

you drive here? No.

13:25

Am I in that rhyme? Is that what's

13:28

happening? What

13:30

rhyme? they'll

13:36

peak five times from

13:38

graves they've been a

13:40

bit after that they'll cream

13:43

within. Yes.

13:47

Probably.

13:49

That was the fifth time. Right? 12345

14:09

I'm standing out here on

14:11

the lawn. Here

14:14

I am. Twelve fifty six.

14:18

There I am.

14:29

twelve fifty seven. So

14:35

cold out here.

14:38

put on this dummy low switch shirt I hate, but

14:40

it's it's not enough.

14:49

They'll peak five

14:52

times from graves. They've

14:54

been, but

14:56

after that, they'll

14:58

creep again.

15:17

Well, fifty eight. They're a sign

15:19

of her.

15:22

Going back down to the basement.

15:55

Hello?

16:00

Who are you?

16:14

Turn around.

16:28

Something really strange

16:30

happened last night. I

16:32

was in the cellar. It there's just

16:34

so much painting and restoration

16:38

that needs to be done down there. But

16:41

anyway, I was down there. And

16:43

all of a sudden, some

16:45

man appeared at the little window, gave

16:48

me the shock of

16:50

my life.

16:51

he knelt down

16:53

out there and he looked in and

16:56

then he got up again almost right

16:58

away and took off. All

17:00

I really remember now is that he had on

17:02

a yellow

17:03

shirt.

17:05

Sort of

17:07

a a pale face from

17:09

what little I could see. Anyway,

17:12

it's a great neighborhood, so

17:15

I assumed I wouldn't have anything to

17:17

worry about. Oh,

17:19

this year is off to a creepy

17:21

start, I guess. Happy

17:24

twenty eighty nine to me.

17:28

Anyway, give me a call when

17:30

you get a chance. Okay? Thanks.

17:42

Is the sign right here? That's

17:45

the only sun there is for a trip. Four

17:48

miles down that way. I just wanted

17:50

to stop and see if they had a gas station sold.

17:53

nice tea or something, so it turned down there.

17:56

And a couple of places, one diner,

17:59

few

17:59

churches. But if they're four

18:02

hundred people to live there, I'd be surprised. It

18:05

was nine o'clock in a Sunday night, and nobody

18:07

was on the streets, nothing was open.

18:10

I spotted a soda machine outside a little general

18:12

store and I got a drink. And

18:15

this woman walked over to me from her house

18:17

across the street. I think it

18:19

was polite, I guess. But

18:22

She wanted to know why I was there, where

18:24

I was from. It seemed pretty

18:27

nervous. She

18:29

looked around to make sure nobody was

18:31

watching it. She said, here, here, please come around

18:33

to the side of the building. I have to tell you

18:35

something.

18:39

You should tell me somebody who used to live

18:42

there in turban. It

18:44

was coming back to town that, like, someone

18:46

who'd been in jail for a long,

18:49

long time.

18:51

Fifty eight years.

18:54

Fifty eight years in jail, the man named that

18:56

since. I

18:58

was put in jail for her.

19:01

She wouldn't even tell me she was talking real fast

19:03

and she's sleeping unhinged. It was

19:06

something involving kids

19:08

and birds birds.

19:12

I had to imagine someone twenty two years

19:15

old sentenced to sixty years having

19:17

to serve almost every bit of it. It was that

19:19

bad. Evil. She used that

19:21

word. Eve

19:25

I could not imagine

19:29

what that would have been.

19:31

And the town had forgotten. Not

19:33

a lot of people leaving Turpin for the big city

19:35

of the generations and the stories got passed

19:38

out.

19:41

They found out he was finally due

19:43

to be released and someone from town had gone

19:45

up to see him in jail

19:47

up in Pensacola and and advising

19:50

nut to return earned because some people,

19:53

some

19:53

older people,

19:55

would not allow him one step

19:57

in like that border. And

20:00

he'd apparently said he had every intention

20:03

going right back and living in a

20:05

place he grew up in.

20:08

This

20:08

woman said to me they're gonna kill him

20:11

right on the street. They've

20:14

arranged it

20:18

So I said, look, you need a good one. Police,

20:20

and she said, they know.

20:23

They're going to help. them.

20:26

She was asking me to believe that the town's people

20:28

were gonna kill this

20:30

one eighty year

20:31

old man. There was nothing she

20:33

wanted for me, but just for me to go.

20:37

So I never really

20:40

knew like this.

20:43

I got in the car at first for a little while.

20:45

I just cruise around the town looking.

20:49

Nobody I'm walking dog or

20:51

maybe

20:52

leaving to head out to the highway and none of that

20:54

just lights out. Even

20:57

the dive barometers closed.

21:01

But then there they were. I

21:04

went to pass Turpin elementary school, and

21:06

there were Must

21:09

have been about thirty

21:11

people

21:12

standing under a land post in the parking

21:14

lot for the buses probably

21:16

lined up. Real strange

21:19

mix of

21:21

adults and very old

21:23

people. and

21:25

about half of them carrying

21:28

something something blunt.

21:32

a lot of heads turned to my way as

21:34

I rolled mine. I

21:36

drift back toward the highway. It was time to get out

21:38

of there.

21:40

And as I'm dry driving toward it. I'm

21:43

on Route one thirteen. It's just windy

21:45

and dark.

21:47

I see a man walking

21:50

on the shoulder coming my way. My headlights

21:52

just catch him.

21:54

Old man, bald,

21:57

kind of stooped, little firm

22:02

jeans and a black sweatshirt. He's

22:04

got a backpack walking

22:07

toward turpin all alone. Sunday

22:09

night.

22:12

I passed him and I I couldn't help myself.

22:14

I stopped the car in

22:16

the road. the

22:18

idled there and I looked back, he

22:21

had stopped and turned. Maybe

22:23

he was thinking I was gonna offer

22:25

him a ride,

22:28

but he didn't move toward me, and

22:31

I didn't back up. I

22:34

finally me my senses and just pulled

22:36

away and drove on.

22:40

So yeah, that woman

22:43

spoke to me.

22:46

She was one of the three people he

22:49

killed that night.

22:52

Before the others finally

22:54

managed to

22:57

take him down.

23:08

I told you, Stevich, not

23:11

to scare me or tease

23:13

me or bait me. I told

23:15

you was nervous going out there alone,

23:17

and I could do without the innocent insinuations

23:20

about what was hiding, waiting.

23:23

This is the thing with people. They think those teases

23:25

are so innocent. I shouldn't

23:27

have to explain to them that

23:29

I'm susceptible. They just need

23:31

to under stand how

23:33

I am. You needed to understand

23:36

how I am, but you made no effort.

23:38

It should have been an adventure, the first real adventure

23:40

of my life, but from day one, I was on

23:43

edge.

23:44

That sky that

23:46

sky was somehow the

23:48

worst part of it. I just wasn't ready for

23:50

how big When

23:52

you take away all the buildings and

23:54

the hills, I feel comfortable in.

