Latest / Shallow Nights: Scary Bedtime Stories / A Night of Secrets and Suspense - Scary Paranormal Story

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A Night of Secrets and Suspense - Scary Paranormal Story · Shallow Nights: Scary Bedtime Stories

• 0:16
  I work at an amusement park where only half of the actors
• 0:19
  are actual actors. But do I though?
• 0:23
  Should I say I used to instead scratch it?
• 0:26
  It's unimportant. After what I learned yesterday,
• 0:29
  I feel like I couldn't take it all in if I tried.
• 0:33
  I woke up when the first bright beams of morning sunlight found
• 0:36
  their way through the windscreen of Dale's pickup truck, slowly
• 0:40
  opening my eyes. I couldn't remember where I was
• 0:42
  at first, then everything came rushing back to me, and I admit
• 0:46
  I felt like throwing up. You're awake.
• 0:49
  Dale remarked from beside me. How are you?
• 0:53
  Awful. I muttered, rubbing my eyes.
• 0:56
  Were you awake all that time? How long was I out for?
• 1:00
  Taking a look at the car's radio display, he replied. 6 hours, I
• 1:04
  think. And no, not exactly.
• 1:07
  I pulled over soon after you fell asleep to take a short nap,
• 1:10
  but I couldn't really rest. I'm a bit of an insomniac
• 1:14
  anyways, and I called the others and told them to stay away from
• 1:17
  the park. What did you tell them?
• 1:20
  I asked. I didn't really explain
• 1:23
  anything. I just told him not to come in
• 1:25
  or to leave instantly. Mitchell kind of knows what's up
• 1:28
  anyways. Had to make an exception for
• 1:30
  Caroline, though. I told her to rush in in the
• 1:32
  afternoon, ask her question, and then book it.
• 1:35
  I don't think the laws of the park are in place anymore, but I
• 1:38
  don't want to take any chances. After all, the pianist is a
• 1:43
  ticking time bomb. Courtesy of Warren, by the way,
• 1:46
  that guy placed him there as a reminder for me and my folks not
• 1:49
  to forget about the wild ones. I frowned.
• 1:53
  Makes sense. A mutter before once again
• 1:56
  burying my forehead in my palm. Are you OK?
• 2:00
  No feeling kind of dizzy? I replied before perking up.
• 2:05
  Wait, did you just say Mitchell knows what's up?
• 2:08
  Yeah, well, not exactly. See, I had to assign actors to
• 2:12
  everyone and I figured I could have Mitch keep an eye on you
• 2:15
  know who. I never told him who he actually
• 2:18
  is and what purpose he feels, but I did tell him to watch him.
• 2:22
  Like Intensely said, it was very important.
• 2:25
  Also, I asked him to pay special attention to his interactions
• 2:28
  with you. What is it that he wants for me
• 2:31
  anyways? I hadn't asked him this before,
• 2:34
  mainly because I hadn't expected him to know, but also because I
• 2:38
  was slightly afraid of the answer.
• 2:40
  I'm not sure to be honest. My manager answered, but it's
• 2:45
  it's personal. What do you mean by that one
• 2:49
  Personal. OK, so when you first came to
• 2:51
  the park, I noticed that he began to watch you, like, pretty
• 2:55
  much right off the bat. A week or so later he showed up
• 2:58
  on my office doorstep and he, he wanted your name, so I showed
• 3:03
  him how to spell it to them. Names really do have power, but
• 3:07
  I'm not certain in what way that counts for humans, so I can't
• 3:11
  look into his head. You know?
• 3:13
  I get that. I muttered.
• 3:15
  The atmosphere in the car remained tense until we left the
• 3:18
  highway and entered town. The neighborhood Dale finally
• 3:22
  pulled into looks suburban and wealthy, with large colorful
• 3:26
  houses to either side. We drove along the street for a
• 3:29
  couple of minutes, me staring over the window and silent awe
• 3:33
  at the idyllic scenes we passed. There was a couple sitting
• 3:37
  outside on their front lawn and folding chairs in front of one
• 3:40
  of the residences. Another had three rather alike
• 3:44
  looking children throw around a ball between them.
