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24 Spine-Chilling True Horror Stories That Will Haunt You · True Horror Stories

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I have always enjoyed Father's Day.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: It was the one day of the year where I
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: could escape from the world with Dad and we could
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: just be This year, Dad chose a camping site near
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: the lake so we could go fishing at fifteen. I complained,
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: but I was pumped to go. When we got to
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: the campsite. It was magnificent tall pine trees, a glassy lake,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: and that refreshing smell of nature.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: But we weren't alone. Close to our.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Campsite was a set of two men who had set
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: up camp. They didn't seem like the normal camping type. Grimy, loud,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: and we're constantly looking in our direction.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: I saw Dad's jog.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Get tighter and tighter every time they would laugh too loud,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: or even if they overstayed their gaze and looked for
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: a little too long. After a certain time, Dad got
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: up and said, let's go find a better spot. I
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: could feel the concern in his voice, so I didn't argue.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: We packed up and moved to a different spot.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: It was closer to the highway, so we could still
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: hear the echoes of truck horns coming from a distance.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: I kind of hated the spot as I wanted to
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: go to a more secluded one. But now, when I
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: think about that day, I realized Dad had good reasons
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: to choose it. After the sun dipped below the giant trees,
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Dad and I roasted marshmallows while laughing at his terrible
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: ghost stories. We were enjoying the moment as Dad went
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: on to tell childhood memories of me. I was laughing
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: a lot when suddenly my dad raised his hand and
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: gestured me to stop. His eyes looked all alert, he
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: smiled disappeared.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: In seconds, he whispered to.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Me, Naomi, I want you to hide under the car.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: I was stunned to hear such a bizarre request. I
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: looked at him, confused and asked, what why would I
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: My dad cut me off, saying, no arguments, just do
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: as I say. I got up and started walking to
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: our car. It was parked under this big tree in darkness.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Slid under the car and began hearing footsteps coming closer.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: A few minutes later, I saw two pairs of boots
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: walking closer to my dad. I had no doubts it
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: was those two freaks from earlier. I stayed quiet and
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: watched one of them waved my dad and said having fun.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: My dad nodded with a casual smirk and asked, you
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: guys need something. The other guy responded with a creepy chuckle.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Now just came to chat with you, guys.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: Where's your daughter?
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: I could see both of their eyes scanning our campsite
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: like hawks. My dad sat down near the fire, maintaining
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: a very calm demeanor, nudging the hot burning coals into
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: the fire with a campfire poker. My dad responded, she
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: went out for a fishing. It'll be great if you
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: guys leave. The two guys exchanged a weird look, then
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: one of them started walking towards our car. My heart
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: hammered in my chest as I noticed a pair of
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: boots coming towards me. My dad got up, still holding
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: the poker in one hand, and.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Yelled, didn't I tell you to leave?
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: The other guy, who was closer to him, responded, He's
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: just gonna take a pee. Don't worry unless you have
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: something valuable in your car.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Eh. Saying this, he cracked an annoying laugh.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: The other guy stopped a few inches away from our
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: car and aimed at a bush. I could hear him
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: humming while he released himself deep down, I understood why
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Dad wanted me to hide under the car and not inside.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: The guy's probably checking the car right now, trying to
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: figure out if I'm in it. I stayed calm, kept
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: my breathing normal. Once done, he went back to my dad.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Both of the jerks wished him good night and started
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: walking away. I was smart enough to know that it'd
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: be best to wait then go back to my dad,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: because those freaks might keep an eye on us from
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: far away. And the next five minutes I watched my
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: dad work in winks. He got all of our things
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: except the tent. He didn't care for the tent, loaded
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: everything in our car, and as soon as he unlocked
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: the car door, I hopped into the passenger seat. Dad
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: made a call to the nearest police station and told
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: them about two guys following us. We didn't go home
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: from the campsite. We went straight to the police station.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: My dad was right. Those two jerks did follow us,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: only they didn't know my Dad is way smarter than them.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: The moment their car came close to the police station,
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: a cop car blocked their way. They were taken into
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: custody for following us and stalking a minor. My dad
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: didn't even flinch when the cops asked him if they
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: were the guys from the campsite. He looked them in
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: the eyes and said, you're lucky I'd brought you to
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: the cops instead of leaving your life fafless bodies buried
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: in those woods.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: I'd try to be as fearless as my dad.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: And to all the campers and wilderness lover out there,
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: always follow your instincts in the wild.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: Come on.
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: After parties are even more fun.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: When Hazel begged me to go with her, I couldn't
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: say no. It's college, after all. The seniors poured shots
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: like water. Some cute boys even flirted with me. A
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: after party continued till two am in the morning. Hazel
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: wanted me to stay back, but I slept better in
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: my own bed. Also, my dorm was just two blocks away.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: The weather was a little cold, and a thin layer
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: of fog covered the streets and fragments. I was stumbling
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: a little for obvious reasons, but not totally out. I
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: knew i'd have to walk back, so I didn't go
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: overboard with the booze. A big owl hooted from a
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: nearby tree, letting me know that I'm not the only
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: one in these empty streets. I told myself. The night
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: wasn't creep, just quiet. That was until I rounded the
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: block under the yellow glow of a flickering street light,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: I saw a woman. She was crouched low to the ground,
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: her hands pressed on the concrete like she was mimicking
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: a dog. At first glance, I thought she was just
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: some homeless person scavenging for scraps. But her sudden, jerky
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: movements felt like a calm before the storm. As I
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: got closer, I slowed down. Something was off, A reeking
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: odor was floating in the air. I rubbed my eyes
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: to see it more clearly, and I did. A mangled
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: lump of fur and flesh was lying in front of her,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: which seemed like roadkill, probably a raccoon or a cat,
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: hard to tell. Really, she wasn't picking up trash. She
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: was eating it, tearing chunks of meat with her bony
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: fingers and then shoving them into her mouth like she
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: hadn't eaten for days. The wet, slurping sounds hit me
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: before the sight fully registered strings of meat hung from
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: her lips as she chewed lips glistening with blood. Her
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: fingers dug into the carcas like claws. She was so
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: busy with her feet that she didn't even see me.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Now I wasn't drunk anymore. All my blurry visions, stumbling
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: body movement disappeared in a second. The best thing I
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: can do right now is change sides and quietly walk
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: as far as possible from this woman. So I slowly
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: crossed the road, my eyes.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Fixed on her.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: In case she sees me and chases me, I'll start running,
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: but luckily she didn't. I took off my heels so
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: I could walk as silently as possible. My eyes are
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: still on her, my heart hammered in my chest. I'd
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: never felt so scared before. He was like straight out
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: of a horror movie. I was praying to God that
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: she wouldn't notice me. But suddenly an owl flew over
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: my head from a nearby tree, and I ended up
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: screaming and shot.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: My blood froze.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Realizing what a grave mistake I just made, I slowly
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: looked at the street light where I saw her, and
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: now she was looking at me, a chunk of flesh
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: still hanging from her mouth as she shot her death stare.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: I started backing away without turning my eyes from her.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: She watched for a few seconds that felt like eternity,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: then slowly stood up. Her claw like hands were dripping
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: with blood. Her stringy hair made her appear even more scary.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: She tilted her head to her left and then screamed.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: She screamed just like me, as if it were a taunt.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: I started running after that. My breathing got heavier, and
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: the booze of my stomach was trying hard to stay in.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: I was panting and gasping for air, but I knew
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: I couldn't stop, not now, not until I reached my dorm.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: I looked back and saw the woman across the road
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: already and was now sprinkling at me. She was cackling
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: like a coyote, with her hands stretched at me.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: I didn't know why she was like that, but.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: I felt she wanted to eat my flesh as well.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: I ran and ran until I couldn't anymore. I fell
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: on the ground, but again got up. I have never
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: felt fear up so close. My body was on the
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: verge of collapsing. I stumbled one last time on the
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: ground and immediately turned back to see her inches away
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: from me. I stopped and screamed, what do you want?
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: She stopped as well. She looked me up and down,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: then laughed. Her laughter was darker than the darkest night.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Using her sharp nails, she picked something from her stained,
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: bloody teeth and flicked it at me. I collapsed on
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: the sidewalk. She clapped at me like my misery was
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: amusing to.
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: Her, then turned back and, hopping like a nine year
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: old girl, disappeared into the night.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: I woke up with a high fever in my dorm.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: The memories of picking myself up from that sidewalk and
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: walking back to my dorm will always be a blur
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: to me. I'm just happy that I'm alive. I don't
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: go out alone after dark till today. If I go
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: to a party, I stay back if it gets too late.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: I would never want to meet that woman ever again.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: As a night owl, I prefer working out late. The
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: workout and slow hiss machines, slow thumps of people softly
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: running on mats helps me clear my head. It's my
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: kind of piece. So naturally, I didn't expect anything out
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: of the ordinary when I walked into my gym at
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: nine pm that Friday. I started with waights, worked through
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: my normal circuit, and then returned to the heavy bag
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: in the back corner. That's when I noticed him, lanky, pale,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: somewhere in his mid I had seen him around, mostly
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: standing too close perched on machines.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: He never used an observer.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: He slipped in quietly and made a beeline for the
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Caffrey's machine, which also happened to face the heavy bag.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: I watched him rearrange the seat and balance his phone
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: between his legs, camera pointing directly at me. I stopped
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: mid round, sweat trickling down my back. I pulled off
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: one glove and walked.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Over, Hey, are you recording me?
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: He didn't respond.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: He tapped the screen of his phone, shoved the device
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: into his pocket, and sprinted across the gym. I watched
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: him running away upstairs. What should I do? Go to
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: the front desk? What do I have? My skin was
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: still crawling from his stair when I left my session
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: after one hour, I walked outside into sharp still air.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: I thought I was done with him. Wrong.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: There he was standing at the curb, looking like he
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: was waiting for a cab and waiting for me.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: I didn't look at him.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: I just kept walking, but after a few blocks I
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and he was
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: still there. I quickened my pace. He picked up his pace.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: I cut across two blocks and ducked into a flower shop,
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: the only store still open. I put my head down
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: behind a row of peonies and wrapped roses and tried
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: to slow my breathing. He walked inside. He paused at
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: the door, checking the place out. He took a couple
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: of steps toward the counter, like he was thinking about
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: just browsing. I slipped up quickly, heart racing. It didn't
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: stop until I got back to my apartment. I was
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: sitting on the couch in sweaty clothes, catching my breath.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: I should have called somebody, the police, the gym, but
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: what would I say. Then I realized I have left
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: my wallet and the locker my IDs in it. I
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: knew I had to go back to get it. I
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: took some peppers this time for just in case. The
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: gym was almost empty. I scanned the gym again. I
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: didn't see him. I let out a deep breath and
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: headed towards the lockers. A breath of relief washed over me.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: Once I found my wallet just where I kept it.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: I was glad he didn't try to steal it, because
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: identity theft could have created more troubles for me, and
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: people like him are capable of all the awful things.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: I trudged back through the weight room. You never know,
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: and that's when I saw him again, this time reflected
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: in the mirror right behind me. He smiled. Hey, he said, again,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: you work out a lot. I didn't say anything. I
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: just kept my angry face on. It was Christian, the
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: guy I hated from last week, and he couldn't tell.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: I was annoyed.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: You're intense.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: I like that getting scared will give him power, So
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: I kept my voice loud and clear.
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: Why are you following me?
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: His smile was stuck on his face. I'm not. We
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: just keep ending up in the same place. Isn't that magical?
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: My heart was pounding.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: No, nothing about stalking is magical.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: He tilted his head.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Pretty girls like you live for this kind of attention, right.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: I was shocked to hear how delusional this guy was.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: I clenched my keys between my fingers like claws.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: Back off.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: He stared for a moment with blank eyes.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Okay, but I'll see you around mapel and he turned
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: and walked out like it was just another night. I
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: felt frozen. How did he know my name?
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: That was it?
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: I marched to the front desk, canceled my membership, and
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: walked out without looking back. By midnight, I had signed
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: up at a different gym across town only during the day, crowded,
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: well lit, safe. Some people would say.
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: Speak up, report him, don't be a victim.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: That those people are not walking home alone at night.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Those people have not been followed, watched, or filmed. So yes,
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: I did what I had to do. I survived. And
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: if you're reading this, be careful watch your back because
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: creeps do not always hide. Sometimes they smile. I personally
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: felt weird about clowns, but dressing up o'ronald McDonald's paid
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: me while handling fake smiles and balloons all day to
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: the kids. I barely got time to sit or even
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: go to the washroom that night, So when it was
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: just ten minutes before closing and the restaurant had emptied,
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: I quickly rushed to release myself. Once I came back,
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: the cashier told me a woman was looking for me.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: I thought it would be just another parent waiting to
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: pose their kid with a hideous looking clown. I asked
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: the cashier where the woman they pointing at the exit.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: A frail, middle aged woman was standing outside the McDonald's.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: She was looking at the sky with a smile on
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: her face, and I walked up to her and asked, ma'am,
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: you were looking for me.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: She slowly looked.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: Down and we made eye contact. In that very moment,
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: a rush of discomfort flowed down my spine. I don't
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: know why, but the woman's stare gave me the creeps.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: She blinked twice, then.
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: Said, my son, she wanted a photo with you. He
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: just loves Ronald.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: I looked around, awkwardly, smiling. So where is he?
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: She thought for a second, then asked who your son, ma'am.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: A pale sadness dawned at her.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: He's sick. Can you come with me? He's waiting for you.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: I felt bad for judging her too quick.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Poor woman must have left the sick kid at home
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: promising a picture with me.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: Seeing me quiet, she spoke again, I'll I'll pay.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: You if you see my son and click a photo with.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Any other time I would have done this for free,
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: but at that moment, I too needed the money bad,
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: so I happily agreed. I went back into the McDonald's,
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: got my money from the manager, and started following the
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: woman to her house. On the way, I thought she
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: would explain what's going on with her son, but surprisingly
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: the entire time she didn't even mention the kid once.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: She just kept walking ahead of me quietly.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: I guess she was already worried about her life, so
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: I didn't bother with any more questions either. As we
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: walked houses past us, streets that led to those houses
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: went away, but we didn't stop. I wanted to ask
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: her where we were going, but again I hesitated. After
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: walking for fifteen minutes straight, we left the suburbs and
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: got onto a narrow, dusty road. I was getting really confused,
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: so finally I asked her, how far is your house?
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: She stopped, suddenly turned back and looked at me like
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: I had said something stupid.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: Well, why would I take it to my house, she.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Said, with confusion on her face, to see your kid?
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: You said, your son? She didn't let me finish.
• 18:12
  Speaker 6: Oh, no, my son is not at home. He is
• 18:15
  Speaker 6: waiting for us at the cemetery.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: The nonchalant tone of her voice sent a shiver down
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: my spine.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: What the hell is going on? Where is she taking me?
