Dr. Creepen's Dungeon - S4 Ep158: Episode 158: Monster Horror

Episode Date: March 1, 2024

Today’s opening offering is the terrifying ‘A Monster held me hostage as a Child’, an original story by James Caligo, kindly shared directly with me for the express purpose of having me exclusively narrate it here for you all. https://www.reddit.com/r/DrCreepensVault/comments/t8kaim/a_monster_held_me_hostage_as_a_child/ https://www.reddit.com/user/JamesCaligo/ Today’s second terrifying tale of terror is the classic ‘The Monster Maker’, an old-school work by the wonderful W.C. Morrow, freely available in the public domain and read here under the conditions of the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0606131h.html Today’s final brilliant tale of jungle terror is 'The Monsters of Belize', an original story by RogueVampire3498, kindly shared directly with me for the express purpose of having me exclusively narrate it here for you all. https://www.reddit.com/user/RogueVampire3498/

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Book an eye exam at Spexsavers.cavers.ca.caps. Are provided by independent optometrists. Visit Spexsavers.com to learn more. Welcome to Dr. Creepin's Dungeon. Monsters. Perennial figures in folklore and mythology embody the mysterious and fearsome aspects of the human psyche. These creatures often fantastical in nature

traverse cultural boundaries taking on various forms and characteristics. From the mythical dragons of Eastern legends to the Gothic monsters of Western literature, these beings symbolize the unknown, representing both the external threats that lurk in the shadows and the internal demons that dwell within, as we shall see in tonight's three tales of terror. Now as ever before we begin, a word of caution. Tonight's stories may contain strong language as well as descriptions of violence and horrific imagery.

That sounds like your kind of thing. Then let's begin. A monster helped me hostage as a child. By James Colligo. a four-year-old, I believe that's when I gained my memorable consciousness. I remember waking up in a dark cobweb-covered basement full of crates and hay, alongside rotten boxes and littered trash on every inch. There was only one window that I could see, but I was much too short, and my body was aching way more than a child's shirt. That being said, I was determined to find out why I was here.

It would have left me in lockdown here, and why? I started walking around I got a good look at my body and saw that there were bruises and cuts all of my arms, legs and neck I removed my clothes for a moment and saw that I had more of these injuries on me I don't know exactly what went on in my four-year-old head but I think I was smart enough to know that this was not natural also I think the pain that I was feeling was enough to give that away moving to the back portion of the basement

closer to the heater where I could feel feel a faint warmth escaping. I held my hands up to the metal trying to get as much of the heat as I could. But I had an unusual fear of going up those stairs, something that I would later learn as to why. The house, or at least the basement, looked like it had seen far better days, but it was still used for storage. I looked through the boxes and crates, finding strange metallic devices with weird clicky parts. Seeing that they were of no use to me, I tried to do that. I tried to the boxes, my best put everything back to where they were, only to hear footsteps interrupt my investigation. I don't know why, but whatever memories I had before, they were telling me I needed to be

absolutely terrified. The door thrust open in the first few footsteps alerted me and made me want to hide. Come out. I have a surprise for you. That voice that it was coming from was deep, growling had a sinister enjoyment. Ah, there you are, they said. And I got a good view of who it was. I almost had a panic attack. It was a monster. Its skin was made of wood

with long skeletal arms and sharpened fingers, a single black eye in the middle of its face, wearing a red garment, tattered and faded. And on top of that, it had six ramhorns curved upwards, resembling the crown of a king. "'Hello?' I said, shyly. I looked around the room and I must have noticed that I'd opened one in the crates. "'Don't go exploring the crates. You wouldn't want me to give you a reminder again.'

It hissed. I shook my head, being reminded by other repressed memories of how I'd ended up with all these injuries on my body. I need to get something. I stood at a distance, questioning what this thing. was. It was going through the crates and carrying off one of the weird twin barrel devices. They looked through the holes on the one end and nodded its head for seemingly no reason. After the monster was done with its strange device, he went over to the only window, blocked off by metal bars. Ah, everything is in order. I'll bring you food for tonight. Don't forget to use your litter box. More memories were surfaced.

I only ate once a day and I was being forced to go to the bathroom in a litter box just like a cat. Neglect was clear enough for me to understand, but I still wasn't fully aware of just how bad it truly was. Still I always looked out at the window and saw the sun outside. When I'd stand in the light, the warmth was always so amazing. It felt as if all of my anxiety was being burned off by the radiant rays of that beautiful yellow light. Well, I hate to say that there wasn't much else that I could do when I was down there. Only for long periods where I wouldn't see the monster up top, but whenever it did come down, I was nervous about receiving punishment.

About three days later, the monster was acting dizzy and had been slurring its words. This was followed by a swift beating. It scratched me, tore my skin open around my joints, and just when I thought it was over, It had another creature with it, a small raccoon-looking dog beast that would bite my legs horrendously, making me bleed out a lot. Being thrashed back and forth for what felt like an eternity, I'd be afraid of losing my legs at the end of it. I cried for it to stop, but the monster just laughed every time.

He kept telling me that I needed to toughen up, that my parents were never going to find me. Well, that brought up another memory. I remembered hearing my mom say something. The word Ruby came to mind. What I could recall was that my mom was happy when my dad came into the room. He gave her something, but I couldn't remember what. All she kept saying was Ruby something. Maybe that was my name, Ruby.

I wish I could say that its remark about my parents was wrong, and they would come and get me. But after two years had passed, I never once had anyone come to rescue me. One particularly traumatizing moment was when I was hit over the head with a metal pipe. I thought I was going to die at that moment, but it was only made worse when the monster dumped a full cup of spiders on me. They were daddy long legs, but being a six-year-old at that time, it was still enough to make me lose it. I stomped on every single one of them, only for that vicious dog to attack me again after it was already traumatized by those spiders. I spent almost every day in the corner as far as I could be out of sight from this creature. Between the malicious beatings that I received every week, the rancid environment that I had to live in,

and how the monster kept dumping more dangerous animals into the basement just to make my life absolutely miserable. I'd say I hated it most when it would bring a camera to record everything that it was doing to me. I thought that maybe I wouldn't last too much longer, but something different happened on one particular day. With a cold floor finally stirring me, I awoke and saw that someone was sleeping next to me. It was me. I knew what I looked like. There was a broken mirror down here, but the mirror was not beside me where I slept. There was another girl down here that looked just like me.

She had the same red hair as I did and pale skin. Oh, hey, wake up! Her eyes flickered, and she opened them when she saw me. "'Hey, who are you?' she said. "'My name's Ruby.' The girl scratched her head, and it seemed like she was able to speak the same basic English that I knew. "'Nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Esmeralda.' And she smiled.

By then I was already sitting up with my legs criss-crossed, waiting for her to do the same. It was a bizarre experience, seeing that we looked like twins, or the only difference was the eyes. my eyes were hazel while hers were a light blue we kept moving each other's bodies to see if it really was a look-alike in the basement well she seemed to be just as weirded out by my presence as I was of hers but being that we were nothing more than a couple of six-year-olds trapped in a confined space

we did what any kids would do we talked we made friends with one another really quick and that being said there wasn't much to talk about other than that she had no idea how she'd ended up down here and she only talked about wanting to go back to her parents. I wanted to go see my parents too. We both set it out in our hearts that we would get out of here and find them.

When I pressed her for more questions on her family, she acted rather odd about what her parents looked like. I'd rather not find out that they look alike too. Well, I had to agree that would be weird. So, sue me, I was an underdeveloped six-year-old who had no idea. experience with the outside world, how would I know that that was a silly concept? By the way, why is your body covered in scratches and bruises? She pointed at my own. When I explained to her that a monster had been coming down here and attacking me whenever I got

out of line or whatever small mistake it seemed to come up with on the spot, I also took notice that she had a few bruises on her body to me. I pointed it out and she said, oh, barely even noticed I thought it was just aching from sleeping on the hard floor we took comfort in the situation that we found ourselves in because we had each other for the whole time we were in this incarceration but it was only a matter of time before we had another run in with that beast the creature came for a brief visit and picked up one of the crates thankfully it ignored us during that time when it talked it would only talk to one of us each time it came down. Then, after it grabbed the last crate, we heard the front door opening and closing

repeatedly for some time. For once we'd have some peace and quiet during our time, and there was a little extra food and water left down here for us. During that time we played house. I was mummy and she'd be daddy. We didn't have anything to be the baby, so we wrapped a blanket up and pretended with that. And pretending about a mum and dad quickly got both of us saddened, because it only reminded us about our parents. So we decided to play hide-and-seek instead. But after about two days, the sound of its footsteps coming down the stairs

got both of us to jump from our game of tag and stand next to each other, waiting for whatever it was the creature wanted. It approached and held up its arm. I flinched instinctively, waiting to be struck again. I heard the quick snap of contact, but I felt nothing.

when i opened my eyes i saw that esmeralda was the one who was hit it said you messed around with one of the crazed again didn't you no i promise i didn't it clenched its hand into her fist and proceeded to punch her repeatedly in the side of her abdomen out of anger for seeing my new-found friend be attacked i tried to push it down but i merely bounced off unable to physically move the creature it didn't even register my present I couldn't do anything. I screamed for it to stop but ignored everything and my voice was drowned out by the wailing and cries of Esmeralda. I tried pushing and punching even anything to try and get it off of her as it started bashing her in the head. But after about five minutes of this abuse

I felt so weak from my efforts and I fell down and sat in the corner. My legs were hurting, my stomach was killing me and my head was feeling a rather sharp pain. Esmeralda was laying on the floor. A small puddle of blood was dripping off her face to the ground. Her eyes appeared lifeless, and I went into a cold sweat believing that she was dead. My heart was beating excruciatingly hard, and I was hyperventilating.