• 3:47
  And there was a lady sunbathing on the porch of yet another one
• 3:50
  of these buildings. It looked picture perfect, like
• 3:54
  something out of a movie. Dale pulled up by a house on the
• 3:58
  very end of the street. We're here, he said curtly.
• 4:02
  We got out of the truck and walked up to its porch.
• 4:05
  The house was huge. Of course, that wasn't too much
• 4:08
  of a surprise, but I hadn't expected it to be.
• 4:11
  This pretty lush green lawn reached from the edge of the
• 4:15
  sidewalk all the way up to the porch.
• 4:18
  The yard held a swing set, a tall tree, and a trampoline.
• 4:22
  Three small children were happily jumping around on the
• 4:25
  ladder while another one was sitting on the swing.
• 4:28
  They're my brothers. Dale told me, looking over at
• 4:32
  them with a font smile. As we got closer.
• 4:35
  He called out to them. The kids immediately stopped
• 4:38
  their playing and came bounding over to us, gathering around my
• 4:41
  manager. None of them were even tall
• 4:44
  enough to reach up to his waist, but they grabbed onto his arms
• 4:47
  anyways. Uncle Dale?
• 4:49
  One of them, a petite blonde girl, greeted him.
• 4:52
  Mom didn't tell us you were coming over.
• 4:55
  Yeah, well, it's a bit of a surprise visit.
• 4:57
  Courtney and Dale explained awkwardly, trying to take a step
• 5:00
  forward with the four kids blocking his path.
• 5:03
  Sweetie, I got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa.
• 5:06
  You guys really have to get out of my way.
• 5:08
  I'm stumbling. Dallas, can you please not pull
• 5:11
  on my pants? Thank you.
• 5:14
  You shot me a pleading glance. I couldn't help but giggle at
• 5:17
  the site. Suddenly the front door was
• 5:20
  thrown open and a tall blonde man stepped out onto the porch.
• 5:24
  He looked around and spotted Dale and the children.
• 5:27
  His eyes lit up and he ran over to us.
• 5:29
  The kids quickly made way and he wrapped his arms around my
• 5:32
  manager and heartily patted him on the back and greeting.
• 5:35
  Dude, I had no idea you'd drop by.
• 5:38
  How are you? Who's the lady?
• 5:41
  Dale was looking extremely uncomfortable by now.
• 5:44
  His face had taken on the color of an overly ripe apple, and he
• 5:47
  gently attempted to remove himself from the man's embrace.
• 5:51
  I remember suddenly noticing that they looked very alike.
• 5:55
  The same sandy hair, the same square jaw, the same brown eyes.
• 5:59
  Hey, Dean, I'm fine. Dean, this is Leia.
• 6:03
  Mr. Scratches, actress Leia, this is my younger brother,
• 6:06
  Dean. Dean cracked me a wide smile and
• 6:09
  shook my hand. So, what are you guys doing
• 6:12
  here? Everything all right at the
• 6:13
  park? His face fell when he noticed
• 6:16
  Dale's grim expression. Well, screw me, he muttered.
• 6:24
  A little later, we were sitting at the table in Dale's family
• 6:26
  kitchen. A little later, we were sitting
• 6:29
  at the table in Dale's family's kitchen.
• 6:31
  Their home was just as pretty from the inside as it was out.
• 6:34
  I have been thoughtfully introduced to Betty and Rick,
• 6:38
  Dale's mother and father, as well as to Bridget, Dean's wife.
• 6:42
  She is a beautiful red headed woman hailing from Ireland, as
• 6:46
  openly proven by her strong accent.