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: I asked her why her son is at the cemetery,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: but she didn't reply anymore, just kept walking. A hint
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: of shady business alerted my mind. But then I thought,
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: I'm six foot tall, weighing one hundred and seventy pounds.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: On the other hand, this woman as thin as a twig.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: What harm could she do me? Also, she said she's
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: going to pay, so let's see what she's up to.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: We did stop outside a cemetery. Pushing the rusty, creaking git,
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: she took me to a child's grave. That's when the
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: truth hit me. Her son is already dead. Pointing at
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: an epitaph that read, our beloved Michael sleeps here in peace.
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: Go ahead, tell him a joke, he will laugh.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Her wide, with doll like eyes fixed on me, was
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: waiting for me to follow her instructions. No matter how
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: creepy it was, I could fathom the underlying grief and
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: her stare. I played along, not for the money, rather
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: to provide some comfort to this mother grieving for her
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: lost child. I told the lame joke and for a
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: second the silence of the graveyard prevailed, and then I
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: heard a chuckle.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: A chuckle of a child. It's right to say.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: I was on the verge of having a heart attack
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: when I heard the chuckle again, but then realized it was.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Her eyeing at the grave. The woman was laughing like
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: a kid.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: This continued for probably a few seconds, but it felt
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: like eternity standing in a graveyard with a deranged woman
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: in front of her child's grave. There I was creepy ass.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Ronald McDonald felt less scary at that moment. I couldn't
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: play along anymore. I turned around and started walking. I
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: didn't run, because if that woman chased me, I definitely
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: would have had a heart attack.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: I walked faster and faster. She screamed from behind.
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: Wait, Michael wants a picture with you.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Wait.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: I could see her following me, but she was physically weak,
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: hence couldn't match my pace. She kept pleading with me
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: to come back, but I didn't. That was the last
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: time I took the gig to dress as Ronald. I
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: feared the woman would come again the next day, asking
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: me to go back to the grave of her dead son.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Because every kid wanted to click picture.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: With Ronald McDonald's I've been teaching yoga for more than
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: ten years, which is long enough to see the different
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: types of students, the mindful regulars, the fitness fanatics, the
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: spiritual seekers, and even the ones who don't come for
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: yoga at all.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: This happened last.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Week in one of my morning sessions. I welcomed my
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: new group of students while leading them to their mats.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: But when I looked around the room, I paused for
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: a second. One of my regulars was back, and it
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: worried me. It was a man in his late forties
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: and he always sat in the front row. He had
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: thick eyebrows, grayish hair, and eyes that never blinked. For
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: the past few weeks he had been coming to my classes.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: He had never missed a single one of them. He
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: avoided interacting with anyone. He just unrolled his mat, sat
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: down in the front row, and stared at me the
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: whole time. He focused not on the poses or his breathing,
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: but on me. At first, I used to tell myself
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: I was being too paranoid. He might have just been
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: one of those people who really care about yoga. But
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: slowly I realized that that wasn't the case. I started
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: the session, and I could feel his gaze moving over
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: me like a spotlight. From doing the downward dog to
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: the warrior poses. His eyes never left me even for
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: a second. I was feeling awful and disgusted by his behavior,
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: but still made it through the session.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: I didn't want to make a scene or go overboard that.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: After the class was over and everyone was leaving, I
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: went straight to the studio manager. I pointed at him
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: without him noticing, and said, do.
• 22:34
  Speaker 6: You see that guy walking out, the one on the
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: gray shirt. He has been acting strangely for the past
• 22:40
  Speaker 6: few days. His constant watching during my sessions makes me
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: feel very uncomfortable.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: The manager's smile went away.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: He carefully noticed the man and said, we'll talk to
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: him next time, I promise.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: I nodded in relief and thanked him.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: The sun was already starting to set when I left
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: the studio. I'd barked my car next to the fence
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: on the side lot. I was halfway there getting my
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: keys out of my back when I heard someone behind me.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: I turned around and my stomach dropped. He was that
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: creepy yoga student again. Hi Ava, he said, his voice
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: too soft yet full of menace.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: You always look so calm when you teach. I didn't
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: say anything.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: I went to the driver's side, but he stepped in
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: front of me and blocked the door. He leaned in
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: and said, I think we have a connection. Every time
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: I see you, I feel close to you. When you
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: talk in class, it feels like you're only talking to me.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: The way he spoke, with a grin and twitching eyes
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: hinted he's a complete psycho. I still kept my calm
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: and said strictly, I have.
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: No interest in you, so move away right now.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: His smile contorted into hate. You don't mean that you
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: have always been looking at me. I was stunned to
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: hear his level of delusion.
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: No, I haven't stepped back.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: He didn't. Instead, he moved closer to me.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: His clothes smelled like sour sweat that gripped my keys harder.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: He reached out as if he were going to touch
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: my shoulder, and that's when I saw headlights across the
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: parking lot. A different car was coming in, taking this
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: opportunity of not being alone anymore in the parking lot
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: with this creep. I started yelling, not a polite little scream,
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: a scream that came from deep inside me and sounded
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: like a survival instinct. The man's eyes got bigger. He
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: slowly stepped back, saying stop screaming. You're gonna make me
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: look like a bad guy. But I didn't stop. He
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: sprinted as soon as the person in the other car
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: parked and ran over to me.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Are you all right?
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: I shook my head and nodded, Call the police. The
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: police got there after the man had left, but the
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: studio had records. It was easy for them to find him.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: He was kicked out right away. I even filed a
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: restraining order because I don't believe in second chances. And
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: I still teach. I still help people with breath work,
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: balance and finding in her peace. However, I now always
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: lock the doors of my car. I part close to
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: the entrance Before every class, I look at the front row,
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: and sometimes I jump when I feel someone's eyes on
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: me for too long. People think you're safe when you're
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: a yoga teacher. You're in a peaceful place and everything
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: is calm. But the truth is predators don't always hang
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: out in dark alleys. Sometimes they're sitting cross like it
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: in the front row with their hands in prayer, watching
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: and waiting.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Father's Day always hits hard for me.
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: Social media is crowded with perfect family pictures and people
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: honoring the memories I'm jealous of and can't relate to.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: For me, it's always been just Dad in me, and
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: it still is. He's sixty five now and lives in
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: Pinewood care Home with dementia pulling at the edges of
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: his mind. Some days he remembers me, other days he's
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: just a polite stranger in a suit. On Father's Day,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: I drove to the care home to pick him up.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: The care home staff were helping Dad to get in
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: the car when Nurse Ira came to me.
• 26:29
  Speaker 6: Um Clara, you should know your father's daily routines. I've
• 26:33
  Speaker 6: altered since he got diagnosed with dementia. Often at night
• 26:37
  Speaker 6: he wakes up and I frowned and asked and.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: As if she covered some hidden truth. Nurse Ira replied, I.
• 26:47
  Speaker 6: Would suggest you take one of our helpers with you.
• 26:50
  Speaker 6: It's a free service and handling a patient.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Alone and I didn't let her finish.
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: The patient is my dad, and no thanks.
• 26:58
  Speaker 6: I can't take care of him for the next forty
• 27:00
  Speaker 6: eight hours after all, How hard can it be saying this?
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: I got into the car with my dad buckled up
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: right beside me. I looked at Nurse Ira one last time,
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: and she smiled awkwardly.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: The drive home was calm.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: Dad was staring at the streets with his curious eyes.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: After a long time, he had stepped outside the care home.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: When we reached my apartment, I took him to the
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: guest room, which I decorated with a flower vase and
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: fresh linens on the bed just for him. He sat
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: down in the bed, looked at the ceiling and then said, Clara,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: I'm hungry. Tears of joy rolled down my cheek. It's
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: been a while since my dad called me by my name.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: I rushed to the kitchen and made sandwiches for both
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: of us. The next few hours went like a dream.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: We both ate together, laughed, and recalled some distant memories
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: from my childhood.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: It was great to see Dad being dad.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: After dinner, I asked him if he would like to
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: watch a movie, and he agreed. We both lay down
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: on the couch in the living room and began watching
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: The Lion King.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Well.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: I was watching Dad how his face changed in excitement
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: seeing the movie. I guess I was quite tired, Hence
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: I don't remember falling asleep. I woke up with a
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: weird silence. The movie has ended. The screen has paused
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: in the credits. I looked beside me, and my dad
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: wasn't there. My heart skipped a beat.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: I called out, Dad, Dad.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: My apartment was in complete silence. I got up from
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: the couch to look for him. Next to the living room.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: There's a dimly lit corridor. My bedroom is at the
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: end of it. I stood in front of the corridor,
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: My back was facing the other end of it.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: I called out.
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: Again, Dad, where are you?
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: Just then I felt someone run behind me, chuckling. Turning back,
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: I saw no one. I switched on the corridor light
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: and found my bedroom door half a jar. I tiptoed
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: to the bedroom, trying not to spook Dad if he's inside.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: But as I stepped in, I was left dumbfounded and
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: horrified at the same time.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: My dad has opened the big window of my room.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: Half of his body was already out as he leaned
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: down looking at the streets.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: My voice shook as I called out to him, this.
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: Time, Yud, you need to step back.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: He slowly rotated his head to look my way. His
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: face was different. He didn't look like my dad at all.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: A scary smile was spread across his face, and his
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: eyes were bloodshot. You should jump, he said in a
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: chilling voice. Terror numbed my veins.
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: What what are you saying?
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: Dad?
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: Tears welled up in my eyes. He then backed up
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: and started walking towards me. He was walking slowly, like
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: a baby trying to learn how to walk.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: You should joke, I can push you, he chuckled.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: I don't know why I was stepping back because it
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: was my dad having the worst episode, but I was
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: horrified to witness it. I understood why Nurse Ira warned
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: me in the morning. My phone was thankfully in my pocket.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: I took it out and dialed the care home. Once
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: I informed them to come to my address, my dad stopped.
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: His face changed from smiling to hatred. You want to
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: send me back to that cage, he screamed, and then
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: started bashing his head on the wall. I watched in
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: horror as he screamed and continued this madness.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: My body froze in trauma.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: I couldn't move until the blood rushed in That's when
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: it hit me.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: My dad's not well.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: He'll never be I sprinted at him and grabbed by
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: the shoulders. Thankfully I was stronger than him. I pulled
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: him away and he fainted. When the caregivers took him
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: into the ambulance, and I was crying like a nine
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: year old standing on the sidewalk, Nurse Ira hugged me,
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: and I cried even more. A worst feeling in the
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: world is to see your loved ones on the decline.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: I don't think I'll ever feel excited about Father's Day again.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: I arrived at elevation on a crisp morning, the air
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: thin and cool. At the top of the mountain, the
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: retreat was serene, eerily so nestled far away from the world,
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: as if it were built to be isolated.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: Far from prying eyes.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: A perfect escape, I thought, when the trolling on my
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: body positive posts had gotten unbearable. I was Margo, the
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: influencer who preached self love. Yet here I was standing
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: at the gates of a place promising to change my
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: life a week of transformation. They said it sounded too
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: good to be true, but I had to try. It
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: was remote, sterile, like a Lugeria Asylum. A staff all
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: in white uniforms greeted me with bland smiles, and I
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: was assigned a number.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: No name.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: That felt wrong, but I couldn't shape the feeling that
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: this was what I had been looking for.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: On my first day, I met the others, a.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: Group of plus sized influencers, all struggling with the same thing, image, weight,
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: public expectations. There was Kira, a sweet and anxious woman
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: who couldn't seem to relax, and then there was Tanya,
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: who kept a forced smile on her face, as if
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: she were afraid of being outed. We were all here
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: for the same thing, an intense program of fasting, mindfulness,
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: and metabolic conditioning. The food was tasteless protein bars, and
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: the water was metallic, leaving a strange aftertaste. The worst
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: part we were under surveillance at all times for our safety,
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: they said. I shrugged off the unease. This was what
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: I had come for. Ight. I posted my selfies to
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: maintain the same inspiring image for my fans. I wrote
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: under photo day three at elevation detoxing like crazy, hashtag
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: transformation journey. But it wasn't long before I started noticing
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: the cracks the strange behavior of the staff, the cold,
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: clinical atmosphere. Kira pulled me aside one night after dinner,
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: her eyes wide with fear.
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: People have been disappearing.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: Did you notice, she whispered. I laughed it off, saying.
• 33:30
  Speaker 6: Their sun home early. The ones who can't hit their
• 33:33
  Speaker 6: weight loss milestones.
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: The next morning, I saw a woman crying during away
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: in her face twisted in despair. The following day, her
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: room was scrubbed clean, as if she had never been there.
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: The unknees grew in my chest. The nights became worse.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: Every morning I woke up groggy, dizzy, as if I
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: hadn't slept at all. One day, I found a needle
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: mark on my arm, hidden beneath the sleeve of my pajamas.
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: I asked the staff, but they brushed it off as
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: a routine hydration support. Something wasn't right, and my instinct
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: screamed at me to leave, but I didn't know how.
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: One night, during curfew, I hid in a cleaning closet,
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: desperate for answers.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: I watched two staff.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: Members unload boxes labeled Protein Supply Human Flavor. The logo
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: matched the retreat's private brand of protein bars. I felt
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: my stomach twist, the realization hitting.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Me like a wave.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: Are they feeding us protein bars made of human meat?
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: The next night, I broke into a locked storage room
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: with Kira. What we found chilled me to my core.
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: Sealed packages of protein bars, each labeled with a batch
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: code and a photo ID attached. One of the photos
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: was of the woman who had cried during the weigh in.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: She was gone, processed into a bar.
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: Kira screamed, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: the photos. We were being used. The ones who failed
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: weren't really sent home. They were killed, rendered, processed into
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: the very bars we were eating. Before we could escape,
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: we were caught. Doctor Reins, the founder of Elevation, emerged
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: from the shadows. He was gaunt, his body a stark
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: contrast to the morbidly obese man he once was. His
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: eyes gleamed with something twisted and sinister. Fat is the disease,
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: he said, his voice cold and calm. You influencers spread it,
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: but now you nourished change. He didn't need to say more.
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: I knew what was coming next. I woke up to
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: the sound of humming machines, my body heavy and unresponsive.
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: Kira lay unconscious beside me. I realized we were drugged,
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: but maybe I was too fat. Oh go down with
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: one dose. My mind started racing. I took a quick
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: scan of the room and realized it up like a
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: surgery cabin. All the medical instruments were lying on the
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: table right beside the bed. As one of the handlers
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: walked past, I grabbed a scalpel from then hurriedly stabbed
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: him in the neck. Blood sprayed all over my face
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: and body, but I didn't have time to think. I
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: dragged Kira with me through the dark halls, the sounds
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: of alarms blaring.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: In the distance.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: We made it to the exit, somehow, barefoot, terrified but free.
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: I didn't stop running until I reached the road.
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: A week later, I was back online, hailed as a survivor.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: I couldn't talk about what had happened, not without risking
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: my life. But the NDAs and mental trauma excuse worked perfectly.
