Creepy - The Pale Oaks Came To My Hometown

Episode Date: June 6, 2022

And no one remembers...***Written by: Realistic_Treacle384***Bonus episode: "Experimental Weight Loss" Written by: FireAndRescue1216 and Narrated by: Megan McDuffee***Find our reward tiers and how to get your bonus magnet at patreon.com/creepypod***You can also subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/creepypod***Sound Design by Pacific Obadiah***Title music by Alex Aldea Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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These stories may contain graphic depictions of violence and explicit language. Listener discretion is advised. Creepy Presents. The Pale Oaks came to my hometown. Only I survived. Written by Realistic Treacle, 384. Nobody will ever remember the town of Blaine. Not anymore.

Not that they would have been much to remember in the first place. It was this pitifully small place stuck into the Iowan outback and surrounded on all sides by dense woodlands. It's only connections at the outside were the pay phone on Fifth Street that didn't take dimes and a single dairy road running right through town. I'm not sure what convinced to anyone to come there in the city. the first place. There's no farmland worth of dime or oil or coal.

The only cash plane ever saw came in the form of unemployment checks and the occasional trucking job. Ever since I was born, I wanted to escape to a little slice in nowhere. Just leave it all behind and forget it ever existed. Now I struggle with all my might to remember. I'm hoping this will be able to jog some of those memories. It had better Because there's no one else who's going to remember

Not after the summer of 89 I was maybe nine or ten at the time And living the same insignificant life As every other child in Blaine With a pitifully underfunded school And parents who barely knew we existed We were left to find our own ways to occupy ourselves Usually this took the form of mischief making

Or at least to the extent A bunch of elementary schoolers could we throw a yellow tepee into the trees of our least favorite adults, graffiti sidewalks with crayons, and steal some of our parents' alcohol if we were lucky. Our favorite activity, however, was heading down to the forest. I say the forest, but really it was just anywhere that wasn't within the town limits. For all Blaine's faults, the woods themselves weren't actually all that bad.

There were plenty of critters and strange plants to distract our young minds in a creek in which we caught the occasional fish. It wasn't much, but it might as well have been heaven and blaine. That is until Mike Santos died. He got wallop real good by his dad one night and swore to the rest of us kids he was leaving this podunk town for good. Then he stormed off into the woods and was never heard from again. We all thought he'd come running back in an hour or so,

drawn back by the promise of a bed and a hot meal. but soon an hour turned into two. Then a night, a full day. And pretty soon it was clear. Mike wasn't coming back. A lackluster search party was launched by the end of the week, combing the woods for any sign of little Mike. They didn't have to look hard.

He'd been found in the creek, or what was left of him. I was one of the lucky kids who got to see them pull the body out. and I will never forget it. It didn't look like Mike at all. The skin had turned this sickly pale color and was pulled taut over the bones to a sickening degree, highlighting Mike's inside in vivid detail. I could see every inch of his skeleton straining against his hide

as if they were trying to claw their way out of the body. I thought I saw his organs too. No, I hoped I didn't. Dark shapes pressed up against his skin and sloshed around as the body moved, slipping and sliding through each other like a swarm of maggots digging through the corpse. Worst of all was whatever the hell had happened to his head. The tension in his skin pulled his lips back into a hideous grin so extreme I could see all the way back to his molars.

It was inhumanly emotionless, especially considering the empty sockets that stared back from his eyes. A frog jumped out of one of them as they pulled the body from the river. I swear I saw tadpoles or leeches slithering about in water that had pooled into the socket. It's hard to describe what seeing all that did to me. I wasn't scared. At least, I don't think so. It felt more like a revelation.

Like, you hear about how everyone's going to die from adults and such, but you don't really understand it. That night changed everything from me. I realized then what death looked like. There weren't angels or trumpets proclaiming your rise into paradise. Just old bones and rotten meat. But that wasn't the strange part. Dead kid in a creek? Disturbing, but not unheard of.

What was odd were the leaves. A couple dozen fiery red leaves bobbed in the river, gently drifting around where Mike could come to rest. This might not have been no worthy any other day. The problem was that this was in the middle of June. The spring bloom had barely begun to settle. And yet there they were. Blood red leaves like it was the middle of September.

I'm not sure why that stuck out to me, even back then. Maybe my horrified little mind needed something to distract itself from everything happening. Maybe I thought they were pretty. Whatever the case, they stayed in my mind for the days following Mike's death. I even went back down to the creek to see if I could find them. But they'd all blown away by the time I worked up the courage. The rest of the town fared much worse than me. Adults choked the body's weird appearance up to being in the river so long

and thought that a bear had done in poor Mikey. Parents started keeping a closer eye on their kids and made sure none of the of a stray too close to the woods. But it wasn't as if they needed to. No one was eager to go back in after everything that had happened. Many of us even started telling ghoulish stories what happened, Mikey, ranging from Bigfoot to a serial killer. I didn't really pay much mind to those rumors, though.