The creature said, Do that one more time, and I will kill you and mail your body to your parents. It stomped its feet up the stairs, and once I knew it had closed the door, I rushed quickly over to Esmeralda and tried to use my clothes to clean up her blood. But I felt so weak myself, and that's the part that didn't make sense to me. I raised my hand to my head, and when I pulled it back, my eyes widened when I saw that my whole palm was covered in blood. Wait, why am I hurt? The pain was faint, but thankfully it wasn't going to stop me from nursing my friend back to hell.

Poor Esmeralda. I worked the entire night as I let her have all the blankets. I did my best to try and keep her warm, but she was so unresponsive towards anything I tried to do. This was probably the worst beating that I have ever seen, and I'm surprised that it wasn't me who got it. I felt so terrible because it was me that went through the crates again. I gave her all of my water, but thankfully I never felt thirsty.

Well, never thirsty, but there was never enough water. In fact, the amount of food and water that was down here for me had not changed since she was here, other than when the monster left for longer periods of time. I climbed in the sheets to keep her warm, but even with me there it felt freezing for the both of us. I knew that if I was cold, then she was cold, but no matter what I did, it never made a difference. But when the next morning, things had changed. When I woke up, I saw the Esmeralda was standing at the edge of the stairs, her body covered in dried up blood, her white as no skin giving me this surreal and frightening experience.

It was like looking at myself, but as a dead girl walking. Her eyes had life in them again, so I was feeling a little more optimistic today. Sorry, Ruby, she sniffled. Don't be sorry. It was my fault. I tried to apologize, but she hugged me unexpectedly. Don't be. I lied when I said I didn't go through any of the crates. Wait, why did you go through the crates?

I was the one who was curious about what was inside. I went through them. I guess we're both a couple of troublemakers. She forced a wink. At least her mood was improving, which got my mood improving as a result. But still, I didn't want to go through any of that again. I never wanted to see her hurt like that, so I told her to always hide whenever the creature came down.

Even if it isn't mad or look like it's... intending to her decide rather it be me that takes the beatings from now on about another year passed make it my mission as a friend to always stand as the one who broke the rules or just take the beatings altogether sometimes it works sometimes the monster would notice me and claw rip and punch me until i was unconscious but another times it would ignore me as if i wasn't there it would attack esmeralda and she would have to take the punishment i also noticed that it ignored her whenever it punished me. Something that made me curious, but, well, I wasn't about to ask the creature why. Another strange thing that would happen was when we would both get sick at the same time.

I didn't understand why that happened at the time. I wasn't able to study anything about illnesses because I was locked in a basement. But still, I'm glad that I always had her beside me at night. Sleeping on the cold concrete floor was bad enough with only a few rags and hay from me inside the crates to keep us warm at night. That wasn't the only bad thing. When I looked up at the ceiling, I imagined more of those spiders descending down on me, hundreds of them landing on my face and crawling all over my body.

Sometimes I actually find one, and because of that, I was becoming slowly more rebellious than before, and dreamt of going outside to bask in the sun. Well, after another year passed, the day had arrived. I hadn't heard from the monster for, quite some time. I believe that it may have been sleeping late. I did hear a lot of glass bottles clanking upstairs last night, which means that it was drinking a lot. I inched closer towards the steps, and while Esmerada was taking a nap, I started going up the steps to see if I could

look under the door. After all these years, I'd never thought about doing it. Well, I was always too afraid that the moment I approached, the door would swing open, and I was in for an even more vicious and cruel punishment than ever before. When I looked under the doorstep, I saw a dirty tile floor and thought about trying to open it. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that it was locked.

In hindsight, that's probably something I should have expected. I want to get out. I was already malnourished, same as Esmeralda. I needed to see the sun again. I needed to get out. Went back downstairs and woke her up,

telling her, Essie, my nickname I'd get. given her. The monster's gone. We should try to break out. She stared quickly and rubbed her eyes. What? No. That thing will kill us if we try that. It'll kill us if we stay here, I retorted. I'm so tired of being hungry all the time and I'm feeling so weak from the constant beatings. I cried. She rested a hand on my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug. I cried into her shoulder, and she did the same. But she she said.

said yet again, I love you too much to see you die, Ruby. You've always been a sister to me. And you're my sister, whether by blood or friendship. That's why I want us to escape. If we have to die, let me be getting out and finally seeing the sun again. Her face was telling me enough that she was not strong enough to do such a task. She looked down, defeated it. I'll do it Without you, I semi-threatened her. Really, I was just trying to convince her to go along because I really couldn't do this without an extra pair of hands. She looked at me again, her cheek swelling as she gave me a pouty face.

Stop trying to make me do it. I know you wouldn't leave me here. She was right, even if I did somehow manage to get the door open, there's no way I'd leave her here. Please, Esmerada, I really want us to get out of you. I pleaded with her. tears rolling down my cheeks. She started biting her nails, a nervous tick,

started looking everywhere around the room. Okay, she relented, her head slumping down. Thank you, and hey, if we get free, we can always see each other again on the outside. She smiled at my mentioning of that. I was a little worried about something like that. All right, then, let's get out of here and go play outside. We've started looking through the crates.

I knew there was something that we had to do. Whenever the lock was on the door, I knew it wasn't part of the doorknob. It had to be some sort of cheap lock that you could slide across to keep the door closed. Already when I would push on the door, it would creak open a little, telling me that we had a good chance of breaking the lock. If we could find something to break open the door or blow a hole through it, we might be able to make our break. Yes, it was due or die time.

I never really understood what any of these weird metallic objects were, but they didn't seem like they would have been useful in our escape. I wanted to use something that would destroy the wood. After opening one crate after another and still not finding something that might blow a hole in the door, I tried looking for that tool the monster had used to open the nailed-shut crates, but I never paid attention when it was doing that. But then Esmeralda shouted for me.

I came over and she out this long metal bar with sharp curves at the ends. She spoke with an excited tone. I think I remember what this is called. A crowbar! We both examined and wondered what it was for. We decided to test it out on some of the crates. After hacking at one, seeing that that wasn't the brightest idea, we tried other methods until we eventually figured out that you can wedge it in between cracks.

Perfect for a door. Time was of the essence. We had to act fast and get that door open before the monster return. I shoved the bar in between the crack and both I and Esmeralda held on tight as we started wiggling it back and forth with as much force as we could possibly muster. I knew both of us were exhausted from our living conditions, but I felt a surge of adrenaline kick in that I'd never felt except when I was receiving a beating. I kept getting reminded of those beatings and how I was done with them. I refused to ever go through that pain again. Gritting my teeth as hard as I could, we both kept going back and forth with the bar, chipping away at the woods. I wasn't going to stop until I had no strength left in my body or that door had nothing

left in it. Finally I heard a loud pop. The door was completely open and the two of us nearly lost our grip and fell back down the stairs. It's open. I shouted in excitement. As Marauda had tears rolling down her eyes. The joy of finally getting out was just ahead of us. We stepped out onto the floor and thought that the house looked to be a mess. It was old, had cobwebs in the corners, and looked just slightly more furnished than my concrete prison. Nevertheless, we made a beeline for the front door, but stopped in our tracks suddenly

when we heard something coming from upstairs. They were standing at the top of the stairs. stairway leading up to the second floor. How did you get out? The monster snarled. My body was freezing up and cold sweat was already drenching me, but Esmeralda grabbed me by the hand and we took off from the front paw. When we got out onto the lawn, I saw that the raccoon dog was tied up. It was snarling and thrashing around violently, barking like a rabid animal looking for blood. They wanted to step out onto the porch and walked fast down the steps. We both ran as fast as we could towards the street, wanted to escape to a neighbour's house

to see if they would help us. The monster went over to the dog and released it, having the creature high-tailing it towards us. I kept looking back, frightened that the dog was going to rip me apart. But Esmerada grabbed a rock and threw it at the dog. This did nothing to deter it. And then it dawned on me. I was still holding the crowbar. As the dog was about to jump up and seemingly go for Esmerowder, I thrust the crowbar as

how as I could, and landed it straight into the dog's forehead, hearing a bone-breaking crunch underneath the metal. The animal whimpered, and the monster was screaming all sorts of obscenities, saying how it was going to kill me if I didn't march right back then and there. Neither one of us ever stopped. I never stopped. My legs are so tired. and aching all over were carried on by my friend who never stopped either we kept going until we made it to one of the nearby neighbors walking on the door as frantically as we could before that creature got to us an old man answered and was startled goodness what happened to you i was both smiling and crying the only thing i could get out was i was kidnapped i was so exhausted my body aching and

settling at that very moment, I collapsed right there at the doorstep, falling unconscious and severed from the physical world. The last thing I could hear before falling into my deep sleep was as Marauda's voice saying, we're safe, you're safe. Always know that you are my sister. I woke to the sound of beeping. I was in a hospital bed and there were police officers located outside my door. A nurse was checking my IV and I heard one of the doctors say that I was in a bad state of malnutrition and thirst. The injuries that my body had sustained had left me with some potentially permanent damage, but they were a little hopeful that I could make a full recovery since I was only seven at the time. Finally, after about three hours had passed, a man and woman

who I faintly recognized stepped in and was shocked upon seeing me in bed. The woman, a man ran in and held me in a tight hug, both of them were crying. The woman said, My baby, you're alive. It didn't take me too much to realize that this was my mom and dad. I'd found them again. The emotions were too much, and I hugged both of them with my weak arms. I noticed that my father's hair looked like it had grayed in the time of my absence.

My mom had this tired expression with black rings under her eyes. She still looked beautiful with a red gem necklace that I vaguely recognized. I felt safe finally. But the moment was just as quickly interrupted by a man who said his name was Agent Bleach. His movements were stiff, but he had a kind face. The side of his jacket said, FBI. He knelt next to my bed. Excuse me, young lady.

