CreepCast - Borrasca Pt. 2 | Creep Cast

Episode Date: January 21, 2024

Wendigoon and Meat Canyon read the chilling 2nd half of Borrasca, one of the internet's best horror stories. A new family moves into a small Missouri town by the Ozarks and begins experiencing strange things that lurk in the town's mysterious past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Oh God, welcome back to Creepcast. How are you all doing? Today is the part two of Barrasca. If you have not seen part one yet and you're lost in this story, please go back to part one and see it because this story is broken up into four parts and we're just splitting it into two parts i know that's kind of confusing whenever i say like that but part one and two are covered in our first episode on barasca and this is covering part

three and four so if you have not if you're not caught up this is a big big story you're going to be extremely lost so i do recommend you go and hop over there that being said uh windy can you give us a recap of where we left off and uh i wanted to do a little recap of when he went off And then I want to also hypothesize on where I think it's going to go from here. Because for people who don't know or who need to get caught up as well, I have never read this before, Wendigoon has. So it's kind of me playing the guessing game and kind of trying to piece this giant puzzle along as we read this. And Wendigoon nodes all the answers and he's just giggling like a schoolgirl.

Yeah, yeah. I'm the only one who knows what's going to happen here, and it makes me so happy that you are hopelessly scared and I have no idea what's going on. What's funny is he came to me, and he was like, hey, the audience is interested in here in Part 2, so let's get that recorded this week. But I think what it actually is,

is he just needs to know what happened. That is, I cannot, I cannot lie. That is, I don't want to wait. I do want to know. And also the general excitement of people also wanting to know what happens in Part 2, because there's a lot of people who are like me that don't know what's going on with the story. I will say on social media, I have been

resisting looking at stuff. People online who have been tweeting us and stuff like that have really been, they jump the gun and they already read the other parts and they're just like, why? So I, I've been resisting anything to, for any kind of spoiler indication, I haven't looked at anything. So I am, I'm excited. But people are thirsty for it. Yeah, I'll go ahead and say to both you and the audience, um, I'm sorry that I knew where this is going from the get-go and I'm oh I'm so you'll know what I mean later but I apologize anyway in part one in Creek cast part one in our coverage of it we covered the first two parts of Varasca basically we have this boy named Sam the story begins when he's very

young like nine years old he meets a couple friends in town everything's going fine until one day his friends take him to a thing called the triple tree that seems to imply there's some kind of mystique to the area they live in and then sure seemingly after visiting the Triple Tree, Sam's older sister, Whitney, disappears. It then cuts in part two to several years later, still living in the same town. Sam has begun to obsess over Whitney. We start to see more details of the towns kind of falling apart. We hear about the history that there used to be an old mine up in the hills that was destroyed after people perished in it. We hear that there's these

various families who have political control over the town. We continue to see that there's more and more signs that something's amiss in the city. And where we ended at the end of part two is that Sam's friend Kimber, who is now dating their mutual friend Kyle, Kimber's mother jumped off the roof of a hospital. And that is where we ended at part two. So a very lovely stopping point for part three. Yeah, very emotional. I mean, both of the parts have ended in a very clip, not. I wouldn't say, well, cliffhanger in a way, but very dramatic, very, like, tension-heavy endings that are, I mean, like, pretty devastating.

Yeah. But pretty much two acts of loss so far. And I guess before we get into it, and I know I don't want to delay it any longer, but I will say, I just wanted to put this at the top of my predictions or where I'm at with it so far, which in the town, there is the triple tree that is this, like, mysterious place. It's very large, it's very elaborate. People go there. There's, you know, there's the marking on top of the door that says gates to hell, one. And there's this grinding sound that comes from the mountains or from the trees or mines or wherever in this town that people kind of just accept. And they're like, well, it just is what it is.

But it is creepy, nonetheless, and people are scared of it. Yeah. There's too much emphasis on the local lore. And there's too much. I don't, I can tell you still from the top, upon reflection, the dad i'm still not trusting the dad the dad is moving along with things i don't know if it's like that he doesn't care that his daughter's gone or something but i feel like out of their family which you know usually in these situations with loss usually one parent kind of has to man the ship

and keep things going because the mom is obviously she's mentally kind of checked out she's very upset over whitney's being gone but i just don't trust the dad i i can't put a pinpoint on it but it's just the way that he has reciprocated the information that his daughter's gone even the way knowing that for sure that she didn't run away with an ex-boyfriend which was a conspiracy that was kind of perpetrated through law enforcement in the town it just doesn't add up to me i don't know if it's a cold lead i don't want to know if it's a cold lead but to me there's something bigger this story feels like the guilt of our fathers is what it feels like to me with the press god being introduced the old man in the nursing home

who kind of was very adamant that he had to do what he had to do for the town, that it's his town, he's very adamant, you know, even the, the press god who owns the sandwich shop that no one wants to eat the sandwiches, it's very clear that no one wants to eat sandwiches, that's fine, but the, it's just feeling like the guilt of our fathers, and I'm wondering what these people are doing in a way that is so corruptible. I think that the minds are, so heavily emphasized as well that I think that we are leading down a road where the minds are still active in some way or in some kind of some kind of malicious event is happening that the town itself are very aware of that the children are naive of that they might even be

you know as you get older you get accepted into this kind of guild or kind of circle that we're finding so that is I'm curious to see where it goes that's just where my mind is leading right now and I'm very curious to see where it's going to be by the end of this, and we're going to find out today, and I'm extremely excited. So without further ado, why don't we get into the beginning of Barasca, part three? Let's get into it, you little devil. You're going to have a great time. Don't worry.

I'm stoked. Do you want to start it off? Sure, I'll kick it off. Why not? Yeah, let's do it. So, again, this is picking up right after the tragedy that befell Kimber's mother. Do you think she blames herself? I don't know, man, probably.

I stretched out the reclined seat of my Chevy and pulled the bill of me. my hat lower over my eyes. But do you think she's okay? I didn't answer him. I certainly hadn't been okay when Whitney died and Kimber was even closer to her mom than I was to my sister. She was definitely not okay. Sam, seriously, I'm freaking out here. It's been two days. I pushed my hat up off my face and looked over at Kyle who was admittedly a wreck. His eyes were bloodshot. His face Sal... Salo? Is that shallow or something? I think it's supposed to be shallow.

It feels like I'm going to be shallow, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, solo. I'm like, what is a sallow? Okay, anyway, sorry. His eyes for bloodshot. His face shallow, and his red hair was greasy. Dude, her mom committed...

Unalive. Yeah, yeah, there you. Thank you. You know how close Kimber was to her mom. She just needs some time, but she'll be okay. She hasn't answered any of my texts or call. I've left her like nine voice-mills, man. I think I'm going crazy. You just have to give her space. Yeah, but she's my, my, he still couldn't say it around me. I'm supposed to be looking after her.

I set up and pulled the chair up right behind me. Look, Kyle, I know you want to help Kimber and I want to help Kimber too, but she hasn't answered our calls, been to school or come to the door when we've stopped by her house. She doesn't want to see us right now and we have to be okay with that. Right? now, Kimber knows what's best for Kimber. What about the unalive? I hate that I have to say that, but yeah, what about the unalive note? You think that has something to do with it? I sighed. We don't even know if there was a note. Kimber's dad was upset and messed up when he said that, and it's possible I misheard him anyway. I asked my dad and he said there was no letter. Right, because your dad's such a beacon of truth. One, man, even Kyle picks up on San

Sam's dad being a bit suspicious. Yeah, it's just, we haven't had that much that his dad, you know, has been, I guess, at fault or whatever, but if the other kids are trying to, or, like, see it as well, it's just extremely suspicious. I just, I don't trust him. I don't know why, but, yeah. I agree. I agree.

Off of the, of course, off of no information I'm given later in the story, just off of, you know, current context clues. Sure. One look at Kyle told me he'd immediately regretted his words. I shrugged. I don't know what to believe anymore. The truth was that I knew what I heard. Mr. De Stero had said something to the cops about a letter,

but I couldn't tell Kyle that. Not right now. He was already worried that his relationship with Kimber was part of the reason her mom had been so depressed. I'd ask my dad about the letter when he'd come home after that long night, and he'd sighed from both of his hands through his hair in a tired way and said, Sam, I don't know what to tell you. And Astero didn't leave a note, and this is the first I've heard of it.

With our best friend in mourning and our investigation on hold, Kyle and I had been existing in a sort of suspended state. We went to school intermittently, skipping classes here and there, missing end of year test and smoking more weed than either of us could afford. Without Kimber there to send us straight and keep us in line, we were lethargic, brooding, and irresponsible. I never realized how much I relied on her. Coll and I skipped the last two periods of the day

and debated on whether we should even go to school tomorrow, which was the last day of our sophomore year. We finally decided to show up for second period, which I was glad we did because Kimber showed up in biology. I didn't even see her at first. I had my head down on my desk resting on folded arms when I felt a meek hand pat my shoulder. I turned around to see her standing there,

looking unsure and uncomfortable. I gave her half a smile and pulled her into a hug. But it wasn't a super comforting, not at all, awkward Kimber hug. It was a longer, weaker hug, and I felt so protective in it that I was sad when it was over. How are you doing, Kay? I asked her when she finally released me. Kimber wiped a tear off her cheek. I'm okay. And she gave me a wobbly smile, and I knew it wasn't true. I wrapped her into a quick hug as Phoebe Dranger gave us a snotty look.

Have you seen Kyle yet? No, I have next period with him. He's been worried about you. I know, she said, sliding her eyes to the floor. Things have been really hard for me at home. It's okay, I said. We're here for whatever you need. Yeah, that's what I was hoping.

Whatever you need. so we have here um uh kimber and sam kind of having this reuniting there's been that hint since the first couple chapters that sam kind of has a thing for kimber uh but he's kind of like well that's my that's my friend's girlfriend i don't want to you know chase that trail obviously yeah on top of that though he it seems like kyle refuses to say that he's kimber's girlfriend that's true to him and that's true like it in front of sam which is it's a weird kind of thing it feels like there's some kind of

jealousy or tension building there we're getting a lot of separation between our main characters now too like these these conflicts are really like there's been a lot of pushback between Sam and Kyle it doesn't seem as friendly anymore I think they're saying a lot of like truths from their you know from with their chest that they would typically hold off you know

it's just interesting it feels like there's a division happening and the the cracks are beginning to form and i think if kimber decides to stay to get closer with sam here i do wonder what kind of uh what kind of pitfall that could be for kyle later down like if that will send him spiraling into some kind of craze yeah it's a weird environment when you can't tell you know your friend that you're dating right it's just it's kind of uncomfy all around well part of me and this is just me wondering is

if Kyle doesn't trust his dad either and stuff how how truthful has Kyle been to Sam this whole time what is he not telling him or not wanting to die bulge because he doesn't want he doesn't want Sam's dad to maybe know of things or anything like that

which I don't know if it's necessarily the extent of like I don't want him to know that I'm dating Kimberly but I do wonder how much of stuff are you holding to your chest because you might be suspicious of this person or you might not want to fully let somebody know about something. You know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah. That's a good point. Okay, so we can continue on. Let's skip a paragraph because the next paragraph is just describing like Kimber talking to Sam saying that they shouldn't have skipped class to get stone. But then they reunite when it says, as soon as Kyle saw her from down the hall, he slammed his locker shut and walked towards us with such intensity

that I began to wonder if maybe he was mad. he pushed past a dozen people without so much as glancing at them and left a curious if annoyed crowd in his wake when he finally reached us kyle threw his backpack against the wall and swooped kimber up in the sort of way you'd see in old black and white movies everyone who watched all this unfold including me groaned in unison yeah that's nice uh that that's a very that's a very like kyle strikes me is the kind of guy who's like oh i know I'll make up for all this with a grand show of whatever right like

yeah a grand gesture showing how romantic this is yeah I really am gonna be this is so romantic and then now it's you know there's there's no way to not feel like loved and you know have this kind of like compassion

you know what I mean yeah because that's like this grand gestures yeah it's true it's true that's all they want that's what every romcom has ever told us Yeah, that's our advice. Like, if there's a girl who you may be having problems with your lady or whatever, just ignore everything she says to fix it and just make a scene in public.

Make an extremely public scene that puts as much attention on you both as possible. Yeah, they love that. Scream in her face, I love you as many times until she reciprocates back. That's the best thing you possibly do. Classic love story. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Please, please, please, please, please, please. Please love me, please love me, please love me.

Yeah. So yeah, anyway. So they go to class together. Everything seems fine. But then they start to feel a little uneasy because there's a lot of unresolved tension in the air. And eventually, Kyle says, it says, well, Kyle begins, Kimber, he said quietly. Did your mom leave a letter? What?

asked in surprise. I heard your dad talking about a letter on the day that, on the day, on Tuesday, I said. Oh. As we waited for her to continue, the bell rang for lunch. Everyone filed out of the room, but the three of us stayed still sitting on our desks. Kimber, I finally said, she sighed sadly and looked over at Kyle. Yes. What did it say? He asked nervously. I don't know. I haven't seen it. I asked my dad for it when we got home and he said I misheard him and there was no letter He said not to me Liar!