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: My follower count skyrocketed and Elevation's protein bars flew off
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: the shelves, selling out nationwide. But something was off, or
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: maybe I'm just overthinking. Looking back, I shouldn't have said
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: yes to that after party. It was just another Friday night,
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: many people crammed into Jamie's garage with loud music, cheap booze,
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: and dumb games. We were riding that post high school
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: senior year feeling where every night felt legendary. Then somewhere
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: between bad beer and worst choices, Jamie said, dude, let's
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: keep this going. Your parents are gone right, And before
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: I knew it, my house was officially after party two
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: point zero.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: It wasn't a big deal.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: My parents were out for the weekend, and the only
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: other person in the house was my baby's sister, Ruthie.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: She was seven and I figured she was asleep by now.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: Everyone promised they'd stay in the basement and lie low.
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: What could go wrong. By eleven, half of the senior
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: class was in my basement. Music was down low, drinks
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: were flowing, and some sounded like they were even laughing.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: Somewhere in there was Fred. Now.
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: Fred wasn't what you would call a regular at parties.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: He was kind of loner, always a little quiet, and
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: always straggling along the edge of conversations, like he was
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: just grateful to be invited.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: I didn't even remember inviting him.
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: But there he was, pale, greasy haired, Fred clenching a
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: solo cup like it was saving his life. No one
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: cared when he suddenly said I gotta go.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: Something came up.
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: No one thought much of it. But once he left,
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: Jamie asked who invited Fred? Everyone exchanged looks. That guy's
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: such a creep mark at it, shivering dramatically.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: He probably just followed the crowd here. We laughed it off.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: The music got turned back on, and in no time
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: Fred was a distant memory. At least that's what I
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: thought about. Half an hour later, I headed up the
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: stairs to get some more beers from the kitchen when
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: I saw Ruthie standing on the stairs. Her little fists
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: white knuckled on the railing and her eyes were big
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: with fear. Ruth why are you up? It's late.
• 39:01
  Speaker 4: There's a monster in my closet.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: She whispered. I chuckled, A monster. Huh?
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: You know those aren't real, right, But she didn't laugh.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: She looked like she was going to cry. Okay, okay,
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: I sighed, let's go check it out. Brave night, Kenneth
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: is going to slay the closet monster. She held my
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: hand all the way back to her room. The hallway
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: felt weirdly cold. Must have been my imagination. When we
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: got to her door, she froze in there, she said,
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: pointing to the closet. I rolled my eyes, attempting to
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: keep things light. All right, here we go, No such.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: I opened the closet door. Ruthie screamed, and my blood
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: turned to ice. Crouched amidst Ruthie's stuffed animals, clutching an
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: underwear and his sweaty fist, Fred was sitting there.
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: His eyes were wide, fairal, like a cornered rat. What
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: the hell?
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: Fred footsteps hammered up the stairs. My friends poured down
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: the hallway breathless. Then they saw him. Jamie's face turned
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: to disgust. Mark looked like he was about to puke.
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: Fred didn't move. We pulled him out of the closet,
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: with Ruthie crying behind me. My hands were trembling with rage.
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: I wanted to punch him. I wanted to take his
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: space and put it in the mud until I took
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: his sick little smirk away.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: But I didn't. We called the cops.
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: I think Fred never even left the party. He just
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: snuck upstairs to Ruthie's room. God knows what would have
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: happened if she hadn't woken up. The cops cuffed him
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: in my living room. They gave me the whole speech
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: about being good for calling us, but I wasn't listening
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: to them. I couldn't stop looking at Ruthie holding Mom's
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: old Teddy Bear, her eyes swollen from crying. Later on,
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: one of the officers pulled me aside and told me
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: that I was lucky to let anybody into our house.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: I called Mom and Dad and told them all about it.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: It didn't matter what they said to me, because internally,
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: I was screaming at myself for not catching this sooner,
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: for not getting Fred kicked out earlier, for even allowing
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: that to happen to my little sister Ruthie. I should
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: have hit him, I should have done something. That night
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: changed everything. Ruthie did not sleep in her bedroom for weeks.
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: But the worst part sometimes even now I can see
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: Ruthie staring at her closet before bed, as if she's
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: still waiting for the monster to come back. I've never
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: thrown another house party again since that night, and if
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: some crempy loner ever tries to invite himself again, he
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: won't even make it to my front door. I've been
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: working in shipping for quite some time. Driving through dark,
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: sketchy roads and stopping in the middle of nowhere to
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: check tires had become my usual. On one side of
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: the highway, I often witnessed the Canadian rockies standing like
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: towering giants. I'd driven this atch a hundred times before,
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: but that night seemed weird. It felt too quiet, like
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: the road ahead held a bad omen. I passed a
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: small town whose name I had forgotten. With my caffeine
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: dead mind and bladder full, I had missed the last
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: breast stop altogether, oblivious that I was not using the
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: last mile marker, and I couldn't wait another thirty miles,
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: so I pulled over, opening the door, I stepped out
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: and took a long stretch. My back was killing me.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: I walked to the tree line to release myself. The
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: black silhouettes of pine trees were moving in the cool wind.
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: They were so dense that pitch black rested in the backdrop.
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: Once done, I reached into my pocket and grabbed a cigarette.
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: I lit it and took a couple of slow drags
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: to calm down. As I stood there, my eyes slowly
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: adjusted to the darkness surrounding me. I saw a sudden
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: shift in movement behind in the trees. At first I
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: thought it was a deer. The way it sprinted through
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: the trees felt odd. I'd never seen a deer move
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: like that before. Another figure slowly started to emerge from
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: the darkness, a man seemingly in his thirties, maybe older.
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: He was tall, dressed in jeans and a hooded jacket,
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: but it was hard to tell. That darkness was playing
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: tricks on my eyes, making his movement strange and jerky.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: My got twisted.
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: There wasn't another soul on this highway, no parked cars
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: and no cabins nearby, just me, my medium duty truck.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: And now him. I kept it.
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: Casual, crushed my cigarette under my boot, and calmly walked
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: back to the truck. I got in and locked the doors,
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: and I put it in drive, foot hovering over the gas.
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: But for some reason, I didn't peel out.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: I just watched him.
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: He continued talking, one step at a time. He never
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: increased his pace or slowed down. His hood obscured his face,
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: yet his eyes remained fixated on me. His gaze could
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: pierce your soul. He reached the passenger window and stopped.
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: Lifting his bony hand, he knocked on the glass. My
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: body jerked involuntarily. He brought his pale, skinny face closer
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: to the window. I noticed his hollow cheeks and sleepless eyes.
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: His lips were badly cracked, like he hadn't had a
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: drink in days. I didn't want to, but I rolled
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: down the window an inch. What's up, man, I asked
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: in a firm voice, gripping the wheel. He let out
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: a deep, raspy breath and replied, I need you to
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: call the cops. I took a good look at him,
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: trying to find possible signs of an injury to determine
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: if he needed help or not. I couldn't see a
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: single scratch on him. Confusedly, I asked, is everything all
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: ro right? He lifted his hand and started scratching his
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: head with a knife. His eyeballs moved randomly, like he
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: didn't know what to do with the weapon. The sharp
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: blade of the knife glinted in the moonlight. I came
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: out here to kill myself, he said, in a low
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: shaking voice, walk from town. But when I was about
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: to do it, I saw their faces, my daughters. I
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: couldn't go through with it. For a long second, neither
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: of us spoke. The only sound was the faint clicking
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: of my hazard lights. I called the cops and made
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: sure to stay in my car, watching him constantly until
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: they arrived. He didn't move, He just stood there quietly crying.
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: Tears streamed down that dead eyed face, as if they
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: didn't even belong to him. I told him gently to
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: leave the knife on the ground before the cops arrived.
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: He stared at me like he didn't understand, then slowly
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: crouched and placed the blade on the gravel. When the
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: red and blue lights of the cop cars finally flashed
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: in my rear view mirror, I felt relieved. They coffed him,
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: patted him down, and asked me a few questions before
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: they drove off with the man. I walked to his
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: door to have a few last words with him. I
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: wasn't scared any more, hey, I said, meaning his eyes,
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: one last time. It's not over you, hear me. You
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: walked out of those woods alive. Don't waste that live
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: for your girls. He didn't say anything, He just gave
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: a slight, barely noticeable nod. Then Nate took him away.
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: It's been years since that night, but sometimes when I'm
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: driving these empty roads, I see him again, standing by
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: the tree line, watching, waiting, and I wonder did he
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: make it or is part of him still out there,
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: lost in the dark. Either way, I don't stop to
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: piss on the side of the road anymore. I still
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: don't want to talk about what happened at Camp Echo Pines.
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: My parents say I made it up. The counselor claimed
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: that it was merely a trick of the shadows. But
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: I know what I saw. I was excited when my
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: parents dropped me off at the summer camp. Kids were
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: running everywhere. I was excited to make new friends. Our
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: camp counselor assigned us to cabins. The girl's cabin was
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: on the left side of the campsite and the boys
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: is on the right. I shared a room with three
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: other children, and we enjoyed having fun throughout the day.
• 47:30
  Speaker 2: After dinner, we went back to our cabins as we
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: had an early morning hike the next day. Even if
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: I was tired, sleep didn't come easy because of the
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: new surroundings. The bunk beds creaked every time I moved
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: and the cabin smelled like old wood in bug spray,
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: but I slowly drifted off. It was probably past midnight
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: when I woke up with the urge to pee. I
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: regretted drinking too much lemonade. The outhouse wasn't that far,
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: but the thought of going out into the dark by
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: myself spooked me. I didn't want to wake anyone else
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: up because they were all snoring. I took my flashlight
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: and zipped my sleeping bag and stepped out of the
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: cabin door. The trees were moving slowly with the gentle breeze.
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: The sound of crickets and hooting owls made the atmosphere
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: more eerie. I walked over the gravel path holding the flashlight.
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: Its beams bounced in front of me. I was halfway
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: to the outhouse when I heard a rustle in the woods.
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: It sounded like someone stepping on dry leaves. I stopped
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: and looked around, but no one was there. I quickly
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: reached the outhouse, wanting to get done asap. Just before entering,
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: I pointed my flashlight at the deep woods behind it,
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: and I saw something. There was a person standing between
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: the trees looking at me. He had no clothes only
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: his underwear. His skin was pale and his face was
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: full of veins. He wasn't moving, just stood there. His
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: eyes were wide and focused on me, while his arms
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: hung at his sides. I gulped in fear because he
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: wasn't standing very far and the fence between us was
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: severely damaged. Hello, I yelled in a shaken voice. He
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: blinked but didn't say anything. The blank expression on his
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: face made him look like a patient straight out of
• 49:24
  Speaker 2: a mental institution. I called out again, do you need help?
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: He still didn't answer, but this time he smiled. My
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: body screamed at me to run, but I couldn't move.
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: My legs felt like cement, and my hands shook so
• 49:42
  Speaker 2: much that I almost dropped the flashlight. Then all of
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: a sudden, he took a step. I jumped. Dry leaves
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: crunched under his bare foot as he started coming towards me.
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: He wasn't running, just weirdly walking in my direction. He
• 49:58
  Speaker 2: was so thin that I could see his ribs through
• 50:00
  Speaker 2: his skin. It looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks.
• 50:04
  Speaker 2: He kept coming at me, and I just stood there,
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: completely drowned in trauma and shock. When he was only
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: inches away. I heard my counselor's voice echoing from the campsite.
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: Who's there. His loud call brought me to reality.
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: I turned around and ran down the gravel path, my
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: flashlight making strange shadows on the trees around me.
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: I was wheezing and crying, and my eyes started to hurt.
• 50:29
  Speaker 2: I fell once and cut my hand on the gravel,
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: but I got back up. I just wanted to get
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: to the cabin, closed the door and never come out.
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: My counselor saw me running like a lost hid. He
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: stopped and asked why I was so late. I told
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: him about the man in the woods. He immediately woke
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: up the other camp volunteers and they all searched the
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: campground for possible intrusion. When they saw the broken fence,
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: they became worried because it allowed not only people, but
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: also wild animals to enter the camp ground. The team
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: took me to the office for first DAID. The search
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: went on for almost an hour, but no sketchy dude
• 51:07
  Speaker 2: in underwear was found in the area. The next morning,
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: the maintenance guys were called and they repaired the fence.
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: A counselor also informed the local cops just for safety purposes.
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: We continued camping a week more that I didn't go
• 51:22
  Speaker 2: out of the cabin after dark. I deliberately drank less
• 51:25
  Speaker 2: water so I wouldn't have to go pee slowly. Everyone
• 51:29
  Speaker 2: said I just hallucinated because no one else saw him
• 51:32
  Speaker 2: apart from me. Do you also think it was my imagination?
• 51:39
  Speaker 2: It was a boring Saturday night and my parents went
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: to visit my grandma. I was randomly scrolling through Netflix
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: when Susie invited me to grab a bite at McDonald's
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: with her little brother. I called my mom and told
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: her about this sudden plan.
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: Even though she.
• 51:53
  Speaker 2: Said yes, I could spot the worry in her voice
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: for going out after dark. That I was sixteen, and
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: at that age we hardly listened to our parents. I
• 52:03
  Speaker 2: thought she was worrying for nothing because the restaurant was
• 52:06
  Speaker 2: just two blocks away, and I always carried Mace in
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: my back, putting some music in my ears. I peacefully
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: walked to the restaurant. It was only seven pm, so
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: the place was flooding with customers. Susie waved at me
• 52:19
  Speaker 2: from a table in the corner, and I smiled at her.
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: We laughed, we joked, and we gossiped.
• 52:25
  Speaker 2: With every bite of our burgers. I ate a little
• 52:27
  Speaker 2: too much fries, which didn't leave space for the entire
• 52:30
  Speaker 2: big mac to fit in. Just when I was thinking
• 52:33
  Speaker 2: of wrapping it up and take home for a midnight snack,
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: a filthy looking homeless guy approached our table.
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: If you're not gonna eat it, can I have it?
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: His voice sounded broken, like he had a year's old
• 52:45
  Speaker 2: cough stuck in his larynx. He took out a dirty,
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: muddy hand from his pocket and stretched it in my direction,
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: hoping I would hand him my food.
• 52:55
  Speaker 3: Sorry, but I'm gonna eat it.
• 52:56
  Speaker 2: Later, his face turned sad as he said those His
• 53:00
  Speaker 2: eyes sunk deep with pleading, but I stuck to my decision.
• 53:05
  Speaker 2: Susie suggested to buy him some food that I stopped her.
• 53:09
  Speaker 6: Why don't you get a job so you can buy
• 53:11
  Speaker 6: food for yourself.