I could think about where the leaves. Time heals all wounds, though, and by the time September rolled around with not another dead kid in sight, The town finally relaxed. Parents went right back to ignoring their kids, and we all fled back into the woods. Albeit it with a little less pep in our step. Everyone thought what had killed Mikey must have moved on after its meal. I even thought the same myself.

But now I know better. There's this thing in nature where animal herds will send out a few members to scout out new areas before the rest of the herd comes in. Not sure what it's called exactly. But you see it in quails and a few wild dog packs sometimes. What killed Mikey didn't leave Blaine. They just went to get the herd. It was a cold August morning when I noticed the tree. I remember waking up vaguely thinking of school

and what I was going to do when I skipped it when I saw a tree out in my front yard. It wasn't just that it hadn't been there when I was asleep, though that was plenty alarming on its own. It was what the tree looked like. Its bark was this pitch-pale color, like the skin of a corpse, which, against the forest-deep green and brown backdrop, seemed to almost glow. Deep grooves ran along the bark, stained red, and looking like veins breaking through skin. The limbs were oddly smooth, with the roots flowing together and spiraling up into the trunk, and the branches blossoming from the top in an almost gorgeous display.

I would have sworn that thing wasn't a plant, but the finest marble sculpture ever seen. However, what caught my attention above all else were the leaves hanging from its branches. They were just as pale as the bark and gathered along the branches into a giant white plume. Their disturbing coloration was only made stranger when I noticed what type of leaves there were. Try pointed, maple leaves. The kind found out Mike when he was fished from the water. I honestly thought I was dreaming. I know people say that all the time, but I legitimately thought it was all some lucid dream.

It was the only way I could explain this strange tree and I would have gotten there so suddenly. For what had to be an hour, I stared at that tree, trying to piece together what I was seeing. I didn't dare look away or even blank as if it would pounce if I turned my back even for an instant. For the longest time, however, the tree did nothing at all. There wasn't even a gust of wind to ruffle its leaves. If it wasn't for its appearance, it would have sworn it was a regular tree. All that changed, however, when my parents woke up.

I think it was my dad who saw the tree first because I heard a gargled belch that sounded vaguely like, The fuck is this? Come tumbling down the halls. whoever I was He was the one who came marching out Into the front yard Wearing nothing but briefs

And a sweat-stained wife-beater He slowly circled the trunk With this look on his face Like you'd never seen a tree before Not alone once so strange I knew the second I saw him That wasn't a good idea I just couldn't have imagined

What happened next The pale leaves started to shake As if a gust of wind were blowing through them Only every other tree and played a grass around was as still as stone. Even my father, in his infinite stupidity, noticed something was wrong and started backing away from the tree,

but it was too late by then. One by one, the leaves plucked themselves from the branches and began to fall. Soon a virtual shower of leaves came spiraling down onto my dad, looking like they were trying to bury him. Yet not one. One of them touched the ground. Just before settling, they twist their bodies in just the right way and push off against the

air, all heading to the same target. My father broke into a frenzy as the leaves surrounded him, trying desperately to swat them away with his fat-laden arms. Yet instead of being slapped away, the leaves seemed to stick to whatever patch of bear's skin they came in contact with. Their stems pierced into my father. giving them the leverage they needed to stand straight as if his arms were just another pair of branches. It must have hurt given how much he screamed.

The swarm hadn't begun to settle before I saw flashes of white bursts through the blizzard encompassing my father. At first I thought he was bleeding, but then he got the bright idea to start running and gave me a better view of what was really happening. His entire body was covered in leaves, stuck to him like musk. mosquitoes. Someone had even flown into his mouth while he was screaming, settling on his tongue and gums and extending their petals between his lips. All of them, however, were starting to turn red. The color crawled up from their stems and raced through their capillaries, looking like veins that had begun to grow through the petals. Soon their pale hue was replaced by a deep, dark red. A color I had seen before.

The color of blood My father fell to his knees before long It was kind of dramatic the more I think about it But understandable Even through the swarm that had covered him I could see his skin was turned to whiten and treble A plethora of wrinkles curling into existence all over him His veins popped against his skin

Only to flatten as they were emptied out And his skin was wrapped so tight tight around his inside, I could see the perfect outline of his skull piercing through his face. It got so bad that at one point, his skin couldn't deflate any further, started tearing open against his inside. Only there was no longer any blood to come spilling out. The frenzy must have lasted only a few minutes, and I couldn't help but watch every horrifying second. When it was finally over, the blood red leaves began to peel off my father's emaciated figure one by one and rise back up to the tree.

