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True Horror Stories: The Scariest Encounters You Won’t Believe · True Horror Stories

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: One of my favorite memories as a kid happened during
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: a particular sleepover. My friends came over to spend the weekend,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: and I always remembered how we ordered a Papa John's
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: pizza every night during that weekend. That precious memory stuck
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: with me as I grew older, and what happened that
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: night eventually became a habit, as I always order a
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Papa John's pizza every night during the weekend. Most of
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the time, I'd invite some of my friends over, and
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: it didn't take long before they coined the term Papa
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: John's Weekends, and it had becomes something we always looked
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: forward to after a long week of work, and we
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: always had a good time whenever we did it. Now,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: a strange thing recently happened during one of our fun weekends.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I had some friends over and as usual, we ordered
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: a couple of pizzas from Papa John's. When the pizzas arrived,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: I answered the door to take our order, and that's
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: when I noticed something strange. The delivery guy, whose name
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: was Jace, that a very disturbing look in his eyes.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: It looked like he was angry about something, and for
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: some reason, all that anger was targeted at me as
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: he intensely stared at me with a malicious look on
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: his face. My friends who were there noticed this strange
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: behavior and asked me if I knew him or the
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: reason for his rude demeanor, but I was just as
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: confused as I told him I had never met that
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: man before in my life. We decided to brush it
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: off that night as we didn't want anything to spoil
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the mood, but the same thing happened the next night
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: when we ordered our usual pizza, as the strange delivery
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: man came back with the same attitude that he had
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: had the night before. It eventually became a reoccurring problem
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: for me every time I ordered a pizza, as it
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: was always the same angry delivery guy who delivered my order.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Things got worse from there as I noticed him following
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: me around during the week and hanging around my house.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: My friends also noticed this and they told me to
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: call the cops, but I decided not to as I
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: didn't want things to escalate any further. One Friday night,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: at around twelve o two am, someone started to incessantly
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: bring my doorbell. Shocked, I wondered who could be visiting
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: me at this hour, so I went to the door
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: to check. As I looked through the peephole, my heart
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: dropped to my stomach as standing there with bulging red
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: eyes was that strange delivery man. He rang the doorbell
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: for a while, and when I didn't answer, I heard
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: him making his way to the back of my house. Terrified,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: I wondered what he was going to do now, and
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: that's when I realized my bedroom window was still open.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: I rushed to close it, but by the time I
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: got there, I was too late. As I saw him
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: standing in my bedroom, scared, I screamed, what do you
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: want from me, you psycho? He then calmly looked at
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: me and said, but I just want to talk. I
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: looked around for my phone to call the cops, and
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: I realized that I left it on the counter. He
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: made an attempt to reach for it, but he was
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: faster than me as he grabbed the phone, saying, please
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: just hear me out before you call the cops. I
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: knew I had no choice now, so I listened as
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: he said. My brother Matthew went missing a couple of
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: months ago. He was a pizza delivery guy like me,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: and we both worked at Papa John's. The cops still
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: have no leads to his whereabouts, so I decided to
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: check out the locations of the last deliveries he made
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: that night. As he spoke, I realized he was telling
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: the truth, as the cops had come over a few
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: months back to ask me if I knew anything about
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the disappearance. So I told him I heard about that,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: but as I told the police officers that day, I
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: don't know anything that might have happened to him after
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: he delivered the pizza I ordered that night. Jace, who
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: now had tears in his eyes, then said, he isn't
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: the first one of our employees to go missing, and
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: I can't help thinking that it's my fault because I
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: got him this job. That's why I felt I needed
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: to do something, which is why I've been following you
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: around to see if you had anything to do with it.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: I was still scared, but I started to sympathize with
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: the strange man, so I said, look, man, I understand
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: i'd probably do something crazy too if I lost a
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: family member, but that's what the cops are for. You
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: can't be breaking into homes and taking matters into your
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: own hands when I was done talking. Jace then said,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but I just had to check and make sure.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Either way, you seem like a nice person, so I
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: apologize for all the inconvenience and trauma I've caused. I'm
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: going to leave now, so please don't call the cops.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: I promised him I wouldn't and offered him any help
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: in finding his brother. But as he stood up to leave,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: I found myself staring at his neck. I really didn't
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: want to, but it had been a while and I
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: couldn't help myself, so I picked up my pocket knife
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: and stabbed him in the neck. As he fell to
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: the floor bleeding, I found myself getting excited at the
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: sight of his blood. The mixed look of terror and
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: confusion in his eyes made me feel a little bit sad,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: so I decided to give him an explanation. I'm really sorry, dude,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: but I had to. You see, Jace, from a very
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: young age, I realized I had something called hematalagnia. It's
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: basically a blood fetish, as I always find myself getting
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: excited and aroused by the side of blood. Jace was
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: struggling now as he tried to stop the blood that
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: was gushing from his neck, so I continued with When
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: I was ten, I cut my dog open with a
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: kitchen knife because I wanted to see his insides, and
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: I told my family that he'd run away. When I
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: was twelve, I pushed a girl off the top of
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: a high jungle gem. The impact crushed her skull, and
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: I can never forget the amazing feeling I got from
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: seeing her blood spill out. As I got older, I
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: found myself wanting more, so I picked my victims off
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: in parks or in the street at night. I mostly
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: killed homeless men and women in addition to late night walkers.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: But doing that was a bit too risky, so I
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: decided to work smarter and around last year Jays, I
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: had an amazing epiphany when I ordered a Papa John's
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: pizza as I realized that the men and women who
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: worked in delivery were the perfect prey to satisfy my urges.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, these are people whose jobs take them all
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: over the city, so accurately tracking down their last locations
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: prove difficult even for the cops. It's not like I
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: had anything against the delivery people at Papa John's Pizza.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Matter of fact, I love your pizzas. But sometimes, Jays,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the urge is so strong and I just can't help myself,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: you understand. Right. As I looked towards Jace's motionless body,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: I realized that I'd been talking to a corpse. He
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: was dead now, but there was still fun to be had.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: As I repeatedly stabbed his body with my knife, and
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: similar to a fun and YadA, I shrilled an excitement
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: every time his blood spilled out. When I had my
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: fill of fun, I had decided it was time to
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: get to work. I moved his bloody corpse first before
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: I cleaned out my room with bleach. I then took
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: off his clothes before taking his corpse to the basement.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: After putting on some protective gear, I put his body
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: into one of the four barrels of sulphuric acid that
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: I had, and just like his brother, I knew there'd
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: be no trace of him in a couple of days.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: When I was done, I put on the Papa John's
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: restaurant uniform that I had gotten from one of my victims,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: and I went outside to Jase's car. I did this
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: in case any eye witnesses had seen him break into
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: my house. And then drove the car deep into the
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: nearby four and made sure to use gloves when touching
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: the steering wheel so that there wouldn't be any prints
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: in the car. There were no cameras in my neighborhood,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: so when the cops come over to ask their routine questions,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: it is only my words they'll believe. Doing this was
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: hungry work. So when I got back home, I decided
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: to order another Papa John's pizza. The delivery girl's name
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: was Abby, and as I paid for the pizza, I
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: smiled because I really couldn't wait to see what her
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: insides looked like.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: My name is Elsa and more than a story, this
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: is a warning, a warning to all the people who
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: are too trusting or you have to deal with other people.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Always remember that you can never get to know someone completely.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: I learned this lesson the hard way, and yet I
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: consider myself a lucky girl, no matter how traumatized I was.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: The fact that I survived that night and can tell
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: this story is miraculous. It all started when I turned sixteen.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: I wanted to earn money when I was young, so
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: I started babysitting after school. All the neighbors trusted me.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: I was always the child who behaved well, listened to
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: my parents, and never throw a tantrum. Little by little,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: all my neighbors begin to trust me to take care
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: of their children. Every time I finished the night, neighbors
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: would tell other neighbors how well I worked, and soon
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: the whole neighborhood was calling me on the phone. Everyone
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: had children except my neighbor across the street, the Adams family.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: You could say they were the best neighbors in the neighborhood.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: They had the best house, they were the wealthiest, and
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: they were very polite. Everyone was in love with them,
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: and that family had a special affection for me. When
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: I was a child, they always gave me toys, candy,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: and even clothes. They treated me as if I was
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: the daughter they never had. I didn't understand why, but
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: I was grateful because I knew they were good people.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Time went by, and when I turned eighteen, I decided
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: to go to the city to study. So I needed money.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: I started to work more and more, but I felt
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: that my little job was not enough and my parents
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: did not have enough money to help me. I was desperate,
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: but luckily, the solution came knocking on my door. Mister
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: and missus Adams, what brings you here?
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: Hi Yosa. We heard about your little financial problem then
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: wanted to help you.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Oh no, no, no, I'm grateful, but I couldn't ask
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: you for this. It's too much. I could never pay
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: it back. Honey, there's no need. We've known you all
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: our lives.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Besides, we won't be given. You don't have to work
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: for the money.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: And what do you need me to do?
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Our niece is coming from the city and we need
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: you to take care of her this Saturday. You were
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: our first and only choice, and we won't hear no
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: for an answer.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: You know I charge a lot less right, consider it
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: a tip for being such a good girl all these years.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: I thanked them endlessly and they left. Finally, my luck
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: was changing. The day came. I finally met the girl,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: and as I expected, I liked her very much, although
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: I must admit she was a little strange. Her skin
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: was much whiter than usual. It was as if she
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: didn't go out too often. Her eyes were a deep,
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: strange black color. But what caught my attention the most
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: was her smile. The girl had a smile from ear
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: to ear that gave me chills. At first, I thought
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: she was just trying to be cute, but as time
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: went on, her gaze became more penetrating and her smile
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: more terrifying, and worst of all, she kept looking at me.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: The Atoms laughed and left me alone with the girl,
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: who very politely asked me to make her lunch. She
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: didn't look at me as much, but I still felt
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: some creepy vibes coming from her. When the food was done,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: the girl concentrated on eating. She looked hungry, as if
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: she hadn't eaten in years. Suddenly she stopped and stared
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: at me, speaking to me, miss Elsa, could you tell
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: the man behind me to stop staring at me while
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: I eat? Perplexed and terrified, I looked behind her, and
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: in darkness, I saw a silhouette. I reached for my
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: phone to call the police, but I had forgotten it
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: at home. The Atoms's phone was next to the silhouette,
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: and from the kitchen there was no way out. We
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: were at the mercy of this person. I grabbed a knife,
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: ready to investigate. Stay here while I go and see
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: what's going on. The girl just ignored me and continued eating.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: I approached the shadow slowly. The silhouette didn't make the
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: slightest movement, but I knew it could jump at me
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: at any moment. I moved a little closer to the
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: switch and nervously turned it on. There was no one there.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: What what it must have been the reflection of there
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: must have been a sudden scare. The little girl jumped
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: out of nowhere at her leg, sticking the fork in it. Ah, Amy,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: what the hell are you doing? With one push, I
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: pushed her off my leg and she ran to hide
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: among the dining room furniture. She didn't hide out of fear.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Her look said she was about to attack me again.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: As best I could, I ran towards the door to
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: leave the house, but two huge silhouettes stopped me. They
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: were the Adams family, who were somehow in the house,
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: preventing me from leaving.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Elsa, but you can't leave.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: What why are you doing this to me? What do
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: you want? The man quickly grabbed me, while the wife
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: kept talking to me. Meanwhile, the little girl quickly approached
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: me with a knife in her hand and a huge
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: smile on her face. You see, honey, we have nothing
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: personal against you. But in our family we always have
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: a rite of passage.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: The youngest member of the family is not in atoms
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: until they kill a person. We just give them the
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: right environment.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: We are taking care of you since you were a
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: little girl, and so many years have paid off. You
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: are the perfect sacrifice. I struggled as hard as I could,
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: but I started to get dizzy. I was losing a
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: lot of blood from my leg. Pulling strength from where
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: I had none, I managed to free myself and ran
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: to the backyard of the house to climb over the
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: fence and escape. When I got there, I couldn't believe
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: my eyes. The yard was full of people in black robes.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: They were all lined up staring at me. Behind me,
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: I saw the little girl running desperately, ready to attack
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: me again. But she was still a little girl, so
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: I easily dodged her and ran for the gate. Before
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: I got there, mister Adams stepped out of the shadows
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: and stopped me again. I started to struggle with him again,
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: while the girl kept walking with a huge smile on
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: her face, ready to kill me. I grabbed a vase
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: next to me and smashed it over mister Adams's head
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: and ran to the kitchen. I had nowhere to go
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: on the way. I tried to grab the knife I
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: had dropped earlier, but suddenly missus Adams lunched at me.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: Oh no, you're not getting that knife, you little brat.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: We both fell to the floor, but I recovered first
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: and grabbed the knife. The lady ran towards me to
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: take my knife, but on reflex I defended myself and
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: stuck it into her neck.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Oh.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: The muffled scream lasted only a short time. Almost instantly,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: the gleam went out of missus adams eyes. She was dead.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: I looked up and next to me were all the
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: men with black robes, mister Adams and the girl. I'm
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, Please don't kill me when I thought I
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: was dead, Mister Adams answered with a big smile.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Oh, on the contrary, child, you are a member of
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: the family now. What you shed blood on the initiation day?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: You are one of us now?
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: But when will I be initiated?