23:56

That sky just gets bigger and

23:58

bigger, and I didn't like the way

23:59

I could see too much of the land. In that

24:02

part of the country, there's nothing blocking that horizon.

24:04

So when you're out there and you look in every direction

24:06

of the land, just

24:07

stretches and stretches and you can walk

24:10

east, west, north, south, and

24:12

nothing will impeach you until

24:14

you disappear.

24:16

somewhere on the horizon. Who

24:18

knows how far away that point really is?

24:20

You've

24:20

never even been there,

24:22

stevage. So you wouldn't know what it's like

24:24

when you're on the plane and thunder clouds

24:27

roll in all around and you've never felt more exposed

24:29

like the sky is, bully. It's the

24:31

enemy. I

24:33

can't believe I left you a message about

24:35

the first thing that went wrong. Of course, you would

24:37

call it an omen.

24:39

A dead snake on the path between

24:41

the tall rocks. First hour,

24:44

how you would have laughed when I took out the knife

24:46

I bought from Walden outdoors. Give

24:48

me the biggest, sharpest one

24:51

I'd say to the clerk. know he was snickering.

24:53

I used to turn the snake over

24:56

to see its markings. And

24:58

that night,

24:59

the campsite on my map, it just wasn't there. It

25:01

just wasn't there. So I had

25:04

worries from my direction, and I wound up

25:06

sleeping a mile away from the nearest

25:08

other riders. I could just hear your

25:11

voice, Stevich. I enabled you to

25:13

whisper in the dark.

25:15

kneeling outside my tent. You

25:17

know what? Kill that snake, don't

25:19

you?

25:20

The beast.

25:22

is out there.

25:24

I

25:24

deleted your email with all the video links as soon

25:26

as I opened it. Did you really think I'd watch them

25:29

with titles like monster of myth

25:31

cut on camera and they thought

25:33

the creature was a legend and then they looked

25:35

up, damn

25:36

you for sending those to me.

25:39

I

25:39

had nightmares.

25:41

I

25:41

could have turned back, but I didn't.

25:43

I

25:43

kept going. The first few days I

25:45

tried to stay close to other people, strangers.

25:48

but

25:48

the spaces between got

25:51

bigger. And the

25:52

next thing that when it gets me was the sun.

25:54

There was no sun

25:55

advantaged.

25:57

day after day, any little

25:59

comfort

25:59

was denied me. I

26:02

heard sounds in the middle of the night,

26:04

at the first waypoint inside

26:06

CorSo at National Park, just

26:09

on the other side of the stream. it

26:12

sounded like some big

26:14

snorting animal, and it was

26:17

choking on something for a whole minute,

26:20

then there was quiet.

26:22

and this

26:23

sounded

26:24

struggling to swallow something

26:26

down until

26:28

it succeeded.

26:30

No sleep. No sleep at all.

26:32

I sat up with

26:33

a knife and my lap watching.

26:35

And the

26:35

desert didn't break. It's fully dark, so I could

26:37

always see the shapes of the hills.

26:41

twelve sightings in the last twelve

26:43

months. That's what you told me.

26:45

Only three and five years before that.

26:48

I never would have believed it if it hadn't been

26:50

for that story in that magazine. My

26:52

boss played me the audio, those

26:55

monks recorded out there. I played

26:57

it for me in his office.

26:59

You're really going out there next month,

27:01

he said, I

27:02

had to. just one time

27:05

to prove to myself that I'm not scared

27:07

of

27:08

everything. You're

27:09

halfway there. I kept telling myself

27:11

that Sunday.

27:13

All the thrill of

27:14

invention was gone already. I was counting the

27:16

miles and the hours. It began to

27:18

get real hilly.

27:20

someone cruel and painted a pair of

27:22

eyes on the rocks

27:24

in

27:24

the ravine north of Cobb. Why would

27:26

they do that except to scare someone hiking

27:28

by? It

27:30

was around dusk of that night

27:32

that I knew I would be chosen.

27:34

It

27:35

was going to happen to me.

27:36

just like you'd joked about, stevent.

27:39

I was

27:40

looking at a paper bag, stuck

27:42

in a piece of cactus, and it came to me.

27:45

all the signs they were building, the

27:47

thing in the desert

27:49

and me on

27:50

a course to come together.

27:53

just

27:53

like some guy had an airplane before takeoff

27:55

convinced it's gonna crash because he's

27:57

so afraid of flying and it does.

27:59

That's

27:59

how he dies.

28:02

This

28:02

was how I was gonna die.

28:04

No

28:04

point going back along the trail. It

28:06

was just as long as going forward.

28:09

This

28:09

is what you all did with

28:11

your videos and your articles.

28:14

You made me believe in some monster I should have

28:16

stopped believing in when I was ten.

28:18

ridiculous fake footage on eight millimeter

28:20

scratchy audio, one reliable witnesses.

28:23

It it didn't matter. The beast was

28:25

out there. and it was gonna kill me. It was

28:27

going to kill me.

28:29

I stopped texting my sister. She always wanted

28:31

to know if I was okay. and

28:33

all the almonds they kept

28:35

mounting.

28:36

The birds disappeared.

28:39

I

28:39

saw footprints crossing the trail the

28:41

fourth way point. I couldn't prove.

28:43

That's what they were, but they were

28:45

enormous, misshapen, not

28:48

shoe prints or boot prints.

28:51

The

28:51

lack of sleep began to mess

28:53

with my vision, and I was

28:55

staggering. I couldn't

28:56

get enough water. Never enough.

28:59

It was

29:00

almost funny how calm I

29:02

was when I realized it was lost.

29:05

I'd been on the parallel Lake

29:08

Trail. for

29:09

thirty six hours.

29:10

It wound through the slippery

29:13

gorge where Wyndham or experienced

29:15

hikers went. I

29:16

wasn't prepared for it and have the supplies

29:19

to make it to come. Even

29:20

you would have stopped mocking me then,

29:22

damage. You would see how

29:24

dangerous that was or maybe you wouldn't

29:26

stop. Maybe you'd hide behind one of those

29:29

thousands of tall rocks shaped

29:31

like

29:31

coffins and make sounds. like

29:33

the thing on that recording, or we told

29:35

him it was in my tent, wide eyed

29:38

like a zombie, and you'd call out in the dark,

29:40

it's drawn to rain like this.

29:44

zoologist say, the

29:45

team system here is where it would

29:47

probably live. I

29:49

hate you stitched. personal

29:53

trainer. Well, I just went through into

29:55

my life.

29:55

I

29:58

made it to the final day somehow.

29:59

Hadn't

30:01

seen anyone for twelve hours.

30:04

No

30:04

choice to leave the gorge and try to get to

30:06

the highway outside comp, but just walk and

30:08

walk and Hopefully, humidity

30:11

didn't put me down.

