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Transcript

6 CHRISTMAS Horror Stories Animated · Martin Animations

0:02
Speaker 1: Secret Santa is a game that usually gets played in
0:05
Speaker 1: a classroom or, in my case, an office. I'm sure
0:08
Speaker 1: you're well aware of what it is, but in case
0:10
Speaker 1: you're not, I'll give you the quick version. Everyone is
0:13
Speaker 1: assigned a random co-worker to secretly give a gift to.
0:16
Speaker 1: Usually there's something like a price cap around 15 bucks
0:19
Speaker 1: or so. It's usually a pretty interesting turn of events
0:23
Speaker 1: as we get to learn a thing or two about
0:25
Speaker 1: co-workers as we start digging up on what their interests
0:27
Speaker 1: are and what have you. Nine times out of ten,
0:31
Speaker 1: You just find out cute things like big angry looking
0:34
Speaker 1: guy has a secret passion for growing flowers, general stuff
0:37
Speaker 1: like that. We always look forward to Secret Santa, as
0:41
Speaker 1: we had an almost family-like community here where we were
0:44
Speaker 1: all encouraged to spend as much time as possible together.
0:48
Speaker 1: The tidbits of gossip were always playful and fun. This
0:51
Speaker 1: was not one of those times. This time around, I
0:54
Speaker 1: was the unfortunate soul who was gifted upon by the
0:57
Speaker 1: weird IT guy. Let's call him Squid. Squid was a
1:01
Speaker 1: guy with no social skills whatsoever, however, at the same time,
1:05
Speaker 1: an ingenious worker in his craft, or so they told me.
1:09
Speaker 1: I don't know two things about anything that's tech-related outside
1:12
Speaker 1: of spreadsheets, email, and Amazon, if you could even call
1:15
Speaker 1: it that. A little background real quick. I'm a secret
1:19
Speaker 1: collector of these weird big-headed toys called Funko Pops. Not
1:23
Speaker 1: just any particular type either, but specifically Game of Thrones types.
1:27
Speaker 1: I have this unhealthy obsession with that show, and for
1:30
Speaker 1: what started out as a joke where I bought a
1:33
Speaker 1: Jon Snow toy, quickly spiraled out of control, resulting in
1:36
Speaker 1: me owning almost all of them. You should see this
1:39
Speaker 1: shelf in my room. Jaime, Lannister, the Hound, Snow, Giant's Bane,
1:45
Speaker 1: the Night King, Littlefinger, Tyrion, Dany, Ned, Stannis, you name it.
1:51
Speaker 1: I had them all. However, there was this one character
1:54
Speaker 1: that I could never find. And that was a specific
1:57
Speaker 1: version of Tyrion. The one where he's in the battle
2:00
Speaker 1: armor with a scar across his face. You know, like
2:03
Speaker 1: in Season 2's Blackwater episode. Point is, not everyone gets
2:08
Speaker 1: the whole collection thing and Funkos are, well, different than
2:12
Speaker 1: what everyone else was expecting. Nobody had worked new and
2:16
Speaker 1: I intended to keep it that way. On my way
2:19
Speaker 1: home between the time of signing the secret Santas and
2:22
Speaker 1: the day we exchanged, I ran into Squid at a
2:25
Speaker 1: hobby store. It looked like he was expecting to see
2:28
Speaker 1: me there. Or maybe that was just because he was
2:30
Speaker 1: weird and always looks that way. Either way, I have
2:33
Speaker 1: no clue. I didn't expect to see him there and
2:36
Speaker 1: tried to turn and leave. Me being an idiot, I
2:39
Speaker 1: looked back as I cleared the door and accidentally made
2:42
Speaker 1: direct eye contact with him. He got really nervous and
2:45
Speaker 1: looked down at the ground. I wasn't sure what to do,
2:48
Speaker 1: so instead I just left. I would talk to him
2:51
Speaker 1: next time I saw him and make up an excuse.
2:54
Speaker 1: I wouldn't bring this up but the thing is it
2:56
Speaker 1: plays a factor in the day we exchanged. Turns out
2:59
Speaker 1: he got me exactly the Funko doll I was looking for.
3:02
Speaker 1: My boar Tyrion with his battle scar. Specifically the one
3:06
Speaker 1: I never told anyone at work I wanted. How he
3:08
Speaker 1: knew just made those bells in my head explode. Everyone
3:13
Speaker 1: had a good laugh and Squid looked so nervous almost
3:16
Speaker 1: pale when he gave it to me. When I asked
3:18
Speaker 1: him how he knew he said it was just a
3:20
Speaker 1: guess seeing as we ran into each other at the
3:22
Speaker 1: store by chance. When I got home I put the
3:26
Speaker 1: doll in the corner of the room and never took
3:28
Speaker 1: it out of the bag. It just seemed so creepy
3:30
Speaker 1: to me that he knew to get me specifically that
3:32
Speaker 1: one doll. I couldn't even add it to the collection.
