Dr. Creepen's Dungeon - S5 Ep265: Episode 265: I Investigate Disturbing Cases

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

Use the promo code SUPERBAD for 10% off your t-shirt! https://dr-creepens-vault.creator-spring.com/listing/the-devil-is-in-the-detail Today’s wonderful story is the complete ‘I Investigate Disturbing Cases: Here are my Stories’, an original series by the phenomenal Bryan Young, kindly shared with me via NoSleep and narrated here for you all with the author’s direct permission.  https://www.reddit.com/user/bryany97/  Episode 1: The Tall Woman  Episode 2: The Watchers  Episode 3: The Hermit  Episode 4: Hammerhead  Episode 5: Voices from Nature 

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By when it's accounts, odd sounds, unexplainable phenomena, blended with the possibility that there may be mortal reality than science currently explains. Human mind is drawn to the thrill of uncovering hidden truths, especially when those truths might challenge our understanding of life, death and the nature of existence itself. Whether the cause is paranormal or mundane, the investigation becomes a journey into human psychology, belief and our deep-rooted need to explore what lies just beyond the veil. As we shall see in tonight's fantastic collection of stories. Now, as ever before we begin, a word of caution. Tonight's tales may contain strong language as well as descriptions of violence and horrific imagery. That sounds like your kind of thing. Then let's begin.

I investigate disturbing cases. Here are my story. Episode 1. The Tall Woman. Well, they say that everyone has a case that haunts them. Personally, if it's just one case, then clearly whoever they are isn't doing very good police work. Being a detective is gritty and bleak. You aren't dealing with happy endings.

You're dealing with the cold, hard truth. And sure, every now and again, you'll get an easy case. The missing kid who just so happens to be at a friend's house. or the argument turned bad where the bullet just so happens to miss every vital organ. Open and shut. Everyone goes home with a smile on their face, or at least the life they were given. But that's not the norm. Something you learn quickly from this job is how different we all are.

Each person taking you down a whole unique path filled with their own challenges. Each time you try and understand the person you're dealing with, but most of the time you never really do. Even if you solve a case, you've opened doors that can never be shut, and just like that, you're now involved in the lives of people that extend beyond a court date. Someone doesn't stop being dead after a guilty verdict. A woman doesn't stop crying after her abuser is sentenced, and a person doesn't stop being missing just because you moved on to another case.

Well, at the end of the day, if you can't cope with being haunted by, what will eventually amount to a hell of a lot more than one case, then this isn't the job for you. That being said, when the case of a missing girl was casually dropped on my desk one rainy August afternoon, I was less than reluctant to make it a priority. Don't ignore that one, Smith, the woman hovering above me said sternly, with a finger firmly pressed down on the stack of paper. Detective Evelyn Joss had been hard on me from day one. I'm not quite sure what started our rivalry, but from the second we had our first conversation, I knew that she'd had a whole life of being a hard ass.

Naturally, being someone who likes to push other people's buttons, it made her fun to mess with, which in turn forced her to push me harder. But this time around, I could tell she wasn't in any sort of mood to play. Chief wants you on this one immediately. He said if you don't make progress with it, he's coming for me, which means I'm coming for you. I looked at the papers on my desk and quickly thumbed through them, scratching at my short beard as I went. Missing kid, shit, okay. I see why he wants me on this, but why in the hell does he think I need a babysitter? She shrugged. Not sure. She's really set on this thing getting looked at.

As I started to skim the documents, I quickly realized there wasn't much to go on. Faye, Mizuki was your typical fifteen-year-old girl. For what I saw, not so much stood out, and that was the problem. All that we really had to go on was some interviews with known acquaintances, some known locations and statements from the family. This was odd. Why would a girl who lived an otherwise boring routine life just disappear? I didn't feel like she seemed like the type of girl to run away independently,

so it appeared obvious one of two things was true. everything we knew about it was wrong or she was taken there wasn't much to go on but boiling down a disappearance to one of two scenarios immediately cut out many potential dead ends and by the next day i planned to have it down to one well i could feel determination starting to fill my body in response i took a big gulp with a cold coffee sitting near my computer as it began to furiously type away i could feel inspiration separation starting to make the neurons in my brain fire like an old western shoot-out. Evelyn had seen me make this change before.