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Take it easy, little Annie. You have plenty of time
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: to kill.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: She's your wife, don't you care? No, the man answered
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: me with a smile so cold and terrifying that it
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: made my blood run cold. In the middle of this talk,
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: I couldn't stand it any more and my eyes begin
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: to close. I had lost too much blood. I felt
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: an impact against the ground, and from then on I
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: just fell asleep. I woke up in my bed the
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: next day at home. I looked at my leg and
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: it was bandaged. I walked with some difficulty, and on
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: the table there was all the money I needed and
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: a letter. You are part of the family now. You
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: will always be with us, and we will always take
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: care of you. But if anyone finds out about us,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: that person will die. As soon as I finished reading,
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: my parents rushed upstairs and hugged me, telling me that
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: mister Adams told them how someone broke into the house
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: and I barely survived. I decided not to tell them
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: the truth to protect them. I moved out a few
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: months later. Every time I look out the window, walk
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: down the street, and even go to college, I see
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: people smiling at me. Strangely, I don't think this is
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: a coincidence. As time went by, I believed mister Adams
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: more and more. I will never be alone again.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: My name is why, of course, sir, and I love
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: spending the weekends with my grandkids. Their names are Matt
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: and Tracy, and they always come by at the end
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: of every week to spend some time with me. We
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: usually spend these days the park having fun, and one
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: thing that we always do after a long day of
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: playing around is to go eat at the nearest McDonald's.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Just like everyone else in the United States, my grandkids
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: are obsessed with the notorious Happy Meals, and while I
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: always take them to get their meals, I find myself
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: getting tense because every time I walk through the doors
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: of a McDonald's restaurant, I get shivers up my spine. Now,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you're wondering what could I possibly be afraid
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: of in a McDonald's restaurant. But the thing is, I've
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: always felt like this since that fateful incident. It happened
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: on the ninth of November nineteen fifty five. I was
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: twenty two years old at the time, and if I'm
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: remembering correctly, I had recently gotten a job as a
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: taxi driver. My job took me all over Downey As
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: I would spend the whole day driving people around, and
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: I would always come back late at night. That day,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: I was supposed to take a woman a friend's house.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: I asked well her friend lived, and she told me
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: he lived very close to one two o seven Lakewood
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Boulevard at Florence Avenue in Downey. I remember being really tired,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: as I had driven around a lot of passengers that day,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: but I managed to muster up the strength to do it.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: So she got into the car and I started taking
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: her to the address. I picked her up around two
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: thirty am, and we finally arrived at her destination by
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: three AM. I put on the radio during the drive
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: back home, and on the station I tuned into, they
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: were talking about some of the recent ghastly things that
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: had been happening in Downey. Were. For starters, a couple
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: of mentally deranged patients had escaped from the Downy Asylum,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: and ever since these dangerous patients escaped a lot of
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: people had been going missing in town. There was no
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: hard evidence yet, but the cops believed the deranged patients
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: were behind the strange disappearances in town, as most of
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: them were insane murderers. The last thing the station said
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: before I turned it off was remember to be careful, folks,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: and please try not to stay out late in Downey.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: The cops have rounded up some of the escape patients,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: but there are still many of them out there. I
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: already knew I wasn't supposed to be out this late,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: as it was three in the morning, but with the
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: massive fear going around town and the lack of drivers
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: at night, I found myself making a lot of money
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: when working the nights. I knew it was risky, but
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: I needed the money, and I also knew how to
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: protect myself if anything happened. I put on some music
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: after that announcement to lighten the mood, and as I
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: drove on, I came across a very strange sight. I
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: was at the mc donald's restaurant on one O two
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: O seven Lakewood Boulevard at Florence Avenue in Downey, California. Now,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: I know seeing a McDonald's restaurant in this day and
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: age is a regular thing, as they are basically everywhere,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: but in my time they were a very rare sight.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: This was because the restaurants were still owned by the
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: original McDonald's brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald's, and the restaurant
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: wasn't really a mass franchise, as Ray Kroc hadn't bought
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: them out yet. I also didn't know they started offering
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: twenty four hour services, as the early McDonald's restaurants didn't
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: offer that. But that wasn't the major thing that seemed
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: strange to me. No, what really seemed strange were the
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: twenty five plus people who were seated outside the restaurant
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: and eating burgers at three AM. I didn't believe my
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: eyes at first, as I figured there was no way
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: these many people would be eating out here this late,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: knowing fully well that the streets were dangerous. But as
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: I drove closer, I realized my eyes weren't playing tricks
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: on me, as all those people were actually there. I
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: decided to drive up to the restaurant, and I remember
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: seeing the massive neon chef called Speed lighting up the driveway.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Most of you don't know this, but Speed was mc
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: donald's original mascot before he was replaced by Ronald McDonald
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty three. After I had parked my car,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: I got down and made my way to the restaurant.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: To make things a bit clear, I'd like to point
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: out that at that time, McDonald's wasn't really a full
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: blown restaurant. It was more of a Hamburger stand, as
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: you couldn't dine in the restaurant like the McDonald's are nowadays,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: but there were chairs outside where people could see it
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: and eat if they didn't want to leave. Then. I
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: remember being very perplex seeing over twenty people on those
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: chairs at that time of night. I tried to come
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: up with a feasible explanation as to why they were
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: all here, but I couldn't, so I decided to order
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: a burger and talk to some of them. I walked
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: up to the counter to order a hamburger for fifteen cents,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: as that's how much they were sold for at the time,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: But before the cook could take my order, I noticed
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: a twelve year old child staring at me with a
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: strange look in his eyes. At first, I thought there
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: was something on my face, as I figured that was
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: why I was staring at me like that, but I
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: soon realized that there was nothing strange on my face.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Even after confirming this, the child kept staring at me,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: and while he didn't say anything, it looked like he
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: was trying to tell me I didn't belong there. I
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: was about to say something to the child when the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: cook came to the stand and took my order. The
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: man asked, hey, sir, what would you like me to
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: get you? So I told him the hamburger please. The
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: cook then said, and would you like a twenty cent
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: milkshake to watch that burger down? So I replied with yes,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: you can add a milkshake. As the cook went to
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: get my order, I noticed something very odd in the
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: hamburger stand. The cook was the only one there. I'd
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: been to a McDonald's hamburger stand before and there were
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: usually two or three people working the stand, so seeing
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: him doing everything alone seemed strange to me. When the
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: man came back with my burger in milkshake, I tried
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: to make some small conversation. So I asked him I
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: didn't know McDonald's started working at night. Is this new
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: twenty four hour service here to stay or is it
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: just a one night thing. I noticed the cook got
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: really nervous when I asked him this question, as he
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: started to stutter, no, No, it's not a twenty four
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: hour service thing. I just worked a late night shifts sometimes.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: I could tell he was hiding something now, so I said, well,
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: it's a pretty busy night for you, having all these
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: people out here. At three in the morning. Immediately as
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: I finished my sentence, the cook froze. His eyes were
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: bulging red now as he looked me dead in the
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: eyes and said, you can see him too. Shocked at
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: his response, I backed away from the counter. I thought
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: he was playing a sick prank on me at first,
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: but before I could respond, I heard the sound of
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: police sirens. I looked to the driveway to see a
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: cock car pulling up towards the restaurant, and two police
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: officers walked out of the car. I knew they had
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: been patrolling the streets at night due to the recent
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: events in town. I opened my mouth to greet the officers,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: but before I could say anything, one of the officers said,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: what are you two doing out here? By this time,
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: we didn't know mc donald's started working at three forty
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: five in the morning. His statement made me confused, as
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: I wondered why he used the words you too when
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: over twenty five people were sitting at the restaurant. I
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: wanted to ask the officer what he meant when he
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: said license and registration please. I quickly did as he
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: asked as I showed him my papers, and when I
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: was done, he asked the cook in the hamburger stand.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Unlike me, the cook didn't give his papers to the officers,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: so he was asked to step out of the stand,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: but the cook refused, so the officer pulled out his
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: gun and said, please step out of the hamburger stand, sir,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to ask you again, and with no
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: other options, the cook did as they asked. Immediately, as
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: the man stepped out into the driveway, I saw a
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: look of realization on the police officer's face as he shouted,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: it's him, it's Tim Miller. I've just found one of
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: the most dangerous mental patients that escaped from the asylum.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: After this statement, the officer immediately went to restrain the man,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: with his other colleague coming to a system. And as
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: this bizarre rest went down, I noticed another very strange
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: thing that didn't make sense for starters. The twenty five
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: plus people that were sitting and eating their burghers didn't
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: show any reaction to what was going on, and that
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: was very strange to me, as every normal human being
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: would show some reaction after finding out that it was
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: an escape mental patient that just made the food they
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: were all eating, but they didn't care to be honest,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: it seemed like they couldn't see what was going on
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: as they just kept chatting and eating. As the cops
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: dragged the man called Tim Miller away, he started to scream,
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy. He can see them too.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: The officer who took notice of this, then walked up
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: to me and said, are you with us? Man? Are
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: you also on escape? What is he talking about? I
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: was scared now, so I said, no, officer, I just
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: arrived here like all these other people. The cop, who
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: was visibly confused, raised his gun at me and said,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: what other people? There's no one here? Are you sure
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: you're not one of the mental patients. The other officer
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: who had put Tim Miller in the car then told
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: his colleague, even if he is an escape mental patient,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: I don't think he'd tell you, Frank, he's clearly crazy,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: so let's just take him in and confirm it at
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: the asylum. I wasn annoyed now, so I said, what
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: do you mean there aren't other people? Can't you see
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: them right here eating burgers? The cop was convinced I
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: was crazy now, as he told the other officer to
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: restrain me. But before they could I shouted, what is
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: wrong with you people? Can't you see the twelve year
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: old boy standing here? And as I touched the boy's
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: shoulder to make my point, I felt shiftus go up
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: my spine. The child's skin was as cold as eyes,
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: and immediately I touched him. Each and every one of
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: them stopped eating and looked at me. I instantly took
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: my hands off, as I knew full well what I
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: touched wasn't human. His skin wasn't supposed to feel like that,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: and as my mind struggled to make sense of what
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: was going on, all the twenty five people vanished before
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: my very eyes. That was my breaking point, as I
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: fell to the floor screaming. The cops, who were convinced
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: I was crazy, now restrained me and took me in.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: I didn't blame them, because even though I knew I
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: wasn't a mental patient, I completely lost my mind at
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: that moment. I was taken to the Downy Asylum that night,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: and the staff confirmed to the police that I wasn't
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: one of the mental patients who had escaped. But even
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: though this was cleared up, the cops still insisted that
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: I had clearly lost my mind, and I should be
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: checked in. I spent my days with numerous psychologists, and
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: I told them everything that happened that night. Not many
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: of them believed me, and the ones who did asked
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: me to give a detailed description of the people I saw.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: Shockingly enough, all the descriptions of the faces I could
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: remember matched the ones of many people that had gone
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: missing in down here. The case baffled both the cops
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: and psychologists as they wondered why I saw those missing
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: people that night, people who the two police officers assured
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: everyone weren't there. Investigations were carried into the matter, and
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: it was eventually revealed that Tim Miller, the mental patient
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: who was caught on that night, might have been behind
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: their disappearances. For starters, the man suffered from a peculiar
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: case of alternate personality disorder. He had four different character traits,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: one of them being a cook and another being a
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: violent killer. The cops believed Tim had broken into that
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: McDonald's restaurant after hours and posed as a cook to
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: lower in potential customers. They then theorized that after serving
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: them their food, Tim would switch personalities and kill each
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: and every one of them, a fate that I might
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: have met that night. The McDonald's restaurant further proved this
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: claim as they confirmed they had reported a used kitchen
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: whenever they arrived in the mornings, and they also said
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: they didn't know who Tim Miller was. McDonald's further stated
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: that they also didn't offer twenty four hour service at
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: this time. While this theory seemed like the best possible option,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: none of these claims were ever confined, as the supposed
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: perpetrator was deemed mentally insane, so his words and confessions
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: weren't clear, and the bodies of the victims were never found.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: No feasible explanation was also given as to why I
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: saw those people, and after a year of undergoing treatment,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: I was released back into the real world. Even at
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: eighty nine years of age, I can still remember that
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: night very clearly. That particular McDonald's still stands to this
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: day in Downey as it escaped modernization. The McDonald's restaurants
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: still didn't offer twenty four hour service after this incident,
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: and it wasn't till they were bought out by Ray
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: Kroc that a few branches started offering the service. In
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: the year two thousand and two, nearly forty seven years
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: after this incident. I know it's been a very long
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: time since it happened, and I kept quiet about it
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: as I didn't want anyone to see me as a
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: crazy person. This is why I always get shivers every
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: time I walk into a McDonald's restaurant, as I sometimes
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: see people that I believe don't belong there. I try
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: to brush off that strange feeling as I don't want
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: to be called crazy, But deep down, every time I
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: passed that particular McDonald's restaurant in Downey, I always wonder
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: if those missing people still appear there every night to
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: order a happy meal, just like the rest of us.
• 33:31
  Speaker 3: This story was taken from the personal diary of my father,
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: Wyatt Coulson. I'm his daughter, Jeanette Coulson, and sadly Whyatt
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: passed away recently. I found this in his diary when
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: I was clearing out his things, so I decided to
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: share his story with the rest of the world.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: It happened on the twenty fifth of November two thousand
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: and seven, a day I can never forget. It was
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: around one in the morning and I was on the highway. Now,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: i'd probably driven past this highway a thousand times as
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: my time as a truck driver always saw me using
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: this route. But that night was different and I could
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: tell that something was very wrong. I started my journey
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: by eight pm on that fateful day, and I was
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: supposed to deliver a massive crate of soft drinks to
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: the nearest warehouse that was located on the outskirts of town.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: After the truck was loaded up, I quickly began my journey,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: and on my way to the warehouse, all I could
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: think about was Susie, my nine year old daughter, whom
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: i'd left at home. It had been really hard for
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: us since her mother decided to leave, so it was
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: up to me to take care of her. I had
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: recently asked my boss if I could take the night
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: shifts as I wanted to spend my days with my daughter.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: And even though I hated driving at night as I
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: knew the dangers of doing that, there was a small
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: sacrifice I had to make so that I could be
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: there when my little angel woke up to go to school.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: So I drove with a smile on my face. Everything
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: went fine at first, as I remember putting on the
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: radio to listen to my usual station. The station was
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: talking about a recent slew of attacks on the roads,
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: but I want to manage to identify the assailants. I
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: intentatively listened to the reports, as I hadn't heard any
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: news of the attacks from the other truck drivers. I
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: tried to increase the volume of the radio when it
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: abruptly lost its signal. Loud static noise filled my truck
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: as I started to fiddle with the radio. The radio
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: had been acting up recently and I had meant to
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: fix it but just didn't have the time. I tried
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: to turn it off and on again, but that's went
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: out the corner of my eye, I saw something that
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: shocked me. I slowed down the truck as I thought
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: my eyes were playing tricks on me, but after getting
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: a good look at it, I knew I wasn't mistaken.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: Laid out before me were a couple of cut down
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: trees locking the highway path. Now this would have been
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: normal if the highway was surrounded by trees, as it
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: wasn't uncommon for a tree to fall by itself and
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: block the path, But there weren't any other trees in sight,
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: so it was clear to me that someone had purposely
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: put it there to block the path. I was tense now,
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: as I didn't know why the path was blocked or
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: what was going to happen next. I thought about going back,
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: but I had already spent five hours on the road
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: and I knew going back to use a different route
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: would cost me more time. I also knew the warehouse
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: I was supposed to deliver the goods to was really close.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: I thought about it for a couple of minutes, and
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: against better judgment, I decided to continue forward. I slowly
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: hit the gas as I wanted to make sure I
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: drove over the trees softly. I didn't want to drive slowly,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: but I knew doing that made sure the goods weren't compromised. Unfortunately,
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: that was another costly mistake, as right when I was
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: about to cross the trees, I saw them. Numerous men
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: holding metal pipes and rocks immediately emerged from the darkness.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: The sight of these people made my heart jump and
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: I instantly froze. My mind started to race as I
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: wondered what they were going to do to me, and
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: that's when I watched in horror as they all attacked
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: my truck. The men at the front tried to take
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: out my headlights, and I heard them violently striking the
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: front of the truck with their metal pipes. The men
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: who held bricks and rocks then started to throw their
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: projectiles at my windows and windshield. It didn't take long
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: before my windshield's glass gave out and I felt a
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: hard brick strike my head. The pain was unbearable, and
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: I could feel the blood from the wound on my
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: head dripping into my right eye. My vision then became
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: blurry and a searing pain ran through my entire body.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: I could hear them on the sides of the truck now,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: and I was scared shitless. But even with all this happening,
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: all I could think about was my daughter, Susie. I
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: knew I couldn't die here as I was the only
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: one she had left. Her mother had already abandoned her.
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: I wasn't going to leave her too, so I stealed
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: my resolve. I hesitated to do this at first, as
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: I didn't want to kill anyone, but I knew at
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: this moment it was either my life or theirs, so
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: I gathered the strength and hanked my horn. I did
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: that as a warning, as I knew I wasn't going
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: to stop now. So with no hesitation, I hit the gas.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: The truck started moving forward and I watched them all
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: scatter as I made my way for the trees. Driving
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: over the blockade was a rough bump, and I heard
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: the goods in the back jolt and fall, but I
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: didn't care. I knew I had to do anything to
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: get out of there. I finally made my way past
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: the trees, and for a second I thought the worst
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: was over. But that's when I heard loud thuds outside
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: the truck. I then looked through my window to see
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: a crazy looking man holding onto the door of my
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: truck like a psychotic stowaway. His eyes were bulging red
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: and he held a jagged rock in his left hand. Luckily,
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: the window on my door wasn't completely broken like my windshield,
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: but it was still severely cracked, and even though the
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: window was closed, the man's streams were verbed through the
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: entire truck as he screamed the words stop the truck
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: where I'm going to send you straight hell. Fear filled
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: every inch of my body now, but I didn't let
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: that stop me as I kept hitting the gas, seeing
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: I wasn't going to listen to him. The crazy man
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: then lifted the rock and brought it down with all
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: his strength on my window. I wasn't surprised when the
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: window gave in, as it was already severely cracked from
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: the last attack. I knew I couldn't take another blow
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: to the head like the one I had gotten earlier,
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: so I handled the wheel with one hand and I
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: maneuvered his attacks with the other. I managed to get
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: him to drop the rock, and that's when he started
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: to force his hand on the wheel to get the
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: truck to stop. I'd lost a lot of blood now
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: from the wound on my head, and I knew I
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: couldn't do this. All night, I racked my brain looking
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: for a solution, and at first I thought about violently
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: swerving the truck to shake him off, but I knew
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: I could hurt someone else if I did that. I
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: was desperate now, as I knew I had to do something,
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: and that's when I remember to detail that saved my life.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: Having traveled this route before, I knew that a few
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: minutes away from the warehouse was a police station. So
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: I mustered every ounce of strength left in my body
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: and I made my way there. It didn't take long
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: for my assailant to realize what was going on, and
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: right before we reached the station, the man finally let
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: go of the truck. I watched in horror out of
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: my partly broken rear view mirror as I could see
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: my assailant fall and tumble on the hard asphalt. Shockingly,
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: the speeding cars on the road managed to stop in
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: time before they could run him over. I figured my
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: assailant was already dead now, as it was a pretty
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: hard fall, but to my surprise, I saw the man
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: get up and hobble out of sight. The cops in
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: the station had already heard all the commotion, and a
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: couple of them started to chase the man. The remaining
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: officers who didn't go after him, stayed behind to help me.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: As I came out of the truck, I started to
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: stutter the words I was viciously attacked by a group
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: of men, and it's all on my desk cam. I
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: proceeded to get the device when I suddenly felt woozy.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: I then fell to my knees as they all surrounded me.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: One of the cops then said, you need to calm down, sir.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: You're badly hurt. Is there some one we can call,
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: But before I could respond, the world around me started
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: to get dark, and the last thing I managed to
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: say before I passed out was Susy. That's all I
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: could think about was her. I woke up in the
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: hospital the next day, and sleeping on a chair in
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: my room was my daughter, Susy. I could tell she
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: had been crying all night, and right when I was
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: about to call out to her, she woke up. She
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: immediately ran to hug me, and I remembered crying tears
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: of joy as I had survived that morbid incident and
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: I was able to see my little girl again. After
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: this moment, the cops came into the room and asked
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: for my statement, so I told them everything that happened.
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: The cops then told me my dash camp footage was
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: watched and they were able to catch most of my assailants.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: They then assured me that a rigorous search was still
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: going on to find the ones that were still on
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: the run so that they could be brought to justice.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: I never rode at night again after that incident. I
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: asked my boss for shorter days, and even if it
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: meant lesser pay, it also meant I could spend more
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: time with my cat. I also knew I was staying
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: safe and the potentially dangerous people lurking on the streets
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: at night. This ghastly incident left me with some PTSD
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: as I still steer clear of that place to day,
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: and even though it takes a longer time to get
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: to my destination, I still choose the longer trip, as
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: I can never shake off the feeling that some of
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: those men are still out there waiting to get their revenge.
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: As a chief magazine editor, I am always working extra
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: hours in my office. I enjoy my work and hardly
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: ever complain about work pressure. However, this also means I
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: barely get time to cook lunch or dinner. There is
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: mc donald's a few blocks ahead of my office. I
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: usually visited it at least four to five times a week.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, who doesn't love a cheesy burger on a
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: week day. But I've always had this odd feeling of
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: being watched since the moment I stepped in until today,
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: it's not stopped. So it all started three years ago.
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: When I took up this position. I knew it was
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: going to be a demanding roll, but it promised the
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: professional exposure I wished for. I still remember the first
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: time I walked through the double doors of the mc donald's.
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: The distinct smell of freshly brewed coffee, cheese, burgers, and
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: a set of eyes followed me throughout the room. I
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: ordered my food and sat at the last table beside
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: the window, looking at the hustle and bustle of the
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: street while I enjoyed my snack. Some time later, I
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: was sipping my coat when the hair on the nape
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: of my neck rose and I felt the weird stare again.
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: From the moment I entered the McDonald's, I felt as
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: if someone was keeping a watch on me. For the
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: first time. I scanned the store and spotted an old,
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: creepy looking man sitting on a table near the fire exit.
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: He was not eating anything, just sitting at the table
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: and staring at me. He never blinked, just stared straight
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: at me. His eyes were red and had dark bags
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: under them. It looked as if he had not slept
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: in daze or had a hangover. However, nothing seemed to
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: face him. He just kept looking at me, following my
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: every move. I was a bit spooked, but tried to
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: ignore the whole ordeal. With the man. Soon I finished
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: and walked up to the exit. He followed me with
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: his eyes and gave me a creepy smile as I
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: stepped out of the door. A few days later, when
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: I went there again, I was immediately greeted with his
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: creepy stare. No doubt, the man was sitting at the
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: same table, scanning me with his eyes and keeping an
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: eye over my every action. I ignored it, ate my food
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: and left quickly. Just as last time, he smiled at me,
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: displaying his rotten, crooked teeth, but this time he waved
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: at me spooped. I moved out as quickly as I could,
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: and sped walked to my office just in case he followed,
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: but he never did. Later that week, when I went
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: to gravel Bite again, the man was sitting at his
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: usual table, staring at me and smiling. I knew this
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: was odd, so I approached the girl at the counter
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: and pointed to the man and asked about him. To
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: my utter surprise, the girl looked at me funny and
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: said in a very plain tone that the table was
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: empty and no man was sitting there. I was certainly
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: very shocked, but kept my cool and described the man.
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: I asked her if a person with a similar appearance
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: had visited the store. Ever, the girl said no and
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: took my order. The worst part was while I was
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: conversing with the girl, the man was sitting at the
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: table and smiling his creepy smile at me. It felt
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: as if he was amused by my panic. I was
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: stressed and scared. It was confusing. Only I could see
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: the man and the girl on the counter. Coultn't. I
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: blamed it on stress and the lack of sleep. I
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: collected my order and decided to eat it in my cabin.