They fit their stems into tiny notches lining the branches, in which the blood filling them began to drain. Their white coloration returned as the blood ran through the grooves covering the tree, only to vanish somewhere at the base. Before long, when they realized there wasn't a drop left from my dad's body, all the leaves fluttered back up and settled upon the tree. All that was left to their feast was a broken, shriveled corpse that was barely skin and bone. I had no love for my father.

I still don't. But back then, the sheer horror of witnessing something so gruesome sent my young mind into a panic. I flung myself away from the window and desperation, sir, running towards my door until I heard another scream cut through the house. I can't blame my mother for having done so. She must have gotten a far better view of my father than me, but I still wish she'd stay quiet. The leaves outside stirred to life once again, and I could hear them rustling as they tore themselves from their branches. Through the window, I saw the swarm spiral back up into the air, diving off to the side, now to my sight.

The hum of their flight came echoing down from my hallway before long as my mother's screams were drowned out. I could hear them pouring. through my front door like a tidal wave of locust. And I knew that they'd find their way to me before long. In the depths of my naivete, I thought it would be safe in my room. They were just stupid leaves, after all. They couldn't break down the door. But they never had to.

That thought gave me some confidence when I heard the leaves rushed down the wall and towards my room. They buzzed around. just outside for a minute or two, with a few of them slapping against the door, barely managing to make its shudder from the efforts. I almost managed to smile until I saw something peeking out from the bottom on my door. It was maybe a tenth of an inch of space between the floor and my door. But that was more than enough. The leaf slid through the gap, then came bursting up and out into the air.

My mind simply went blank as I saw that. empty even of fear I'm not even sure how I did what I did next instinct luck whatever the reason I jumped at the leaf before it could do the same to me and snatched it out of the air by its petals it was unusually warm to the touch

and instantly started struggling against me I could feel what had to be muscles flexing and thrashing against me It stem throwing itself all around as it tried to find a perch. It never got a chance. I tore the damn thing apart with my bare hands until it was nothing more than a pile of shredded white. I almost thought that would be the end of it for a second, until more shivers of white began peeking under my door.

I'm not sure how many there were who'd also wizened up. But if even one could get in, they all could. and I had already seen what happened when someone tries to fight off that many. My mom probably wasn't even dead yet. I, again, can't take credit for what I did then. My mind was still on autopilot and did the only thing you could think to do. I lunged from my bed and tore off the blankets before diving back towards the door and shoving the sheets against it.

The leaves could be felt thrashing against the blankets, but it didn't stop me from blocking their only entrance. Out of the corner of my eye I saw other leaves trying to worm their way inside, only to be stuck halfway through whatever other crack they could find. That didn't stop them from trying, though. Now one of them got in, but I could hear them racing around just outside my room all through the days I tried to find some way in. Then there were times I heard them simply slap against the door. It was almost funny in a way. Their effort gradually wound down as a minute stretched into hours

until the space behind my door went utterly silent. There was a rush of activity shortly after. Looking outside, I saw the leaves were actually returning to their perch on the tree. I thought that was signaling the end of it. I'd just go back, and when I woke up, the tree would vanish into thin air. I couldn't have been further from the truth. Truth be told, after a while, I started getting bored, when the immediate fear of being drained by vampire leaves was gone.

I didn't have much to do in my room, but wait for that thing to go away. I tried my best to entertain myself, but the most I had were an old bed, some sheets, and one of the magazines I'd swiped from my dad, for which I wasn't quite the age to enjoy yet. And my bored and my eyes wandered towards a tree on occasion. But I barely paid it any mind. more often than not. Now that it wasn't trying to kill me, it was just some dumb tree. In those moments when I looked away, something else bloomed in the field.

To this day, I have no idea how it got there. Standing just as tall as the first was yet another trunk as white as snow, with a full bustle of leaves hanging from its branches. The trunk was thicker than the first and seemed bloated, almost like its branches were crushing it under their weight. Despite this, there was no mistaking what it was. I thought about running when I saw the two of them out there. If there were more than one of those things, then I had no idea how many more might come.

However, with the front door to the house still open for all I knew, I was trapped in my room. I thought that maybe if I made a mad dash, I'd be able to shut the door. But I was sure they still would have caught me. On the other hand, it didn't seem like they could get in yet, so I was still safe. I just needed to wait inside, and eventually they'd go away. But then another showed up, and another, and another, and another. One by one, a grove of trees sprouted all across the yard. Every second I looked away, I would always turn around to find another pale oak having appeared out of nowhere.

Before long, the view outside my window was eclipsed by a dense thicket of pale limbs. I swear there had to have been hundreds of them all bunched up and squeezing themselves into the space between each other. Reds fought for space and branches twisted together until they fused in one mass of pale canopy. The leaves drained the color from the sunlight that passed through them, shrouding my room in dull lifeless rays as if thunder clouds loomed overhead. Their point was clear. They weren't going anywhere. This didn't all happen in one day, though, but several.