As soon as she noticed me going into work mode, she turned away without a word and let me get down to brass tacks. I think I even caught what I thought was a slight smile as she let me do my thing. And in doing my thing, I found exactly what I was looking for. Absolutely nothing. Even when doing a deep dive into her immediate and extended family, there wasn't a single iota of noticeable information these people were spotless not even so much as a traffic ticket to speak of when i reviewed some of the documents i've been given in more detail i noticed a trend in those interviews they'd all come from spots that fay was known to requent but the things said were practically the same quiet plight never stuck out from her group of girlfriends if i didn't know any better, I'd think they didn't even know she existed. It almost seemed like they were just

talking about some generic teenager. The only person who would slightly more to say was the owner of an Italian place. He mentioned that she and her family visited the restaurant a lot and that Faye seemed really close to her parents. Unlike a typical teen, Faye engaged with them. She wanted to have a close relationship with her folks and never took the opportunity to be out with them for granted by being on her phone. If only all the kids felt like that, but, well, I digress. Either way, this was all useful information. I had an idea of who Faye was.

While I'd still do my due diligence on the facts, I knew what I was looking for. I was looking for the thing or person that had stuck out from the blandness. However, I also knew I wasn't going to do that by talking to the people accustomed to seeing that side of her. But the next morning I was just to be. drinking warm coffee in the office of her principal, Ms. Thompson. I could tell immediately that Miss Thompson was a no-nonsense type of person.

She came off as mean-spirited. Her sharp tongue betrayed the image of the short, almost sweet-looking old lady one could easily mistake her for. I already talked to the cups. I don't know why you're here, she said, wave me off. And I understand that, Miss Thompson, I said, but I'd just like to ask them for her questions. if you don't mind.

This must have offended her because she stopped typing at her computer and gave me in, Are you serious? Type of look. I could tell through her dark lenses that she was rolling her eyes. She made it a point to say her next word slowly.

I don't know what happened. I know you people are slow, but that should be pretty straightforward. Being a black detective in a very non-black area, you always expect some people to treat you differently but um her bluntness caught me off guard as much as i wanted to cuss her out right there and remind her that i don't give a damn that she's an educator because i'm still a cop i knew i needed her information i instead opted to smile and forced out a fake laugh look i really don't want to take up much of your time if you say you don't know anything about her disappearance then fine but sure you'll you know if she's been into any trouble. Maybe some kind of altercation with a teacher or classmate.

To her credit, she actually stopped to think for a moment. Her history teacher, Mr. Berkeley, he's mentioned her name a couple of times. I thought it was odd because she's never had issues in any other class. Maybe he knows something. A hint at a break from her norm.

And, um, when could I see him? I asked. if you come back at lunch he should be in room 2105 she turned her attention back to her computer then her hand waved frantically towards the door signifying that she'd done her part

in setting me in the right direction and that I needed to leave her alone and I took the hint and walked towards the exit but I couldn't help myself from stopping at the door you know I was always the fastest kid in my grades when you're in your thirties

I guess you're not as fast as you used to be. But I'd imagine that's something you figured out many decades ago. Ah, tragic. And with that, I slipped out of the door, only glancing back to see the look of pure anger as she'd plastered on her face. When 12 o'clock rolled around, I returned from my rendezvous with Mr. Berkeley.

I strode into the messy classroom and noticed the balding shorter man tucked away behind his desk with a stack of papers neatly placed beside him. I waited for a moment by the door, but it wasn't until I intentionally cleared my throat to get his attention that he broke from his work to look up at me. Oh, he said, startled, jumping a bit in his seat. I apologize. Didn't see you there.

He must be the asshole detective I was told needed to talk to me. Asshole detective. I chuckled. Maybe Monday through Sunday. But other than that, I swear I'm the nicest guy in the world. He laughed. and the mood seemed to lift a bit. What can I do for you, Detective...

