Latest / Shallow Nights: Scary Bedtime Stories / Ravenous Shadows: Unraveling The Vanishing Hunger
Transcript
- 0:04Hi, if you're a lover of all things spooky and eerie, then
- 0:08Untold True Crime Horror is the perfect storytelling podcast for
- 0:12a spine tingling experience. As you tune into this petrifying
- 0:17horror experience, do not forget to subscribe as your nightmares
- 0:22are about to get a whole lot scarier.
- 0:31A little girl sat on a park bench, hands in the pockets of
- 0:35her small double breasted coat, feet swinging over the edge of
- 0:38the seat lazily. She was all rosy cheeks and pale
- 0:42skin in the breath of autumn. All around her the parks
- 0:46landscape turned a pinky orange color with the sun's fading
- 0:50light. Long shadows crawled across the
- 0:53neatly trimmed grass and sidewalk, one such shadow
- 0:56cutting the bench in half right over the girl's brain.
- 1:00There were only a few people other than her in the park. 2
- 1:03lovebirds strolling through the common, a runner and her furry
- 1:07companion, a group of university students crossing through the
- 1:11park to get their caffeine fix on the other side, and a lone
- 1:15man watching her. He had been watching her for
- 1:17quite a while. The best description of him was
- 1:21quite simply average, though a little on the gaunt side.
- 1:25He was nondescript, with a straight nose and frown lines
- 1:29and the sort of gaze one would shy away from.
- 1:32He walked up to her. Hey Little Miss, why are you out
- 1:35here alone? He said, smiling at her with
- 1:38pearly teeth. I'm waiting for mommy.
- 1:41The girl answered. She pushed her flax and bangs
- 1:44out of her face. She's going to meet me here
- 1:47after she gets done shopping, and we're going to go home and
- 1:50make dinner for my little brother.
- 1:52He's home alone right now, so we've got to get home soon.
- 1:56I hope she doesn't take too long, it's boring waiting.
- 2:00The man noticed a bag of groceries at her feet, and it
- 2:04were some vegetables and a carton of broth.
- 2:07Do you want any candy? He offered, pulling a cherry
- 2:10lollipop from his coat pocket. The girl blinked and shook her
- 2:14head. Candy's bad for your teeth.
- 2:17He smiled at her again, but this time it didn't quite reach his
- 2:21eyes, and a slight tick commenced in his left eye.
- 2:25I can take you home so your brother isn't alone.
- 2:28How does that sound? I don't know.
- 2:30The girl said, her brows pinched together in a way that only a
- 2:34child's can. Mommy said to wait for her.
- 2:37His tick worsened. How about I call her then?
- 2:41The girl nodded and enthusiastically listed off a
- 2:44string of numbers in a rhyming poem When he asked.
- 2:47The girl watched him press a few buttons on an old phone and
- 2:51caught a glimpse of his home screen as he put the phone to
- 2:54his ear. Hello.
- 2:56A pause. Hi, I'm with your daughter and
- 2:59was wondering if it'd be OK if I took her home.
- 3:02A longer pause. You're stuck waiting in line and
- 3:05aren't going to get here soon. A shorter pause, but still
- 3:09longer than the first. It is great, we'll just meet you
- 3:13at your house. The man turned back towards the
- 3:16girl. Your mother said to go ahead and
- 3:19take you home to start on dinner.
- 3:21Okey dokey artichokey. She sang sweetly and started
- 3:25swinging her legs in the same direction.
- 3:28When both legs were fully extended, she swung herself off
- 3:31the bench and grabbed the grocery bag.
- 3:34The duo started off towards the parking lot, the girl running
- 3:38and jumping between shadows, giggling to herself.
- 3:41When they reached the tree lined path that led to the exit, she
- 3:45skipped next to the man. A low whine sounded behind them
- 3:49and they turned to the sound. The runner and her dog had come
- 3:53up behind them, but the dog had stopped, tail between its legs
- 3:58and backing up slowly. The large retriever pulled his
- 4:01fighting owner away from the pair.
- 4:04The man frowned, but flighty animals weren't his problem.
- 4:07He had much more important things to worry about.
- 4:10So Mr. what's your name? I'm Jane Margaret Bleeker, the
- 4:15girl. Jane blinked up at him.