All with me trapped in my room. As you can imagine, I was wasting away in more ways than one. A drowsy fever had solely gripped my muddled mind until I couldn't tell if I was awake, asleep, or suspended somewhere in between. Moments passed in blurs of exhaustion, hunger, and most of all thirst. The thing they don't tell you about dying of thirst is how much it hurts. It's not like you just get more and more tired until you simply go to sleep and don't wake up. Your stomach starts to cramp up like it's contracting around a pile of hot nails

and the tips of your joints begin aching. You feel so fragile that you swear a light breeze will send you toppling over and your bones will shatter like glass. And you just have to sit there and endure it all. No one to help or even watch will he slowly turn to dust. Yet even in that state, I knew I had to do something. If I stayed in my room any longer, there wouldn't be anything left for the trees to consume. Though saying I came up with a plan is not entirely true.

It was more like a loose collection of feelings, ideas, and stunts I'd seen on a Saturday morning cartoon. But it was the best I could come up with. I started by breaking off a piece of the old wooden legs that my bed stood on. It was easier than I thought since most of the wood was halfway rotted, although I vaguely remember bruising up an arm pretty well. I then separated the sheets I had stuffed under the door, leaving some to plug the door while I swung the others over my arm. It wasn't a very technical plan.

I just needed to get to the front door and close it. My young delusional mind thought that would be the end of it. and I was determined to carry out my plan. I repeated it over and over in my head trying to make sure I didn't forget a thing only to realize every single thing that could have gone wrong with it. Perhaps I couldn't have made it to the door in time.

The leaves would be too fast for me, or maybe I'd simply trip over a loose tile and they'd descend on me before I hit the floor. It eventually became the case that instead of preparing me, my recitations only fed into my fear. There was no way around it. I just had to do what needed to be done. My bedroom window wasn't the sort that could open up.

That fact had always made sneaking out much harder and was now forcing me to improvise. With what little strength I had left. I raised a bedleg over my head and brought it down on the window's glass. The first few swings did nothing. I even started damaging my makeshift club more than anything else. After a few minutes, however, the glass began to give way. Tiny cracks started to sprout up under where I'd struck the window.

There weren't anything major, but they'd be enough. I just needed to get to the outside, even if the hole itself was as tiny as could be. Before long, my efforts were rewarded was just that. After one more mighty swing, a small fringing of the window popped out and came clattering to my bedroom floor, barely bigger than my finger. The smell of fresh grass and moist bark filled my lungs as the outside air trickled into my room. As I got a good with them, I was sure the trees did the same for me. The leaves bristled as if a tiny breeze had passed through them, quickly becoming a furious shake that would not have been out of place in a typhoon.

Leaves wrenched themselves from their branches and swiftly wove between the tightly packed trunks of the trees, all aiming straight from my window. All of them came crashing into and flattening against the glass until every inch had been covered in a layer of pale leaves growing thicker by the minute. I smiled at the sight. All those leaves crowding around the scent of fresh meat like dumb animals was fucking hilarious. Even if they were just plants, I hope I humiliated them at that moment.

Yet I didn't get more than a second to savor such a minor victory when I saw something peering through the hole in the glass. A single pale pedal gently feeding itself through the break. It was folded along a thousand corners until it formed a point thin enough to weed inside. Before long the leaf came bursting into my room and unfroled itself to begin gracefully dancing through the air. Whatever drowsiness was still clung to me was dashed when I saw that leaf rising through the empty space in my room. I didn't wait for the others to start warming. their way in and sprung for the door, which I tore open without hesitation.

By some miracle of quick thinking, I thought to snatch up the sheets before I came stumbling out into the hall. I slammed the door shut behind me and shoved one of the sheets under it before any of the leaves could sneak their way through. Panic started to settle in at that moment. My plan hadn't even begun and already had fucked it up. I was dead. They were going to come inside and kill me.

I was sure of it. But I had to push all of that aside. The leaves were still at least at my window, which meant they were still distracted. Hopefully their intrusion would buy me more time to get to the front door. I raced on the hallway as fast as my little legs could carry me only to come to a grinding halt when I stepped out into the living room. It wasn't just my mother's corpse lying shriveled and bloodless in front of the front door. It was what had come creeping through the entrance. right outside bursting through the porch

was another one of the trees with its branches having grown straight through the entrance that was in the way I'd be able to shut the door the fluttering of leaves I'd heard faded in the background as I ran from my room I began to grow once again though they didn't come from the hallway from the outside I could hear the leaves rushing towards me it wouldn't be long before they'd sworn

me. A million hungry mile was ready to leave me nothing more than a dry husk. I can't say I panicked. I was well past that point. There was, however, this strange feeling of claustrophobia. The walls were closing in.

