CreepCast - I Pretended To Be A Missing Girl | Creep Cast

Episode Date: March 30, 2025

Soon to be a movie starring Sydney Sweeney, the guys read a story about a woman who pretends to be a girl who went missing over a decade ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is the cold habitual, and it is the froy of the mountains blue. The froy at its summit. Cozlight, tant view a fraud, celebrate in a fashion responsible. You have to have the age legal for consuming the alcohol. Stop.

Do you know how fast you were going? I'm going to have to write you a ticket to my new movie, The Naked Gun. Liam Nissan. Buy your tickets now. I get a free chili dog. Chili dog, not included. The Naked God. Tickets on sale now.

August 1st. Welcome back to Creepcast Today we are doing Would you call this a Hollywood special now With how with the recent news It's a bit of a crossover, I'd say Yeah We are reading a story from back of the day

called I pretended to be a missing girl, which coincidentally, not coincidentally, because we're reading this because of this, is the new movie Sydney Sweeney is doing. When we saw that there was a movie that is going to be about an R slash no sleep story, we had to read it. And I'm excited. I'm excited to read this and then go see it when it comes out and then see like, you know, what do they keep? What do they change? All that kind of stuff. Yeah, I think this is interesting because I actually hadn't heard of this no sleep story before. And it's only four years. old, which for most No Sleep stories is pretty short. It's pretty recent. Is it only four years old? We've seen that it was posted on multiple R slash websites. I think we're reading the version

from R slash short stories because I think it's the updated version. Yes. So the author is a guy named Joe Coat on Joe Coat. No Sleep or on Reddit. His name is J. Coat 12. He originally wrote the story to our slash no sleep and it was a shorter version that actually had a link at the end that made it seem like the ending of the story was in a newspaper like it was a newspaper clipping which is pretty cool but then he decided to do a rewrite add on to the story a bit more and posted a second version of it in r slash short stories so that's the version we're going to be reading today but both of those say they were posted four years ago so as far as like horror stories on reddit goes that's pretty recent from what we've seen yeah no definitely you Usually, I mean, I, if you would have told me, like when I first, I guess when I first heard about it, I was thinking of, oh, this is like a 2015, 2016 story, you know, that kind of golden era of people posting in there. So they see that it's only four years old, something like maybe a COVID story, probably maybe Joe was just, you know, sitting at home, like not doing shit. Maybe that's what inspired something out of this. So pretty curious to see, though, Sydney Sweeney, you know, master of film, is I. as they said and the um you know i i i really appreciate her her ability to find

like the the immaculate movie that she i don't know if she directed that but i think she produced it and started it uh yeah um but just still kind of weird odd horror choice here so i'm wondering where that hook is going to be in here as well that maybe makes it kind of visually interesting to translate that to the screen so i'm hoping that there's some goodies here always cool to me whenever um actors like develop a kind of role of what's the word i'm looking for an investment sort of and the projects are working on where she's like this looks good i'm going to go in as a producer and as an actress um and also i believe eric roth is currently set to do the screenplay for it and uh he did dune i think he was a part of the writing team on doom unless i'm way off so the guy who wrote

the Dune movie? No, no, the screenplay, the screenplay. The guy who wrote it is... No, no, that's what I'm saying. The Dune movie. I'm saying the guy who wrote the Dune movie, the screenplay for the movie, is doing the R-slash-no-sleep horror film. If that's true, that's awesome. Let me make sure. Hold on. Am I talking? He did Forrest Gump.

Apparently, hold on. Wait, the guy who did Dune. He did Dune. Yeah. Wow. He did Dune and Forst Gump. Good for you, Sidney. Eric Roth. Good for Sydney for getting that. That's fucking. crazy. I like how the guy's just like Forrest Gump, Dune, and then now

I pretended to be a missing girl. Our slash classic. I hope it's good. I'll say this is pretty stacked so far. Yeah. This is a killer. This is a killer lineup. I say we just fucking hop in. Also, congratulations to

Joe Coat for like writing the story for a boy Joe. For years ago to get to this. Also, according to what I've seen online. He is a high school English teacher. So he's just like an English teacher who likes stories who wrote this and now it's got all distractions. So congratulations.

Be sure to check him out on Reddit. I couldn't find any other definitive links to like his socials or stuff like that. But as this becomes more popular, like as the story gets made into a film, I'm sure it'll come out. But congrats, Joe, that is very cool. Yeah, he seems like you were saying to be pretty active on Reddit. So go give him some support. there go read some of his other stuff as well

and uh you know jo like you said congratulations man the guy who fucking wrote dune and forest gump is writing the screenplay that's pretty that's pretty sick now here's the real kicker do i try to do a sydney sweeney impression for this episode what does your sydney's impression sound like

trying to think i've seen her euphoria a lot and it's like i don't know it's not valley girl it's more It's just kind of, I guess it's just, I guess it's just be a regular girl voice. It's, no, she's kind of got that, it's not southern, but it's like Wyoming, sort of. Like the mid, like a north-west draw, you know. How does that go for you?

What does that look like for you? I can't do impressions. I don't want to do that to myself right now. It's like, um, no, it's kind of valley girl. I can't, you know what, whatever your heart thinks is the right move. This one. Okay. I'll trust you to it.

All right. We'll see. Well, if it's horrible, I don't want to be judged. Okay. Well, you should be, I think. Also, if my voice is a little rough in this episode, I apologize. I was on a flight yesterday, and there was a guy behind me who just had the wettest, like, sickly cough. I think I've heard it.

It sounded like he was, like, gurgling as he was coughing. I was like, sitting there, and I was like, where are you going with this? Like, like, as the cough. was floating around me like you could smell the pestilence in it it was rough so i'm feeling a little under the weather today i think i caught whatever he has i am um i'm once again a rat inside of god's hot car uh and i i'm i'm pushing through but if if i suffer it's uh it's it's that guy's fault but also hunters somehow channel channel sidney sweeney's uh vision for this movie, for this story to turn into a movie and let that guide you to a blissful reading

experience that we're getting ready to endure. Thank you. I appreciate that, Hunter. Here we go. I pretended to be a missing girl. Michaela Murray went missing 12 years ago on the eve of her 18th birthday. She didn't have any big plans or anything, but her friends described her as having been in a particularly good mood for what was an otherwise perfectly normal Friday. She gone to school, soccer practice, work, and then came home for a night of movies with her kid brother, James. He was more excited for her birthday than she was. Even wanted to stay awake with her until midnight, but of course, had fallen to sleep right away. When he woke in the middle of the night, he saw her headlights shining through his window

and watched as they rushed down their country road, not knowing that it was the last, he'd never see her. The poor kid was only five and would be forever tormented over why she'd left him, or why'd she never come back? It wasn't until the sun came up on that cold Saturday morning that anyone realized something was wrong. Her parents entered her room to wish her a happy birthday, only to find her bed empty, car gone, and phone off. They'd started their rounds of calls to all of Michaela's friends,

but nobody had seen or heard from her. Panic really started to set in when Michaela's car was found abandoned on the side of a heavily wooded road, facing the wrong direction, practically in the middle of nowhere. There were no parks or hiking trails, nor were there any signs of a struggle or any evidence of where she might have gone next. Until Michaela's parents followed that road on a map,

they knew she had a boyfriend, Tom. He was a year older and had just gone off to college. He'd been trying to get Michaela to come visit him, but her parents forbid it. But if they hadn't, this was the very road Michaela would have taken to get there. So while Linda Murray filed the missing person's report, Paul Murray sped on up that road, all the way to Tom's university. Tom swore to him, and later the investigators, that he hadn't seen her in weeks,

that he had been in his room studying that night. His roommate confirmed as such, with the added disclosure of having later gone home, where he then spent that weekend. The rest was uncertain. The police looked deeper into Tom and found strands of Michaela's hair in his car, which proved nothing foul, but it spooked him enough into admitting that he'd seen Michaela more recently than he'd stated, that he'd picked her up late the weekend prior for a midnight drive. This ended precisely like what had happened the night she'd gone missing,

but police found nothing to substantiate it. Tom was eventually cleared as a suspect, and the Murray's would never let it go. They were certain he was involved in Michaela's disappearance. So certain that Paul Murray spent several nights sitting outside Tom's dorm, waiting to catch his daughter going in or out. Tom's family wanted to press charges, but Paul had friends in the sheriff's office who assured the family that it would not happen again

and left Paul with a very stern warning. But being friends with law enforcement only went so far and the case would soon go cold, days, weeks, and months passing by without any further updates. The public moved on while the people in Michaela's life were left with this dark cloud of uncertainty, wondering what had happened to her. If she was out there,

somewhere alive and she was she's about to return home after more than a decade gone because i'm a kela murray and i ran away that night to start a new life that's what i told the murray's anyway i had no idea what happened to that girl that's a fun hook okay that's a fun i will say if i was the dad if i was paul i would just be like dude i'm sitting outside of a fucking dorm i'm like it'd be different if every day he was beating the hell out of Tom you know I'm sorry

is this a crime is against the rules maybe it is dude you can't just sit out here and watch him he's just like I'm sorry I can't watch

you're going in and out of these buildings it's weird but is it illegal is it illegal is it illegal makes it sound like I'm sitting outside of the building

I don't oh my god wait right now you're like what's the problem is this a crime I do think it is illegal to set

outside of a student's dorm or at least like, it's probably illegal to the campus, right? I guess, yeah, because I, well, I guess it would be because that's probably private property, I would assume. They 100% would ask you to leave. And if you didn't leave, then you'd be trespassing. The problem is probably, the problem is probably Paul's like, no, I'm not leaving.