I'm glad they were able to get you back, but there's something I need to ask you. need to know where you're kidnapper is. I tried explaining everything that had happened about the monster, about my look-like and the house being just down the street from the neighbour who caught 911. He listened to it all, but everyone else looked at me in disbelief. My mum said that the house near the neighbours was owned by her sister, another shocking revelation that there was no other girl that was reported with me. The neighbour said it was just me knocking on his door. He said that I was delirious. I kept talking over myself

like I was having a conversation with an invisible friend. I didn't want to believe anything that they told me. She had to be real. I saw her, felt her, we did everything together for years. But the matter was that

all evidence proved that I was the only one in that basement and what followed afterwards also sent chills down my spine. Shortly after I gave all that info to the cops and FBI, they went to my aunt's But upon getting there, they found out that she'd shot herself after my escape.

I learned a lot about her. She was selling illegal guns to the west side of Rockford, Illinois, the town I'm from, and that's what was in those crates. She was also selling videos of her beating me to whoever wanted them. Agent Bleak and my parents wondered why my aunt had kidnapped me, but the only conclusion that they could come up with was that she wanted to make a little extra money on the side by tormenting me. Seems that she must have been making quite a bit,

since she seemed adamant to keep me alive for as long as she did. After a little more explanation on my part as to why I was perceiving my aunt as a vicious monster, my doctors believed that the intense psychological trauma that I went through at such a young age, since it turns out I was kidnapped at the age of three, I had developed an extremely vivid form of psychosis. Everything that I was seeing wasn't real and they believed that the reason why I perceived my aunt as a monster was because of said psychosis trigger. When I told them about my lookalike best friend, they said that my mind must have been so bored or terrified, more likely, from being lonely almost the entire time. My psychosis created a friend but only able to create

a lookalike of me. This information was hard to grasp. I was sad that my cherished, friend was nothing more than a figment of my imagination. All of the pain that I thought was being inflicted on me by a monster was only my rotten to the core relative. But I was relieved that it was all over. So I had to go through the phases of rehabilitation and get my education back up to speed. I'm proud to say that I did fairly well in a lot of this stuff. But it turns out I'm really bad at math. I also started doing gymnastics as a hobby just to stay fit. After living such a long time being malnourished and scrawny, I decided that I wanted to be in shape for as long as my body will let me. I'm still forced to go see a therapist regularly. Every now and again, if I come across

someone who's particularly mean-spirited or simply angry at anything, including me, they start to warp and look a little less human to me. But at least now I have friends here in the world who are here for me just like my imaginary friend was. But that was all a long time ago, and now I'm a grown 22-year-old redhead studying metaphysics. I'm proud to say that everything's been going quite well. So from Rockford, Illinois. This is Esmeralda signing up. Hey Ontario, come on down to BedmGM Casino and check out our newest exclusive.

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The monster maker. A young man of refined appearance, but evidently suffering great mental distress, presented himself one morning at the residence of a singular old man who was known as a surgeon of remarkable skill the house was a queer and primitive brick affair entirely out of date and tolerable only in the decayed part of the city in which it stood and it was large gloomy and dark and had long corridors and dismal rooms and it was absurdly large for the small family and it was absurdly large for the small family a man and wife that occupied it The house described the man is portrayed, but not the woman. He could be agreeable on occasion, but for all that, he was but animated mystery. His wife was weak, wan, reticent, evidently miserable, and possibly living a life of dread or horror, perhaps witness of repulsive things, subject of anxieties, and victim of fear and tyranny. But there is a great deal of guessing in these assumptions.

He was about 65 years of age, and she about 40. He was lean, tall, and bald, with the thin, smooth-shaven face and very keen eyes. He kept always at home, and was slovenly. The man was strong, and the woman weak. He dominated, she suffered. Although he was a surgeon of rare skill, his practice was almost nothing, for it was a rare occurrence that the few who knew of his great ability were brave enough to penetrate the gloom of his house. When they did so, it was with deaf ear turned to sundry, ghoulish stories

that were whispered concerning him. Well, these were in great part, but exaggerations of his experiments in vivisection. He was devoted to the science of surgery. The young man who presented himself on the morning just mentioned was a handsome fellow, yet of evident weak character and unhealthy temperament, sensitive and easily exalted or depressed. The young man who presented. A lot of A single glance convinced the surgeon that his visitor was seriously affected in mind, for there was evident a skull-grin of melancholia, fixed and irredeemable. A stranger would not have suspected any occupancy of the house. The street door, old, walked and blistered by the sun, was locked,

and the small faded green window blinds were closed. The young man rapped at the door. No answer. He rapped again. Still no sign. he examined a slip of paper, glanced at the number of the house, and then, with the impatience of a child, he furiously kicked the door. There were signs of numerous other such kicks, and a response came in the shape of a shuffling footstep in the hall, a turning of the rusty key, and a sharp face that appeared through a cautious opening in the door. Are you the doctor? asked the young man.

Yes, yes, come in. briskly replied the master of the house. The young man entered. The old surgeon closed the door and carefully locked it. This way, he said, advancing to a rickety flight of stairs. The young man followed. The surgeon led the way up the stairs, turned into a narrow, musty-smelling corridor at the left, traversed it, rattling the loose boards under his feet.

At the farther end, opened a door at the right, and beckoned his visitor to enter. The young man found himself in a pleasant room, furnished in antique fashion and with hard simplicity. Sit down, said the old man, placing a chair so that its occupant should face a window that looked out upon a dead wall about six feet from the house. He threw open the blind and a pale light entered. He then seated himself near his visitor and directly faced him, with a searching look that had all the power of a microscope. he proceeded to diagnosticate the case. Well, he presently asked. The young man shifted uneasily in his seat.

I've come to see you, he finally stammered, because I'm in trouble. Ah. Yes, you see, I, that is, I've given it up. Ah. There was pity added to sympathy in the ejaculation. "'That's it, giving it up,' added the visitor. "'He took from his pocket a roll of banknotes,

"'and with the utmost deliberation he counted them out on his knee. "'Five thousand dollars,' he calmly remarked. "'That's for you, it's all I have, but I presume why imagine. "'That's not the word. "'Assume, yes, yes, that's the word, assume that five thousand... "'Is it really that much? "'Let me count.' He counted again.

That $5,000 is a sufficient fee for what I want you to do. The surgeon's lips curled pityingly, perhaps disdainfully also. Or do you want me to do? He carelessly inquired. The young man rose, looked around with a mysterious air, approached the surgeon, and laid the money across his knee. Then he stopped and whispered two words in the surgeon's ear. All these words produced an electric effect.

The old man started violently. Then, springing to his feet, he caught his visitor angrily, and transfixed him with a look that was as sharp as a knife. His eyes flashed, and he opened his mouth to give utterance to some harsh imprecation, when he suddenly checked himself. The angle left his face, and only pity remained. He relinquished his grasp, picked up the scattered notes, and offering them to the visitor, slowly said,

I do not want your money. You are simply foolish. You think you're in trouble. Well, you do not know what trouble is. Your only trouble is that you have not a trace of manhood in your nature. You are merely insane. I shall not say pusillanimous. You should surrender yourself to the authorities

and be sent to a lunatic asylum for proper treatment. The young man keenly felt the intended insult, and his eyes flashed dangerously. "'You, you old dog, you insult me thus,' he cried. "'Grand airs these you give yourself. "'A virtuously indignant old murderer, you. "'Don't want my money, eh? "'When a man comes to you himself, and wants it done, "'you may fly into a passion and spare his money,

"'but an enemy of his come and pay you, "'and you're only too willing.' How many jobs have you done in this miserable old hole? That's a good thing for you that the police have not run you down and brought spade and shovel with them. Do you know what's said of you? Do you think you've kept your windows so closely shut that no sound has ever penetrated beyond them?

Where do you keep your infernal implements? He'd worked himself into a high passion. His voice was hoarse now, loud and rasping. His eyes bloodshot, stared from their socket. his whole frame twitched and his fingers writhed but he was in the presence of a man infinitely his superior two eyes like those of a snake burned two holes right through him and overmastering inflexible presence confronted one that was weak and passionate so the result came sit down commanded the stem voice of the surgeon it was a voice of a surgeon it was a voice of a far father to child or master to slave. The fury left the visitor, who, weak and overcome, fell upon the chest.

Meanwhile, a peculiar light had appeared in the old surgeon's face, the dawn of a strange idea, a gloomy ray strayed from the fires of the bottomless pit, the baleful light that illuminates the way of the enthusiast. The old man remained a moment in profound abstraction, gleams of eager intelligence bursting momentarily through the cloud of sombre meditation that covered his face, then broke the broad light of a deep, impenetrable determination. There was something sinister in it, suggesting the sacrifice of something held sacred. After a struggle, mind had vanquished conscience. Taking a piece of paper and pencil, the surgeon carefully wrote answers to questions which he preemptorily addressed to his visitor,

such as his name, age, place of residence, occupation and the life. and the same inquiry is concerning his parents, together with other particular matters. Does anyone know that you came to this house? He asked. No. Do you swear it? Yes. But your prolonged absence will cause alarm and lead to search. I've provided against that. How? By depositing a note in the post as I came along, announcing my intention to drown myself.

The river will be dragged. What then? asked the young man, shrugging his shoulders with careless indifference. Rapid undercurrent, you know. A good many are never found. There was a pause. Are you ready? Finally asked the surgeon.

Perfectly. The answer was cool and determined. The manner of the surgeon, however, showed much perturbation. The pallor that had come into his face at the moment his decision, was formed became intense. The nervous tremulousness overcame his frame. About it shone the light of enthusiasm.

Have you a choice in the method? He asked. Yeah. Extreme anesthesia. With what agent? The surest and quickest. Do you desire any any subsequent disposition?

No. Only nullification simply a blowing out As of a candle in the wind, a puff and then darkness without a trace. A sense of your own safety may suggest the method, or leave it to you. No delivery to your friends. None whatever. Another pause is you say you're quite ready, asked the surgeon.

Quite ready. And perfectly willing? Anxious. Well, then wait a moment. With this request the old surgeon rose to his feet and stretched himself. Then with the stealthiness of a cat he opened the door and peered into the hall, listening intently. There was no sound. He softly closed the door and locked him.