- 4:17He said simply. It's George.
- 4:20They walked for a little while in silence until they reached
- 4:23the car. She said suddenly, as if the
- 4:26silence spooked her. Did you know that Odinophobia is
- 4:30the fear of teeth? I can't imagine being afraid of
- 4:33teeth. They're just bones you can see.
- 4:36She pulled on her lips and smiled wide so that Hernie could
- 4:39see all of hers. George unlocked his van, the
- 4:43decal on the side Reed H&O Drake cleaners in a pleasant Navy just
- 4:49like him. The van was something nobody
- 4:51would look twice at. In fact, George liked it that
- 4:54way. The man opened the back door and
- 4:57ushered Jane inside. Upon contact with the van's
- 5:01interior, she wrinkled her nose and unusually pungent smell of
- 5:05cleaning products pierced the air.
- 5:08The car ride was mostly filled with Jane's one sided
- 5:11conversation, her fantastical rendition of In the Hall of the
- 5:15Mountain King, and her giving landmark base directions to the
- 5:18driver. After one particularly awful
- 5:22encounter with a construction worker whose machine was eating
- 5:25the pavement like a piranha with flesh, his radio, which had
- 5:29previously been spouting the news, became static.
- 5:33He turned it off, glancing at Jane through the rear view.
- 5:36She was smiling at him. The roads became thinner and
- 5:40less well used. Fences pressed in from either
- 5:44side, corralling him towards his destination.
- 5:47After he took the last hairpin turn off the side Rd.
- 5:50George saw the house. It was made of greystone and was
- 5:55vaguely thin compared to its height of three stories.
- 5:59Much love had gone into the making of the house, but now it
- 6:02seemed to be losing a battle to age.
- 6:05Adorned with elaborate barge board, high Peach Gables jutted
- 6:08out of the roof and iron railed widows walk topped the house
- 6:13with Florida less shaped spindles.
- 6:15Ornate finials decorated the Gables of the house like
- 6:18Center's hands reaching toward heaven. 2 large bare oaks with
- 6:22their bark modeled and splotched frame to the gated driveway.
- 6:26Clumpy Combs of wet Moss dangled from the tree's boughs while a
- 6:30single crow blinked owlishly back at George through the
- 6:33windshield. In the last vestiges of
- 6:36sunlight, they looked otherworldly.
- 6:38George shivered when he parked in front of the large double
- 6:42doors. Jane got out of the car without
- 6:44any prompting from the man. She walked the path pebbled with
- 6:48white rocks shaped like shattered glass.
- 6:52So the man started, eager to get into and out of the house.
- 6:56Where is your brother? I can go get him while you start
- 7:00unloading your groceries. Oh, he's probably around
- 7:03somewhere. You should check his room
- 7:05though. It's the first door on the left
- 7:08when you go up the stairs. George got out of the car.
- 7:11I'll go get him. What are you making anyway?
- 7:15Mommy is going to make meat Stew when she gets home.
- 7:18Jane opened both of the double doors.
- 7:21The darkness of the foyer seemed to swallow her small frame hole.
- 7:25George stopped in front of the steps.
- 7:27Do you already have meat? Yes.
- 7:30Jane looked down at him. I've got it.
- 7:33The last glances of sunlight disappeared behind the gnarled
- 7:36oaks, leaving only the faint glow of the moon and dim
- 7:40fluorescent lanterns to light up the house.
- 7:42No lights were on inside. George looked at her grocery bag
- 7:46and back up to her face, her pale skin suddenly seeming far
- 7:51too pale. She was still smiling that
- 7:53crocodile grin. George backed up a few steps as
- 7:57she was suddenly right in front of him, but something small and
- 8:00fleshy in his way made him fall onto the sharp pebbles.
- 8:04No, not pebbles, more like shattered ivory.
- 8:07Like shattered bone. George scrambled to his feet and
- 8:11a slow turn later, a skinny boy with flaxen hair and ghostly
- 8:15eyes gazed up at him. The boy grinned at him, shining
- 8:19teeth proudly on display. You know?
- 8:22The girl's voice whispered. It hasn't been this easy to get
- 8:26a meal since the 70s.