30:13

Half a day, I walked through the rain,

30:15

terrified the lightning I saw cutting up the

30:17

sky. I was getting closer.

30:20

I imagined what part of my body, the

30:22

beast, the hairy beast would

30:25

lash out at to make the killing wound. my

30:28

neck, maybe dying

30:30

with my carotid spraying

30:33

the rocks and the red dirt

30:35

with blood. I

30:37

was

30:37

in the open desert then.

30:40

I

30:40

saw something up ahead.

30:42

Power lines.

30:44

than

30:44

some kind of

30:46

shanty town.

30:48

They're on the plane. I

30:50

was safe,

30:52

but

30:52

no. It

30:53

wasn't what it seemed.

30:56

It

30:56

was a museum,

30:58

a fake mining town.

31:00

constructed

31:00

for tourists,

31:03

three dollars for adults, one dollar

31:05

for children,

31:07

closed.

31:09

No cars anywhere. People had to park

31:11

a half mile away and get on a bus.

31:13

I

31:15

came up on it from the south. the

31:17

opposite side of the highway so far

31:19

away. I

31:20

climbed defense and

31:22

I walked that little grid

31:24

of manufactured streets.

31:28

Beclothic area, the music

31:30

hall, the jail. The

31:33

school.

31:36

Unpainted wood and rusting signs.

31:39

Sometimes, lovingly detailed,

31:41

but mostly a cheap effort. An

31:44

authentic old Derek

31:46

lived over at all.

31:50

lifeless weeds sprouting

31:52

up through cracks and floorboards.

31:57

this way to the cemetery

31:59

side said, and it pointed

32:02

into this corrugated aluminum

32:05

tub a hundred feet

32:07

long. Snaked

32:09

and it bent toward well, I thought

32:11

it was a garden. There were

32:13

lights strong inside. I

32:16

went to end the stage. People

32:18

leave me. but I had that kind of courage.

32:21

Skinny planks, leaning deeper and

32:24

deeper. I

32:26

stopped. halfway through.

32:30

Don't turn around. I

32:32

thought that

32:34

was something growl

32:38

I heard it running toward me then

32:41

along the planks, and my

32:43

entire body was pulled back when

32:45

paused, took hold of my backpack, and

32:47

yanked. It was knocked completely

32:50

off balance. I stumbled backward, and I went down

32:52

hard. facing the ceiling. My

32:55

backpack was completely torn away, gone.

32:58

And before I saw a face above

33:00

me, made dark by my concussion

33:03

and the obscuring halo of a forty

33:05

one bulb. My hand had

33:07

already gone to my hip and grabbed

33:10

the knife, the biggest one they had, the

33:12

store, the one you told me, would

33:14

do no one any good against a beast.

33:16

That's strong, but on that point,

33:19

Stevich.

33:20

You were wrong. Am

33:26

I a coward now, Stevich?

33:28

ten thousand dollars to own

33:31

what's in the bag, five thousand to

33:33

touch it, one thousand just

33:35

over.

33:41

Hey, Mike. I

33:44

hope you can hear me over shatter.

33:46

I'm in Starbucks here. I

33:49

got your email. So I

33:52

was waiting for yesterday's meeting with accelerated

33:55

adventures to

33:57

compile my list of concerns about

33:59

letting the public into the Mont Belmont House

34:03

so soon. And

34:06

I'm I'm sorry to dump on you, but I I just

34:08

kinda wanna work through it verbally

34:10

here before I send it over.

34:13

First thing,

34:15

just in terms of financial liability,

34:17

I don't think John's math is right. I

34:20

can see that a twenty five hundred

34:22

dollar admission fee is is plausible, but

34:24

there's gonna have to be a cap on daily admission.

34:26

Because we have to display to

34:29

the actual a group at Martin McCoy that

34:31

every guest is gonna follow the maximum

34:33

set of safety precautions. So

34:36

two hundred people a day is it's just not realist.

34:38

especially if you're possibly talking

34:40

about sometimes some kind of mass

34:43

incident maybe involving multiple guests.

34:46

standard line procedures borrowed

34:49

from a standard tourist attraction.

34:51

They don't seem safe at all in the Mondocados.

34:54

Second, the house it's just it's

34:57

too far out in the middle of nowhere. So

34:59

intermediate medical facilities are gonna

35:01

have to be built probably

35:03

on one of the empty lots that's been currently

35:05

designated for parking. Marklett

35:08

Koi is gonna want double

35:10

the number of medical staff that we have

35:12

on the spreadsheet. It's just too many miles away from

35:14

Saint Elizabeth. Depending on what guests

35:17

see in the house. And remember, There

35:19

have been seventy one verified

35:21

sightings inside since last May.

35:24

You could conceivably get a stampede

35:26

on your hands, and that would be completely disastrous.

35:30

What else? Yeah.

35:32

This thing that children mentioned in her report

35:34

about how oh, yeah. We can

35:36

we can handle the medical and psychological prescreening

35:39

of all the guests internally. Now,

35:41

back up. That's just that is total

35:43

fantasy. And not just that, but who has found

35:46

anyone of any authority in any

35:48

document that using the Franklin Well Identity

35:50

Test has any validity as a crisis

35:52

indicator in possible trauma situations.

35:55

We would need to get an affidavit from a

35:57

reputable hospital about the efficacy

35:59

of whatever tests are selected, and we're gonna

36:02

need examples of where they were applied. The

36:04

other issue is how to keep

36:06

people from submitting forged screening

36:09

documents to gain entry. Either we're

36:11

gonna have to go non digital, or

36:14

have an additional waiver signed

36:17

the day of the tour by everyone. And I

36:19

am still in favor of raising that age

36:21

floor for touring the house from twenty five thirty

36:23

five based on the report I sent over last week.

36:28

Yeah. The route. The routes,

36:30

guessed we take the house, it doesn't allow

36:33

for fast enough escape routes. And I'm not talking

36:35

about fire here obviously. I

36:37

don't see a way to keep

36:39

the house's historic integrity and build the

36:41

kind of accents that I think Mark McCoy is gonna wanna

36:43

see. But I'm I'm not a construction expert.

36:46

I'll So I

36:48

I see that John struck

36:50

a deal with Hofstra to use

36:52

their name in logo for some marketing

36:55

material deals. that's great. That's a clever way

36:57

to take the educational mission tax credit

36:59

and generate credibility. But someone at

37:01

the school needs to know

37:03

that in case of a class action suit,

37:05

a court could perceive that as secondary

37:07

component and drag them into it.