• 6:49
  Dean and Bridget's children were playing tag outside in the
• 6:51
  backyard. I could hear them giggle and
• 6:54
  shout through the open window. Rick was leaning against the
• 6:57
  kitchen cupboard. Ever since we had told him what
• 7:00
  had happened, he hadn't stopped shaking his head in disbelief
• 7:03
  and distress. This is beyond confusing, the
• 7:08
  contract has been violated by both sides, if not broken
• 7:12
  entirely. He stated in his gruff, hoarse
• 7:15
  voice. Warren, he wasn't meant to take
• 7:19
  you on his own. Let's see, I think it's pretty
• 7:22
  obvious that the ones underground started to dislike
• 7:25
  ever since you began to threaten Moth and Mulberry physically.
• 7:30
  They were mad as hell. Dale agreed from his seat on the
• 7:33
  kitchen counter. But they were mad at me, too.
• 7:36
  For giving you the revolver. Yeah.
• 7:39
  Why did you give it to me anyways?
• 7:41
  I asked. It works like a protective
• 7:44
  charm. Warren hates it.
• 7:46
  I admit that wasn't very well thought through, seeing as I
• 7:49
  think that's what pushed him over the edge.
• 7:51
  But whatever. I tried.
• 7:54
  I fired you because the ones underground wanted to see your
• 7:56
  gut spilled. That wasn't really a breach of
• 7:59
  the contract yet, though. I mean, it's Warren who brings
• 8:02
  the news about the sacrifices. So I was just like his loss.
• 8:07
  He hadn't said anything yet, so I figured it'd be my last chance
• 8:10
  to get you out of there. I hadn't expected that to
• 8:14
  happen, you know, What we need to do is figure out if we can
• 8:18
  mend the contract somehow. Rick explained.
• 8:21
  I admit, I'm tired of it too, but we can't just endanger the
• 8:24
  kids. Maybe we can cancel it on
• 8:27
  peaceful terms. He reached out to pat my
• 8:29
  shoulder reassuringly. We'll get you fixed somehow,
• 8:33
  don't you worry. Warren has acted on his own this
• 8:36
  time. That's not exactly forbidden,
• 8:39
  but it also isn't allowed. After all, the employees kind of
• 8:43
  count as our belongings. Thanks.
• 8:46
  I said softly, and Rick smiled. But what if it doesn't work out?
• 8:52
  Betty argued. We should prepare ourselves for
• 8:55
  things to get violent. What happened can't be undone.
• 8:58
  And technically, Dale wasn't completely true to the contract
• 9:01
  either. One could even argue that he was
• 9:04
  more in the wrong. I mean, there were indications
• 9:07
  that the wild ones wanted layoff for whatever reasons.
• 9:11
  All I'm saying is that they might not be happy about it.
• 9:15
  Perhaps they'll even be angry enough to fall back and do
• 9:20
  certain older schemes if it comes to hurting them.
• 9:24
  Iron seems to work really well. But like, is it even possible to
• 9:28
  kill them? I inquired, nervously caressing
• 9:30
  my Locket. No one seemed to know the
• 9:33
  answer. Betty and Rick exchanged
• 9:35
  contemplative glances while Dean shook his head.
• 9:39
  Don't think so. One thing's really confusing to
• 9:42
  me as well. So far, the Wild Ones mostly
• 9:44
  chose their sacrifices to make us feel crappy.
• 9:48
  It's all a huge power play to them.
• 9:50
  So who even were the previous sacrifices?
• 9:54
  I asked curiously. Betty sighed.
• 9:58
  Oh dear, where do you even start?
• 10:01
  The first sacrifice was a wolfhound, which belonged to one
• 10:04
  of the first settlers. The wild ones had the guy kill
• 10:07
  the poor thing by having a drink, war and spit.
• 10:10
  And then they they did something weird to its body.
• 10:15
  They changed it, made it big and strong and monstrous.
• 10:19
  When the fairgrounds still existed, the settlers exhibited
• 10:22
  him as a real life demon or devil.