3:35
Speaker 1: I almost threw it away but instead I just forgot
3:38
Speaker 1: about it for the next couple of weeks. Squid continued
3:41
Speaker 1: to ask me about it, specifically what I thought about
3:44
Speaker 1: it and if I set it up yet. I kept
3:46
Speaker 1: telling him I didn't and he just kept getting more
3:49
Speaker 1: annoyed about it. He's been watching me more and more
3:52
Speaker 1: these days. I was thinking about complaining to HR but
3:56
Speaker 1: everyone knew that Squid was like this homeschooled weirdo. Uncomfortable
4:00
Speaker 1: but accepted regardless as per the nature of the place
4:03
Speaker 1: we worked. So one day he asked me and I
4:06
Speaker 1: decided just lie and say yes. I stood the thing
4:09
Speaker 1: up in my TV room. Poor Squid looked beyond skeptical
4:13
Speaker 1: and beyond that even more annoyed like he could just
4:16
Speaker 1: see through it. Turns out Squid can tell when I lie.
4:20
Speaker 1: Who knows. Either way, it was getting unbearable, so I
4:24
Speaker 1: get home and the first thing I do is take
4:26
Speaker 1: it out of the bag and throw it away. As
4:29
Speaker 1: I do, I notice the factory seal in the box
4:31
Speaker 1: was torn open. Well, sort of. That wouldn't bother me
4:35
Speaker 1: so much, but it had masking tape over it as
4:38
Speaker 1: if to try to hide the fact.
4:40
Speaker 2: Big deal.
4:40
Speaker 1: Maybe someone got caught trying to take it out of
4:42
Speaker 1: the box and they just refurbished it. I don't know.
4:46
Speaker 1: Either way, I took it out of the box to
4:48
Speaker 1: look at it closely. Part of me wanted to know
4:50
Speaker 1: if the creep slipped a note inside but there was
4:53
Speaker 1: nothing but the usual stuff. I noticed two things out
4:56
Speaker 1: of the gate. One was that the doll was heavier
4:59
Speaker 1: than usual. Like I said earlier I've been collecting these
5:02
Speaker 1: things for quite some time so I should know. The
5:05
Speaker 1: other was that the head had a crack in it.
5:08
Speaker 1: I take a closer look and notice that the crack
5:10
Speaker 1: actually wraps around the entire head. I prod at it
5:13
Speaker 1: for a second and notice that it's actually a seam
5:16
Speaker 1: from when it was split open. The head came apart
5:19
Speaker 1: very easily and as it did, the small thing fell
5:22
Speaker 1: out of it. It looked like a plug or something
5:25
Speaker 1: but then I realized the plug had a small glass
5:28
Speaker 1: over the receiving part. I take a closer look and
5:31
Speaker 1: see this tiny red light. Then it hits me. This
5:36
Speaker 1: is a camera. Some kind of DIY thing, like it
5:40
Speaker 1: was homemade. As I make it to throw it across
5:43
Speaker 1: the room, the light shuts off. Squid realized I found
5:47
Speaker 1: him out. I wrapped it in three plastic bags then
5:51
Speaker 1: put it into a box. The thought of having it
5:53
Speaker 1: in my house made my stomach turn, but I needed
5:56
Speaker 1: to show it to HR. When I showed up to
5:59
Speaker 1: work the next day, Squid was gone. Turns out he
6:02
Speaker 1: left a last second call saying that he was quitting
6:05
Speaker 1: effective immediately. Turns out he wiped his entire hard drive
6:08
Speaker 1: before he took off sometime the prior night. The word
6:12
Speaker 1: got out that Squid was trying to spy on me
6:14
Speaker 1: and everyone was pretty cool about it. Mostly on account
6:17
Speaker 1: of them saying things like, I knew it. I mean,
6:20
Speaker 1: let's face it, we all did. So here's the part
6:23
Speaker 1: that really messes with me. It turns out that the
6:26
Speaker 1: main reason Squid was able to learn so much about
6:29
Speaker 1: me was the fact that I was foolish enough to
6:32
Speaker 1: leave my Google account logged into the work computer. From there,
6:36
Speaker 1: it was easy enough task for Squid to break into
6:38
Speaker 1: my account and learn all my personal information. Think about it.
6:42
Speaker 1: My entire phone was linked to Google. That thing has
6:45
Speaker 1: me on GPS, granting him the ability to stalk and
6:49
Speaker 1: keep track of me just two rooms away. No wonder
6:52
Speaker 1: he found out about the freaking doll. He had almost everything,
6:56
Speaker 1: but bad for him, I didn't own a webcam or
6:59
Speaker 1: anything like that for him to hack. He just needed
7:02
Speaker 1: to see me at night when I was private and vulnerable.
7:06
Speaker 1: I deleted all my accounts, changed my numbers, got rid
7:08
Speaker 1: of everything that gave him access to my personal information.