And he closed the window blinds and locked them. This dunny opened a door leading into an adjoining room, which, though it had no window, was lighted by means of a small skylight. The young man watched closely. A strange change had come over him While his determination had not at all lessened A look of great relief came into his face Displacing the haggard despairing look of half an hour earlier

Melancholic then he was ecstatic now The opening of a second door disclosed a curious sight In the centre of the room, directly under the skylight Was an operating table Such as is used by demonstrators of anatomy A glass case against the wall held surgical instruments of every kind. Hanging in another case were human skeletons of various sizes. In sealed jars, arranged on shelves, were monstrosities of diverse kinds preserved in alcohol.

There were also, among innumerable other articles scattered about the room, a mannequin, a stuffed cat, dissected human hearts, plus a cast of various parts of the body, numerous charts, and a large assortment of drugs and chemicals. There was also a lounger which could be opened to form a couch. The surgeon opened it and moved the operating table aside, giving its place to the lounger. Come in, he called to his visitor.

The young man obeyed without the least hesitation. Take off your coat. He complied and lie down on that lounger. In a moment the young man was stretched at full length, eyeing the surgeon. The latter undoubtedly was suffering under great excitement, but he didn't waver. His movements were sure and quick, selecting a bottle containing a liquid, he carefully measured out a certain quantity. While doing this, he asked, have you ever had any irregularity of the heart? No, the answer was prompt, but it was immediately followed by a quizzical look in the speaker's face.

I presume, he added, do you mean by your question that he was. it might be dangerous to give me a certain drug, or under the circumstances, however, I failed to see any relevancy in your question. This took the surgeon aback, but he hastened to explain that he did not wish to inflict unnecessary pain, and hence his question. He placed the glass on a stand, approached his visitor, and carefully examined his pulse. "'Wonderful,' he exclaimed. "'Why?'

"'It's perfectly normal.' because I am wholly resigned. Indeed, it's been long since I knew such happiness. It's not active, but infinitely sweet. You have no lingering desire to retract. None whatever. The surgeon went to the stand and returned with the draught. Take this, he said, kindly.

The young man partially raised himself and took the glass in his hand. He didn't show the vibration of a single nerve. He drank the liquid. draining the last drop then he returned the glass with a smile thank you he said you're the noblest man that lives may you always prosper be happy you're my benefactor my liberator bless you bless you you reach down from your seat with the gods and lift me up into a glorious peace and rest i love you love you with all my heart these words spoken earnestly in a musical low voice and accompanied with a smile of ineffable tenderness pierced the old man's heart as a breast

convulsion swept over him intense anguish wrung his vitals perspiration trickled down his face the young man continued to smile ah it does me good said he the surgeon with a strong effort to control himself sat down upon the edge of the lounger and took his visitor's wrist counting the pulse a How long will it take? The young man asked. Ten minutes. Two have passed. The voice was hoarse.

Ah, only eight minutes more. Delicious, delicious. I feel it coming. What was that? I understand. Music, beautiful. Coming. Oh, is that water?

Trickling, dripling. Doctor? Well, Thank you. Thank you, noble man. My saviour, my benefactor. Trigli-tripping. Doctor.

Well? Doctor. Past hearing, muttered the surgeon. Doctor. Well, hand-blind. Response was made by a firm grasp of the hand. Doctor! and numb doctor the old man watched and waited dripping dripping the last drop had run there was a sigh and nothing more

the surgeon laid down the hand the first step he groaned rising to his feet then his whole frame dilated the first step is the most difficult yet the simplest A providential delivery into my hands, that for which I have hungered for 40 years. No withdrawal now. It is possible because it's scientific, rational, but perilous. If I succeed, if, if I shall succeed, I will succeed. And after success, what? Yes, what? Publish the plan and the results?

The gallows, so long as it shall exist. and I exist in the gallows. That much, but how to account for his presence? Oh, that pinch is hard. I must trust to the future. He tore himself from the reverie and started. I wonder if she heard or saw anything.

And with that reflection, he cast a glance upon the form on the lounge, and then left the room, locked the door, not also the door of the outer room, walked down two or three corridors, penetrated to a remote part of the house, and wrapped at a door. He was open by his wife. He by this time had regained complete mastery over himself. I thought I heard someone in the house just now, he said, but I can find no one. I heard nothing. He was greatly relieved.

I did hear someone knock at the door less than an hour ago, she resumed, and I heard you speak, I think. "'Did he come in?' "'No.' The woman glanced at his feet and seemed perplexed. "'I'm almost certain,' she said, "'and I heard footfalls in the house. "'You can I see you're wearing slippers.' "'Oh, um, I had on my shoes, then.'

"'That explains it,' said the woman, satisfied. "'I think the sound you heard must have been caused by... "'Ah, yeah, that was it,' exclaimed the surgeon. "'Leaving, he closed the door, then reopened it. and said, I do not wish to be disturbed today. He said to himself as he went down the hall, all is clear there. He returned to the room in which his visitor lay, and made a careful examination. A splendid specimen, he softly exclaimed, every organ sound, every function perfect, fine, large frame, wall-shaped muscles, strong and sinewy, capable of wonderful development,

if given opportunity. I have no doubt it can be done. Already I've succeeded with a dog, a task less difficult than this, for in a man the cerebrum overlaps a cerebellum, which is not the case with a dog. This gives a wide range for accident, but with but one opportunity in a lifetime.

In the cerebrum, the intellect and the affections. In the cerebellum, the senses and the motor forces. In the medulla oblongata control of the diaphragm. in these latter two lie all the essentials of simple existence the cerebrum is merely an adornment that is to say reason and the affections are almost purely ornamental i've already proved that my dog with its cerebrum removed was idiotic but it retained its physical senses to a certain degree while thus ruminating he made careful preparations he moved to the couch replaced the operating table under the skylight selected a number of surgical instruments protected a number of surgical instruments prepared certain drug mixtures and arranged water, towels, and all the accessories of a tedious surgical operation. And suddenly, he burst into laughter. Poor fool, he exclaimed.

Paid me five thousand dollars to kill him. Didn't have the courage to snuff his own candle. Singular the queer freaks these madmen have. You thought you were dying, you poor idiots. Allow me to inform you, sir, that you're as much alive at this moment as, you ever were in your life. But it'll be the same to you. You shall never be more conscious than you are now.

For all practical purposes, so far as they concern you, you are dead, henceforth, though you shall live. By the way, how should you feel without a head? That's a sorry joke. He lifted the unconscious form from the lounger and laid it upon the operating tape. About three years afterwards, the following conversation was held between a captain of the police and a detective. She may be insane, suggested the captain.

I think she is. And yet you credit her story. I do. Singular. Not at all. I think myself have learned something. What? Much in one sense, little in another.

You've heard those queer stories of her husband. Well, they're all nonsensical, probably with one exception. He's generally a harmless old fellow, but peculiar. He's performed some wonderful surgical operations. The people in this neighbourhood are ignorant, and they fear him and wish to be rid of him. Hence they all tell a great many lies about him, and they come to believe their own stories.

The one important thing I've learned is that he's almost insanely enthusiastic on the subject of surgery, especially experimental surgery. And with an enthusiast, there's hardly such a thing as a scruple. It's that that gives me confidence in the woman's story. You say she appeared to be frightened. Oh, doubly so. First she feared that her husband would learn of her betrayal of him.

Second, the discovery itself had her terrified. But her report of this discovery is very vague, argued the captain. He conceals everything from her. She is merely guessing. In part, yes, in other part, no. She heard the sounds distinctly, though she didn't see clearly. Horror closed her eyes. What she thinks she saw is, I admit, preposterous,

but she undoubtedly saw something extremely frightful. There are many peculiar little circumstances. He's eaten with her but a few times during the last three years, and nearly always carries his food to his private rooms. she says that he's either consuming an enormous quantity and throws much away or is feeding something that eats prodigiously he explains this to her by saying that he has animals with which he experiments that this is not true again he always keeps the door to these rooms carefully locked and not only that but he has the doors doubled and otherwise strengthened and has heavily barred a window that looks from one of the rooms upon a dead wall a few feet distant Hmm What does it all mean?

asked the captain. Oh, a prison. For animals, perhaps? Oh, certainly not. Why? Because in the first place, cages would have been better. In the second place, the security that he's provided is infinitely greater than that required for the confinement of ordinary animals.

Well, all this is easily explained. He has a violent lunatic under treatment. Oh, I'd thought of that, but such is not the fact. How do you know? By reasoning thus, he's always refused to treat cases of lunacy. He confines himself to surgery. The walls are not padded, for the woman has heard sharp blows upon them. No human strength, however morbid, could possibly require such resisting strength as has been provided.

He'd not be likely to conceal a lunatic's confinement from the woman. No lunatic could consume all the food that he provides. So extremely violent mania as these precautions indicate could not continue three years. If there is a lunatic in the case, it is very probable that there should have been communication with someone outside concerning the patient, and there's been none. The woman has listened at the keyhole and has heard no human voice within. And lastly, we've heard the woman's vague description of what she saw. Hmm. You've destroyed every possible theory, said the captain. deeply interested and have suggested nothing new oh unfortunately i cannot but the truth may be very

simple after all the old surgeon is so peculiar that i'm prepared to discover something remarkable have you suspicions i have of what a crime the woman suspects it and betrays it certainly because it's so horrible that her humanity revere so terrible that her whole nature demands her that she hand over the criminal to the law so frightful that she's immortal terror so awful that it's shaken her mind well what do you propose to do asked the captain secure evidence i may need help you shall have all the men you require go ahead but be careful you're on dangerous ground you'd be a mere plaything in the hands of that man to days afterwards the detective again sought the captain. I have a queer document, he said, exhibiting torn fragments of paper on which they was writing. The one stole it and brought it to me. She snatched a handful out of a book, getting only a part of each of a few leaves. These fragments which the men arranged as best they could were, the detective explained, torn by the surgeon's wife

from the first volume of a number of manuscript books which her husband had written on one subject the very one that was the cause of her excitement about the time that he began a certain experiment three years ago continued the detective he removed everything from the suite of two rooms containing his study and his operating room in one of the bookcases that he removed to a room across the passage was a drawer which he kept locked but which he opened from time to time as is quite common with such pieces of furniture the lock of the drawer is very poor and so the woman while making a thorough search yesterday, found a key on her bunch that fitted this lock. She opened the drawer, drew out the bottom book of a pile, so that its mutilation would more

likely escape discovery, saw that it might contain a clue and tore out a handful of the leaves. She had barely replaced the book, locked the drawer, and made her escape when her husband appeared. He hardly ever allows her to be out of his sight when she's in that part of the house. The fragments read as follows. The motory nerves. I had hardly dared to hope for such a result, although inductive reasoning had convinced me of its possibility, my only doubt having been on the score of my lack of skill.