Liar! These dads! What are the? I'm telling you dude I don't want to disrupt this but it is the guilt of our fathers. What is happening in this town? Lies! God damn you! Lies! I can't. For those who don't know by the way when we record I can't see Hunter. It's just an audio call. So in my head, he's been sitting there eating popcorn and then as I said he's like no throwing it at the camera

I'm mostly I'm mostly sitting here like just forcing all the blood to my face just like reading this clenched clenched fist just wanting to be like you're you're a liar it's minute you know you know sins of the father's actually a pretty good like the underline for this whole series but we'll get to that we'll get to that um so yeah what what you said liar right dad turns right and says no yeah sorry no i you misheard me there was no note it's like you came right up to me and said your mother left a note he's like no no you actually misheard that though what i actually said was there was lizagna in the in the fridge yeah oh oh it's pronounced lasagna yeah the old classic your mom left a note slash there's

lasagna in the fridge mix up. Get some every time. It's a classic. Your mom thought she was a dove and jumped off the top of the roof and unalived herself, but there's definitely lasagna in the fridge. I definitely didn't say anything else. Yeah, that's what happened to Lincoln, you know. That is exactly what happened to Lincoln, yeah. Your father was shot in the back of the head.

What? I said there's, I said there's Romana cheese in the fridge. God! What is wrong with your ears? Also, dad's dad. That's unrelated to what I should say. also dead dead but uh that's but there's romano so you know it's one this is really one of those you know upside downside scenarios anyway so since i asked my dad for it when we got home and he said

i misheard him and there was no letter he said not to mention it to anyone else or i just upset people well then we both misheard him i said which seems unlikely i've known my dad all my life and I know when he's lying. People started to filter in for next period, sliding sympathetic glances at Kimber. Since it was our lunch period. Go ahead. One second, sorry.

I've known my dad on my life and I know when he's lying. Is that to insinuate she's saying that he's telling the truth? No, I feel like that because then she'd say, my dad's not a lie or something, but when she's like, I've known him all my life and I know when he's lying. I think that's her way of saying, like, yeah, I knew he was lying when he said it to me. Okay.

Yeah. All right. Just making sure. Because initially, Kimber When asked, so she's in the note that there is one, yeah. Okay, because I was going to say, if she denied that he was lying there, it would raise suspicion for her as a character to me. I think she knows. But no, okay.

Yeah, okay. So it says filter and experience since it was our lunch period. We gathered up our things and walked out to my car, as we always did. I sat in the back seat, letting Colin Kimber take the front. Kimber took a deep breath and continued. I know my dad is line and I know he has the letter See there you go Okay I really I really should have just waited once

It was the next line of dialogue I should have waited one literal line of dialogue Okay I'm going to shut the fuck up for now on I'm sorry Well I know that popcorn is fun to throw So when you get the opportunity Okay Are you sure Kyle asked

I could tell he was still terrified that some of the blame rested on him. Yeah, and I know it contains the name Prescott. I think I even know where it is. Ooh. Oh. Fascinated. Okay. Prescott, for those who don't remember from part one, is the main family runs the town.

The grandfather, which is the old man they went to see in the nursing home. It's also, yeah, the family of the people that were Sam, works at the sandwich shop. It's pretty much the, like, the family of the town. Yeah. Like, kind of own everything. Yeah. Prescott, yet somehow I wasn't that surprised. He was the axis around which everything that was bad orbited.

How do you know it says Prescott? Kyle asked. I heard my dad reading it once. I think he reads it a lot, actually. He was sort of sobbing and whispering the words and throwing things in his office. My dad, he hasn't been well. Do you think she was having an affair with Jimmy Prescott? I shook my head. No.

I'm guessing you need to think bigger than that, Kyle. I like Kyle, though. I like Kyle he's like oh yes an affair classic see this one

before it's the it's the brilliant part of the story I like is it's it keeps I mean it's real yeah

I mean this is what I imagine a 16 year old would be thinking oh fuck your mom's fucking another guy

yeah that makes sense you know yeah your dad's pretty poor but Jimmy Prescott

yeah he's ugly as fuck but he's got a lot money it's like no of course

yeah the sandwich shop owner gets the ladies every time. Yeah. You know, I like how you sell six rice sandwiches every year.

It's my favorite thing. No, the, uh, what's interesting here is I'm, and I don't want to keep hypothesizing. This is me, just, I want to just put it out there as that goes out, but I'm like wondering if all the other men in town, specifically the fathers are in, they're doing something with the Prescott family, some kind of ritual, some, something that is like, uh, um, a bond between these dads and the moms know about it but they're not able to infiltrate it either and it's like it's causing some kind of huge guilt i would not be surprised if sam's mom has the same fate is something coming up to me it's like that's where my mind is going that i feel like sam's mom

something's going to happen to her too but okay fascinating okay so let's continue i can't say anything i just have to be like wow that's cool anyway like i need to stop derailing it i'm sorry No, no, no, no. That derailing is perfect. That's what we're here for. If it was just us reading the story with no interruptions, then we might as well upload this as like an audio book, right? Yeah, exactly.

So, yeah, interruptions are good. Interruptions are good. So, anyway, so Sam says we need to think bigger than that, and then the story continues. I agree, Kimber said to her hands in her lap. With everything we know about the Prescott's, I'm fairly sure this isn't about an affair.

It's all connected somehow. don't you think my dad was the love of my mom's life but she only left a letter for me i think that somehow i'm the one she wronged not him you know i think she did something to me or maybe she did it because of me kimber's voice broke over the last sentence and kyle pulled her over kissed the top of her head and whispered words to her that i couldn't hear so we need to get the letter, I said after giving them a minute. Yes, I really need to read it. Kimber's voice was still wobbly. How do we get it? I asked. If it's in the office, we just need to wait until her dad's at home, Kyle said as he looked out the window. You don't think I thought of that,

Kimber's side? He never leaves his office, not since we got home from the hospital. He sleeps in there. So we need to get him out? No, we need to get me in. Tomorrow's my mom's funeral and half of Drisking will be there, including my dad, of course. I need to leave him, I need to leave without him noticing, and run home so I can get through the office. Okay, that's easy, I said, without my dad

noticing, and I need to be back by the end of the service. We both nodded but stayed silent because it looked like Kimber was Wayne saying more. Oh, was Wayne, like thinking about it, yeah, I'm dumb, okay. Yeah, that she was weighing saying more. She got much fatter.

I'm so stupid. I'm Like, Wayne, that's not the word, but yeah, it is. Yeah, what the hell? My dad, he's been very cold, and I think he blames me, Kimber finally said. That's bullshit, Kyle Spat. Can you guys help me? Absolutely, of course. So I like, too, that this is, like, sure she's going behind her dad's back, but the reasons for it are justifiable, you know?

There's a letter to her that he can't read, or that she can't read. And like, sure, she needs to possibly manipulate her mother's funeral to get it done. But it's understandable. Yeah, but you would assume that if it's a, if it's your mom's funeral and she made you a letter that is trying to tell you something, the last thing your mom's ever going to tell you and you haven't said it yet, that's a justifiable reason to where I feel like even your mom would be like you need to go do that, especially if the dad is holding this thing hostage. I mean, for God's sakes, he's sleeping in the office. It's like, it's just crazy. I mean, the only thing that concerns me is I'm wondering if they're going to go there

and be like, oh, he took it with him. You know what I mean? Like, if he's that obsessed with it, that's where my own thing would be. But to not have, which, you know, I think that this is a good plan, though, too. I think the dad is going to be devastated. I think he's going to be, you know, at this funeral, probably completely void of thought, just filled with emotion. I think that this is the time to implement this kind of strategy.

if it's going to happen, especially if you've heard the name Prescott. There's just too much on the line not to try this. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So we'll skip a few paragraphs again. We highly recommend you read this story for yourself, but we're trying to stick to like the main plot points. Basically what happens in some of these paragraphs in between is they make a plan together that what they're going to do is during the funeral,

Kimber is going to go to the bathroom, and then she's going to text Kyle that she's having a breakdown and then Kyle will go to comfort her. Kyle and Kimber will drive home, get the letter, while Sam stays at the funeral effectively to keep watch to make sure her dad doesn't get suspicious. So other than that, there's some stuff about that he goes into work Monday and Mira seems to be in a better mood and lets him go early,

probably feeling sympathetic for the kid whose friend just went through this. And eventually it says, and Desteros' funeral was at an Episcopalian church on the other side of town. I picked Kyle up at 9 and saw he was also wearing a suit of his dad's, though he didn't fit it nearly as well, and he was constantly pulling at the sleeves and readjusting the waistline. Unfortunately for Kyle, he was much smaller than his dad. We parked as far away from the church as possible,

where we hoped no one would notice a car leaving. When we went inside the church, we saw that Kimber wouldn't have to do much acting to convince people she was having a breakdown. down. We found her at the back of the room, tucked into a chair, and a puddle of curly orange hair and tears. Kyle sat next to her and pulls her into a hug. Kimber, what's wrong? I kicked his foot and shot him a look that said, really? Yeah, I just think of him, what's wrong? Your mom is just being put in the ground. It's not big, what's wrong, baby? What's going on? Yeah, what the hell? Did you see that open,

casket. You see that open casket? Dude, your mom's bloated. It's weird. Bro, why does her body look like that? She's all gross and mangled. Yo, her eyes look all buggy. It's weird, Kimber. What the hell's going on with you, though? Is it your time of the month or something, Kimber? For real? Is this how it's going to be?

You realize we have a play today, right? How are you going to fake crying if you keep this up? Gosh, get it together. Hey, baby, I know that it's, you know, I know that this is probably an act, but you need to get your game face on, okay? we need to find that letter. It's like, God, dude. Come on, Kyle.

So oblivious throughout all of his story. It's like so just fucking oblivious. I love it. He walks into a funeral that his girlfriend's mom died. And he goes, what's wrong? Bro, Kyle. Jesus, Kimber, what's wrong? Kyle is one of the boys.

He is the most dude pro. Oh, definitely. Ever. Especially he's just like viciously pulling up his, like, big ass pants in his like oversized jacket he looks like he looks like that one talking head concert where they have like the giant suits on he's like

Kimber what the hell is your problem ladies I want you to imagine that your mom dies and then at your funeral your boyfriend walks in wearing a suit that doesn't fit him and goes what's wrong with you especially I walked up oh my god what happened

what someone die around here or something Oh my god, did someone else die? Oh, it's just your mom, your psychopath mom? Okay, well, what's wrong? Oh, her? You've had like three days to know about her. Why are you crying over it now?

God, your mom jumped off the roof three days ago. Get over it. God. I love the line. I kicked his foot and shot him a look and said, really? And Kyle bit his lip and he said, ah, I mean, ah, fuck. I mean, ah, fuck. I mean, ah, fuck.

Kyle's like stupid stupid stupid yeah exactly oh god gile that's what he's done he's hitting his head why do you do this oh Kyle's my favorite okay all right back to the funeral uh there's no there's no there's no one here Kimber whispered against his chest my mom grew up here she had hundreds of friends in this town and no one came we looked around and i had to admit the turnout was sparse a few groups of three or four people standing together kimber's dad who said in a chair opposite the room of his daughter with his head in his hands and some family i've recognized for barbecues at kimber's house ex-sharef clary and his wife grace were there standing with a few of my dad's deputies and talking quietly in the corner i can see why kimber was upset that is suspicious yeah yeah

the ex-sharef and stuff well not even that but also just the extremely low turnout to coincidentally a woman who maybe knew too much or something or other people's priorities or somewhere else in the small town like it just doesn't add up

a classic Kyle line here would be like well maybe your mom was a bitch maybe people just didn't like her Kimber could that be it? Hey Kimber your mom was kind of a bitch so it's just like not that crazy so I don't know I'm gonna go get some cookies over there on the table

I'll be back Yo, they got free drinks here Let's go Yo, Kimper! Yeah, he's like across the deal Yo Kimber, they got tea They got iced tea and cookies Do you want some?

I know you said it makes you bloated If you have it too early But can you have it now? I know you're worried about stretch marks but if you want some chips Ahoy, let me know I know you're like fat at all But these are pretty good

I guess you can have one. He like to take his iPhone and puts in his pocket. He's just playing black and yellow by Wiz Khalifa as loud as it possibly can go. Yeah. Uh-huh. He's like, you know what it is. Black-red yellow. Black-red yellow.

Getting snacks and cold cuts at the table. Everything I do. I do it big. Just a kid. Just a kid. And if you're like, ah, you know what it is? Like, not. What would be more obnoxious?

A 16-year-old listening to Wiz Khalifa, black and yellow, or if it was Fettie Wob's Trap Queen. That's the loud as you possibly can. And he has a beats by Drey Pills speaker in his back pocket. It's not even on his phone anymore. He, like, brought a legitimate Bluetooth speaker with him. That's your girlfriend. I get high with my baby, y'-ha-ha-ha-ha- Your girlfriend's all-chew.

Yo, Kimber's dad. The food here is kind of mixed. Yo, Kimber's dad, you shouldn't have got that shitty ass sandwich shop to cater. This shit sucks. Yeah, your wife looks mad funny in that box, dude. You didn't pay for that, did you? She looks awful. Yeah, she looks like a weird clown, dude.

Tell me you did not pay for that. Okay, you didn't? Okay, cool. What happened to her face? Oh, yeah, the concrete, that's right. Well, you should have, like, put a mask on her or something, by God. Yo, who else thinks we should bring death masks back? Anyone?

Meanwhile, just softly, I'm like, hey, what's a pillow? Yeah, I'm like, hey, what's a hello? Come in too pretty eyes soon as you came in the doll. You know, disrespectful to be to, like, go to an open casket, look inside, and he was just like, I've been cooking pies with my What, I'm bored I want to listen to music Yeah, there you go, exactly.

What? I'm bored, I'm bored. Hey, baby, this is really lame. I'm gonna get out of here. And you guys have like an ox cord or something. Yeah, you guys got oxcord. He actually doesn't even have a button up on. He just has one of those graphic teams

and Target or Walmart that's like a fate, like they purposely faded it. It's like a Sega-ish. like a sonic shirt for something. It's like the shirts. It's like the shirts that Jesse Pinkman would wear in Breaking Bad. Like they've got like all the the thrasher font that says like live and die. Yeah, yeah.