37:10

I

37:12

do see a possible

37:15

loophole that could allow

37:17

us to meet the insurance requirements

37:19

that I'm expecting So I'm gonna

37:21

send you a document tomorrow. What

37:24

it shows is the plan of the

37:26

first floor of the house, but now

37:28

I've drawn a red line It

37:30

runs from the front entrance out

37:32

from the back exit in the kitchen and on

37:34

out into the yard and relative

37:36

safety, I would assume. It cuts out the

37:38

dining room and the parlor entirely. So

37:41

this is the guest route I suggest

37:44

we present to Mark McCoy. it's a good

37:46

sixty feet shorter than the one that got the green

37:48

light. And, okay, if

37:50

we were to insist that

37:53

guests never stop moving

37:56

along the red line. That might

37:58

allow us claim the

38:01

house is a view only attraction,

38:03

kind of like a tram or a

38:05

tour boat. The

38:07

key is constant motion. I guess can't

38:09

be allowed to stop for any reason,

38:12

and that's gonna bring the total visit time

38:14

down to about ninety seconds or so. I

38:17

would also strongly urge a single

38:19

file in space the guests out a minimum

38:22

of ten feet apart. Because

38:25

communication between couples for example,

38:27

especially in the state of fear, it's

38:29

only gonna hinder that constant movement.

38:31

And even so, if the ghost appears the

38:34

urge that guests are gonna have to

38:36

stop, that's gonna be impossible to overcome.

38:39

And and I know that legally, that wouldn't

38:41

be technically our problem, but come

38:44

Anyway, before that idea is even presented, I'd

38:46

have to have Ray research precedents

38:48

for classifying foot traffic interview only.

38:52

Overall, I don't know what to tell

38:54

you. You can expect a fight with Margaret Korn.

38:57

They are in the dark just as much as

38:59

we are about pricing liability for

39:02

tours of Averaire five hundred house. And keep

39:04

in mind that the number of sightings of

39:06

what the experts alleged is Robert

39:08

Mondamin are actually increasing. So

39:11

I'm still dying on the hill of of

39:13

it's a terrible time to try to launch these

39:15

tours. I understand there may

39:18

never be another location or scenario in

39:20

our lifetimes when a tour like this

39:22

might even be conceivable. But as

39:24

a layman, think it's dangerous

39:26

and I think it's dangerous in a way that no one

39:29

fully understands

39:30

you. So

39:33

off the record, and, you know, this is just between

39:35

you and me. Let me tell you something that

39:38

happened to me. A

39:40

few months ago, I was at a dinner party and

39:43

there happened to be in attendance this woman

39:46

whose husband died about eight

39:49

weeks after being inside the Mondama house.

39:51

For a couple of hours, he was part of some state

39:53

inspection group. The details

39:55

of this have apparently never been made public.

39:57

Now, this guy never reported

40:00

any siding. And when

40:02

they did the autopsy, they made

40:04

no connection between the visit and his death,

40:06

which they said was by a heart attack. And

40:09

he seemed perfectly fine

40:11

right up until his death. He

40:13

he got up in the middle of dinner, and

40:15

he went up to his room, he said he was feeling

40:17

sad, which totally baffled

40:19

his wife, this weird comment. So

40:22

they found his body a couple of hours later, and there

40:24

was a notepad in his hand. And

40:27

he had written the words better,

40:29

I'd go with him now. then

40:32

he comes and it takes me.

40:35

Now because he was a musician and he

40:37

was always writing lyrics up by hand, his wife

40:40

hope that's what he'd been doing.

40:42

But

40:42

do you see what I'm saying? This

40:45

is what I think about. Seventy

40:47

one sightings with just one person

40:49

having a heart attack inside the house itself, but

40:51

there's absolutely no data

40:53

on the long term effects of deciding on

40:55

people who have entered and then left. aside

40:58

from unreliable anti Google stories. And

41:00

those are scary enough, frankly. Now,

41:02

I I've seen the videos and I've

41:04

watched the live streams like everybody

41:07

else. And I swear that if

41:09

I had that ghost appear

41:12

ten feet in front of me in real life,

41:14

with half his face burned away,

41:16

no way would I be the same person when

41:19

I left that house. So

41:21

do me a favor. As this goes forward, please

41:23

just continue to

41:26

imagine potentially astronomical

41:29

monetary damages. And

41:32

yes, even personal liability. And

41:34

hey, maybe some jail time thrown

41:36

in if one of these tours just goes

41:38

absolutely hell.

41:41

Alright. I'm

41:43

on vacation Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday back

41:45

in the office. Thursday

41:47

afternoon, I can talk about this by phone

41:50

pretty much all day Friday. Okay?

41:53

Alright. Bye.

41:59

Getting near

41:59

the end of the road here.

42:03

That is the Perconic

42:06

Mall of that hill still standing. I

42:08

never understood how

42:10

those dead malls are allowed to keep up riding

42:13

and running. I pulled

42:14

over there thinking I was gonna grab some lunch.

42:17

I didn't know it had been dead for

42:19

about a year by that point.

42:21

Maybe three cars in the parking lot.

42:24

But I thought, hey, it's raining. Maybe

42:27

I'll take a look around pounds. Sometimes

42:30

the food courts and these things are hanging on for dear

42:32

life. But

42:33

no, the doors were open and the lights

42:35

were on.

42:37

But the AC was out and everything

42:39

was shuttered every store. There

42:41

was even a little graffiti going going

42:44

on here and there.

42:45

Very eerie. Middle

42:47

of a workday and all you could hear was the

42:50

rain jumping on the roof. The piped in

42:52

music and the music was film. Really

42:55

faint overhead for some reason, the

42:57

music still always

42:59

seems to be playing in in in a

43:01

dead mall. I

43:03

walked around a bit looking for a bathroom. I I

43:06

went down this long, not totally

43:08

clean hallway and found it.

43:11

Coming out, I I got turned around. I started

43:14

walking the long way at a dead end.

43:17

And there was a slightly open door

43:19

there. I passed it at

43:22

just the right moment, and I thought

43:24

I heard

43:25

human voices far away. It

43:28

almost sounded like bunch of people cheering

43:31

at a baseball game or

43:33

something it was real quick

43:35

and then it faded away. I

43:39

stuck my head in the door and there was an unlit,

43:41

stairwell, leading down. I

43:44

couldn't help

43:44

but wonder what the

43:47

Basement level. A dead

43:49

shopping mall looked like, you know.

43:53

So I went down The

43:55

stairs bent twice and really

43:57

to be deep.

43:59

It

43:59

finally opened up into a totally dark

44:02

hallway barely see my hand in front of my face. So

44:04

I figured, okay, that's that's an adventure.

44:07

But then I heard something again a

44:09

little bit closer. Some

44:12

applause was.

44:13

Twenty or thirty people likely

44:15

applauding, very echoing.

44:21

I'll eat my way down the hall and

44:23

buy the sounds. I can just

44:25

manage to navigate

44:28

it and weave closer every

44:31

door, another side of me, was locked,

44:34

exposed to pipes overhead. junked

44:38

furniture sandbags.

44:42

Then finally, I saw an open door and

44:44

light was coming through it and I took it.

44:47

I came out almost right away, but

44:50

a huge

44:52

wraparound railing came up to my waist.

44:54

It was one side of the enormous

44:57

rectangular catwalk basically almost

44:59

like

45:00

above a

45:02

big theater or a convention

45:04

center.