Their operation has been only slightly impaired, and even this would not have been the case at the operation being performed in infancy, before the intellect sought and obtained recognition as an essential part of the whole. Therefore, I state, as a proved fact, that the cells of the motory nerves have inherent forces sufficient

to the purposes of those nerves, but hardly so with the sensory nerves. These latter are, in fact, an offshoot of the former, evolved from them by natural, though not essential, heterogeneity, and, to a certain extent, are dependent on the evolution and expansion

of a contemporaneous tendency that developed into, mentality or mental function. Both of these latter tendencies, these evolvements, are merely refinements of the motory system and not independent entities. That is to say,

they are blossoms of a plant that propagates from its roots. The motory system is the first. Nor am I surprised that such prodigious muscular energy is developing. It promises yet to surpass the wildest dreams of human strength. I account for

thus, the powers of assimilation had reached their full development. They'd formed the habit of doing a certain amount of work. They sent their product to all parts of the system. As a result of my operation, the consumption of these products was reduced fully one-half. That is to say, about one-half of a demand for them was withdrawn. But force of habit required the production to proceed. This production was strength, vitality, energy. thus double the usual quantity of this strength, this energy, was stored in the remaining

well developed a tendency that did surprise me. Nature no longer suffering the distraction of extraneous interferences, and at the same time being cut in two, as it were, with reference to this case did not fully adjust herself to the new situation, as does a magnet which, when divided at the point of equilibrium, renukes itself in its two fragments by investing each with her opposite poles. But on the contrary, being severed from laws that therefore had controlled her, and possessing still that mysterious tendency to develop into something more potential and complex. She blindly, having lost her land,

pushed her demands for material that would secure this development, and has blindly used it when it was given her. Hence this marvellous veracity, this sensation. hunger, this wonderful ravenousness, and hence also, there being nothing but the physical part to receive this vast storing of energy, this strength that is becoming almost hourly Herculean, almost daily appalling. It's becoming a serious, narrow escape today. By some means while I was absent, it unscrewed the stopper of the silver feeding pipe, which I have already hear in termed the artificial mouth, and in one of its curious antics, allowed all of it.

the child to escape from its stomach through the tube. Its hunger then became intense. I may even say furious. I placed my hands upon it to push it into a chair. And when feeling my touch it caught me, clasped me around the neck. I would have crushed me to death instantly had I not slip from its powerful grasp. Thus I always had to be on my guard. I provided the screw stopper with a spring catch and usually docile when not hungry, slow and heaviness movements which are of course purely unconscious. Any apparent excitement in movement being due to local irregularities in the blood supply of the cerebellum, which, if I did not have it enclosed in a silver case that is immovable, I should expose it. The captain looked at the detective with a puzzled air.

I don't understand it all, said he, nor I, agreed. the detective. What do you propose to do? Make a raid. Do you want a man? Three, the strongest men in your district. Why? The surgeon is old and weak. Nevertheless, I want three strong men, and for that matter, prudence really advises me to take twenty. At one o'clock the next morning, a cautious, scratching sound might have been heard in the ceiling of the surgeon's operating room. shortly afterwards the skylight sash was carefully raised and laid aside a man peered into the opening nothing could be heard that is singular thought the detective he cautiously lowered himself to the floor by a rope and then stood for some moments listening intently there was a dead silence he shot the slide of a dark lantern and rapidly swept the room with the light It was bare, with the exception of a strong iron staple and ring, screwed to the floor in the centre of the room, with a heavy chain attached.

The detective then turned his attention to the outer room. It was perfectly bare, and he was deeply perplexed. Returning to the inner room, he caught softly to the men to descend. While they were thus occupied, he re-entered the outer room and examined the door. A glance sufficed. It was kept closed by a spring attachment and was locked with a strong spring lock that could be drawn from the inside. The bird has just flown, news the detective.

A singular accident. The discovery and proper use of this thumb bolt might not have happened once in fifty years, if my theory is correct. By this time the men were behind him. He noiselessly drew the spring bolts, opened the door and looked out into the hall. heard a peculiar sound it was as though a gigantic lobster was floundering and scrambling in some distant part of the old house accompanying this sound was a loud whistling breathing and frequent rasping gasps these sounds were heard by still another person the surgeon's wife for they originated

very near her rooms which were a considerable distance from her husband's she'd been sleeping lightly, tortured by fear and harassed by frightful dreams. The conspiracy into which she'd recently entered for the destruction of her husband was a source of great anxiety. She constantly suffered from the most gloomy forebodings and lived in an atmosphere of terror, added to the natural horror of her situation were those countless sources of fear which a fright-shaken mind creates and then magnifies. She was indeed a pitiable sight, having been a very serious. Having been a very source of been driven first by terror to desperation and then to madness. Started thus out of fitful slumber by the noise at her door. She sprang from her bed to the floor. Every terror that lurked in her

acutely tense mind and diseased imagination starting up and almost overwhelming her. The idea of flight, one of the strongest of all instincts, seized upon her and she ran to the door beyond all control of reason. She drew the bolt and flung the door wide open. She drew the bolt and flung the door wide open. and then fled wildly down the passage, the appalling hissing and rasping gurgle ringing in her ears apparently with a thousand-fold intensity. But the passage was in absolute darkness, and she had not taken a half-dozen steps when she tripped upon an unseen object on the floor. She fell headlong upon it, encountering in it a large, soft, warm substance that writhed and squirmed, and from which came the sounds that had awakened her. Instantly realising her situation, she uttered a shriek such as only an unnameable terror can inspire.

But hardly at her cry started the echoes in the empty corridor, when it was suddenly stifled. Two prodigious arms had closed upon her and crushed the life out of her. The cry performed the service of directing the detective and his assistants, and it also aroused the old surgeon, who occupied the rooms between the officers and the objects of their search. The cry of agony pierced him to the marrow, and a realization of the cause of it burst upon him with frightful focks. Oh, it has come at last, he gasped, springing from his bed. Snatching from a table, a dimly burning lamp, and a long knife which he kept at hand for three years. He dashed into the corridor.

The four officers had already started forward, but when they saw him emerge, they had heard. halted in silence. In that moment of stillness, the surgeon paused to listen. He heard the hissing sound and the clumsy floundering of a bulky, living object in the direction of his wife's apartments. It evidently was advancing towards him. A turn in the corridor shut out the view. He turned up the light, which revealed a ghastly pallor in his face.

"'Wife!' he called. There was no response. He hurriedly advanced, the four men following quietly. He turned the angle of the corridor and ran so rapidly that by the time the officers had come inside of him, he was twenty steps away. He ran past a huge, shapeless object, sprawling, crawling and floundering along, and arrived at the body of his wife. He gave one horrified glance at her face and then staggered away. and then a fury seized him. Clutching the knife firmly and holding the lamp aloft,

he sprang toward the ungainly object in the corridor. It was then that the officers, still advancing cautiously, saw a little more clearly, though still indistinctly, the object of the surgeon's fury, and the cause of the look of unutterable anguish in his face. The hideous sight caused them to pause. They saw what appeared to be a man, yet, evidently was not a man, huge, awkward, shapeless,

a squirming, lurching, stumbling mass, completely naked. It raised its broad shoulders. It had no head, but instead of it, a small metallic ball surmounting its massive neck. Devil, exclaimed the surgeon, raising the knife. Hold there, commanded a stern voice. The surgeon quickly raising, his eyes and saw the four officers, and for a moment fear paralyzed his arm. The police, he gasped.

And then with a look of redoubled fury, he sent the knife to the hilt into the squirming mass before him. The wounded monster sprang to its feet and wildly threw its arms about. Meanwhile, emitted fearful sounds from a silver tube through which it breathed. The surgeon aimed another blow, but never gave it. In his blind fury, he lost. his caution was caught in an iron grasp. The struggling through the lamps on feet toward the offices and it fell to the floor and shattered to pieces. Simultaneously with the crash, the oil took fire and the corridor was filled with flame. The officers could not approach. Before them was the spreading blaze and secure behind it were two forms struggling in a fearful embrace.

