0:22

When the monsters you faced in your homeland

0:24

come out of the shadows in the new city you're

0:26

living peacefully and what

0:29

can you do, but face them head on.

0:32

Come and meet money. Filippina

0:34

from Mumbai loan family living in Toronto,

0:37

right here on radio drama revival.

0:44

Hello, and welcome to radio

0:47

drama revival. The podcast that

0:49

showcases the diversity and vitality

0:51

of and audio fiction. I'm

0:53

your host, Elaine Alfredon on this

0:55

columns. Today, experienced

0:58

the first episodes of fiction podcasts

1:00

asked Hainé in our showcase. Next

1:02

week, return to join us for our interview

1:05

with creator Motsi Dable. Hainé

1:08

is a horror podcast rest centered around

1:10

Filipino monsters, folklore, and

1:12

culture. Inspired by the

1:15

likes of the Magnus archives, Nobu

1:17

wanted to center the mist magical,

1:19

byproduct, character. Instead

1:22

of sidelining them after the white characters

1:24

get what they need from them, and

1:27

ignore it, usually. The

1:30

podcast starts with Mady, voiced

1:32

by Dublin, talking to her mother

1:34

and telling her what's happening. Though

1:36

as the podcast evolves, more voices

1:38

and characters are brought in to flesh out

1:41

the environment and enrich the story.

1:43

Jaime, in fact, literally means,

1:45

hi mom in Takahua look. The relationship

1:48

between Modi and her mother is central

1:50

to the theme of the podcast, sometimes

1:53

in subtle ways. Like

1:55

all well written and considered framing

1:58

devices, this has a

2:00

purpose tied intrinsically to

2:02

the story's message. Now,

2:05

let's queue up episode one, Block.

2:08

Please be aware the following episode contains

2:11

injury, blood, vomit,

2:13

and descriptions of human and animal

2:15

remains.

2:55

You're listening to high

2:59

nine. By

3:01

Mazzidappu. Episode

3:06

one. Bullock.

3:33

Hi, Nye. I

3:35

know. It's it's been a while since you last talked.

3:38

I've been busy.

3:44

Yeah, that sounded way worse out

3:46

loud than than in my head. I

3:49

know it's bad excuse and I've

3:51

made

3:52

too many excuses not to call, but

3:55

it's not like you're in any state.

4:00

Anyway, I guess

4:02

I have to start from

4:05

the beginning.

4:07

Last week, I mean, I guess that's

4:09

the beginning. I

4:12

didn't call then because I

4:14

really didn't think it'd go

4:15

anywhere, but after what

4:18

happened, there's no denying that

4:20

you

4:22

you need to know what's going on.

4:24

As far as

4:27

I know what's going on anyway, it

4:30

started last Thursday. You

4:32

know, I've got a home office, perks of

4:34

working with your own editing suite, and

4:37

having a decent setup means I don't have

4:39

to go any type of meetings. My

4:41

apartment isn't exactly in the quietest

4:44

part of the city, but it's big, it's

4:46

comfortable, and the rent's

4:48

dirt cheap for the size, which Probably

4:52

should have been my first clue.

4:56

Well, after my last place,

4:58

it was such a crapshoot. I wasn't

5:00

gonna complain about the questionably cheap two

5:02

bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto where everything's

5:04

still new. It

5:06

made sense they weren't done building

5:08

the place after all. Renovating,

5:11

I guess, building over an

5:13

older place as far as I can tell.

5:15

The fact that we had to suffer through an entire

5:17

first month of them test staying of the fire alarm

5:20

that odd hours in the morning was

5:22

worth it if I could just live

5:24

in the finished floor for as long

5:26

as I wanted after that. I

5:30

love my new apartment and

5:32

nothing short of a fire

5:34

will get me to leave. But

5:44

but I don't think I can say the same

5:46

for Laura. Laura,

5:51

by the way, is

5:53

my downstairs neighbor. I

5:56

don't know if she's gonna

5:58

be my neighbor for much longer. But

6:01

I don't know her situation well enough to judge.

6:04

Like I said,

6:06

it happened last Thursday. I

6:09

was working from home then, like usual.

6:11

I don't know if it was luck

6:14

or providence that I had my

6:16

headphones off at the time.

6:18

I was having a lunch I made for

6:20

myself and a nice little note I ordered

6:22

in, and I

6:23

know what you're gonna say. It's not good

6:26

for me, too much sugar, but we've

6:28

been having this argument for ten years. And

6:30

if I haven't stopped already, I probably never

6:32

will. So Sorry.