45:07

And over the railing, I could look down and

45:09

see that there was a level below

45:11

the basement level. That's where

45:13

the people were. There were

45:15

fifth even, I'd say.

45:17

All of them just standing around, some

45:20

conversations going on, I couldn't make those

45:22

out. They were too far away.

45:24

the light from the glass

45:26

roof came all the way down so they could

45:29

kind of see what they were doing. But with the rain,

45:31

you know, was was

45:33

a little murky.

45:36

There

45:36

were two big contraptions.

45:40

One on other side of this big flat

45:42

area down there. And

45:45

I I figured out what they were almost right away.

45:47

I I just couldn't believe it. That's all.

45:50

Two guys were climbing

45:53

up onto each

45:55

one and they laid down

45:57

face up on on a wooden platform just

45:59

big enough for their bodies.

46:02

someone was doing a little tinkering under

46:04

the mechanism of one of them, he was making some

46:06

kind of alteration. And few

46:08

people

46:08

in audience were passing cash

46:10

to each other. And

46:11

some guy in the Bermuda

46:14

shorts with a huge belly

46:16

was making notes on a clipboard. His

46:18

collect the money and and conferred with

46:21

this person and that person. And

46:24

then a guy in a black hoodie called

46:26

something out and

46:29

raised his arm and everything got quiet

46:32

and then he dropped his

46:34

arm. And simultaneously, two

46:37

helpers standing beside each

46:40

opposing mechanism through a lever

46:42

at the exact same moment very precisely. They've

46:44

lean their weight into it.

46:47

And the arms of the catapults

46:50

swung. and

46:52

they launched

46:55

these two men

46:57

forward directly at each other.

46:59

high speed,

47:00

across the expanse of maybe a hundred

47:03

feet.

47:05

I didn't even have time to

47:07

look away before they impacted.

47:09

it wasn't quite a perfect

47:12

trajectory. Of course, there were white differentials. And

47:14

I think the men did with they

47:16

could to brace themselves, but

47:20

the

47:20

sound alone is sickening.

47:22

I pulled myself away from the railing just just

47:24

the gas and then

47:26

the cheer came from the

47:28

blow. There was some

47:30

busy conversation, busy

47:33

see activity. I finally crept back

47:35

up to the railing and I I peered over, didn't wanna

47:37

get too close, didn't wanna be seen.

47:40

Both of those guys were

47:42

down. They

47:43

were surrounded by a handful of the

47:46

spectators. Only

47:48

one of the guys was moving at all.

47:51

All I could see was his right foot. It

47:53

was bending just little bit bending

47:56

back and forth. involuntarily,

47:58

I think. There

48:00

was a new

48:03

small patch of blood in

48:05

the area between the catapults.

48:09

I turned to went back to the door and I made

48:11

my way out of there. Went to of

48:13

the dark back up to the main level,

48:16

and I left them all.

48:21

And think to myself, exactly

48:25

what was a

48:27

winning bet.

48:46

I'm going to tell you a story you'll never

48:49

ever believe. How

48:51

much detail do you really need since you

48:53

never buy any of it?

48:59

And half past one in the morning on

49:01

June sixth, twenty twenty eight.

49:04

Amplify and I drove big blue van

49:07

five miles east of the Caskan River

49:09

and stop on a quiet road near a shuttered

49:12

convenience store.

49:16

We went around to the back and opened to the

49:18

rear doors. Watch

49:30

this fall. Watch this fall. We

49:34

guided the man in there down to the ground

49:36

and walked him carefully over to a bench

49:38

near some power lines, keeping

49:41

an eye out for headlights. The man

49:43

was barely awake in another twenty

49:45

minutes or so. He'd be fully alert.

49:49

We got back in the van, cruised hundred

49:52

yards forward and parked under a street

49:54

light. At 205 the

49:57

man rose and began to walk down

49:59

the road toward the lights of a trailer

50:01

park and a sleepy strip of

50:03

body shops,

50:05

feed stores, and fast food

50:07

joints. I'll

50:09

never forget what

50:10

AMPELUS said in the passenger seat as we

50:13

sat there smoking,

50:14

watching.

50:16

finally putting the van and drive again to

50:18

fuck.

50:22

Do your worst maniac.

50:27

What did I know then? What did I know then

50:30

about project horsemen? they kept

50:32

their born in the dark as much as they could. That's just

50:35

sound policy. Emplaced

50:37

and I, we just followed orders.

50:40

For a long time, I didn't even know the man we were taking

50:42

out to Lothian every two weeks was anything more than

50:44

a code word shifter.

50:47

You have to understand it was a different era.

50:49

The world was on the brink. The

50:52

defense department needed the Neidron

50:54

bomb developed far far quicker than

50:56

anyone conceived. The

50:58

post access powers had suddenly realigned

51:01

and the threats were real. There was

51:03

panic through the whole country. Gevcon

51:05

had been at two for months. Extraordinary

51:09

measures were colorful.

51:16

I don't

51:16

like this. It's not going the way

51:18

it usually goes. It's just it's

51:20

not a problem. Bath.

51:24

Ankle

51:24

holsters itch me like crazy.

51:27

So do that to you?

51:30

You went four and told me yesterday. Yeah.

51:33

If he told you anything that's in the same violation

51:35

of protocol. He told me what

51:37

happened in the lab. Did that girl at that time

51:39

wasn't an accident? He said, shift or

51:41

step in. Jesus, stop talking.

51:43

I told you before. I don't wanna know.

51:52

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Where's

51:54

he walking away from town?

51:59

speed up a little. Getting

52:02

a bad vibe here.

52:10

So there

52:11

was this man.

52:13

He was not quite well

52:15

known in

52:16

scientific circles, more of a

52:18

rumor

52:19

beyond brilliant and

52:22

generational mind apparently. where

52:25

I and Atlas worked. He

52:27

was referred to only as doctor

52:30

h

52:31

the kind of genius that can change the way people

52:34

see things or change the world with their

52:36

inventions.

52:37

The problem was that in addition to

52:39

having IQ of two hundred twenty

52:41

and an understanding of physics and chemistry

52:44

beyond mortal comprehension. He

52:46

was Well,

52:48

I'm going to use the word psychopath

52:51

because I'm not sure what other word there

52:53

is. But

52:55

the nitron bomb That

52:57

was the thing he could provide, that

52:59

likely no one else on earth could,

53:02

something so ingenious, but so

53:04

intricate and complex. that

53:07

only he truly

53:08

knew how it could work.

53:11

So

53:11

for three years, the defense department

53:13

gave him the lab outside Denver and

53:16

as many assistance as he needed. They

53:18

all threatened to quit within their first

53:20

month, unless

53:21

they could work with doctor h only remotely.

53:24

No one was prepared for

53:26

this man's personality type. Secretive,

53:29

cryptic, profane, hostile,

53:32

aggressive. Numbers

53:34

and formulas were real to him, humans

53:36

were not.