They heard cries and gasps and saw the gleamines. And saw the gleam of the gleam of the gleam of of a knife the wood in the house was old and dry and it took fire at once and the flames spread with great rapidity before officers turned and fled barely escaping with their lives within an hour nothing remained of the mysterious old house and its inmates except for a blackened ruin the monsters have believed this is the official incident report for the events occurring on on March 17th during the Belize zip-lining shore excursion submitted by Thomas Strickland. The aforementioned excursion is currently fully endorsed by the cruise line. Itinerary for it states that passengers may begin to disembark from the ship at 7.30 a.m.

to convene with their tour group and guide in the Port Plaza by no later than 8.15 a.m. From there, passengers travel via bus for approximately one and a half hours, deep into the jungle for a day of zip lining through the canopy of foliage, ending at 2pm to allot time to return to port and reboard the ship's departure time of 4pm. However, on March 17th the tour group for this activity, in its entirety, failed to return from the excursion by the specified departure time. As a result, I was dispatched to investigate the disappearances, recover the missing passengers, and assist with boarding the next ship that would be by.

in two days time. Typically, a tour group failing into return is caused by human error, such as a guide losing track of time, or neglecting to align their watch to the correct time zone. I departed from the ship and decided to remain in the Port Plaza for a while, to wait and see in case there was simply a misunderstanding on the hour, as there seemed to be no sense in driving the long distance to the zip lining station if the tour group was merely running behind schedule. Watching the ship sail out of the port and disappear from sight, I prepared myself to be berated by angry passengers who undoubtedly would be outraged the ship are left without them with all

their belongings on board. It would be non-stop apologising on behalf of the cruise line once the passengers arrived, yelling and screaming directed at me as if I were to blame as I cordially and vehemently apologised until the next ship came to the rescue. I grabbed a drink from a bar in the port and tried to call the tour guide satellite phone for the fifth time yet again there was no answer this was peculiar as its protocol for tour guides to always answer their phones i speculated that perhaps their phone had been damaged or lost during the excursion if it was their only means of tracking time it could also explain the late return i continued to wait at the bar until five p m local time there was still no sign of the tour group, sighing, I called for a ride, dreading that I would have to venture into the bug-infested

jungle to look into the matter further. The majority of the ride to the station doesn't pertain to my investigation. I did note at the time that the closer we drew to the outpost, the dense of the jungle foliage became. I watched the scenery fly past my window as vast, golden strawfield spanning until the whirl curved out of sight began to grow small, found leave plants that slowly stretched towards the sky and became so compacted that daylight barely shone between them. The turn off the main road to begin the drive down the bumpy,

unmaintained road of the station was covered in jungle canopy. It was as if someone had once carved a tunnel through the trees and vines that intertwined with one another into a mass of verdure for the road. An occasional rogue branch would forcibly brush the side of the car, jolting me from my daydream. It was noticeably darker on the dirt road as sunlight was mostly obscured by the thick vegetation. We arrived at the Baron Station

and I immediately exited the cab to stretch my legs. The ride hadn't been terribly unpleasant, only long and quiet as my driver didn't speak much English. My driver also exited the vehicle surveying the deserted station with trepidation. He said something in his native tongue, which I didn't understand, but I felt the sentiment it conveyed.

What had happened here? There were no staff members, tourists, or the slightest signs of life nearby. The station appeared to be completely abandoned. Hello? I yelled, to which there was no response. Listening carefully, I heard absolutely nothing, not even an insect stirring. I entered the main building to begin looking for clues as to all. what had transpired. Several chairs were overturned and an old outdated computer monitor lay in a broken heap on the ground. The stone receptionist counter not only consisted of the same materials as the

rest of the building, but was also inlaid onto the floor. A scattered array of notebook pages containing furiously scribbled words and red smudges adorn the counter and surrounding floor. After taking several moments to arrange them in order, I discovered what had transpired. They read as follows. If you're reading this, I'm probably dead. I've been hiding here for hours now and no one's come to help. The blood loss is making me feel woozy, but I managed to stop most of the bleeding from my leg

by tying a part of my zip-lining harness around it as a tourniquet. I fear it won't make much of a difference now, outside of my sanctuary, I can hear the monsters roving around, waiting for me to leave. I have to do something to distract myself, so I'm writing this. Lying in wait for my imminent death is too much to bear.

Maybe someone will come to rescue me before it's too late. If not, at least this will pass the time, and hopefully someone will find this so my family can find out what happened to me. My name is Bethany, last name with hell. Please tell my parents how much I love them, and please tell my little sister that I'm sorry I was so cruel to her in not letting her come on vacation with us well seeing as how things have turned out though I'm glad I didn't it's just supposed to be one last

adventure with my friends celebrating our graduation from college before having to be adults functioning in the real world and I wanted to let loose I'm sorry bug I didn't mean to make you feel like I didn't love you or want you around and the rest of the cruise was super fun and I wish you You could have been there up until today. This morning everything seemed so normal. The four of us woke up in our Ocean View Suite, groggy from the previous late night of partying in the ship's club, but we were excited for our last shore excursion of zip lining,

even if it meant we had to get up early. We fought over the bathroom and single mirror in the room, but we all managed to shower and get ready in time. Like zombies, we dragged ourselves down to the lowest level of the ship, to exit onto the dock. As we were about to step off, I noticed I was still clutching my coffee. Quickly I chugged it and left the cup behind on the ship.

I regretted having to leave it somewhere completely out of the ordinary for housekeeping to discover, but there was little else I could do. He filed into the port and were revitalised with excitement. I inhaled the marvellous smell of clean sea air, and with wondrous eyes beheld the beauty of the tropical fauna. admiring the colourful little shop selling shirts and various trinkets I hope we'd have some time after the excursion to grab souvenirs

Courtney Amber and Jessie seemed to be as invigorated as I was excitedly we convinced another individual from the ship to take a picture of us doing our squad pose in front of the large Belize welcome sign laughing in ourselves for being such obvious tourists we thanked our fellow passenger and headed toward the rendezvous point for the zip line tour Our tour guide was a fun local. She shared insight into the culture and regaled us with hilarious anecdotes of past tour groups

on our ride to the Zipline station. The bus we were packed into bounced with each bump in the road with a loud clanking sound and jarring motion. The bus' shocks had lightly gone out long ago, but I enjoyed a more authentic feel of the ride. I watched out the windows, we passed by dwellings covered in bars and surrounded with iron fences. This must be the nice part of the town, I thought.

We passed by several children in matching uniforms walking to school. A man stood on a street median holding up bundles of bananas for sale. Soon the buildings and houses were replaced with fields, which were soon overgrown with trees and vines coexisting perfectly with one another. I think we're getting close, Amper said with sparkling eyes. This is going to be awesome. Courtney chimed from the seat behind Amber and me. Beth, take a pick.

Jessie insisted, passing her phone up to me. I squeezed closer to Amber and held my arm as high as I could in order to get everyone in the photo. I turned the phone around to see what I'd taken. Courtney and Jessie stood up leaning over our seat to judge the picture as well. Oh, perfect. Jesse said, satisfied it, taking her phone back.

We turned off the main road. road onto a little dirt path and the bus started to thrash, throwing us all around. Feeling a relief as we came to a stop, the four of us jumped off the bus ready for today's endeavour. Well, I'm awake now, I sarcastically indicated. My friends laughed and nodded in a sense. Yeah, there really should be some seatbelts on a bus like that. I've been on roller coasters that jerk you around less, Courtney remarked.

At least roller coasters have safety boards. bars. Jesse added, Come on, we should get in line. Everyone else is already ahead of us. Amber pointed out, waving towards the horde of people waiting. We took our place in line and talked about how excited we were to be zip-lining, how much fun the crews had been, and how sad we were that it was about to end. Soon we'd return to the busy rat race of life.

I wish the cruise didn't have to end, and we could stay on vacation forever. Amber solemnly stated. I know, Courtney agreed. Wouldn't it be nice just to live on a cruise ship and see the world while doing rad things? Amber appeared to have something weighing heavily on her mind. In an effort to cheer her up, I said, we should do this again in a few years. Once we all settle into our new jobs and save up,

we should have a girls' reunion trip. Yeah, totally, Courtney agreed. Yeah, Amber said quietly, almost is a very important. aside. What's wrong? I finally inquired. It's just, Amber began, then hesitated. Just what? Jesse asked in concern. It's just that you're moving to Seattle and Courtney's taking that job in New York. We're never going to see each other. Then there will be husbands and families. Beth will meet a nice girl and settle down. Our lives are going to grow apart after this. I'm sad because I know this will be our last adventure together. Amber blurted out. I'm sorry, I don't mean to ruin our last day,

she concluded rubbing the tears that were forming her way. She didn't have much in the way of family back home. Over the years of school together, we'd become her family. She'd even joined me at my parents' house for Christmas last year. My folks welcomed her with open arms, and my little sister was glad to have another person to play games with. I placed my arms on her shoulders and reassured her. Hey now, we're always going to be friends. Well, it's true we may grow apart somewhat, but we'll never lose touch, right? I asked, glancing at the other two. Of course, Jesse answered, patting Amber's back. BFFs till we die, bitches. Courtney chimed in, squeezing us together for a group hug. After the embrace, Amber was smiling again.

Thanks, guys, she said, wiping away the remaining tears. We continued to wait in line and steered the conversation away from going home and towards how excited we were for the zipline. Any of you zipline before? Courtney asked. We all responded no, and she continued. Oh, it's so much fun. This one sounds even better than the ones I've gone on. Seven ziplines in a row.

What do you mean? Jesse asked. Well, usually there are only a couple of ziplines to cross, but this one has seven. That's a little bit of walking between a couple of them, I think. It's mostly zip, land on a platform, zip again. Courtney motioned, waving a finger from one spot to another for emphasis. She'd been the one to pick this excursion, hence knowing the most about it. Each of the four of us picked an excursion for the group.

Amber chose swimming with dolphins. Jesse picked deep-sea snorkeling, and I decided we'd explore mine ruins, which ended up being an all-day hike around the outside of some pyramids rather than getting to explore the inside like Lara Croft, but we still enjoyed it. All in all, it had been an amazing trip none of us would forget.

Finally, we made it to the front of the line where a happy instructor fitted our gear and went over the safety precautions. We were each given a harness, gloves and a helmet to wear for the duration of the event, including the half-mile hike straight uphill to the first line.

Wearing it was easier than carrying it, but the harness was uncomfortable and rode up my shorts. The instructor informed us that we didn't need to worry about breaking, since it was done automatically when we got close to the end of the line, where a staff member would catch us and hook us up to the next line. He also warned us to tuck our knees in before landing to prevent injury. We then told us to begin our journey up the hill whenever we were ready and concluded with, and most importantly, have a great time. I wandered over to the cooler for some water, or my friends applied bug spray and adjusted their gear.