• 10:24
  That's how much they mauled him. The next thing they asked for
• 10:28
  was the Stagecoach. Warren liked Colt's attitude.
• 10:32
  He was into the whole western style and he wanted the carriage
• 10:35
  as his plaything. The horses were fed with his
• 10:38
  secretions and he chose a settler to drive it around.
• 10:42
  Then for a really long time they didn't ask for anything else
• 10:46
  until Rick's grand aunt and grand uncle were chosen.
• 10:49
  His grand aunt's name was Grace. She was a theatre actress, but
• 10:53
  she only ever starred in small plays, nothing too big.
• 10:57
  Her husband Robert, led the fairground for a pretty long
• 11:00
  time. He was a really artistic guy,
• 11:02
  very musical. Him and his wife would do small
• 11:05
  shows on the fairground from time to time.
• 11:08
  I don't know why it was these two that Warren shows.
• 11:11
  Maybe he saw how happy they were and wanted to destroy it.
• 11:16
  Perhaps it was in a twisted sense of humor, as in make the
• 11:20
  show go on for eternity. It was heartbreaking to see them
• 11:24
  turn. The worst thing though happened
• 11:27
  just 20 years ago. There was this actress, Layla.
• 11:31
  Layla was very disrespectful towards the non actors, treated
• 11:34
  them like animals, all of them. But she didn't deserve what he
• 11:39
  did to her. Though Warren would probably beg
• 11:41
  to differ. Betty bitter lip and lowered her
• 11:45
  eyes. So All in all, there's a whole
• 11:48
  lot of differences between you and those actors.
• 11:51
  I mean, you didn't do anything wrong until very recently, and
• 11:54
  you're not part of the family. That doesn't have to mean
• 11:58
  anything. Bridget suddenly spoke up.
• 12:01
  Your story reminds me of something, actually.
• 12:04
  Back when I lived in Ireland, my home was close to a fairy ring.
• 12:08
  Sometimes some of them would come out to see the light of
• 12:10
  day. I'm certain I even saw some of
• 12:13
  them a couple times. But my older sister actually got
• 12:17
  chosen by one of them. Her voice had shrunken into a
• 12:20
  secret of whisper. I noticed her acting strange,
• 12:24
  like she was high or something. She would go outside every day
• 12:28
  and every time she'd be gone for a little longer.
• 12:32
  Then one day she just didn't come home at all.
• 12:34
  We asked the neighbors who lived a little closer to the ring and
• 12:37
  they swore up and down they saw her with a man with the head of
• 12:40
  a dog. They described her to seem
• 12:42
  weirdly enchanted by him. It's obvious that he took her.
• 12:47
  I haven't seen her ever since. I've read about a ton of such
• 12:50
  incidents. Face sometimes take a liking to
• 12:54
  humans once they find pretty or appealing, they train them to
• 12:58
  follow them around, they drug them with their magic, they keep
• 13:02
  them like slaves or pets. I dared not break her gaze.
• 13:08
  I swallowed. Well, I don't want to be
• 13:10
  anybody's pet. I said, trying to sound firm,
• 13:13
  but my voice faltered and broke. You won't.
• 13:17
  Dean assured me with a warm smile.
• 13:19
  We'll work this out somehow, let's just stay positive, OK?
• 13:24
  You said you had a breakdown in the men's restroom.
• 13:27
  Rick muttered, a deep frown on his face.
• 13:30
  You can probably figure out on your own what it is we locked
• 13:33
  away in there, the entrance to the Underworld.
• 13:36
  I breathed. Rick nodded.
• 13:39
  See, there's something way off about that breakdown.
• 13:41
  Let me get this straight, you fell unconscious and Warren got
• 13:46
  you out of there, but not before removing the protective charms
• 13:49
  from your possession? I believe the presence of the
• 13:52
  charms which are strongly rejected by the entrance caused
• 13:55
  you to pass out. But that other fit of yours, the
• 13:59
  one where you attacked your Co worker, that shouldn't have
• 14:02
  happened. There's no explanation for it,
• 14:06
  unless of course you had already started to turn.