• 53:13
  Speaker 2: I sent this out loud to catch the attention of
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: the security. I also exaggerated a lie when they asked
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: us if he was bothering us. In the next two minutes,
• 53:22
  Speaker 2: he was thrown out of the store. They pushed him
• 53:25
  Speaker 2: so hard that he fell in the pavement and broke
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: his tooth. I was happy that he's gone, but Susie
• 53:30
  Speaker 2: told me I was too harsh on him. We chilled
• 53:33
  Speaker 2: out there for an hour more and then got up
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: to go home. Susie asked me to wait so her
• 53:38
  Speaker 2: dad could drop me home, but my mom had called
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: me thrice already. I said, I'll walk home, saying our goodbyes,
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: I started heading home, putting my earbuds back on. I
• 53:50
  Speaker 2: started on the empty streets. Headlights of passing cars accompanied
• 53:54
  Speaker 2: me through the night. When suddenly someone threw a rock
• 53:57
  Speaker 2: at me. It hit my head so hard that I
• 53:59
  Speaker 2: felt I would faint. I grabbed a tree on the
• 54:02
  Speaker 2: sidewalk and touched the back of my head, felt a
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: swollen bump. I groaned in pain and looked around to
• 54:08
  Speaker 2: see who threw it. Turning around, I saw familiar face.
• 54:13
  Speaker 2: It was the homeless guy from mac Dee. He was
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: hunched on the sidewalk just a few inches away. A
• 54:18
  Speaker 2: mix of anger and hatred illuminated his face under the
• 54:22
  Speaker 2: neon street lights. Before the sense of fight or flight
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: could kick in, he sprinted towards me, grabbed me by
• 54:29
  Speaker 2: the shoulders and started.
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: Shaking me violently. Help, I screamed.
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: My face was covered in my tears and sweat, but
• 54:41
  Speaker 2: there was hardly anyone to hear my cry.
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: I felt I was gonna vomit.
• 54:45
  Speaker 2: When he stopped still grabbing my shoulders, he brought his
• 54:49
  Speaker 2: face closer and screamed at me, opening his mouth. His
• 54:55
  Speaker 2: bad breath mixed with his spit spray printed my face.
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: Blood was oozing from his broken tooth.
• 55:04
  Speaker 4: I'm sorry, let me go, please.
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: He then pushed me on the sidewalk, making me lose
• 55:12
  Speaker 2: my balance and fall on my back. I forgot about
• 55:15
  Speaker 2: the mac. I forgot I could fight like a tiny
• 55:18
  Speaker 2: bug trying its best to set free from a spider web.
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: I almost crawled back on my hands. The guy just
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: stood there, watching me go through all the emotions.
• 55:27
  Speaker 2: Before I got up and started running, I could hear
• 55:30
  Speaker 2: his laughter echoing in the night. When I reached home,
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: I called my mom and broke down like a little girl.
• 55:42
  Speaker 2: My parents drove back home asap, but until they arrived,
• 55:46
  Speaker 2: I just sat in the living room corner, crying and
• 55:49
  Speaker 2: fearing the guy might show up at my house too.
• 55:53
  Speaker 2: I constantly kept checking out the window to see if
• 55:55
  Speaker 2: he was standing on the streets. Luckily he wasn't. I
• 55:59
  Speaker 2: didn't sleep well for at least a month after that incident,
• 56:02
  Speaker 2: I didn't.
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: Go out after dark for a year. Now, when I
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: look back.
• 56:06
  Speaker 2: To the situation and think about it, I realized I
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: did wrong. The poor guy all he asked for was food,
• 56:13
  Speaker 2: and I denied him quite rudely. I'm thirty years old now.
• 56:18
  Speaker 2: Until today, whenever I come across a homeless person, I
• 56:21
  Speaker 2: offer them some money as my repentance for treating that
• 56:25
  Speaker 2: man like he didn't matter.
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: The worst she can do is say no right.
• 56:33
  Speaker 2: These were my exact thoughts when I decided to ask
• 56:36
  Speaker 2: Betty out again. We had a nasty breakup. While it
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: was worse for her than me. For days, she kept
• 56:42
  Speaker 2: texting and calling me, screaming and crying. It was hard
• 56:46
  Speaker 2: for her to digest that we were no longer together.
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: I went to New York for a work project and
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: eventually forgot about her.
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: But a few months back we crossed pants again.
• 56:55
  Speaker 2: I was standing outside a coffee shop when I heard
• 56:58
  Speaker 2: a familiar voice and she was standing on the sidewalk
• 57:02
  Speaker 2: talking on her phone.
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: She looked different, a little too happy.
• 57:06
  Speaker 2: Maybe seeing her smile like that, I realized I could
• 57:10
  Speaker 2: have ended it better. So one Friday night, I mustered
• 57:13
  Speaker 2: up the courage and asked Betty out. She agreed right away,
• 57:17
  Speaker 2: and we met for our first post breakup date at
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: a nightclub. The bar was swinging with men and women.
• 57:23
  Speaker 2: We drank and laughed and danced. It all felt nice.
• 57:27
  Speaker 2: As I sat down beside her, I couldn't help but
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: apologize again. Listen, bet I'm sorry about our breakup. I
• 57:34
  Speaker 2: should have treated you right. She flipped her hair to
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: her back and.
• 57:38
  Speaker 3: Said, yeah, you should have. But it's all right.
• 57:42
  Speaker 4: I hold no grudge.
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: I leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped me.
• 57:47
  Speaker 3: How about we take.
• 57:48
  Speaker 6: This forward at my place, kind of our private after party.
• 57:53
  Speaker 2: I was a little drunk and I wanted to get some,
• 57:55
  Speaker 2: so I agreed quite immediately. Betty took me to her
• 57:59
  Speaker 2: luxurious for BHK apartment. WHOA, this place is fire. You
• 58:04
  Speaker 2: stay alone here.
• 58:05
  Speaker 3: Mostly, sometimes I bring my dates here.
• 58:09
  Speaker 2: She poured me a glass of champagne, and once I
• 58:12
  Speaker 2: finished it, pointed at her bedroom.
• 58:14
  Speaker 4: Saying, let's not keep you waiting for long.
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: I followed her like a puppy, but as soon as
• 58:20
  Speaker 2: I stepped in the bedroom, she pushed me in and
• 58:23
  Speaker 2: locked the door from the outside. I balanced myself avoiding
• 58:27
  Speaker 2: a fall, I turned back to the door and knocked
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: on it, laughing, come on bed, still punishing me for
• 58:33
  Speaker 2: last time, I said, I'm sorry, my my, what a
• 58:38
  Speaker 2: sweet candy you are.
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: Suddenly my stomach dropped.
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: A man's voice forced me to turn around and take
• 58:45
  Speaker 2: a quick look at the room. There was indeed a man.
• 58:48
  Speaker 2: He was wearing gym shorts. The way he sat on
• 58:51
  Speaker 2: the bed felt like he was waiting for me. Brushing
• 58:55
  Speaker 2: his long, bony fingers on his hairy chest, he spoke again.
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: It's time for a raise, Betty, you know the handsomest
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: one she's brought in. What who are you?
• 59:08
  Speaker 2: I'm asked, Jay. Betty works for me, officially as well
• 59:12
  Speaker 2: as unofficially. He laughed, then headed for the cupboard and
• 59:16
  Speaker 2: I started punching on the door.
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: Betty, open the door, let me out.
• 59:23
  Speaker 6: Sorry, I only listened to my boss, not you.
• 59:27
  Speaker 2: Her amused voice rang from the other side of the door.
• 59:30
  Speaker 2: Tears rolled down my cheek, Anger, hatred, and fear all
• 59:35
  Speaker 2: rushed through my veins at once. Did she lure me
• 59:38
  Speaker 2: into a trap? The man has gotten up from the
• 59:41
  Speaker 2: bed now. Suddenly my head started to spin. My entire
• 59:45
  Speaker 2: body went numb, and I couldn't keep standing anymore.
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: What's happening?
• 59:51
  Speaker 2: I remember the glass of champagne Betty gave me right
• 59:54
  Speaker 2: after entering her apartment.
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: I tried my best to.
• 59:57
  Speaker 2: Speak, but even my voice gave up on me, and
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 2: then I passed out. I woke up to the smell
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 2: of rotten mush and sticky ground. My head was heavy
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 2: like a rock. When my blurry vision stabilized, I found
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 2: myself lying in a heap of garbage and a very
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 2: shady alley. Flies were sitting on my skin. My clothes
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 2: were ruined. There was a big stain on my pants
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 2: that seemed like blood and something more. I wanted to cry,
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 2: but my tears were dried up. Shame, guilt, and pain
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 2: all dawned on me. I can't recollect how I reached home.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 2: I took many showers to wash off the filth and
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 2: the memories, but I still feel the reeking smell from
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 2: the garbage pits circling me. I haven't told anyone anything
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 2: about that awful night. I haven't gotten any text or
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 2: call from Betty since I wish I had the courage
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 2: to go to the cops. But speaking about that night
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 2: spirals my trauma even more. Maybe someday I can finally
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 2: speak up and get justice for myself. Sometimes I laugh
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 2: at myself looking at the mirror. What a naive guy
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 2: I was that I thought the worst she could do
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 2: was say no. I work as a maintenance guy in
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 2: my local gym. My job includes cleaning after the closing hours,
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 2: setting the equipment for the next day, and loading the
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 2: lost and found to maintain the integrity of the gym.
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 2: Customers often forget their tel bandana, even wallets in a
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 2: hurry to rush back home. I get paid well and
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 2: I'm never influenced by greed, so even if someone leaves
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 2: something expensive, I notify the gym instructors so people get
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 2: their things back. Maybe that's why the owner trusts me.
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 2: And I've been here for quite some time. I know
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 2: this place like my own house. It's a two story
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 2: building with the office and reception on the ground floor
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 2: and the entire gym with the washrooms area on the
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 2: first Once you made it up the stairs, you meet
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 2: with a long hallway and the end of the hallway
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 2: is the big glass door entry of the gym. One afternoon,
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 2: my boss called me to his office. He told me
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 2: they're going to undergo a renovation, so for the next
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 2: week the gym will be closed. He told me to
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 2: do a one last cleaning next Friday before the renovation begins.
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 2: I happily agreed, as it will be a week off
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 2: for me too. After the closing hours, I entered the
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 2: gym as usual. That day, it rained heavily. The entire
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 2: floor was covered with muddy footprints and the smell of
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 2: damp walls mixed with sweat. Without much ado, I got
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 2: to work. I was mopping the floor, humming the new
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 2: dua lipa song I heard when a bolt of lightning
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 2: struck close by. An ear numbing crack made the glass
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 2: window shutter, and I was almost done cleaning the ground
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 2: floor when the lights went out. The weather was getting worse,
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 2: but I had to do my job, so I turned
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 2: on the flashlight, grabbed the cleaning supplies, and headed for
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 2: the gym area. Now, as soon as I stepped into
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 2: the hallway, a weird feeling hit me. I suddenly felt
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 2: like I wasn't the only one in this place. Flashes
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 2: of lightning were reflecting from the windows inside the gym area,
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 2: illuminating the hallway too. Because of the glass door and
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 2: in between those flashes, I noticed a long stretch of
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 2: muddy footprints starting from the stairs leading to the glass door.
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 2: Those were footprints of someone walking in, but not going out.
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 2: A rush of cold sweat ran down my spine. I
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 2: thought of calling out, but then decided to keep quiet
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 2: if there's an intruder. Just when I had started to
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 2: walk closer to the gym entrance, the lightning flashed again,
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 2: and this time I saw a head, a head peeking
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 2: at me from behind the glass door. I froze, heart
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 2: pounding in my chest, flashlight shaking slightly in my hand.
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 2: The head that had peeped through the glass door hadn't
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 2: just popped in for a second. It was there, a pale,
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 2: skinny face behind stringy soaked hair, watching me. His eyes
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 2: were wide and glassy, unmoving like he was trying to
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 2: decide whether to lunge or vanish. For a long second,
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 2: neither of us moved, and then slowly he stepped from
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 2: behind the door.
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: He didn't open it, he just stood.
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 2: Behind the glass, faintly lit by the next flash of lightning.
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 2: He was filthy and soaked through, an oversized army jacket
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 2: torn at the sleeves, and boots caked in mud. His
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 2: arms hung lopsidedly at his sides, one twitching a little right.
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 2: Then the lights came back. He looked up, then tilted
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 2: his head to the side, scratching his arms with.
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: His dirty fingernails.
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 2: His mouth was partially open, and I could see scars
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 2: all over his face. The hollows around the eyes hinted
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 2: that he hadn't eaten in days. It wasn't just his appearance,
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 2: it was the way he looked at me, no fear,
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 2: no guilt, just staring. I took a step back and
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 2: raised my voice, trying to sound tougher than I felt.
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: Hey, the cops are gonna be here any minute. You
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: better leave while you can. At first, he was frozen still.
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 2: Then something shifted, his eyes twitched, and in a heartbeat,
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 2: he turned, pushed the glass door open with a creak,
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 2: and started sprinting towards me. I stumbled backward, holding my
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 2: mop handle tightly in case I had to swing it,
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 2: but he didn't stop. He ran past me, smelling like
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 2: trash can and unwashed clothes. Just as he passed, our
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 2: eyes locked. There was something broken in that look, not
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 2: just frightening, but mad, not casual, madness.
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: It was the kind of madness.
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 2: That sits with someone until they're too far to be
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 2: caught by the world anymore.
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: He never said a word.
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 2: He hurried down the stairs and disappeared into the storm.
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 2: I stood there alone, shake it mop still in hand,
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 2: the hallway ringing with the fading sound of boots and thunder.
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 2: After five minutes, when I'd calmed down, I called the
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 2: owner and told him everything. He did come with two
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 2: cops who searched the entire gym. Looks like the receptionist
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 2: forgot to lock the back door before.
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: Leaving, and the guy came in from there.
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 2: I worked there for two more years and never saw
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 2: that guy again. But those two years I went to
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 2: work with a can of mace and a small knife
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 2: in my pocket for just in case.
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: I didn't expect much from my new school.
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 2: Brightfield Academy was a place for the best and brightest,
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 2: but it felt more like a prison where the inmates
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 2: were polished with privilege, all perfect smiles and sharp edges.
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 2: I wasn't like them. I wasn't thin, and I wasn't popular.
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 2: I was tessa introverted, intelligent, and curvy. That last part
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 2: made me a to from day one. It was the
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 2: same whispers, stares, and cruel notes left in my locker.
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 1: Ever heard of portion.
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 2: Control whale sighting In the gym, it was like the
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 2: walls themselves were breathing judgment, and the girls they were
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 2: like a pack of wolves circling the week with me
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 2: at the center. I tried to ignore it, but the
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 2: isolation was suffocating. I spent my days dodging their mocking glances,
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 2: trying to avoid the sting of their wounds, but the
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 2: worst was always gym class. That day, after yet another
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 2: round of taunting, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 2: found myself running to the nurse's office, tears threatening to fall.
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: The office was dim, the.
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 2: Air thick with the scent of herbs and something strangely soothing.