Smith. Detective Smith, I said, pulling out a chair from a nearby desk while opening up the notes app on my phone. You're a Famizuki's history teacher, right? I'm assuming you've heard the news of her disappearance. Is there anything of note that you can tell me about her? He thought for a moment.

No, not really. Faye's a pretty good student. Does all her work. shows up on time, gets good grades. All of that would seem to make her better than just a pretty good student, yeah. I heard from my sources that she's a straight A student, so surely she's better than that. He shrugged.

I suppose. Nothing major separates Faye from the great students, in my opinion. Nothing major. Tell me about the minor stuff, then. Really just some disciplinary stuff. She's very talkative in class And I've had to have a few conversations With her about being disrupted

Everything I've read about Is that she's a quiet girl Seems a little odd that she'd be a chatterbox In your class all of a sudden Oh, not that I don't believe you But things change when you're best friends in your class Best friend You have the name of this person

Yeah, Hannah Sterling Sixteen, blonde hair, frickels, green eyes I think she swims with Faye on the water polo team. Well, interestingly enough, Hannah hadn't been in any of the reports I'd read. How could we have missed a best friend? I wanted to push further on this fact, but as a 50-year-old teacher, Mr. Berkeley didn't have much insight into the personal lives of these kids.

Hmm, Hannah Sterling, I pushed. From what I've come to understand, she's not somewhat that I know to be in Faye's main group of friends. They're constantly chatting it up. They seem pretty friendly in class. That's all I can say, he said. Whether or not they hang out outside isn't really my place of expertise, but I assume they were always close.

A well of information here was running dry. After a couple more questions, I thanked Mr. Bergerle for his help and proceeded to make my way back to the car. One more way out, I sent text messages to my offices back at the station to find me all the info they could on hand. Sterling I also asked them to check up on the people we'd interview to see if they'd recognize the name of the description by the time evening rolled around I had

exactly what I needed a location and all the pertinent background knowledge to break the case wide open Hannah actually had quite a history drug dealing running away multiple suspensions from school and a long list of other more minor offenses she was a young girl on the wrong path not exactly someone you'd expect Fay to be associated with and apparently she wasn't someone her family expected her to be associated with either from a follow-up interview that one of my offices did I learned that Fay and Hannah were friends in middle school but Fay's parents disapproved of the friendship and had thought the two had split ways or even

Fay's close friends had no idea that the two were friendly oh this was the abnormality the thing that stuck out from the blandness and likely the key to where to find Faye. At seven on the dot I was knocking on her door and flashing a badge. Having seen this kind of thing many times before, Anna's parents didn't put up much of a fuss when I said I needed to speak with her privately. In the next couple of minutes, the young girl was sitting across from me in her living room, seemingly trying to make my heart stock with her stand. Obviously, the last thing she wanted to do.

do was be talking to the police even with her friend's life potentially at stake whatever it is i didn't do it she said with no hint of emotion in her voice she simply stared forward at me with her arms crossed well i guess my work here's done that i joked there wasn't even a hint of a smile from the girl in response i cleared my throat and followed up right look all i care about is finding fay and i have reason to believe that you can help me with that she scoffed why I didn't have anything to do with what happened maybe you should go look for the person that's actually responsible obviously I wasn't getting through and needed to try a different strategy hmm that's fair look I believe you and I'm not here to get you into any trouble I just want to know

some things that I don't think other people are willing or able to tell me whatever you say won't be used against you, but I need your help. How do I know you're not just going to say that to get me to talk? Because you have my word that if you get called for anything in the future, I'll be in your corner defending you. I know you've had a rough life, and it would surely behoove you to have someone on the inside that can vouch for you if you work with me, yeah? She raised an eyebrow at this and thought for a moment.