Little did they know, but I was terrified of heights. Only my parents and sister knew of my secret fear, which they thoroughly enjoyed teasing me about. Freaking out quietly, I filled the paper cup with a cool liquid and doubted. You can do this. I reassured myself in a breathy whisper. I refilled my cup and sipped the hydration. Glancing at my friends, I confirmed they were still preoccupied. I looked at the jungle surrounding me. The greenery was thick and beautiful.

Ivy and vines twisted around tree trunks and branches. It was incredibly peaceful. My peace was soon interrupted by a staff member. Hey, how are you? he asked in a thick accent. Good, I timidly answered, possessing a strong dislike of strangers. How are you? It's another beautiful day, he declared as he outspread his arms. Smiling, he then asked, are you out here by yourself? Well, it may have been a cultural difference, but the question sent a warning alarm blaring in my mind.

I answered, no, I'm with my friends. His brow then furrowed with displeasure. I quickly chugged my remaining water, tossed my cup and added, I should get back to them as I hurried away. I rejoined the group and Jesse said, Ready? Yeah, I slowly said. Did you guys see that?

What? You talking to a local hoodie? Yeah. Too bad for him, he chose the wrong one of us. Courtney answered laughing. No, um, he really was creepy. I corrected. Oh, look, just because a guy's hidden on you doesn't mean he's a creep, Blaisbro.

Courtney fired back, still laughing at her own antics. I glanced over and he remained by the water-cooler, staring at me in the same way, I suppose, a hungry wolf-eye is a tasty sheep. Decided in the quickest way out of the situation was to drop the match I said, Yeah, let's go. Leading the way up the steep incline, my harness chafed the inside of my thighs. I sincerely regretted not wearing longer shorts or pants like Jesse had, but it was so hot and humid, and it never occurred to me that it could be problematic. Soon the first platform came within view.

A staff member sent the last person in front of us off, and they screamed in terror across the line. I realized I shouldn't be the first of us to go. So, Courtney, you're going to show us how it's done, right? Miss Prozibliner, I teased. Duh, she answered, passing me at the base of the few stairs to mount the platform. Trying to be as subtle as possible, I hesitated, motioning for the other. to pass me as well. Jesse nodded politely, and Amber curtsied, seeming to be none the wiser.

Courtney was clipped in and sent off proclaiming, whoo, as she zipped on to the next platform. Once there she turned around and waved to us with an ecstatic smile, showing all her teeth. Jesse was next. By the time she'd left the first platform, Courtney had already disappeared from the second. They didn't seem to be adequate,

room for more than two people to be on that platform, including the attendant. Amber was sent down the line, meaning it would be my turn next. I slowly approached the edge of the platform, peering down at the plummet to certain death. Looking up, I caught sight of Amber smiling and waving from the second platform, so I reciprocated, feigning excitement. Ready? The smiling attendant asked. Amber had already disappeared,

so I took a couple of deep breaths. before hesitantly answering, Yeah. Instantly I was shoved off the platform and sent flying down the line. I shamelessly screamed and laughed all at once, probably sounding like I was insane. This would be an accurate assumption

as I was insane with fear. Soaring across the canopy was exhilarating, yet terrifying. My heart was beating so rapidly in my chest, I thought it would burst. I approached the second platform and slowed a bit as the braking system engaged. Recalling the instructor's words,

I picked up my feet just before I slammed into the staff member who caught me. He seemed used to being hit with that kind of force, barely rocking in place. I briefly wondered about the alleged breaking system, thinking that it left much to be desired. How was it? The attendant asked me. A huge smile swept across my face as I answered. Awesome.

I was glad to be facing my fear in the most exciting fashion, but I was already nervous for the next zip. Ready to go again, he asked, while clipping me on to the second line. I followed the cord with my eyes, but it disappeared into the canopy and the third platform was hidden from view. Silently, I reassured myself and nodded my head, confirming, ready. Again I was sent soaring amongst the greenery of the jungle. this time actually entering into it. A few brave trees attempted to retake the path of the zip line, twisting towards it.

Leaves grazed my feet and arms as I flew past. I took my feet up towards my chest for fear of them getting snagged on a brow. Soon the next landing came within view, but something was terribly wrong. Courtney was laid on the floor of the platform with a Jessie crouching down next to her. Amber stood as a sentry until she noticed. noticed me, then yelled to Jesse and hoisted her up. They poised themselves, looking like umpires

ready to catch me. Automatically slowing slightly, I braced myself. I crashed into them, but thankfully they prevented me from colliding into the tree that the zip line was anchored to. Amber managed to stay on her feet, but Jesse fell, landing beside Courtney. Thanks, I gratefully said, standing on my feet. Jesse rolled her in her. knees, wincing, and outstretched one of her legs. Her attention returned to Courtney. Is she okay? I asked, worried about the severity of her condition. She's been out cold since I got here a few minutes ago. Jesse answered, without looking up from checking Courtney's vitals. Amber fidgeted with my clips as she tried to unhook me, saying, yeah, it took us a while to

unclipped me. We were afraid you'd crash into me. Then we were scared you weren't coming at all. "'Where's the staff of this platform?' I asked the question with the obvious answer, since the four of us were crammed onto the tiny platform alone. After a brief silence, Jesse sighed and Amber answered. "'We don't know.' Her voice shook as she struggled to remain calm. Courtney was the only one here when I got here, and well,

Jesse's voice trailed off as she gently slapped Courtney's face. We need to get help. I urged on the verge of panicking. Our phones don't work out here and there's no one around. Jesse stated irritably. Most likely she'd already had the same conversation with Amber moments ago where I'd missed it. I glanced around us, brainstorming ideas. We were still a long ways away from the ground.

There were some large tree trunks and branches within reach, but I was no climber. I followed the third line visually, which led to an abandoned, platform. I scanned the area surrounding the fourth landing and noticed there were stairs going down to the side of it. Maybe there was another way down, or at least solid ground, which I prefer immensely in contrast to a rickety platform suspended in the air, supported only by the trunk of a tree. Courtney stirred with a groan. Oh my God, you're okay? Was heard amongst the group as we crowded around her. Perplexed, she slowly asked. What happened?

Jesse brushed Courtney's blonde bangs aside with her feeling a large red mark down the side of her temple, where her helmet could not protect, and concluded, "'Looks like you hit your head pretty good, probably on this tree.' She smacked the sturdy trunk for emphasis. Oh, was all Courtney said, clearly still dazed from the encounter.

She put her hand down to push herself up. The moment she put pressure on it, she retracted it as her face twisted in pain, she sucked in a quick breath through gritted teeth. She lifted her hand for examination. Shit, she gasped, seeing that it was blue and swollen. Oh, damn, Jessie said. You must put your hand up to shield yourself. It looks broken. She paused thoughtfully for a moment and continued.

We should probably wrap it in a sling. "'With what?' I asked, peering around the barren platform. "'Oh, Jessie looked around as well. "'Sying, she stripped off her tank top, answering. "'With this.' "'She carefully wrapped Courtney's arm in the makeshift sling "'to prevent further injury. "'There,' she said, when finished.

"'Now what?' Amber inquired. "'Now we get down and find help,' Jesse answered. her voice betraying that she realized the task was easier said than done but how amber seemed more frightened with each passing second there's only one way i stated it's matter of factly Amber looked to the zip line and then back to Courtney questioning but how is she supposed to she's going to need our help jessie interrupted standing up she winced and leaned her weight to one side you okay i asked with growing concern yeah i'm fine jessie glamed noticing the worry the group continued to share for her she explained when i came down the line courtney was still hanging from it knocked out so to avoid crushing her i caught my leg on the bottom of the platform to stop

it hurts but i'll live jesse was unquestionably the toughest amongst us i envied her resilience we should take a look real quick i suggest since Jesse was the only one of us smart enough to wear pants, which was hiding her injury. No, it's fine, Jesse reaffirmed stoically. Besides, nothing can be done about it till we find help. Let's just focus on getting down. Okay, what do we do? Amber asked, wide-eyed. We all look to Jesse, the born leader among us, who answered. Okay, Amber, Beth, you two are going to have to go back. before Courtney. Whoever goes first, try to hit the tree with the side of your body. That will probably

do the least amount of damage. Now, keep your arms and legs tucked in. Then you can help stop whoever goes next. After you two, I'll go. I'll clip Courtney in and send her down. The two of you should be able to catch her so she doesn't get hurt more. Courtney, try to give him you a good side. Courtney nodded in acknowledgement. All right. We can do this. So, who's going first her feigned enthusiasm was anything but contagious i looked at the terrified amber and then down the drop of doom knowing it had to be me i volunteered i'll go relief briefly washed over amber's expression i clipped onto the line took a deep breath and then an idea occurred to me without another thought or word I grabbed onto the line with my gloved hands and swung my legs up.

Oh, wait, someone yelled, but it was too late. I'd already begun to slide myself on my legs, pushing hand over hand. The sharp cord sliced through my calf like it was butter, and I released my grip entirely, sending me whizzing along the line, bleeding all the way. I approached the fourth platform and held my breath, tensing my entire body for the impact. As I slowed slightly, I twisted my body sideways and collided into the tree.

The violent contact set a crack up my spine, but other than a good bruise and a slash calf, I was fine. I unclipped myself before standing, fell onto the unforgiving wooden floor. Are you okay? One of my friends yelled to me. I wheezed for a moment trying to regain breath, which apparently had been knocked out of me. Sitting up, I raised a thumb to signal that I was all right, or at least a line.