53:38

Unlike most,

53:41

sociopaths or narcissists. He

53:43

didn't seem to have an act he put on to

53:45

hide his true intentions. His intentions

53:49

were all bad.

53:50

all the

53:51

time. Sometimes

53:53

he spat at people

53:55

who approached and then clawed at his own

53:57

arms if the staff was late

53:59

with his meals,

53:59

and

54:02

then there was what he did

54:04

to that girl.

54:06

I guess you have to understand what a

54:09

stressed stent brain is to

54:11

begin to see the defense

54:13

department's reasoning in placing a call

54:15

to the CIA two years after the bomb

54:18

research began. When

54:19

doctor h withdrew into a silent

54:22

shell communicating with

54:24

no one.

54:25

not lifting a finger to

54:27

further his vital research. I'd

54:31

never even heard of a stressed,

54:34

stent brain.

54:36

Soon enough, I'd be looking into the eyes of

54:38

a man who, like maybe one in

54:40

ten million people in the world, possessed

54:43

one.

54:50

Pull over here.

55:01

that a garbage can he's picking through?

55:05

No. It's a

55:10

I don't know what that is.

55:13

Never done anything like that before far?

55:21

He just took something out of that box. He's got

55:23

it in his hands. Did you see that? Yeah.

55:29

You know, we can't let them get too close to the

55:31

bridge. That cedar hinted over there. I know.

55:35

It's flowers walking too.

55:38

Okay. Leave the van here. Let's

55:40

get on our feet. Come on.

55:45

Before he went virtually catatonic

55:48

in April of that terrible year,

55:51

doctor h had begun to play little

55:53

games there in the lab in Denver.

55:57

Nat Wells told me how we drove out there

55:59

to deliver some files

55:59

and he tripped over a string

56:02

tied low to the floor and was instantly

56:04

smothered by box full of mutilated

56:07

rats, which had been rigged

56:09

to fall on top of him. here

56:13

was the creepiest thing

56:15

about doctor h. Once

56:17

in a while,

56:19

he would just

56:21

go dark. I mean,

56:22

he would stop talking, stop bathing,

56:25

sleep for hour upon hour.

56:27

withdraw deeper and deeper into

56:30

his own world. He could stay that way for days.

56:33

It

56:33

took something very specific

56:37

for

56:37

him to emerge into the land of

56:39

the conscience again.

56:41

Very

56:43

specific

56:45

Doctor h stabbed the girl

56:47

in the lab on the same day that the

56:49

president absolutely

56:50

pressed to the wall by North

56:52

Korea. gave the order

56:54

to present to the joint chiefs of staff

56:56

or whatever plans for the Niedron bomb were

56:58

already in existence. To

57:00

this day, I'm sure the president had

57:03

no idea what doctor h truly was,

57:06

or the extent to which his darkest

57:08

aspect were being coddled and

57:10

entertained. That

57:13

was when that old war hawk net wells

57:15

went into full panic mode.

57:18

Based on doctor h's sudden spectacular increase

57:21

in output right after the stabbing and a couple

57:23

of his other little games as

57:26

he supposedly called them, his

57:28

case came under the top secret review

57:30

of an eminent psychiatrist named Stooker.

57:33

Stooker studied h's behavioral patterns

57:36

over the years, beginning when

57:38

charges of malicious destruction were brought

57:40

against him in Oregon after

57:42

he shot a leopard at the zoo. Stuker

57:46

realized that after

57:49

outbursts of violence, h's

57:52

scientific proclivity and

57:55

productivity went through the

57:57

roof. Drugs

57:59

could calm the man and responsible parties

58:02

had prescribed them for him more than a decade.

58:05

But they inevitably

58:07

deadened his mind and his gifts.

58:09

Had

58:10

he not been covertly hired by the government, no

58:12

doubt he wouldn't have been able to. support himself

58:14

anywhere for very long despite all his

58:16

damn degrees. What

58:18

really made him different though was

58:20

that

58:22

His brain slowed to a crawl

58:25

if the medications denied him and outburst

58:27

for too long. It

58:29

wasn't enough you see for

58:32

doctor h to look forward to the day when his

58:34

nadron bomb would annihilate countless

58:37

people without. radiations after

58:39

effects.

58:41

He craved physical violence

58:43

and confrontation now.

58:48

seeing h

58:49

crotching in the corner of the lab,

58:52

unwilling to move or speak

58:54

even as he seemed so

58:56

close to delivering the

58:58

bomb's final plans, that

59:00

spurred wells into drastic action.

59:03

His rationale was that the fate

59:05

of the world might well hang in the balance.

59:09

So yeah, the

59:10

CIA did their best

59:13

to handle the situation.

59:16

But in the end, the

59:18

CIA called

59:20

us.

59:23

I think he went towards a hotel over there.

59:25

If you're still intending to hunt, that will make

59:27

sense. I don't think he got to the bridge.

59:29

There was just no time. Staws. rice.

59:32

Okay. You go down the alley. I'll

59:34

go this way. We'll meet up. If you don't find

59:37

him in fifteen minutes, I say we call in.

59:39

I mean, we lost them. It's guaranteed

59:41

to happen at some point. Damn

59:44

it.

59:46

Damn it. I told I told Avalini,

59:48

I told him

59:48

we needed more direction on this. A

59:51

stressed stent brain, doctor

59:54

Stoecker once explained to my superior,

59:57

is like a balloon. inflated beyond

59:59

its capacity,

59:59

but it can't simply snap and

1:00:02

release all its energy.

1:00:04

Doctor h's mind was that balloon.

1:00:06

It needed release.

1:00:07

It needed release in

1:00:09

the form

1:00:11

of destruction. Project

1:00:13

Horstmann couldn't reach its goal with

1:00:15

Adam, and so

1:00:17

something was arranged.

1:00:20

One dark day,

1:00:22

h apparently made some very interesting

1:00:25

demands. and while they were

1:00:27

initially shut down flat,

1:00:30

somehow they were eventually agreed

1:00:32

to. They say Stuttgart

1:00:34

was the one who recommended it I don't know.

1:00:38

The order I got one middle of the night

1:00:40

was this.

1:00:42

Take him out. There's

1:00:44

a place where he can roam. He can do

1:00:46

what he needs to do and then bring him back.

1:00:49

Watch from the distance, but don't interest seed.

1:00:52

Don't interact with him beyond the necessary. He'll

1:00:55

be drugged when you take him out there. He'll

1:00:57

be very calm when he comes back out.

1:01:00

if there are witnesses, intimidate

1:01:03

them, but don't hurt them. If

1:01:05

he's caught, wait

1:01:08

for our call.

1:01:11

At first, Atlas and I figured

1:01:14

h would just

1:01:15

burn something down, maybe.

1:01:18

We were wrong.