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: When I stepped out of the door with my purse
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: and food in hand, the man smiled, waved, and winked
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: at me every time I walk out. I felt like
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: he did something more. It scared me, and I decided
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: not to visit the place for a while. A few
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: weeks passed and the incident at McDonald's had totally flown
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: out of my mind. It was late, around nine in
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: the evening and I was driving my car out of
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: my parking lot when I spot the same man standing
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: across the street. At that moment, all I could think
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: about was getting the hell out of that deserted parking lot.
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: The man stood there and looked at me with a
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: creepy expression. A ton of questions ran across my mind,
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: but I had no time to find the answers to
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: any of them. My whole body was in flight mode
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: as I drove past him straight home. Once I was
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: settled in, my mind was going round and round about
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: all the possibilities. Had he followed me to my office?
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: Did he know any of my personal information? Why was
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: he following me? Did he know where I lived? And
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: more importantly, why was I the only one able to
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: see him? It was all so scary. I again thought
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: this was a side effect of my busy schedule and
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: stress lifestyle. Before I saw a doctor, I decided to
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: take a few days off to relax and calm my mind.
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: Over the next few days, I spent my time cooking, reading,
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: going to the park for walks, and relaxing. Not once
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: did I spot the man on my week off, and
• 48:40
  Speaker 2: I was convinced that I was seeing things due to stress. However,
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: it all changed the night before the day I was
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: supposed to get back to work. I was sipping tea
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: on my balcony when on the sidewalk right in front
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: of my home stood the creepy man from McDonald's. I
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: was shocked, walked, and scared to death. The teacups slipped
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: out from my hands and I ran inside, shutting all
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: the windows and blinds. I turned off all the lights
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: and decided to peek out to check if he was
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: still there. When I looked out, the sidewalk was empty.
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: There was no sign of the man. The next day,
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: I decided to visit the McDonald's again to confront the
• 49:24
  Speaker 2: man myself, as I was certain he would be there.
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: When I entered the place, his usual table was empty
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: and the manager of the store was standing at the counter.
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: I approached him and narrated the incident. After hearing my story,
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: the man revealed a shocking truth that cracked the floor
• 49:43
  Speaker 2: beneath my feet. Mister Dudley, the manager, told me what
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: had happened in the McDonalds a few years ago. He sad.
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: When this place was newly opened, we had a few
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: factory workers visit us regularly for lunch. The man you
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: described was one of them. One afternoon, during the lunch rush,
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: we had three masked men come in and rob this place.
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: The workers tried to unarm the masked robbers, But by
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: the time the cops were called, one of the robbers
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: had shot this man and he died on the spot.
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: It was a hit and run case. The masked men
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: were never found, the worker never got his justice. Many
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: customers before you had claimed to see the man smile
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: and follow them around.
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: I had no idea what to say to him. What
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: should I do, mister Dudley, for the man to stop
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: following me?
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: Honestly, I don't know what you should do. The people
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: who had claimed to see the man never visited here again,
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: so I know nothing of this matter or what happened
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: to them.
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: The spirit of a dead worker was following me. It
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: seemed to get one step closer every time I saw it.
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: What do you guys think I should do? Why did
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: the spirit choose to follow me? What must have happened
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: to the people before me? And most importantly, how will
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: this end? Is it still follows me? I sometimes see
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: it in the lobby of my office, in the park
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: below my window, and many other such places. What should
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: I do to make it stop?
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: When I was thirty three, I was the sheriff of
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: this small town. Being a sheriff of a small town
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: comes with a lot of late night ships, always being
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: on high alert, taking care of the old folk in town,
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: and hardly any personal life. That's why when I was
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: single at thirty three, it was hard, as it is,
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: to date, let alone have a stable relationship. So when
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: I walked into our town's only mc donald's that night
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: to grab a quick bite, it was no surprise that
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: I was dumb struck looking at the beautiful woman standing
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: behind the cash counter. Stacy Harris was a stunning woman
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: with blond hair, blue eyes, a slim figure, and cutees.
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: We hit it off instantly, and soon she was my girlfriend.
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: It didn't hurt that, like me, she too had a
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: late night shift at the McDonald's and had her mornings off.
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: It was common for me to stop by every other
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: night to eat a snack and check on her. As
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: she was new in town, recently divorced, and trying to
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: get a fresh start. I was more than willing to
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: give her just that. The first incident happened on one
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: of those nights when I was swamped with work and
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: couldn't visit Stacy at McDonald's. I clearly remember her hysteric
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: crying voice on the phone when she called me to
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: come get her. The moment I reached the place, it
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: was completely trashed. The tables were turned over, the ketchup
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: and dips were all over the place, and my girlfriend
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: was crouched behind the counter crying. Back in the day,
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: CCTV cameras weren't that common, and as it was a weekday,
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: there was no one at the McDonald's except her, so
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: no one witnessed the man in the hoodie who had
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: barged into the place, trashed it and threatened to kill her.
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: It was also unusual that, as a first respondent, even
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: I didn't know what to make of it. Our town
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: was a pretty quiet one with hardly any issues, so
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: for someone to trash a fast food restaurant and threaten
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: a woman was strange. Nevertheless, as a sheriff and a
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: responsible and loving boyfriend, I comforted Stacy and took her
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: home while asking my backup to take over the situation.
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: The second incident wasn't a trashed restaurant, but a phone
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: call to Stacy's home. Some guy with a deep, raspy
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: voice had called her and threatened to kill her. These
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: calls and threats just got more and more frequent. Sometimes
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: there was a dead cat on her porch or a
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: dead bird. Once the stalker went as far as to
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: break into her house while she was away and trashed
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: her bedroom. No wonder all these incidents drove her crazy.
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: Soon our relationship was facing the backlash of the constant stalking,
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: threats and dead animals. Stacy was so scared to get
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: out of the house or to work. Our late night
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: meet ups at the McDonald's had stopped. I was so
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: worried and stressed for her. All the time. Being the
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: sheriff of the town, me and my team were investigating
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: this case with great effort. Surprisingly, the incidents, meaning the
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: phone calls, the dead animals, the break ins only happened
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: when Stacy was alone or when there was no one
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: at her home. I had my cops patrol around her
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: home several times day and night. I stayed at her
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: place whenever I could, but everything seemed normal when I
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: was around or when my men patrolled the place. This
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: got me thinking that maybe someone who was very close
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: to Stacy, or from within the police department, was behind
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: the stalking. Being the sheriff of the town, it was
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: shameful that I couldn't protect my own girlfriend. My first
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: suspect was her ex husband. When Dan was brought in
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: for interrogation, turns out he too had received a couple
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: of calls from the same stalker. This was very absurd.
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: Our investigation was hitting dead end after dead end. Nothing
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: led to anything. There were no clues. Whenever we tried
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: to investigate the home invasions, we never found a single
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: clue showing the presence of the stalker inside the home.
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: This so called stalker was either very good at it,
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: or maybe we're all being misled and the truth lay
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: right under our noses. My tipping point was when I
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: was staying the night with Stacy and I woke up
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: to a burning basement. I ran upstairs to find my
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: girlfriend knocked down on the bed and a broken vase
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: lay right next to her on the floor. Someone had
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: forcibly entered the house while I was asleep on the
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: living room couch, had managed to knock my girlfriend unconscious
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: and loot the basement of flame without waking me up.
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: I called the fire department and carried Stacy out of
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: the house. After the fire, Stacy and I officially broke up.
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: It was sad to lose such an amazing woman, but
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: the damage done by the fire had killed the remaining
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: hope and spark inside Stacy. She was severely depressed and
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: unable to have a relationship with any one, not even herself.
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: She was soon admitted to the psychiatric ward and taken
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: care of there. I visited her a couple of times,
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: but I couldn't watch the woman I loved diminish in
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: front of my eyes. We kept on looking for the stalker,
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: but found nothing. After a few months of being in
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: the care, she was released and better than before. As
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: soon as she returned to her house, the stalking continued
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: and drove her insane all over again. But it all
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: ended on a fateful night when she was kidnapped from
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: the parking lot of a local mall and her dead
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: body was found next to an abandoned home near the creek.
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: It devastated me. The case was officially closed, and the
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: dead body had no DNA or clues on who killed her. Apparently,
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: according to the autopsy, she had overdosed on drugs, but
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: Stacy did not do drugs at all, and I knew
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: that for sure. Still brings me the tears thinking about
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: her death and how she might have struggled. The death
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: of Stacy Harris somehow made it to national TV, and
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: all the theory, speculations and information about it was broadcasted
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: to the world to see. The FBI stepped in next
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: and tried to investigate the case. Anew I had almost
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: lost hope when the FBI agents revealed the shocking truth
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: behind Stacy Harris's murder, which shook the whole town and
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: the nation, and most of all me. The facts that
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: no one had seen the stalker, heard the phone calls,
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: or that there was no DNA of any sort of
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: evidence of a stalker were proved that there was no stalker.
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: Stacy Harris did everything to herself as she was a
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: patient of a rare mental disorder called d I D
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: Disassociative identity disorder. Her stalker or the man in the
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: black hoodie was none other than Stacy herself, or should
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: I say, her alter ego. She was the one who
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: kidnapped and killed herself. The fact that such a wonderful
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: and loving woman was going through something like this was sad,
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: but even more heartbreaking was the fact that me, being
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: her lover, failed to see it.
• 58:25
  Speaker 2: Gwinn and Adam Smith were considered to be a part
• 58:27
  Speaker 2: of the elite of our town for more than a decade.
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: Their success story was an inspiration to every kid in
• 58:34
  Speaker 2: our town. Both of them were extremely successful, Gwynn a
• 58:38
  Speaker 2: lawyer and Adam a surgeon. Both of them were extremely
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: busy with their work and lived on the far side
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: of town on top of the Lone Hill in a
• 58:47
  Speaker 2: big mansion. They hardly had time for their twin kids,
• 58:50
  Speaker 2: Lucy and Lincoln. This is where I come into the picture.
• 58:54
  Speaker 2: I'm Susan and I used to babysit Lucy and Lincoln
• 58:57
  Speaker 2: on most nights a week. I picked them up for
• 59:00
  Speaker 2: school in the afternoon, made sure they did their homework,
• 59:03
  Speaker 2: cooked dinner for them, and put them to bed. I
• 59:06
  Speaker 2: was more of a nanny to both the kids rather
• 59:08
  Speaker 2: than being a mere babysitter. The pay didn't hurt one bit,
• 59:13
  Speaker 2: and most of the times the kids were well behaved.
• 59:15
  Speaker 2: It wasn't much work. Plus their parents did not mind
• 59:18
  Speaker 2: if I used their internet or watch TV while the
• 59:20
  Speaker 2: kids napped. This job was helping me pay my mother's
• 59:24
  Speaker 2: medical bills and keeping our family afloat. It was a
• 59:27
  Speaker 2: win win for all. Until it wasn't. Everything went downhill.
• 59:33
  Speaker 2: After that one phone call on that fateful stormy night.
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: There is something you guys should know. I never used
• 59:40
  Speaker 2: to babysit the kids on a weekend, as it was
• 59:43
  Speaker 2: a time they spent with their parents. Bonding and catching
• 59:46
  Speaker 2: up is what Missus Smith described it as. It never
• 59:49
  Speaker 2: really bothered me, as I got the weekends off to
• 59:51
  Speaker 2: spend with my family and drive my mom to the
• 59:54
  Speaker 2: doctor's that night. It was around eight thirty when me
• 59:58
  Speaker 2: and my mom and my brother returned from one of
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 2: my mother's routine checkups. She has stage two cancer, so
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 2: hospital visits are as often for our family as visiting
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 2: the grocery store. It was a Saturday and my phone
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 2: started ringing. I initially thought it was one of my
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 2: friends wanting to catch up in the local bar, but
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 2: instead my screen displayed Missus Smith's name. I was a
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 2: bit confused. Has she never texted or called on a
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 2: weekend unless it was an emergency. I picked up the
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 2: call and asked, Hello, Missus Smith, what's the matter? Hi, Susan.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 2: Sorry to bother you, but could you look after the
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 2: kids tonight? I and Adam have to go to a
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 2: dinner party. It was very unusual as the couple was
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 2: almost adamant about spending time with her kids on the weekend. Sure,
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 2: missus Smith, I'll be there in an hour. Let me
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 2: settle my mom in and I'll head over. Sure things, Susan,
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 2: We are waiting for you, Missus Smith, or should I
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 2: say Gwyn and hung up, and I went back to
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 2: taking care of my mom. By the time I left
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 2: my home, Mom had slept and my brother was watching TV.
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 2: On the drive to their mansion, the road was unusually foggy,
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 2: as if preventing me from reaching their house. I wish
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 2: I would have returned to mine, but the thought of
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 2: piling up bills in my mom's deteriorating condition kept me
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 2: on the road. In about forty minutes, I was there
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 2: in their driveway, parking my beat up car. Gwyn and
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 2: Adam were in their driveway too, getting into their brand
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 2: new SUV. Hey there, mister and missus Smith, I greeted
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 2: the couple, Hey, Susan. Gwynn greeted me back, and Adam
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 2: just nodded at me. The twins are asleep. It's already
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 2: past their bedtime. I and Adam will return late tonight.
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 2: Just keep them company, don't let them have a midnight
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 2: snack and just text me if you need anything, Gwynn
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 2: instructed me before leaving and got into the passenger seat
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 2: beside her husband. It was a little weird that their
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 2: driver was missing. I didn't think much of it back then.
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 2: Maybe it was a last minute plan and the driver
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 2: couldn't make it. As I did. Before their car rolled
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 2: out the front gate, gwyn yelled and let me know
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 2: she saved a piece of chocolate cake for me and
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 2: that it was on the counter. Yeah, fancy desserts were
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 2: a common thing too. I loved this job. Once I
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 2: entered the mansion, it was dark inside. Usually the couple
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 2: left a few lights on at all times to keep
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 2: the house illuminated. I switched on a few lights in
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 2: the drawing room, grabbed a piece of chocolate cake, and
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 2: sat on the couch watching TV For the first hour.
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 2: I was so engrossed in the TV and the dessert
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 2: that I did not notice that the house was too quiet,
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 2: as if I was the only one there. The kids
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 2: slept through the night on most days, but sometime either
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 2: of them would wake up for a midnight snack or
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 2: have a bad dream. It was common for me to
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 2: put them back to bed and maybe read a bedtime
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 2: story too. I thought it must be one of those
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 2: days when the twins slept through the entire night. Still,
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 2: my instinct told me something was wrong. I waited for
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 2: half an hour more and then headed upstairs to the
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 2: kid's room. Lucy and Lincoln had separate bedrooms on either
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 2: side of the hallway, and then at the end of
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 2: the hallway was the master bedroom, where their parents slept.
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 2: When I opened Lucy's bedroom, I wasn't much worried when
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 2: I found it empty. The girl often slept in her
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 2: brother's room if she was scared or had a bad dream.
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 2: But the side I saw when I opened Lincoln's bedroom
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 2: door is etched into my memory forever. Both the kids
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 2: were hanged by a noose from the ceiling fan. Their
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 2: eyes were still open, as if they were very much alive.
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 2: I tried to free them, but when I touched Lucy's body,
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 2: she was cold and stiff, as if she had passed
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 2: away hours ago. I knew Lincoln was no different. I
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 2: screamed and stumbled out of the room. I ran toward
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 2: the master bedroom to fetch the emergency phone Gwynn left
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 2: in there, But when I opened the master bedroom door.
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 2: I knew I was in deep, deep trouble. Both mister
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 2: and Missus Smith were hanging by the ceiling fan, the
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 2: exact same way their kids were hanging just down the hall.
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 2: I was terrified and screaming and running back downstairs. I
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 2: didn't know what to do. I could still fill their
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 2: open eyes on me as I called nine one one.
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 2: When the cops got there, I was sitting in the driveway,
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 2: weeping and hysteric. I did not know what was going on.
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 2: The police did their investigation and questioned me. I told
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 2: them all that had happened, and also mentioned the fact
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 2: that I had spoken to Gwyn and Adam as they
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 2: left the mansion. I did not understand how they were
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 2: hanging inside their own bedroom when they left, in front
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 2: of my own eyes. Naturally penned as the prime suspect
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 2: for the murder of a family of four. Right now,
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 2: I'm narrating this story to you from a prison cell
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 2: where I have been locked for the past six years.
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 2: They say I killed the Smith family, but I swear
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 2: I didn't do it. I would never harm the kids
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 2: nor their parents. They say I'm insane and have mental disorders.
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 2: How is that? Possible. I'm totally fine. Can't they see
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 2: I'm being framed for murder. I told them I met
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 2: the couple before they went out for the dinner party,
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 2: but the investigators say that I didn't meet the couple
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 2: in the driveway. I clearly remember meeting them, though I
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 2: asked them to check the CCTV footage, But the footage
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 2: they showed me has me standing in the driveway alone,
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 2: no side of mister or missus Smith. They say I
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 2: forced the family to hang themselves. Why would I do that?
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 2: They were paying my bills by giving me employment. Why
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 2: would anyone want to lose such a job. I firmly
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 2: believe that I'm being framed, but all the evidence is
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 2: against me. The CCTV had recorded me arriving in the mansion,
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 2: but I clearly remember talking to gwyn I remember eating
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 2: the last piece of chocolate cake. How would I know
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 2: that there was a single slice of chocolate cake if
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 2: Gwynn hadn't mentioned it. Why is anyone not believing me?
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 2: I couldn't even attend my mother's funeral as the doctors
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 2: and the cops think I'm too dangerous for the world.
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 2: They think I can hurt people. How is that possible.
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 2: I was just a girl who was trying to provide
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 2: for her family and take care of her mom. Why
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 2: does no one see that I'm being framed. I don't
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 2: know what's going on anymore. I'm so confused and lost.
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 2: All I know is that I didn't do it. What
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 2: do you think is the truth? Am I innocent? Who
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 2: did I see in the driveway if the couple was
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 2: already dead? And more importantly, who called me pretending to
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 2: be missus Smith? I swear I didn't do it.
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 4: Hi, I'm David And Many years ago, one of my
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 4: high school friends, Jack opened a new Papa John store
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 4: in our hometown. The news of his opening the pizza
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 4: place was a delight to all, as he always wanted
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 4: to own a fast food joint. Jack and his wife,
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 4: Alice had collected money and worked very hard to open
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 4: the shop, and to everyone's utter delight, they had welcomed
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 4: their first child, a daughter named Sharon, a few weeks
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 4: before the grand opening. Things had really started to work
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 4: for Jack and his small family. As we all his
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 4: friends were very proud of our buddy. We decided to
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 4: arrange a small get together at his pizza place itself.