7:12
Speaker 1: I changed bank accounts, cut my credit and debit cards,
7:15
Speaker 1: completely uplifted my digital footprint. It just scares me because
7:19
Speaker 1: I just don't know how much information is out there
7:21
Speaker 1: about me, how far it goes. In the end, the
7:25
Speaker 1: police caught him and he was brought up on stalker
7:27
Speaker 1: charges of some sort. He pled guilty to infiltrating my life.
7:32
Speaker 1: He told them he wanted to learn the layout of
7:34
Speaker 1: my house. Do I really need to spell it out
7:36
Speaker 1: for you any further? Look, judge me if you want.
7:40
Speaker 1: But please, for the love of God, be careful when
7:43
Speaker 1: you share your personal information, especially when it comes to
7:46
Speaker 1: work computers. You just don't know who is watching.
7:55
Speaker 2: When I was young, my parents really encouraged my brother
7:58
Speaker 2: and I to believe in Santa Claus. It was partly
8:02
Speaker 2: because of our Christian upbringing, and partly that they wanted
8:05
Speaker 2: us to have that magical excitement that surrounds the Christmas
8:07
Speaker 2: holiday for as long as possible. We would run downstairs
8:11
Speaker 2: to the fireplace on Christmas morning and gleefully tear into
8:14
Speaker 2: the single present left for each of us by Santa,
8:17
Speaker 2: in addition to the gifts from family and friends beneath
8:19
Speaker 2: the tree. The year I stopped believing in Santa Claus
8:22
Speaker 2: was a confusing one, and I didn't understand the full
8:25
Speaker 2: ramifications of what had happened for several years afterward. I
8:29
Speaker 2: was still pretty young, about seven or eight, but fairly
8:33
Speaker 2: old to still be believing in a jolly fat man
8:35
Speaker 2: in a red suit who squeezes down a chimney. Television
8:38
Speaker 2: holiday specials and annual trips to the mall or local
8:41
Speaker 2: church for photos with Kris Kringle were enough to reinforce
8:44
Speaker 2: what my parents had told me. So, t'was the night
8:47
Speaker 2: before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature
8:51
Speaker 2: was stirring. Except for two rambunctious youngsters who were absolutely
8:55
Speaker 2: set on waiting up for Santa, and their two exasperated parents.
9:00
Speaker 2: My brother and I had gotten into the cookie tins,
9:02
Speaker 2: so we were about ten kinds of wired. and we
9:05
Speaker 2: weren't going to bed until we heard reindeer on the roof.
9:09
Speaker 2: It was going on at about 11.30 at night, very
9:12
Speaker 2: late for us in those days, when bedtime was around 8pm.
9:16
Speaker 2: Our parents were on the verge of bribing us with
9:18
Speaker 2: just about anything to get us out of their hair,
9:20
Speaker 2: when we saw a figure in a red and white
9:23
Speaker 2: suit walk past the living room window. My little brother,
9:27
Speaker 2: all of four years at the time, yelled, Santa! And
9:31
Speaker 2: both of us rushed to the front door. We couldn't
9:34
Speaker 2: understand why my mum suddenly grabbed us and hustled us upstairs,
9:39
Speaker 2: or why dad was quickly locking the door and rushing
9:41
Speaker 2: for the phone while our Siberian husky stood in the
9:44
Speaker 2: entryway and growled. We whined and complained as we were
9:48
Speaker 2: tucked into bed, in our parents' room, oddly enough. But
9:52
Speaker 2: mum insisted that we'd been very good and waited up
9:55
Speaker 2: for Santa, and now that he was here, it was
9:58
Speaker 2: time for us to go to sleep. it took some
10:00
Speaker 2: doing on her part but she convinced us that if
10:03
Speaker 2: santa knew that we were all still up we might
10:05
Speaker 2: not get any presents so we had better go to
10:07
Speaker 2: sleep on the double so we borrowed under the covers
10:11
Speaker 2: and squeezed our eyes shut like all kids pretending to
10:14
Speaker 2: be asleep in mere minutes the sugar crash hit and
10:18
Speaker 2: we fell asleep for real Just before I drifted off though,
10:22
Speaker 2: I heard my dad come into the room and say
10:24
Speaker 2: something like, Jerry's here. This was confusing to me, as
10:28
Speaker 2: our neighbour Jerry was a police officer, and I couldn't
10:31
Speaker 2: figure out what the reason he could have been visiting
10:33
Speaker 2: on Christmas for. But I was too sleepy to puzzle
10:37
Speaker 2: it out, and I didn't hear anything more before visions
10:40
Speaker 2: of sugar plums pulled me under. In the morning, our
10:43
Speaker 2: expected gifts from Santa were on the hearth, and we
10:46
Speaker 2: ripped into our pile of gifts with frenzy. It was
10:49
Speaker 2: a good Christmas that year, Dad had won some money
10:51
Speaker 2: in the state lottery and it had resulted in some
10:54
Speaker 2: much needed renovations to our house as well as a
10:57
Speaker 2: vacation to Disney World and a whole lot of very
10:59
Speaker 2: nice presents for the family. He had been in a
11:02
Speaker 2: lottery pool with some friends at his job and they
11:04
Speaker 2: all received a share of the winnings. It was actually
11:07
Speaker 2: on the local news and everything. It didn't dawn on
11:10
Speaker 2: me until much later that neither of my parents looked
11:12
Speaker 2: like they had slept. They were both drinking coffee which
11:16
Speaker 2: was highly unusual and they smiled at our antics and
11:19
Speaker 2: thankful hugs but otherwise, they weren't as energetic as most mornings.