I'm sitting here. And the security guard's like, uh, okay, awkward. He's like, I don't get paid enough for this. But now we have. We have an old girl who's probably fucking murdered. And then for some reason, some person decided to capitalize on it over a decade later. What a psychopath. I'm excited.

Let's see where this goes. So I'm awful. I know. I'm not proud of myself. I was desperate. Homeless and on the run. Smoking a pack a day. Sleeping with men from bars for money.

Only to spend it at another bar and do it all over again. Same, honey. I was stuck and needed That's really funny To imagine you like going to bars And being like hey Tuts You're looking for a Oh no

I'm saying how you doing Are you doing? What's your name? The guy's like What? I do I'm like You ever see heaven

He's like what the hell you're talking about He's like let's go in the bathroom I'll open the gates right now for you So I'd say And I don't have the cutest little red skirt on pleasure whole outfit plover you ever seen that you just you just haven't shaved your hair still like the same way like nothing it's it's kind of poetic at first like the heavy seen heaven thing it's a kind of I say poetic it's it's a bit less on the nose but then

by the end of it I'm just like I'm going to suck your balls okay I'm just like dropping all euphemisms. Yeah, the guy just like beats the shit out of me. Damn, a simple no would have been fine. It's like you're like laying in the alley out bag. I'll see you around. You don't know

what you missed out on. Is that all you got? Is that what you got? Yeah, spitting out teeth. I can whistle better. Yeah. So this is you. The story's about you. actually. Sidney Sweeney's playing you in the movie.

Yeah. Imagine the viewer listener now. Imagine that the person that's doing this is just me. But I'm dressed up as Sidney's Sydney Sweeney. I have a blonde wig on and my tits are just as big as hers except I'm wearing a push-up brawner. So the recording's been going 17 minutes and

31 seconds. I was wondering how long it would take you to mention Sidney Sweeney's chest. I was proud of you for not doing it in the intro, but 17 minutes, 31. 17 minutes, 3, 1 seconds. And to be fair, I said that I am emulating her large breast with my own large breast. Okay. But you still mentioned them.

I just, I just knew it would come up eventually. That's fair. I was forcing all the blood to my face to not scream out it immediately. So I know, I know. I was proud of you for not bringing it up in the intro. That was a big step. I know. I'm very proud of you, Hunter.

I was stuck and needed a plan. Then I saw her face, Michaela Murray. It was on a bulletin board at some cheap motel I'd been passing through There were half a dozen girls on there Michaela stood out Her blonde hair is straight and pretty Her blue eyes as white as her smile

It stopped me dead in my tracks Because she looked like me Exactly like me I could have swapped in one of my old high school photos And nobody would have noticed Not that anyone was paying attention to this board Or these girls anymore Even the lady at the motel

who spotted me staring, said, They ain't coming home, dear, but I don't got the heart to take them down. I was curious, enough to turn on the phone I'd kept in my bag just in case. My father had long stopped paying for it, but the motel offered free Wi-Fi, and I'd used it to read more about Michaela.

I learned that she was only two years older than me, that the photo in the lobby wasn't just a one-off. She resembled me in every other photo. of which there were many, along with theories about what had happened to her. I couldn't have given any less of a shit about that rabbit hole. What got my interest were the earrings Michaela wore in these photos, or the necklace her mother wore at the press conference, or the watch on her dad's wrist.

So I dug deeper, it became clear that the Murray's had money, a fair good amount of it. After entering Jerry from the... Damn. Oh, I think I think I think Isaiah's caught himself

He caught himself a fly There he's a little bar fly as well He's like uh oh Someone's in my web I said knock knock jerry Who's there I said that And I'm like all right

Well that was like a trap card For Hunter Yeah It didn't feel like pot of green Yeah Hunter gets to draw Three additional insults From his deck

Yeah, you're gay That's just a pot of great deal I wish instead of drawing three cards You can just call your opponent gay That'd be funny I mean you can Has turned You from doing that

After entertaining Jerry from the bar And stealing his jacket I ripped a butt Like that I What? I ripped a butt late that night? What does that mean? I think it means, uh, I think it means, uh, I think it's a,

it might be euphemism for weed or I, uh, I made me think of a cigarette butt, but it is funny. If you entering, it is funny of you saying entering Jerry into Amelia, I ripped a butt. I play pot of greed. You're gay. There goes another one. Anytime I misspeak from here all now I can just hear the sound effect

Okay, let me just do this sentence again After entertaining Jerry from the bar And stealing his jacket I ripped a butt late that night And decided one of those girls was coming home And it was going to be me That's it I like the detail that like

Looking at the press conference photos and stuff she noticed how much money they had by the jewelry they wore and like the earrings she had in pictures and stuff like yeah i don't know why it made me think of uh gone girl of like yeah just the press conference thing just i i they're not related really but just the way that how i guess crafty the main character is in that movie and just like able to manipulate situations and stuff it's just cool and also yeah if you were sitting there you're like holy fuck i look like this person and it's been over 10 years i mean i think plausibly you could be like i feel like I could just fucking get away with this.

I don't know. I hate to sleep at night, but, you know, you do what you got to do. Yeah, yeah. It's like, well, you know, I mean, if she's already willing to, like, sell herself for money, then, like, lying to a family is probably the better alternative, right? Yeah, I mean, I would much rather, well, you know what? And this, this is not going to, honestly, uh, prostitution is nowhere near as evil as going to a family, lying to them,

giving them hope that they're, daughter is alive and well. But I'll tell you, I thought that's going to be a wild take, but that's, uh, that was actually fine. Continue. Yeah. Well, I was just, I just, uh, don't get me wrong. Probably if you were able to live with yourself for being a piece of shit, that's probably a

much better life to live for sure, but. Oh, yeah. That's what I mean that like she, 100% is like, this is going to be far easier. Yeah. Like I don't want to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get the fuck out of these motels and all my stuff. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. It's time to talk about something scary. Your health. I know I don't go to the doctor as much as I should. I have a diabetic foot that's rotting off, but I ignore that every day of my life. If I'm bleeding or feeling sick, I'll just lie in bed and sleep it away.

That's only because I don't want to deal with appointments and talking to insurance, ladies, you know, bleh. That's why I use Zock Dog. Zock is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality in network doctors. Choose the right one for your needs. And click to instantly book an appointment. We're talking about in-network appointments with more than 100,000 health care providers across every specialty.

From mental health to dental health, I care to skin care, and much, much more. And a nice thing about Zoc Doc is that you can filter for doctors that take your insurance, are nearby, and are highly rated. It's super easy to use, and you can find an appointment time that works for you with the right doctor that fits your needs. Plus, Zock-Dock appointments happen fast. Typically within just 24 to 72 hours of booking, you can even score same-day appointments. Oh. You don't want to make. minute, but you should probably see a doctor.

So stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoc.com slash creepcast to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. That's ZOC, doc, dot com slash creepcast. Zocdoc.com slash creepcast. Thank you, Zoc doc, for sponsoring this spooky episode. Uh-oh, let's get scared again.

The Murray still lived in the same house. Now are west of the small Michigan towns I've been nesting in, which worked perfectly, as I'd been toying with the idea of going back home to Chicago. It was a cheap way to justify the awful thing I was about to do, because in reality, there was no way I was actually going back home, even with Murray Fortune in my pockets. It's frightening what we'll do to ensure we're the good guys in our story. So dished out a small chunk of my remaining cash to hop on a bus, I felt no hesitation or fear.

Sure, it was risky, but I wasn't planning on being there for more than a night. I'd done enough research on Michaela to get in. find what I could take and get out. I was going to beg the family to give me one day before alerting anyone that I'd returned to let me rest in my own bed before being swarmed by whatever media nowhere Indiana had to offer.

After miles and miles of cornfields, I'd hoped to have plenty of time to escape that wave. When the bus arrived at the station, I couldn't help but notice how out of the place it looked, like it had been copied and pasted from somewhere else, standing out among the rundown outlets, shops, and restaurants. I spotted a seedy-looking bar next to an even more questionable-looking mechanic and thought about making a detour.

I needed a drink, but I couldn't. I had to make sure not to talk to anyone. Couldn't risk being mistaken for the town's longest missing girl. Not here. Not now. So when an older man approached me outside the station as I smoked one last cigarette, I'd panicked. He asked if I could bum him one, said that he really needed it.