They all wanted to eat me alive. I wanted to run, find hell, and someone else kept me safe from the monstrosities. Look, it wouldn't. But no matter how much I had cry. No one was coming from me. So I did what any kid would have done. I ran in head. Over my life, I've gotten pretty good at that. With parents like mine, I had to. I had a few favorite spots I liked to retreat to when they came home nasty than usual, the basement, attic, and a few of the more

neglected closets. There's also a few I kept in mind whenever the time would come that my old spots didn't keep me hidden anymore. And one of them, the worst one, was sitting right in the kitchen. Without a second thought, I dove for the fridge and tore open the door. I ripped out a few of the shelves until there was space just big enough

for me to cram myself into, which I did just as I heard the leaves bursting through the front door. I didn't dare turn around, but I got a good earful of them. This strange sort of howling filled the room like that of a tornado roaring to life. I could even feel the wind blasting against my back

as their thunderous beating dove straight for me. Before the swarm could reach me, I left inside the fridge in, in one swift motion, managed to pull the damn thing shut just as the leaves arrived. In the darkness of the fridge, I heard them slap against the door one by one as if a steam hail had descended on the appliance. Yet despite their furious beating,

Not one of them managed to worm their way through the door. Or at least, I thought they didn't. I'm not entirely sure what tipped me off to it. The only thing I felt was a tiny itch coming from the back of my heel right on my Achilles tendon. On instinct, I went to scratch it, but when I reached down my fingers brushed against the soft flowery petals of a leaf, my mind quickly tried to shift into denial. I felt around, hoping it was just some lettuce or something I'd accidentally. sat in, only to feel the creature latching on to me in vivid detail.

I could sense something warm coming up through its leaves and follow the stem down to where it buried itself into my ankle. The worst part, and I'll never get this, was that I could feel it slurping. It was almost like a pulse through which I could feel my own blood being drained away. I didn't waste a second after the realization struck me. and crushed the leaf in my grasp. I hoped it would stop or shudder in pain, but I could still feel it slurping away, ignorant in my actions.

Noly frightened I tried wrenching the leaf out only to feel a tug on my skin as a stem refused to yield. I twisted the leaf every way I could, trying to wrench the damn thing out only to feel what felt like ruts keeping it firmly latched on to me. Fear and adrenaline, me forward. And before long, I simply started pulling into a leaf as if I were uprooting a weed. Pain raised up my legs. My skin started tearing. But I didn't stop. I pulled and pulled

and pulled until finally I tore the leaf out of my ankle. The gash itself wasn't anything serious, although combined with the pain and the mere idea of that leaf having ridded itself in me was enough to make me scream. Panic turned into fear before, finally transforming into anger, all of which was directed to the leaf in my hand. It had started thrashing around once I pulled it free, trying to find a new source of food. I could feel the tip of its stem, grazing my wrist and didn't wait for it to latch again. Piece by piece, I tore up the leaf, breaking its stem in dozens of places until there was nothing left but shredded petals and detritus.

At last I was safe, but that didn't do anything to quill my fear. I felt the leaves, pieces tickle my skin as they fell over me and thought that each of them must have latched on to me. Even after I managed to brush them all off and was sure they were dead, that thought haunted me. Every minor irritation from the acolyte joints being crammed into the fridge to the tiniest itch, I thought it had to be a sign that another leaf had gotten in. The worst part, looking back, was actually when I didn't find any leaves, because without

them. It was no way to dash those sensations. At one point my whole body buzzed with tingles and I was convinced that I'd been completely engulfed by the things. I would pat and scratch at every itch of myself, but still the itching would remain. And so, for all intents and purposes, did the leaves. That fear never really left me.

Even now I can't help but swat up myself in a panic at the tiny stitch. At that moment, however, It was leagues worse. Every second could have been one where I was being fed on. My body covered by hundreds of pale, writhing creatures. There was some benefit to it all, however. I survived off what little food there was in the fridge and the milk curtains my parents had left behind proved me with ample fluids.

I don't think I would have made it if not for those. However, I can't say I was saved by the fridge despite all this, merely put on life support. It was the cold that finally got to me. Days of sitting in an ice box had numbed every inch of me until I couldn't even shiver anymore. Every inch of me just started to slow down until eventually. I passed out with a feeling of that terrible itching still on my mind.