6:35

I'll stop it. I

6:38

was having my lunch, and

6:41

my milky. When

6:45

I heard the

6:47

screams. I

6:52

thought maybe a first it was a TV show,

6:54

someone on another floor opening a video

6:56

and forgetting to turn volume down. But

6:59

then I realized It was

7:01

coming from the echoing

7:04

stairwell from across the hallway, a

7:07

long carpeted

7:09

hallway. The

7:11

kind you expect to see creepy twins at the end of

7:13

asking you to play with them as an elevator

7:15

opens up behind them to spill blood all over the

7:17

carpet? Since

7:20

the building's new, it fortunately doesn't

7:22

have the usual creepy blinking

7:24

light. Nobody ever bothered to fix. But

7:27

it does have its own more modern

7:29

creepiness. Motion

7:32

activated lighting. How

7:36

was the weird part though? The

7:39

motion activated lighting should have kept the

7:41

halls and stairwell dim until

7:44

someone moved through it. But

7:47

the stairwell remained pitch black, which

7:49

was impossible. It was

7:51

never perfectly dark. Safety

7:54

reasons, you know? But

7:57

then but I couldn't

8:00

see a thing in that black box behind the

8:02

door. All I could

8:04

do was hear

8:06

her, her

8:08

desperate gasping screams

8:11

and the sound of stumbling

8:13

footsteps. Then

8:20

She broke out of the darkness. Laura,

8:24

her light hair covered in blood, gashes

8:26

all over her arms, She

8:28

saw me looking out my door and took off of a

8:30

dead sprint toward me. And right behind

8:33

her, breaking from the darkness,

8:35

grabbed happening at the place she had just been

8:37

was a hulking figure.

8:39

No. Not

8:46

a figure. A

8:50

mass. A

8:53

massive stretched

8:55

gray skin. Human

8:57

skin, but from some long dead,

9:00

stretch so thin, you could see something

9:02

rotting and roiling beneath,

9:04

but somehow keeping it keeping

9:06

itself together a flimsy

9:09

flesh sack dragging

9:11

itself across the floor. I

9:15

caught Laura she all but crashed into me

9:17

dragging her into my room and locking my door.

9:19

A nice solid deadbolt that

9:21

I suspected wouldn't stand against

9:23

whatever this thing was, but

9:26

it gave me enough time to grab what I

9:28

could. Salt, spices, vinegar,

9:30

candles, and or whatever religious

9:32

iconography I could grab from my little

9:34

altar near the

9:35

door. Then

9:38

then

9:39

the knocking started. Well,

9:43

I say knocking, but

9:47

it'd be more accurate to say it was

9:50

throwing itself against the

9:52

door, more

9:55

it kept screaming. I don't think she could

9:57

stop if she wanted to. But

10:00

at some point, just

10:02

as I'd blocked out the

10:04

incessant false fire alarms. In

10:06

the first month of living here, I

10:10

was able to tune her out,

10:13

focusing only on the heavy

10:16

dull fighting against

10:18

my solid wood door. Then

10:22

after one sharper crack,

10:25

right where the deadbolt held

10:27

that started this both in silence and

10:31

stopped.

10:34

I thought maybe That

10:37

was the end of it. I

10:41

hoped. And

10:45

then it started

10:47

flowing under

10:49

the door. Whatever

10:51

it was had begun to melt,

10:57

not completely. You know

10:59

when this thing in film forms

11:01

over chicken fat that breaks

11:03

right apart when you poke into it,

11:05

but that's what it reminded me of, a

11:07

filmy slick

11:09

liquid going between the cracks and

11:11

reforming right in front of us. I

11:14

didn't wait for it to come back up before I started

11:16

throwing assault. I

11:18

didn't drop it, but it certainly had a reaction.

11:20

Where it touched the skin

11:22

sack start to 'Bulok', and

11:24

you could smell the scent of deep

11:27

rot Then

11:31

I threw the spices,

11:33

and the skin began

11:36

to smoke. It

11:38

roiled and twisted. It

11:40

seemed startled almost

11:42

like it didn't expect

11:44

someone to start fighting back as

11:46

especially not like this, not

11:49

with folk, magic,

11:51

and intent. It

11:54

really didn't like when I grasp the

11:56

angling angling around my neck and

11:58

started up alone whispering

12:01

my prayer prayers to

12:03

a belief that holds the minds and hearts

12:05

of billions, and prayers

12:07

to an older kinder

12:10

ear. That still cares

12:12

for its people. It

12:16

hadn't yet fully reformed, but it

12:18

melted again. This time seeming to disappear

12:21

into the floor, no

12:23

longer as solid as it was. The

12:26

smelter was so strong coin dissipated

12:29

and soon it

12:31

was gone, not

12:34

destroyed, gone.