So I did just to make him go away. he started rambling on about his car having broken down and the shithole and how he was stuck here until they fixed it he told me his name and then asked me mine told him it was abbey it's not he said i reminded him of his niece back in iowa something i pretended was interesting maybe i can pretend to be her too i thought when i finished smoking i wished him luck and set off for what i came here to do i shove the rest of my cigarettes and lighter deep into my backpack along with my real identity when I turned down Lincoln Avenue I was no longer me or Abby I was Michaela Murray you know I was just thinking about what we see we see missing report sometimes I'm sure that this happens sometimes but what if Michaela like what if there's something horrible at the

house that she's that she escaped from that uh that she was just like I'm just going to leave my life so my family can't find me and that's you know they're they're still looking for you know what I mean? It's almost like if you had something like you were living in some kind of hell and then the person left and it was like actually a good thing. Just like a weird twist. I don't know. My mind was thinking about that where when anytime you go to the Midwest, it's always just kind of this weird. It's like a very like desolate feeling. I don't know. I kind of suspect that might be where the story's going. Um, maybe it's like. Yeah, yeah. I kind of get the vibe. It's like, um, why? Because the story's not just going to be. I stole stuff.

and I left. There's going to be something that happens. So that might be where it goes. Also, our fake Michaela Murray also saying, like, I wonder if I could be her, too, has immediately made her, made me not like this person. Like, I'm like, I fucking hate this person so much. Well, she, she's desperate for money and she's willing to do whatever it takes. There's desperation, but then there's also, uh, I don't know. Yeah, she's a, she's a snake for sure.

I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, hold on. Let me piss really quick. Uh, whip your cock out and pisses on the keyboard. I said I didn't hear my funny bit about whipping his dick out and pissing on his keyboard and I said it to no laughs and I kind of looked like a jackass how foolish I am

yeah it was so clever too it's like the absurdity of pissing on your own keyboard I'll do better I'll do better it'd be kind of funny at the guy who's like hey I buy him a cigarette sure he's like yeah I just plan on ripping butt and I'm just like if the author

if Joe just kept putting that in the story it's like what the fuck does that even mean I assume he's like ripped a butt out of the case like pulled a you know cigarette butt but I don't think I've ever heard that phrase I've never heard I'm ripping a butt I've heard ripping a sick I've heard of people saying ripping a cigarette but I don't

I just have not heard ripping a butt Yeah, I rip butt Yeah, don't mind me Yeah Just ribbon butt out here She's gonna go back I would think that would mean farting They're gonna have a nice

They're gonna have a nice dinner tonight And the dad's gonna be like Michaela would you like to rip butt Michaela would you like us to rip butt together? Sure I didn't know we did that as a family The Murray's lived a pretty secluded life Their home set alone in the middle

of endless plains, their neighbors barely dots in the distance. I'm starting to understand why Michaela might have run away, although the house itself is beautiful with many protruding sections and gables, a wraparound porch, and a large two-door garage. There is even an in-ground swimming pull-out back, now covered and topped with autumn leaves, and a cute little gazebo further off in the field, draped in numerous flags and dream catchers, with flower pots lining the railings. It certainly didn't look like the kind of plane. tragedy had struck. I stepped quietly up the stairs and was almost spooked by my own reflection in the glass of their front door. Nerves were definitely setting in now. I rang the bell and felt

my stomach sink. What if my dirty blonde hair wasn't light enough or if Michaela had had some obvious birth mark I'd overlooked? I was sweating underneath my coat, unable to recall the name of the man I'd taken it from. When the door opened, my heart stopped. Linda Murray was standing there in her casual weekend where, pleasantly confused. Hello? She greeted me. Then her face went white

in an instant, like her soul had left her body. She shrieked and clasped her hands to her mouth, bursting into tearful exclamations. Oh my God! Oh my God! She kept repeating. She suddenly lunged forward and squeezed me tighter than I would have liked. Her arms attempting to wrap all the way around my backpack.

I stood there awkwardly, bracing all of her weight on to mine as she surely was about to collapse the dog at her legs was barking madly and as lindus tears dropped onto my back all i could think about was how pissed off i'd be had i gotten caught because the dog didn't recognize my set okay i will say you i i guess i wasn't processing how evil this is it's horrible it's horrible the mother cried and she's like oh the stupid dog like it's like super villain levels of bad because in my head I'm like oh she's going to steal money like that's bad but I wasn't thinking about the trauma she's putting his family through a goddamn lot lizard is infiltrating a family's home dude and she's like horrible poochie here doesn't you know

he better not give the family any tips it's like it's a dog idiot yeah she's like she's like here redeemable yeah yeah what is it linda Michaela's dad called from somewhere inside he soon appeared in the doorway his button up tucked into his jeans and when he saw my cold pale face poking over Linda's shoulder he stumbled back what is this he gasped his eyes went wide and his bushy gray mustache twitched the dog was still barking reminded me that I was in fact a stranger in this house I smiled and said I'm home daddy oh man she's evil I know she is awful uh I'm gross that accent you actually just did was a pretty good Sydney Sweeney, I think.

I'm trying to, I think maybe with longer stuff, it will be good. And if I don't have to continuously say, Daddy, that will be nice. Thank you. Yeah. I think, I hope that she keeps saying that, because that'll be great. There you go. I was trying to make myself cry. And if Linda had squeezed me any harder, I just might have.

She held on to my sleeve as we let go, so afraid her daughter would run off again. Paul Murray was still staring at me in disbelief when something shifted in his face and he stepped forward come here baby girl linda passed me off like a toy she didn't want to share paul pulled me into his arms and held even tighter than she had rocks back and forth for a moment i can't believe it's you linda rushed for the door and yelled inside calling for her son james come inside baby paul beamed as he released me keeping a hand on my back and backing him inward it's called come come he moved into the foyer where paul asked to take my coat which i happily handed him. Now that I was inside, I could

practically smell the bar on it. Your bag, sweetie. I shook my head and said, No, that's okay. You made a face and I worried it was suspicious. And then worried more that my worrying was the only thing suspicious. I had to settle down.

I nearly jumped when Paul turned the locks and hit a button on the alarm system. Jesus. Chimed louder than I would have expected. See, that's what I'm saying, dude. I'm saying there's... I think you're right. The seeds are getting planted.

to do. They're just like, baby girl, you ain't going to run away so easily this time. Yeah, yeah. You get that vibe. And it's not, to clarify for the audience, it's not a bear trap moment. It's not. No, 100%. Well, 100%. First of all, it is. 100%. No, it's not. No, no, no.

It is not because that's what the description said on the article. We looked at the beginning and said she breaks into someone's house, only to regret it. So we knew that. We knew that. We knew that. What is the home noise you're making? What is that? That's the bear getting hit. Is that the noise of bear makes me?

It's like it's snapped by a giant metal trap. Do you think a bear's like a cow? Have you caught a bear? Because I have many times. My bear trap goes off quite a bit. You shoot bears a lot. What kind of bears are there in Kansas City, Missouri? Grizzly.

Black bears. Both of them. It's the only place. crossover that's why they call missouri the crossover state it's because there's both kinds of bears there you just kill all of them it's a ride of passage for bears to walk through the St. Louis arch

and they have to do it downtown St. Louis exactly do bears have rights of passage is that a thing bears do? That's one of them. That's one of them. What's another one?

eating fish mostly and sleeping so it's not really really the St. Louis Arch is kind of the most flavorful one all the other ones are where you got to get the straight to be a bear to like earn your bear rides you have to eat fish sleep pass through the St. Louis Arch yeah well some bears also they

getting caught in Hunter's bear trap is also right of passage yeah so your so your bear trap isn't just a mental thing Also, to be fair, we don't, we don't even know yet. We don't know yet if the bear trap actually. I think you're, I think it's hit. Okay, first off, finish what you said. Finish what you said, I think you're right is what you're going to say. That's what you're going to say.

You backed up and you cut me off and you cut me off. No, you cut me off. I didn't back out of it. You cut me off. So I'm not going to say, I'm not going to fish what I'm saying. Pot of agree. So I'm saying if I had a bear trap, I would coincidentally in this occasion, set mine where yours is. Like, that was a good lay.

To get out of here. As opposed to your 17 other bear traps that are off in the brush somewhere, aren't even turned on, aren't even activated. They're just shut up and thrown into the weeds. This was a good placement in this occasion. Don't be afraid of the screams in the night. They are just the bears passing through. Have you ever seen Top Gear? Yeah, well, I mean, like, not all of it, but I've seen episodes.

Have you seen the clip where Jeremy, yeah, Jeremy sets up, uh, claymores for alligators around their camp? I haven't seen that. My wife likes a Clark's farm or whatever. Yeah, that show too. Anyways, we just fucking read the story. Anyway, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the story, the story. And chime louder than I would have expected. I wondered if all this had always existed or if it was a result.

of their daughter having slipped out one night, never to be seen again. One of her coats still hung on a hook by the door, untouched after all these years. Now mine hung next to it. Well, Danny's, or whatever. As we moved even further inside, I was blown away by how nice this place was, so much so that I'd slipped and let it show. Nothing in this house was supposed to be surprising to me. It was hard not to be impressed by the high ceilings of bookshelves

or the many sofas beside a grand marble fireplace or the fact that it was just the room that branched off to all the other rooms when they probably hardly ever used as I continued to survey my surroundings a figure high above caught my eye it was James looked down over the railing and looked more flabbergasted

than anyone to have seen me at 17 he was now the same age his sister was when she banished only much taller but with the same baby face look James look who it is it's sissy come give her a hug I wanted to puke

man she is awful I think now she's like I think she's feeling nervous now I think that it's I think she's yeah maybe I think they're trying to humanize her a bit I think even Joe's just like Jesus Christ this chick sucks

all right now she wants to puke all right there we go James didn't move right away and when he did, it was this slow, cautious crawl. I figured, surely, of all people, I'd have been safest around James. After all, he'd hardly ever known his sister. Yet the baby blue eyes behind his jet-black hair were piercing into mine, searching for the girl he so dearly missed.