It goes down to his knees. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yo, I came here my Sunday's best. Okay, where are we at the stay? Yeah, yeah, so her mom's dad. Kimber's mom's dead, I think. She's dead. That's all we need to know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Roll credits. As we waited for the service to start, I can't detach the image of Kyle in the corner, just eating all the sandwiches. Like, way, way too many open chairs. Like, definitely there was, like, not a turnout they expected, and there's just this fucking guy walk around the back. What do you mean I can't play my music? Who's going to care? All the people that aren't here?

Yeah, he's listening. Now he switches over. He's like, fine, I won't play rap. He puts on Rev Theory. Hell yeah. Give me a hell. Give me a yeah. Her mom would

Love Blue Mountain State That shit's funny as fuck Oh my gosh He's just listening to like Impractical Jokers way too loud Yeah Impractic Joker's clips Yo, Mur

Don't pants that little kid Jeez guys I don't want to Okay Yeah so anyway Her mom's dad As we waited for the service to start, I realized I'd never been to a funeral before. I wish that we'd had one for my

sister, but I knew we never could since Whitney was still legally alive. It made me sad to think that she would never be laid to rest. Only a few other funeral goers trickled in, and the pastor began getting people seated for the service. I noticed the casket at the pulpit for the first time and was glad it was closed. Still, I had to wonder at the simple, unadorned, almost ugly coffin that had been chosen for Kimber's mom I knew the De Starros had money quite a lot of it actually it was an interesting almost

insulting choice poor Kimber that's an interesting yeah that's sad that's an interesting observance like they had money well man I mean it goes into it goes into the fact again where it's like no one showed up

is this woman is this woman not respected in town did the dad even get to choose the coffin it's like the dad would have been embarrassed to get her something nice almost you know yeah i mean it man i just the dad is too suspicious i can't tell if the dad is a victim of something that's larger than himself or if he's maliciously doing this as well he's a part of it yeah yeah exactly exactly anyway col and i stood kimber up and started over to the pews but she stopped abruptly i'm ready she said and brushed the hair away from her wet face ready for

Is that Kyle asking that? It's probably Kyle. Ready for what? The funeral's about to start. Yeah. Yo, Kimber, baby, where are you going? The concert's getting ready to begin. Kyle, this isn't a concert.

It's a funeral. Oh, shit. That's why people are so sad. Oh, that makes it. Should I not have found the Bluetooth? I got the Wi-Fi password from the guy out front, and I got blue. I found the Bluetooth for the speaker,

so I was going to play some, like, some like, slow jazz or something to kind of set the mood. Yeah, I found out. what the airplay was and I'm going to play Kevin Gates music videos for the rest of the for the funeral if that's okay I'm gonna cue up I'm just thinking with my dick if that's cool with you all just the worst boyfriend ever but at the same time it's he's the best character in this yeah yeah he's hilarious he's like the worst person but he's the best guy yeah I'm so glad he's here all right so ready for to leave I can't be in here

anymore. It's a disgrace to my mother. Kimber raised her head a notch and said her jaw. I knew this look and it met there would be no reasoning with her. Kyle and I looked at each other. This wasn't the plan. It would be a lot more obvious if Kimber was missing from the service, especially with a low turnout. You guys go over and say what we rehearsed to my dad. Kyle, I will text you in 30 seconds. Go. Kyle nodded and started over and I knew we weren't arguing. Mr. Distero was finally standing, looking over at the front pew reserved for him and his daughter with hesitation. Mr. Disterro, I said as we approached, I'm very sorry to hear about your wife.

She was, shit, I forgot my lines. A great woman who raised a wonderful daughter, Kyle finished. Yeah, he spat. Do great women commit unalive leaving their wonderful daughters alone in the world? But for one, that's a crazy thing for the dad to say. Oh, yeah, my wife was a great person. really and then like man that that's heavy it is i think that there's a couple ways to read this i think that there's a couple ways that people process um you know people grieve in different ways

and i think that you could be mad at somebody who did that you know it's a very absolutely people can see it's a very selfish thing and you know i think that like it's um it is tragic and you feel horrible for the person but i do think that people are that close do have the right to be angry and be like you know you left your daughter alone without a mom yeah you know you You know, as it for a dad, I mean, I think that this is very, like, in a way, that can be a realistic response. Granted, saying it to a 16-year-old is a bit, you know. This is the second time in the story that Sam has been pushed into a super adult conversation that he's not equipped to be around. You have first his boss at the sandwich shop.

Yeah, the sandwich shop. Like, basically, my pussy doesn't work. I can't get pregnant, all this kind of stuff. And then the dad comes in, he's like, no, for real, our pussy does not work. And we cannot get pregnant. And he's just like, I'm just like, I'm just. here making baloney sandwiches i don't know what the hell you want from me and now this guy's just like yeah my my dead wife what a selfish bitch and he's just like okay okay thank you so much

it was i just wanted to play game cube with your daughter later i didn't really want to get into this conversation still it makes even funnier thinking that kiles uh beats by dray pill bluetooth speaker is playing some kind of inappropriate music in the back makes a situation even more as he's yelling about his wife leaving his daughter you could just faintly here I got two phones I was going to say it's Bon Jovi this time

he's thinking now that he's like I'm going to throw back on these old heads here he's like yeah he's playing bad medicine by Bon Jovi oh man your love is like bad medicine bad medicine is all I need

whoa He's like, come on, you guys know this one. Sing along now. On the chorus. The father continues. And says, do great women jump off buildings and make spectacles of themselves and leave their families to deal with the publicity and the grief? Ooh, I don't know if I liked that line. Did you like the first one?

Well, the first one makes sense for a grieving person, right? leaving their daughter sure sure sure it's a thing of like you know i think you can be angry but it's just the idea of leave family to deal with publicity and grief to me that's selfish he's thinking selfishly and he's not thinking uh there is a layer about the loss especially the word publicity kind of like oh no you've embarrassed us you know that's literally the whole what makes the whole sentence you know if he just said leave families to deal with grief that's a complete different sentence then to deal with publicity and grief. To me, it's just something where he's almost embarrassed that it happened versus he's sad about the outcome. Which further explains the cheap coffin, the low turnout, things

like that. Yeah. Yeah. He doesn't see that. I agree. He doesn't see that his wife deserves a coffin. Well, in a way, I'm wondering, you know, did he even put out that the funeral was going to happen? Is he just embarrassed? Is he just mad that he's like, oh, I look stupid now? Like, I don't know. Man, that is a lot of heavy things that I'm sure Sam cannot unpack. Yeah, especially for a 16-year-old who works at a sandwich shop Yeah, so they say mayo is the sauce of the aristocrat He's like, the guy's just like, what? All right, well, he claps his hands I'll talk to you later, Mr. Descartes.

And Cal's like, what was that? He's like, I just want to give him something to thank on Yeah, don't worry, he's totally bobbed. That's what Sam would say Everything's perfect Get some every time Yeah Mayo

Meo's the sauce Neas to be on a t-shirt Immediately with like a What the fuck is the Mayo like With either Like Was it Helmonds

Is that Popular mayonnaise brand It's Helmins Or Miracle Whip Well Miracle Whips is a bit different But yeah sure Sure All right

Kyle's phone chirped Okay yeah Kyle's phone chirped thank God oh that's Kimber Kyle said a little too bad oh that's Kimber

his phone goes off in his pocket he's like that's Kimber having a breakdown I'm sure yeah it'd be so funny

if he answered he's like what's wrong what I'm trying to eat the sandwiches Sam said that the mayo was an aristocrat

sauce or something so I got to finish that up I just bought these minutes at Walmart, babe. You're wasting them. What's going on? What? Oh, that's Kimber. Kyle said a little too fast. Before he had time to actually

look at his phone. Ah man, she isn't well. Says she's crying and feeling sick. I'm going to go help her. No, Mr. Desteros yelled so suddenly that Kyle dropped his phone on the ground and where it made a loud clatter on the stone floors. Not you. You don't help my daughter.

You don't even talk to her. He can go. And pointed at me. Whoa. bro okay uh okay i stuttered the plan had changed too much i needed to somehow get the car keys from kyle without being seen kyle gave me a shaky subtle nod and then he and mr dastaro went to sit down it was obvious kimber's dad was keeping an eye on kyle getting the car keys from him was going to be nearly impossible i backed into the shadows at the back of the room while the pastor started the service i texted kyle four times asking for help but

but he wouldn't dare touch his phone. He just stared straight ahead, flicking worried glances at Mrs. Desterro every few seconds. After several minutes, I went to find Kimber to see what she wanted to do, but she wasn't in our meeting spot by the back door. The plan was falling apart. I pulled up my phone and sent her a text. Where are you?

Kyle is next to your dad, and I can't get the keys from him. I waited in the hallway tapping my phone against my hand nervously. After a minute or two, my phone vibrated. Kimber I'm sorry I left without you guys I had to get out of them I'm so sorry I'll be back before the end of the service

I promise Can I I just want to Is this suspicious at all Is that suspicious at all to you I don't know Hunter Is it Is it suspicious

Would you consider this suspicious I don't know You have no lifeline here Because I know where this is going Well that's true I guess it's the thing of I'm like when I read something like that the face value of that is of course

she has said it's very difficult the turnout's low or whatever do you find I mean but there's puzzling things where she's like I have to go be with my mom all these different things before where she kind of just abruptly left the story and stuff I don't know I don't want to harp too much on it's just to me

I'll give you this I'll give you this okay it's not bad writing no it's not it's not just like the author is like okay Kimberne needs to exit scene so she's exiting scene now sure no I don't think anything that's been written is without intent I think everything has intent it's about how you can that's the brilliant thing with this story so far and with all good stories is what can what do you can you can you

be perceived at face value how can you skew a narrative at face value yeah you know how do you trust people you know I think that's a great thing I don't want to harp on too much to me I just wanted to raise a huge alarm I have a giant flag that says suspicious that I'm waving yeah okay that's all I wanted to say all right that's fair that's fair do you want to take this next part to this conversation sure I will so Sam says shit and he replies back to Kimber and he says be safe it was now imperative that I had not be seen on which the men's bathroom locked myself in a stall and played snake for the longest 25 minutes of my life I knew the service wouldn't go on much longer so I texted Kimberle again he says

you're anywhere back yet did you find it I sat waiting watching the minute tick by. I texted her again. I think the service is ending soon. Where are you? After another seven minutes of no response, I tried calling, but it went to voicemail. I tried again with the same result. I was getting nervous. I was about to try a third time when two people walked into the bathroom and my phone vibrated with a text. It was Kyle. The service was over. Kyle says, Kimber has the keys. Why aren't you guys back yet? Did you find anything? I left the bathroom without washing my hands and received dirty looks from two strangers at the urinals as the door closed behind me. I found Kyle staring out the window looking for my car. Kyle, he jumped. Where's Kimber?

What did you guys find? I don't know. She left without me. What the fuck? Why? Where is she? I don't know, Kyle. She left without me, I reiterated. She's not answered my calls or my text. Fuck, mine either. We have to keep an eye on her dad until she gets back. We're not the only ones. Kyle said gesturing her across the room. What the fuck is going on? Three men were talking to Kimber's dad at a corner across the room. Chief among them was Killian Clary.

Ooh. Is that Chief Clary? That's Chief Clary, yep. Okay. Who was once just a sheriff before, correct? Yes. Well, he was the sheriff. He was the sheriff of the county.

Remember, he's the one who gave you weird vibes in the first part. oh yeah okay so it's just chief among them so yeah chief among them okay but he's retired now okay so clear uh who was flanked by his two former deputies driskeen's retired sheriff had his hand on mr distarro's arm and was speaking to him in an angry hushed tone kimber's dad was shaking his head and desperately objecting to something the two deputies walked out of the front door of the church and mr distarov sacked against keelian clary who sat him in a nearby chair

something was happening that's a lot to take in yeah i can continue actually you know what you are the one having the emotional uh collapse here so i can continue reading this part because let me i'm i'm having too much phone like let me let me let me read just a little more go ahead go all all that you want all that you want i just whatever facilitates your mental breakdown the best okay call kimber now kyle said i tried again this time the call rang twice and was sent to voice mail that's suspicious i did the call and threw up my hands looking desperate at kyle again he said and took out his own phone i got the same result but felt a jolt of relief when someone answered

kyle's call but it wasn't kimber phil what part of town are you in i need a ride it's an emergency i waited yeah man i'm at north ridge church as fast as you can i'm a sam i'll owe you Kyle hung up and then immediately tried Kimber's phone. She's sending me to voicemail too. We both stood at the window anxiously to see Phil's silver Mazda pull up. Kyle chewed his lip and I tapped my phone. Come on, Sonders. We threw occasional looks back at Kimber's dad until Clary stood him up

and ushered the now inconsolable man out of the church. Suddenly Kyle's phone chirped. We both looked down to see Kimber's name flash up on the screen. Kyle's knees nearly buckled in relief and he sat against the wall. Kimber Kimber texted I found it Kyle opened the text

and fearlessly typed reply Kyle They're coming for you K We both stared at the phone Waiting for response Just as the son blinded us As it reflected off of Phil's approaching Silver Sanan

We got one Kimber said They're here Oh fuck It was the last message We got from Kimber When Phil dropped us At Staro house

We found the front door unlocked and no one home My car was sitting in the driveway unlocked with the keys and the ignition Kyle and I drove back to the church The funeral was over and the few people that attended We're already gone We're already gone

We drove back to Kimber's house again But it was just as we'd left it And no one was home Kyle had lost it by this time And was an absolute wreck He called her so many times I was sure he killed her battery His calls went straight to voicemail

And his text were unanswered After half an hour of begging from Kyle I finally called my dad He answered immediately Sammy, what's wrong? It's Kimber. She's gone, dad. We've looked everywhere, but her and her dad are missing.