12:41

Laura called nine eleven,

12:43

and I stayed with her until they arrived.

12:46

Made sure her wounds were as clean as they

12:48

could be, though she started

12:50

screaming again when I walked over to the sink to get

12:52

some water. Had to use some

12:54

bottled, and then I used my first aid training

12:56

to disinfect the wounds and wrap

12:58

her arms and gauze. She

13:00

didn't protest when I started a blowover

13:02

them, lit a candle,

13:05

melted the wax over a bowl of water,

13:07

looked over it with a critical eye to see if

13:09

she had anything

13:11

else wrong

13:14

with

13:14

her. If that

13:17

rot had said into her

13:19

skin. Police came

13:21

and checked the building for any wild animal

13:24

and shooter and they

13:26

alongside her compunctious concierge

13:29

guided me and Laura out of the building to

13:31

the paramedics. Laura begged

13:33

me not to leave her alone. And she seemed to

13:35

think I was the only reason the monster hadn't come

13:37

back, and they couldn't get her into the ambulance while

13:39

she was claiming to me. So I rode in

13:41

the back of the ambulance with her. They

13:44

said I did a good job with her arms,

13:46

but when we got to the hospital,

13:48

she needed more than a few stitches anyway.

13:51

She didn't let me go until she was sedated,

13:53

and I gave my statement in the waiting

13:55

room. I knew how this

13:57

worked, so I told them I saw her

13:59

running and bleeding. And got

14:01

her into my room, but I

14:03

hadn't seen who or what was

14:05

chasing her. And it had stopped trying to get

14:07

into my room after a while since I

14:09

locked the door. I wasn't

14:12

sure what they'd find in the CCTV.

14:15

I wasn't sure if

14:17

they'd see the pitch black stairwell

14:19

or the thing made of skin

14:22

and rot. What I

14:25

was sure of was that Laura

14:27

hadn't been infected

14:30

by it as far as I

14:32

could tell with my tauus, presuming

14:35

I could know the nature of it with old Filipino

14:38

candles crying anyway. Maybe I

14:41

just couldn't see what it was, and

14:44

maybe it was already

14:47

inside her, and nothing I did would

14:49

change that. When I

14:51

got a call the next day, telling me more

14:53

was safe, and seemed to

14:55

be healing nicely. I was

14:58

hopeful. I

15:09

was expecting some kind of follow-up from

15:11

the police, and that eventually came in

15:13

the form of two detectives asking

15:15

me to come down to the station to give them another

15:18

statement. The building

15:20

itself was an architectural marvel.

15:22

All sharp and nice metrical edges

15:24

without feeling cold or unwelcoming. It

15:27

felt old and new at the

15:29

same time in that Toronto way.

15:32

I'd never seen real actual police

15:34

detectives outside of TV. So

15:36

to see them not in uniform, but nonetheless

15:38

wearing light coats and dark colors over

15:40

office wear, made me realize

15:42

the image of a trench coat wearing

15:44

investigator was too far from the mark.

15:47

The older one introduced

15:49

himself as Donna. He didn't

15:51

look remotely friendly, watching

15:53

me with narrow to special eyes. But for all

15:55

of his resting anger face had me cowed. I

15:57

didn't feel anything truly hostile

16:00

coming off him. The opposite,

16:02

in fact, I thought maybe the wrinkles was seen as

16:05

brows and the frown that he wore

16:07

way down by what I guess were

16:09

years of practice made

16:12

him seem older than he was. The

16:15

younger one seemed his polar

16:17

opposite. He exuded

16:19

friendliness and with his bright eyes and

16:21

easy smile and exceptionally

16:24

good looks, he looked more like

16:26

a supermodel than a policeman. The

16:28

kind you'd see go viral in its winter

16:30

post. This

16:32

one introduced himself as Murphy.