I couldn't think of what to say to him. He was distracted by the feel of the cigarettes in my bag. I needed one. Aye. Zollie mustered, stopping at the foot of the stairs. Hey, Goober! I had no idea if that was something

Michaela ever called. Yeah, she's just like dynamite. Just making up pet names on the fly. Okay, where's the food? Where's dinner at? Mommasita,

old pops. To be fair, the mom and dads are thrown around pet names a lot, baby, sissy, all that kind of shit. So he's like,

Goober? Yeah. Hey, Guber. That's funny. That's fine to imagine that like your sister. runs away for like, what's it been

six years, seven years? No, like 12, 12 years. Like 12 years, yeah. So now you're 30 and you're like, Goober? Yeah, well, to be fair, that could be some nice millennial cringe type of Hey, goober. Hey, goober.

I had no idea if this was something McHale ever called him, but neither had anyone else. James and I then did something resembling a hug and let go. Linda looked on, face red, still overcome with emotion. Paul was smiling at us. Let's go sit, yeah.

You look exhausted. He wasn't wrong. I couldn't wait to sit down. There probably wasn't a piece of furniture in this place less comfortable than the mattress I'd been living on for the last decade. I held in my amazement as we marched from room to room, deeper and deeper into the house. Lidda was still exhaling, this stuttered, painful sob,

kept reaching to touch me in any way. Hand on the back or a light brush of the hair. It was annoying. But then again, I never learned how to have a mother. When I shrugged only the off, she looked heartbroken. What did you shrug her off? It was at that moment that I finally began to feel like

the asshole I knew I was. Okay, there you go. There's your... There it is. There's a little bit of, like, a human reaching out from deep down there. After passing through the kitchen down another hall, we stopped in their second, larger living room. It was very open, the ceiling reaching all the way up to the third story, with photos lined as high

as a ladder could reach. I followed Michaela's progression of school photos remarked how eerily similar they were to mine and how they were one photo short. There was an upper level behind us where a grand piano set in one corner and a bar in the other separated by yet another fireplace. I imagined how nice a Christmas tree must have looked in here, even during the day with the natural light coming in through the sliding glass doors to the back porch. Each Murray dropped onto a separate couch on the lower level. Paul gestured for me to set next to Linda, who, of course, was eager to be next to me. James was slouched directly across, staring down to the ground.

The rest of us were darting our eyes, waiting for someone to begin. Let me just start by saying that we're not mad. Linda was nodding feverishly in agreement. Paul went on. We just want to know what happened. Something inside my gut rung. If my actual dad had showed even an ounce of this concern, I might not have run away myself

Instead he took his brother's side My abuser I dropped my head I needed to get out of here I felt trapped and I didn't mean to hurt anyone I just didn't know what else to do I'm really sorry

Certainly wasn't Oscar worthy But I wasn't playing the long con I only needed to be passable long enough For me to swipe several of the items We'd passed along the journey to this room Paul nodded slowly Gazing off somewhere over my shoulder Okay

yeah what kind of an answer is I just needed some air that's why I was gone for 12 years I just needed to get out of here but don't worry dad it was your fault that's why I felt like I needed to leave you're just a terrible person

it's just awful and I hated being around I hated being your little sissy little daughter I preferred to start my entire life over at 18 it was somehow worse than anything else he could have said for all I knew Michaela had had a great life

here with a loving family. Now I was making them feel responsible. Each of them was staring off somewhere, letting my story sink into their minds. I wanted to sink into the couch. Where did you go, Michaela? Linda suddenly wondered. Paul leaned forward. No, Linda, it's okay. She's not a little girl anymore. That's her business. Listen, baby girl. We don't have to talk about if you don't want. All that matters now is that you're home and you're safe. Funny enough, by the way, audience, that's just what Hunter sounds like he's not recording videos baby girl that's exactly what it sounds like it's it's his midwest accent coming out like when we're like recording he's like talking in his normal like you know kind of youtube speak just general american accent and then the moment we get off he's

like all right i say are we looking to go to race and hams waffle house also i will say it's kind of fucked up that every time i read baby girl i hear the when you say it you say baby girl a lot I say baby girl a lot Yeah I do say baby girl a lot Don't I? You do that and gamer I do

Does that bother you That I say gamer a lot I mean not really It's just that's just We're talking about words I do that a lot Anytime I like start talking out I'm like hey gamer

What's up I got that My friend Operator Drewski Who's a YouTuber Says gamer all the time And I started taking that from him Because he'll always call me

Gamer so I started calling everyone else came or the baby girl i think was my own invention i always say sounds good baby girl that's very cute that when you hear baby girl you think of me that's so cute the fan cams are gonna love that that that's awesome have you seen that i love when a 30 year old man calls me baby girl that's that's a great i'm 25 all right sure let's round up we can round up i say well if i round it up for you, it'd be like 78 for one. We don't have to. We're splitting hairs at this point, but it doesn't matter. Anytime someone, anytime

me or you have a moment on the podcast where we say something slightly, uh, flirty or romantic, all of the, so someone will go post it on Reddit or TikTok and all the comments will say, do they know it's legal? Like, do they know they don't have to hide it?

Like, that's what, that's what they're going to say to this clip that, oh, so. Well, I'm grossed out by it, but that's just me. That's good. Whatever you say. baby girl. He reached for my hands and held on gently. It was strangely comforting. For the first time of my life, I'd felt cared for and safe. In my short time there, I'd completely flipped my thinking. What if Michaela was just another stupid teenager rebelling against her parents who were only trying to protect her? What if she'd sneaked out to celebrate her 18th birthday with her college boyfriend

at some Pratt party? What if he slipped something into her drink, or if she got too experimental? what if someone offered her something she never tried before and she took it to be cool show off in front of her college boyfriends college friends i spent my whole life wishing i had hers what if she just left it you know what i have an idea paul said with a clap linda why don't you go out and get stuff for pork sandwiches and i'll cook up some tear tauts yeah he was looking at me with raised eyebrows like i was supposed to know what he was talking about so i pretended to This must have been some sort of Murray tradition or Michaela's favorite meal. That sounds great.

I tried to smile at James, but it was clear he wasn't ready to forgive his sister for abandoning him. Linda hopped up. Michaela, sweetie, do you want to come with me? I hated how often she was saying her name and how she spoke to me like I was five. Before I got a chance to respond, Paul chimed in. Hun, let her breathe. Run to the store and I'll get things started here. And you?

He said to me. Go rest up. It's going to be crazy here by tomorrow. I just want to have one night as a family first. I cannot have agreed more. Everything was going exactly as I had planned. Maybe better. There's a really shiny, diamond studded vase across the room calling my name,

right next to an autographed jersey of some football player I never heard of. It's going to walk out with one while wearing the other. Going up to your room. We'll come get you when it's ready. Linda pulled me in for another hug. and kissed me on the side of the head. She looked over at James and saw that he was looking rather lifeless.

She got his attention and made a tipping motion toward her mouth to which James replied. I tucked them already. Finally glanced my way, but it wasn't quite the look I wanted to see. There's more than just betrayal in his eyes. Yeah, he's probably saying, why the fuck did you come back to this hell, dude? G.G.

I bet you're right. Way to go. Bear trap. It's like, why would you come back? No, that wasn't. You just said, The thing... Bear trap.

That's not what a bear sounds like when it gets hit in a bear trap. Okay. Whatever. Everyone broke at once and dispersed. Paul heading for the kitchen and Linda making her way out. I grabbed my backpack and followed a sluggish James up the stairs, feeling good about how things were going so far. Until it occurred to me that I'd had no idea which room was Michaela's.

Wasn't something she'd ever have forgotten. not even after 12 years. James and I ran to the corner and were faced with a long, narrow hallway with several doors. I feared I was going to have to guess the right one, when James threw me a lifeline. Hey. He began. He stopped in front of his door and turned to me. You ought to hang out, watch a movie or something?

Even this had come out tense, like he was being forced to ask. Then I remember that this had been the last thing he and Michaela had done together. Yeah, sure. I don't think I'm ready to see my room yet anyway. James nodded and the nod of my stomach and twisted When we entered his room I was surprised by how neat it was So much so that it felt wrong laying my dirty bag down James baggy jeans messy hair gave me a totally different vibe

But his bed was made the walls were bare And the desk in the corner looked like it had hardly been used The one window in the room had a perfect view of the setting sun beyond the fields Shadow cast a line between the pool below and the gazebo That was just barely visible from this vantage point I heard a lock click we need to go now okay all right

this is no it's not this is what stop making the bear noise this is what the article said and we clicked on the story so we had for warning you what I will give you a bear

travel about I'll give you a single bear paw is the reason James was so upset is that he was like why did you come back you're correct okay He let his neutral expression drop into one of panic.