• 14:08
  Dale interjected offhandedly. The room fell silent.
• 14:12
  Dale's eyes widened when he realized what he had just said.
• 14:16
  He cleared his throat. For how long did Darius say you
• 14:19
  were in there? He, he didn't specify.
• 14:24
  I stammered. I felt like throwing up.
• 14:27
  All right, all right dear, calm down.
• 14:29
  But. He said softly, placing her hand
• 14:31
  on my shoulder. The turning process takes 9 days
• 14:34
  at the very least, and all those who have been turned beforehand
• 14:39
  had to stay in the park while it happened.
• 14:41
  Plus, you're still wearing that necklace.
• 14:43
  Seems to be pretty helpful. We have enough time to sort this
• 14:46
  out, let's just focus on what to do next, right?
• 14:50
  Rick muttered. I'm thinking that we're going to
• 14:52
  have a visitor pretty soon. I spun around to look at him.
• 14:56
  Why? You mean he, he's followed us
• 14:59
  here? Rick nodded.
• 15:01
  I imagine he's on his way. He is the enforcer of upper
• 15:04
  management's rules, after all, and even though he acted against
• 15:07
  them, it's his job to set this stray.
• 15:10
  Not sure how he travels, but probably underground.
• 15:14
  He was never completely bound to the park, you know, And now that
• 15:17
  the contract is on thin ice, he's got more freedom than ever.
• 15:21
  Chances are he's even got his voice back.
• 15:24
  Well, great. Judging from how much the others
• 15:27
  talk, he probably won't shut up either.
• 15:30
  It'll probably help with the negotiations though.
• 15:32
  And. Dale remarked.
• 15:34
  He was trying to sound light hearted, but I could hear the
• 15:36
  strain in his tone. Are you the only one who can
• 15:39
  hear those underground? I asked.
• 15:42
  Dale nodded. It's always the one in the
• 15:44
  manager's position. You can hear them.
• 15:47
  We then went about making preparations for Warren's
• 15:49
  arrival. Dean explained that we would
• 15:52
  have to offer him hospitality if we wanted to settle the matter
• 15:55
  peacefully, however hard that might be for us.
• 15:59
  Betty sent me outside to bring in the children.
• 16:02
  I watched them run around in the backyard for a little while.
• 16:05
  Courtney, the little blonde girl, seemed to be it at the
• 16:08
  moment. She deliberately chased after a
• 16:10
  chubby, ginger haired girl who in turn seemed to try to reach
• 16:14
  the large tree in the back of the yard in time.
• 16:17
  Courtney's hand came into contact with her at the same
• 16:19
  moment her fingers touched the bark of the tree.
• 16:22
  You're it? Courtney shouted.
• 16:24
  Whitney, you're it. No, I'm not.
• 16:27
  I got to the safety tree in time.
• 16:29
  See. I'm touching it.
• 16:30
  Yeah, but I got you first. Courtney insisted.
• 16:33
  If you cheat, the people underground will come for you.
• 16:37
  The people underground will come for you.
• 16:41
  They're taking the rules of the contract and turn them into a
• 16:43
  game. I remember thinking it was
• 16:45
  morbid. Hey you guys, your mom wants you
• 16:48
  to come inside. I called out.
• 16:51
  The four kids stopped goofing around and obediently came
• 16:53
  trotting over to the back door. They cracked me shy smiles as
• 16:58
  they walked past me into the house.
• 17:00
  Betty gathered them in one of the top floor rooms.
• 17:03
  The room was completely empty and Betty spread salt around its
• 17:07
  edges and circling the space the kids would be staying in.
• 17:11
  Leia, pay close attention now. This is the safe room, it's high
• 17:15
  up from the ground, making it more uncomfortable for any of
• 17:18
  the wild ones to reach. They like to stay as close to
• 17:21
  the soil as possible. That's why we keep it
• 17:24
  unoccupied, so we can use it as a sort of a panic room.