1:01:20

His hunts, which we

1:01:22

drove him to every three weeks or so, were

1:01:24

different than that. I'll never

1:01:27

figure out who decided on Lothian as the

1:01:29

place to take him. It

1:01:30

was real quiet at night there. That

1:01:32

was for sure. Nothing was open past

1:01:34

ten.

1:01:35

but like every poor

1:01:37

backwater town that consists of a single

1:01:39

intersection and little else, there

1:01:42

was always someone out on

1:01:44

the street some

1:01:46

drunk or wandering a soul,

1:01:49

someone who supposedly wouldn't

1:01:51

be missed if they were. dispatched.

1:01:55

h always did it with his

1:01:58

hands and

1:01:59

nobody

1:01:59

saw ever he

1:02:02

was sane enough to know not to be seen.

1:02:04

And my superior was

1:02:07

right. He

1:02:08

did come back calm.

1:02:10

real calm,

1:02:12

sleepy even. Until

1:02:15

the night he got away from us, he never showed

1:02:17

one sign that he wanted to do anything,

1:02:19

but commit a single,

1:02:21

hideous crime and then

1:02:23

submit to the van again, driven

1:02:25

back under cover of darkness to the

1:02:27

lab to work on the machine

1:02:30

that would murder on

1:02:32

an infinitely larger

1:02:34

scale.

1:02:37

Here's what I really

1:02:38

think though.

1:02:41

Doctor AAGES fades into

1:02:43

near California

1:02:45

weren't real. I've looked

1:02:48

into his eyes, you see? And

1:02:50

I think he was

1:02:53

always acting

1:02:54

all along.

1:02:57

That's how evil he truly

1:02:59

was. So now

1:03:01

the story sounds utterly over the top

1:03:03

in the same does it, but

1:03:05

it really happened. Dennis,

1:03:12

we have a problem. We love track shifter

1:03:14

where Marlotte's like both in. He obviously

1:03:16

had some kind of plan. We think he stashed

1:03:18

parakeas and now he's got them. Probably took

1:03:20

them from somebody killed last time or time before.

1:03:23

We're in the van now.

1:03:26

I know how close Cedar Hampton is.

1:03:28

Just get some guys over there to Century to

1:03:30

Bridge. We're still crawling low the end.

1:03:34

I

1:03:34

I don't want to hear it right now.

1:03:40

What do you mean? What what what piece of

1:03:42

cord? We'll

1:03:46

put them out in here checking the news on her

1:03:49

phones. Do you understand? Yes.

1:03:56

shifter,

1:03:57

doctor h, had gotten

1:03:59

some car keys

1:03:59

to an old Volvo wagon,

1:04:02

but Atlas was wrong about where he

1:04:04

got them. He did not take them

1:04:06

off the assistant manager of

1:04:08

Lothian's Duckpin alley

1:04:11

when he'd snapped that man's neck

1:04:13

behind a sewing supply store

1:04:15

at three in the morning, snapped

1:04:17

his neck and then beaten

1:04:20

him with something very, very

1:04:22

badly. Even after he was dead, I

1:04:25

read that in the paper. because

1:04:27

I sure South didn't launch. There

1:04:29

had been many

1:04:31

post mortem wounds.

1:04:34

The keys had

1:04:35

come from somewhere unknown. You

1:04:37

have to understand a lot of foreign governments

1:04:40

were interested in doctor h's services.

1:04:43

Governments or other

1:04:46

organizations like mine whose

1:04:48

names weren't set out loud

1:04:50

much. That's

1:04:51

what I think happened. they

1:04:54

maybe promised him something

1:04:56

more rewarding than an

1:04:58

occasional midnight kill.

1:05:02

maybe even something that I know Wells

1:05:04

considered briefly.

1:05:07

A room of doctor h's

1:05:09

own underground, unseen,

1:05:14

where people could be

1:05:16

brought.

1:05:18

something that could just be

1:05:21

hosed out when

1:05:23

the man was done.

1:05:26

Avelini sent many many

1:05:29

men out to Lothian the night doctor h got

1:05:31

away from us. There was no

1:05:33

way he could have gotten back over the bridge without

1:05:35

being intercepted. but he was

1:05:37

more clever than that. We

1:05:39

eventually found the car at four AM in the

1:05:41

parking lot of a Walgreens and Shady Grove,

1:05:44

eight miles north of the river. The

1:05:47

key is we're still in it. Doctor

1:05:49

H had left a note in the front seat

1:05:52

scrawled on the back of a pink bookmark

1:05:54

with cute kittens on it.

1:05:57

The

1:05:57

note said only this.

1:05:59

ha ha When

1:06:02

she saw those words, Atlas

1:06:05

spoke just one of her own into her

1:06:07

cell phone.

1:06:09

Breakdown.

1:06:17

Doctor h was gone. and

1:06:20

he has never resurfaced.

1:06:24

When I go over the timeline

1:06:26

of that night in my head, my

1:06:28

mind still boggles

1:06:31

and my hands tremble a little

1:06:33

bit over how he managed

1:06:36

to find the minutes. to

1:06:39

give himself one more little reward

1:06:41

before the vanishing forever.

1:06:46

Coolidge County police are still

1:06:48

searching for answers in the case of

1:06:50

the tragic motel fire that claims

1:06:53

seven lives in the earliest hours of

1:06:55

June sixth. The

1:06:56

rest nook in on Route

1:06:58

two just west of the line

1:07:01

was burned to the ground through a deliberate

1:07:03

act of arson that Coolidge County

1:07:05

Sheriff Martha Gates.

1:07:07

In she reiterated her plea

1:07:09

for witnesses

1:07:10

or those with more information about

1:07:12

the fire to come forward. The

1:07:14

state coroner's office has determined

1:07:17

that at least two of the victims endured

1:07:19

post mortem and redundant stab

1:07:22

wounds.

1:07:24

That was all nine years

1:07:27

ago.

1:07:28

God knows how many people a man like doctor

1:07:31

h can kill. in nine

1:07:33

years.

1:07:34

Atlas teaches calligraphy now.

1:07:37

I tell you all this because I think you need to

1:07:39

know how far certain people in power

1:07:41

are willing to go.

1:07:44

They called it protecting the country. What

1:07:47

would you call it? Anyway,

1:07:49

that's my story of why

1:07:51

you've never heard of a bomb fifty

1:07:54

times deadlier than any ever

1:07:56

invented. I

1:07:58

think if

1:07:59

doctor

1:07:59

h is still alive. He

1:08:02

has its final pieces still locked

1:08:04

away in his brain

1:08:06

playing his little

1:08:08

games. But it

1:08:10

wouldn't surprise me if someone at some point

1:08:12

just

1:08:13

took him out. And

1:08:16

if you don't believe the story because it

1:08:18

sounds so impossible. Well,

1:08:21

friend, I'm not

1:08:24

real sure what

1:08:26

world you think you live.

1:08:30

It's just

1:09:02

I'm on the foot from here. there's

1:09:05

no real path. This

1:09:08

might be a little bit rough. One flashlight

1:09:10

for you, one flashlight for me.