I could tell my proposal piqued her interest. I still don't know how I can help. I quickly poured out my notes up and replied. All I need you to do is leave me down the right path. First, why don't Faye's parents know about you if you two are still friends? She shrugged. We don't really advertise our friendship. Faye is very much a goody-goody,

it would be bad for her image if we were seen hanging out. But I do really care about her, and we have fun together. So, um, you'd say you make it work behind closed doors. I guess. We see each other on the weekends when she's not with her other friends,

mostly in secret spots I know of around the area. And, uh, where would these spots be? A slight laugh escaped her, and I could see her body start to relax. I'm definitely not telling you that, cop. Doesn't matter, though. She wouldn't be here anyway. face terrible with directions.

Plus, she wouldn't have a reason to visit without me. Still, though, the young person breaking from her boring life is exciting. I'd imagine she wasn't just hanging out. I think she'd also be looking for you for the other, um, well, new things in her life. I mean, well, she started smoking and drinking a little bit recently. Really? You're underage girls. were another you're getting drugs from.

We'd come from a lot of places, she said with a slight smile. Can't say exactly. Well, the alcohol is usually brought by this guy we've been smoking with. A third player in all of this. I whispered to myself. I leaned in for more details and asked.

A guy you've been smoking with. Where'd you meet him? What's his name? We just know some of the same people. I think his name's like Walter or something. 17, tall, pale skin, dark circles under his eyes like he hasn't slept in weeks. I think he goes to one of the schools round here.

Did he and Fay talk a lot? Faye talked about him a little bit to me, and I thought there was some chemistry there, but nothing I ever really looked into. After about a half hour more of asking standard questions and exchanging phone numbers, I left with my mind made up. The threads were leading me to this Walter kid. something in my gut told me. He knew exactly where Faye was.

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BEDMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. The next day in the office, it was a mad rush of writing reports trying to do my research on just who this kid could be. Just going off a name and vague description wasn't enough. There wasn't anything in our data banks that helped me, and I was afraid I'd have to go through every kid with a first name beginning with W in the area. frustrated, I decided to step out to take a break. Before I reached the door, I bumped into Detective Joss.

Smith, she said a little too forcefully, How's your case coming along? It's been a couple of days, and you know what they say about the first 48 hours. You're not slacking, are you? I shook my head and threw my hands up. I'm making progress. I think I'm close to it. There's just one little detail to solve,

and after that, I'm after the race. She leaned against a wall and sipped her coffee. Oh, and what's that? Some kid named Walter something. Seventeen tall, pale skin, dark hair, circles under his eyes. Apparently he's from the area, but I have no idea where to find this guy. She thought for a moment and snapped her fingers, without a word she ran off. A couple of minutes later, she came back and motioned for me to follow.

A couple of the offices were sitting around a computer with a picture pulled up of a rather rough-looking young boy. Just the guy you're looking for, a detective? The younger of the two officers asked in a distinctly New York accent. We've had some calls about him before. He's run away from home a couple of times, and we had to bring him back. Nothing else on the rap sheet, though. All the cranes are the fall name. Hoping it was who I was looking for.

I snapped a picture of the boy and sent it to him. Hannah. Within three minutes I had a response confirming that it was indeed the same kids. My eyes grew wide reading her text. Immediately I grabbed the address for Walter's school from the guys at the computer and bolted out the front door, shouting that I owed them big on the way out. I made the drive from the station to the school in record time. In what felt like seconds, I went from demanding that the principal grabbed Walter to sitting down with a kid in a private room. I'm right off the bat. I could tell he was nervous.

I didn't even have to say Faye's name for him to know precisely why we were sitting across from each other. Without saying a word, I wanted him to know that I was sizing him up. But it was apparent I didn't have to do much to intimidate him. It was like Hannah said. It looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. He was skinny. Smelled like cigarettes and struggled to make eye contact. But even beyond that, he's...

general unkempt look, loose-fitting clothes and pale skin belied a kid that was obviously struggling with some pretty serious things. No visible bruises to indicate that there was abuse, but that didn't mean there wasn't any going on. Either way, something was deeply wrong. I don't know why I'm here, he eked out. I wasn't in the mood for games. Well, kid, a girl's missing, and I have reason to believe that you know something. Why me?