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 4: The date was set around Thanksgiving week, when most of
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 4: us would visit our hometown for that Thanksgiving dinner. So
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 4: on the twenty third of November, we all had planned
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 4: to gather at Papa John's to celebrate with Jack and
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 4: his family. The only catch to this gathering was everyone
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 4: had to be dressed in the Papa John's uniform to
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 4: show our support. On the day of the gathering, the
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 4: place was overcrowded with people. Even though the pizza place
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 4: was closed to customers, it was making just as many
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 4: pizzas for all the friends gathered. Jack and Alice had
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 4: rented a two story place where they had their pizza
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 4: shop below in their home above it. The entrance to
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 4: the upper floor was from the kitchen of the pizza shop.
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 4: This is how the couple kept an eye on their newborn.
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 4: As the gathering proceeded, a lot of people gathered at
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 4: the pizza place. Many of us had our spouse or
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 4: other family members tagging along. Alice had invited some of
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 4: her friends to All of us were in the uniform
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 4: and it was a bit tough to recognize people, especially
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 4: the people we hadn't seen in a while. Everyone was
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 4: busy enjoying the pizza and drinks when I distinctly remember
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 4: a woman, perhaps in her late thirties, approached the shop.
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 4: She had followed the designated dress code. Alice had spotted
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 4: this woman too and welcomed her inside, thinking she must
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 4: be one of her husband's guests, but I couldn't remember
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 4: this woman from our high school. As the gathering went on,
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 4: everyone was getting pretty intoxicated. By the end, I was
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 4: helping one of my friends get into a car when
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 4: I and a few remaining guests heard an ear piercing
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 4: scream from Alice. She was screaming from her daughter's room.
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 4: We all ran up to find Alice crying near her
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 4: daughter's crib, which was empty except for a shoe that
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 4: lie upside down in the daughter's bedding. Being only a
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 4: few weeks old, the infant couldn't climb out of the
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 4: crib by herself and wander around the house, let alone outside.
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 4: Alice had brought her downstairs at the beginning of the
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 4: gathering to introduce us to the little girl. To the
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 4: rest of the gathering, little Sharon slept peacefully while we
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 4: all had a good time downstairs. After the initial panic,
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 4: everyone began to look in and around the house for
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 4: the infant. However, I had a feeling that Sharon did
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 4: not wander off. She was taken away, possibly abducted. When
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 4: I approached Jack, he was holding his wife, who still
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 4: hadn't stopped crying. I tried to calm her down and
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 4: asked her about the woman who had walked into the party. Instantly,
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 4: Alice knew who I was talking about. Jack, I and Bill,
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 4: one of our friends, checked the CCTV footage to find
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 4: the woman. We immediately saw her entering the pizza place
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 4: around nine pm, and after grabbing a few slices of pizza,
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 4: she snuck upstairs to Sharon's room. The footage did have
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 4: her face, which was enough to report her. Jack said
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 4: she must have left through the back exit, which is
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 4: not covered by any cameras. We instantly called the cops
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 4: and reported the woman. We also handed over the footage
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 4: to the cops. The copse immediately started the investigation, and
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 4: soon the whole town was on the lookout for this
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 4: woman and baby Sharon. Even on Thanksgiving, hardly anyone was celebrating. Instead,
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 4: everyone was looking for the lost baby. That evening, there
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 4: were three more reports of missing infants in the town.
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 4: And two of the reports claimed to have seen the
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 4: same woman before the abductions, confirming her to be the
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 4: culprit of all the missing cases. Along with that, one
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 4: common clue left behind by the woman was a single
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 4: shoe of the abducted babies in their cribs. The investigation
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 4: went on for months. I and some of my friends
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 4: stayed in town for a couple of weeks to extend
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 4: our support and to take part in the search parties.
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 4: But other than the shoe, nothing was ever found of
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 4: the missing infants. After a year of investigation, the police
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 4: could find no leeds on the case and were eventually
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 4: forced to close it. The woman was never seen in
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 4: town before for these abductions and was never spotted again.
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 4: There were many stories and theories about the abductions spreading
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 4: in the town by the local people. Some said that
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 4: she was a spirit, while some claimed she was a
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 4: part of a cult, and others believed that she was
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 4: a human trafficker who stole young kids and sold them.
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 4: But I believed none of them. It was as if
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 4: Jack and Alice had lost their will to live. They
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 4: closed their Papa John's mere months after the abduction, and
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 4: two years later they moved out of the town to
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 4: start anew Every time I enter a Papa John's pizza place,
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 4: I remember Alice's ear piercing scream and the despair in
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 4: her eyes. It was the worst tragedy our small town
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 4: had ever faced. Nothing of that sort ever happened again,
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 4: but it stayed with all the people.
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 4: Fifteen years later, there was a mall being built a
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 4: few miles away from my hometown, and to lay its foundation,
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 4: the land was being dug. The things that the construction
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 4: team found on the site shook the entire town, and
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 4: the fifteen year old mystery was finally solved. The skeletons
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 4: of four infants were found wrapped in a black cloth,
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 4: buried six feet under the ground. This news was made
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 4: public and the families of the lost kids, who would
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 4: have been around fifteen years old now, were gathered to
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 4: see their kids for the last time. It was heartbreaking
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 4: to know that the infants were killed, but the motive
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 4: behind the killing and the whereabouts of the lady is
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 4: still unknown.
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: As soon as I woke up, I knew there was
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: something off about that day. It was a regular Thursday,
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: nothing special about it, really, but you know, sometimes we
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: have a gut feeling about days like these, when we
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: know something bad is going to happen ahead. It was
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: one of those days. I tried to ignore the nod
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: in my stomach and continued my daily tasks. Once I
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 1: sat in my business communication class, phone beat, which meant
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: either someone was calling or texting me. I have a
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: strict policy to not operate my cell phone in the
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: classroom and to pay the utmost attention to my lectures. However,
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: when my phone beat for the second and then third time,
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: the knot in my stomach intensified, and my intuition told
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: me to take a look. As soon as I saw
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: the text sent to me by missus Harris, I bolted
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: out of the classroom with my stuff and ran towards
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: my car with shaky fingers. I started my car and
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: began the long drive home. I was worried and scared.
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: Worried because I wanted her to live, and scared because
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 1: I was terrified of losing her. So I drove past
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 1: the outskirts of the city toward my hometown. I knew
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: it was getting late, it was starting to get dark outside,
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: and soon I would be driving across a deserted highway
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 1: in pitch darkness, but I was determined to get back
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: to her on time. As a university student, I usually
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: had early mon in classes, so I avoided driving at night,
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 1: So it was okay to say that I had a
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: limited experience with driving at night. To ease my nerves,
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: I switched on the radio and began to hear the
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: weather forecast. Soon I was two hours into my journey
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: and I knew I was very close to the highway.
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 1: I calmed myself down and focused on driving at a
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: steady pace. Now you must be thinking, why is a
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: college student who is clearly an adult so scared of
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: driving at night on a damn highway? To know that?
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: You must keep listening to my story. So by this
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: time I had driven a few miles away from the
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 1: start of this highway, and I remembered that it had
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: been particularly sunny that day. That's why there was no
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 1: chance of a storm or any accidents caused by a storm.
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 1: Then why was there a fallen tree in the middle
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: of the highway. While I looked at the tree about
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 1: three hundred meters away from my car, I had unconsciously
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: slowed down a bit. That's when I saw the first
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: person appear about two hundred meters away from my car.
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: Then there were three more, whom I spotted in the
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 1: rear view mirror. For a second, I was baffled as
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: to what to do. I knew what was going to
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: happen to me if I didn't act fast. Their trick
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: had worked, and I had already slowed my car enough
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: for the people to approach me. Every second I wasted
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: thinking about the right move was used by the people
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 1: to advance on my car. Soon the highway was full
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: of people, and the only way to escape and go
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 1: home alive in one piece to see her was by
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: driving straight ahead. I know my car was hardly capable
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: of running over a fallen tree, but I had to
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: take the chance. After all, I was a broke college
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: student who couldn't afford anything better than a beaten up
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: Honda Civic. As soon as I put my foot on
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: the gas, the first stone collided with the back door
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 1: of my car. I thought it would leave a debt.
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: The first stone was followed by another, and then more.
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 1: One of the guys managed to aim at my passenger
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: side window. It broke and the glass shattered on the
• 1:16:59
  Speaker 1: passenger seat. I paid no attention to it and sped
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: the car, ramming it over the fallen tree. It hit
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: the base of my car and a loud thud could
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 1: be heard. The people were now furious that I was
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: trying to escape. The mobs started chasing me on foot,
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: throwing stones, metal pipes, pieces of wood, and even rotten
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 1: food at my car. I didn't even look back. I
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: just kept driving until I reached my home town. As
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 1: soon as I parked my car in front of my house,
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: I ran upstairs towards my grandma, who was fast asleep.
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: Missus Harris sat beside her bed reading a book. How
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 1: is she? I drove here as soon as I got
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 1: your text, I asked, Missus Harris. She is fine. It
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: was just to fall in the garden. She heard her
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: hip pretty bad, but luckily I saw her and took
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: her to the hospital. She replied, hey, justin Why are
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: there pieces of glass on your sweater? Missus Harris inquired,
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 1: Missus Harris, I drove on the highway. It was them,
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: I told her. She immediately understood what I meant. Thank
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 1: god nothing happened to you. Did you report the incident?
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: She asked me again. I did, Missus Harris, I do
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: not see the use of it. I was tired and
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: worried to death about my grandma. Missus Harris, our neighbor,
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: had texted me during my lecture that my grandma had
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: fallen in the garden and she was being rushed to
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: the hospital. You see, I do not have parents, as
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: they both died when I was too young. My grandma
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: raised me and looked after me, and now it was
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: my turn. As I went to my room after making
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: sure that my grandma was fine, the whole highway incident
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: flashed in front of my eyes. The men who attacked
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: me were called the faceless People and were famous in
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 1: our state for attacking vehicles traveling on that highway at night.
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: They were called faceless people not because they had no face,
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: but because no one could ever make out what they
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: looked like, and no one knew anything about them. It
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 1: was as if they were off the grid and lived
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: in their own day and time, and somehow appeared on
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: the highway at night. There were at least five to
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: seven reports of the faceless people attacking vehicles on that
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: highway every week, but the cops were unable to catch anyone.
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: These people destroyed the vehicle by throwing things at it.
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: They dragged the people in the vehicle out, looted, and
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: then finally killed them. I knew I was lucky, as
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: I was one of the few people who escaped the
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: torture of the faceless people unharmed. But due to the
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 1: lack of evidence, these people still roamed the streets unpunished.
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: That's when I remembered that perhaps this incident was recorded
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 1: on my dash camp. Maybe I was the first person
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 1: to capture the faceless people on camera. This could be
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 1: a huge leap in the investigation. I ran to my
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: car and retrieved the recording, and there it was. Everything
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: was recorded clearly. Although my car was damaged, the dash
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: camp somehow remained unscathed. I borrowed Missus Harris's car and
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 1: drove to the police station with the footage. The cops
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: thanked me and I returned home. The next day. When
• 1:20:11
  Speaker 1: I woke up, the town sheriff was having a cup
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: of tea with my grandma downstairs. She seemed much better
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: than yesterday. What brings you here, Sheriff? I asked, You
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: have no idea what you have done? Justin the sheriff said,
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 1: with a broad smile on his face. The dash cam
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: footage you gave us last night helped us identify a
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: few people from the Faceless gang. We captured those people
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: and soon extracted all the information about their operations. Most
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: of these people are behind bars because of you and
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 1: will be soon put to trial. You have no idea
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 1: what you have done. Boy saying this, he thanked my
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: grandma for the tea and left. The news had covered
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: the incident, and my face was all over the TV.
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: Turns out the Faceless people were a bunch of dry
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: so it escaped the nearby rehabilitation center and were hiding
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: in the abandoned factory in the woods during the day.
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: That's why no one could find them. I still can't
• 1:21:10
  Speaker 1: imagine what would have happened if I hadn't driven fast enough.
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: What do you think would I still be alive to
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 1: tell this story today.
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 2: I used to work in the circus when I was
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 2: a kid, and while many people believe this may have
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 2: been the dream job of a twelve year old girl,
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 2: what happened behind the scenes is something I'd never forget.
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 2: My name is Arena Orlov. I'm Russian and before me
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 2: and my family moved to the US, we used to
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 2: live in Russia. I lived there for thirteen years of
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 2: my life. To be exact, I loved every second of
• 1:21:47
  Speaker 2: it because before I was nine years old, I already
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 2: knew how to fly. My grandparents were trappees artists, so
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 2: were my parents, and I remember when I turned eight
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 2: my father said.
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: To me, do you want to fly?
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 2: And with a huge smile on my face, I said yes.
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 2: My dad taught me everything there was to know about
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 2: being a trapeze artist, and before I was nine, I
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 2: was swinging through the air. At the time, we worked
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 2: for a popular circus called Volkov's Show. I basically grew
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 2: up at the circus, and I considered everyone there to
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 2: be my family, from the jugglers to the magicians, the
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 2: animal trainers, the strong men, the typewrote walkers, basically each
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 2: and every one of them. We talked together, ate together,
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 2: and lived together. I didn't have any siblings, and neither
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 2: did I have aunts or uncles, so it always felt
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 2: like they were my huge extended family. And while all
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 2: this was great, not everyone was close with each other.
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 2: Our ring master, mister Volkov, didn't really associate with us,
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 2: as he always had this superior aura and rude demeanor.
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 2: Cared about was the number of people who showed up
• 1:23:02
  Speaker 2: to the shows and the amount of money he made.
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 2: I didn't like him very much, as something seemed off
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 2: about him, but things were still pretty fine because, as
• 1:23:13
  Speaker 2: I said earlier, he really didn't talk to or associate
• 1:23:16
  Speaker 2: with any of us. Well, with the exception of the clowns,
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 2: our circus had so many amazing acts, as we had
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 2: an animal trainer who handled lions and elephants, an incredible
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 2: typewrote walker who performed his act with no safety net,
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 2: and my family spectacular trapeze routine. But deep down we
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 2: all knew that the main attractions were the clowns. Now,
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 2: our clowns weren't gestured day to day normal clowns, as
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 2: the act they performed seemed humanly impossible. I can remember
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 2: the first time I saw them perform. Their act always
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 2: started out with a really small wooden car, and I
• 1:23:57
  Speaker 2: would watch these two clowns bend their bones to levels
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 2: that didn't seem human. They would start by bending their
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 2: faces all the way into their ribs while wrapping their
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 2: arms around themselves. They would then proceed to hop into
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 2: the extremely small wooden car, a car that wasn't physically
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 2: capable of fitting two grown men. I didn't know how
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 2: they always did it, but they always managed to repeat
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 2: and deliver the same jaw dropping performance every night that
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 2: we had a show. I remember as a kid, I
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 2: thought their arms were prosthetics because of how they dangled
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 2: beside their bodies. They always looked like they weren't fully
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 2: attached to their shoulders, But being backstage with them, I
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 2: knew this wasn't the case, as they still used their
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 2: hands to do other things, so it was clear that
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 2: their arms were real. Due to the mind blowing ways
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 2: these clowns folded their bodies and bent in ways that
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 2: weren't human. They were constantly the stars of the show,
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 2: and while they were magnificent while performing, it was a
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 2: totally different thing when the show was over. Clowns didn't
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 2: really associate with the rest of us, as they always
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 2: stigmatized themselves. They never spoke to anyone, not even to
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 2: each other, and the only person they spoke to was
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 2: mister Volkov, as he always called them into his office
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 2: an hour before the show. Living with them for some
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 2: time made me realize that they always looked sad, sick
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 2: and dead inside, which was weird. As they were meant
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 2: to be clowns. Their behavior wasn't the only weird thing
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 2: about them, as something even weirder always happened. Remember when
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 2: I said earlier that the people at the circus were
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 2: like my family. One of the reasons for that was
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 2: because I grew up around them. Most of them had
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 2: always been at the circus and were hardly replaced. Galina,
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 2: the typewrope walker, had been with us since I was five,
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 2: and so were our jugglers and our animal handlers. But
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 2: it was a totally different story when it came to
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 2: the clowns, as they were always replaced on a monthly basis.
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 2: I had known like twelve clowns since I had been
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 2: at the circus. No one knew what happened to the
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 2: other clowns or where they went. Normally, most of our
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 2: clowns only performed for three or four shows before completely disappearing.
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 2: So many clowns had come and gone that I couldn't
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 2: remember most of their names, but the ones who were
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 2: currently working with us were called Dmitri and Entree. Now
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 2: our circus performed every two weeks on the Saturday of
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 2: the second week, to be exact, and I remember the
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 2: last week leading up to our upcoming performance, my dad
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 2: was talking about how he'd found a job in the
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 2: US and how we were making plans to move. I
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 2: was really sad about leaving the circus, so I decided
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 2: to make my final performance spectacular, and after weeks of prepping,
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 2: the day had finally come. The lights and tints were set,
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 2: and we had a huge audience. I was ready to
• 1:26:54
  Speaker 2: give it my all that night, but fifteen minutes before
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 2: our performance began, my dad said to.
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 1: Me me, laid Nadya, we are missing a hoop. I'll
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: need you to run to the storage trailer and get it.
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 2: I really didn't like going to the storage trailer because
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 2: it smelt really bad and rancid in there, but it
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 2: was our last performance, so I gladly agreed, saying sure, Dad,
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 2: before running to the storage trailer to get an extra hoop.
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 2: On my way to the storage trailer, I saw our clowns,
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 2: Dmitri and Andre walking to mister Volkov's office. As a kid,
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 2: my mind began to wonder what they always spoke about
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 2: before every show, but I knew I had to get
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 2: the hoop, so I shook off the thoughts and continued
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 2: to the storage trailer. After some minutes, I finally got there,
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 2: and somehow the rents that smell had become even worse.
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 2: I didn't want to stay there long, so I quickly
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 2: grabbed the hoop and left. On my way back, I
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 2: saw the door to mister Volkov's office was slightly open
• 1:27:55
  Speaker 2: and no one was around as they were all about
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 2: to perform. I don't know why I did this. I'm
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 2: guessing it was just my inquisitive childhood nature, but I
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 2: went to the door and peeked in because I really
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 2: wanted to know what they always did before the show,
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 2: and what I saw scarred me for life. Both Dmitri
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 2: and Andrei were tied to long poles. They were gagged and
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 2: two long ropes were tied to each of their wrists.