16:34

You know, like that to

16:36

the the movie with the robo

16:38

cop. Yeah. That one. I gave

16:40

him the same spiel, knew she was

16:42

chased, didn't see what chased her, but

16:45

Donner looked at me like he knew

16:47

I was lying or

16:50

leaving something out. Murphy

16:53

just looks friendly. It looked

16:55

like they had the good cop, bad cop

16:57

routine down to a t, ten out of

16:59

ten execution. Daughter

17:02

asked me then if I knew what lying to the

17:04

police would get me. I

17:06

asked if there was any reason I'd

17:08

lie about protecting someone from an animal or a

17:10

maniac, especially when I spent most of my

17:12

night, accompanying her to a

17:14

hospital to make sure she was okay. The

17:17

two looked at each

17:19

other, had an entire silent conversation

17:21

in a matter of seconds with some

17:24

pointed facial expressions and it was Murphy

17:26

that spoke up next, levelling

17:28

me with a warm but firm

17:30

expression. Turns out,

17:33

they got exactly what happened

17:35

from Laura, which

17:38

either made her look crazy.

17:41

Or made me look like a liar.

17:43

I knew which one was

17:45

more likely, but I didn't like either

17:48

option. When I asked what the CCTV

17:50

showed, they said they just got in the building

17:52

to release the footage from the day of the

17:54

attack. I asked then a bit

17:57

pointedly if but

17:58

there

17:59

was anything else. I

18:01

was definitely pushing my luck beyond what

18:03

might have been considered wise if I

18:05

didn't think Donna's impressiveowl was

18:07

just for show.

18:08

He didn't ease up

18:11

on the look. And I was beginning

18:13

to wonder whether I read him

18:15

entirely wrong, when he gave me a phone

18:17

number to call if I

18:20

remembered anything else,

18:22

like he knew exactly what

18:24

I lied about. I mean,

18:28

anyone who looks at me will see a lot of

18:31

round edges. So,

18:33

Alice isn't exactly an ORI let

18:35

off. But it was still strange for

18:37

a detective to feel like he knew I was

18:40

lying. And let me go

18:42

anyway. And

18:44

for a few days, there was

18:47

nothing. Laura was moving back

18:49

until the investigation was done,

18:51

doing her recovery with her family down

18:53

in Oakville. So the first

18:55

time she called me was when she wanted

18:57

to introduce herself properly.

18:59

And she wanted to talk more about what

19:01

happened, but I held off. I

19:03

promised I talked to her when we were face to face and

19:05

she agreed. I'm

19:08

glad she's safe

19:10

and far away from

19:12

But whatever it was, the one to

19:14

get her. I tried going

19:17

down to a room a few times, but it was locked

19:19

up and under investigation so I didn't

19:21

get far. I did try to get

19:23

a feel of the hallway outside of the

19:25

door. I felt

19:27

her fear and the malice

19:29

and rage of the thing that chased her

19:31

three fight up, but I didn't get

19:33

much more than I already knew.

19:36

There was something

19:39

else. Something

19:41

I couldn't quite get the shape of after

19:44

my half baked attempts of figuring out what was going

19:46

on and doing some extensive

19:48

cleansing and projects rituals over my

19:50

front door, I had to get back

19:52

to work. Deadlines,

19:56

you know? For

19:58

a while, I lost myself in the rhythm

20:00

of editing until a

20:01

loud wrapping on my door penetrated

20:04

the thick layer of foam over my

20:06

ears. I was

20:08

wary. I remember the

20:11

last time somebody knocked on my door,

20:14

but this time I didn't sense any

20:16

wrongness. And after I

20:18

look through the peephole, I welcomed

20:20

detective's daughter and Murphy into my home.

20:21

Murphy complemented my little space

20:24

like his mother probably taught him, and

20:26

Donna looked at my altar with a critical

20:28

eye. As well as little paper talisman's, I

20:30

stepped to the wood. In voking the names of old

20:32

gods with little cups of rice on either

20:34

side of the door. As they both

20:36

accepted

20:36

when I offered them drinks,

20:38

a sugary black coffee for Donner and

20:41

unsweetened, but drowned in cream

20:43

for

20:43

Murphy. Bonner asked me

20:46

if I could read minds on

20:48

top of killing monsters. And

20:52

I told

20:53

him the truth.

20:55

The only thing I

20:57

was better at than guessing how people took their coffee

20:59

was making instant taste halfway decent.