When I woke up, however, I found myself not back in the fridge, but lying on a brightly lit hospital bed with a fan blowing warm air directly into my face. I started freaking out at first since the tightly confined space of the fridge bed and the only thing keeping the leaves away. Then it took maybe a full hour before the doctors convinced me I was safe. After they ran their test and made sure I wouldn't drop dead, they let some cops in to fill me in on what had happened. Apparently, some poor couple had gotten lost out in the back roads and ended up driving right through Blaine only to find it littered with bodies. They panicked. as one should, and called every cop from there to Des Moines, who descended on the town before the day it ended.

Eventually an investigator stumbled on to me half dead in my fridge and rushed me to the nearest hospital. They'd hoped I'd be able to tell them what had happened to all those people, but my answers were a bit too exotic. With no leads to follow and the only witness ranting about vampire trees, the authorities decided to chalk the whole thing up to a nasty gas leak and leave it there. Bodies were packed and shipped off to relatives, to media feigned interest for a few weeks, and I was shipped off to some great aunt twice removed in Cedar Rapids. Since then, things have been somewhat normal,

or at least as much as they can for a guy like me. It took me a while, but eventually I managed to move on. I went to college, got a job, made friends, and all that good stuff. I was perfectly comfortable for getting about Blaine just like everyone else did. Until about two days ago, when my therapist suggested that I might have been a little traumatized by whatever happened in Blaine. I accidentally told them about all of this, and now they think I invented a story to protect myself from the truth of what really happened or whatever. Maybe she's right, all of which brings us here. She wanted me to talk about what happened to me and hopes they might start remembering something.

Not that I ever did, though. Whether or not I'm crazy, I decided to post everything here just in case. If I'm alone, wonderful. You don't have to worry about anything that happened here. Go about the rest of your life thinking it really was a gas leak that took Blaine and the night. But if I'm not, consider this your warning. I don't know what those things were, but they're still out there, waiting for the winds to turn right. So when you see white leaves blowing through your neighborhood, run, because the pale oaks aren't far behind, and they are

very, very hungry for your bonus episode. Creepy Presents. experimental weight loss written by Fire and Rescue 1216 and narrated by Megan McDuffey I have always struggled with my weight and since I've gotten older my metabolism had become slower

than Joe Biden's thought process I've tried every fad diet from low carb to low calorie and I never could achieve the results I wanted so I got discouraged and fell back into my old eating habits. I'm sure some of you can relate. I was perusing the dark web one day to satisfy my morbid curiosity when I came upon an ad that said experimental weight loss program. I thought to myself that it was probably some kind of scam, so I didn't bother clicking the link.

I looked at the clock and realized I'd lost track of time, so I figured I'd better go to bed because I had to work the next morning. After I came home from work the next day, I fixed myself a sandwich and sat down at my computer to browse the dark web as I do every night. I guess in a way it was an addiction for me. You can find pretty much anything you can imagine from black market organs or freshly packaged human meat ready for consumption. Pretty macabre stuff. I came across the experimental weight loss ad again and I guess curiosity and desperation finally got the best of me, so I clicked the link while crossing my fingers that it wouldn't be a scam or virus. Five lucky winners will be chosen from hundreds of applications to join our experimental

weight loss program. We are offering you $10,000 and a chance to shed those pounds you've been trying so hard to lose. Our team of professional researchers and doctors are here to help you safely and effortlessly achieve your weight loss goal in our very own state-of-the-art facility. Please fill out the application below to receive a chance to win this life-changing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Why not? I thought to myself. After all, I was broke and fat, so I had nothing to lose besides my jelly rolls. There's a likely chance I won't win anyway. I've never been a lucky person. I filled out the application while reminding myself to not get any high expectations about being chosen. I got up from my computer and started to go take a shower when my phone rang. It was an unknown number,

so I didn't answer it, probably a debt collector trying to get money I owed for hospital I was living on ramen and chef boyardi, so I don't know what they expect from me. I'm no cash cow by any means, just a broke cow. A few seconds later, the phone rang, a known number again. Usually debt collectors won't try calling multiple times in a row. Maybe it's someone I know. I should answer just in case. Could be important, I thought.

Hello? Hello! The overly cheerful voice exclaimed, could I please talk to Jade? Yes, this is her, I said cautiously. We received your application for the weight loss experiment, and I am happy to inform you that you have been chosen as one of our lucky participants. That was fast, I said surprisingly.