11:25
Speaker 2: For months, I chalked it up to having to wrangle
11:27
Speaker 2: my brother and I the night before. A few months later,
11:30
Speaker 2: a classmate of mine brought in a newspaper article for
11:33
Speaker 2: current events at the school. For those who've never had
11:36
Speaker 2: to sit through it, this involves students bringing in stories
11:39
Speaker 2: from periodicals and fumbling through a two-minute presentation of the
11:42
Speaker 2: salient points. I usually halfway slept through this part of
11:45
Speaker 2: the day, but not this time. The article was about
11:49
Speaker 2: a man who'd attempted to break into several houses in
11:52
Speaker 2: the week leading up to Christmas holidays. He'd been arrested
11:55
Speaker 2: on Christmas Eve while trying to break into an occupied
11:58
Speaker 2: home dressed as Santa, and his trial date had just
12:01
Speaker 2: been set for later in the year. As sad as
12:04
Speaker 2: it sounds, that moment was the moment I stopped believing
12:07
Speaker 2: in Santa Claus. I'd previously thought that the red suit
12:10
Speaker 2: was something of a trademark, and surely only Santa himself
12:14
Speaker 2: could wear it. But heck, if any old joker could
12:17
Speaker 2: put on that suit... even one who robbed the houses,
12:20
Speaker 2: then surely, to my young mind, it meant there was
12:23
Speaker 2: no Santa. The pieces didn't fall into place until several
12:26
Speaker 2: years later, when I brought the incident of the very
12:29
Speaker 2: late Christmas Eve up to my mother in conversation. She
12:33
Speaker 2: looked shaken for a minute, but then told me I
12:35
Speaker 2: was probably old enough to know what had actually happened.
12:39
Speaker 2: The man from the newspaper article had been tracking down
12:41
Speaker 2: the people from Dad's lottery pool. He knew they'd all
12:44
Speaker 2: won money, and so would probably have nice new purchases
12:47
Speaker 2: and possibly cash or even expensive holiday gifts squirreled away
12:51
Speaker 2: in their homes. He'd broken into a couple of my
12:54
Speaker 2: dad's co-workers' houses and made off with jewelry and electronics,
12:57
Speaker 2: but he'd never been there when anyone was home. Also,
13:01
Speaker 2: another scary element to this story is that the things
13:04
Speaker 2: he'd stolen, they were sold off for drug money. On
13:07
Speaker 2: Christmas Eve, he'd gotten hopped up on something or other
13:11
Speaker 2: and got into his head to dress up as Santa
13:13
Speaker 2: and to try and hit one more house. Ours. He'd
13:17
Speaker 2: showed up close to midnight, probably thinking we'd all be
13:20
Speaker 2: in bed, and he tried to open the front door. Fortunately,
13:24
Speaker 2: my dad managed to throw the deadbolt in time and
13:26
Speaker 2: called our neighbor, who was a police officer and was
13:29
Speaker 2: on duty at the time. His name was Jerry, and
13:32
Speaker 2: he came over right away. Jerry put the guy in
13:35
Speaker 2: handcuffs right there on the front porch and called for backup.
13:39
Speaker 2: The would-be Santa Bandit was hauled away while my brother
13:42
Speaker 2: and I slept in our parents' bed upstairs. I don't
13:45
Speaker 2: know why any thief in his right mind would have
13:48
Speaker 2: tried to enter a house where there were clearly lights
13:50
Speaker 2: on and people awake, especially children. The drugs probably had
13:54
Speaker 2: something to do with it, though I never found out
13:57
Speaker 2: what it was he was on or whether he was
13:59
Speaker 2: carrying any weapons. All I know is that I'm very
14:03
Speaker 2: grateful for my parents being such quick thinkers. Otherwise, that year,
14:07
Speaker 2: Christmas may have turned out very differently. Number 6 This
14:16
Speaker 2: happened a few years ago when I was still living
14:18
Speaker 2: in my parents' house. It was a few days before
14:21
Speaker 2: Christmas and my parents had gone out to visit family
14:24
Speaker 2: for the day. I decided to stay home, relax and
14:28
Speaker 2: make the most of having the house to myself. And thankfully,
14:32
Speaker 2: my parents were pretty cool about me skipping the visit
14:34
Speaker 2: as we would get a chance to see our family
14:36
Speaker 2: again after Christmas. I settled in for the day, lit
14:40
Speaker 2: the fire in the living room and chose a few
14:42
Speaker 2: movies and settled down to watch the first one. After
14:46
Speaker 2: the movie finished I decided to go and make a
14:49
Speaker 2: snack and it was then from the kitchen window that
14:53
Speaker 2: I noticed something strange. There was an old battered looking
14:57
Speaker 2: van parked opposite my house and I could see some
15:00
Speaker 2: men in the front seat just staring up at my house.