21:03

They told me they

21:05

look over the footage and found

21:08

interference. A video

21:11

cutting off right when Laura made it to

21:13

my floor. Daughter told me this wasn't

21:15

surprising that it was like this with

21:17

the other

21:19

ones. He

21:22

then asked me if I'd tell

21:24

him the truth this time, off the

21:27

record. He had

21:29

yet to take a single sip of his coffee, I

21:31

asked him then,

21:35

how could I tell you about

21:37

a monster that melted into the

21:39

floor when I prayed and asked

21:41

you not think I was crazy.

21:46

Donna looked

21:46

me in the eye what felt like

21:48

ours. Our eyes were

21:51

the same color, but couldn't

21:53

have looked more different.

21:56

People always told me mine

21:58

were soft, warm even.

22:03

His eyes seem

22:06

to deep and dark

22:08

for light to penetrate. So that

22:10

light reflected in a way that made

22:13

them flash the sharpest eyes

22:15

I'd ever seen,

22:16

like they saw as much as I did,

22:20

even without the generation spent

22:22

preserving the sight in our bloodline.

22:27

Eventually, he took a sip of the cooling

22:29

brew and complemented me on getting it

22:31

perfect. Turns out, the

22:33

only reason I didn't sound the fool

22:36

was because I was talking to the

22:38

two detectives who had dealt with cases

22:40

similar to this one. Ones

22:42

where everyone involved turned

22:45

up dead. Laura was their

22:47

first survivor, and I

22:49

was the reason why.

22:55

They grilled me on what I saw, the methods

22:57

I used, and I tried to answer them as best

22:59

as I could, but a lot of what I did

23:01

had been guest work based on past experience that I couldn't

23:03

be sure applied here. I

23:06

told him in as much detail as I could manage

23:09

without gagging, what the thing looked

23:11

like. The skin

23:13

sack, the smell

23:15

of it, as

23:17

the more I said, the more

23:20

skeptical they looked. But when I

23:22

emphasized, this was the exact reason I didn't wanna tell

23:24

them what I saw, they

23:26

were hunted. I

23:28

told him about my trips down to Laura's

23:30

room to check on whether something there might have

23:32

triggered the attack. And

23:34

Murphy asked if I wanted to assist

23:36

in a long running police investigation. Donna

23:40

asked if I was sure that the thing going

23:42

after Laura didn't

23:44

now have my scent. I

23:47

told him about the cleansing rituals.

23:49

I told him I was

23:52

protected. When

23:54

he asked me by what, I told

23:57

him love and good vibes, which

23:59

he

23:59

very clearly didn't believe, but he

24:01

didn't ask again. He

24:03

muttered something, I think, sounded

24:06

like Jamaican

24:09

Patois, I think the word was. Don't

24:11

know what he meant, but it didn't exactly

24:13

sound open and accepting of

24:15

my clearly honest answer.

24:18

And it was honest.

24:22

And maybe not

24:24

extensive or detailed, but

24:26

it was honest. The

24:29

van locked Laura's room, and I

24:31

could feel the

24:33

wrongness in the air, like the scent of

24:35

nearby garbage. A

24:37

rod that wasn't cloying, but

24:39

noticeable. They

24:41

spread out to check the area, and

24:43

I began to feel my way

24:46

around, eyes closed

24:48

trying to get a sense of the space

24:50

and what didn't belong in

24:52

it. I

24:52

almost bumped into the table when I

24:55

felt

24:55

it. I touched

24:58

something. Small

25:00

and round on the table.

25:03

And I immediately

25:05

had to run to the nearest synced

25:07

vomit. He know I hate it. There was a

25:09

feeling of it in my throat. I've

25:11

gone through some minor surgeries fully awake and

25:13

it's never been as bad as the feeling of ramen.

25:16

Luckily, nothing had come up, but

25:18

spit off to the side of the square

25:20

sink. And I could barely hear Donna shouting at

25:22

me not to contaminate the crime

25:24

scene. And Murphy asking if I was okay

25:26

over the pulsing of my ears

25:29

and I saw

25:30

it. Right

25:32

in the drain,

25:33

a piece

25:34

of dead gray skin

25:37

stuck to

25:37

the black mouth of the drain pipe.

25:40

Daughter wasted

25:40

no time getting gloves on and taking a

25:42

sample while Murphy tried to keep me

25:45

standing. Daughter presented the evidence to be

25:47

in a plastic bag confirming that it was

25:49

like the thing I seen.