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 2: Only their torsos were tied to the pole, as both
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 2: their arms were free. Then I saw mister Volkov walk
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 2: up to Dmitri. He picked up the rope that was
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 2: tied to Dmitri's wrist and.
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: Said, no bitching about this time. Our audience is huge,
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: so suck it.
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 2: Up, and with that he began to pull Dmitri's arm
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 2: with all his might. I could hear Dmitri's muffled screams
• 1:28:49
  Speaker 2: as mister Volkov pulled his arm like he wanted to
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 2: tear it off his body. And after a while of
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 2: the extreme pulling, I heard a loud pop sound as
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 2: I saw Dmitri's arm get pulled out of its socket.
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 2: His left arm was now dangling like a noodle and
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 2: with no hesitation. Mister Volkov then proceeded to do the
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 2: same thing to his right arm, and this time it
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 2: didn't take long before Dmitri's right arm was also pulled
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 2: out of its socket. When he was done with Dmitri,
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 2: mister Volkov proceeded to do the exact same thing to Andrea.
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 2: While he was pulling at Andre's arms, I noticed that
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 2: Andrea wasn't screaming. It was as if he had become
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 2: accustomed to the pain, and just like the first time,
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 2: after a while, I heard the same pop sound I
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 2: heard when Dmitri's arms were pulled out of their sockets,
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 2: and as I looked at Andre's arms, I realized that
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 2: they too were dangling like noodles. When he was done,
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 2: he then tied them and ushered them to a table.
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 2: They laid on their backs with their gag still on
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 2: as mister Volkov went to get a hammer and chisel.
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 2: He placed the end of the chisel on the base
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 2: of Dmitri's and with no hesitation, he brought the hammer
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 2: down on the chisel. I heard a horrific cracking noise,
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 2: and I instantly knew that one of his ribs was broken.
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 2: Dmitri began to writhe in pain as mister Volkov held
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 2: him down, saying.
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 1: Don't move or you'll puncture your lungs. I said, no
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 1: bitching above these night I just have to break. Dream more,
• 1:30:28
  Speaker 1: Just dream more, so you'll be able to fit like
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: a glove in that little wooden car.
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 2: I watched him break Dmitri's and Andre's ribs. I didn't scream.
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 2: I just watched him as he put those men in
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 2: excruciating pain. When they were done, I was too scared
• 1:30:47
  Speaker 2: to move as my traumatized brain couldn't handle the morbid
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 2: scene I had just witnessed. They began to walk to
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 2: the door, and I still couldn't run or move as
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 2: the overwhelming fear had transfixed me. But I knew if
• 1:31:01
  Speaker 2: I didn't do something soon, they would open the door
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 2: and see me there. But no matter how hard I tried,
• 1:31:08
  Speaker 2: my body just didn't obey me. Luckily, a few seconds
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 2: before they opened the door, my father's voice pulled me
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 2: back to my senses as he.
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 1: Shouted, Arena, where are you? This show is about to start.
• 1:31:24
  Speaker 2: Once I heard his voice, I ran to him, and
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 2: when I finally reached him, I couldn't take it any
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 2: more as I immediately started crying. My dad then asked,
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 2: what is it's, sweetheart, and as I was about to speak,
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 2: I heard mister Volkov's.
• 1:31:39
  Speaker 1: Voice gather around people, this show is about to start.
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 2: Scared, I quickly closed my mouth as I watched mister
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 2: Volkoff walk up to me and my dad, with Dmitri
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 2: and Andre right behind him. He took one look at
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 2: me and.
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 1: Said, what's wrong with your bride? My father then replied,
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: she's probably just said that this is our last performance
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: at the second, sir.
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 2: He sneered at me before quickly retorting with.
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: Then do the act without her. We can't have a
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 1: going out like that. It's not like anyone's coming to
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: see her. It's my prized clowns. They're all coming to see.
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: This is why I hate.
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 2: Children, And with that he stormed off. When he was gone.
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 2: My dad hugged me and said.
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: He's okay, Irena, just enjoyed the show.
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 2: He then sat me on a backstage chair before leaving
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 2: to go meet my mother. The show was great, but
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 2: I cried through it all. And after everyone was done,
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 2: it was time for the clown's grand performance. As they
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 2: began to wow the crowd with their bone bending and
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 2: body folding feet, I felt sick to my stomach because
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 2: I knew how they were able to do all these things,
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 2: and the magic that once surrounded these performances was gone.
• 1:33:01
  Speaker 2: After they had successfully gotten in and out of the
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 2: small wooden car, the crowd gave them a standing ovation,
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 2: and right there in the middle of all those people,
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 2: Andrea dropped dead on the stage. I remember letting out
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 2: a loud scream as I was completely petrified. It took
• 1:33:17
  Speaker 2: a while for the audience to realize what was going on,
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 2: and as soon as they did, a huge panic broke out.
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 2: It didn't take long before the cops showed up, and
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 2: with one look at Andrea, they realized that this man
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 2: didn't die of natural causes. They called each and every
• 1:33:33
  Speaker 2: one of us who were his co performers for questioning,
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 2: and when they started questioning us. Mister Volkov was right
• 1:33:40
  Speaker 2: there trying to remove any suspicion, as I remember him
• 1:33:44
  Speaker 2: shouting things like.
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 1: No one did anything, that man died of natural causes.
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: Piece is an abusive power.
• 1:33:51
  Speaker 2: When they eventually called my parents in for questioning, I
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 2: was there by their side, I couldn't help myself and
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 2: I started sobbing. The policeman, who noticed this, then asked.
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: Is everything go right with your daughter?
• 1:34:06
  Speaker 2: My parents, who didn't know I was crying, then turned
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 2: to me and saw tears rolling down my cheeks. They
• 1:34:12
  Speaker 2: asked me if everything was all right, and I shook
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 2: my head while saying no. My parents then said.
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 1: If there is anything you know, Arena, you can't tell us.
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 1: We are here to support you.
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 2: At that moment, I looked to my far left and
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 2: saw Dmitri standing in the corner with mister Volkov. He
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 2: had the same sad look in his eyes as he
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 2: looked back at me, and deep down I knew he
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 2: didn't have the courage to tell the truth, so I
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 2: decided to do it for him. I told the cops
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 2: everything I saw. When I was done, they immediately called
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 2: Dmitri and told him his body was going to be
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 2: inspected by a doctor. Once they saw proof that everything
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 2: I said was true, they began to search our whole circus.
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 2: The hammer, the chisel, and the ropes were all found,
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 2: but something even more horrifying was discovered that night. Twelve
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 2: rotting bodies were found marinating in a crate in the
• 1:35:14
  Speaker 2: storage trailer as they were being taking out of the room.
• 1:35:18
  Speaker 2: They were all identified as our clowns who had been
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 2: mysteriously disappearing over the years. Mister Volkov was immediately arrested,
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 2: and as they took him away, I remember him shouting
• 1:35:30
  Speaker 2: rushing curses at me.
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 1: He said things like suka pista, she is a liar
• 1:35:38
  Speaker 1: and the nun greatful brat.
• 1:35:39
  Speaker 2: He kept on struggling as they took him away, but
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 2: when he was finally gone, I broke down in tears again.
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 2: My parents started hugging me as they tried to comfort me,
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 2: and while they were doing that, Dmitri walked up to
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 2: me with a grateful look in his eyes. He then
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 2: got on his knees and said one.
• 1:35:59
  Speaker 1: Word spasibah, thank you.
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 2: The weeks that followed were so unraveling. As everything came
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 2: to light, it was revealed that mister Volkov hired illegal
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 2: immigrants to work as his clowns. Dmitri, who was one
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 2: of them, said that he was invited to the circus
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 2: under the lure of a good job. He also said
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 2: that when mister Volkov finally explained what he wanted him
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 2: to do, he said no, but mister Volkov threatened to
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 2: report him to the authorities if he didn't agree. He
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 2: also went into detail about what was done to him,
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 2: as he said the four ribs at the base of
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 2: his rib page were constantly broken, as mister Volkov said
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 2: this was to allow him to bury his face deep
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 2: into his stomach when he folded. He also revealed that
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 2: his arms were repeatedly pulled out of their sockets, which
• 1:36:51
  Speaker 2: is why they dangled like that. Apparently this is also
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 2: done so he could easily wrap them around his body
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 2: without restrictions from the joint. And also came out that
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 2: mister Volkov was the one who killed all twelve clowns,
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 2: as he was responsible for the continuous breaking of their
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 2: bones every two weeks before they could heal completely, in
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 2: addition to the numerous punctured organs. The case became a
• 1:37:16
  Speaker 2: huge scandal and I was really sad that. My time
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 2: at the circus ended like that, but by the following
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 2: week I was already bidding them goodbye as I was
• 1:37:25
  Speaker 2: on my way to the United States. I'm currently thirty
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 2: one now, and every time I see a clown, either
• 1:37:33
  Speaker 2: at a kid's birthday party or an occasion, I always
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 2: walk up to them and give them a hug. They
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 2: always get confused when I do this, and when asked,
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 2: I always tell them even clowns need people to make
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 2: them happy. I would like to think I'm an accomplished woman.
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 2: I was able to buy my first home at just
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 2: twenty five years old. It's nothing big and fancy, but
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 2: it's just me and I lived comfortably in it. Moving
• 1:38:03
  Speaker 2: into the suburbs, my parents gave me a housewarming party
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 2: and their gift to me was a doorbell dash cam.
• 1:38:10
  Speaker 1: You can't be too careful these days, Thanks.
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 2: Dad, I was wanting one of these. I hugged my
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 2: parents and we enjoyed the rest of the party. The
• 1:38:19
  Speaker 2: next day, my dad came by to help me install it.
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 2: After that, I started working into my new daily routine
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 2: now that I lived in the suburbs. I went running
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 2: in the mornings instead of hitting the treadmill at my
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 2: apartment complex. I loved sprinting in the fresh air every
• 1:38:35
  Speaker 2: morning before work. It always woke me up for the
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 2: day and gave me a good dose of serotonin. One morning,
• 1:38:42
  Speaker 2: I returned home from my run and turned on the
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 2: shower when my phone pinged. It was a notification from
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 2: my doorbell camera. I picked up my phone and looked
• 1:38:50
  Speaker 2: at the live footage. It was seven a m. So
• 1:38:53
  Speaker 2: the sun was barely coming up, but a dark shadow
• 1:38:57
  Speaker 2: was lurking outside my front door. My porch light was
• 1:39:01
  Speaker 2: connected to my Amazon Echo, so I was able to
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 2: turn it on from where I was Alexa turn on
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 2: the porch light. The porch light turned on, and whoever
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 2: was at my door began to run away before I
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 2: could make them out. I shrugged, thinking whoever it was
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 2: might have been some doorted or salesman. I took my
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 2: shower and went to work. The next morning, I got
• 1:39:22
  Speaker 2: up to go running a little earlier than usual, so
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 2: I took advantage and ran an extra couple of miles
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 2: and went down a path that I don't normally go,
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 2: but it looked well lit, so I figured it would
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 2: be safe. While running on this path, I came across
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 2: a mobile home that looked abandoned. Though I couldn't see anyone,
• 1:39:40
  Speaker 2: I felt as though the windows of the trailer were
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 2: watching me. I decided to go home once I found
• 1:39:45
  Speaker 2: the clearing. Despite heading back to the safety of my
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 2: usual route, I still felt as though someone was watching me,
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 2: and it made me uncomfortable. I got home safely and
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 2: locked the door behind me. My phone pinged as I
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 2: was getting ready for my shower. I went to look
• 1:40:03
  Speaker 2: at the camera footage. What I saw made my stomach drop.
• 1:40:09
  Speaker 2: Gazing straight into the camera was a man with eyes
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 2: that were unnaturally far apart and a grin bigger than
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 2: the chest Shire pat himself. I watched, paralyzed with fear,
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 2: as he went to the window in the living room
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 2: and busted it open. I snapped out of my paralysis
• 1:40:28
  Speaker 2: and made a mad dash for my bathroom and locked
• 1:40:30
  Speaker 2: myself inside. I didn't hesitate to call the police.
• 1:40:35
  Speaker 1: Nine one one, What is your emergency?
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 2: There's a man inside my house. I gave them my
• 1:40:42
  Speaker 2: address and they arrived within minutes, but the intruder was gone.
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 2: I gave my statement and they informed me that all
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 2: they could do was keep an eye out for him
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 2: and to call them immediately if I see him. I
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 2: was freaked out and then able to wipe the image
• 1:40:57
  Speaker 2: of that man's face from my mind. I don't know
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 2: who he was or what he wanted. Was he the
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 2: same man that my porch light chased away? And I
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 2: had to go stay at my parents house for a
• 1:41:08
  Speaker 2: few days, and my dad helped me replace the window
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 2: that was broken. One night, I was having dinner with
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 2: my parents and a news report showed up on the television.
• 1:41:18
  Speaker 2: His picture from my camera was displayed on the television screen. Suddenly,
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 2: someone was knocking on the door. My mom got up
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 2: to answer it, and the gunshot sounded before she dropped dad.
• 1:41:30
  Speaker 2: My dad stood up and was shot before he could
• 1:41:33
  Speaker 2: come between myself and this man. I looked at him.
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 2: He had the same expression on his face, those eyes
• 1:41:41
  Speaker 2: that were miles apart, looking in different directions, that smile,
• 1:41:47
  Speaker 2: that horrific, eerie smile. He said nothing, just tilted his
• 1:41:53
  Speaker 2: head to the left, slowly to the right, and took
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 2: small steps toward me. My heart began to pound violently
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 2: through my chest. The fear I felt inside I was
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 2: positive it would kill me. I had heard of dying affright,
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 2: and I never thought fear could actually take a person
• 1:42:15
  Speaker 2: down until that night. As if he couldn't appear any
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 2: more unnatural, his face began to distort, as though it
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 2: was melting.
• 1:42:26
  Speaker 1: Are you afraid of me, Jessica? How?
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 2: How do you know my name?
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: That's what you're worried about.
• 1:42:34
  Speaker 2: I tried to take a step back, but it's as
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 2: though my legs are made of lead. I looked at him,
• 1:42:40
  Speaker 2: wanting to ask what he wants, yet I can't speak anymore.
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 2: Why did you break into my house? Why did you
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 2: look into my camera like that? What do you want
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 2: from me? He just keeps getting closer and closer. Suddenly
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 2: he starts to growl, like a demon in a horror movie.
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 2: His body twitches and writhes as he's brought down to
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 2: his hands and knees. He suddenly crossed towards me at
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 2: an unnatural speed, and I'm trapped where I stand. I
• 1:43:15
  Speaker 2: feel a sharp pain, and then my eyes open. I
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 2: woke up in the guest bedroom at my parents house,
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 2: drenched in cold sweat. I rushed to my parents room
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 2: and found them asleep in their bed. I was only
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 2: supposed to stay a couple of days, but it's been
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 2: weeks now, I don't know when I'll feel safe again.
• 1:43:36
  Speaker 2: I went back to bed and replayed the photos my
• 1:43:39
  Speaker 2: camera took. I had submitted them to the police the
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 2: night he broke in. I know the logical thing to
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 2: do would be to delete the pictures, but the problem
• 1:43:50
  Speaker 2: is police haven't found him yet, and even though I
• 1:43:54
  Speaker 2: couldn't possibly forget his face, I don't want to forget
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 2: what he looks like should he show up again. I
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 2: keep them as a reminder to stay out of unknown territory.
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 2: It's not confirmed, but something in my gut tells me
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 2: that he followed me home that day and was the
• 1:44:13
  Speaker 2: pair of eyes I felt watching me from that trailer.
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 2: No one knows who he is, but to the police
• 1:44:21
  Speaker 2: he's known as Smile.
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 3: Being a bartender is good. You know, you get generous tips.
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 3: You have to work at night, which means you get
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 3: the full day to yourself.
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 2: It's perfect.
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 3: You can have a job and a life without compromising
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 3: one for the other. This is a blessing if you
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 3: are a single mom like me. I never really considered
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 3: a nine to five, despite qualifying for one. Bartending just
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 3: suited me more. But what happened yesterday made me rethink
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 3: my decisions altogether. It started as any other normal day.
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 3: I woke up and had breakfast with my four year old,
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 3: got him ready for preschool, dropped him off, and then
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 3: got to the grocery, cleaned our room, cooked lunch and dinner,
• 1:45:08
  Speaker 3: and had lunch, did the chores and relaxed a bit,
• 1:45:12
  Speaker 3: got my kid back from school, helped them with his homework,
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 3: and then around seven pm, dressed to go to work.
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 3: I usually drive my car to the bar where I bartend.
• 1:45:21
  Speaker 3: It's a big place, so we have reserved parking areas
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 3: for the staff. The shift that day was not at
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 3: all hectic, as it was a Tuesday, and apart from
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 3: a few regulars, there were hardly any new faces around.
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 3: I loved my job, but being a single mom in
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 3: her early twenties also means a lot of guys hit
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 3: on you. I usually ignore them and my current priority
• 1:45:44
  Speaker 3: is my kid. But for the past three months or so,
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 3: there is this one guy looks like he's in his
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 3: late twenties, looks good, probably rich. As he visits the
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 3: bar almost regularly. He sits on the corner table were
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 3: hardly anyone can see him. But the worst part is
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 3: he keeps staring at me. It creeped me out when
• 1:46:06
  Speaker 3: I noticed it. At first, I tried ignoring him, but
• 1:46:09
  Speaker 3: he didn't stop coming. Day after day he came around
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 3: nine in the evening and nursed his drink until we closed.
• 1:46:18
  Speaker 3: I tried talking to the manager about it, but since
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 3: the guy had never approached me or done anything to me,
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 3: the manager couldn't help. Plus, he was a regular, meaning
• 1:46:28
  Speaker 3: he was a good asset to the bar. As the
• 1:46:31
  Speaker 3: months passed, I just got used to a stare. I
• 1:46:34
  Speaker 3: did my shift, cleaned up the bar, and left every
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 3: night at around one am. My home was about a
• 1:46:40
  Speaker 3: twenty minute drive away from the bar, so having a
• 1:46:42
  Speaker 3: car was a must. Although I kept my cool around
• 1:46:46
  Speaker 3: this creepy guy, I always had a feeling that he
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 3: wanted to do something bad to me, as if he
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 3: was waiting for the right moment. Call it my intuition,
• 1:46:57
  Speaker 3: six sense, or lady instinct, but I I always looked
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 3: over my shoulder whenever I left the bar. The good
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 3: thing was I never saw him anywhere other than the bar,
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 3: so even though I was careful, I never truly understood
• 1:47:12
  Speaker 3: the gravity of my situation. Plus, having a toddler running
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 3: around the house gives you no time to worry about
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 3: anything else. So that night, after the shift, I was
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 3: hurrying back to my car, not really paying attention to
• 1:47:25
  Speaker 3: my surroundings. To my surprise, that creepy guy had left
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 3: an hour before our closing. Usually he waited till the
• 1:47:33
  Speaker 3: manager asked him to leave, but little did I know.