Slowly I got to my feet and leaned against the tree, ignoring the warm blood trailing down my leg. Barely audible murmurings could be heard from the previous platform. Come on, Amber, I got you, I yelled. I could feel the heightened concern emanating from the third landing, but out of ulterior options Amber was convinced to clip on and jump she speedily zipped towards me once she was close enough for the brakes to attempt to slower I could see she had her eyes tightly sealed shut well I endeavored to catch her like an oversized football but more like a bowling

ball she knocked me on my ass my head dangled over the edge of the terrace and I thank whatever deity was watching over me Amber appeared completely unscathed. She quickly unclipped herself and helped me up. Oh shit, Beth, your leg. I'll be fine, I insisted, refusing to see it for myself. There was no time to argue,

so Amber dropped the matter. We poised ourselves, ready to catch Courtney. When she hit the brake, she turned left to protect her injured right wrist, heeding Jesse's advice. Together, Amber and I caught her without incidents. Courtney took a step down towards the stairs to give us room. Faint rustling came from the jungle beyond. I dismissed it as unimportant and prepared for Jessie's descent.

Successfully, we also caught her without further injuries. Once Jesse had unclipped, Amber asked, her green eyes wide with fright. What's next? The fastest way down would be the zip lights. Jesse's sight. What about the stairs? I interjected, hopefully. The stairs just go to the next zip mine, Courtney answered, staring into the jungle as the sounds of rustling grew louder. I don't know how many more I can take. We're not even halfway done, I pleaded. It'll be easier than walking back, Jesse insisted. Guys? Courtney tried getting our attention. We can't be that far away, I protested. Guys, Courtney repeated, a little louder.

We wouldn't even know which way to go, Jesse argued. Amber remained silent, like the youngest sister knew better than to get involved in the elder siblings' quarrel. Guys, Courtney yelled. What? Jesse and I asked simultaneously. Do you hear that? Courtney asked.

Her face. was pale from dismay. He quietly listened as the sounds of leaves and twigs crushing under the weight of something approached. Dread blanketed us all like snow covering a mountain top.

And the low growl erupted from the thicket and we knew it was time to go. We followed the stairs down and around to the next zip line as fast as we could in our collectively injured state. Each step of my step of my my right foot produced a tinge of pain and a disconcerted sloshing sound as a result of the blood pooling in my boot. The sickening feeling of its squishing between my toes made me want to vomit.

I forcibly pushed the thought aside and kept my eyes trained on my destination. Amber arrived at the line first and before I could protest, she clipped on and jumped. She disappeared into the canopy, which obfuscated the next landing. The growling grew louder And a surge of adrenaline overtook me I clipped on and jumped Hoping Amber had had enough time to get out of the way I barreled down the line

The next platform came into view And I caught sight of Amber struggling with her clip The brakes engaged just as she managed to unclip And fell to the floor I twisted sideways and slammed into the tree At the last second also catching a glimpse of Courtney on roots Amber jumped to her feet and reached my clip. Catch Courtney!

I redirected. I was unable to detach from the line in time. Courtney and Amber smashed me into the tree. Amber did soften the blow somewhat, but the frail girl wasn't able to stop her by herself. I finally unclipped, standing to my feet. attentively, I watched the line for Jessie as Amber assisted Courtney. A minute passed, and there was no sign of

Jesse. As we waited impatiently, Courtney started to cry. I screamed Jesse's name across the jungle, but there was no reply. Courtney sobbed louder, Amber wrapped a comforting arm around her, seeming to be mostly in a state of shock, blankly staring at the empty zip line. I screamed her name again and again, to the point I thought my throat would bleed from the exertion. Only silence, replied to my pleas. I fell to my knees and unabashedly cried my eyes out. Amber and Courtney joined me on the floor. The three of us huddled together on the wooden planks

and mourned our friend who'd always been there for us. Jessie consistently had a shoulder to cry on. It was the one to hold her hair back in the bathroom when we drank too much of parties and always knew what to say to cheer us up when life was tumultuous. She was like an older sister looking out. We all loved her dearly.

My heart ate. The loss was unbearable. We remained that way, crying and holding each other, until we once again heard the barely audible rustling. We've got to move. I scarcely managed between sobs. Courtney shook her head and buried her face in my shoulder. Amber, you're going to have to catch Courtney again, okay?

I gingerly asked. She sniffled and nodded in response. Amber clearly understood the urgency of our predicament. She stood, clearing our eyes with a myriad of tears. She clipped and jumped, almost in one fluid motion. I forced the still, bawling court to her feet and clipped her in, shoving her without warning as the familiar growling in shoes. My cheeks were soaked in tears,

but I was too emotionally numb to care. I clipped onto the line and peaked behind me at a mouth full of fangs and raised the sharp claws, reaching for me as I jumped, narrowly escaping the gruesome fate that one of my best friend had just succumbed to. Worse yet, it was my fault. I had to be so damn argumentative

if I'd only trusted her instincts, which had proven time and again to be spot on and headed to the next zip line, she'd still be alive. The bogus breaking system, which left much to be desired, barely slowed me down before I crashed into Amber, who thankfully saved me from the tree. She sucked air in through clenched teeth as she clutched her shoulder with her opposite arm.

As I detached myself like a professional, I asked, What's wrong? She tried unsuccessfully to force a smile and answered, I'm fine. my shoulders hurts a little, my arms kind of numb. I think I hit it pretty hard this time and something popped. Her left arm hung limply at her size. Instantly I knew, I think even she knew, it was dislocated.

Asking myself, WWJD, what would Jesse do? I stripped off my tank top and made her a sling like Courtney's. Just to be safe, you probably shouldn't move it. "'We're almost back to the base, where someone can take a look at it,' I said with a reassuring smile. "'I paused to contemplate our next move as all three of us were now injured. "'What would Jesse do?' I thought, feeling lost without her leadership. "'I could feel the blood drying and caking on my leg.

"'I took that as a good sign, but I still refused to examine it. "'Amba was right-handed, and her left was the useless one, so she could help Courtney who'd broken her good hand and also clip herself onto the line well i'd have to go first and catch them since both my arms were fine knowing the plan i shared all right so i'll go first amber help Courtney i'll catch her than you make sure you spin to your good sights okay they both understood and agreed so i took off down to the next platform i detached landed and brought briefly glanced down the last line to safety. We were so close. The hill even begun to emerge under this landing. Solid ground was within sight. The hill wasn't necessarily close enough to jump to

and was steep enough to warrant tripping and rolling down, even if we could. Unfortunately, the zip line was still the safest option. The rustling sound resumed behind me right before I'd caught Courtney. This thing was fast and intelligent. Not only had it kept up with us, but it followed me to the landing we all had to pass through. Could there be more than one?

Come on, I urged Amber to hurry. I caught her as well, then clipped and jumped without a second thought. One last tree was on my collision course. To save my left side, which was undoubtedly bruised beyond recognition at this point, I turned to use my right, completely forgetting about my gash calf until I felt the imple of I forced blood to gush from my wound down my leg like the water of Niagara Falls. I detached and turned to face my friends. Amber was clearly panicking and therefore struggling with Courtney's clip.

She glanced behind her and shoved Courtney from the landing as a brownish blur tackled her out of sight. I could still hear Amber's screams mixed with Courtney's as she plunged to the hill below and tumbled down. In her panic, Amber had failed to secure Courtney's clip. I ran towards my rolling friend, but I froze as the terrifying monster that had been stalking us leapt in front of me, snarling. Courtney came to a halt and lay motionless.

To my everlasting shame, I slowly backed away. The creature lowered its head, releasing a shrill scream, and I knew it was about to pounce. I bonted, running faster than I knew was possible, oblivious to the bloodletting from my open wound. I rushed, purely fueled by adrenaline, into the main building, and barely managed to lock myself in a storage closet. I could hear the monster lurking outside the door, rummaging and tracking my scent, the sweet scent of my alluring blood. That must have been what attracted it to us, and why? it was so easy to track us. My friends are dead because of my stupidity and stubbornness.

But I'll be with them soon. No help is coming. It's probably better this way. No one else needs to die because of me and the enticing scent I'm exuding. I finally looked at my leg. I tied a part of my harness around as a tourniquet. It's what Jesse would have done. I don't think it matters though.

The gash is deep. It goes all the way to the bone. Who knew it doesn't hurt anymore. Nothing hurts anymore except my heart. I'm so tired, but I have to leave these pages where someone will find them. Please. Tell my family I love them. Tell them I'm not afraid of heights anymore.

But I am mortified of pumas. And the notes end here. I shuddered as my satellite phone vibrated in my pocket. Answering it, it was explained to me that the attendant on the fourth landing watched as a puma, also known as a mountain lion, attacked the staff member on the third platform, where the second line ended. He fled via the zip line, informing the other attendants on his way down. Well, they all panicked and fled in the same fashion to the base of the station. The tour guide struggled to contain the fear that abundantly spread amongst the tourists,

and in the chaos that followed, she dropped. her satellite phone which was trampled beyond repair she managed to usher everyone back to the bus and they fled to the city to inform the authorities and contact the cruise line in that order all but four guests seemed to be accounted for ending the call I looked around the interior of the main building in which I was standing I noticed a trail of bloody footsteps leading behind the counter where I'd found the notebook pages I followed the trail to a sealed door. I tried to open it, but it was locked. Pounding on the door, I called Beth's name,

but there was no answer. After several attempts of ramming the door with my shoulder, I succeeded in breaking it down, revealing a storage closet that was barren, except for a pool of blood and the remnants of a tattered noblem. I checked around the station for the missing passengers, but found nothing else of nobles. I returned to the city to assist the remaining passengers. who I had lost empathy for due to my discoveries earlier. After asking several locals, it appears that the heavy deforestation in the area has eliminated much of the pumer's natural prey

and led to an increase of puma attacks on people, especially in the vicinity of the Zipline station. In my professional opinion, this excursion should be removed from the endorsed excursions list. I'm also requesting a leave of absence to visit. visit the family of Bethany to inform them of her last wishes. And so once again, we reach the end of tonight's podcast. My thanks as always to the authors of those wonderful stories

and to you for taking the time to listen. Now, I'd ask one small favor of you. Wherever you get your podcast wrong, please write a few nice words and leave a five-star review as it really helps the podcast. That's it for this week, but I'll be back again, same time, same place. and I do so hope you'll join me once more. Until next time, sweet dreams and bye-bye.