15:04
Speaker 2: I'm a pretty paranoid person so alarm bells started to
15:07
Speaker 2: go off in my head straight away. I left the
15:10
Speaker 2: kitchen to go and find the phone so I could
15:12
Speaker 2: call for help if needed. It was just as I
15:15
Speaker 2: picked up the phone that I heard the back gate rattle.
15:19
Speaker 2: I realized that the men were probably trying to break
15:21
Speaker 2: into the house, and I froze completely. In concept, it
15:27
Speaker 2: is easy to think that you would quickly call the police,
15:29
Speaker 2: but I was so scared, I don't think I even
15:32
Speaker 2: blinked for a while. There were two back doors to
15:35
Speaker 2: this house. One led into the kitchen, and the other
15:37
Speaker 2: was a sliding door into the dining room. It was
15:40
Speaker 2: when I heard loud bangs against the kitchen door that
15:43
Speaker 2: I knew I had to do something. I ran into
15:46
Speaker 2: the downstairs bathroom, locked the door and phoned 999. There
15:50
Speaker 2: are men trying to break into my house. I'm home
15:52
Speaker 2: alone and scared. Please, help. I gave my address and
15:56
Speaker 2: the operator told me a unit had been dispatched and
15:58
Speaker 2: would be there soon. I crouched down behind the door,
16:01
Speaker 2: shaking and trying not to cry. The noise from outside,
16:05
Speaker 2: it stopped. I ventured out of the bathroom when I
16:09
Speaker 2: heard police sirens and let the officers in. The van
16:12
Speaker 2: had gone and the back door had not been kicked
16:15
Speaker 2: in I guess the deadbolt on the door held them
16:17
Speaker 2: at bay and they must have run. They had a
16:20
Speaker 2: good attempt though. The door looked damaged and had to
16:23
Speaker 2: be replaced. Apparently, there had been a number of burglaries
16:27
Speaker 2: in the area recently and these guys were probably on
16:31
Speaker 2: the lookout for people's Christmas shopping. I guess my house
16:35
Speaker 2: looked empty because there were no cars in the driveway.
16:38
Speaker 2: I don't know what they would have done if they
16:40
Speaker 2: had successfully got in and found me there and I
16:43
Speaker 2: don't want to think too much about it. The guys
16:45
Speaker 2: were never caught I never saw the van in the
16:47
Speaker 2: area again, which means they're still out there. But I'll
16:51
Speaker 2: never forget how scary that experience was, and I'll never,
16:55
Speaker 2: ever take any chances with home security. It was around
17:03
Speaker 2: Christmas time when this happened, so our tree was set
17:06
Speaker 2: up in the living room, and the whole house was
17:08
Speaker 2: decorated as well. My brother and I were both in
17:11
Speaker 2: junior high. He was in 9th grade, and I was
17:14
Speaker 2: in the 8th. It was nighttime, around 2 or 3
17:18
Speaker 2: in the morning, when I woke up because I desperately
17:21
Speaker 2: needed a drink of water, so I quietly left my
17:24
Speaker 2: room and headed to the kitchen. As I turned the
17:27
Speaker 2: corner that opened up into the living room, I saw
17:30
Speaker 2: something incredibly bizarre. Standing in pitch darkness, save for the
17:35
Speaker 2: light coming from the tree, stood my brother in the
17:38
Speaker 2: center of the living room, staring at the Christmas tree.
17:43
Speaker 2: His neck was craned backwards. almost painfully, and he was
17:48
Speaker 2: just staring. His expression was unreadable, and he didn't acknowledge
17:54
Speaker 2: my presence, nor did he look away though. I noticed
17:58
Speaker 2: he was holding something, and as I got closer, I
18:02
Speaker 2: saw he held three of the many ornaments that were
18:04
Speaker 2: hanging on the tree. Two decorative glass bulbs and one
18:08
Speaker 2: miniature stuffed Santa ornament. I decided that he just couldn't
18:12
Speaker 2: get to sleep and was admiring the tree, or maybe
18:15
Speaker 2: he'd found the ornaments on the floor and was in
18:17
Speaker 2: the process of putting them back on the tree. So
18:20
Speaker 2: I just kept walking towards the kitchen. I had my
18:23
Speaker 2: back to him as I filled up a cup of water.