She left the funeral early, and Killing Kleri was talking to her dad, and then Samson and Grig left, and I think they went to her house, and they got her, dad. I think they're still working for Claire on the side and something, and I think they're trying to do something bad. She, whoa, whoa, slow down. Come by the station, and let's talk. I'll take a statement for you boys, and I'll send a couple officers over to investigate the house right now. Just calm down, Sam. We'll handle this.

I hung up and threw my car violently into reverse, jerking the wheel to the left as I hit the end of the driveway. Sam! Sam! Sam! How do we know? How do we know we can trust the cops? I'm not trusting the cops. I'm trusting my dad, I said my word sounding hopeless, even to me. I turned into the sheriff's office and Kyle was out of the car as soon as I slowed down enough to park. By the time I got inside, my dad had Kyle by the time. the shoulders and was nodding solemnly and it was notting solemnly at everything kyle was telling him my dad saw me he motioned for an officer to take us to his office after a few minutes he came in and sat down across the desk from us all right boys i'm going to have officer romaynez come in a few minutes

and take a statement from you both i want you to know that at this point in time it looks like distaros left town voluntarily no no way mr walker kimber would never my My dad held up his hand for silence. Let me rephrase. Jacob Descaro left town voluntarily. Kimber's a minor and has no legal rights here. If her dad said they're leaving, then they're leaving. But she's not answering your phone and we went out to the house, dad.

Nothing was packed. Maybe they're just getting away for a while. Maybe going to relatives. I can't theorize as why she wouldn't answer a phone other than maybe she wants to be left alone for a while. Kyle was exasperated. But, look, I know it's hard for you to understand, but losing a family member takes a toll on a person. Sam, you know that. We don't know how people are going to grieve, and we don't have a right to.

I think it's very likely that Kimber will be back by fall for school. The fall, Sheriff Walker? That's two months away. You need to investigate now. Kyle, I know you're upset and no one said we're not going to investigate thoroughly. Like you investigated Whitney's disappearance thoroughly? shit. I spat and I didn't regret the words. Holy shit.

Sam! He snapped. With more force than I'd ever heard him use. I'm tired of listening to you insinuate that I didn't do everything I could to find Whitney. I love your sister more than you can imagine. She's my daughter, Sammy. And I will never give her up. And what about the deputies that left her funeral to go after her?

My dad raised her eyebrow at me. Samson and Grigg? I grounded out through the clinched teeth. He sighed. Boys, Samson and Grig left the funeral because I sent them out on a call. I stood up violently and knocking over my chair in the process. Oh, come on, Dad. All right, that's enough. The sheriff slammed his hands on the desk and stood up. I told you I would tell you what I know and have. I understand your friend is important to you and God damn it, that the stars are friends of mine too. I promised that I will use the full extent

of my resources to track them down and put your minds at ease, but until then, all I can offer is the assurance that there is no sign of foul play at this time. You boys need to get off this warpath and let us handle this. Now Ramirez is waiting in the hall to take your statements and that both of you are going home. Understood? I said nothing and glared at my dad, seething with rage. Kyle stood up and walked out of the room with no emotion whatsoever.

He walked past Ramirez and I followed him out to the car. We got in and I waited for Kyle to say something. I heard a loud sniffle and looked over at him. His face slick with tears. It was the first time I ever seen Kyle, but not the last. It was the last time I... It was the first time I'd seen Kyle cry, but not the last. He's lying, he whispered.

I just shook my head. I didn't know what to believe. Kyle turned his face away from me. I know he's lying. Something bad has happened, and he's lying about it. What... What happened? I heard more sniffling as Kyle tried to collect himself.

Dude, fucking talk to me. What do you think happened? Kimber's gone like all the others. So she's at this place where bad things happen. I punched a steering wheel How the fuck could this happen? Not Kimber. Please not Kimber.

Was all this because of me? Had her mother killed herself because of something I'd done? Something we find out. Was Kimber taken because of me? If I thought for one minute that this was true that I knew I would crack into tiny pieces. No.

Not Kimber, no. Yes, Sam. Fucking think about it. Kyle yelled at me. It's the tree house. It's all the same. Barasca, the skin men, the tripletree, your sister, the mountain, it's all the fucking same. It's the Prescott Empire, and now Kimber has been fucking consumed by it.

Where do we go? I could feel the warm tears of my own desperation and hopelessness sliding down my cheeks. What do we do? What do we fucking do? Kyle threw his hands up in frustration. We have to go to Ambracot, right? Let's start at the triple tree, Sam. Surely you figured that out.

We've been in the treehouse a million times, Kyle. There's nothing there. I don't know where the fuck else to go, Sam. Rap, rap, rap. I jumped as someone tapped on the window of the car and wiped the tears on my face. I rolled down the window as Officer Grigg leaned down and looked in the car. You boys move along home, all right? Yep, I said, and turned the key into the ignition.

Officer Grigg waved us as we pulled out of the parking lot, and we didn't wave back. The tree house, Kyle said. We drove in silence. Both of us desperately trying to get a hold of ourselves. If we were going to be of any help to Kimber, we needed to calm enough to think logically. I parked in the space next to the trailhead and saw several bikes tied to the post. As we made our way to the West Rim Prescott or trail, we passed Parker and a couple of his friends coming in. I nodded to him, but Kyle said nothing, just stared at the trail, reaching for the only place he knew to go.

It was almost dark by the time we got to Amber Cod, and there was a little light left to search for whatever Kyle hoped to find. It took a half an hour in the darkness before I finally convinced Kyle that there was nothing there to help Kimber. And though we didn't speak of it, I knew that he and I were both painfully aware of all the sounds of the night. We were scared, terrified down to our very bones, that we would hear piercing, scraping, grinding, and metal screams of the monster at Barasca that we'd become so accustomed to over the years. We both dreaded it, prayed it wouldn't come, and we did not speak of it. I dropped Kyle off at home and promised we would find Kimmer tomorrow I swore we would

He gave nothing more than a shallow nod And disappeared inside this house My dad was waiting for me in the kitchen When I got home a few minutes later I didn't look at him And walked over the fridge realizing I hadn't eaten all day Sammy sit down

I want to apologize for the day Hold on hold on I want you to pause Where's your mind at right now With the story It's hard I'm like I'm rolling through it I'm getting

I'm getting through all of the things that I've read and said and acted and stuff and obviously the first thing I want to address is Clary ex-Sheriff Clary talking to the dad

Greg and them going off inconspicuously while Clary was like yelling at him at his own wife's funeral and then they went off and then the dad to be in on the the lie basically there's no way that he called them to do something

that just doesn't make any sense to me I think that like there's nothing to indicate as well that there was an emergency to me I just think I think Grig Officer Grig and the other officer went and got

Kimber and they took them somewhere same with the dad what the dad did is I don't know there's not enough information to really clarify what the dad did wrong or what was going on but all of these things don't feel orchestrated by the dad or Kimber or any of the town's focus. It feels like maybe the Prescott's or somebody else is orchestrating everything that goes on in this town, everything. They are the literal puppet masters of this town and there is something that they are trying to secure and hold

and there's some kind of power they have that I think is greater than a financial gain that they have in the town. And I'm not sure. I don't know. I feel horrible. I think, I don't think Kimber, it's the last time we're going to hear from Kimber, but I do think the dad is in dire straits. I think that Kimber is as well, and I don't know how they're going to get to this Barasca place,

but in my mind right now, it feels like Sam knows in his heart, and so does Kyle that she's in Barasca, you know, that some kind of like greater entity is at play here. I'm curious to see what the dad says, so I'm going to keep reading. Okay. Continue. Which he says. What she says.

Sam, he sit down and went to apologize for a day. I took out some chicken and cheese and went to the pantry for bread. I know you're scared. I know that a lot has been going on, and you can't exactly write to. He sighed. Anne. Anne has been depressed for a good long while now, Sam. Over 20 years.

That'll weigh on a person. I ignored him and continued to making my sandwich. I was dying inside. I wondered if I could even trust the man I called my dad for my entire life. she was suffering sam and sometimes people who suffer that deeply don't know any other way out she knew her depression was hurting her husband and her daughter and maybe she mistakenly thought she was doing them a favor mom suppressed i said without taking my house from the task he sighed your mother is coping okay this is very different sam kimber's mom has been depressed since she

was in her 20s early in her marriage and suffered multiple miscarriages infertility can be very hard on some couples and not even Kimber's birth to totally ease her pain. Oh, no. Oh my gosh. I'm sorry. I just, I forgot about that part of the story. I hate, I hate this stupid story so much. It's, I'm going to do something violent. All right, continue. Let me read that again. Early in her marriage and suffered multiple miscarriages. Infertility can be hard on some couples and not even Kimber's mothers. Not even Kimber's birth could totally ease her pain. that doesn't mean anything to you yet it will dad with all due respect i'm tired i'm going to bed kyle and i are getting up early to look for kimber i threw the knife in the sink with a loud

clang and turned to look at my dad for the first time please tell me you're still trying to find kimber the sheriff stood up from the kitchen table looking as tired and disheveled as i felt i promised amy and i finally believed him the next morning when i pulled up to kyle's house Parker came out to meet me. Hey, Parker. I said, and when I rolled down the window and a cool morning air wafted in, Kyle's not here. He left around five.

Oh, fucking Kyle. Stole my dad's truck. He's pissed, so. You better go. Thanks, man. I said, then rolled up the window and took down the street. I drove around all morning for Kyle and calling his cell, but he didn't pick up until around noon. Sorry, man, I couldn't sleep.

Kyle sounded a bit more stable than yesterday. That's cool. Where are you at? I don't know exactly. A rare spot where I'm getting service. You in the woods? Yeah, she's out here, Sam. Somewhere in these mountains, I can feel it.

I know it. All right, well, I'll meet you. Okay, just come down to West Rim Trail and I'll meet you there. I was only five minutes away, so I arrived before Kyle had time to get down to the mountain. Mr. Landy's red Dodge Ram was parked haphazardly in a no parking zone, and I figured it would probably be towed by the time we got back. I doubted Kyle cared at this point. though. I crossed my arms and leaned against my car as I waited for him, staring up the dirty

red trail and impatience when Kyle finally showed half an hour later. He was covered in sweat and dirt and dejection. So I said pushing up, pushing up off the car. No, nothing, man. All right, well, let's keep searching. We hiked miles and miles on the mountain that day, but we didn't find any sign of human life. For the next few days, if the sun was out, so we're we Kyle was growing more and more desperate crossing on the private property to look for logging equipment and mapping out county counties many miles to many mines to search for abandoned buildings but the mountain was big and the needle buried deep in the haystack and as the days slipped away so did Kyle's sanity every time I saw my dad he would give me a sober look and promised me

that they were still looking it seemed to me that even if he was growing concerned the the star house remained as cold and empty as the space between the stars above it on the 11th night of our kimberlis existence i was awoken out of a troubled sleep by the piercing whirling screeching sound of death at barrasca as cried myself back into sleep to the tortured sound of kyle's own agony next door we had failed her kimber was dead end of part three man my god i'm actually my god as as i'm remembering parts of the story i'm actually getting kind of depressed a little bit like i'm i'm pretty yeah i don't know why i suggested we cover this one i'm sorry i don't i hate everyone who commented this story i hate me for mentioning this story uh do you i mean i don't believe she's i don't believe she's dead i mean i don't know the part three i mean I'm hoping she's not dead

I'm hoping that they can do something to I guess find some kind of solution but man that's just there's so much it's like the gas pedal was really hit it's not that even that nothing has happened so far in the story but in terms of like

actual in terms of actual things that have happened I mean this this was a heavy chapter like a lot more mystery a lot more like a lot more tragedy happening in real time like kimber leaving it's just all it's all stacking up on me i don't know i like i still don't trust the dad i feel like the dad is just treating his kid like a kid and he's just like yep no nothing don't have anything their dad being mysteriously gone you don't you can't trust anybody in town now you know

I think the kids are lost, and I think that it's, it's reaffirming the fact that as you get older, you get led into this thing. But it does feel, once again, like the guilt or sins of our fathers is the primary, it's the primary focus or like North Star for this story. It feels like every adult has something that they are hiding and not telling anybody, and the press got to their top are at the top of it, controlling it. controlling it all i'm very curious to see um and you know i mean we're we're on part four it feels crazy we're on part four this is the last chapter i know that there's a chapter five you're saying that was kind of a what-if situation but we're gonna end on chat on part four here this is the last part um i don't know i mean i i know you know what happens but is there anything any thoughts you have it's this is the tone of you has it has it has because i don't i'm uh

Gosh, I forgot why this story stuck with, I mean, I remember objectively what happened, but I forgot how devastating this story gets and why it's stuck with me for so many years. And like, it's a horror story, right? And the purpose of horror is to horrify, to, like, trouble you to make you think about it. And that's why I'd still say this is, like, the scariest creepypasta I've ever read. Because I remember, I remember being, like, 16 years old and reading this and just, like, thinking about it for weeks uh i mean right now the the horror the exasperated fantasy like horror that is you know you know like when i say fantasy horror i mean it's fantastical it's out of this realm

of belief like you know like i like jason vorhees coming back all these times and killing people is objectively scary but no one comes back from the dead you know what i mean like that's just it's like these things like that this is all everything that the story has told us so far in terms of the horror which is the sounds are coming from the mountain the barasca the skin men that we have not seen they're all urban legends they're all things that are passed down by man and more of the horror comes from the tragedy of deception it comes from the tragedy of loss um these are all very real and it feels very impactful it could be i mean so far it's reading as a drama and the horror is the realities of being lied to you

know i think that that within itself is horror enough but yeah i mean do you want to take uh you want to take part four and start it this last part here sure sure that that sounds good to me um i'm not so i know the energy i mean i need to wake back up even if it is sad i need you're right you're right i need to i have a podcast coach by god i need just it's just interesting yeah i think that even the viewers are going to see this i mean as soon as that one line about anne's pregnancy came up i mean it took you i mean it zapped all of i mean it zapped you yeah i forgot i forgot there's something palpable that's going to happen i mean it's just i'm i'm hooked i mean i'm i'm wired i need to know what the fuck happens i'm i'm happy to see here i can i can i can

wake up i'm a podcast host i can i can be better it's just a story it's just a story it's a it's a real job we promise yeah yeah it's this is a this is an emotionally draining important career yeah yeah yeah uh all right this matters to me okay uh when i pulled up to his house the next morning i could tell kyle cracked his skin had taken a yellowed color and his voice was flat and void of emotion it's not over yet kyle i said as he dropped into the seat next to me yes it is sam he all but whispered no i don't believe that kimber's dad is missing too you know maybe it was him instead of that was that was i couldn't bring myself to say it We're living in hell.