I watched confusion as he rushed over to his closet and threw on a sweater, cursing under his breath as he did so. When he looked up at me again, it was like he'd forgotten I was there. What are you talking about? James shook his head. He knows. He knew the whole time. My brain was automatically rattling off ways to salvage this, but there was no point. I was caught, and something other than my identity was bothering him.

That made me nervous. What gave it away? He looked at me like I was crazy. Do you have any idea what's going on here? He killed her. He buried her. Oh. Whoa.

Yo. Okay. That's really cool. Okay. So think about it this way. They murdered their daughter. Or he murdered the daughter and then buried her. And then like to try to pass it off, they're like, oh, our daughter's gone missing.

know can anyone find her daughter and then a girl shows up years later pretending to be and they immediately know but go along with the facade to get her inside that's so cool yeah yo yeah yeah i'm wondering there everyone in the room knows that she's a fake but she's tried to pass it off you'd have to assume the mom knows too right uh yes almost certainly yeah but that's a good twist of this is fun my heart stopped what that wasn't at any of the theories I'd read online. Like everyone else, I'd been so sure it was the boyfriend Tom. It was obvious, but the look of fear washing over James' face was hitting me as well.

How do you know that? Took me by the arm and dragged me to the window. He spat with an outward finger against a glass. Far beyond the covered pool set the gazebo, lifeless and weatherborne, with noticeable chips in its white paint. Only its right side was visible from behind the rest of the house. I can see the flag is encircling its beams, waving calmly above a row of gardening in supplies. James was breathing

heavily as he stared out at it. His eyes fixed, even as he spoke. He built it right after she disappeared. And we're not allowed to use it. Calls it his garden. I climbed it once when I was ten and he beat the shit out of me. But I've seen him out there at night a couple times.

Spraying the plants, fixing the dirt, and look. He hurried to his dresser and rummaged through before pulling something out and jamming it into my gut and reached down. It was a dirty purple bracelet all stretchy and rubber. I had Michaela's name on it. I played with it in my hand. Remy dug that up last year, trapped it right at my feet, and I remember it.

I remember her wearing it that night. I stared at it and let it slide down onto my wrist, trying to find an encounter to his theory. You saw her drive off? I reminded him. I saw her car drive off. There's a voice in the back of my mind telling me he was delusional, but the voice that believed him was louder and much more afraid. I watched mouth agape as he struggled to tie his shoes.

He kept messing up and starting over, spitting more curses under his breath. My thoughts were swirling. James, why haven't you called the police? Because I can't. It was louder than he'd intended. He stood up and recollected himself. My dad is friends with the sheriff. If a cop pulls up, he'll kill us.

If I run, he'll kill my mom. I don't even think she'd believe me. Okay, so the mom doesn't know. Yeah, that's what I was wondering. probably thinks that she's actually disappeared. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

I put my hands up to quiet him, but the fearful cry he'd been holding in had burst out. He covered his mouth to push it back in, along with the snot and tears that were oozing out of him. He rushed over to his bedside drawer and picked up a bottle of pills, swiftly popping a few into his mouth. My chest was getting tighter. Why can't we just play along a little longer?

I'll leave tonight. If we go downstairs, we're dead. We were dead the second you got here. The police, the news, they'll all be here tomorrow, whether you're here or not. They could find her. I could tell them, but my dad might snap like he did on Michaela. You don't understand.

He'd rather die than get caught. And he'd take us with him. I know it. So we need to go at the window. Now, we'll just run. At that point, it no longer mattered to me if James was right or if he was out of his mind. I wanted to get out of there. I looked out the window again.

It was starting to get dark. I would have preferred a more casual escape over jumping off the roof. But if what he was saying was true, then we had no choice. I was craving a cigarette more than ever. and that alone was almost enough to get me on that roof. We could take a bus. It's how I got here. It's only a couple miles that way.

I know where it is. We should just stay off the roads. We can use the fields for cover. And then once we... That was the knock at the door. James? It was Paul. I tried turning the handle.

Everything all right in there? Without hesitation, James ran for the window and opened it. I could hear the faint chime of the alarm from somewhere out in the hall. Paul's jiggling of the locked door grew more aggressive. Now what the hell's going on in there? Open the door. When he started pounding on it, I threw on my bag and joined James, who was already halfway out the window. Together, we scurried on the roof, hopped onto the back porch, and dropped down

onto the rather large portico above the back door. I'd almost fallen down the side, but James held me up. A loud crash came booming from back up in his room. I looked up. Don't stop! James yelled. He jumped first onto the lawn, and I followed. Both of my feet and knees took the impact hard, the ground underneath the autumn foliage deceptively solid. James held me up and we took off running. Against his advice, I looked back and saw Paul peeking out James window. He shouted to us and then disappeared. James had already separated himself a good distance from me. I kept pushing my legs as he called back for me to do so, my backpack bouncing off my ass with each stride. There was a road in the distance, the same road I drudged along to get here.

I could see where it met the orange and purple sky. It felt like, it was never getting any closer. Gunshot rang loud, ripping across the planes. Paul was now standing by the back door aiming a rifle in our direction. His crimes chasing us behind the gunpowder. My word! Another bang in my legs buckled.

When I reached the gazebo, I hid behind it to catch my breath. There was a sharp, debilitating pain in my side. I held myself up one of those railings and thought I could feel my heartbeat vibrating against the wood. I swore if I'd survive this, I would quit smoking. The peach around the corner and saw Paul hurry into the garage. James calling out for me by the road.

But as I stood there, frozen against the gazebo, flags caressing my shoulder, I thought about the girl buried underneath. What if James was right? What if nobody ever found Michaela's remains? What if we didn't make it out of there? Nobody ever knew. What are you talking about?

What is James is right? James is right. No, no, no. About like, if we don't leave now, we're dead. What if James is right about? no one knows about this what's what i mean i'm like of course he is and paul is shooting it like i wouldn't even question that anymore i'd be like you need to get the fuck out of that's fair that's fair that's fair i guess i guess she said like what if james is right that we're going to die and no one will ever

know yeah well he's right he's right you're gonna die no one's ever going to know you know i think it's interesting which you know there's still more story obviously to go but i like kind of how quickly the story ripped off the bandaid because at first i thought it was going to be okay well now I'm in a sticky situation where I have to go along with this plan and just like hope the dad you know or like maybe maybe that's like the midpoint reveal of uh you know him being like my sister died or he killed her whatever and it's just like oh this whole time you know like more of a build but it's just kind of like you know it's like almost like a fucking greyhound race the things are just like dead sprinting now I thought for a while it would be like the whole liar revealed set up uh but it's like nope nope nope that's not what we're doing here we're gonna pull's already shooting a gun past. and shit. It's like, okay, well, here we are. What if we didn't make it out of there? Nobody ever knew.

I thought of my own story, unheard and not believed. When I told my dad what my uncle had done all those years, he hit me. Couldn't let this story stay buried too. Took out my lighter and lit a flag and then another. Fireburned slowly,

picking up quick as it caught onto more flags and dream catchers, then down to the plants below. stumbled back and watched the flame spread and dance along the darkening sky. I hoped at the very, least it would be a distraction more so enough to attract law enforcement i could hear linda shrill voice crying out at the side of it she rushed around the side of the house with groceries in her hands

calling out for her husband who had just spent off in his truck he was coming i made one last dash for james who was impatiently waving me on took my arm and led me across the road his father would soon be turning on to he slipped into the cornfield and kept going until we heard the war of an engine pass by. It froze until there's nothing but the wind. The pain of my side still nagging me. As dark as the sky had rapidly grown, it was even darker in that field. The corn towering over us, clinging to life as much as we were. Paul's headlights were shining through from not much farther ahead. He waited in terror for a crunch or a shout or ideally for the truck to zoom off. Another gunshot rang high into the air. I'd gasped and had to cover my mouth to quiet my breathing.