18:26
Speaker 2: So I jumped when I heard a loud crack and
18:29
Speaker 2: some rustling of the tree. I quickly looked behind me
18:32
Speaker 2: to see the tree swaying a little bit, and my
18:34
Speaker 2: brother still glued to the same spot, staring upwards. I
18:38
Speaker 2: couldn't figure out what had made that noise, so I
18:41
Speaker 2: watched him, knowing it must have been something he did.
18:45
Speaker 2: And sure enough a couple of seconds later I saw
18:48
Speaker 2: him place one of the ornaments he was holding in
18:50
Speaker 2: his other free hand and then he violently hurled it
18:54
Speaker 2: towards the tree. He slowly turned his head towards me
18:58
Speaker 2: and then just stared in my general direction. He didn't
19:03
Speaker 2: say anything. He didn't smile or laugh like it was
19:05
Speaker 2: a joke. He didn't move. It was just eerie. Sinister even.
19:13
Speaker 2: I was weirded out and I decided I didn't want
19:15
Speaker 2: to go back past my brother again to get back
19:17
Speaker 2: to my room, so I made a beeline to the
19:20
Speaker 2: garage and waited out there in one of our unlocked
19:22
Speaker 2: cars for a while with the garage lights on until
19:25
Speaker 2: I deemed it safe to head back inside. It was
19:28
Speaker 2: dead silent. I was terrified he was going to pull
19:31
Speaker 2: a prank on me and turn out the garage lights
19:34
Speaker 2: and lock the door to the house so I couldn't
19:36
Speaker 2: get back inside, but nothing happened. I only waited for
19:42
Speaker 2: about 15 minutes because by now it was very late
19:45
Speaker 2: and I was tired. So I gently opened the car door,
19:49
Speaker 2: walked up the stairs, to get back inside the house,
19:52
Speaker 2: inched open the door and stepped inside. It took my
19:55
Speaker 2: eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness, but once
19:58
Speaker 2: they did, something sitting on the top of the countertop
20:01
Speaker 2: in the kitchen caught my eye. There, not a foot
20:04
Speaker 2: away from where I stood, sat the third ornament my
20:07
Speaker 2: brother had been holding. a single ruby red glass decorative bulb.
20:12
Speaker 2: I kind of just stood there staring at it for
20:14
Speaker 2: a moment, thinking he was going to pop out at
20:17
Speaker 2: me from somewhere, but he didn't. I peeked around the
20:21
Speaker 2: corner into the living room and saw, to my relief,
20:25
Speaker 2: that my brother, he was gone. He must have gone
20:28
Speaker 2: back downstairs. Nothing else happened that night, but it has
20:32
Speaker 2: stuck with me for a while. What's even weirder though
20:36
Speaker 2: is that my brother doesn't have a history of sleepwalk
20:38
Speaker 2: and he hadn't done anything like that before or since. And,
20:43
Speaker 2: of course, he doesn't remember anything. It has always creeped
20:47
Speaker 2: me out that, even while asleep, he followed me, and
20:51
Speaker 2: he was that close to where I hid in the garage.
21:00
Speaker 1: The events of this story happened several years ago. During
21:03
Speaker 1: the course of that year, I lived overseas. My company
21:06
Speaker 1: had a branch in Europe and I decided I would
21:08
Speaker 1: work there for a year or so. For the most part,
21:11
Speaker 1: it was beautiful and I had a really great time,
21:14
Speaker 1: learning the culture and meeting new people. But during the
21:17
Speaker 1: holiday time, especially around Christmas, it could get very lonely
21:21
Speaker 1: and made me homesick. My family and friends still lived
21:25
Speaker 1: back in the United States and could not afford to
21:27
Speaker 1: come see me. And because of my job, I was
21:30
Speaker 1: stuck in Europe for the time being. On Christmas, I
21:33
Speaker 1: stayed home in my apartment and decided to watch movies.
21:37
Speaker 1: After watching Netflix for a couple of hours, I got
21:39
Speaker 1: bored and was looking for something to entertain me for
21:42
Speaker 1: a while. Quick backstory about me when I was in
21:45
Speaker 1: high school. My friends and I used to crack the
21:47
Speaker 1: surface of the so-called dark web or deep web. We
21:50
Speaker 1: were all pretty computer savvy and thought we were cool
21:53
Speaker 1: being able to access it at a young age. We
21:56
Speaker 1: didn't do anything besides just surf around as we were
21:59
Speaker 1: scared to stumble across something we shouldn't. Well, fast forward
22:03
Speaker 1: back to the present. and I haven't done anything like
22:05
Speaker 1: that in close to 10 years. But I decided searching
22:08
Speaker 1: the dark web was just the excitement I was looking
22:11
Speaker 1: for on this quiet Christmas evening. It honestly seemed pretty harmless,
22:16
Speaker 1: and I thought, what could go wrong? I searched through
22:19
Speaker 1: dozens of dead-end links and pages, and nothing really seemed
22:23
Speaker 1: to spark my interest. After an hour or so of surfing,
22:26
Speaker 1: I decided it was finally time for bed. I closed
22:29
Speaker 1: everything down on my computer and went to the bathroom.