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 2: Nurse Merrill was there, as always, soft spoken and gentle.
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 2: She never asked too many questions, never seemed to care
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 2: about the details. She just knew how to make things
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 2: feel quiet. I told her I couldn't take it anymore.
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 2: She listened, nodding, her eyes soft with sympathy.
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 3: You need something to help.
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: She said, in her calm voice.
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 3: These pills.
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: She reached into a drawer and handed me a small
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: velvet pouch.
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 6: There from the old country. They'll help with the weight.
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 6: Give them a try.
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: I hesitated.
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 2: Something in her eyes made me question it that I
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 2: was desperate. The pills tasted chalky, dry, as if they
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 2: were made from ash, But within hours I felt different.
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 2: My appetite vanished, The constant hunger that gnawted me was
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 2: replaced with a surge of energy. I felt light, almost euphoric.
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 2: By the next day, the change was undeniable. The scales
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 2: showed I'd lost five pounds. My classmates started noticing, you
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 2: look good, they said, half mocking, half curious.
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: It wasn't much, but it was something.
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 2: I clutched the velvet pouch tightly in my hands, taking
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 2: a pill every morning and every night. I told myself
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 2: I would stop, but somehow I couldn't. It didn't take
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 2: long for things to go wrong. My reflection became distorted,
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 2: my face thinned unnaturally, my cheeks hollowing out, as though
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 2: something inside.
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: Me was eating me alive.
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 2: I tried to stop taking the pills, but every time
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 2: I reached for the drawer where I kept them, the
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 2: pouch was there, always refilled. One night, I looked in
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 2: the mirror, and it wasn't me staring back.
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: I was fading.
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 2: My body felt wrong, bruises appeared without reason, my skin
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 2: slothing off in flakes like sunburn. I couldn't stop it.
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 2: I didn't know how to stop it. The worst part,
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 2: I couldn't even scream. When I opened my mouth, my
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 2: voice cracked like a broken cassette tape. That's when I
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 2: ran to nurse Mary.
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 4: I can't stop.
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 2: Please help me, I cried, my hands shaking. She looked
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 2: at me with the same soft smile, but this time
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 2: something darker lurked in her eyes.
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 3: You wanted to be seen, Tessy.
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: She said, her voice low, almost a whisper.
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 4: But you didn't want to be seen like that.
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 3: I can show you how to disappear.
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 4: I can make them never laugh at you again.
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 2: Marrow pulled out an old photograph, a girl overweight, surrounded
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 2: by classmates who mocked her. A caption read Marrow, Class
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 2: of seventy nine.
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: It was her. She had been like me, and then
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: she had disappeared.
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 6: They laughed at me too, at once, until I learned
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 6: how to fade away.
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 4: This school teaches you how to erase what they hate.
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 2: I give you the tools Suddenly everything clicked. I wasn't
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 2: the first she'd done this before. The pills weren't just
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 2: for weight loss. They were part of something far more sinister.
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 2: Nurse Marrow had been doling out pills to students for years.
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 2: Some disappeared emotionally, others disappeared entirely. I wanted to run,
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 2: but my body was failing. I couldn't feel heat or
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 2: cold anymore. I couldn't eat without vomiting. I was fading away,
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 2: my body becoming a ghost, a shell. I stumbled back
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 2: to the nurse's office, desperate to destroy the pouch to
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 2: stop it. But Merrow was there. She caught me stronger
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 2: than I expected. She pinned me down.
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 4: You wanted to be seen, but not like you are.
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 2: This is better, she whispered, her face contorted with something
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 2: close to hunger.
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 4: Is beautiful.
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 2: With all all the strength I had left, I head
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 2: butted her. I reached for the burner stove and tossed
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 2: the velvet pouch into the flames. It hissed, the smoke,
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 2: dark and thick, swirling around us. Marrow's face contorted my masterpiece.
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 2: I don't know what happened after that. My world went black.
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 2: When I woke up. I was in the hospital bed
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 2: with my parents. They told me the cops arrested Nurse
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 2: Marrow for giving me substances that messed with my physical
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 2: and mental state. When I fainted in the office, she
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 2: thought I died and was dragging me to the back.
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 2: That's when our school janitor saw me and stopped Marrow.
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 2: She ran away, leaving me unconscious and the cops were called.
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 2: Till today, I wonder where is she now, what is
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 2: she doing? I just hope no other innocent life falls
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 2: into her trap. I signed up for yoga because I
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 2: needed something to help me get back to my normal life.
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 2: My mind was a hub of anger and regret after
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 2: the toxic separation with my ex husband, so I thought
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 2: a little soul healing would do me good. I enrolled
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 2: in a local yoga studio nestled between a vegan cafe
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 2: and a nail salon. The very first day I entered
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 2: through the doors, A calming smell of sandalwood and lavender
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 2: hinted that I'd come to the right place. Our yoga teacher, Mira,
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 2: told me there's going to be a special Kundalini meditation
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 2: workshop and I should attend it.
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 6: She said, it's perfect for grounding and waking up your
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 6: inner self.
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 2: With a comforting smile that most yoga teachers seemed to have.
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 2: I didn't refuse because it sounded promising. I wanted peace
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 2: so I could feel alive again. Apart from me, there
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 2: were about ten women joining the class. Mira arranged our
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 2: mats in a circle, placing a flickering candle in front
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 2: of each one. Mira turned off the room lights and
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 2: told us to take positions on our mats. We sat
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 2: cross legged in the warm light of the candles. The
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 2: session began with a spiritual owm chant playing in the
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 2: speakers and Mire's soothing voice guiding us into breath work.
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 2: She asked us to keep our eyes closed.
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 7: Breathing through your nose hold breathe out through your mouths.
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 2: My breath was shaky at the start, as if my
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 2: restless body was pulling up a protest, But in the
• 1:14:32
  Speaker 2: next fifteen minutes I started to feel like I was floating.
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 2: The air changed and I was perfectly at peace. So far,
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 2: everything was going all right, But then I began hearing
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 2: a weird sound. At first, it was just a rhythmic wheezing,
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 2: but then it escalated like someone was having difficulty breathing.
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 2: I opened one eye just to get a look around
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 2: one of the students. A girl sitting right across from me,
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 2: breathed harder than the rest of us. I thought she
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 2: was trying too hard and going too far. But suddenly
• 1:15:12
  Speaker 2: she started to rock back and forth like a metronome.
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 2: I saw Mira get up and walk to her quietly.
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 2: She held her hand and tried to calm her down.
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 4: It's okay, let it flow, It'll be all right.
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 2: She kept telling the girl. But the girl's rapid breathing increased.
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 2: She was breathing so heavily now that all of us
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 2: opened her eyes and had to look at her. Her
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 2: chest rose and fell, as if someone were simultaneously inflating
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 2: and then deflating it. Her eyes were wide open, with
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 2: her veins popping out of her forehead. Her eyeballs constantly
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 2: moved like a trapped mouse finding its way in a maze.
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 2: Mira tried to grab her by the shoulder, telling her
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 2: to calm down, but she didn't bother. Instead, she started laughing.
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 2: Her laughter sounded as if two or three voices were
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 2: layered on top of each other. Soon the entire class
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 2: became terrified as they observed the girl's changing demeanor. I
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 2: started panicking when a rocking stopped, She looked right at me,
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 2: and then she said something in a language that I
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 2: never heard. No one in the room seemed to understand
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 2: what was happening to her. Mira stepped back, with her
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 2: face turning pale. She quickly switched on the lights and
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 2: the girl's body suddenly became stiff. Her jaws stretched into
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 2: this giant hollow, and her eyes rolled back. She collapsed
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 2: on her yoga mat without saying another word. We were
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 2: all horrified by what just happened. Mira went close to her,
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 2: and after about ten seconds, she opened her eyes.
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 4: Did I fall asleep?
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 2: She asked, rubbing her eyes like a kid waking up
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 2: from a nap. She couldn't remember anything. Mira told her
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 2: about her shocking episode, and she walked away immediately. I
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 2: never saw her again. I cornered Mira after the session, what.
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 3: The hell happened to her?
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: Nira let out a sigh and closed her eyes.
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 6: Sometimes these karmic meditations can take us to another world.
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 6: She might have gone somewhere she wasn't supposed to. Something
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 6: might have come back with her? You mean she got possessed?
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 2: Mira nodded slowly, her face still pale with the fear.
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 2: Any other time I would have laughed it off, but
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 2: I did see the girl in her scare reactions. That night,
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 2: I couldn't sleep. I kept hearing the girl's laughter in
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 2: my head, and the strange voices that were overlapping with hers.
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 2: Every time I closed my eyes, I could see her face,
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 2: how her pupils were swallowed by darkness. I told Mira
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 2: the next day that I wouldn't take any more meditation classes.
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: She didn't fight back.
• 1:18:21
  Speaker 4: Take care of your energy, Sophia.
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 1: She said.
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 2: Since then, I'd gone to other yoga studios, But I
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 2: don't do kotolini. I would rather not sit in the
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 2: dark with a circle of candles. I don't even close
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 2: my eyes when I do breath work. Maybe Mira was wrong,
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 2: Maybe it was just a psychotic break or an epileptic episode.
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 2: But what if it wasn't. What if the girl really
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 2: did bring something back, And what if they're still looking
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 2: for someone else to ride? This happened last week. I
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 2: was driving down the empty highway for almost four hours.
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 2: I needed to deliver some machine parts for a construction
• 1:19:01
  Speaker 2: company in Utah. It rained for the first few miles,
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 2: which compelled me to drive slowly. Upon reaching the dusty road,
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 2: I was exhausted. Thunder rumbled in the sky, and I
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 2: decided it would be best to stop for the night
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 2: and begin after sunrise. I parked the truck under a
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 2: tree and finished the cold turkey sandwich made by my wife.
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 2: It tasted like her hugs. I rolled down the window
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 2: to take a good look at my surroundings. It wasn't raining,
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 2: but a cold, gushing wind was howling into the darkness
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 2: of the night. Closing the window curtains, I reclined the
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 2: seat and used my jacket like a blanket to fall asleep.
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 2: After about an hour, I heard the door handle jiggle.
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 2: It came from the driver's side. It sounded like metal
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 2: against metal. The sound was subtle and almost polite, like
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 2: whoever was out there was checking to see if maybe
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 2: they could just let themselves in. I sat straight up.
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 2: You know that feeling when you are deeply asleep but
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 2: you hear an unfamiliar sound and you ammene ediately open
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 2: your eyes, trying to figure out whether what you heard
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 2: is real or not. That one so far, no cars
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 2: passed by. There had not even been the crunch of tires.
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 2: I took my time to pomp back up. I tiptoed
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 2: to the edge of the curtain and peeked out from
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 2: the corner that I saw nothing outside. All I saw
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 2: were empty roads and trees. Suddenly I heard a click
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 2: on the passenger door handle. I crouched down, popping my
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 2: face up to the top of the curtain once again,
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 2: but there was no one. A cold shiver ran down
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 2: my spine. I pressed the starter. The engine roared to life,
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 2: and the lights illuminated the way spot lights, floodlights. Everything worked.
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 2: The high beams showed the long stretched road ahead, and
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 2: it was empty. No person was hiding next to my door,
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 2: and no car was behind me. I told myself it
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 2: was the wind hell. It must have been gusty. Maybe
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 2: the friction had caused some tumbleweed to bounce against my
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 2: t That's what I told myself. I rolled over to
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 2: return to sleep, but sleep wasn't coming easily. Now my
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 2: ears sharpened. I could hear every creak of my truck frame,
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 2: every rustling of the wind outside, as my mind twisted
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 2: them into footsteps. Suddenly, the vents started rattling. You know
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 2: those little panel vans next to the sleeper berth, the
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 2: ones that no one pays any mind to. Well, it
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 2: sounded like fingers were prying. At the other side, someone
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 2: was scraping on them.
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: Slowly.
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 2: The door handles rattled once more, but this time with
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 2: great intensity. I was starting to get scared now, because
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 2: this wasn't just the work of one person. It has
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 2: to be a group of them.
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 1: Once the rattling.
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 2: Stopped, someone started punching on the metal body at the truck.
• 1:21:47
  Speaker 2: It felt as though a weight was pressing down in
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 2: an unexpected place. Someone or something was crawling onto my
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 2: truck from the back. Because I couldn't see anyone on
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 2: the windshield, I hit the panic button back in the
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 2: the truck alarm started going off. The alarm was loud
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 2: enough to rouse the dead. I thought for sure that
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 2: it'd send them scurrying, but it didn't. The noises continued tapping, scraping.
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 2: The alarm synchronized with the clicking of the handles. The
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 2: air suspension hissed, as if the truck sighed under a
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 2: heavy load. The glass of the windshield crack from the
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 2: corner because something was paddling footfalls across the roof. I
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 2: didn't dare to come out. I was terrified for my life.
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 2: I don't exactly remember how long this chaos has gained,
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 2: but it stopped all of a sudden. The alarm blared
• 1:22:36
  Speaker 2: for a few more seconds, and everything went silent. It
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 2: felt as though the world had regained its clarity. For
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 2: a few long minutes, the only thing I could hear
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 2: was my own ragged breathing and racing heartbeat. A few
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 2: minutes later, head lights sliced into the road. Another truck
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 2: drove past me, and I felt alive again. I remained
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 2: awake throughout the night, tightly gripping a tire iron, as
• 1:23:02
  Speaker 2: if my survival relied on it. As soon as the
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 2: sunlight hit the trees, I jumped out of the truck,
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 2: still clutching the tire iron. I looked for footprints and
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 2: tire tracks, and to my shock, there were dragging blood
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 2: stains all over the truck. It appeared as though hordes
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 2: of hungry zombies had scavenged across the truck, their wounds exposed,
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 2: and on every window, driver's side, passenger side, even way
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 2: up on the sleeper's little portholes. Were tiny handprints, like
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 2: a toddler's. It seemed as if someone had licked their
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 2: palms multiple times and pressed them against the glass. There
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 2: weren't any tracks leading to or from the truck, only
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 2: the tiny, sticky hand prints clung to the glass, and
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 2: the truck's body was covered in bloodstains. I had to
• 1:23:49
  Speaker 2: clean the truck before driving off, because if a cop
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 2: car spotted me, they would have charged me with murder.
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 2: I still don't know what happened and who did all
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 2: that to my truck that night. I'm just glad to
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 2: make it out alive. I still remember how thrilled I
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 2: was to spend the summer at Uncle Ben's farm. Uncle
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 2: Ben's farm was a place filled with endless fields, a
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 2: lake resembling glass, and my older cousin Jack, whose wild
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 2: ideas transformed even the most mundane chores into thrilling adventures.
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 2: The tent was the best thing he bought that summer.