I sighed. Tell me how you know, Hannah Sterling. Don't lie either. I've taught to enough people to know the truth here. I swear it's going to look awful for you if you start jerking me around. Well, he fell for the bluff. Okay, okay. She sold me drugs.

What kind of drugs? I demanded. Um, just weed, he replied softly. Did you ever smoke weed with him? "'Sometimes, yeah, why?' "'Is there ever anybody else there? "'And if so, then what was their name?' "'Yeah, girl named Faye.'

"'Bingo. "'Did you ever talk to Faye outside of smoking with Hannah?' "'He started to choke up. "'His hand twitch for a moment "'and I could see he was debating whether or not to come clean. "'I realized I might have been pushing too hard "'and pulled back the intensity of it. Look, Walter, I know this is hard and I don't want you to worry about getting into trouble or anything.

I leaned in close and put my hand on his shoulder. But right now I don't care about any of the other stuff. I just need to find where a face is. Please help me do that. He shook his head. You... you don't understand. I... You won't believe me.

I leaned back in my chair and took on a softer toe. Try me. Start from the beginning. He took a deep inhale before a slow exhale and nodded. I've been dealing with some stuff, no, some thing. This thing has kept me up for the last couple months. I've been really scared. It said it would take me to its home,

just like it took other people unless I gave it something to take my place. I'd visit it every night. It was getting closer and closer. had taken me. Remind me every damn day of what it wanted. I started buying weed from Hannah to help me sleep. And that's where I met Faye. She's a really nice girl, just really naive. I could tell that she liked me a bit. And, well, I used that. I'm so sorry that I did, but I needed someone to take my place. I told her I knew a cool spot where we could hang out, and so I drove there after school. And that's where you'll find her.

and it's home it's home I promise I didn't heard it but you have to see none of this made any damn sense to me I couldn't tell if Walter was admitting to murder maybe with an accomplice

or if he was hinting at something else entirely I must have not even noticed how long I was in my own thoughts while taking notes because before I knew the kid was rocking back and forth crying about how sorry he was I tried calming him down but to no avail. The best I could do was wait until his panic attack was over,

but even then he profusely stated how he'd never hurt Faye, and he was just doing what he could to survive. The kid was spooked out of his mind, and suddenly his appearance made more sense. This was caused by stress, and a hell of a lot of it. Eventually I managed to get an address for the place, and got all of Walter's contact info, telling him I'd be in touch.

On the way out, I took a few minutes to try and convince the principal that she should send Walter home for the day. For whatever happened, he was a teenage boy under a lot of stress. I felt no qualms about bringing him to justice if and when the time came, but it also felt sympathy for whatever he was going through.

She seemed to respect my suggestion, but I'm not sure if she ever actually did anything. Either way, that was a secondary concern. At the moment I had my location, about a 45-minute drive-away, and nothing was going to stop me from getting there. I jumped in my car and burned rubber towards the address. My attention never once broke from the road ahead of me, and my mind was solely focused on finding Fay. Not a single stray thought entered my brain. When I finally arrived at the nearly dilapidated house out in the middle of a random plot of land, surrounded by nothing,

I truly started to fear the worst. By the looks of it, it was an old abandoned two-story farmhouse. I'd done this job long enough to know that with nothing around for miles, it'd be the perfect spot for a murder. Even standing a reasonable distance from the old farmhouse, I could catch a whiff of a pungent odor. As I walked closer to it, the stench only intensified. What the hell?

I thought to myself as I went through the door. door. It only took a slight nudge for it to open. But what I saw inside, Jesus, it was fucking horrible. The light from outside poured in through the various holes in the farmhouse, illuminating the various dead bodies strewn about. Most of them appeared to be animals, but some were undoubtedly human, and most were very young. What kind of sick bastard would do something like this, I thought. I pulled my gun and shouted for whoever was there to come out slowly with their hands up. I waited for about 30 seconds with no response from anywhere in the building. I shouted again and still no response. But despite the silence, I knew I wasn't alone.