1:09:15

And

1:09:15

when we get there, it's it's like a half a mile.

1:09:17

We may have to pry a couple of

1:09:19

boards a way to get in, but it's it's shouldn't

1:09:22

be too bad.

1:09:26

Somebody told me about this place on time

1:09:28

ago and not around anymore.

1:09:30

I

1:09:32

mean, it's gonna look a little bit scary,

1:09:35

but it's it places

1:09:37

what you bring to it.

1:09:42

That's that's the place that you go where

1:09:45

all all things no matter how strange

1:09:48

or does connected. The

1:09:51

most unfathomable things

1:09:53

you've ever heard or read

1:09:55

or seen. if

1:09:57

you go in there and you just completely

1:09:59

open your mind, all these

1:10:02

things start to connect and they start to make sense

1:10:04

no matter how strange

1:10:07

or illogical the connections may

1:10:09

seem sitting here in this car.

1:10:13

You just have to let symmetrical

1:10:17

reality. Go.

1:10:21

And when that happens, Police

1:10:25

isn't just some spookhouse

1:10:27

in the woods. It's house.

1:10:37

Come on.

1:10:53

Alright. Children? Children?

1:10:58

For the love of God, if we don't

1:11:00

settle down, I will horse feed

1:11:03

you count chocolates and you sneeze

1:11:05

out many marshmallows. They're

1:11:08

not even real marshmallows, you know.

1:11:10

No branch of science has ever been

1:11:12

able to determine what that garbage even is.

1:11:16

Now, I'm gonna read you a Halloween story. And by

1:11:18

the time I'm done, your parents will be here,

1:11:20

and you'll be their nightmare again. Alright?

1:11:24

Here

1:11:24

we go.

1:11:26

Quincy and Jen Beth were

1:11:29

the happiest of couples. and

1:11:31

one day they decided to go for a Sunday

1:11:33

drive in the country. They had

1:11:35

lunch at a cozy restaurant, bought

1:11:37

apples at a farm stand,

1:11:39

and drank iced tea as Quincy

1:11:42

drove them to the sun shiny landscape.

1:11:45

On rural Route four eighty eight,

1:11:48

Jen Beth spotted a small hand

1:11:50

letter sign on the shoulder that seemed to

1:11:53

sum up the very essence of summertime

1:11:55

in the countryside.

1:11:57

It said simply in

1:11:58

purple paint,

1:12:00

blueberries,

1:12:02

four miles.

1:12:04

she pointed it out to Quincy, who nodded

1:12:06

and made a mental note of it.

1:12:09

Two miles later, Jen Beth

1:12:11

saw a second sign in the same handwrite

1:12:14

A single rusty nail held in a

1:12:16

fixed wooden pole. It

1:12:19

said, as expected,

1:12:21

blueberries, two

1:12:22

miles. You're

1:12:24

staying aware of this right, Jen

1:12:26

Beth said, touching Quincy's arm

1:12:29

slightly. Don't

1:12:30

worry, I'm on top of it, he

1:12:32

said. The

1:12:33

couple drove on. It truly

1:12:36

was a lovely afternoon. When

1:12:39

the third sign on the side of the

1:12:41

road appeared over a gentle crest, informing

1:12:44

them that the blueberries were only

1:12:46

one thousand feet on the right, Jen

1:12:48

Beth tugged at Quincy's shirt sleeve.

1:12:52

Honey,

1:12:53

she said,

1:12:54

honey,

1:12:55

come on. Let's

1:12:56

turn around.

1:12:59

I'm sure these are old signs he replied.

1:13:01

You can barely read the lettering and look at the

1:13:03

age on that wood.

1:13:05

But how do you know?

1:13:07

Jen Beth asked, will

1:13:09

be fine. He assured her.

1:13:12

But Jen Beth became squirmy. Just

1:13:15

before they embarked on a long blind

1:13:17

curve,

1:13:18

she begged him to stop the car.

1:13:21

She had a terrible feeling. The

1:13:23

blueberries, Quincy. She cried.

1:13:25

The blueberries. If

1:13:27

they are there, we'll just accelerate right

1:13:29

past them. He insisted.

1:13:32

and

1:13:32

then ahead

1:13:34

on the right, there

1:13:36

they were to

1:13:37

Jen Beth's horror. the

1:13:40

blueberries.

1:13:42

And unfortunately, they were

1:13:44

smarter than Quincy.

1:13:46

They had dragged a chain of spikes

1:13:48

across the road. and when Quincy

1:13:50

rolled over it, all four tires

1:13:52

blew out within seconds. The

1:13:54

car spun out and came to rest in the

1:13:56

middle of the road. and the big

1:13:59

blue blueberries

1:13:59

came for them.

1:14:01

Jen Beth and Quincyboth screamed as

1:14:04

the bulbous orb surrounded

1:14:06

car and began to beat on the hood,

1:14:08

the roof, the windshield, and

1:14:10

all the windows relentlessly trapping

1:14:13

them inside. We're

1:14:14

gonna die. Quincy cried

1:14:17

and impounded on the horn in a sad

1:14:19

act of futility.

1:14:21

The blueberries brought out the crowbars and

1:14:23

newly sharpened the axis quickly. The

1:14:26

window glass smashed in on

1:14:28

Genbeth and Quincy from all sides The

1:14:31

passenger side door opened and the

1:14:33

Jen Beth was dragged out onto the hot

1:14:35

pavement. Quincy tried to escape through

1:14:37

the hole in the shattered windshield but only

1:14:39

succeeded in cutting himself in two dozen

1:14:41

places. As sweat dripped

1:14:43

from their stems and slid down

1:14:46

their purplished skin. The

1:14:48

blueberries hold him out, and

1:14:50

then their real orgy of

1:14:52

violence began. The

1:14:54

blueberries murdered the couple in broad

1:14:57

daylight, painting rural Route

1:14:59

four eighty eight with an opulent rancid

1:15:02

stew of blood entered

1:15:04

into broken bones, leaving

1:15:06

the pulpy remains of Quincy and

1:15:08

Genbeth for the buzzards. Then

1:15:11

they escaped back into height leaving

1:15:13

tons of physical evidence of their

1:15:16

deed, but they were big

1:15:18

round juicy blueberries and

1:15:21

couldn't care less. even

1:15:23

the police agreed that there were some things so

1:15:25

scary. They could do whatever

1:15:27

they wanted.

1:15:29

And so terror continued

1:15:31

to rule the summer countryside because

1:15:35

life

1:15:36

is hard.

1:15:40

Well,

1:15:41

that was

1:15:43

odd. Anyway,

1:15:46

your folks are here. Happy Halloween. Line

1:15:48

up at the door. Hey, let's play a game.

1:15:50

The first kid to get into their parents' car and

1:15:52

go home without whining about it. doesn't

1:15:54

get their blood drunk by a vampire

1:15:57

cult that uses children's eyes as

1:15:59

postage.