What are you doing with my son? call called in a sing-songy fashion, we could hear him walking about over the sound of his engine purring. Where the fuck are you? His footsteps wandered around, farther, closer than farther again, separated only by the sound of swishing corn as he searched randomly along the outer edge. There's a pause, followed by a door slamming shut. Paul struck whirled and sped back down the road. I exiled as James tugged on my arm and instructed to keep going. He pushed through more corn and followed along the road as best as we could. I never would have imagined being in the situation

when I walked down it earlier that day now I was wishing I never had Sirens suddenly wailed nearby and eventually rushed past us the glow of the flames grow noticeably brighter in the distance, smoke visible high above the fields Holy shit, come on, we need to keep moving

Are you okay? Yeah I wasn't we shuffled farther through the corn shoving it aside more aggressively as we went I could hardly see more than a few feet in front of me after a while we could hear a steady buzz of passing vehicles indicating that we'd reach the city but also the end of the cornfields we stepped out onto a road and into the glow of street lights i felt like i could breathe again for just a moment you ready we got to move quick but we got to blend in

i'd realized in that moment how truly young james was and how insane i was for having put my life in his hands i was 28 but felt just like the same little girl i was all those years ago hoping her father would protector. Only hoped James was better at it. We dashed across an empty street and then slipped into the downtown area. I kept my head down. Most of the businesses on the strip were closed for the night, but the bar I'd seen earlier was now glowing in its neon signs, which did a good job, masking its otherwise unapproachable facade. There were locals standing outside having to smoke, drunkenly arguing about nothing. James and I crossed the street. When we reached the bus station, I was relieved to see the lights were still on. This relief would not last. Incoming only, folks. You'll have to wait until

morning. Sorry. I was already making my way for the exit. James caught up with me. What are you doing? I'm getting the fuck out of here. What am I supposed to do? He followed alongside me, being more conspicuous than I would have liked. I stopped and leaned in close. I don't fucking care. Come with me or don't. I'm leaving. I was on the verge of crying, the lump of my throat growing larger, James stood there to complete loss. I looked at him and saw the five-year-old boy who woke up in the night all alone, the street lights above

shining in his eyes like the headlights he'd watched disappear. I'm sorry. I just want to go home. I couldn't believe I had said it and meant it. Then I realized James couldn't go home. My fire failed. He was going to be on his own, on the run, and homeless at 17. Just like I was.

They're going to find Michaela. Then you'll be safe. He was trembling. What if they don't? I had no answer. Not one he would have liked anyway. Even if he made a call to the police that very moment, I could already see Paul going home and putting the rifle to Linda's head before putting it in his mouth. I wondered if he already had.

I think James did too. He leaned into me and started to cry. He was a whole foot taller than me and bony, but I held on to him. Not like I had with Paul or Linda, but with earnest. Excuse me! A voice suddenly called out to us. I was about to run when I saw a familiar face. The old man I'd smoked with earlier

was approaching us from the mechanic slot next to us. His face twisted when he recognized me back. Oh, it's you, Abby, right? Everything all right over here? James and I looked at each other but said nothing. An idea crossed my mind. Actually, no, sir. We're stuck here too.

The man whose name I'd forgotten, grinned. Huh. Well, cars fixed. I went to head out if you guys need a little. lift. Where you added? Anywhere? Smile faded. Right. Okay, sure. That's fine. I'm going to be driving West down 80 for a while if that works for y'all. Yes, that's perfect. James and I followed the man back to the lot and hopped into his old station wagon. I took the front. I thank the old man repeatedly, even offered him gas money, but he refused it. He said he was happy to help.

He introduced himself to a catatonic James in back, reminding me his name was Frank. eyes kept darting between Franks and the rearview mirror he was periodically checking James was huffing short panicked breaths I wondered if he needed his meds We drove in silence for a while You couldn't see anything beyond the headlights path just a deep empty void The old man tried to spark up conversation but neither James nor I were up for it He asked if we wanted the radio on or off

If we were hungry if we were cold hot Each time I told him we were fine Took the hand and we drove for hours down the same stretch of highway having barely spoken until James had fallen asleep. I know it ain't my business, young lady. Very sure you and your friend are okay? Frank kept his voice just above the hum of the radio. I assured him once more we were fine,

and even though my mind was still back on Lincoln Avenue, wondering what had been happening that very moment at the Murray household, if the flames revealed the truth below, or if they were extinguished before they got the chance. I played an imagine scene in my mind over and over. The fire trucks, the inspection of the damage, Paul watching eagerly nearby, ready to run. Discovery of bones, the call to the sheriff,

the arrest of the man he'd known and tried to help all those years ago or whom he might now have to hunt down. Well, at least tell me your real name. Frank asked, bringing me back to reality. He had so clearly been withholding the truth from this poor man. All he wanted was just a small piece of it, maybe so he could justify the crazy thing he had done that day. Looked down at my fidgeting hands and noticed the purple bracelet

still tight on my wrist. the pink lettering of Michaela's name, flashing, with every passing streetlight. I'd forgotten that I was still wearing it. I thought about how badly I wanted to give her the ending she deserved, the one she'd won for herself, an escape, freedom. How easy it would have been to do it to say her name. It's Rachel. I uttered instead. Frank smiled at me.

Well, Rachel, it's nice to finally meet you. I'll let him drive us another hour. It was almost midnight. When I woke James to get out, he jumped. I had Frank drop us off at a cheap bed and breakfast, something I'd grown quite accustomed to over the years. I tried once more to pay him, but he wound up giving me money instead.

It wasn't much, but the gesture alone was beyond kind. In spite of everything I'd been through that day, and all that came before it, it wasn't any less meaningful company across someone as genuinely good as that man. I felt bad that I lied to him about my name again. That's a fun little way to end that little section of the story. It's like, we still don't know her.

This story has, I'm like, the emotion worked, you know, like the, like her, like she, she came from a troubled background and now she kind of sees James in the same position she was. So she feels like this kind of like duty to help him in spite of herself and stuff like that. Like even if it's kind of a kind of played out thing of like the person who went through trouble wanting to help someone else through the trouble, I like it. Well, it's not only, uh, it's not only James, but I mean, it's stumbling. across a different version of her own life of a man who was abusing this girl or had to have been abusing, but basically murdered his daughter the same way that like her father neglected her. It's just like a different outcome. It's like reliving that basically that past horrible experience and now kind of given the opportunity to write the wrongs of this girl

and give her a proper send off, you know, right now. And I think that's where the direction's going ahead is her being like fuck this they deserve like she deserves to have like a that people deserve to know you know like to not have to you don't have to live in that lie of like oh she's missing because that's the whole thing too is that with her own thing of with her uncle doing the said things as well that's something that no one ever believed or no one cared to believe yeah so now it's time to reveal that I think that's going to be the redemption arc maybe maybe I can't write what happened to me but maybe I can write like the narrative around this girl yeah yeah James and I shared a bed

sleeping head to toe beside a rattling air conditioner I wouldn't have slept anyway I was plenty happy with the four hours I got I woke early the following morning I stepped outside for his cigarette and enjoyed every moment of it

I'd quit another day James was sitting up in bed by the time I went back inside his hair an awful mess his tired eyes red he'd asked me what our plan was he was impatient and I understood I told him that we should eat breakfast

first and figure it out from there. It had almost been an entire day since I'd last Eden. When we entered the dining area, we saw that there was only a few other guests inside. I still wanted a table and back, but James insisted we sat by the bar where a TV was playing the news. I gave it. He's worried about his mother, and I couldn't blame him for that. I'd have been worried about mine, too, if she were still alive. It's really hoping this aspect of our lives remain different. James was glued to the TV, even as the waitress came and took our order. You're going to drive yourself crazy told him as she walked away shook his head at me and kept his eyes fixed we sat in silence as we

waited for our food potentially news your coat you left your coat at my house i laughed to which james blinked it's not my coat whose is it some guy named scott i think maybe jordan it wasn't long before the waitress arrived with our meals we ordered the same thing only my eggs were scrambled there was something about the smell of bacon and home prize that brought comfort strong enough to make you forget that you were on the run I moaned at the first bite probably could have eaten both plates I even thought you didn't have to moaned

I even thought I saw a moment of calm and James's face as he ate TV caught our attention thank you John authorities say they responded early last night to a fire in one very familiar Indiana home the home of Michaela Murray James nearly fell out of a seat dropped my fork home fry fell on the floor

missing since 2008 Michaela's disappearance is one that rocked the small town of Millersburg Indiana but left many hopeful that she was still out there, listening. But when authorities found her car abandoned near Elkhart River just miles from her home, friends and family began to fear the worst. Michaela was gone. Her whereabouts never discovered, until now.

I wanted to turn back to James, but was afraid of the look on his face. When authorities cleared the scene last night at 1108 Lincoln Avenue, they made a shocking discovery that would answer a decade-long mystery, but spark a new one. It cut to the sheriff's press conference. he spoke matter-of-factly while cameras clicked all around him the fire department responded to a 911 call around 5 p.m. last night there was a gazebo on fire in the yard of the murray residents and when we assessed the damage we discovered a bunker hidden underneath

upon further inspection of the bunker we found the body of a young woman and child we indeed confirmed the woman to be Michaela murray but have no further information at this time james quilled I'm that is insane that that actually worked. Yeah. Yeah, I'll be honest. I'm like,

I did not think that would happen. Yeah. I was like, wait, hold on. A young woman and child? No, there's a child's body down there too.

There's two bodies, but one of them, they said they can't confirm is Michaela. So one of them's definitely Michaela, but there's also a child down there. Well, it could be.

It almost sounds like it's the original wife and daughter maybe. Oh, that's a good point. Okay. So, well, maybe,

but anyway. Oh, God. or it's Michaela and it doesn't i'm not gonna go ahead yeah i know what you were thinking i know where your brain because my brain also put that together but i'm like i'm not gonna entertain that thought out loud yeah i ignored him my face sunken waitresses and patrons were noticing our panic state something wasn't right she'd been buried under there for so long there shouldn't have been much to find and a child it is believed that michela had been held

captive inside the bunker since that fateful day 12 years ago. Until last night when tragically both she and the child suffered fatal smoke and oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Whoa! Oh, no! Oh, God! McHale got, Rachel!