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 2: One morning, Jack said, let's camp by the lake. We
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 2: can fish and cook him over a fire. It'll be
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 2: funnessleep outside tonight. At the age of eleven, I enthusiastically
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 2: accept it. Of course, I said, yes. We spent the
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 2: entire day fishing, submerging our toes in the water and
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 2: laughed without any worries. Jack successfully caught three purchase I
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 2: got one and a strange looking boot. Our dads helped
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 2: us put up the tent and build a fire. Jack
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 2: and I carefully cooked the fish until it was crispy
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 2: and a little burnt, just the way Jack liked it.
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 2: When un went down behind the trees, the lake turned
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 2: golden and the shadows in the backyard got longer and thinner.
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 2: I was taking in the beautiful view of the lake
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 2: when I felt a strange tingle on the back of
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 2: my neck. My eyes scanned through the woods around, and
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 2: for a moment, I thought someone was watching us, though
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 2: I saw no one.
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 1: I didn't say.
• 1:25:21
  Speaker 2: Anything to Jack because I knew he wouldn't believe me. Instead,
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 2: he'll make fun of me for being a baby. But
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 2: I kept looking at the trees behind the house until
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 2: it got dark. The sound of the forest is one
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 2: of a kind. A group of coyotes started howling in
• 1:25:36
  Speaker 2: the woods. Their howls echoed all over the lake, making
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 2: the night more mysterious. After dinner, we crawled into the tent,
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 2: zipped it up, and listened to their howls. It took
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 2: Jack just a few minutes to fall asleep. I lay
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 2: there looking at the nylon ceiling, my stomach still buzzing
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 2: with worry. After fifteen minutes, when I just started to
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 2: doze off, I heard a noise. The fire outside was
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 2: still going on, casting a dying glow on the tent.
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 2: The howls of the coyotes were now replaced with the
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 2: sound of chirping crickets. The woods felt too silent. All
• 1:26:11
  Speaker 2: of a sudden, I shook off the feeling of dread,
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 2: thinking it was some wild animal, and I noticed someone
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 2: standing just outside the tent. With the moonlight shining off
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 2: the lake, mixed with the soft, warm light from the fire,
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 2: I could clearly see a man's shadow. I thought it
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 2: was Dad at first, he might have come to see
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 2: how we were doing. But whoever it was, didn't say
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 2: a single word, just stood there in complete silence. He
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 2: was of average height, with broad shoulders. My heart raised
• 1:26:41
  Speaker 2: in my chest I could hardly breathe. Then, very slowly,
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 2: the figure crouched down. It bent its knees in strange ways,
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 2: as if it didn't want to wake us up. Then
• 1:26:54
  Speaker 2: it pushed its face against the tense mesh window. I
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 2: stopped moving it. It wasn't my father. I couldn't see
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 2: the whole face, but what I could see made my
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 2: stomach turn. The eyes were too wide and glowed in
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 2: the dark, like a hungry wolf watching its prey. I
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 2: could feel my palms getting sweaty and my throat dry.
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 2: I wanted to yell, wanted to get Jack up, but
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 2: I had a feeling that I shouldn't let this man know.
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 2: I can see him too. Who knows if I make
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 2: a noise, things might get worse. So I did the
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 2: only thing I could do. I closed my eyes and
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 2: pretended to sleep inside. I was praying that this man
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 2: leave without any trouble. I don't know how long I
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 2: lay like that. It could have been minutes, it could
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 2: have been hours. I just kept my eyes closed and
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 2: listened to my heartbeat like a drum in my chest.
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 2: And then suddenly I heard footsteps fading away. I was
• 1:27:51
  Speaker 2: awake all night. I didn't open my eyes until the
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 2: first light of dawn came into the tent. Jack was
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 2: still snoring next to me, not knowing what just happened.
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 2: When we finally got up and unzipped the flap, The
• 1:28:04
  Speaker 2: grass outside was wet with dew and had footprints on it.
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 2: The footprints were big and bare, and they circled the tent.
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 2: I told Jack what I did last night, and he
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 2: screamed for my uncle. When Uncle and Dad came, I
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 2: told them about the guy. They looked in the backyard,
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 2: along the tree line and even by the lake. No
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 2: one in the house had gone out during the night,
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 2: and there were no signs that anyone else was close by.
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 2: There were no tracks or shoes left behind, just prince.
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 2: My dad said it was probably a bear. Uncle Ben
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 2: said it might have been a drifter, but I still
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 2: remember those eyes and the shadowy face pressed against the
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 2: mesh window. Whoever or whatever was outside our tent that
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 2: night didn't come searching for help. It definitely had some
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 2: bad intentions. I'm a personal yoga trainer who gives one
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 2: on one sessions, and my classes don't come cheap. I
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 2: don't teach just as a hobby or simple workout. Most
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 2: of my clients are either business professionals with stiff backs
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 2: or elderly socialites who use green juice and downward dog
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 2: exercises to rejuvenate their youthful energy. Awkward is nothing new
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 2: to me because I'm more than used to strange. But
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 2: what happened last year is the main reason why I'm
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 2: afraid to take new clients. I was by a middle
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 2: aged man who recently went through some accident leading to
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 2: a severe back injury. He said I was referred to
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 2: him by a former client, and I believed him without
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 2: digging deeper into his claims.
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: He called himself mister Bellamy.
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 2: And offered me three times when I usually charged for
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 2: in home sessions, even though I was making good money
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 2: with my regular clients. Who says no to more money, right,
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 2: I thought I could deal with him even if something
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 2: awkward happened, because the money would help me get a
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 2: bigger apartment.
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 1: At the end of the.
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 2: Month, I reached his house, hoping to see a lot
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 2: of grand The house was big and fancy from the outside,
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 2: but on the inside it looked like a model home,
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 2: modern and glassy. There were only white walls, straight lines,
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 2: and almost no furniture. I felt an unease that moment
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 2: I stepped in, but I thought it was just rich
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 2: people being minimalistic. I made some small talk with mister
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 2: Bellamy and put my mat in the living room. He
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 2: sat on the couch and watched me with his hands
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 2: folded neatly in his lap. My doctors don't want me
• 1:30:28
  Speaker 2: to move around much yet, so I would just watch
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 2: and learn today. I paused for a second, but then
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 2: he reminded me that he was going to pay exactly
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 2: what he promised, so I decided to just get on
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 2: with the session. Once I began the poses, I noticed
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 2: a smirk on his face, which got wider with each
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 2: passing second. The way he watched me sitting in silence
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 2: without blinking made my skin crawl. During some poses, he
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 2: would ask me to repeat it, saying he needs to
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 2: memorize my posture well, which only added to my discomfort. Still,
• 1:31:01
  Speaker 2: I continued while keeping my discomfort hidden behind a tight
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 2: lipped smile. Twenty minutes into the session, during the sun salutation,
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 2: I moved to the cobra pose when I noticed a
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 2: small black camera lens blinking red in the top corner
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 2: of the room. It was aimed only at me. I
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 2: froze for a second. A bile churned inside of me,
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 2: and the empty house and the sketchy man all made sense.
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 2: All of a sudden, this pervert was recording me. I
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 2: got up doing my best to conceal my anger as
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 2: I was uncertain about what this man was capable of.
• 1:31:35
  Speaker 2: Mister Bellamy, I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
• 1:31:39
  Speaker 6: I think we're done for today. I have taught you
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 6: enough to remember until next session.
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: He didn't answer right away, just slowly tilted his head.
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 2: Do a few freestyle poses for me before you go,
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 2: he insisted, in a sick voice.
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 3: No, I'm done.
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: I'll pay twice as much. I don't care, I said.
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 2: I rolled up my mate and almost sprinted out of
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 2: the house. When I got into the driveway, my hands
• 1:32:05
  Speaker 2: were shaking. I blocked his number and deleted the email
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 2: thread as soon as I got home. I tried to
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 2: forget about it all, but the next morning I got
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 2: an email from an unknown sender. There was no subject,
• 1:32:18
  Speaker 2: just a link in it. I should have deleted it,
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 2: but I couldn't help but look.
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 1: It opened up to.
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 2: A blog about yoga fetishes, a lot of zoomed in
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 2: stills from my session, with each pose recorded and stored.
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: I called the comps and the cyber cell right away.
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 2: I gave them everything, the pictures, the house address, his name,
• 1:32:38
  Speaker 2: and the email. That night, I couldn't sleep. Every noise
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 2: outside my apartment window made my heart race. The police
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 2: called the next day. The officer said, Eh, no one
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 2: lives at that address. The house has been empty for months.
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 2: The owner moved to another state last year. It is
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 2: now for sale, ma'am, he said slowly. We don't know
• 1:33:01
  Speaker 2: who you met. It's unclear how they gained entry. However,
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 2: there have been several lock changes in the past few weeks.
• 1:33:09
  Speaker 2: We're looking into it. I was lucky, but luck isn't
• 1:33:13
  Speaker 2: enough anymore. Now I look into every client, I bring
• 1:33:17
  Speaker 2: a friend with me to the first session, and I
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 2: will never ever ignore my instincts again. I've always been bold, confident, unapologetic,
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 2: an influencer who built my platform on being a proud
• 1:33:35
  Speaker 2: plus sized woman in a world that wanted to silence me.
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 2: But even I couldn't escape the trolls. They came from
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 2: my body, my looks, by every post, and for a
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 2: while it felt like nothing I did could silence their hate.
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 2: But then the email came, and suddenly it seemed like
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 2: maybe everything I'd worked for was about to pay off.
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 2: It was from Divine, a high end label known for
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 2: its inclusive campaigns. They were launching a new line called
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 2: Real Body, and they wanted me to be a part
• 1:34:07
  Speaker 2: of it. Their message promised an exclusive retreat, a photo
• 1:34:11
  Speaker 2: shoot unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I had to
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 2: take it. This was it, my big break. I could
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 2: already hear the voices in my head telling me how
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 2: great it would be, how the retreat would give me
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 2: a chance to prove everyone wrong. I wasn't prepared for
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 2: what came next. I arrived at the mansion, a sprawling
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 2: desert estate far from anyone in everyone. I was greeted
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 2: with champagne, a warm smile, and a sleek, minimalist room
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 2: that felt sterile, almost too perfect.
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 1: The only thing that.
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 2: Felt off was the contract I had to sign upon arrival.
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 2: It forbade any outside contact during the retreat. They said
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 2: it was for creative integrity. The first day was a
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 2: whirlwind of fittings, glam and photoshoots. Everyone was obsessed with
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 2: making us look perfect. But something nagged at me. There
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 2: were no mirrors, no reflective surfaces. The food was tiny
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 2: portions of tasteless meals, barely enough to fill a stomach.
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 2: When I asked about it, a staff member smiled and said,
• 1:35:14
  Speaker 2: we want to see your true hunger to show on film.
• 1:35:18
  Speaker 2: I thought it was just part of the brand's vision
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 2: for the shoot, so I let it go.
• 1:35:22
  Speaker 1: But by day three I started feeling uneasy.
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 2: The glamour faded quickly, the staff began to grow distant, colder,
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 2: the atmosphere shifted. Something about it felt wrong, like we
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 2: weren't the models here, we were the subjects of something darker.
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 2: The stylists started to become abusive, yelling at us, pushing
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 2: us harder. Every moment was more intense than the last,
• 1:35:48
  Speaker 2: and they took our phones for creative focus, they said.
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 2: But that wasn't all. During one of the shoots, I
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 2: saw Lena, one of the other influencers, completely break down
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 2: on set, unable to keep it together anymore.
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 1: I watched in horror as she.
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 2: Was led away by the staff, her face blotchy and red,
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 2: her spirit clearly shattered. The next morning, Lena was gone.
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 2: They said she had left the retreat early, but when
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 2: I found bloodstains on her bed, I couldn't pretend it
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 2: was just a coincidence. I tried to ignore the rising panic,
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 2: but my suspicions grew stronger each day. During a forced
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 2: empowerment walk through the desert. I noticed hidden cameras tucked
• 1:36:32
  Speaker 2: into rocks, peeking out from the brush, following our every step.
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 1: Something was off.
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 2: That night, when everyone was asleep, I snuck into the
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 2: editing room, hoping to find some answers. What I found
• 1:36:46
  Speaker 2: wasn't what I expected, even in my worst nightmare. On
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 2: one of the laptops, a live chat window was open,
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 2: and there I was on the screen, half naked, crying
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 2: in a fitting room.
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 1: I wasn't alone. The other women.
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 2: Too, were being humiliated in real time, our vulnerabilities laid
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 2: bare for an anonymous audience. The site was called true Form,
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 2: a platform where viewers could pay to trigger humiliating commands, insults,
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 2: food restrictions, and stress tests. It wasn't just a modeling shoot.
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 2: It was an endurance game, a sick, twisted form of entertainment.
• 1:37:27
  Speaker 2: That's when I realized the horrifying truth. We weren't here
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 2: to be celebrated, we were here to be broken.
• 1:37:33
  Speaker 1: And Lena hadn't left.
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 2: She had collapsed during a shoot, a casualty of their
• 1:37:38
  Speaker 2: twisted game, and they'd whisked her away like she was
• 1:37:42
  Speaker 2: nothing more than an expendable object. I knew I was trapped,
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 2: but I wasn't going to play their game. The final
• 1:37:50
  Speaker 2: night arrived and everything was set up for the big reveal,
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 2: the moment they thought I'd crack, but instead of submitting,
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 2: I turned the tables. I found my way into the
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 2: control room and stole a live mic. I began streaming everything,
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 2: every hidden camera, every vile moment, every piece of evidence.
• 1:38:10
  Speaker 2: I broadcasted it to the world, hoping someone, anyone would
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 2: see it and help. I begged for the viewers to
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 2: leak the truth, but the staff wasn't having it.
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 1: They stormed the room and a struggle broke out.
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 2: I fought back, grabbing a bottle of acid from a
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 2: station they used to distress clothes and threw it into
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 2: one of their faces.
• 1:38:30
  Speaker 1: It wasn't enough to stop them, and they kept coming.
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 2: I bolted to the control room, locked myself in and
• 1:38:37
  Speaker 2: grabbed a forgotten backup phone hidden in my boot. I
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 2: started streaming everything, every file, every feed, Instagram live.
• 1:38:47
  Speaker 1: I exposed them all.
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 2: The twisted fetishists who paid to watch us suffer, the
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 2: handlers who tortured us, the sick game they'd played at
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 2: our expense. A massive chaos erupted the siren and started
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 2: in the distance. My hands were shaking as I held
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 2: the door, praying for the police to arrive before they
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 2: could get through. On the live feed, I could see
• 1:39:09
  Speaker 2: the other girls, terrified, some bloodied, some screaming, huddled in
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 2: rooms behind two way mirrors, and then the stream cut off.
• 1:39:19
  Speaker 2: A week later, the news broke Underground fashion ring busted
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 2: for torture exploitation. I was hailed as a hero, but
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 2: the truth, the trauma, it was deeper than anyone knew.