• 1:47:38
  Speaker 3: When I reached my car, I got into it and
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 3: tried to start it, but it wouldn't. I won't blame
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 3: the car, as it was an old model, but luckily
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 3: I was prepared for such a situation. I popped the
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 3: hood open and got around to check what was wrong.
• 1:47:53
  Speaker 3: My tank was full and everything in the engine looked
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 3: fine to me, so I tried to restart it, but
• 1:47:59
  Speaker 3: it was I didn't start. I walked back to the bar,
• 1:48:02
  Speaker 3: hoping to catch someone who hadn't left already, but the
• 1:48:05
  Speaker 3: bar was closed, indicating everyone was off to their homes.
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 3: I had no choice but to look for a cab.
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 3: I started walking towards my home. The roads were deserted,
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 3: and once in a while a huge truck or a
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 3: car would pass by me. I must have looked stupid
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 3: in the waiters uniform, walking home all alone at night,
• 1:48:25
  Speaker 3: but all I could think about was a warm shower
• 1:48:28
  Speaker 3: in the comfort of my soft bed. My son was
• 1:48:31
  Speaker 3: usually fast asleep when I got home, but I still
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 3: longed to kiss him good night. While I was walking
• 1:48:37
  Speaker 3: on the sidewalk, lost in my thoughts, suddenly a car
• 1:48:40
  Speaker 3: slowed down beside me, and the driver hawk twice to
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 3: get my attention. My immediate thought was that he must
• 1:48:47
  Speaker 3: have thought I'm a prostitute or a drug addict, so
• 1:48:50
  Speaker 3: I tried to ignore the man and speed walk towards
• 1:48:53
  Speaker 3: my home. I was scared, and I knew my home
• 1:48:56
  Speaker 3: was far away from where I was, and this man
• 1:48:58
  Speaker 3: could do anything to me if you wanted to. The
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 3: guy still drove his car slowly beside me and kept
• 1:49:05
  Speaker 3: honking once in a while to get my attention. He
• 1:49:09
  Speaker 3: was trying to say something, but I was so focused
• 1:49:11
  Speaker 3: on walking that I did not hear a word. Suddenly,
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 3: he yelled so loud that I had to stop in
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 3: my track and look at him.
• 1:49:20
  Speaker 1: He said, miss, I know this is scary for you,
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 1: and I know you don't know me. You must be
• 1:49:29
  Speaker 1: thinking that I'm some type of stalker, murderer, or rapist,
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 1: but I'm not, I assure you, and you have to
• 1:49:37
  Speaker 1: trust me when I say this, you were in danger.
• 1:49:41
  Speaker 1: You need to get in my car right now. I
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 1: will explain everything when you get in. I'm trying to
• 1:49:47
  Speaker 1: help you, hear Miss, Please don't misunderstand me. Just get
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 1: in a car. We don't have time.
• 1:49:54
  Speaker 3: Getting into a stranger's car all alone is the worst
• 1:49:57
  Speaker 3: possible mistake alone woman can ma. So no way was
• 1:50:02
  Speaker 3: I getting into this man's car. I kept walking without
• 1:50:05
  Speaker 3: saying a word, but the stubborn man did not give up.
• 1:50:10
  Speaker 3: He was practically pleading with me to get in his
• 1:50:12
  Speaker 3: car For the next few minutes. He drove beside me
• 1:50:16
  Speaker 3: and kept on asking me to get in. I knew
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 3: it was unlike me to jump into a stranger's car,
• 1:50:21
  Speaker 3: but something in his voice convinced me to call it
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 3: sixth sense or lady instinct. As soon as I got
• 1:50:30
  Speaker 3: into his car, he locked all the doors and closed
• 1:50:33
  Speaker 3: all the windows. This scared me, but he just gave
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 3: me one of those nice, genuine smiles that eased me
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 3: a bit. I sat there clutching my purse as a
• 1:50:43
  Speaker 3: man stared at the car. He looked around frantically as
• 1:50:47
  Speaker 3: if someone was following us. When we finally drove a
• 1:50:50
  Speaker 3: few yards, He said, hello.
• 1:50:53
  Speaker 1: Miss Hi Mike, and I know you're scared, but he
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 1: needs to listen to me. I'm no threat you, and
• 1:51:00
  Speaker 1: I mean you no harm. I live in this town
• 1:51:03
  Speaker 1: and I work in a restaurant as a chef a
• 1:51:05
  Speaker 1: few blocks away from where I saw you. It was
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 1: a busy day to day we had an event, so
• 1:51:10
  Speaker 1: I left work late. I was driving by when I
• 1:51:13
  Speaker 1: saw a man and a clown costume walking on the sidewalk.
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: He had a long butcher knife in his hand, and
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 1: he was walking straight in your direction.
• 1:51:22
  Speaker 3: Listening to him say those words cracked the ground beneath
• 1:51:25
  Speaker 3: my feet, Mike continued.
• 1:51:27
  Speaker 1: When I drove past him and saw you down the road,
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 1: I knew he was going to harm you. I couldn't
• 1:51:34
  Speaker 1: let the crazy looking clown hurt you, so I had
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 1: to somehow convince you to get in the car.
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 2: He was right.
• 1:51:41
  Speaker 3: I had to inform the police about this clown. You
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 3: never know if he was really a killer or a prankster,
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 3: whatever the case. The police had to get involved, so
• 1:51:51
  Speaker 3: I called the cops and reported the situation, then thanked
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 3: Mike for his help. Mike asked me where I lived
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 3: and offered to drop me off home. I gave him
• 1:52:00
  Speaker 3: my address, and before I knew it, I was showered
• 1:52:03
  Speaker 3: and in my bed snoring. The next day, I was
• 1:52:06
  Speaker 3: not in the mood to get up early as my
• 1:52:08
  Speaker 3: son had the day off too, but there was a
• 1:52:11
  Speaker 3: loud knock on my door, so I was forced out
• 1:52:13
  Speaker 3: of my bed. When I opened the door, two cops
• 1:52:16
  Speaker 3: were standing in front of me. I was confused and
• 1:52:19
  Speaker 3: did not know what was going on. The cops entered
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 3: my home and asked me to take a seat. They
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 3: asked if I seen the latest news. No, officers, As
• 1:52:29
  Speaker 3: you can see, I just woke up, so I did
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 3: not see the news today. They exchanged a look and
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 3: one of the officers said.
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 1: Are you Angela Lawson? Were you the one who reported
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: the clown last night?
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 3: Well, yes, it was me. Can you please explain what
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 3: is going on. I'm so confused right now, I exclaimed.
• 1:52:51
  Speaker 1: The cop explained, Miss Lawson, you have no idea how
• 1:52:55
  Speaker 1: lucky you are. You should thank the person who saved
• 1:52:58
  Speaker 1: you last night. The clown you reported is a serial
• 1:53:02
  Speaker 1: killer known as the Butcher Clown. He has been targeting
• 1:53:05
  Speaker 1: women working the night shift for a year now. He
• 1:53:09
  Speaker 1: has reportedly killed thirteen women in a span of one year,
• 1:53:12
  Speaker 1: and he stalks the victims before he kills them. If
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 1: you had not gotten in the car and left, you
• 1:53:17
  Speaker 1: would not be alive to see a new day.
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 3: This shook me to my core. I was terrified and
• 1:53:23
  Speaker 3: happy at the same time that the killer was caught.
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 3: But before I could say anything, the cops presented me
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 3: with a few pictures.
• 1:53:31
  Speaker 1: These are some of the many images we found from
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 1: the clown's apartment. He was stalking you for a while,
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: Lennard planning this murder for almost three months.
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 3: There were photos of me all over my table, me
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 3: in the bar, me in the parking lot, me with
• 1:53:47
  Speaker 3: my son, me in my own living room, me dropping
• 1:53:51
  Speaker 3: off my kid to school, me running errands and whatnot.
• 1:53:55
  Speaker 3: I was rendered speechless. When did he click all these
• 1:53:59
  Speaker 3: and how did I not notice? I asked the cops.
• 1:54:02
  Speaker 1: As we said, miss Lawson, he was stalking you for
• 1:54:05
  Speaker 1: a couple months. You could take your time to process
• 1:54:08
  Speaker 1: all of this, but this Saturday, could you please visit
• 1:54:11
  Speaker 1: the station to identify the guy, as you are the
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: only victim of the butcher clown who has survived.
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 3: I was relieved and scared at the same time. I
• 1:54:20
  Speaker 3: agreed to visit the station and decided to take a
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 3: few days off from my job. The news channels were
• 1:54:26
  Speaker 3: constantly broadcasting the capture of the Butcher clown, and all
• 1:54:31
  Speaker 3: my thoughts about the identity of the killer were resolved
• 1:54:34
  Speaker 3: when the picture of the creepy guy from the bar
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 3: was displayed on screen to be none other than the
• 1:54:39
  Speaker 3: Butcher clown.
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 1: Hi guys, my name is Greg. I'm a nightclub security guard,
• 1:54:45
  Speaker 1: so you can imagine that I'm used to dealing with
• 1:54:47
  Speaker 1: very strange and dangerous situations. Right, Well, you're right. What
• 1:54:52
  Speaker 1: you wouldn't imagine is that the strangest and most dangerous
• 1:54:55
  Speaker 1: situation of my life. I wouldn't experience it in a nightclub,
• 1:54:59
  Speaker 1: but in my own home. That night, I was coming
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 1: home from work. As it was a weekday, the club
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 1: closed a little earlier, and luckily for me, as there
• 1:55:09
  Speaker 1: were very few people, my boss let me leave an
• 1:55:11
  Speaker 1: hour earlier. The drive home was a short one. As
• 1:55:15
  Speaker 1: I drove back, I wondered what it would have for
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 1: dinner and how many hours I could sleep. I arrived
• 1:55:21
  Speaker 1: home and started to park my car, but something caught
• 1:55:24
  Speaker 1: my attention. A shadow was moving in the bushes reacting
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 1: to my every move, waiting for me to move. I
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 1: grabbed a piece of metal I kept in the car
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 1: in case they wanted to rob me, and headed towards
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 1: the bush. Every second every step I took I could
• 1:55:39
  Speaker 1: feel the anticipation coursing through my body. I was scared.
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 1: At the club, I faced drunk or homeless guys, but
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 1: here I didn't know what I might encounter. I faced
• 1:55:51
  Speaker 1: the bush, moved the leaves with the iron, and to
• 1:55:54
  Speaker 1: my surprise, there was absolutely no one there. I knew
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 1: that my brain hadn't played any tricks on me. A
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 1: few minutes ago, someone was in that bush, but as
• 1:56:04
  Speaker 1: I grabbed my iron, he probably ran away in fear.
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 1: It must have been a teenager playing a prank or
• 1:56:10
  Speaker 1: the neighbor's kids. Calmed down, I closed the garage door
• 1:56:14
  Speaker 1: and went home after eating and getting ready for bed.
• 1:56:18
  Speaker 1: I was very curious about that person in the bushes,
• 1:56:21
  Speaker 1: so I checked the cameras at my front door to
• 1:56:23
  Speaker 1: see if they found anyone, and to my surprise, I
• 1:56:26
  Speaker 1: found much more than I expected. Before I arrived, a
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 1: clown with a machete was walking around the front of
• 1:56:33
  Speaker 1: my house, passing by the front door and seeing if
• 1:56:35
  Speaker 1: he saw anyone. Surely it was the same clown who
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 1: had been hiding in the bushes. Terrified, I dropped my
• 1:56:42
  Speaker 1: glass of water, and even though it hit my foot,
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: I couldn't feel anything. I was terrified, terrified of the
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 1: idea that this man had been so close to my
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 1: family and maybe would have come in if my boss
• 1:56:55
  Speaker 1: had and let me leave early from work. I was
• 1:56:58
  Speaker 1: still afraid that this man dressed as a clown will
• 1:57:00
  Speaker 1: return during the night. So I went to my car
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 1: and got the metal rod I had used earlier to
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: inspect the bushes. Before I left, I had left it
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 1: in the car while I locked the garage. I got
• 1:57:11
  Speaker 1: into the car again, but something strange had happened. The
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 1: wand was gone. I looked under the steering wheel to
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 1: no avail, and when I looked at the back of
• 1:57:20
  Speaker 1: the car, a shadow came out of the darkness and
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 1: grabbed my head with both hands. It was the clown
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 1: from before. I used all my strength to escape, but
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 1: it was useless. This man's strength was so great that
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 1: not even a man as trained as me could do
• 1:57:35
  Speaker 1: anything about it. The clown kept pulling me deeper and
• 1:57:38
  Speaker 1: deeper into the darkness. To who knows what to me
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 1: until we both heard my wife's voice, Honey, where are you.
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 1: At the sound of her voice, the clown came out
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 1: of the darkness and leaned out, still clutching me, but
• 1:57:51
  Speaker 1: looking in the direction of my wife's voice. Don't you dare,
• 1:57:55
  Speaker 1: I said, still struggling. In response to what I said,
• 1:57:59
  Speaker 1: the clown gave me a big smile, and with all
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 1: his strength, he slammed my head three times against the
• 1:58:04
  Speaker 1: steering wheel of the car and got out of the
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 1: car in the direction of my wife. I tried to
• 1:58:09
  Speaker 1: follow one, but after a few steps I fell to
• 1:58:12
  Speaker 1: the ground dizzy. Those blows to the head had taken
• 1:58:15
  Speaker 1: effect on me, and I was losing a lot of blood.
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 1: Who are you? Get away from me? No, no, no,
• 1:58:24
  Speaker 1: don't hurt her. You want me. My wife's scream made
• 1:58:28
  Speaker 1: me gather my strength and get up one more time.
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: I walked as best I could in the direction of
• 1:58:33
  Speaker 1: the screens, and when I managed to get there, there
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: was no one there, but the basement door was open.
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 1: I walked a few steps and looked out. At the
• 1:58:42
  Speaker 1: bottom of the stairs was my wife. Her arm was
• 1:58:45
  Speaker 1: broken and she was at a pool of blood, not
• 1:58:47
  Speaker 1: moving no. I couldn't regret what happened to my wife.
• 1:58:53
  Speaker 1: When suddenly the clown appeared out of nowhere behind me
• 1:58:56
  Speaker 1: and pushed me down the stairs. The fall was very hard,
• 1:59:00
  Speaker 1: but harder was to fall on the corpse of my wife,
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 1: who was no longer breathing. In the meantime, I heard
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 1: footsteps coming from upstairs. It was the clown walking up
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: the stairs leading to my children's room. With no time
• 1:59:16
  Speaker 1: to grieve, I climbed the stairs with a broken leg,
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: full of pain. Each step felt like an eternity. I
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 1: was very dizzy and losing a lot of blood. When
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: I got out of the basement, I started to climb
• 1:59:28
  Speaker 1: the stairs to the boy's room, until suddenly I heard
• 1:59:31
  Speaker 1: the sound of a gunshot. I made even more effort
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 1: to get upstairs, and when I saw my children's door,
• 1:59:39
  Speaker 1: it was closed, but blood was coming out from under
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: the door. I kept walking to confront the clown, expecting
• 1:59:47
  Speaker 1: to meet the worst. If my children were still alive,
• 1:59:51
  Speaker 1: what could I do? The clown was armed, and I
• 1:59:54
  Speaker 1: was a dizzy man with a broken leg about to
• 1:59:56
  Speaker 1: pass out from all the blood he had lost. I
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: didn't care what, but I had to do something. I
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 1: tried to approach the door, but it opened. The clown
• 2:00:07
  Speaker 1: on the other side came out in a rage and
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 1: started to choke me. I tried to pull him out,
• 2:00:12
  Speaker 1: but I had no strength. Every second that the clown
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 1: choked me, I got less and less tight. The clown
• 2:00:18
  Speaker 1: was getting weaker and weaker, until he gave up and
• 2:00:21
  Speaker 1: fell to the ground. Confused, I looked down. The clown
• 2:00:25
  Speaker 1: had a huge hole in his body. Running out of energy,
• 2:00:29
  Speaker 1: I fell to the ground and watched as my two
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 1: sons ran towards me, trying to wake me up. When
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 1: I woke the next day, I was in the hospital
• 2:00:40
  Speaker 1: from the sound of the gun. Some neighbors came to
• 2:00:43
  Speaker 1: my house and found me on the floor. They took
• 2:00:45
  Speaker 1: me to the hospital right away. If they hadn't, I
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be alive today. The police came to see me
• 2:00:52
  Speaker 1: at the hospital and told me everything that happened. The
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 1: clown was trying to grab my youngest son from under
• 2:00:58
  Speaker 1: the bed. My oldest son, who was hiding in the closet,
• 2:01:02
  Speaker 1: saw down the stairs what the clown did to his mother,
• 2:01:05
  Speaker 1: ran to my room and grabbed my gun. As the
• 2:01:08
  Speaker 1: clown was about to grab his brother. He shot him wounded.
• 2:01:12
  Speaker 1: The clown left the room and found me while my
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: son went running after his brother. It was very convenient
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 1: that as a child I taught him to shoot, even
• 2:01:20
  Speaker 1: though I didn't know he knew where my gun was.
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 1: I can't be mad. It saved his life, his brothers
• 2:01:28
  Speaker 1: and mine. Unfortunately, my wife was not so fortunate. She
• 2:01:35
  Speaker 1: died instantly from an impact to the head as she
• 2:01:38
  Speaker 1: fell down the stairs. The wake was sad and tragic.
• 2:01:43
  Speaker 1: It was never known what the clown wanted, but from
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: what the police told me, my family was the first
• 2:01:49
  Speaker 1: to survive his ruthless attacks. Since that day, my son
• 2:01:54
  Speaker 1: and I started therapy. We can't recover from what happened
• 2:01:58
  Speaker 1: that night. After that, our lives will never be the same. Hey, guys,
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: my name is Shane, and even though I have a
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 1: boring office job these days, I will never forget my
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 1: time working at Huddle House. I must admit I wasn't
• 2:02:15
  Speaker 1: there for that long. It was only a year, but
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 1: that year was unforgettable. My co workers and my bosses
• 2:02:22
  Speaker 1: treated me well. The staff was generally nice, and the
• 2:02:25
  Speaker 1: food was delicious. Unfortunately, my experience did not end on
• 2:02:29
  Speaker 1: a good note, as I didn't leave to find a
• 2:02:32
  Speaker 1: better job or to go on vacation, as I had
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 1: originally planned. My experience at Huddle House ended because I
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 1: experienced the worst night of my life, a night in which,
• 2:02:41
  Speaker 1: almost without reason, I was close to being the victim
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 1: of a bloodthirsty serial killer. It all started on my
• 2:02:49
  Speaker 1: night shift. I was serving all the customers as usual.