She was in the bunker! Oh, no! Oh, Jesus! It is believed that Michaela had been held captive inside the bunker since that faithful day 12 years ago. Until last night when tragically Both she and the child suffered fatal smoke inhalation Inhalation resulting from the fire Authorities have yet to confirm the identity of the child

Or who started the fire Michaela's mother Linda is being questioned by police While federal officials search for father Paul and brother James Both of whom are now missing If you have any information on their whereabouts Please call this number and stay tuned for more on this story My God Bro talk about it the person

It didn't. Yo. Oh, no. Oh, the humanity. She was alive until last night. Wait, what? Wait, what? Oh, my God. Keep reading. I couldn't feel my body. I turned around and stared down at my shaking hands on the table. The world caving in on me. What happened? James cried. His breathing was heavy. His eyes bulging out of their sockets, staring at me bewildered. I finally looked at him I killed Michaela and that's it she set the fire and killed her

and that's the story that's where it is that's the whole thing what a depressing ending oh my you find out god she's alive

this girl who the whole the whole ethos has been like I'm gonna make her truth known I'm gonna make her story known I'm gonna do for her what no one did for me And then it turns out.

And then she fucking killed her. She killed her. She was alive at the basement. So the implication is that the baby was like an incest baby. Yeah. That's the idea. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, dude. To add to a whole extra layer. Yeah. Sorry. To add literal insult to injury. Like, that's like unfucking real. Also, I'm guessing that there's, there's no, there's, there's no, there's, there's, no shot that the mom

does not know about this, right? I mean, maybe she does, maybe she doesn't know that her daughter is in a bunker outside, you know? So the dad is buying, the dad is buying baby clothes secretly and taking them babies are us bags out to the fucking

was having like toys and babies are us bag. This was sort of, this was certainly like a fallout bunker set up. I don't think, I think it's going to be a, he's like down there. that's so it's God

God what a bummer ending well she wasn't alive but we killed her I don't know what the story is saying the story just proves it says your dad's going to like assault you I don't I don't even know what the fuck I'm trying to get out of this she had more in common with Michaela than she thought oh god yeah well

but all well her life was like her choice run away was apparently the correct the correct option you know who the our main character or no no our main character ran away no our main characters what I'm saying

yeah so yeah so Michaela gets kidnapped by our dad throwing the bunker that explains why he suspect James of knowing something and then shoots at our protagonist as they're running away because like he's trying to keep his like his daughter who he's holding it was like a

mother mother of his skin like in the funker and he's like shooting out of him as they're running away. I mean, I guess. But I mean, I'm one hand, the fire worked by exposing what he was doing, but it also killed Michaela. That's such a crazy angle to take it.

It is pretty awesome. It has, there's so many, there's so many turns. Also, this is like, this isn't a super fast. It twisted like five times.

Like it was like ching, like, you know, I was complimenting it earlier over the, how fast it was going I really kind of wish that it was one of those things where because as soon as she said at the beginning

when she was like oh I'm only going to be there for night I'll be in and out I was like okay well this is going to turn to something where it turns into a week or something or like months she'll be there while yeah because at first day when she like walks in

she's like this house is so nice you know it's this thing where it's like why the fuck would I just steal this thing and go from motel motel again I mean I could just like ride this gravy train for a bit or whatever and I mean the most sinister thing the dad did obviously besides

like shooting and whatever I just mean like in terms of like the dialogue is like the idea of being like I'm gonna make tater tots is like the most disturbing like threatening thing is such a mind fuck to where Mike tighter tots to where I had more of that daughter you know

or even something too where like you know she's walking the grounds or like she's doing this thing and the dad still isn't really sure what to do because I think that I read it now that the mom doesn't no, which feels a little weird. Like almost, I feel like it's kind of, it would have been, I don't know, cooler. Well, I mean, not cooler, but I just like more demented. The dad's, the dad's a psychopath and the mom, like, genuinely cares about her daughter and doesn't know that her husband is holding her daughter as like a slave wife.

Yeah, yeah. What I'm saying is it's, it's even more demented and fucking creepy to me if it's like the family thing. Like she knows, but she's just like, oh, you know, I don't know. like the mom not knowing and then like because I guess that's true if you have it to where the mom does it know then it makes it harder for the dad to like boot this kid out or like this new the daughter like this person that's pretending to be the daughter because yeah because if the mom knows she walks in and they just kill her yeah and then you could have had some fun things where she's like walking around or like James is like this is where he buried

her but then you can like you know she like goes back one night and you like hear like you know like screaming or some kind of thing like she's screaming for help there could have been, there's a lot of different directions. I mean, this first off, just wants to say, this is going to be a fucking wild movie. It's a wild movie. That's what I was thinking. I'm like,

this is a pretty short story compared to like how long you could take this idea. So making a film out of this, there are so, there's so much potential to expand it, right? Yeah, to like add more scenes like that, more levels. There's no shot that the movie can end with them at a waffle house.

And then like the news comes on. I would, I'd be down for it if it was satisfied up until that point. For a movie, I think that you get more out of, like, the reveal there. Like, the climax of the movie is the, is kind of what we had here with, like, the chase scene, the cornfield running away, whatever. But then it's probably a thing where she's like, we have to go back and save her. This is prime for, uh, in terms of a movie and how it goes. Or even in this story, what would have happened is our character, our nameless, uh, protagonist is,

finds out that she's alive and she's also like, you know, not even the abused thing, whatever. She finds out that she's alive. And then she's like, I'm not, I cannot leave her because she's been acting on selfish impulses this whole time to where at the end she's like, fuck that. I'm going to save this person.

The same way that I was never, no one saved me, I'm going to save this person. And you go back and it's going to be kind of like a pull her out that kind of way. You know what I mean? But then that's what I'm saying is if the mom's in on it too, you think she's all sweet the whole time. And then all of a sudden she's the one who like pulls a gun out.

to you know it's just like there's so many different ways you could do it but there are ways you can't take it i think the way the set up work though the mom can't know because i think it's stronger that way yeah yeah yeah and like if if this girl pretending to be macaela walks into the house and the dad knows and the mom knows and they can just like and they and they both know that james is suspicious they can do whatever they can like kill they can kill this new girl or whatever so i i think that the way the story's written here it has to go that direction but I mean man too talk about a ride like

going from oh we're going to manipulate this family into um they know they're not missing because he killed her then they're shooting out of stuff and then the end reveal that they killed her in the fire like dude I uh there was so much it was it's just so weird

because I so many so fast pace like even the dad which is kind of realistic if you think about like you go to a corn field the people go they're able to like skirt around things and they kind of like hide from him and now the dad the house is on fire he's like fuck this i'm leaving you know he's gonna be a fucking like a pussy and run whatever it's like it all feels realistic but it's one of those things where it's like you just i'm like man i'm so man i just wish there was just a so much more meat

on the story just because it was so so well that's that's what that's what the potential it has when it goes into a film yeah well i hope it'd be it'd be cool if joe had some kind of uh input on that too of like maybe other ideas see i think i saw an article that said he did or i saw something somewhere that's like he's being adapted with it or he's a part of the writing team or something like it's so crazy the dude that wrote forest gum is doing this now he's like he's he's going to sit there and he's going to write like interior rape bunker a woman woman girl you know what i mean it's like he's just like the kind of like it's just such a polar opposite to like a fucking forest gum thing. He's like, all right, dude, I'm usually

have Neanderthals eating boxes of chocolate, but this time I guess I'll have to do. Dude, that's not. I was looking at Eric Roth. He also wrote like Killers of the Flower Moon. Like he has so many. Man, he has some accolades. I'm curious to see what dramatic role this. Listen to listen to this. Forrest Gump, killers of the Flower Moon, the curious case of

Benjamin Button. My boy wrote the curious case of Benjamin Button. He comes out young, but gets old like really quick. And then he Starts getting young again. He's like, all right, and seen. Insene. And seen. Older Brad Pitt has sex with pretty hot woman.