• 17:28
  The salt keeps the wild ones from entering.
• 17:31
  When Warren arrives, we will have to face them together, but
• 17:34
  if anything goes wrong, you can always come up here and join the
• 17:37
  kids. Thank you, I muttered.
• 17:40
  Betty smiled at me. We'll make it through somehow,
• 17:43
  she assured me. I'm sure it'll be fine.
• 17:48
  When the sunset we'd all gathered in the living room.
• 17:52
  Bridget had thankfully allowed me to take a long relaxing
• 17:55
  shower using her shampoo and washing jaw, which actually
• 17:58
  helped me to take my mind off of things for about 15 minutes.
• 18:03
  I had changed into some fresh clothing and went to join the
• 18:06
  others in watching TV. Even though the kids are still
• 18:09
  with us and there was a cartoon show blaring a full volume, the
• 18:13
  tension in the room was palpable.
• 18:15
  When I entered. Betty, Rick and Dean and Bridget
• 18:19
  were sitting on the couch while the children had snuggled up on
• 18:22
  the carpeted floor. Dale was sitting on the floor as
• 18:26
  well, a little off to the side. He looked up to me and gave me a
• 18:30
  weary smile and waved me over a plop down next to him.
• 18:34
  I had taken Colt's revolver with me in the lock.
• 18:36
  It was dangling from my neck as usual.
• 18:40
  We sat like this for about an hour.
• 18:42
  Apart from a few occasional giggles from the kids, none of
• 18:46
  us said a word. Then all of a sudden, the
• 18:49
  strained atmosphere was broken by the sound of knocking at the
• 18:52
  front door. The knocks came slow and hard,
• 18:56
  three times, each one a little louder than the last.
• 19:02
  Bridget instantly scrambled to her feet and shooed the kids
• 19:04
  upstairs while the rest of us went for the door.
• 19:08
  I hid behind Dale, feeling a tad foolish for not standing out for
• 19:11
  myself. My sweaty fingers cramped around
• 19:14
  the revolver's handle. The bullets inside it are made
• 19:17
  of lead, but I hope that he hates the thing itself enough to
• 19:21
  make him stay away from me. Rick was the one to open the
• 19:25
  door to him. Good evening, Warren.
• 19:27
  He said, his frame blocking out the newcomer from my view.
• 19:32
  My heart stopped for a second when a voice, an actual voice,
• 19:36
  replied to him. It was sharp and cold.
• 19:40
  There was an almost mocking tone to it.
• 19:43
  Greetings, Rick. It has been a while, has it not?
• 19:46
  A short pause followed. Nobody sang a word.
• 19:50
  Will you not invite me inside, old friend?
• 19:53
  Rick sighed deeply. Come in.
• 19:55
  Then he stepped aside to make way for the Parks Guardian.
• 20:01
  For a split second, Warren's eyes met mine just before I
• 20:04
  could duck further behind Dale's back.
• 20:07
  The corners of his mouth stretched into a wry smirk.
• 20:10
  My heart was pounding in my chest.
• 20:13
  Actually, I feel very tired. I wish to rest if you allow me.
• 20:18
  I shall retire in your backyard if that's what you want.
• 20:23
  But I don't want you sneaking in without knocking.
• 20:26
  This is our home, Please remember that.
• 20:29
  I would never. Right now I'm lying in bed in
• 20:34
  the guest room. I'm alone and everything is
• 20:36
  silent, uncomfortably so. But the worst thing is that
• 20:40
  there's a window to the backyard.
• 20:43
  It's right above the bed, and whenever I lift my head I can
• 20:46
  see him. He's standing up right in the
• 20:49
  garden. It's too dark to tell if he's
• 20:52
  looking at anything, but I feel like he's watching me.
• 20:56
  I know he promised Rick not to come in, but that isn't really
• 20:59
  helping. I'm scared to fall asleep.