Drisking. It's hell in our own reality. I couldn't disagree. That town I'd grow to love seemed so foreign to me now. Whitney hadn't been an outlier like I thought missing people were the norm here. And that would make Jimmy Prescott the king.

He's Satan himself. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Kyle punched the car door waking from his dead state with a rageful vigor. I'll kill Jimmy Prescott. Where is he? You know he's involved in all this, Sam. You know.

maybe partially i said staring out the window his dad created the town that bred this ship but i'm pretty sure the prescots are just running drugs you know the powder yeah and so what he's recruiting people to be to be drug mules or something maybe i agreed for call's sake though i didn't really believe it the sound the great beast machine of barasca gave off the distinct stench of death and though i knew that physically that was impossible it didn't change my mind about it the airs smelled different after the metallic wailing ended. We drove over to 4th Street gourmet coffee and bakery and went in to buy our usual provisions of rock stars and monsters. As I paid for the four packs of cans, I saw Mira waiting on coffee at the end of the bar. I could tell immediately

that she was in a good mood, something that I hadn't seen much of since I started working for her. It was probably a good time to tell her. I was calling out of work for my fifth day in a row. Hi, Mira, I muttered when I approached. I can't come in again today. I've got some really important... Sam! Oh my gosh! How are you? Okay, I stuttered. Good, she said brightly.

Don't worry about coming in. I'll hold down the fort, and I'm sure I can call Emmeline in if I need help. But really, Sam, what have you been up to lately that's so important? My mind blanked. Just as I started to stutter out some bullshit about... helping my dad, Kyle appeared behind me. We're trying to find Barasca, he said with all the gravitas of a eulogy. Ah yes, Owen told me you'd asked him about that. You know, that's just a story, Sam. That legend has been around since I was a kid. Yeah, well, we're looking for our missing

friend Kimber. We think maybe she's there, I trailed off lamely. Oh, really? I thought I heard the De Starros were staying with relatives in Maine over the summer. Oh, well, anyway, good luck, boys. Thanks. Kyle's voice was sour and I knew his patience was thin. When we got back in the car, we each popped open a can of Rockstar and started chugging. I knew better than to ask Kyle if he wanted to smoke, since I was sure he hadn't lit a bowl since before Kimber disappeared. He finished the energy drink in under a minute and crumbled the can in his hand. I don't like your boss, he said. Mira? Why not? I don't know. She's just off. Well, I mean, she's been going through some things. I wasn't going to elaborate any further.

Yeah, why were you asking her husband about Barasca anyway? I don't know. I was just making small talk, and I thought he might know. He seemed to know about a lot of other things. And did he know? Nah. I took a gulp of the sour drink and then choked on it when I remembered something Owen had said. Well, actually, yeah.

He said a Baraska instead of just Barasca. You know, like it's a thing instead of a place. Kyle lowered his rock star. And is it? is it what is it a thing I don't know I've never heard of it I've googled everything weird about this town but nothing ever came up

did you spell it right I don't know I shrugged do you know how to spell it no I pulled out my phone no could you read that with the attitude it deserves no fuck Google

Kyle said thank you We need to talk to Catherine Scanlon. That's what Kimber would say. If you'll remember, Catherine was the historical society person at the library. Right. So, he was right. Catherine Scanlon may be the most knowledgeable person in town

and was probably the right person to ask. I pulled out a 4th Street coffee and prayed she was at her office already. When we parked in front of Drisking Arts and Antiques, I was disappointed to see that the store was dark. Kyle pointed to a small, cheap, open sign hanging in the corner of the door, and I crossed my fingers that it was for Catherine's office. I was relieved to find the door unlocked, and we hurried past all the antiques and blown glass to the back of the store

where we found an open door and Catherine sitting at her desk. Boy, she stood up when she saw us. You're up quite early for summer break. How did the essay do? Uh, great, I said. Actually, we're here for more help. Personal interest, Kyle added. Catherine raised her eyebrows.

Color me impressed. I needed to get right down to it If by some small chance Kimber was still alive Then every second counted We're here because we want to know If Barasca is a thing or a place Catherine raised her eyebrow I remember that legend as a kid

I'd actually have to tell you I didn't know if it wasn't for Wyatt He knew so little about so much She laughed A sort of jack of all trades Anyway He told me an interesting fact once about Barasca It's both

what do you mean i leaned on her desk well the term barrasca is just old outdated lexicon the word was used by miners to describe an underperforming mine a mine i whispered kail shook his head we've been looking at mines so all the mines in butler county are baraskas i asked well generally it's only the first mine in the system to run dry that is called a barasca do you know which mine ran dry first in our mining system Kyle asked from where he stood near the door, repeatedly clenching and unclinching his fist. Not off the top of my head, no, she laughed. I can look, though. I think I have those records here somewhere. Catherine walked behind her desk and opened a drawer of loose files.

This is an odd thing to be interested in for boys your age, but I guess I should be glad you two are so eager to learn, especially over the summer. Yes, ma'am, very eager, said Kyle. Is the Barasca the first mind that ran out of war? Was that by chance the same one those kids disappeared in? The McCaskies? Oh, no, I don't think so. That particular mine was the Southwest mine and was very close to town.

I think it was one of the last to close, actually. Here we go. This package should have that information. Catherine spent far too long moving books around on the desk to make room for the stack of paper she had. Kyle and I paced around the room nervously, trying to appear casually interested, while the energy drink started coursing through our systems. Here we go. The first mine to close was the north central mine, which was, yeah, actually, one of the first to open.

But where is it? Kyle walked over to the desk and braced his arms on it. Where is that mine? Catherine pulled over a different stack of papers and started to fumble through it. After the longest minute of my life, she made an aha sound and pulled out a large yellow piece of paper that had been folded into a standard A4 size. She unfolded it on the desk And leaned over to read the markings

I could see from where I was standing near the doorway That it was a map and I knew we weren't leaving this office without it Let's see the mind was up further on the mountain a little hard to get to see And she pointed at a small dot on the map that was at least four miles from where we'd been looking Can we take this? Kyle asked we'll bring it back Of course I'm sure I have copies Listen if you boys are going exploring I'm bringing my dad I lied

Oh excellent then you guys have fun. She yelled at us as we rushed out the building. We didn't stop to answer her. Fun was far from our minds. It's so far from where we've been looking, Kyle stuttered. We need to go there now and we need to get a gun. A gun? Where are we going to get a gun, Kyle? From your dad. It's not going to give us a gun, man. Fine, then let's scout the place first and then we'll come back with a gun. That didn't seem like a good idea to me either, but what choice did we have? After studying the map for several minutes, we realized the easiest way to access the mine was still through the West Rim Prescott or Trail. We parked at the trailhead and made the familiar hike down the marked trail and then

up the beaten path, realizing that we'd have to travel past Amber Cot Fort on the way, and I knew in my heart that we were going the right way. We were walking the same path that so many people before us had on their way to Barasca. But what had they found there? We passed the tree house, which was as silent as the morning. We walked on in the woods further north than we had ever been before, and soon we were flying blind, hiking in the general direction of the dot on the map and hoping we were still on course. Within an hour I began regretting that we'd come without provisions, emotional and unprepared. By noon we had been hiking for four hours, and it seemed to me that we were lost. I tempered the welling panic with thoughts of Kimber and Whitney and the answers

to the mystery that had absorbed my life for so many years. Kyle, for his part, said nothing and kept his eyes straight and his mission his priority. And then, just as the sun teetered on the apex of the day, we saw an emptiness through the trees and the hard lines of man-made buildings. Kyle quicked his step and I rushed to keep up. When we finally broke through the tree line, I choked on my own deep breath and fell back against a tree as I looked over the quiet encampment. A large wooden signpost that was almost as long as the entire clearing was still standing near the entrance of the mine it had to be a century old and though most of the letters had rotted over the years those remaining from those remaining i could

guess that it had once said drisking underground mind what was left however was skinned men Scandman Oh Yeah There you go Huh Yeah Yeah

Wow That's one of my favorite details Of this story How That's a fucking awesome The local legend Worked It's way in That the skinned men

Are up on the mountain But no It's the skinned men Location The Drisking underground mine I love that Yeah Yeah

That's always been One of my favorite aspects Of the story How the skinned man Is like a red herring but it's still not you know like it works its way in yeah it does it's uh it's such a it's such a it's such a fucking awesome oh it's so satisfied yeah isn't it though i remember reading that the first i was like oh that's good that good it is but the thing too that makes it so good is just the

aspect that how no one really goes up there right no one really knows it's kind of an off the beaten path thing so you usually stop at the tree house so it would make sense that kids would be like oh yeah you got to watch out for the skin men around here but it's just hearsay. It's just urban legend that's been passed down time after time for over a century, essentially. You know, I mean, like, that's

extra, oh, man, that's, that's awesome. That's good. Skin men. That's good. All right, well, keep going. How are you feeling right now? You're digging it? I'm anxious.

Cool. I'm... You should be. I'm anxious. I think that, um, the librarian is, if she feels like a saint, like I love it.

I love her guidance so far in this. Like, I don't, I don't have a bad feeling about her, but there's one thing about Mira being so chipper after the fact that Kimber has gone makes me suspicious of possibly the pregnancy thing. I don't know if there's something that correlates there. It's making me very suspicious of some kind of ritualistic thing happening in town.

I don't know. I'm relieved that it isn't actually skin men having it like that's a really nice that's a really nice aversion not that even having the skin men what couldn't be something that could work but in terms of something that is once again grounded in reality it's keeping this the tone of this entire story extremely consistent and we're still we don't even know what the core nut of this story is to be had I mean I we're getting to something I mean, this is the last part, so we'll see. I'm just going to keep reading. Stop me if you need to. Yeah. I'm also going to say, we probably should have put this in the beginning of the series. I understand that, you know, we're adults and everything so we can handle intent subject matter.

But for anyone listening, this is your final warning, viewer discretion. Anyway. Oh, shit. That way. That's not, that's not a good thing. I know, I know, I know. All right. Here we go.

That way, Kyle pointed to the north end of the camp. We stepped out from the shadows and into the vulnerability of the clearing. There were several large buildings still standing, and the boarded-up entrance to the oar mine was set back in the mountain. We're not getting in there, I whispered. Let's try that building, he said, and pointed towards the one nearby, which was the largest and at least two stories tall. We counted three and then ran across the camp to the large wooden doors of the old building. They were cracked open, and when we squeezed in some,

side, I had no doubts that death was indeed President Barrasca. We were standing in what I guessed was a refinery and in the middle of the room was a large, silver, conically shaped machine. A conveyor belt fed into it and the room had a sour smell. Even the dirt beneath our feet seemed to have taken on a crimson tent. This is the machine. This is where they take them, I said. This is the place where people die. Kimber isn't here, come on. I was only too happy to squeeze back out the door of the building and tiptoe around the side. We rounded a quarter and almost ran into a recently waxed, shiny green truck parked there.

This is Jimmy Prescott's truck, I breathed. I know whose truck it is, Kyle growled. We were now on extraordinarily high alert. Kyle dropped to the ground and began to command o' crawl around the building. I followed him waiting to hear a shout or a gunshot, but none came. As we crawled around to the back of the building, Kyle turned around to me and put his finger over his lips, then pointed at a one-story brown building that was only a dozen feet away from us.

He got into a crouched position and moved as fast as he could across the gap between the two buildings. I did the same. As soon as I reached the wall next to him, Kyle whirled around and put another finger to his lips and then pointed up to a window directly above us. There were noises coming from inside, and even to me, a 16-year-old virgin, the sounds of sex were unmistakable. We could hear an animalistic grunting, and the tired, oh man, this is rough, I forgot about, the tired, objecting groans of an old mattress. Unable to help myself, I whispered WTF to Kyle, but he was already gone, all caution abandoned, running around the side of the building.