Exterior. I would say this. I think Sidney is going to be a fun, a fun cast for this. A fun pick for the lady. I think she embodies the like that kind of what we were saying earlier, that valley girl vibe. But I think that she's also,

she's a great final girl. type. Oh, dude. And even Euphoria, she had some fucking crazy moments of like, she could be like a very unhinged kind of crazy character, like very, very high strung. So having this kind of, I'm curious, it's just going to be a lot of fun to see who

who they have. I really hope that they don't make the kid lanky and bony like we were saying before. It would be so funny if James I was kind of hoping James is like a fat neck beard. He's in his like room's like a net beardist. I, I forget. I forget. forget the actor's name in my head

I imagined him as the guy who plays the zombie and warm bodies James oh the the fucking no no he's too handsome he's British that's true I think what you have to do is you have to do you either have to do

yeah it'd be so funny just like a British guy hello my sister's under the gazebo I think my sister's under the gazebo I'm not like my sister's She's dead

And then it's like Oh my boy Bart Hart alive A girl and child Are found Oh God It was much worse It was much worse

Not Michaela Yeah I don't know I'm This is Man What are just a fun trip I have just so much

I want to say So much different Fucking things I I want to Well say I'm King This is your podcast

I'm just I mean I can just You know rant and rave about all the different things that you could do, but it's a fun story. Also, just fucking bleak. God damn. I will say the

ending. That's a rough read. There's like, there's just really no there's really no character arc in the story at all. It's just kind of something that's just like you're kind of like growing with this character. You're finding things and then all of a sudden it's like,

here's your giant bar of soap that you get a bite into. I mean, there's a little bit of our main character being like, I don't want him to be the way I was. Yeah, like she goes from like manipulative to like wanting to take him with her. That's not a, that's not really a character arc, especially when the

when she says to the kid like, uh, like come with me or don't. I don't give a fuck. I'm leaving. Like she's pretty selfish all the way through. You know, really the, the character that had the most gumption and like drive was the 17 year old James. you know we were at the part we were at the part in this story right here where non michaela this is the part where she's like i'm turned like this is the turn you know this is the part

this is the part where you would find out that like uh there's not a news broadcast that's just like an exposition dump of like this is what happened holy shit by the way did we tell you that there's a you know you know all this different stuff instead there's somebody in town or you know she's like we got to go we have to go back like we have to we need to like let people know about the the her body is there and they think that she's dead still and when they go back that's when you find out that she's like oh no she's a fucking prisoner inside this thing and it's a whole other can of worms but she sticks with it and that would be and like that's like the kind of like punchy like rally behind this character who you

fucking hate so far because i really just don't the non michaela character really not likable like a likable character yeah of course of course but she did have I have there, and I think this is probably where the movie will go. She did have a tone midway through of like maybe I need to tell someone's story just because mine couldn't be told and stuff. So there's like, the story tries to set up an understanding of why she's the way that she is with her previous abuse and stuff like that. And then it's like, maybe I don't have to be like this just because I grew up like this.

Like the story starts to give her an about face when it comes to her motivations and ethics. But then that's ripped away from her because it turns out, no, you killed the girl who you're trying to write the story of. Yeah, which is a brutal, brutal slapdown. Not intentional murder, but I mean, that's like the... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's just like, I'm trying to tell the story for this girl, oops. Yeah, it is a big bundle of oopsie daisies for sure.

It is a big bouquet of oopsie daisies for sure. But the, I think just more of that because I think you can have a character that's like, I've been, I'm a victim of these circumstances that are fucking horrible. And I really enjoy that it's like this girl is, this person who is supposedly dead is a victim now of these circumstances as well and it's a thing of being like i have the strength now and the courage now to step up and uh you know right like help somebody that i wish somebody would have helped me with like being that like guardian angel for somebody else and it just gets like worse and worse you know it's uh there's a lot there but you know as soon as it is now yeah it does

it feels like i just got kicked in the face i i seriously felt like i got winded at the end of it As soon as I heard, as soon as the whole thing of like, I just finally looked at him and I killed Michaela and it's just like, it should just see the down, like the, the, uh, the upvotes and the comment numbers. I was like, are you fucking kidding me? That's it. That's it. Yeah.

What's funny is I'm looking at the original version that was posted to no sleep. So the original version ends with, uh, that conversation in the car where the guys like, well, you at least tell me your name and she gets out. And then it ends and says, um, uh, I pause. I looked down at my hands. I'd forgot and I was still wearing it. And then says, relax, I didn't do what you think I did.

That would have been a mistake. But when the old man dropped me off at the rest stop early the next morning, I saw that I'd already made a much bigger one. And then it links to a picture of a newspaper article that tells us the same thing. That says missing girls body found late last evening. And authorities responded to a house fire in Lincoln Avenue. And then we get the same breed out of what happens. So that's how the original one ended.

There's interesting setups there to. with, like, this man that is kind of like a weird, older guy who seems shady. And, you know, we've done these, she's basically been prostituting herself out to other people. But then it's, you have a character, this male character, who is just helping her out of the kindness of her heart and does help her out, gives her money. And there's no, like, sexual interaction or whatever. It's a nice, it's, it's a little seed that I think is a good plot motivator to for a character to be like, not everyone is. horrible. Like, I can't, like, let this thing define me, whatever. And there's good people out there, right? That's like a... And James was a good person. Yeah, and James was, and James is cool, too.

It's, it's, it's one of those things where it's like, you get to, humanity can be shown that, like, let's you, because her being a, like, because she's, like, a selfish person, it's like, that's, makes total sense that you are, you've been on your own. You've had to, like, do horrible shit to survive. So, yeah, you're going to be jaded. You're going to be bitter. And you're going to be a character that's just like I don't give a fuck I'm going to focus on myself but you can have that moment where little pieces of humanity are coming through I kind of like this this uh comment by the way the top comment on this post is a girl Pringle 697 says I love this one I thought she was going to live with them for a while and drain their money nice twist super sad and

fucked up ending very well written and then our boy our boy Joe comments and this is what he says and this is I think this is kind of fucked he says thank you this one really kicked my butt but I was up super late, almost every night trying to get it right. So it seriously means a lot that you all enjoyed it. That's what it's all about. You're right, though. It was pretty fucked up. It was a pretty fucked up in, huh?

I feel bad even though it was under my control, crying, laughing. I'm like, what a psychopath, dude. He's like, ha, ha, yeah, it was fucked up, but that's just me. I'm corky. You like that? You like caring about these characters. He's like, you like that, and it's done. That's got to have those.

It's just like, that's what you get. It's just like, and there it is. Bedtime. So it's interesting looking at the newspaper clipping ending, which I haven't read the entire version on No Sleep, but going off the newspaper clipping, it seems like in the original version, she ran away on her own and James didn't go with her

or got separated from James at some point. And there's no mention of Michaela in the bunker having a child. It just says she died in the fire, her body found. And then it says parents, Paul and Linda have been placed under arrest, with their remaining child James now being questioned by the FBI. So in the original, it was more ambiguous, like who was a part of it. Yeah. Stuff like that.

But I mean, I like James. I like James being the catalyst of basically telling our protagonist that his sister was murdered and that they need to get out of here. I really think that if we spent more time in the house, you could get more out of not only the awkward interaction, but I think there needs to be more development with. James as well, like almost in a way of you have a character who we think is dead and is still being like two children that are being abused in a household. I don't think James, you don't need to have it like be two fucking separate instances of assault in that way. But even just like the dad like, I don't know, like he slaps the back of his head. He's like, come on, man, you know, or like what like just kind of like a weird just some other kind of, I think like some other kind of abuse or like kind of just a shitty household. and then I think that builds his character up too

to where when he's taking action and doing things it's also our protagonist being able to help him as well and like somebody who is alive and is going through some shit can be I don't know yeah just like a kind of like a beacon or like a guide for our our character to also help out in that time too

but also the end of just like the child thing that's just like a demented cherry on top of the story yeah yeah i think i mean i that was great i really enjoyed that that was a fun story uh and also this is like primo material to get turned into a film because yep there is a lot of the time it bothers me when something takes like a whole novel and then adapts it one for one it doesn't make any changes because sometimes it's like well for one we already had the book for that and two not everything translates perfectly from you know page to screen well a whole novel also a 400 page book translating into a

hour and a half movie. Very hard. You're going to lose so much. You're going to lose so much. And it becomes a different format. And there's certainly some things that do it right, but they have to understand what needs to be changed. It's not an easy one for one.

But this is the other way around where you have this short, interesting idea with a lot of really cool plot moments. And you can expand in places. You can add. You can change. I think this would be a great film. Sidney's perfect to be a part of it from the other project. She's been in like Immacculent and stuff like that.

A fucking. Eric Ross, obviously, a good screenwriter. Walton Goggins would be a good Paul. Yeah, that'd be cool. Yeah. I think that'd be sick. This is great. So I'm excited to see this is becoming a film, and I definitely get why it is.

And I really enjoyed this story. That was fun. Yeah. No, it was a great little read. Y'all, we appreciate you. Be sure to go give some love to Joe. Maybe go congratulate him as well. It's pretty fucking huge to have a story of yours to be adapted into a full-blown movie.

So that's fucking awesome. Joe, we appreciate you, man. Also, Joe was very active. on Reddit. We'll have to check out some more of his works in the future as well, but go give him some love guys. Until the meantime, as always, be sure to check us out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. Give us the nice ratings there. It really does mean a whole hell of a lot. Thank you so much for joining us this week and we'll see you in the next one. Bye bye. We'll see you in the next one. And don't forget about early in the episode, the mention of Hunter bar diving in a red pletther skirt.

Okay, bye. Thanks. Bye. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm going to be able to be. I'm going to be. I'm going to be.

I'm going to. I'm going. I'm going. I'm going. I am. I'm going to be. And... ...you know?

...that ...their... ...and... ...and... ...and... ...the... ...and... ...and...

...and... ...and... ...and... ...and... ...and... I don't know. ...