25:50

There was worries that the thing had gone to

25:52

the pipes and was long gone by now, but

25:55

that didn't feel

25:57

bright. I went

26:00

back to the table and found what looked to be a

26:02

sewing project, a lovely

26:05

vintage looking dress that Laura

26:07

had been working on halfway

26:09

done sewing these beautiful

26:11

carved buttons into the fabric.

26:15

I didn't have to touch him again to know they

26:17

were wrong. I

26:18

asked to do the bag for evidence

26:20

and with a look on his face, I expect

26:23

my daughter to question it, but between

26:25

the two he who was

26:27

quicker to act. I

26:30

don't know imagine him pausing when he picked

26:32

a couple up with gloved hands,

26:35

like,

26:35

maybe he

26:36

could feel what I felt.

26:40

But that's unlikely. I

26:44

think a Murphy looked like

26:46

you want to ask, but seems to think better

26:48

of it. On the subject

26:50

of the things that had apparently come

26:52

up through the pipes. I

26:54

I had a

26:55

theory, but I couldn't go it

26:57

alone, which is how I ended up between

27:00

two armed men taking point

27:02

and watching my back as we made our way

27:04

down to the unfinished basement level of

27:06

my building. I

27:10

could smell

27:14

it now stronger

27:17

than ever.

27:17

And from the look on Donner's face, as

27:19

he turned to me, he

27:21

could too. Where

27:24

fee asked if this was where all the

27:26

garbage in the building was going. So

27:29

three for three, the rotting thing

27:31

was here. A presence strong enough that I

27:33

wasn't the only one to feel it.

27:35

Well, smell it

27:38

anymore. The smell got stronger

27:40

as he got closer. If

27:42

we'd ask building security, they'd have told

27:44

us construction was delayed in this section

27:46

since they were waiting for someone from sanitation

27:48

to find the source of the aqua

27:50

smell, but we didn't

27:52

we didn't really talk to anyone beyond

27:54

the one guy who let us through with a

27:57

flash badge When we descended one of the few areas in the

27:58

building, residents were under no

28:01

circumstances enter. The

28:04

smell and the sick feeling I got my stomach felt like

28:06

my ruble against my throat

28:07

again was

28:09

strongest by this one stretch

28:11

of concrete where

28:12

the only break in the gray was at the end

28:14

of one drain pipe that was to

28:17

nobody in our

28:18

surprise, dripping

28:22

this thick, dark slick

28:24

looking liquid from which the

28:26

smell seemed to be emanating

28:27

It was

28:29

here, but it wasn't

28:32

showing itself.

28:33

And if

28:34

we had any chance stopping it now, we

28:36

had to

28:37

force it out. I

28:38

asked for the bags

28:40

of evidence and I

28:43

spilled the buttons out

28:45

into little puddle had begun to form.

28:47

And it happened

28:50

all at once. A

28:53

human scream and an animal

28:55

snarl. And the sound of

28:57

melting, bubbling, blasting

28:59

outward, something else I couldn't

29:01

name, but it's sounded

29:04

horrifyingly familiar. I

29:07

saw the gray face of a dead

29:09

man screaming right in front mine.

29:11

His teeth are made of animal bones,

29:13

the ribs, and skulls of rodents,

29:15

the fangs of a cat opening

29:17

to bite my face

29:18

off, had to honor not back by my collar with

29:21

a force of it enough to throw me down to the

29:23

side. Got a few bruises,

29:24

ended up toppling over a

29:27

few their cinderblocks and lumber, but it

29:30

was better than

29:30

the alternative. I

29:32

think he tried to shoot his gun, but

29:35

the gray rotting thing wrapped

29:37

around it and the gunshot was lost in the thick

29:39

of

29:39

it, like shooting bullets into the

29:41

ballistic jowl. I

29:42

heard two

29:43

more loud shots echo in

29:45

enormous basement

29:46

level and saw that one of them

29:49

caught the thing in his face, shattering

29:51

the cat skull and causing the rotting thing to

29:53

turn his attention to

29:54

Murphy. Eunwad had Donna's arm wrapped in its

29:57

melting

29:57

grip. That's when I

29:59

realized his attention wasn't

30:03

on me.

30:04

Grabbing one of the

30:04

heavy cinder blocks and dragging myself

30:07

closer to the fray, I

30:09

found what I was looking for

30:11

and raised the block right

30:13

over my head.