22:32
Speaker 1: When I came out I noticed my webcam screen was up.
22:35
Speaker 1: Being a little naive I didn't think anything of it
22:38
Speaker 1: and just closed it out. As I turned away it
22:41
Speaker 1: popped up again. As I stood and watched for several
22:44
Speaker 1: seconds trying to comprehend what was happening my phone buzzed
22:47
Speaker 1: in my pocket. It was a text message from a
22:50
Speaker 1: private number that said, I see you. Beyond creeped out
22:54
Speaker 1: and starting to get worried I decided to shut off
22:57
Speaker 1: my lights and turn the computer off. But before I could,
23:01
Speaker 1: I had an email pop up on my desktop. The
23:04
Speaker 1: email was a picture of my apartment building. I unplugged
23:07
Speaker 1: my computer and grabbed a knife from my kitchen and
23:10
Speaker 1: stood in the corner of my apartment. Almost immediately after
23:13
Speaker 1: unplugging the computer, another text came through that said, I
23:17
Speaker 1: hope your doors are locked. I couldn't comprehend what was happening.
23:21
Speaker 1: I was frozen in both shock and fear. All I
23:24
Speaker 1: could think of was something happened while I was on
23:26
Speaker 1: the dark web and I wasn't sure what. For hours
23:30
Speaker 1: I stood in my dark apartment staring at the windows
23:33
Speaker 1: and doors. Every little noise made me jump out of
23:35
Speaker 1: my skin. Every time I heard somebody in the hall
23:39
Speaker 1: I was getting myself ready for self-defense. Now this was
23:42
Speaker 1: Christmas night and the middle of the night at this point.
23:46
Speaker 1: There was no way there should be that much foot
23:48
Speaker 1: traffic in the hallway but I heard it. Back and
23:51
Speaker 1: forth I heard footsteps all night long but never anybody
23:54
Speaker 1: actually standing in front of or knocking at my door.
23:59
Speaker 1: Morning finally came and I still had not slept and
24:02
Speaker 1: hardly moved all night. At about 8.30 somebody knocked on
24:06
Speaker 1: my door. I slowly approached the door not knowing at
24:09
Speaker 1: all what to expect. As I looked through the peephole
24:12
Speaker 1: I noticed it was my neighbor. I opened the door
24:15
Speaker 1: and greeted him. I hope you had a Merry Christmas.
24:19
Speaker 1: He said to me in an almost excited voice. I
24:22
Speaker 1: just nodded and said, you too. In his cheerful morning
24:27
Speaker 1: voice he then said, Somebody dropped this letter off to
24:30
Speaker 1: me this morning and said it was for you, but
24:32
Speaker 1: they said they couldn't talk to you for some reason.
24:36
Speaker 1: I took the letter, knowing deep down where it truly
24:38
Speaker 1: came from. I asked, what did he look like? And
24:43
Speaker 1: he responded with, well, he was actually a she. She
24:48
Speaker 1: was pretty, you know, dark hair, pretty smile. I said
24:52
Speaker 1: thanks and shut the door. Standing right there, I opened
24:56
Speaker 1: the letter. It was a Christmas card with Santa on
24:59
Speaker 1: the front, and the inside of the card was written
25:01
Speaker 1: as follows. It started with my name, my full name,
25:06
Speaker 1: and then read as followed. I hope you had a
25:09
Speaker 1: nice Christmas. I am sad you never came out in
25:11
Speaker 1: the hall to meet me and my friends. I guess
25:14
Speaker 1: there is always next year. Happy Christmas. I left right
25:19
Speaker 1: at that moment. I grabbed the few things I needed
25:22
Speaker 1: and checked into a hotel. I stayed a couple of
25:24
Speaker 1: nights and returned back to the States. and told my
25:27
Speaker 1: bosses I was having some sort of medical emergency, and
25:30
Speaker 1: that I felt more comfortable finishing out my contract in
25:33
Speaker 1: the States. I never contacted the police, and have also
25:37
Speaker 1: never been so scared in my entire life. Every single
25:41
Speaker 1: time I get on the internet, I get a little shaky,
25:43
Speaker 1: and only use it for my job, and not personal use.
25:47
Speaker 1: Nothing like this has happened to me again in the
25:49
Speaker 1: years since, and thankfully, no follow-ups to this single occurrence.
25:54
Speaker 1: I still can't help but wonder what I strolled upon
25:56
Speaker 1: that night when I was targeted. If I can leave
25:59
Speaker 1: you with a bit of advice, don't be a novice
26:02
Speaker 1: strolling around the dark web, especially on Christmas.