I literally just filled out the application five minutes ago. I didn't expect to actually be chosen. We are very eager to meet you and help you on your journey for a new you. I will be emailing you some more forms to fill out before you leave, and I will also attach an address for you to meet us so we may chauffeur you to our facility. Um, thank you, I said hesitantly. I will start filling out the forms right away. Perfect! We are very excited to meet you, Jade. Goodbye. That was weird. How did they receive and review my application so quickly, I pondered? It seemed a little suspicious, but I was so desperate that my judgment was close.

clouded. I should have listened to my oversized gut. The form that was emailed to me was some sort of ridiculously long contract that I was expected to read, but I never take the time to read the fine print. I wish I had, and maybe I wouldn't have ended up in this predicament. I initialed and signed in all the blank spaces and emailed it back to the company. The separate email I received was an address to meet up with one of the team members in the morning. It also stated that the experiment would last three weeks, so I'm glad I had vacation time saved up from my job. I just hoped it would be worth all my hard-earned time. I was a little on edge because everything was moving along so quickly. I left early the next morning because I had a six-hour drive to the address. I wasn't thrilled

about driving so far away, especially alone. If anything happened to me, I had no family or friends to report me missing. I had gotten in a bad argument with my mom and dad a while back, so it had been years since we spoke. I'm pretty sure my boss wouldn't miss me either, because he always talks about how expendable we are, so we should always be working hard every day to prove we earn our crappy pay. He's such a douchebag. I finally arrive at my destination in the middle of nowhere, nothing but desert for miles all around. There's a black SUV waiting for me, and as I slowly walk toward the vehicle, a tall, well-dressed man steps out to greet me. Hi, you must be Jade, he says with a big smile on his face.

Yes, sir, I said nervously. Nice to finally meet you, he says as he shakes my hand. My name is Malcolm. I'm one of the researchers for the experiment. I'm sure you're tired after that long drive, so let's get you to the facility so you can rest. Sounds good, I said as I climbed into the back seat. I got more nervous, the first.

We drove down the empty desert road, but it was too late to turn back now. I thought to myself, if I had been watching me as the main character in a horror movie, I would have been yelling at the screen by now to say how naive and stupid I was for driving hours away to meet a bunch of strangers in an unknown place. My thoughts were interrupted when Malcolm suddenly spoke. I know you must be nervous considering what little information you have been given on the location and details about the experiment, but I assure you. you that you are in the best hands, and we will make sure you are comfortable at all times.

We will brief you on the process when we arrive, and tomorrow morning we will begin. Okay, awesome, I said sheepishly. He must have felt my apprehension growing. How much farther until we're there? It's the next turn up ahead, nearly there, Malcolm said reassuringly. Well, this is it. Malcolm said cheerily. What do you mean? I don't see any buildings for miles, I said, concerned while preparing myself mentally to be murdered in the middle of nowhere, due to my own stupidity. You'll see, he said excitedly. He pulled a small remote device from his pocket and pushed the button while pointing toward the flat sand and tumbleweeds.

I was shocked when two large metal doors emerged from the ground, parting the sand away. Secret underground entrance to our state-of-the-art facility, he said excitedly. We like to remain as remote as possible, so no one can have access to our research that we have spent years gathering. All of our researchers and doctors are family, because we don't want to risk having an outsider stealing our heart on progress for another company. I nodded and stayed silent. Not knowing what light ahead put my anxiety into overdrive. I guess that makes sense, I thought, trying to calm myself down. Malcolm seemed to be a nice person, but I was still cautious as we walked toward the life.

large opening and down the stairs deep underground. The large door creaked shut, and I resigned to my fate. I just hope I made the right decision. Hi, Jade. It was the same cheery voice I spoke to over the phone. I'm Cassie. I will be the one briefing you on the process and overseeing your progress throughout the experiment. I'm so glad you made it safely. It's nice to meet you. Nice to meet you as well, I said with the best smile I could muster. Tomorrow morning we will be putting you in our most comfortable bed and administering you a mixture of sedative and anesthesia to help you relax and sleep peacefully during the process. You will remain in this state for three weeks. We will give you the nutrients you need through a feeding tube and, of course, an IV to keep you hydrated.

Your vitals will be monitored at all times. It may seem a little scary, but I assure you it will be a safe and effective process. Wow, three weeks? So basically you're going to put me in a coma and feed me the bare minimum until I lose weight? That sounds easy enough, but a little dangerous, too, I said to her. What if I don't wake up? Don't worry. I promise we will treat you like one of our own family members, and I will personally make sure you're given the best care.

Everything will go smoothly and be professionally handled. I nodded in silence again, not knowing what else to say. I didn't want to make a bad impression toward the person that would be caring for my helpless body for three weeks. Cassie seemed genuinely sweet and caring, so it put me a little more at ease after speaking with her. Follow me, I'll show you to your room, she said enthusiastically. I laid my head down on the soft and fluffy pillow

and tried to go to sleep. I was too anxious, so I tossed and turned all night. Morning finally came, and I was startled awake by the nature sounds coming from a speaker on the ceiling. I figured this was my alarm to get up to start the process. I got up and dressed in the gown left for me on the bedside table. Good morning, Cassie chirped. I am so excited to help you change your quality of life.