• 2:02:52
  Speaker 1: The line was a bit long, but it was moving fast.
• 2:02:55
  Speaker 1: Customers were choosing their food very quickly and paying in
• 2:02:58
  Speaker 1: cash since it was so busy. The night flew by,
• 2:03:01
  Speaker 1: and even though my shift was almost over, I felt
• 2:03:04
  Speaker 1: like I had just come in. Everything was going more
• 2:03:07
  Speaker 1: than excellent, until a face on the table began to
• 2:03:09
  Speaker 1: catch my attention, a face that stood out from the rest,
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 1: but for the wrong reasons. The man's face was imposing,
• 2:03:17
  Speaker 1: full of scars and with some burns. His eyes were
• 2:03:21
  Speaker 1: full of anger, and I could see how this was
• 2:03:23
  Speaker 1: accompanied by his lips, which he was biting with impatience.
• 2:03:27
  Speaker 1: The queue was moving fast, but the man could not
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 1: catch up, so furious, he pushed the people in the
• 2:03:32
  Speaker 1: queue and took second place to the person I was serving.
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 1: All the customers pretended to say something to him, but
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: when they saw his terrifying face. They all chickened out
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 1: and let him pass. When he got to the line,
• 2:03:43
  Speaker 1: he impatiently began to order his food. Other employees might
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 1: wait on him and let him get away with it
• 2:03:49
  Speaker 1: to avoid trouble, but this was not my case. I
• 2:03:53
  Speaker 1: was not going to let him abuse the rest of
• 2:03:55
  Speaker 1: the customers and get his food first. Sir, I will
• 2:03:59
  Speaker 1: not serve you until you return to your place in
• 2:04:01
  Speaker 1: line and respect it. What what I said, sir, Let
• 2:04:06
  Speaker 1: the next one through and get back to your place.
• 2:04:09
  Speaker 1: The look on this man's face as he heard my
• 2:04:11
  Speaker 1: words was indescribable. His eyes were even more filled with
• 2:04:16
  Speaker 1: anger than before, but directed at me. This man had
• 2:04:19
  Speaker 1: a killer look in his eyes. And even though I
• 2:04:21
  Speaker 1: don't remember very clearly today, I can swear that I
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 1: even saw a little foam coming out of his mouth.
• 2:04:28
  Speaker 1: Who the hell do you think you are to tell
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 1: me to get back in line? All these people let
• 2:04:33
  Speaker 1: me pass in good faith. He turned around and looked
• 2:04:37
  Speaker 1: at the people, shouting, right, or didn't you all let
• 2:04:40
  Speaker 1: me through? They all bowed their hands, but no one responded.
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 1: See they all agreed, give me my food before I
• 2:04:49
  Speaker 1: make you agree too. Was this man threatening me in
• 2:04:52
  Speaker 1: the middle of the restaurant, with all the security at
• 2:04:55
  Speaker 1: the door and my coworkers nearby, I wasn't going to
• 2:04:59
  Speaker 1: let a customer walk. I knew he couldn't hurt me
• 2:05:02
  Speaker 1: since I knew martial arts. Sir, I'm done talking with you.
• 2:05:07
  Speaker 1: What did you say, you little scum? Do you dare
• 2:05:10
  Speaker 1: disrespect me? You a damn huddle house employee? Furious, the
• 2:05:16
  Speaker 1: man left the line and came after me, throwing a
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 1: punch from a distance that I quickly dodged. I decided
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 1: to use my training in action and quickly stopped him.
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: My companions were terrified, and security was coming as fast
• 2:05:28
  Speaker 1: as they could, but people were laughing loudly filming what
• 2:05:31
  Speaker 1: was happening while I caught the man with my arms.
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 1: A few seconds later, security arrived along with others and employees,
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 1: grabbed the man and began to carry him away. As
• 2:05:40
  Speaker 1: they did so, the man could only look at me,
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 1: and more furious than ever, he screamed at me, Oh,
• 2:05:46
  Speaker 1: never forgive you for this humiliation. You and all the
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 1: people you love will pay for it. I will kill
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: you all you will regret making a fool of me.
• 2:05:56
  Speaker 1: I will destroy your life took him out of the restaurant.
• 2:06:01
  Speaker 1: I couldn't help but feel a cold chill run down
• 2:06:03
  Speaker 1: my back. In the fight, I overpowered this man completely,
• 2:06:07
  Speaker 1: but there was no way of knowing what he was
• 2:06:09
  Speaker 1: capable of. His threats were terrifying, but worst of all,
• 2:06:14
  Speaker 1: they sounded real. For the next few days, I went
• 2:06:17
  Speaker 1: to work with some fear. Every time I went in,
• 2:06:20
  Speaker 1: I looked everywhere. Sometimes I felt that a strange car
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 1: was following me, but I attributed it all to my imagination.
• 2:06:28
  Speaker 1: Surely everything he said to me was the result of
• 2:06:30
  Speaker 1: the anger of the moment, and when he calmed down,
• 2:06:33
  Speaker 1: the man decided that it was not worth trying to
• 2:06:35
  Speaker 1: get revenge on me, especially when he had everything to lose.
• 2:06:39
  Speaker 1: Time passed and I felt calmer. Everything was better until
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 1: one night, the night my life changed. I came home
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 1: from work and normally my wife and two daughters were
• 2:06:51
  Speaker 1: waiting for me to eat. When I walked in, the
• 2:06:54
  Speaker 1: door was open and there was no one in the
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 1: dining room. I went to the kitchen and to my surprise,
• 2:07:00
  Speaker 1: was also empty. Something strange was happening. I looked around
• 2:07:05
  Speaker 1: the house to no avail, and just as I was
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 1: about to give up. I went upstairs and into my
• 2:07:10
  Speaker 1: daughter's room. As I entered, I gasped in terror at
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 1: what I was seeing. My daughters and my wife were
• 2:07:17
  Speaker 1: on the other side of the room, stuck to the window.
• 2:07:20
  Speaker 1: The three of them were tied up and holding my wife.
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 1: The man with whom I had fought so many days
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 1: before was staring at me, full of anger, but with
• 2:07:28
  Speaker 1: a big smile on his face. Girls, Look who's home?
• 2:07:33
  Speaker 1: The brave father, defender of the defenseless people in line
• 2:07:37
  Speaker 1: at a damn fast food restaurant. What what's going on here?
• 2:07:43
  Speaker 1: I went running in his direction, but suddenly the man
• 2:07:46
  Speaker 1: pulled out a knife and put it to my wife's neck.
• 2:07:48
  Speaker 1: Dare to take one more step than I'll cut her
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 1: open like a fish. Dear friend, what the hell do
• 2:07:55
  Speaker 1: you want? You can take all our stuff, take everything,
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 1: just don't hurt them. Do you think this is a robbery,
• 2:08:03
  Speaker 1: This is not theft, this is vengeance? Or didn't I
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 1: tell you that I would hurt you in all your
• 2:08:09
  Speaker 1: loved ones that day? You made a fool of me.
• 2:08:12
  Speaker 1: Nobody makes a fool of me. I'll make sure you
• 2:08:16
  Speaker 1: regret it for the little time you have left alive.
• 2:08:19
  Speaker 1: As soon as he finished saying his words, I gathered
• 2:08:21
  Speaker 1: all my courage and started walking towards him. This man
• 2:08:25
  Speaker 1: was a coward, a coward who kidnapped women and girls
• 2:08:28
  Speaker 1: in order to hurt people. He would never dare to
• 2:08:30
  Speaker 1: hurt them because he knew he would go to jail
• 2:08:33
  Speaker 1: or worse, I would kill him without saying another word.
• 2:08:37
  Speaker 1: I rushed toward him, but halfway the unthinkable happened. I
• 2:08:42
  Speaker 1: told you to stay away. In the coldest and cruelest way,
• 2:08:46
  Speaker 1: the man pushed my wife out of the window without warning.
• 2:08:49
  Speaker 1: I couldn't see if she was still alive, but the
• 2:08:51
  Speaker 1: way she was tied up, it was very difficult for
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 1: her to have survived, since she couldn't use her hands
• 2:08:56
  Speaker 1: to cover her vital parts. I was more furious than ever.
• 2:09:00
  Speaker 1: I wanted to kill this man. When I saw him
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 1: put a knife to the neck of one of my daughters,
• 2:09:06
  Speaker 1: I froze in place. See I told you I would
• 2:09:10
  Speaker 1: hurt them. Did you think I would chicken out and
• 2:09:13
  Speaker 1: ask for forgiveness if you came running in my direction?
• 2:09:16
  Speaker 1: But I don't think you understand your position. Neither you
• 2:09:20
  Speaker 1: nor your daughters will get out of this night alive.
• 2:09:24
  Speaker 1: Please I fell to my knees on the ground, crying,
• 2:09:29
  Speaker 1: that's more like it. With my daughter in one of
• 2:09:33
  Speaker 1: his arms and the knife in his other hand, the
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 1: man approached me, laughing. He lifted his huge feet and
• 2:09:39
  Speaker 1: put one over my head, leaving me with my mouth
• 2:09:41
  Speaker 1: on the floor. At that moment, I felt the man
• 2:09:45
  Speaker 1: use his foot to squeeze me tighter and tighter, stepping
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 1: on me like a cockroach as he laughed frantically. I
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 1: couldn't let this cycle win. I couldn't let him hurt
• 2:09:54
  Speaker 1: my daughters. But I couldn't do anything. The man stopped
• 2:09:59
  Speaker 1: stepping on my head told me to lick his boot,
• 2:10:01
  Speaker 1: to which I agreed and cried as I watched him
• 2:10:03
  Speaker 1: hold my little daughter with his huge arm. On the
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 1: other hand, I can see his knife. Be careful where
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 1: you look. One false movement. I won't try to kill you,
• 2:10:15
  Speaker 1: but your daughter. You won't have time to make me
• 2:10:17
  Speaker 1: that damn key you made me in huddle house, and
• 2:10:20
  Speaker 1: if you do, will be bathed in your daughter's blood.
• 2:10:25
  Speaker 1: While he was talking, I analyzed the situation and understood
• 2:10:28
  Speaker 1: that I could never get the knife out of his hand.
• 2:10:31
  Speaker 1: His arm was a little further back, and I could
• 2:10:33
  Speaker 1: easily see that he was holding it very tightly. He
• 2:10:36
  Speaker 1: was waiting for me to pounce and pull it out.
• 2:10:39
  Speaker 1: He wanted this to happen so he could kill my daughter.
• 2:10:42
  Speaker 1: What he didn't notice is that he paid so much
• 2:10:44
  Speaker 1: attention to the knife that he neglected my daughter's arm.
• 2:10:48
  Speaker 1: With a strong and abrupt movement, I grabbed my daughter's
• 2:10:51
  Speaker 1: feet from the ground and pulled her backward, causing her
• 2:10:53
  Speaker 1: to fall. She fell and hit the ground and hit
• 2:10:56
  Speaker 1: her head, but she was fine. At the man's bewilderment,
• 2:10:59
  Speaker 1: I stood up quickly and jumped at him, ramming him
• 2:11:01
  Speaker 1: into the window with all my might. We both fell
• 2:11:04
  Speaker 1: out of it. I opened my eyes slowly. I was
• 2:11:08
  Speaker 1: in a lot of pain and thought I had broken
• 2:11:10
  Speaker 1: my arm. But I had gotten this man out of
• 2:11:13
  Speaker 1: my house. My daughters could hide or get out. I
• 2:11:17
  Speaker 1: turned to see him, and to my terror, he had
• 2:11:20
  Speaker 1: stood up. He stood in front of me, looking at me,
• 2:11:23
  Speaker 1: more furious than ever. With his injured leg, he leaped
• 2:11:27
  Speaker 1: over to where I was, and when he got there,
• 2:11:29
  Speaker 1: he bent down and put both his hands to my neck.
• 2:11:32
  Speaker 1: I tried to defend myself, but my body hurt too much.
• 2:11:36
  Speaker 1: I was immobilized. His hands got tighter and tighter, and
• 2:11:39
  Speaker 1: I thought I was going to faint and die. My
• 2:11:42
  Speaker 1: wife was not around. Maybe she had escaped. Maybe she
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 1: could escape with the girls and survive. I began to
• 2:11:49
  Speaker 1: close my eyes, and a miracle happened. Two policemen came
• 2:11:54
  Speaker 1: out of nowhere and grabbed a man. They pulled him
• 2:11:57
  Speaker 1: back and he limped from the fall. Gave it out
• 2:12:01
  Speaker 1: of breath and confused. I closed my eyes and remembered
• 2:12:04
  Speaker 1: nothing more. A short time later, I woke up in
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 1: the hospital. A policeman arrived a few minutes later and
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 1: told me that some neighbors saw my wife fall out
• 2:12:13
  Speaker 1: of the window, tied up. They didn't dare go up
• 2:12:16
  Speaker 1: to see what was happening, but they called the police.
• 2:12:19
  Speaker 1: In the ambulance, she barely survived. She was very close
• 2:12:23
  Speaker 1: to death. The man who was arrested that night was
• 2:12:27
  Speaker 1: soon discovered to be a dangerous serial killer who was
• 2:12:29
  Speaker 1: wanted in Canada. No one ever suspected he had come
• 2:12:33
  Speaker 1: to this country. The man was deported to his home
• 2:12:36
  Speaker 1: country and sentenced to life in prison. He could no
• 2:12:39
  Speaker 1: longer harm any one. After my wife and I recovered
• 2:12:43
  Speaker 1: in time, we went to pick up our daughters at
• 2:12:45
  Speaker 1: the neighbor's house, and I decided to quit my job
• 2:12:48
  Speaker 1: at Huddle House. I would never again take a job
• 2:12:51
  Speaker 1: where I have to see other people. Many of them
• 2:12:54
  Speaker 1: may be good and kind, but for every ten hundred
• 2:12:58
  Speaker 1: or even a thousand good people, there may be a
• 2:13:01
  Speaker 1: hidden monster that can end your life and the lives
• 2:13:05
  Speaker 1: of the people you love. I am John List and
• 2:13:13
  Speaker 1: I was born on September seventeenth, nineteen twenty five, to
• 2:13:17
  Speaker 1: John F. And Alma M. My mother was thirty eight
• 2:13:21
  Speaker 1: years old and my father was sixty six. At the time,
• 2:13:25
  Speaker 1: I didn't have any full blooded siblings, but I did
• 2:13:28
  Speaker 1: have a paternal half brother and half sister. My entire
• 2:13:32
  Speaker 1: family and I were both negatively impacted by an encounter
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 1: I experience. I think there should have been sufficient research
• 2:13:40
  Speaker 1: done before moving into any home I changed for the worse.
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 1: My wife and I were celebrating moving into a new
• 2:13:48
  Speaker 1: home when we returned from our date one evening. We
• 2:13:52
  Speaker 1: had a wonderful night, and the talk was much like
• 2:13:54
  Speaker 1: when we first started dating. The food was perfect, the
• 2:13:58
  Speaker 1: wine we drank was sweet, and the conversation was just right.
• 2:14:03
  Speaker 1: I gave the way to a sizeable tip an addition
• 2:14:05
  Speaker 1: to paying the tab. We exited the establishment and climbed
• 2:14:09
  Speaker 1: into our car, beaming and giggling from the fun we had.
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 1: We pulled into our driveway and into our garage, got
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 1: out of the car and continued to talk about what
• 2:14:18
  Speaker 1: a lovely night it had been and how a nice
• 2:14:20
  Speaker 1: night of rest would complete this beautiful date. The mood
• 2:14:25
  Speaker 1: was still so warm and comforting as we were driving.
• 2:14:29
  Speaker 1: As we made our way into the house, my wife
• 2:14:31
  Speaker 1: noticed a dark, tall figure with big round eyes peeking
• 2:14:35
  Speaker 1: through the garage window at us. She froze, could not
• 2:14:39
  Speaker 1: move because she was too scared. I started chuckling and
• 2:14:42
  Speaker 1: gently put my arm around her shoulders, then proceeded to
• 2:14:45
  Speaker 1: walk her into the house. She whispered, there is something
• 2:14:50
  Speaker 1: peeking through the window at us. I continued to chuckle
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 1: a little more before answering, I know I saw it too.
• 2:14:58
  Speaker 1: As soon as I entered the home, I swiftly secured
• 2:15:01
  Speaker 1: the door that led to the garage as the kids
• 2:15:03
  Speaker 1: had come to us, signaling our return. My thirteen year
• 2:15:07
  Speaker 1: old son Frederick responded no, but my fifteen year old
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 1: son and sixteen year old daughter Patricia related their experiences.
• 2:15:16
  Speaker 1: When we asked if they had been on the lookout
• 2:15:18
  Speaker 1: for anything weird. During our date night when we were away,
• 2:15:22
  Speaker 1: other people were playing in her room upstairs while I
• 2:15:25
  Speaker 1: was occupied watching TV. I was a little unnerved by
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 1: the mild wind that was blowing, since it made the
• 2:15:31
  Speaker 1: house creak. My attention was suddenly drawn to Patricia's room
• 2:15:35
  Speaker 1: on the second floor as a loud scream rang out.
• 2:15:38
  Speaker 1: To find out what had occurred, I hurried upstairs to
• 2:15:41
  Speaker 1: her room. As I walked in, I noticed Patricia staring
• 2:15:44
  Speaker 1: terrified out the window. What happened, Patricia, I yelled, indifferent
• 2:15:49
  Speaker 1: and unfazed. I quickly looked out the window and found
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 1: only total darkness. There was someone standing in the window
• 2:15:57
  Speaker 1: looking at me. There's nothing there, I said, before requesting.
• 2:16:02
  Speaker 1: Patricia joined me downstairs to watch TV. When I walked
• 2:16:06
  Speaker 1: to the kitchen to make some tea, I grabbed the
• 2:16:08
  Speaker 1: cups and started to rent them when I noticed a
• 2:16:11
  Speaker 1: figure staring at me from the darkness about ten meters away.
• 2:16:15
  Speaker 1: I dropped the cups and decided to run, but I
• 2:16:17
  Speaker 1: slipped and fell on the broken glass on the floor.