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 2: The police had arrived in time that the damage had
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 2: already been done, and I sat in a hospital bed,
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 2: bruised and exhausted, surrounded by reporters cameras flashing. I smiled,
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 2: knowing I'd won, at least on the surface. But when
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 2: I looked in the mirror for the first time since escaping,
• 1:39:51
  Speaker 2: the reflection wasn't what I expected.
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 1: I was thinner, pale.
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 2: The weight of what had happened had drained me in
• 1:39:58
  Speaker 2: ways I couldn't explain. I picked up my lipstick and
• 1:40:01
  Speaker 2: applied it slowly, staring at the woman in the mirror.
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 4: You're not content, You're fire.
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 1: I whispered to her.
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 2: Last week, my sister went on a business trip, leaving
• 1:40:15
  Speaker 2: my nephew at my place. My nephew loves me because
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 2: I have always been the fun uncle for him. There
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 2: was no strict bedtime or constant banning of fast foods
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 2: at my place. We had a fun week, and on
• 1:40:27
  Speaker 2: our last day together, we decided to go to McDonald's
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 2: for burgers.
• 1:40:30
  Speaker 1: When we reached, the first.
• 1:40:32
  Speaker 2: Thing that caught my mind was how busy the restaurant was.
• 1:40:36
  Speaker 2: I placed the order and picked up the food. Just
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 2: then my nephew pointed to a seat where a middle
• 1:40:42
  Speaker 2: aged man was also sitting. I didn't think much and
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 2: we sat down. There was a long cut mark on
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 2: his right cheek that appeared pretty fresh.
• 1:40:52
  Speaker 1: Happy meal.
• 1:40:52
  Speaker 2: Huh, Let's see what toys you got. Ricky looked at
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 2: me with timid eyes, and I nodded at him. He
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 2: showed his minion toys to the man. The man took
• 1:41:02
  Speaker 2: a keen interest in the toys, which gave me weird vibes.
• 1:41:05
  Speaker 2: The man kept talking about how he loves McDonald's toys
• 1:41:09
  Speaker 2: because each one is unique, then went on saying the
• 1:41:12
  Speaker 2: previous toys used to be more exciting, but it was
• 1:41:15
  Speaker 2: a shame they got banned. Now that interested Ricky, and
• 1:41:19
  Speaker 2: he started talking to the man as well. It was
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 2: all a casual convo, so I didn't see any harm
• 1:41:24
  Speaker 2: in it. But now when I look back, I realized
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 2: what a grave mistake it was.
• 1:41:29
  Speaker 1: Why did they bam the toys? Well, some people thought
• 1:41:33
  Speaker 1: they were wrong. Wrong.
• 1:41:35
  Speaker 2: Why I expected the man to discuss any hazardous factor
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 2: about the old McDonald's toys still, Instead, he put his
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 2: hand into his pocket. I watched him struggling to take
• 1:41:47
  Speaker 2: out something from his pocket, which obviously had been stuck.
• 1:41:51
  Speaker 2: Ricky got impatient and nest what what is it? The
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 2: man smiled ear to ear, still struggling to get whatever
• 1:41:59
  Speaker 2: it was in his pocket. I was curious too at
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 2: this point. Then I heard a crushing sound of a
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 2: paper bag. The man stuck out this paper bag, which
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 2: had something inside. He placed the bag on the table
• 1:42:18
  Speaker 2: and pulled out this bizarre McDonald's toy. Shaped like a jellyfish,
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 2: its droopy tentacles, human like face, and oddly fixed grin
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 2: violated the lines between kid's meal fun and explicit intent.
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 2: Its translucent dome head only added to the alien horror,
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 2: making it weirdly memorable and slightly disturbing.
• 1:42:40
  Speaker 1: Isn't it amazing? Look how big it is. Touch it,
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 1: touch it to.
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 2: Feel its arts surface. Now Here I had to put
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 2: a stop. The implication of the toy and the man's
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 2: sarcastically chosen words made me understand his evil intention.
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: This guy is sick.
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 2: My face turned red in embarrassment and low but strict voice.
• 1:43:01
  Speaker 2: I said, excuse me, I don't think you should talk
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 2: to my kid like that. His eyes, which were fixated
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 2: on Ricky for the last few minutes, shifted to me.
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 1: Kids love toys. I'm just telling him to touch it once.
• 1:43:15
  Speaker 1: What's wrong with that?
• 1:43:16
  Speaker 2: He doesn't need to touch anything that you've been in
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 2: contact with. Now you better leave this place or I'm
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 2: gonna make you really e Leen slightly closer to my
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 2: face and said, what are you gonna do?
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 1: Ban me from McDonald's.
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 2: I was on the verbs to beat the crap out
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 2: of him, but he got up and left.
• 1:43:43
  Speaker 1: That guy gave me the creeps uncle ted me too.
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 1: Let's go home.
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 2: We'll eat in the car. I was fuming with rage.
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 2: On our way to the exits. I informed the McDonald's
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 2: employee about the guy, but she brusted off, saying creeps.
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 1: Are all over the world.
• 1:43:59
  Speaker 2: We got the car and were about to drive away
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 2: when suddenly a big hand stomped on my window. It
• 1:44:07
  Speaker 2: was him again. Ricky screamed in terror without opening the window.
• 1:44:13
  Speaker 2: I cussed him and told him I'll go to the
• 1:44:15
  Speaker 2: cops right now, but none of my words created any
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 2: worry on his face. Instead, he took out the jellyfish
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 2: toy and gave it a big lick from.
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 1: Bottom to top.
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 2: I wanted to get down and slap him as hard
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 2: as I could, but Ricky was already crying, so I
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 2: had to drive home.
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 1: The poor kid barely slept that night.
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 2: The next morning, when I dropped him off at the airport,
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 2: he was constantly looking around with fear in his eyes.
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 2: I knew what he was thinking, but I didn't bring
• 1:44:50
  Speaker 2: up the man again. Once he got home safely to
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 2: my sister, I called her and told her everything. I
• 1:44:56
  Speaker 2: even reported the guy to the cops, but since he
• 1:44:59
  Speaker 2: didn't do anything physically harmful to us, the cops said
• 1:45:02
  Speaker 2: they couldn't arrest him. I really hope that pervert trips
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 2: and falls into a manhole, because people like him are
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 2: nothing but filth to society. This happened when I was
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 2: eight years old. One sunny afternoon, My Mom asked me
• 1:45:20
  Speaker 2: if I would like to accompany her to Walmart for
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 2: some cleaning supplies. I told her I needed a new
• 1:45:25
  Speaker 2: set of colors for the Father's Day card, and she
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 2: happily agreed.
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 1: When we entered Walmart, I was stunned.
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 2: It was such a big place that I squeezed my
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 2: mom's hand to tightly.
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 1: Mom gave me a gentle pat on my back and.
• 1:45:39
  Speaker 4: Said, love, get your colors.
• 1:45:41
  Speaker 2: Mom always made me feel good in tense situations. I
• 1:45:44
  Speaker 2: guess mothers are born with superpowers. My mom is still
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 2: my superhero, and you'll soon find out why. We began
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 2: exploring the place, going through asle after asle and seeing
• 1:45:56
  Speaker 2: all kinds of things in the world available in one place.
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 2: Coming from a small town, I was flabbergasted. As we
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 2: were walking around, I noticed a woman following us. No
• 1:46:06
  Speaker 2: matter which way we went, we would always end up
• 1:46:09
  Speaker 2: near her.
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 1: Or maybe it's the other way around.
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 2: My mom didn't notice her because every time she turned back,
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 2: the woman hid behind the aisles. I thought of telling
• 1:46:19
  Speaker 2: my mom this, but eventually forgot. When we reached near
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 2: the stationery section and I was about to go through
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 2: all the color sets, my mom told me to wait
• 1:46:28
  Speaker 2: here as she was going to the washroom quickly. I
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 2: was a good kid, so I did what my mom said.
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 2: As I waited, my eyes kept searching for the woman.
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 2: A few minutes went by, and I was wondering why
• 1:46:39
  Speaker 2: Mom's taking so much time, when a touch of cold
• 1:46:42
  Speaker 2: hands brushed off my shoulder. Turning back, I saw the
• 1:46:45
  Speaker 2: same woman standing behind me with a big smile and
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 2: wide bright eyes.
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 4: Are you waiting for your mother?
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 2: She asked in a calm voice. I nodded my head.
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 2: She caressed my cheek and said, I'm.
• 1:46:59
  Speaker 3: A friend of your mother.
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 4: Why don't she come with me. I'll take you to her.
• 1:47:05
  Speaker 1: I looked around once again, then.
• 1:47:06
  Speaker 2: Asked, I'm buying crans and Mom told me to wait
• 1:47:10
  Speaker 2: here until she comes back. She crouched down to my
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 2: face and said, in a weird voice, what.
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 4: Are you gonna do with crayons?
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 2: I replied cheerfully, I'm gonna make my dad a Father's daycard.
• 1:47:23
  Speaker 4: You love your dad a lot?
• 1:47:25
  Speaker 7: Huh.
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 2: Her eyes twitched as she spoke. I nodded my head again,
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 2: thinking what a stupid question. She then suddenly grabbed my
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 2: hand and started walking.
• 1:47:36
  Speaker 6: I'm going to see your dad anyway, how about we
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 6: go see him together.
• 1:47:42
  Speaker 2: She increased her pace. I constantly looked back. Something didn't
• 1:47:46
  Speaker 2: feel right about her, I asked, in a confounded voice, but.
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 1: What about my mom?
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 2: The woman turned her head back slowly at ear to ear.
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 2: Grin spread across her face, and she whispered.
• 1:47:59
  Speaker 4: I'll be your new man, a better mom, trust me.
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 2: She started walking again. Her grip was so tight that
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 2: it hurt my wrist. I felt like something very bad
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 2: was going to happen if I went along with this woman.
• 1:48:15
  Speaker 2: Just when we were close to the exit, I heard
• 1:48:17
  Speaker 2: a familiar voice screaming my name.
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 1: And he stop.
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 4: Don't go with her.
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 2: Everyone in Walmart looked behind me, so did I when
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 2: I saw still stays vibrantly in my memory.
• 1:48:30
  Speaker 1: My mom was.
• 1:48:31
  Speaker 2: Coming towards me, holding her bleeding head. She could barely
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 2: keep her feet steady. Her shirt was drenched in blood,
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 2: and I could see her crying. I realized, this woman
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 2: is trying to take me away from my mom, so
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 2: I screamed, too.
• 1:48:45
  Speaker 1: Mom, let me go, let me go.
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 2: All the other people around us understood that this strange
• 1:48:51
  Speaker 2: woman was trying to lure a kid in her trap.
• 1:48:54
  Speaker 1: The woman got scared. And ran away.
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 2: Wal Mart's security called nine to one one and we
• 1:48:59
  Speaker 2: were taken to the nearest hospital. My dad and uncle
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 2: were informed too. When Walmart's security showed the footage of
• 1:49:06
  Speaker 2: the woman taking me away to my dad, I saw
• 1:49:09
  Speaker 2: him turn pale. He immediately reported the cops, saying, this
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 2: woman is an ex coworker from his previous job who
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 2: was obsessed with him and stalked him. She was the
• 1:49:19
  Speaker 2: reason why my dad left his job and changed a dress,
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 2: but looks like she had followed us here too.
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 1: My mom later told.
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 2: The cops that she went to the washroom where the
• 1:49:28
  Speaker 2: woman attacked my mom and slammed her head on the wall,
• 1:49:32
  Speaker 2: leaving her unconscious. My mom somehow managed to get up.
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 2: Fearing for my safety. The cops tracked down the woman. Eventually,
• 1:49:41
  Speaker 2: her name was Layey, and she was put behind bars
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 2: for aggravated assault, abduction, and stalking charges. My dad even
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 2: got a restraining order against her. But this time we
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 2: didn't have to change address. To this day, when I
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 2: recall the memory of Lanley abducting me, I recall how
• 1:49:58
  Speaker 2: brave my mom was to come for my rescue. My
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 2: mom will always be my superhero. This gym has been
• 1:50:09
  Speaker 2: my go to for almost two years now, and it's
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 2: always been a nice and quiet way to start my day.
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 2: I usually go in early, at around six thirty am
• 1:50:17
  Speaker 2: and get my work out in before work, and I
• 1:50:20
  Speaker 2: generally prefer to leave and not have talked to anyone.
• 1:50:24
  Speaker 2: Well that's how I like it. Last week, I felt strange.
• 1:50:28
  Speaker 2: As soon as I walked through the doors. It wasn't
• 1:50:30
  Speaker 2: anything overt, the lights were on, music soft, the same
• 1:50:34
  Speaker 2: few regulars spread out on the gym floor. But as
• 1:50:37
  Speaker 2: I walked towards the freeways, I noticed a guy was
• 1:50:40
  Speaker 2: standing near the stretching area, just watching. He was not stretching,
• 1:50:46
  Speaker 2: not warming up, just standing there. He saw me and
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 2: gave me this huge, exaggerated wave back like he knew me.
• 1:50:54
  Speaker 2: I gave a quick and confused nod back at him
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 2: and looked away. Maybe he thinks I'm somebody else. I
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 2: popped in my headphones, started my set and tried to
• 1:51:04
  Speaker 2: forget about it.
• 1:51:05
  Speaker 1: But he wouldn't give up. He was everywhere.
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 2: When I changed equipment, I went to the treadmill and
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 2: he was next to me, but there were five other
• 1:51:14
  Speaker 2: empty treadmills. He waved again. I avoided his wave and
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 2: kept my eyes on the screen. He started jogging, but
• 1:51:21
  Speaker 2: he spent more time looking sideways at me than actually
• 1:51:25
  Speaker 2: working out. I only did half of my cardio workout
• 1:51:28
  Speaker 2: and decided to go to the squat rack. He followed
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 2: me there. Of course. At one point I bent down
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 2: to pick up a plate, and when I came back up,
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 2: he was there, close, too close, and smiling. You got
• 1:51:43
  Speaker 2: good posture, he said, loudly so I could hear from
• 1:51:46
  Speaker 2: my headphones.
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 1: I didn't say anything. I just walked away.
• 1:51:50
  Speaker 2: Then I went to do some seated rows, and I
• 1:51:52
  Speaker 2: was trying to keep my back to him. That's when
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 2: I saw him standing behind me in the reflecting mirror,
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 2: just watching me again, waving, this time blatantly, waving like
• 1:52:03
  Speaker 2: he wanted me to be uncomfortable. Something then happened that
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 2: makes my skin crawl to this day. I went into
• 1:52:11
  Speaker 2: the women's locker room just for a minute to fill
• 1:52:14
  Speaker 2: up my water bottle at the sink.
• 1:52:16
  Speaker 1: No one is in.
• 1:52:17
  Speaker 2: There, or so I thought. When I turned around, Carl
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 2: was standing in the doorway, half in shadow, behind the lockers.