I would like to introduce you to my four other team members, my brothers and sisters. This is Eli, Drew, Alice, and David. They will be assisting me throughout the process. After you have completed the experiment, you will receive the $10,000 in your account as promised. Let's get started. shall we? We exchanged pleasantries, and I followed Cassie toward the room. The walls were completely white. There were machines surrounding the bed, and it seemed to be a sterile and safe place for me to be unconscious, or so I thought. I laid down on the bed as the team scrambled around me, connecting me

to all the machines and the IV. I drifted off to sleep, excited to see my progress when I awoke. I woke up to the sound of a familiar voice. Good morning! Cassie said in a sing-song voice. Goodmore, what is this? I asked as I struggled to move my arms and legs. Why am I strapped down? I asked, panicking. Oh, that's for your safety and ours. We don't want you ripping open your incisions before you have had time to heal,

and we certainly don't want you running away from us now, do we? She said in a creepy, motherly voice. Incisions? Why do I have incisions? What did you do? to me? Who are you people? I looked down and noticed a large, poorly stitched incision on the left side of my abdomen. Oh, that's just where we took your kidney out to implant it into our brother. You see, all of his organs are failing slowly, and you are the perfect rare blood type to match him.

I looked up in shock. Are you crazy? I should have trusted my gut. I knew this was a bad idea. Please just let me go. I won't tell anyone anything, I promise. I begged. I heard a constant beep to my left, and I turned to see a man lying in bed, unconscious and connected to the same machines I was. That's our baby brother, Kevin. You will be saving his life. Aren't you excited? She said, trying to reassure me. No, I didn't sign up for this. You people are psycho. Let me go! I screamed. Actually, you did sign up for this. It was all in the fine print of the contract we emailed you, but I'm assuming you didn't read it, huh? Most people never do.

Such a shame. You are the fifth person we found to match Kevin's rare blood type. The other organs were rejected when we transplanted them into our brother. The only thing keeping him alive are these machines. She said sadly as she looked over at Kevin. Tears streamed down my face as I screamed and thrashed around, trying to get out of the restraints. Calm down now. Everything will be okay. We don't want you hurting yourself.

You need to heal quickly so we can start the next organ transplant. The kidney transplant was successful, but he doesn't have much time. Soon he will be back to our playful little brother again, one organ at a time. I have high hopes this time that we found the perfect donor, so I will make sure to take extra special care of you. You can't do this to me. You can't take my organs away, This by peace, it will never work. I won't survive long enough to keep your precious organs alive for your sick experiment.

I screamed furiously at her. We have ways of keeping you alive. You are our fifth donor, after all. So we've had plenty of chances to research and work out the kinks. The organs in your body make up about 25% of your body weight, so in your case, that would be a good 75 pounds weight loss. That's quite a life-changing amount, don't you think? I stared at her menacingly as she smiled and walked through the door, locking it behind her.

After I heard her footsteps trail away, I remembered that I slipped my phone under the mattress just in case things went awry before they put me under. I'm glad for once I was thinking ahead. I just had to squeeze out of these restraints somehow. The right restraint was a little looser than the left, so I pulled and strained for hours until finally I broke free. I quickly freed my right hand and my ankles and searched for my phone from under the mattress. I let out a sigh of relief when I realized they hadn't found it. I powered it on and just my luck. No service.

Of course, there's no service. I'm in an underground facility in the middle of nowhere. How could I be so stupid? I tried the handle of the large steel door. It was locked, of course. So, this is my final goodbye. If you're reading this, it's too late for me. I posted the last days of my life on here, so maybe people will eventually catch these crazy people out here in Arizona.

Hopefully my organs will all be transplanted successfully, so no one else has to go through the same horrible and twisted situation. I love you, Mom, and Dad. I'm sorry, I didn't get a chance to tell you often since we last fought. I guess I'll see you again in heaven one day. This is Kevin. I found this phone under my mattress after I came out of my four-year. your coma. I woke to scars all over my body. Some were healed and some were fresh. I put the phone in my pocket to charge it later and investigated a bit more. To my horror, my siblings told me they brought me to this underground facility and kept me alive while constantly performing organ transplants until I was brand new again. I think it's sickening what they did and I just can't let them get away with it. They killed so

many people on my behalf. After reading the messages left behind on this phone from my donor, Jade, I just had to bring her to justice. I owe her that, at least. I can't imagine the pain and suffering she was subjected to. I am taking this to the police station tonight when everyone is asleep. I just hope I can make it past the security alarms. Wish me luck. For more information on this podcast, including how to submit your own story for consideration. Please visit creepypod.com. You can also follow us at creepypod on social media and YouTube. All stories told on this podcast are done so through Creative Commons share-a-like licensing

or with written consent from the authors. No portion of this podcast may be rebroadcast or otherwise distributing. without the express written consent of the creepy podcast production team and the story's author.