I followed him through the first store we came upon and was hit in the face by an invisible wall of filth and suffering. The smell knocked me back, but Kyle kept running. I followed him in past crates of ramen noodles, MREs, bottled water, and boxes I had no time to read. I crossed another threshold and I was suddenly surrounded by people. So many people. I skidded to a halt and realized I was standing in a sort of dorm, rows and rows of beds on either side of me with people strapped to them some of them wearing dirty rags and some wearing nothing at all many seemed to be bloated and i waited for one to call out to me but they all remained silent some watching me through tired dead eyes and others turning away looking around i realized they were all women and the bloating i saw seemed to be pregnancies some were confined to their beds and others were not okay pause yeah pause yeah so they are going into just to just to let that breathe for a second

yeah they found basically what is essentially people being ins simulated is that the right word ins simulated is that the inseminated um and these women i'm guessing are like almost like army barrack style just like in beds next to each other all pregnant in this deal so we're basically led to believe that women are taken here to be impregnated yeah yeah okay that is uh disgusting yeah this is uh especially the responses to it too where it's almost like they have no energy like almost like they're sedated they're not really saying anything they're just kind of like looking or some of them just like look away there's really no emotional reaction to it which makes it even more haunting some of them aren't even

down it says so they're just laying there they're just laying there they're they're broken okay yeah i'm again i'm sorry to you and the audience um i looked around the room for kyle and saw i'm standing a little further in the long room looking back at me with the same confused wild expression i was sure was on my face i saw the realization cross his and called out to him but he was already running again. I lost him before I'd taken five steps to follow. I figured it was probably best to just keep running. Spread out and look for Kimber. I didn't see her in this room and I was sure she would have called out to us if she was. Oh my God. Hold on. Hold on pause. No. Kimber's mom was held here through all their different pregnancies and stuff like that, probably forced to have a child

and she probably did that and left the fucking letter for Kimber because she knew this was the same fate that she was going to have. Well, I will say that you are going to see the letter by the story's end. Okay, all right. Okay, I'll go ahead and keep going then. Yeah, yeah. I looked around for another door and saw one cracked open on the left behind a row of beds. I stared straight at it as I made my way there,

desperate to avoid the wretched, void eyes of the women around me. First we help Kimber, then we help the others. I will come back and help you all, I promise, as soon as I find Kimber. Without a thought, I pushed the door wide open as soon as I'd reached it and found the source of the noise we'd heard outside. It was Jimmy. Something I'd been expecting to see, but the scene before me was not. He was hunched over the bed of an almost unrecognizable, unresponsive Christy, treating her like an animal. She watched me through the slits of her dead eyes, but she didn't...

gosh, this is, whew, through the slits of her dead eyes, but she didn't call to me for help. I thought I saw a tear run down her treat before she turned her face away from me to face the wall on the other side. Oh my gosh. Uh, WTF, I didn't even realize the words were audible. I had never seen this depth of human suffering. Jimmy's head snapped around to look at me and briefly registered surprise before he smiled at me in a way that turned my insides to ice. He didn't stop what he was doing And oh my gosh I feel sick

And I wanted nothing more than to run over And push him off of Christy But to my utter shame I couldn't force myself To come any further into the room Sam Sam Kyle's voice echoed through the building And immediately cured me of my paralysis I found myself running back into the minor storm

And away from Jimmy Prescott and Christy Kyle Back here, hurry please I found Kimber I followed his voice through the maze of beds and room as a concoffiny of voices began to follow me. Help us, please. Oh, God. There were maybe only a handful of girls yelling at me, but it sounded thunderously loud as it filtered through my guilt. The weight of all their misery dropped down upon me,

and it almost pushed me into the ground. I will. I'll get help. I'll help you. I promise him as I followed Kyle's voice. Still screaming desperately from an adjacent room. I spread it across another threshold and saw him, hunched down near a corner bed, helplessly yanking on a leather strap attached to it. I slammed it in the bed and fell to my knees, trying to work out what he was doing and how I could help him. I tried not to look at the bed because I knew I couldn't see her like that.

I could, gosh, man. I couldn't bear it. If Kimber looked at me through the same accusing empty eyes as Christy and the others had, I might lay down on the ground beneath her and curl up into a ball. Go around the other side, unbuckled the other two straps. Kyle had the high-pitched voice

and wild, desperate eyes of madness. ran around the other side and did as he'd said without shaking with with shaking awkward hands oh boys jimmy's voice rang out from somewhere in the building i just read kimber's ankle and was working on her wrist she whimpered when she heard him and buried her face in my shoulder do you think you're hiding i know where to find you i know right where i put that girl i'll kill you press scott you sick oh i'm not saying that but you sick i'll stop all your bows and bleed you out Kyle had lost all reason and strategy. He was filled with rage instead of fear, and it scared me even more. I pulled Kimber's wrist from the final strap and yelled,

Go! Now! We pulled Kimber up off the bed and quickly realized that her legs could barely support her. She was heavily sedated and breathing weakly. We braced her on either side and moved as quickly as we could through the nearest doorway, away from Jimmy. We were in another dorm, though this one was filled with mostly empty beds. I could see sunlight shining through the door at the end of the long room, and we raced. toward it as Kimber made little cries of pain. I didn't think my heart could break any more, but I was wrong because in the next moment, it did. I almost dropped Kimber when I saw her staring eyes. Her eyes were hollow and uninvested, and when I turned toward her, she looked away immediately as if she couldn't stand the side of me. Whitney, I said weakly.

Sam, let's go! Kyle screamed. I can't. I turned toward him as tears ran down my hot cheeks and Kyle Sard, too. I can't, I can't stay, Kyle said, still moving towards the door. I have to get Kimber away from here, please, but he knew I wasn't going anywhere now. Good luck, bro, I said, and then we were both running in different directions. Whitney's hair was long, but it was thin, as was her face. Everything on her looked brittle except for her stomach, which bubbled out from her like an overblown balloon. She refused to look at me and flinched at my touch as I tried desperately to unbuckle her from the bed. I hadn't even finished the first belt

when I heard Jimmy walk up behind me. I didn't bother to look at him or stop trying to free my sister. I didn't know what else to do. Pause, pause, pause, pause, pause, pause. Pause, pause, pause. Imagine, oh, my God, I'm sick to my stomach. I am too, I am too.

As soon as, like, the details started, I was like, oh, boy, we're about to get there. That's why I had that change in tone. It's so zero to 100. Like, honestly, it's so bad, yeah. yeah and imagine finding your sister after how many years you know what i mean it's just been here the entire time yeah yeah a decade just up a decade of being trapped here unbelievable this and then jimmy so far i mean has become a literal fucking boogeyman with how he's the devil yeah as he's like

walking through here i mean disgusted this absolutely disgusted yeah go go ahead yeah um "'I admire your grit, kid,' Jimmy said, and then sat down on the bed behind me and continued to watch me, giving no objection to what I was doing. "'You probably think your friends got away, but there's no sense in false hope, is there?' "'There's no sense in any of this. My voice sounded frail, and it cracked over the last word. "'You're wrong about that,' Jimmy sighed. "'Just so you know, I've got Clary out there looking for them already. "'People making a lot of noise coming down off this mountain.

"'Trust me on that.' "'Sheriff Clary? I was desperate to keep him talking, anything to keep him from trying to stop me. Oh, yeah. You know he was supposed to retire from the business, but unlike the previous sheriff, he kept a few horses in the race. Horses? Nothing made sense. Yep. Jimmy slapped the bed next to him. We called these buildings the stables. Oh, my gosh. Oh, God. Um.

Ugh. I'm going to throw up. That, honestly, that made my stomach turn. That is. We can pause for a second. That is, uh... I am a bit ill. I apologize to everyone listening. You know, it's wild?

When I was 16 in reading this, I remember, like, being freaked out by it, but I wasn't as sick about it, you know? I think as I was... It's such a traumatic... Yeah. Real thing. Yeah, yeah.

Like, I grew up... I mean, you grew up. this as well i mean you're a religious guy i grew up in the bible belt as well sexual subjects are uncomfortable they're extremely personal sex in general is extremely personal and to do something that is this s a kind of um content and stuff and to think about that it is the utmost deprave and is the utmost um it is the single worst way to exploit someone and it is uh it's so tragically sad it's like um there's really no

other way that you can defile and humiliate someone you know it's it's horrible i mean like i'm and how casually i mean it's just so demonic how he's talking about this how casually he's talking about it and to give it a name like that is especially after he laughs after saying it it's disgusting i mean it's it's it's beyond depravity it's it's inhuman it's oh man this is brutal i mean i i i feel for the viewers right now i mean this is man i'm yeah yeah i'm sorry to everyone for um bringing you into this those of you that didn't ask for it um it's you know it's like it's like i also now hate the i now hate the commenters who now suggested this story to i want to go back in time and be like no i'm okay

i'm good i'm good let's cover barasca let's talk about jeff the killer again that's better yeah yeah let's just talk about jeff the killer and some like weird 13 year old like edgy shit that that's fine with me this is um let's just let's keep going there's almost a level of terrible that is like i think that's why this story didn't hit like i liked it but for how disturbing it was but didn't bother me as much at 16 as it does now because like there's a level of intensity it gets to where you kind of quit registering it you know and it's just like there's things when you're young there's things that you can't process There's things that you cannot, you cannot understand the weight of something when you're young.

Yeah. When you're young, you cannot process, you just, you cannot. I understand people think that they know everything and that they have these well-established thoughts and ideas and stuff, but until you're older, until you've experienced some stuff, until you've lived a bit and you're able to truly have empathy for these things, it is extremely hard. I mean, and I just want to preface this as well because a lot of the, you know, quote-unquote videos that I do do circulate around some of these ideas and stuff. And it is because it is so extremely tragic. There's really no other, there's no other subject matter that is so personal and so humiliating to put yourself in that situation. There's really no more uncomfortable way than having to deal with these things. things um and i just i guess i wanted to say that um yeah so yeah i can continue um all right

i dropped the last buckle on the floor and look down at whitney i expected her to spring up and run toward the door while i went at prescott but all she did was rub her wrist and it her collarbone then she put her arms back where they'd been turned her head oh gosh man turned her head away from me and shut her eyes i slum down onto the bed next to her and picked up her and picked up her cold hand if she wasn't leaving here neither was i it was over i sent a silent prayer up to a god i didn't know and wished my friend's safety wow damn i mean what else do you expect from somebody who's been there a decade you know it would it would be almost irrational for her to be in the mental state to just be like yeah let's flee i mean she's broken completely

broken. Do you know what this is, Sam? I shrugged. It didn't seem to matter now. It's all about the babies. I stared down at Whitney and her swollen belly. He gave no indication I was listening. But gave no indication I was listening.

You wouldn't believe how much money's in the industry. I mean, my dad was a smart man. And he knew we didn't have anything of value to sell. And back then, the Prescott's were dirt poor, out of work minors just like everyone else in town. he first got the idea when he sold my older brother off to pay for the legal fees to fight the city i mean some people will pay five figures for a newborn you know even back then and the organizations that buy them well they buy in bulk but we still make a killing off them and our overhead is very low oh my god windigan please please tell me that the dad did not fucking sell that daughter

i'm i don't tell me i'm just saying i please tell me sam's dad did not know about that like keep going please jimmy stood up and pulled the gun out of his waistband then threw it on a bed across the aisle you know try to understand sammy it's not just about the money we use the stables for community services too oh my gosh lots of people in town come to us you know ever since the 50s i couldn't take it anymore I didn't want to be here listening to this. I didn't want to see Whitney so broken and I didn't want to wait for inevitable death.

It was torture in its purest form. What do you wait for? Why don't you just kill me? This isn't a James Bond movie. I don't care about any of this shit. Jimmy laughed loudly as if it was the funest thing you ever heard. Kill you. Kid, if I could, then I already would have,

but I'm not allowed to kill you. I've been trying to decide if I want to... Okay, I'm not reading that. Ah! Gosh! What the heck? I forgot. This story is almost too. Like,

yeah, sure, it's, it's disturbing themes. And I understand things. I mean, this is disgusting to praise. I mean, they're really selling the,

they're really selling Jimmy as, um, I mean, a monster. I mean, there's, and the thing, too,

when you're dealing with this subject matter, if I can say anything about the story is that a person like this would not be holding back. I mean, this is all still once again, very thorough through it. They're not trying to, that's a thing.

When you approach a subject like this, you can, not just be like, I'm just going to hint at it, and that's it. I think it's kind of either all or nothing. So in the realms of believability where the writer has been so far, it makes sense to me. Yeah, I think it does make sense. I just want to throw up, is all. She's not one of mine, but it might be worth it to see her face.

Just kill me and let her go. I'll kill myself if you let her go. I stood up from the bed and Jimmy took two steps toward me and punched me so hard of the face that I fell back down on it. I moaned as I fought the tears and started. behind my eyes. I can't let her go. She's got one of our community service babies in her. Oh, my gosh. Grace says she's got another week to go. Two tops. Jimmy looked down at Whitney. Do I? Wendy and you'll me to read this. I know this is like all kind of like pretty. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You go for it, baby girl. I'm just going to throw up and like rub my knees over here. Yeah, I don't want you to have to skirt around this stuff. Go ahead. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't let her go. I can't let her go you little fuck she's got one of our community services baby in her grace says she's got another week to go two tops jimmy looked down at whitney and frowned she's been putting out shit babies though and as soon as this one's out of her she's got a date with shiny with the shiny gentleman oh my god yeah so now we're oh my god what the fuck does that mean i yelled at him with a loud ring suddenly filled in the room jimmy held up his finger and pulled out a phone out of his pocket i got to take a business call two minutes and we get back to

to our conversation. Jimmy walked over to a corner of the room and desperately started to pull out. And I desperately started to pull on Whitney. We got to go. We got to go. Whit, we can't stay here. She got with her eyes shut and her body lacks.

Whitney, they're going to kill you. My head whipped toward the door and I heard a truck skid in the dirt just outside of it. Jimmy ended his phone call and Killian Clary walked in, pushing a limping bloody Kyle in front of him. Oh, no. Lose something, Prescott?