26:08
Speaker 3: On Christmas Eve of 2015, I was partying on the
26:11
Speaker 3: rooftop of a high-rise building in New York City. There
26:14
Speaker 3: was a small, I guess you could call it platform area,
26:18
Speaker 3: where chairs and tables had been set up. and all
26:20
Speaker 3: around the rail someone had hung up red and green
26:23
Speaker 3: Christmas lights. There was about six of us on the
26:25
Speaker 3: platform drinking and smoking, and taking in the view of
26:28
Speaker 3: the city, but with the wind it was just too
26:31
Speaker 3: cold to stay out there for long. I was just
26:33
Speaker 3: visiting the city with friends, and once I had my
26:36
Speaker 3: fill of the cold, I went back inside and mingled
26:38
Speaker 3: with the people who worked in the office. After another
26:42
Speaker 3: 45 minutes or so, I went back outside to have
26:44
Speaker 3: a cigarette, and found myself alone on the platform. I
26:48
Speaker 3: walked to the edge and leaned out over the side,
26:51
Speaker 3: the wind nearly ripping the cigarette out from between my fingers.
26:54
Speaker 3: I turned around and put my elbows on the railing,
26:56
Speaker 3: and looked up at the building behind me. It had
26:59
Speaker 3: one of those tall spires with a flashing red light
27:01
Speaker 3: on the top to alert low-flying planes. As I looked
27:05
Speaker 3: at it, I paused, and my cigarette fell from my lips.
27:09
Speaker 3: Something was on the spire. Something alive. Distracted before by
27:14
Speaker 3: the wind and the faint sounds of traffic below, I
27:17
Speaker 3: hadn't heard the sound of something hard tapping against metal.
27:21
Speaker 3: The red glow of the tower light flashed on and off,
27:24
Speaker 3: and I could faintly make out something wrapped around like
27:26
Speaker 3: a snake moving down the spire, and the shine of
27:29
Speaker 3: light reflecting off its body as the scarlet hue illuminated
27:32
Speaker 3: it for a few seconds at a time. I stood stunned,
27:36
Speaker 3: and slowly went from my phone to take a video.
27:39
Speaker 3: My body was moving slowly, as if instinct was telling
27:42
Speaker 3: me any sudden movements would be a mistake. I dug
27:46
Speaker 3: through the pockets in my purse blindly, looking for my phone.
27:50
Speaker 3: not taking my eyes off the thing. It was definitely moving,
27:54
Speaker 3: sliding down the pole like a single droplet of water
27:57
Speaker 3: moving down an icicle. I remember thinking, should I be screaming?
28:02
Speaker 3: As soon as my hand found my cell phone, the
28:05
Speaker 3: thing spread two massive bat-like wings. For context, there was
28:09
Speaker 3: a standard-sized American flag hanging vertically on the landing just
28:13
Speaker 3: beneath the spire, where I presumed maintenance people would stand.
28:17
Speaker 3: Each wing was easily twice the size of the flag.
28:21
Speaker 3: I dropped my purse and phone and sprinted back inside
28:24
Speaker 3: the office, catching my foot and falling flat on my
28:27
Speaker 3: face upon the carpet. I felt a whoosh of cold
28:30
Speaker 3: air behind me that hit me hard like a wave
28:33
Speaker 3: on the beach. I started wailing and choking on my
28:36
Speaker 3: own breath and was convinced at any moment I would
28:39
Speaker 3: hear alarms and would see spotlights combing the city. I mean,
28:43
Speaker 3: I couldn't have been the only one to have seen it.
28:46
Speaker 3: This was New York City, one of the most densely
28:48
Speaker 3: populated areas in the country. I screamed for someone to
28:52
Speaker 3: call the cops, and started frantically changing the channels on
28:55
Speaker 3: the TV, convinced that Anderson Cooper or somebody was going
28:58
Speaker 3: to make a breaking announcement about some creature flying through
29:01
Speaker 3: the skies above New York, but there was nothing. A
29:05
Speaker 3: dozen people tried to calm me down, and I sobbed
29:07
Speaker 3: and told them that there had been something outside, something
29:10
Speaker 3: that had wings. I went into the bathroom and vomited,
29:14
Speaker 3: not because I was worried about the creature, but because
29:17
Speaker 3: everything else happening around me seemed so normal, and no
29:21
Speaker 3: one was reacting. Someone ended up calling an ambulance for me,
29:25
Speaker 3: and the attendants checked me out in the hallway, but
29:28
Speaker 3: I was fine. I wasn't even close to being drunk.
29:31
Speaker 3: I made quite a scene at that party, and I
29:33
Speaker 3: have not been invited back. They call me the dragon chick,
29:37
Speaker 3: and no one believes my story. My therapist told me
29:40
Speaker 3: that I should write all this down to reflect upon it,
29:43
Speaker 3: and try to make sense of it. This is the
29:45
Speaker 3: fifth time I have, and nothing is becoming any clearer. Please,
29:50
Speaker 3: someone out there, tell me you've seen it too. I
29:54
Speaker 3: need to know that I'm not crazy.