30:14

And I

30:16

slammed it down onto one of the thyroid

30:19

buttons, shattering the bone

30:21

white pattern and warping the metal base. And

30:22

like a garbage

30:23

bag cut through the knife, as the

30:25

rotting thing

30:26

seemed to lose its shape,

30:28

a whole

30:29

forming in the thin translucent

30:31

gray of its skin, and

30:33

spilling would look to be the half gone remains

30:35

of animals, rats, raccoons,

30:39

and even dogs and cats. Still,

30:43

it retained much of its form as it

30:45

lunged toward me. Its

30:46

sharp bone claw into my back as I

30:49

crushed the second and third button much the

30:51

same

30:51

way. It

30:52

hurt so very badly, sharp

30:55

and debilitating, but there were only a

30:57

few more to go and I knew I had

30:59

to destroy them before the rotting thing did this

31:01

in when another couple of loud

31:03

shops filled the basement

31:05

and I

31:06

saw two more buttons shattered from

31:09

the impact of well aimed bullets.

31:12

Connor, I learned later,

31:14

with his sharp eyes and steady hand,

31:17

who was of the best shots in the force.

31:19

The rotting

31:21

thing was spilling out in all directions

31:24

now, covering us in the

31:26

remains of things long and recently

31:27

dead. And before I

31:30

could break the last button, which out

31:32

like the bones of an all two human

31:35

hand caught my wrist,

31:37

and I looked into the empty

31:39

eyes of a dead man,

31:42

a jaw a long since then

31:44

hinged from the

31:44

skull. I

31:46

felt its

31:47

rage as

31:48

it tried to stop me from letting

31:51

you rest. Then,

31:54

Donna and Murphy pulled it back.

31:56

The last vestiges of the rotting

31:58

thing that could still hold itself together,

32:01

the center of the

32:02

rot. Finally,

32:05

I could raise the

32:08

cinderblock with the last of my strength

32:10

and I threw it down,

32:13

shattering glass the last and

32:17

slowly, but surely.

32:20

All the remains we saw scattered

32:22

around us, melted

32:25

away. And

32:29

I could finally breathe again.

32:39

But from what I understand, the story

32:41

was that they found a rabbit coyote

32:43

and had to put it down. Which

32:45

is apparently a thing in Toronto, at

32:48

least. That's what they told building

32:50

management. After the routing

32:52

thing melted away, the three of us

32:55

found the narrow little space between the

32:57

building and its seven story neighbor,

32:59

and the hole where

33:02

animals seemed to have fallen into. Suffocating

33:04

half underground. And they

33:06

got permits to dig and

33:08

and they found a bit of

33:10

a horror show. With a

33:12

bunch of TransUnion wildlife piled on top of what they

33:15

eventually discovered was

33:18

unidentified human corpse.

33:21

Half baked into the cement of the old

33:23

building, ours have been built

33:25

over. I was made to sign

33:27

a statement by building management not to

33:29

tell us all about what I knew And

33:31

now I don't have

33:33

to pay

33:35

utilities ever.

33:38

So something good came out of

33:40

this, and it looks like I'm gonna be sticking around

33:42

here for a lot longer now.

33:45

I didn't get to see the pig,

33:47

though Donna Murphy were kind enough to get

33:49

me some gruesome pictures later on.

33:52

They brought me to the hospitals to have my

33:54

scratches looked at, and Connor

33:57

was apologetic about putting

34:00

me in danger and giving me the

34:02

few bruises, blue me on my thighs and

34:04

money threw me. It was

34:06

silly from the worry. He he's gonna save

34:08

my life. Well, maybe

34:10

I could have survived having my face ripped

34:12

off by a cats call, but

34:14

I'd rather not think about it.

34:16

Murphy offered to accompany me home,

34:19

and I accepted

34:24

made in coffee, and we had

34:26

a nice afternoon talking.

34:29

A weirdly normal

34:32

afternoon until I remember to

34:34

ask him about the buttons and he told

34:36

me, Donna took care of

34:38

that evidence.

34:40

I asked them if they did this often of

34:43

fight monsters. I mean,

34:46

Murphy was

34:50

uncharacteristically grim face when he

34:52

answered?

34:53

We've only ever found

34:56

the remains. And that's

35:04

what happened. I011

35:08

sec.

35:12

Hello? Donner? Yeah. No.

35:13

I I'm just oh,

35:15

I've I've got work,

35:18

but Saturday?

35:22

Yes. I mhmm. Oh,

35:24

wait. One sec. One sec.

35:28

King Chinatown.