Oh, shit. Where's the girl? Couldn't find her. Oh, thank God. I'm adding these things. Sorry, I'm adding these things. These are my reactions to me writing. Couldn't find her. Couldn't find Kimber. Thank God. God damn it, Clary. You fucked us. Go back out there and find that girl. Jimmy snatched his gun off the bed and shoved it into the back of his waistband. Now listen to here, you little shit. Clary growled. I ain't your fucking employee, and I don't have all fucking day to play and hide, seek in the woods. I'm telling you she wasn't with him. So I guess if you want to know where she is, you should get out of him. you should get it out of him cleary threw kyle down on the floor and spit near his feet i gotta do your fucking job now jimmy walked over and without hesitation kicked kyle so hard in the ribs i heard some of them snap inside his chest i tried to stand up and that was still and was still dizzy and fighting off the darkness where's your girlfriend landy prescott raised his boot and then stomped down hard on kyle's ankle he screamed in pain i can do this all day kid clary sat down on the bed across the aisle and lit a cigarette watching him impassively. Jimmy pulled Kyle to his feet and then punched him in the face. A few of Kyle's teeth scattered across the floor. Tell me! Jimmy punched him again in the face and Kyle went limp.

You're killing him! I screamed and jumped off the bed, running blindly towards Jimmy in a red rage. Clary stood up and caught me with no effort at all, holding my arms down my sides. He laughed. Cigarette still tucked in the corner of his mouth and I struggled helplessly against his chest. Jimmy had straddled Kyle by now. It was rapidly punching him in the face and chest. Kyle was barely conscious and i prayed he passed out from the pain after a full minute of this jimmy stood up and rubbed his bloody fist last chance landy fuck you kyle said through a wheezing rattled breath of air jimmy spin on him and raised his foot up as high as he could and brought it down in kyle's face with so much force that i heard his skull break i sagged in killing clary's arms and he dropped me into puddle of his feet

oh my god so kyle just got murdered right in front of sam yeah oh my god jimmy bummed a cigarette off Larry, and they stood next to Whitney's bed watching me cry. Jesus, what a mess. After a few minutes, Clary flicked his cigarette out and pulled out his phone. All right, Sam. Take your friend. I couldn't have heard him right. Fuck that.

That little landy shit ain't leaving here. You want to clean up this mess up, Prescott? I stood up, and my knees didn't buckle beneath me. I stood up and my knees didn't buckle beneath me. I'm not leaving without my sister, I told them. Jimmy laughed. Yes, you are. clary said if you want to save your friend's life he ain't dead yet he ain't dead yet sam but he will be soon

he tossed his keys at me the road off this mountain is backed by the refinery i let the keys bounce off me and fall to the floor clearly swore at me i knew he was right i was a coward and i would leave my sister and all the others just here uh here just so i could get away and save kyle's life i picked up the keys and then without looking at the two other men i picked up kyle by his shoulders His head rolled back as if no longer attached to his spine. His face was a collage of pulp and blood, and I struggled to stay calm and breathe as I dragged him out of the building. Clary and Prescott watched me, taking drags off their cigarettes and saying nothing.

I knew they were probably lying to me. Kyle would be dead by the time I got down to the mountain if he wasn't already. I opened the door to Clary's old Ford and placed Kyle in the front seat, wincing as his head rolled around like a ball on a string. It took me almost an hour to get down the mountain, even though. I took the overgrown road in ridiculous speeds and did everything I could to destroy the shocks on the truck. I sped into the hospital emergency zone and found a medical team waiting in the inside door. It was clear they had gotten a call to expect me because they already had a crash cart with them and an IV ready to put in Kyle's wrist.

I left Clearie's truck where it was and spent the next two hours in the waiting room, calling my dad over and over again, crying over an architectural digest magazine. No one came to take a statement from me or ask any questions. Kyle's mom arrived before my dad did and started screaming as soon as she saw me My dad walked in behind her and had a deputy restrain her He drove me home in silence, but I couldn't take it for much longer Is anyone gonna file a police report? Does anyone even fucking care what happened?

Sam He didn't turn to look at me I'm doing my best to do damage control on the situation But if Kyle dies or his parents sue, there's nothing I can do to keep you out of court You think I did this? I screamed at him We're not going to tell your mother other all right she has enough to worry about that dad it's it's kimber it was fucking prescott and sheriff clary yes you arrived at the hospital in keelian's truck we already took we already talked

to them both i was so frustrated and full of rage that my next words came out jumble stuttering mess ended in a helpless scream we pulled into our driveway my dad turned off the car and finally turned to look at me and i struggled to catch my breath samuel we'll never speak at this again do you understand. Are you fucking kidding me, Dad? Kyle might die. I saw Kimber. Enough! If you want this to go away, you will keep your mouth shut about it. Make no statements to anyone, and I'll hire the best lawyer I can afford to clean up your mess. I don't know why you beat your best friend almost to death, and I frankly don't want to. You, fuck you, I screamed at him and threw open the door to the cruise. I ran then, away from him and the house and my broken life. He didn't come after me,

not that day or the other. Since everyone in town thought I was a violent thug. No one would let me stay with them, and I called around. Sorry, I'm all jumbled up. I eventually went to a motel far outside of town and drained the last of my savings from paying for the room. I went back to pick up my car from the trailhead. It was gone, and I hoped it was Kimber, who had it, and now a tow yard. I read the paper every morning for someone mentions Kyle's condition. I saw Daly's birth announcement about 10 days later. They had just had a, what's that? that's uh the um

the dailies uh is his boss remember Mira right Mira yeah so they had a birth announcement so what does that mean that uh remember remember how Mira can't have kids

and then she told her husband okay oh so they so they took a baby from they took a baby from the skin man yeah yeah from the skin man my god yep I saw the Daily's birthed announcements 10 days later They had just had a son

That they named William The whirling twirling shiny gentleman lit up the valley With its stretch and song of death that night It was the last time I ever heard of it I stayed the Drisking's long after The money had run out I stayed in Drisking long after the money had run out

And I was sleeping on the concrete behind the motel I stayed until Kyle was released from the hospital A mute, empty-eyed, soulless vegetable I went to see him once While only Parker was home and threatened him until he let me inside the house. When I assured myself that the Kyle I knew was dead, and only his empty husst remained,

I left his house and hitchhiked out of town. And after I spent four drunken, drug-fueled years in Chicago, I came home one day to find a letter waiting for me. It didn't have a return address. It was postmarked California. I knew it was from her before I even picked it up. She'd written so many of my assignments for me that I knew Kimber's hands.

handwriting better than my own oh my god oh my god inside it was a letter the letter i read the letter i read only once many years ago until i sat down and transcribed it today and i'll if you want i can uh i can yeah go ahead yeah go ahead this is the letter that uh her mom left for her yep my kimber i know you are going to understand why we did the things we did it was all born out of love at least It started that way. You're everything to me, and you'll always be my daughter. Do you understand? And I'm leaving this world because of what I've done to you, not because of what you are.

I don't want you to be upset about what you are because who you are is beautiful. My dearest, this town has done horrible things, and all of us who live here are guilty. Read this letter and leave this place. I need to tell you all of this. I need to start at the beginning. Somewhere along the way, decades ago, the major population of Drisking became unable to bear children. Most people blamed the town for letting the iron ore leak into our water table during the collapse of our minds. This is the same water table that still provides the town's water today.

They were never quite able to fix it, and ore is toxic, and exposure causes infertility. The town did, and still does, suffer greatly from its effects. And the Prescott's, they solved the problem that no one could solve. It was an ugly, crass solution, but most people were happy to look away when they were able to raise families again. You see, they took girls, mostly women from other places, and they impregnated them and gave us their babies. And the town came under the care of Thomas Prescott

when he started to sell some of the babies on the side for a profit to rich couples. And the sheriff, he helped him do this. But then an ugly rumor started that they were selling to human traffickers. I'm, oh, an ugly rumor, we wouldn't want one of those. We wouldn't want a rumor to be ugly. No, it's been fine so far, but yeah, I don't want that ugly rumor. Don't want it that. We don't trust the clientele.

I'm, like, mad now. I'm not sad anymore. I'm, like, upset at these fictional characters. Okay. And the Prescott's had to offer triple the price for girls. and in town we began to murmur but once again turned the other treat when the city was suddenly flooded with money because of how well the traffickers paid people had well-paying jobs again and were proud to call drisking home so we said nothing and those that did were taken to the mountain because that is where they do it there is a place on the mountain where the women are taken kimber drifters runaways and if their parents choose it sometimes the girls in town are even sold back they arranged to sell the girls and they meet them at a tree halfway between our town and their baby mill sometimes kids play there now i think you played there the prescott's and the sheriff

are the ones who impregnate the girls and the children are named after them p children for the prescott's and k children for the sheriff oh my god i'll let you go ahead and do the math yeah Kyle and Kimmer. Oh my God. Yeah. And then, when the women become too sick or too old to deliver profitable babies, they are sent through a giant machine that was used to refine ore, and their bodies are crushed, and the blood and skin stripped away,

and what remains of them are their stolen children and the dust of their bones. And all that's left of their bodies is the powder that they spread over the mountain to hide our crimes. If you'll remember, of course, that's a... The powder. the powder the power that built the town as he said i'm telling you this kimber because you are one of those children most of your friends are one of those children please get out of drisking before your father finds this letter run away and never come back and never speak of it to anyone their industry has deep roots now and the traffickers have lofty connections don't tell anyone don't

keep this letter don't look back i love you i'm sorry i have to leave you We all have to answer for our sins, and I'm ready to burn in hell for mine. Love always and forever. Mom. Oh, God. What a fun episode of Creepcast, right? Holy shit. And, of course, the shiny gentleman, the meat grinder that they threw people in.

That was the metal noise that they heard growing up. yeah that's the the loud grinding thing of people of women dying yeah in the mountain yeah yeah oh my god wow i need to go hug my wife i i it's this idea it first off i just well here's the thing i guess i just want to talk about the story as a whole go ahead the story does such a great job about setting up this town this idea so many subversions so many amazing things that you want to believe and lead even through like your own creepy pastas right you want to like you hear these things in the context of a creepy pasta you hear skin men and you i mean you legitimately like okay well there's going to be a creature or something the hellish reality of this all

being something that could literally take place is so horrifying it's so hard to believe I think that they handled the subject matter very well I think that a lot of people that are not as experienced of writers would have written this in a way

that is more vulgar and depraved and I think it could have like it is hard like there's I'm not trying to sell this fact that this isn't the first part that for me is so hard is the final stuff with Prescott

sure like that's like unbearable the thing is yeah oh gosh it's such a cold bleak reality of him and the the sheer fact of the matter that when we read this there is simply nothing that can be done it's work i mean we're coming through the lens of a 16 year old kid who at the end of the day is is helpless hopeless right with this thing too i guess there's a couple things so there's the dad the dad obviously knows or does he not so to me the dad's the most evil character in the whole story like sure that's what it feels like preys that's what it feels like Prescott's evil, like he's the devil. But you can, I mean, I give him, I say at least, you can imagine some level of detachment he's made between them and the people he's killing. Prescott, I mean, the dad, Sam's dad, gave his daughter.

He sold her. He sold her. 100%. To become sheriff, that guy's the devil. I want to see his face get caved in. I hate that guy. Also, I'm looking at the replies right now for Part 4 on Reddit. someone named Mrs. Spriggs made an interesting connection. Do you remember how they said the P

names were for Prescott and the K names were for Killian? How like the names of the kids come after who their fathers are? At the end it says that his boss had a daughter had a son named William William for Walker Sam's last name. So now his father, which is a good analysis but if that's to be believed now his dad's up there father and kids too. I mean Why would you not believe that? I mean, yeah, yeah, like if you're going to be the devil, give your daughter, I guess it's just the next step. I hate, I hate, and the story makes me so mad.

You have the thing about it, though, you have to keep in consideration, too, is that for a subject on R slash no sleep, this is something that will keep you up. This is something that will stay with you. This is something that makes you think about the intentions of strangers you know, right, and the strangers of people that you don't know. I mean, like, it is so vile evil, so realistic and so disgusting.

It's one of the really, like truly one of the best stories that I've read in terms of impactful emotional depth and stuff. I mean, it makes sense too while this author goes on to write like Haunting of Hillhouse, you know, has such a beautiful setup. Such a beautiful setup, and especially, you know what they did too, sorry to keep rambling, but to have this story start with children, because you are starting in an optimistic, fantastical place, kids are going to believe urban legends, they're going to be, it's going to be larger than life and everything, and to have something happen when you're a child of your sister disappearing, Whitney disappearing when you're a kid, you assume that it is something fantastical that took her and that relays into part three or into part two with that time jump. So the narrative starts off almost as if when you're reading this, you are a child when you first read this, and you are growing with the characters as well. And you're still under that optimistic young hope that this is something that is otherworldly, that can't be, you know, that can't be explained. But it is so grounded in vile, human fucking depravity that snaps you back into reality very, very quick. it is so disgustingly good at doing that. I think one of the parts that bothers me about it so much is because, like, you know,

we've read our fair share of, like, supernatural stories and stuff like that. But sometimes, like, the brevity of news makes it not set with us. But when we hear phrases like human trafficking or, like, you know, kidnaps or, like, women abducted, we kind of let it, like, roll off our backs because we don't think about it. But hearing the intensity of those moments described, oh, it hurts so bad because unlike, unlike Jeff the killer, a Russian sleep experiment or whatever, it's like, this is something that's happened. Not like, sure, not to the scale of every single person in the town's in on it, but there's, there's rings where this kind of evil happens and they get away with it. It is exaggerating a very real thing. Yeah.