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 2: He wasn't allowed in there. He wasn't even trying to
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 2: hide it. He had an evil expression on his face,
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 2: as if waiting for me to turn and notice him.
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 1: My heart probably stopped.
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 2: I froze, gripping my bottle so hard my knuckles went white.
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: I don't know how long we stood there.
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 2: He didn't say anything, didn't move, same creepy smile and
• 1:52:47
  Speaker 2: bulging eyes. I said, what the hell and stepped back,
• 1:52:52
  Speaker 2: squeezing by Carl and through the door. He followed me,
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 2: only a couple of steps behind, and casual, like nothing
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 2: was going down at all. That was when I walked
• 1:53:02
  Speaker 2: straight to the front desk. I don't know what he
• 1:53:05
  Speaker 2: was after. I don't want to know. I'd had enough.
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 2: I grabbed my towel and bag and approached Jamie, one
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 2: of the staff members. Being a woman, she could immediately
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 2: spot the trauma on my face.
• 1:53:16
  Speaker 3: Everything okay, she asked.
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 4: There's a guy following me around the gym.
• 1:53:21
  Speaker 1: I said, my voice, low but firm.
• 1:53:24
  Speaker 4: Gray hoodie, black Jogger's tall. He's been hovering around me
• 1:53:28
  Speaker 4: since I walked in.
• 1:53:29
  Speaker 3: It's creeping me out.
• 1:53:31
  Speaker 1: Jamie's expression tightened.
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 6: Wait is that Carl, I blinked, Hey, don't know his name.
• 1:53:39
  Speaker 2: She glanced over my shoulder and gave a subtle nod
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 2: to someone behind the counter.
• 1:53:45
  Speaker 6: That's Carl. He has been worn before. He's not even
• 1:53:49
  Speaker 6: supposed to be here during this time.
• 1:53:50
  Speaker 2: Slot security came a minute later, pushing through the small
• 1:53:54
  Speaker 2: crowd that was needed to take the guy outside. I
• 1:53:57
  Speaker 2: took a step back and watched, heart pounding as they
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 2: walked towards him. He didn't even resist, looked dumb and confused,
• 1:54:05
  Speaker 2: like he didn't just comprehend what was going on after
• 1:54:08
  Speaker 2: all the fuss, or what the problem was. Then, on
• 1:54:12
  Speaker 2: the way out, he turned around and locked eyes with me.
• 1:54:16
  Speaker 2: He smiled again, a slow, sinister smile. Not friendly, not contrite,
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 2: just wrong. I walked out without finishing my workout. I
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 2: spent the rest of the day thinking about that smile,
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 2: that slow wave. Now he showed up from all the
• 1:54:31
  Speaker 2: opposite directions, like a willing participant in a pre rehearsed show.
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 1: It all happened in one hour. One hour was enough.
• 1:54:40
  Speaker 2: I got to know later from Jamie that it wasn't
• 1:54:43
  Speaker 2: Carl's first time getting in trouble with harassing women. The
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 2: cops found out he was already facing some minor charges
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 2: for intrusion and stalking a teenager. Since then, I haven't
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 2: seen him. But now every time I walk into work,
• 1:54:58
  Speaker 2: I scan my surroundings before I check in. I keep
• 1:55:01
  Speaker 2: my keys close, and I never ever remove both headphones.
• 1:55:08
  Speaker 1: I've been driving on.
• 1:55:09
  Speaker 2: Mississippi roads longer than I'm willing to admit, flat farmland,
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 2: two lane highways that seemed to stretch on forever. The
• 1:55:17
  Speaker 2: quiet and emptiness gradually become familiar to you. But that night,
• 1:55:21
  Speaker 2: somewhere in between Clarksdale and Greenwood, I fully understood that
• 1:55:25
  Speaker 2: not all spaces are lonely. I was driving for fourteen
• 1:55:29
  Speaker 2: hours straight. Repeated doses of caffeine and smoking were keeping
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 2: me awake. The weather had turned ugly fast. There were
• 1:55:37
  Speaker 2: high wind advisories, tornado watches, and unexpected storms in the delta.
• 1:55:42
  Speaker 2: I had called my wife before leaving Clarksdale and told
• 1:55:45
  Speaker 2: her to expect another call as soon as I was
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 2: out of the danger zone. But thirty miles out, the
• 1:55:50
  Speaker 2: hailstorm took over. The hailstorm began with small pebbles, which
• 1:55:55
  Speaker 2: gradually grew in size and bounced off the hood and
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 2: windshield with a sharp metallic crack. Any Mississippi boy, no
• 1:56:02
  Speaker 2: summer begins with hail. I slowed down, I eased off
• 1:56:06
  Speaker 2: onto the gravel shoulder. There were no cars in my
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 2: wake or in front of me. It was just me
• 1:56:11
  Speaker 2: and my pickup, with nothing but black farmland in every direction.
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 1: I cut the.
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 2: Engine but left the lights on. I rolled down the
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 2: passenger window and retrieved my flashlight. I threw it out
• 1:56:22
  Speaker 2: into the fields, and as far as my eyes went,
• 1:56:25
  Speaker 2: all I could see was rippling corn and distant flashes
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 2: of lightning. I leaned over to check the driver's side
• 1:56:33
  Speaker 2: when I saw this man. He was standing right there,
• 1:56:36
  Speaker 2: pressing his face against the glass. His eyes were so
• 1:56:41
  Speaker 2: still that it felt like I was staring into two
• 1:56:43
  Speaker 2: vacant pits. He observed me for a brief moment before
• 1:56:47
  Speaker 2: beaming a broad smile. The wilderness of his smile exposed
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 2: his crooked yellow teeth. I screamed, what the hell do
• 1:56:54
  Speaker 2: you want?
• 1:56:55
  Speaker 1: Ohoooooo gooooo.
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 2: He said something, but I couldn't hear it due to
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 2: the closed window and hailstorm outside. He kept watching me
• 1:57:12
  Speaker 2: with no fear of the storm or lightning. Suddenly a big.
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 1: Piece of hail hit him.
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 2: Blood sprinkled on my glass as a deep wound appeared
• 1:57:22
  Speaker 2: on his forehead. Yet he still didn't move. That's when
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 2: I realized, this person is not normal. Something's very wrong
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 2: with him. I started the engine, gripping the steering wheel.
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 2: I blinked, and he vanished from sight, as if he
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 2: had never existed. He vanished into the darkness, leaving no
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 2: sound or shadow behind. I didn't stay to find out
• 1:57:44
  Speaker 2: where he went. The truck rowed back to life, and
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 2: as I skidded onto the highway, the tires through gravel.
• 1:57:51
  Speaker 1: The hail still drummed on, but I didn't care. I
• 1:57:55
  Speaker 1: drove fast. I didn't look left, right, or in my mirrors.
• 1:57:59
  Speaker 2: I just looked at the I focused on the road
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 2: that was in front of me. By the time I
• 1:58:04
  Speaker 2: reached the first gas station, the storm had already passed.
• 1:58:07
  Speaker 2: I parked with my hands still shaking. My wife would
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 2: be waiting for my phone call, so I called her back.
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 2: I assured her that I was safe and maintained my composure.
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 2: I didn't mention the man, I didn't mention the smile,
• 1:58:19
  Speaker 2: but my mind would not let me forget. You see,
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 2: our trucks have cameras. Our trucks are constantly recording from
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 2: the front, rear, and interior of the cabin. I popped
• 1:58:30
  Speaker 2: the SD card right there and slid it into my tablet.
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 2: I had to know if that face was real or
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 2: just my imagination. I watched the recording. I recorded every
• 1:58:40
  Speaker 2: second from the time I left the road until I departed,
• 1:58:43
  Speaker 2: But there was no sign of the man. There was
• 1:58:46
  Speaker 2: only the road in the rain. A camera never saw him.
• 1:58:49
  Speaker 2: I told myself it was stress. The combination of fourteen
• 1:58:52
  Speaker 2: hour shifts, unfavorable weather conditions, and my own delusions were
• 1:58:57
  Speaker 2: to blame. The Delta can do that to you. At night,
• 1:59:00
  Speaker 2: the vast expanse of open space was so dimly lit
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 2: that it felt like drowning. Maybe it was all in
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 2: my head. Until I wiped the fog off the side
• 1:59:09
  Speaker 2: of that window. I found something, and it was faint,
• 1:59:13
  Speaker 2: but I did spot it. It was a smear, a wide,
• 1:59:16
  Speaker 2: greasy arc right where the grin had been. Since then,
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 2: I haven't driven the Delta roads at night. If you've
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 2: driven those long, empty stretches before, you know the feeling.
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 2: It feels as though a presence is observing you from
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 2: the edge of the corn fields amidst the storm. It
• 1:59:32
  Speaker 2: seemed as though it was waiting for you to slow down,
• 1:59:35
  Speaker 2: roll down your window and take a closer look. I
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 2: don't know what I saw out there, but I'll never
• 1:59:41
  Speaker 2: forget those teeth.
• 2:00:01
  Speaker 1: Hi.
• 2:00:01
  Speaker 2: I am Tristan and last month I attended a summer camp.
• 2:00:05
  Speaker 2: I never thought ghost stories were real, at least not
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 2: before Camp Nightshade Grove.
• 2:00:11
  Speaker 1: It was supposed to be just.
• 2:00:12
  Speaker 2: Another summer with crafts, canoeing, campfires, and maybe a silly
• 2:00:16
  Speaker 2: crosser two. But on the third day I heard people
• 2:00:20
  Speaker 2: talking about the ash cabin. One morning, while we were
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 2: making clay crafts, one of the older girls pointed at
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 2: the woods and.
• 2:00:28
  Speaker 4: Said, there's an old cabin back there.
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 6: In the nineteen fifties, a fire hazard trapped a counselor
• 2:00:35
  Speaker 6: inside the cabin.
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 4: They say he screamed for help, but no one could
• 2:00:39
  Speaker 4: get to him in time. They never found the body.
• 2:00:43
  Speaker 6: Some nights campers say they see a man walking through
• 2:00:47
  Speaker 6: the woods smelling like ashes. My brother said, if you
• 2:00:51
  Speaker 6: hear crackling outside your tent, don't ever come out, because
• 2:00:56
  Speaker 6: he's still looking for someone to take his place, some
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 6: one who burn like he did.
• 2:01:03
  Speaker 2: She laughed like it was all a joke. However, her
• 2:01:06
  Speaker 2: tones suggested that she had a more profound understanding of
• 2:01:10
  Speaker 2: the situation. I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 2: told my best friends Lucy and Brian at lunch about
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 2: visiting that cabin. Lucy said, with a smile, let's do it.
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 2: We had a hike for fifteen minutes in the trees
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 2: behind the archery range to find it. Ash cabin stood isolated,
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 2: in disrepair and weathered by the sun. The roof was sagging,
• 2:01:34
  Speaker 2: the windows were gone, and the door creaked. When we
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 2: walked in. Everything looked deserted, but the smell was the
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 2: strangest thing. It smelt like someone had burned there yesterday,
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 2: with charred wood and old smoke hanging in the air,
• 2:01:49
  Speaker 2: sharp and heavy. We didn't stay for long. Brian said
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 2: he thought someone was watching us. I acted like I
• 2:01:56
  Speaker 2: wasn't scared, but I couldn't help but look at the shadows,
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 2: waiting for something, someone to come out. Until we reached
• 2:02:03
  Speaker 2: the campsite. I thought that would.
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: Be the end of it.
• 2:02:07
  Speaker 2: But that night, something unimaginable happened. It was around one
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 2: am in the morning when I opened my eyes smelling
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 2: a lot of burnt wood. For a second I thought
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 2: our cabin was on fire. I sat up in bed,
• 2:02:21
  Speaker 2: coughed and looked around the room. The lights were out.
• 2:02:25
  Speaker 2: Everyone else was asleep, and there was no sign of fire,
• 2:02:29
  Speaker 2: just the smell choking the air around, getting thicker each second.
• 2:02:33
  Speaker 2: I got out of bed and walked over to the
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 2: window to see if something outside was on fire. That's
• 2:02:39
  Speaker 2: when I saw him. He was only a few inches
• 2:02:42
  Speaker 2: away from the glass, a tall man, or what once
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 2: was a man. Half of his face was slick and
• 2:02:48
  Speaker 2: pink like wax, and the other half was blackened and crumbling.
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 2: Smoke came out of his head like his hair was
• 2:02:55
  Speaker 2: still burning. But the worst part was his bulging eyes,
• 2:02:59
  Speaker 2: which seemed I'm desperate to fall out of their sockets
• 2:03:02
  Speaker 2: as they watched me with anger, Hatred came off of
• 2:03:05
  Speaker 2: him like heat. I fell back from the window, screaming
• 2:03:09
  Speaker 2: at the top of my lungs. All my friends woke up,
• 2:03:12
  Speaker 2: thinking I had a nightmare, but they found me crouched
• 2:03:15
  Speaker 2: on the floor with my face staring at the window
• 2:03:18
  Speaker 2: in horror. By the time everyone saw the window, the
• 2:03:21
  Speaker 2: man had vanished. The smell of smoke lingered, which was
• 2:03:25
  Speaker 2: enough to keep me awake the entire night. The next morning,
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 2: I told Lucy and Brian about what I had seen,
• 2:03:32
  Speaker 2: and I expected them to either laugh or roll their eyes,
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 2: but they didn't. They just stopped talking. I thought I
• 2:03:39
  Speaker 2: smelled something too, Lucy said, in a low voice.
• 2:03:44
  Speaker 1: We told the.
• 2:03:45
  Speaker 2: Nurse at the camp everything she said. It was just
• 2:03:48
  Speaker 2: first week jitters or maybe a bad dream. But I
• 2:03:51
  Speaker 2: wasn't making it up. The face, the smoke, the rage,
• 2:03:56
  Speaker 2: it was all imprinted in my memory forever. I beg
• 2:04:00
  Speaker 2: my mom and dad to come get me. They thought
• 2:04:02
  Speaker 2: I was overreacting, but they came two days later and
• 2:04:05
  Speaker 2: took me home. I haven't been back to Camp Nightshade
• 2:04:08
  Speaker 2: Grove since, nor do I ever want to.
• 2:04:12
  Speaker 1: I looked it up online a few months ago.
• 2:04:14
  Speaker 2: There indeed was a fire for real. The year was
• 2:04:18
  Speaker 2: nineteen fifty three. David Cray as the counselor. During a storm,
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 2: the lantern fell on him while he was helping to
• 2:04:26
  Speaker 2: build the cabins. The fire spread quickly. They found him
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 2: too late, trapped inside what would later be called ash Cabin.
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 2: No one ever put it back together. They just let
• 2:04:37
  Speaker 2: it go to waste, but they should have taken it down.
• 2:04:40
  Speaker 2: Certain things don't remain concealed, and some spirits would rather
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 2: not be at peace.
• 2:04:47
  Speaker 1: They want to get back at you.