35:30

Okay. Yes. Of course. You're you're

35:34

you're welcome. That

35:38

was honor. He said he found the one who sold lower

35:41

of those buttons. I

35:43

have a theory, Nanae. They

35:46

didn't feel right. I

35:48

know they didn't. I whatever

35:51

it was that was

35:53

under this building, whoever it

35:56

was that was left there for

35:58

so long, it there's

36:00

a reason it didn't wake up

36:02

until now.

36:05

Donna asked

36:06

me to help, said he

36:09

needed me to feel the

36:10

place out in case I

36:12

caught something you couldn't see beneath the

36:15

surface. I

36:17

said yes. I know this

36:19

has nothing to do with me and

36:21

I know you wanted me here,

36:24

but with everything that's happened

36:26

and with all the questions we still

36:30

haven't answered, have

36:33

a feeling this is just the beginning.

36:39

You're listening

36:44

to high

36:48

nine. By

36:54

Motsidapul.

37:06

Hi, everyone. This is Rachelle,

37:08

co creator and co producer of

37:10

Hainai. Hainai is a podcast produced

37:14

by Monsey Apple and Me and licensed under

37:16

a Creative Commons attribution non commercial share a like four point o

37:20

international license. Today's

37:22

episode was written and directed by Mazzi Dappun, who also

37:24

plays the role of marrying the Duane. To

37:28

subscribe, visit us at podbean

37:30

dot com slash pinaypod.

37:32

And for more news and updates, follow

37:34

us on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

37:36

at pinaypod. And our official

37:38

blog at tumbler dot com slash pinaypod.

37:41

You can also support the production

37:43

of this podcast by subscribing to our

37:45

coffee gold at coffee dot com slash

37:47

hainai Pod. That's k o dash f

37:49

i dot com slash hainai pod or

37:52

you can subscribe to our Patreon at

37:54

patreon dot com slash

37:56

hainai pod. We've also launched our redbubble store for official

37:58

Hainai 'Bulok', and you can check this

38:00

out at redbubble dot com slash

38:02

peoplehainai Pod.

38:06

Eighty percent of our profit earned during the

38:08

month of November will be donated to

38:10

victims of typhoons Ghani and VAMKO

38:12

in

38:13

the

38:14

Philippines. Episodes will be released every other week on Saturdays, nine

38:16

PM, Philippine time or Saturdays, eight

38:18

AM, Eastern Standard

38:20

Time. We're really grateful for

38:22

all your support, and thanks for listening.

38:25

If you liked

38:28

what you heard, you can support Hainé.

38:31

At patreon dot com slash

38:33

hainay pod. Come back next week

38:35

to listen to us talk

38:37

to Mazzi Dable. Radio

38:40

drama revival runs on literal fumes

38:42

and screaming into the void. If you'd

38:44

like to help keep us afloat and

38:46

featuring new, diverse, unique fiction podcasts and

38:48

their creators. You can support us on

38:51

Patreon at patreon dot com

38:53

slash radio drama

38:54

revival. And now we bring you our moment of

38:58

hand. Do you

39:00

ever feel

39:02

like a plastic bag drifting through

39:04

the wind, waiting to start again.

39:07

No. Me

39:10

neither.

39:11

That means it's time for the

39:14

credits. This episode was

39:16

recorded in the unseated territory of the

39:18

Calabrio people. The Klotskani

39:20

Indian tribe, the Kallutz Indian

39:22

tribe, and the Atifaladi

39:24

tribe. Colonizers name this

39:26

place beaver ten Oregon. Artheme

39:28

Music is a reunion of the SpaceX

39:30

by the band Kylo Kos.

39:32

You can find their music

39:35

on free music archive. Our audio

39:38

producer is Will Williams.

39:40

Our marketing manager and line producer

39:42

is Anne Baird. Our

39:44

researcher is Diane Tapia. Our admissions editor

39:46

is Roshika Rao. Our

39:48

associate marketing manager is Jillian Shreger.

39:52

Our transcriptionist is

39:54

Katie yeoman's. Our audio consultant

39:56

is Eli Hamada Maglevine.

39:59

Our associate producer

40:01

is Sean Howard. Our executive producers are Fred Green Ouch

40:03

and David Renstrom. Our mascot is

40:06

ticker tape, the goat.

40:09

I'm your host, in an afternoon

40:11

on this call. This has been radio drama

40:14

revival. All

40:16

storytellers welcome.