It's exaggerating, like the exaggeration is just like, what if a whole town was in on it? Like the size of it, yeah. What if instead of like hundreds of gang members, so to speak, who are part of it, what if it was one town that's in on it? What if it was consolidated almost? And it makes it, gosh, man. There's a lot of, there's a lot of speculation and argument with this even in film. You know, should this be the subject matter of a film? Usually when people see these things and they're like, I don't want to see this. This is disgusting. And I think it is all about what the artist's intention is of writing these stories and stuff. But I think, that these kind of stories are I'm not going to say important as like they need to be made or anything I'm not going to go as far to say that you know but I think that to ignore base level human atrocities um because they're hard to swallow is wrong I think that like this story preps up these things so real and I think it brings to light something so tragically human and so tragically real that that's what makes it so impactful and so horrifying and it's the idea too that you can do nothing to stop it um is it is truly impactful truly truly impactful and

man god i mean at the end too with sam's time jump so he's basically homeless now living in Chicago you know where does he end up he ends up by saying it says he goes to Chicago for a while then eventually to California he just becomes a drifter

yeah when I assured myself that Kyle I knew was dead so basically he left after he knew that Kyle was basically gone he's a vegetable there's no remnant of his friend he's alone in this town

he realizes that his dad's a fucking monster and then I spent four drunken drug fuel years in Chicago, came home one day to find a letter waiting for me. It didn't have a return address, but it was postmarked California. I knew it was from her before I even picked it up. She'd written so many

of my assignments. I'd written... So he's saying that Kimber sent him the letter. Is that what that's supposed to say? Yeah, Kimber found him and sent him the letter to kind of give him closure. Because remember, Kimber gets away because of what Kyle did. Kyle died. I mean,

he became like a vegetable, but Kyle died to get Kimber off the mound. which you'd have to assume that Kim well yeah but we're not sure where she ended up but she did leave and she is she lived she lived yeah i think that even her return addresses she doesn't want anybody to find her she probably has her own new life started and i think that she probably doesn't even want to see him just do the fact too that it would remind her of that time you know really what's funny too is that all that we made fun of him he dies really is he is the most oblivious most

like kid like almost like most you know dope like kind of like stoner as character of them all and he does the most selfless thing and pays the ultimate price for every other character to survive. Kyle truly is the hero of the story. Sam

is as well I mean Sam credit needs to be where crowd is given to Sam though you know you do want him to fight for his sister at the end but it is a hopeless thing. I think that he realizes that he would that this person is in front of yeah well not of that but if his sister

is already gone I think that he needs to like he's putting priority in this thing and hoping that justice will come which is naive but for a 16 year old kid what I mean what else can you expect I think that I just I guess I want to reiterate that I think that story did a

very good job not harking on the difficult subject matter I think they played into it in a way where they didn't shy away from it they weren't shying away they were very much telling you this is the reality of the matter I mean like the story unveils the subject matter as much as the kids

who stumble upon it. That's the best way I can describe it. How the characters react to it is how you react to it in the real time. It doesn't glorify it we're not you know reveling in the idea of what it is. It is the simple and blunt truth that is revealed

to these characters and it is just fantastical enough to be um i mean it's just fantastic i mean like the idea of rows and rows of like an army barrack style thing and no one knows and no one cares is so sad it's so unbelievably sad and painful and it's so like you're like how does this happen you know what i mean but it's still based in a level of reality that is it's so scary to think that this happens it does happen maybe like you said maybe not to the scale but it does happen and it is it's horrifying i mean honestly man unbelievable story unbelievably impactful story no wonder it stays with people nobody

no no wonder people want you to read this and kind of come across this ending and this realization because it truly is something that is monumental it is like uh god god it's like crashing into a wall it's like you're you're soaring through and you're having fun theorizing on all these things that you know creepyposs is to be about monsters or weird interdimensional travenile bullshit whatever and then you just literally crash into a wall at a hundred miles an hour it is devastating I mean I guess I can talk about now because I've spent the whole time like I don't know where it goes you know but while we were reading it through there were so many like things I'd forgotten about lead up like the

mention of his boss at the sandwich shop being like okay I want to do it I called them let's have a kid and I at the time I told you it's adoption because you know I didn't want to give it away but I knew where it was going but I'd forgot yeah that element was earlier in the story or there's the part where um they're over they're over at kimber's place where she's babysitting and the kids are playing in the yard and they're like uh oh the skinned man got you now you have to go meet the shiny gentleman. Oh, God. It's like there was

so much trickle down or the mention that Mina was happier after he saw her after she had made the phone call because she was getting a kid now. The fact that Mina was so depressed crying in her office was because she didn't want to utilize the trafficking ring the city had.

But she eventually goes along with it. It's, gosh, dude. But like you said, I think it's an incredibly well-written story. It's incredibly heavy but as far as what I initially said getting into this at part one that this is my favorite this has always been to me the best creepy pasta I think I still stand by that at least as far as I can remember right now because of how I'm definitely not going to say I'm an expert and that I

know all I have like a rolodex of creepy pasta in front of me but in terms of impactful storytelling and impactful creepy pasta is this I really don't know how this is going to be topped in terms of like an absolute train wreck and i don't think that it uses this is another thing too because i'm curious if people have criticisms of this for being shock value of like oh they're just doing this because that's disgusting blah blah blah when really i i don't know if i agree with a sentiment like that i think that this is something that like it's just such a real heavy subject matter and it's such honestly in a way and i don't want to, I'm not saying like, I'm glorifying it or anything, but it is a creative way of

using what is a pre-known, like creep, what is a creepy pasta, you know? What is the fantastical element of what a creepy pasta is? It's taking that and then being like, fuck you, we're not going to a fantastical place. We're going to a very real place. This is real world. Yeah. This is real world. And this is something that you're going to have to like face. And, you know, when you read it and the characters realize it too that's when you're realizing it and i think one thing that's brilliant about this too that i think is like kind of hitting me in waves is the use of using what you assume people's loss is the loss of people in the town and how people are reacting to it and the sympathy you give these things um at face value when really there is something

so much more depraved underneath the surface of that that it feels like by the end of this you simply cannot trust anybody i don't know how sam or kimber would ever trust a single soul again i honestly don't i don't i don't think that they would ever have a stable relationship again i don't think that they would ever have even like a remote like a like even friendships i don't know how you would ever have that again with how traumatic and disgusting this is and i the only thing that I would want from, because I'm hesitant to read part five because I don't know if I want to have that what if situation. The only thing that I would want is just a very cartoonish, childish reaction of Sam goes back with a flamethrower and burns every person to the ground.

I need bad things to happen to Sam's dad. That's what we think we need. And I do wonder if it did happen, it would feel good in the moment. But I think that the reason this is so impactful and that it stays with you is that because you have to embrace that grief yourself as a reader. Well, I've had eight years to embrace that grief, so I'll read it. Yeah. I mean, I kind of, I mean, like, you know, and this is what we'll do too. I'll say this.

I mean, I don't know if you agree, but if people say that they want us to read part five, we can read part five and do that. At the same time, I can tell you right now as a new reader, I don't want to read it. I want to sit with this for a bit. It needs to simmer for a bit. Granted, though, you know, Wendy, you've sat here for eight years. So I'm curious to, if anything, I would be curious to have you read it and just text me and be like, with no spoiler kind of thing, just be like, is it worth it or not? And just kind of be like, I think it's worth it or, eh, you know, whatever. And then in time, I can make that own, my own kind of decision on it. But as of right now, I need time to process what the fuck I just got exposed to. Yeah. I think I will. I think I'll read part five and then report back if I think it's worth a. What is the time delineation between part four is published and part five was published? That's what I was going to mention.

So all four parts that we've covered now were published in 2015 within like at the same time, right? So they all got published 2015. That year, Barrasca won No Sleep's best series and scariest story award. So it won a bunch of awards was highly thing. So the next year in 2016, Rebecca released Part 5. So it's only one year separated. Okay. I should also mention, oh, this is also, this isn't just for me and you, but this is especially for audience listening.

So there was a very high production audio version of the story that came out in 2020. As a matter of fact, so it's like a radio show, like it's almost like a stage acted thing, audio. Cole Spouse plays Sam and a bunch of other actors and actresses who you know from television appears different roles it adds a lot more it's longer than the normal four parts it's kind of like her remastered version of the story

it even has I was a big fan of house growing up so if you remember the girl that played Cuddy the hospital chief Lisa Edelson she's in it so there's like there's a ton of like new characters added and stuff and a bunch of people who are very familiar with Barasca say that the podcast webisode is the way to go for first-time

listeners. So they did a whole audio show in 2020 that got a lot of acclaim. And as we mentioned earlier, Rebecca got, or Rebecca Klingles, her name, got so much praise over this story that Mike Flanagan invited her on to work on the haunting of Hill House, the haunting of Bly Manor, and the fall of the House of Usher. So, and I see why, like we talked about, this is a very, very A great professional relationship blossomed out of that. And all of those shows rule. I mean, anything Mike Flanagan does, I just adore. I mean, like, he's fucking amazing.

And to have this is just awesome. I mean, the thing, too, you know, Rebecca, all of the praise goes to how amazing this is. And I really look forward to anything that she does moving forward as well. I'm hoping that there's some, you know, like, not that I don't appreciate the collaborative stuff, but I am curious to see what she does on her own again after the fact. I mean, this is all just amazing. I'll say this. I'm kind of depressed right now, remembering all the details,

but through that depression, I can say, Rebecca, incredible story. Absolutely blew it up. There's a reason I've remembered this for the last eight years is one of the scariest stories I've ever read. It earns the praise. I'm hurt over it, but it's so well done. So, like, do you read so many creepypast

that can barely keep their English together, much less deliver like, you know, foreshadowing tension, conclusion stuff like that and it's it's like reading like a true author at work all the way back then so well earned success off of it you did a great job yeah i mean for the thing here is for the thing here is uh you know art is meant to challenge it's meant to make you question things it's meant to provoke emotion and i think art that is centered in horror i mean the horror the definition of horror is an intense feeling of fear shock or disgust

And I think that this is, this story is the true definition of what horror is. I think it's horror that is unfiltered. It is completely true. And the reason that it's so horrific is that you, I mean, like, it just instills that fear in your own life. And I think that, um, truly, truly impactful. I mean, honestly, what a great recommend. I mean, like, it's the, the feeling of whenever we got done with this, the feeling was,

I want to throw up. I want to almost like imagine my life. life without this story um but then again i do think that this is something that's going to stick with me and i think that uh this is this is just amazing storytelling it's so so tragic i mean once again hats off hats off and we and you know what window go we made it through we made it through i think that it's you know it's funny is that you came into this your your big balls were swinging and you're like you know what i've already read this but i think that at like a part way through part four you're like oh fuck wait i forgot to you kind of had a realization moment as well is that what

you want to hear you win i lost i'm broken it everything hurts and i'm dying is that what you all i'm saying is we made it through together and i think we made it through with our uh viewers as well and like i said we'll be sure like hopefully we we will put a viewer discretion thing at the beginning of this episode as well and we'll leave that discretion in before that moment as well So people should be, you know, warranted. So if you did follow along with us and you're mad at us, just know we put the signs up. We put it there. The sign was there.

Just like the Skinned Man sign was in front of the thing that your discretion was there. So you should have known better. Our signs were a lot more literal and a lot more nothing hiding. We were like run away. The last thing I want to mention about Rebecca Klingle is she published these stories under the name C.K. Walker. So if you find the author C. k walker online you can find a lot of her other works she does a series that i believe are about real life disappearances like missing 411 type stuff uh which my audience is probably very into

and also if you're interested in listening to the audience which we can leave a link to that in the description if you're interested in listening to the podcast version of barasca um it was published under a company called cue code here on youtube so you can just head over and check that out for yourself too kind of like that the one with cole spruce and stuff or is that the With Cole Spouse and everyone. Okay. I've heard ever since that we talked about this one, that was like one of the big comments is that people said that it's a very, very good.

It's like the independent way to take it in, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I hear it's very well performed. I imagine it's probably a lot more emotionally impactful than us tripping over our words and stuff and me stopping the story every three minutes. So please be sure to go give that a checkout as well. But, man, what an impactful. I mean, you know, I'm curious.

I'm now nervous because people usually. suggest all kinds of stories now. I'm very nervous to take people's suggestions now, if I'm being honest. This is, you're all's fault. In a way it is. You know, it is. This is, this is by far the most requested one. I'm curious to see what people are going to gravitate towards next. And you know, why are you people like this? People are deprave. They're monsters. They're little goblins is what they are. They're little goblins that want to hurt us. and that's the beautiful thing I think about the storytelling and horror in general

that I think is maybe a good way to end on is that horror can be fun horror can be very real I think the way that people can navigate this space is so interesting and so amazing and I love this community I love the fact that people can make horror

that is scary but it's fun I like it's fun to be scared and then you can have a story like this that makes you question your own sanity and makes you question humanity as a large. I think that it's like it's such a large spectrum and people should be so stoked to be a part of, to be a part of this community and to be fans of this community.

It's awesome. Really, really cool. Yeah, fun. That's how I would describe it. I would say too. I don't know if fun was, if there's a cheeky little grin behind that screen of yours, but I think it is, it is fun.

Well, that was Barasca. Barasca You got what you asked for Everyone A nice little round of applause We made it through We made it through the other side And I hate you so much

That's how I feel about it That's how I feel as well And until next time I don't know what we're going to cover next It'll be a surprise I know we've been trying to kind of tell people What we're covering next At the end of these episodes

But I think it's going to be A little surprise for next time I think we're still trying to figure out What we want to sink our teeth into But until next time This has been Creepcast and we will catch you on the next one. Thank you all so much for watching.

It means the world. Bye for now. See you in the next one.