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 1: Patricia sat under her blanket watching TV as I made
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 1: the tea. As I struggled to stand. Three loud bangs
• 2:16:27
  Speaker 1: could be heard coming from the front entrance, and I
• 2:16:29
  Speaker 1: hastily raced there. Patricia, who was the older sister, was
• 2:16:33
  Speaker 1: supposed to be the protector, but was busy cowering under
• 2:16:36
  Speaker 1: her blanket out of fear. A dark figure of a
• 2:16:40
  Speaker 1: person standing in pitch black was staring directly at me.
• 2:16:43
  Speaker 1: As I carefully peeped up through the window of the door,
• 2:16:47
  Speaker 1: my wife and children started crying because of how scared
• 2:16:50
  Speaker 1: they were. I quickly went to comfort them. I quickly
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 1: checked around to see if the curtains were closed. Luckily
• 2:16:57
  Speaker 1: they were, because she was afraid that the big eyed,
• 2:17:00
  Speaker 1: tall figure might peep at them again. We were all terrified.
• 2:17:06
  Speaker 1: We decided to go hide in the bathroom. We instantly
• 2:17:09
  Speaker 1: froze up and glanced around, bewildered and afraid. Since the
• 2:17:13
  Speaker 1: electricity went out shortly after we reached it. The wife
• 2:17:17
  Speaker 1: softly replied, I don't know, while tightly gripping her wrist
• 2:17:22
  Speaker 1: in response to my whispered question, what the heck just happened?
• 2:17:26
  Speaker 1: We both sighed in relief as the electricity came back on,
• 2:17:30
  Speaker 1: and while we took pleasure in the fleeting victory. My
• 2:17:33
  Speaker 1: wife adds, Oh, thank God. Then all of a sudden,
• 2:17:37
  Speaker 1: the power goes out once more and the ceiling begins
• 2:17:40
  Speaker 1: to shake. We gaze up as our heads followed the sounds,
• 2:17:45
  Speaker 1: terrified and clinging to each other. In the backyard, there
• 2:17:49
  Speaker 1: was a loud thud. Now we finally realize that we
• 2:17:52
  Speaker 1: are not alone and what we saw was not a
• 2:17:55
  Speaker 1: part of our imagination. Then things got quiet. Eventually we
• 2:18:01
  Speaker 1: retired to our room to sleep. There was a brief
• 2:18:04
  Speaker 1: period of peace, after which we felt no signs of
• 2:18:07
  Speaker 1: being disturbed. We attempted to summon some courage as we
• 2:18:11
  Speaker 1: headed to bed, even though we were still shivering from fear.
• 2:18:16
  Speaker 1: I awoke while still in my bed and my eyes
• 2:18:19
  Speaker 1: were open. I attempted to move my finger in the dark,
• 2:18:23
  Speaker 1: but failed to do so. Before realizing my error, I
• 2:18:27
  Speaker 1: sensed movement in the room and depressed us. Although I
• 2:18:32
  Speaker 1: was unable to see anything, I felt there was something
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 1: and it didn't feel humor. I made an attempt to
• 2:18:41
  Speaker 1: move my body, but it appeared that gravity was now
• 2:18:44
  Speaker 1: acting more forcefully as a result, and I started to
• 2:18:47
  Speaker 1: perspire heavily. I was unable to move anything other than
• 2:18:51
  Speaker 1: my eyes. Whatever was in my chamber was unbeatable despite
• 2:18:56
  Speaker 1: my best efforts to view it. When I tried to,
• 2:19:00
  Speaker 1: nothing came out. I felt the presence at the foot
• 2:19:04
  Speaker 1: of my bed. I was able to lift my hand
• 2:19:06
  Speaker 1: after gathering my strength, but I was unable to feel anything.
• 2:19:12
  Speaker 1: When I sensed the presence getting closer to me, I
• 2:19:15
  Speaker 1: was able to get myself out of bed and begin
• 2:19:17
  Speaker 1: crawling on the floor with all the strength I could
• 2:19:19
  Speaker 1: muster in my body. The presence seemed to be following me.
• 2:19:25
  Speaker 1: I gathered more energy and continued to run quickly. I
• 2:19:29
  Speaker 1: tried calling out the names of my family, but nothing
• 2:19:32
  Speaker 1: came out of my mouth. I attempted to scream once
• 2:19:35
  Speaker 1: again as the entity entered the room and drew near
• 2:19:37
  Speaker 1: to me. Then, when I came to while still in
• 2:19:42
  Speaker 1: my bed, nothing had changed, save for the fact that
• 2:19:45
  Speaker 1: I was no longer aware of the presence. As soon
• 2:19:49
  Speaker 1: as I discovered I could move, I swiftly checked around.
• 2:19:53
  Speaker 1: Then I swiftly looked to see if my wife was
• 2:19:55
  Speaker 1: lying next to me. Being in bed with me made
• 2:19:58
  Speaker 1: me joyful. I told my family everything the following day,
• 2:20:02
  Speaker 1: but they all said it was all a dream. Every
• 2:20:06
  Speaker 1: day I made an effort to convince myself that it
• 2:20:08
  Speaker 1: was a dream, but it felt so genuine that I
• 2:20:12
  Speaker 1: am now confident it wasn't. After a few days, I
• 2:20:17
  Speaker 1: felt someone talking to me. Uncontrollable ideas started to cross
• 2:20:23
  Speaker 1: my head. These were only bad thoughts. I made an
• 2:20:27
  Speaker 1: effort to push those thoughts away, but they were just
• 2:20:31
  Speaker 1: too strong for me. Due to my severe financial issues
• 2:20:35
  Speaker 1: and the difficulty I was having providing for my family's needs,
• 2:20:40
  Speaker 1: I made the decision to go with my instinct. Even
• 2:20:44
  Speaker 1: though I was a vice president and comptroller at a
• 2:20:47
  Speaker 1: bank in Jersey City, New Jersey, I had little and
• 2:20:51
  Speaker 1: was not happy. Not only that, but my family members
• 2:20:56
  Speaker 1: were leading me away from my religious beliefs. Therefore, I
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 1: sought freedom from myself. I devotedly practiced Lutheranism and teach
• 2:21:06
  Speaker 1: Sunday school much like my father. They would be guaranteed
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 1: a spot in heaven if I killed them, I thought,
• 2:21:15
  Speaker 1: and I hoped to one day join them there. On
• 2:21:19
  Speaker 1: November ninth, nineteen seventy one, I permitted a quintupal murder.
• 2:21:25
  Speaker 1: Using a nine millimeter semi automatic handgun and a twenty
• 2:21:28
  Speaker 1: two caliber revolver, I began shooting my forty six year
• 2:21:32
  Speaker 1: old wife Helen List. I had to punch her first
• 2:21:36
  Speaker 1: and then batter her till I instantly filed. She was
• 2:21:39
  Speaker 1: bleeding badly. When she collapsed to the ground, I was shocked.
• 2:21:44
  Speaker 1: I never knew I could do such a thing. I
• 2:21:47
  Speaker 1: could smell the blood and feel it seeping under her hair.
• 2:21:51
  Speaker 1: I made another gun shot. It was really awful. Then
• 2:21:55
  Speaker 1: when I heard something pop in my year. This time
• 2:21:59
  Speaker 1: I shot my mother, my eighty four year old mother, Alma,
• 2:22:03
  Speaker 1: inside the new home, a Westfield, New Jersey, Victorian mansion
• 2:22:08
  Speaker 1: known as Breeze No. When my sixteen year old daughter Patricia,
• 2:22:12
  Speaker 1: when my thirteen year old son Frederick came home from school,
• 2:22:16
  Speaker 1: I fatally shot them as well. I then made myself lunch,
• 2:22:21
  Speaker 1: drove to a bank to close my wife's and mother's accounts,
• 2:22:25
  Speaker 1: canceled mail and milk deliveries, and notified my children's schools
• 2:22:30
  Speaker 1: that the kids would be absent for an extended period
• 2:22:32
  Speaker 1: as the family needed to care for an ailing relative
• 2:22:35
  Speaker 1: in another state. After these tasks, I went to my
• 2:22:39
  Speaker 1: fifteen year old son John's high school to watch him
• 2:22:42
  Speaker 1: play in a soccer game. He tried all his best
• 2:22:46
  Speaker 1: to fight back against me. I had to cover his
• 2:22:48
  Speaker 1: mouth to prevent him from shouting and yelling out loud.
• 2:22:52
  Speaker 1: I struggled with him while the attack was going on.
• 2:22:54
  Speaker 1: As he injured me with a pen that he brought
• 2:22:56
  Speaker 1: out of his pocket. I simply felt a sharp pain
• 2:23:00
  Speaker 1: in my chest, and then it made me release him
• 2:23:05
  Speaker 1: as he tried to run. I ultimately shot him ten
• 2:23:08
  Speaker 1: times in his face and chest. After I was done
• 2:23:12
  Speaker 1: with the killing, I was assuring myself of making heaven
• 2:23:15
  Speaker 1: as I smiled. I left my wife's body in her
• 2:23:19
  Speaker 1: attic apartment in the mansion and placed her in the
• 2:23:22
  Speaker 1: children's bodies on sleeping bags in the ballroom, and I
• 2:23:26
  Speaker 1: left music playing in the Five bodies were not discovered
• 2:23:32
  Speaker 1: until December seventh, nineteen seventy one. Reportedly, when police entered
• 2:23:38
  Speaker 1: the house, the music was still playing. The inner calm.
• 2:23:50
  Speaker 1: Now that Halloween is almost here, it's time to explore
• 2:23:53
  Speaker 1: the gloomy, spooky, and unpleasant. What other time is there
• 2:23:57
  Speaker 1: to celebrate the spookiest holiday of the year at twelve
• 2:24:00
  Speaker 1: in the morning on a frigid night. Halloween is always
• 2:24:04
  Speaker 1: associated with terror. Halloween is an occasion to celebrate the
• 2:24:08
  Speaker 1: macab Whether you go to a haunted house, dress up
• 2:24:12
  Speaker 1: as your favorite movie villain or watch a horror movie. Halloween.
• 2:24:16
  Speaker 1: Knight's ghastliness, though, is all too true for some people.
• 2:24:22
  Speaker 1: In the past, All hollows Eve has even seen a
• 2:24:25
  Speaker 1: number of violent crimes, including senseless murders and murders motivated
• 2:24:29
  Speaker 1: by passion. Since I consider some of the incidents that
• 2:24:33
  Speaker 1: occur on Halloween nights to be rumors unless I personally
• 2:24:36
  Speaker 1: have one, I don't really believe in that. I'll always
• 2:24:40
  Speaker 1: remember that day. I actually had a pretty horrific experience.
• 2:24:46
  Speaker 1: It was not something I could have ever imagined could happen.
• 2:24:51
  Speaker 1: My two other friends and I went to the market
• 2:24:53
  Speaker 1: to get the goods to manufacture candy that we would
• 2:24:55
  Speaker 1: then distribute to the kids. Children were very dear to us,
• 2:24:59
  Speaker 1: and we constantly wanted to bring them joy. We had
• 2:25:02
  Speaker 1: spent our last night handing out Halloween candy to the
• 2:25:05
  Speaker 1: kids in the neighborhood before turning in for the night.
• 2:25:07
  Speaker 1: At about eleven o'clock, I experienced a nightmare as I
• 2:25:11
  Speaker 1: was about to go to sleep. It was the most
• 2:25:14
  Speaker 1: terrifying thing I'd ever been through. In the dream, I
• 2:25:17
  Speaker 1: was walking through a location I don't remember, but the
• 2:25:20
  Speaker 1: sand there made it seem like a desert. Somehow. I
• 2:25:24
  Speaker 1: had no idea how I had gotten there, but I
• 2:25:27
  Speaker 1: knew I was lost and alone. I glanced down as
• 2:25:31
  Speaker 1: I walked, trying to find a way out, and I
• 2:25:34
  Speaker 1: saw that I was holding a machete. The blade of cold,
• 2:25:38
  Speaker 1: long steel seemed extremely sharp. Even though it was pitch black,
• 2:25:42
  Speaker 1: I could see a little. The heat was so strong
• 2:25:45
  Speaker 1: that I felt exhausted, despite the fact that I had
• 2:25:48
  Speaker 1: no idea where I was headed and was heavily perspiring,
• 2:25:52
  Speaker 1: I continued to walk. After a while, I caught a
• 2:25:55
  Speaker 1: glimpse of a dark person squatting down in the distance.
• 2:25:59
  Speaker 1: It was a hume lying in the sand, and as
• 2:26:02
  Speaker 1: I got closer, I could see that I was relieved
• 2:26:06
  Speaker 1: to meet someone else because I had been feeling really lonely.
• 2:26:10
  Speaker 1: I hurried over to the man and knelt down to
• 2:26:12
  Speaker 1: help him up. However, as soon as I turned the
• 2:26:15
  Speaker 1: man over, my stomach dropped at the sight of his face.
• 2:26:19
  Speaker 1: I was looking in the mirror, and the man had
• 2:26:22
  Speaker 1: my face in his I raised the machete above his
• 2:26:26
  Speaker 1: head and without thinking, cut the man to death. In
• 2:26:29
  Speaker 1: that instant. Because I was so overcome with dread, I
• 2:26:33
  Speaker 1: could not believe I would have done such a thing.
• 2:26:37
  Speaker 1: I dropped the weapon and horror at what I had
• 2:26:39
  Speaker 1: just done, and began to flee the area as much
• 2:26:42
  Speaker 1: as I could by racing into the desert. My feet
• 2:26:46
  Speaker 1: dug deeper into the sand with each shrivee, but I
• 2:26:48
  Speaker 1: persisted anyway. Propelled by fear and panic, I eventually lost
• 2:26:53
  Speaker 1: my balance and collapsed to the ground. I discovered that
• 2:26:57
  Speaker 1: I had sprained my ankle. As I lay in the sand,
• 2:27:00
  Speaker 1: I was unable to take another step. I was leapt
• 2:27:03
  Speaker 1: with no choice except to lay there where I had fallen.
• 2:27:07
  Speaker 1: I eventually noticed something in the distance. When I looked up,
• 2:27:11
  Speaker 1: another man's form could be seen moving toward me across
• 2:27:15
  Speaker 1: the vast desert. I waited until I could see the
• 2:27:17
  Speaker 1: man's face clearly as he drew near. To my amazement,
• 2:27:21
  Speaker 1: once more, I saw that it was a man who
• 2:27:24
  Speaker 1: looked like me, and that he was holding a razor's
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: shark machete. As soon as I woke up, I started screaming.
• 2:27:33
  Speaker 1: I heard my spectacle smash. I jumped out of bed
• 2:27:36
  Speaker 1: and went looking for cover. Oh my god, I'm done
• 2:27:39
  Speaker 1: for I don't think I'll survive. Although I could hear
• 2:27:44
  Speaker 1: someone entering the house. I could only see with my eyes,
• 2:27:47
  Speaker 1: so I had no idea who it was. God, please
• 2:27:51
  Speaker 1: be with me. I was saying a quick prayer in
• 2:27:54
  Speaker 1: my head at the time, come and rescue me. I
• 2:27:58
  Speaker 1: heard myself yell out in a sudden voice. The amount
• 2:28:01
  Speaker 1: of shouting was so loud that my ear drum came
• 2:28:03
  Speaker 1: close to bursting. I walked into the upstairs bedroom to
• 2:28:07
  Speaker 1: try and peek in and see what was going on.
• 2:28:09
  Speaker 1: When I noticed a dead body on the floor, I
• 2:28:15
  Speaker 1: recognized my friend Mazara. She was lying in a pool
• 2:28:19
  Speaker 1: of her own blood at the bottom of the stairs.
• 2:28:22
  Speaker 1: Her dead eyes were fixed on mine and seemed to
• 2:28:25
  Speaker 1: be saying something I couldn't understand. To keep the murderer
• 2:28:29
  Speaker 1: from hearing me scream, I tried to do so while
• 2:28:31
  Speaker 1: covering my lips. I abruptly heard another noise, which was
• 2:28:35
  Speaker 1: followed by a slow decrease in volume. I grew even
• 2:28:40
  Speaker 1: more terrified. I was aware that Insgna, my other companion,
• 2:28:45
  Speaker 1: was the one who had perished. I suddenly noticed the
• 2:28:48
  Speaker 1: shadow on the wall that indicated the man was moving
• 2:28:50
  Speaker 1: toward me. I was able to get out of the
• 2:28:53
  Speaker 1: house and drive away in my car. I used my
• 2:28:56
  Speaker 1: mobile phone to make a police call. Later, it was
• 2:28:59
  Speaker 1: report ordered on the news that Eric Matthew Copple, a
• 2:29:02
  Speaker 1: friend of one of the victims who also happened to
• 2:29:05
  Speaker 1: be my friend, eventually brought himself in and admitted to
• 2:29:09
  Speaker 1: the killings, though he never revealed his motivation. According to
• 2:29:14
  Speaker 1: the Napa Valley Register, Copple allegedly arrived at the victim's
• 2:29:18
  Speaker 1: home in the twenty six hundred block of Dorset Street
• 2:29:21
  Speaker 1: after midnight, smoked cigarettes outside, and broke in through the
• 2:29:24
  Speaker 1: downstairs kitchen window. According to police, Copple claimed to have
• 2:29:29
  Speaker 1: ascended the stairs and killed the two women with a knife.
• 2:29:32
  Speaker 1: Reportedly repeatedly asserted his inability to recall specifics of what
• 2:29:36
  Speaker 1: occurred to the police during their questioning that evening, he
• 2:29:39
  Speaker 1: turned himself in. The murder weapon was never located by investigators,
• 2:29:44
  Speaker 1: they claimed. Copple admitted to them that he had thrown
• 2:29:47
  Speaker 1: the knife that evening, but he couldn't recall where the
• 2:29:51
  Speaker 1: clothing he was wearing, he added, had been torched. On
• 2:29:55
  Speaker 1: January eleventh, Coppa will be given a formal sentence. The
• 2:29:59
  Speaker 1: families of the victtims will be permitted to address the
• 2:30:01
  Speaker 1: court at that time to discuss their loss and how
• 2:30:04
  Speaker 1: it has affected them. The chance for Copper to speak
• 2:30:07
  Speaker 1: will also come up in front of a court room
• 2:30:10
  Speaker 1: full of the victim's families, friends and in laws. While
• 2:30:13
  Speaker 1: wearing a black suit, a black tie and a white shirt,
• 2:30:16
  Speaker 1: Copple acknowledged killing the women upstairs in their Dorset Street house.
• 2:30:20
  Speaker 1: He also admitted to killing his wife, mother and in laws.