Now, to this day, I don't know what force drove me to do it, but I just had this indescribable urge to look up. For a moment, I thought, I saw what appeared to be a massive, four-legged spider scurry from the ceiling into one of the rooms on the second floor. My brain couldn't quite process what I'd just seen. If that was a spider, it was easily as long as a polar bear. It had to be at least nine feet, with legs easily matching the length of its body. But the more I thought about it, the more I questioned, I mean, what spider had smooth skin with a head of long black human hair?

Gun pointed in front of me. I ran up a set of dangerously old stairs and followed the thing into the room I'd seen it enter. What stood before me was most definitely not a spider. It was a woman. She did stand at approximately the nine-foot height I'd assumed when I first got a glance. Her body was rail thin with a loose, hanging grey skin and arms that dragged behind her on the ground. But it wasn't just the impossible. proportions of her body that frightened me to the core.

I was looking at her eyeless face and rubbery leaves, the corners of which drooped far past her chin into a permanently distorted frown. Inside her mouth it appeared as though she was sucking on what I thought was a skull like a cartoonishly sized jawbreaker. A long grey tongue wrapped entirely around it and milky, viscous saliva dripping from her mouth as she moved it around. I wanted to gag at the mere sight of her. My body was frozen in fear.

I didn't know what to do or how to react. For a moment we just stared at each other until I heard moaning. My eyes darted from the monster of a woman to the source of the sound. In the same room was a young girl, one that I recognized. Faye Mizuki. She was lying on the ground, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. It looked as though she was covered in dirt. I'd finally found her,

but I knew this thing wouldn't let me just take her with me. I had to make a quick decision. It was now or never. I fired off multiple rounds into the thing and rushed towards Faye to grab her and get the hell out. But after taking only a couple of steps forward, I found myself flying backward and smashing back onto the ground. Despite her apparent lack of muscle,

she was incredibly strong i tried scrambling for my gun but she snatched where it had fallen beside me and flung it into some dark corner now i was utterly defenseless by the time i'd realized what had happened i felt the woman's ice-cold fingles double wrap around my throat she carried me to the first floor and slammed me against the splintering wall i struggled to breathe against her might and as my vision started to blur i could see her puffy grey face come close to mine. In the two words she uttered through rotten breath in her deep voice, chilled me to the bone.

Get out. I knew she wasn't going to tell me again, and realistically I had no means of objecting. I took one glance at the room on the second floor, and saw Faye looking down at me with tears in her eyes. And what did I do? I'd like to say that I stayed, and like a good cop, I fought again.

against the odds to do the right thing but no one more glance at the figure towering above me and I ran around like a fucking coward with his tail between his legs the fear of the moment and of that goddamn thing was just too much I didn't even look back at the farmhouse until I was safely locked in my car and calling for back up the desperation in my voice as I begged them to save me from that monster was apparent It took me a while to arrive, all the while I was trying to process just what the hell had happened. When the offices arrived, I broke down what had happened, and they just looked at me in disbelief.

When I realized they didn't actually believe me, I just told them to shoot any damn thing that moved in there except for the little girl. I watched as they disappeared into the house, but no sense of comfort came over me. moments later i saw a familiar vehicle pull up beside me in a gravelly voice yelling out my name turn into the large figure behind me i asked jeep what are you doing here he fumbled in his pockets for a bit and then poured out a lighter and cigarette said in the tip of blaze as he answered i wanted to see this one through personally you're not like shitsmith what the hell happened flashbacks though that horrible thing crossed my mind and I shook my head, repulsed at the thoughts. I found the girl at her and something else. Look, everything will be in my report tomorrow, but when the officers kill whatever the hell is in there, you need to see it with your own eyes.

He stared at me for a moment, puffing on his cigarettes. I couldn't read him. All I knew is that the look on his face wasn't disbelief, but something else entirely. pity maybe i'll never know either way he played off my fears and simply said go home smith we'll handle things from here you've worked hard on the case and it looks like you've been beaten up a bit detective jos will be on the scene soon to tie up loose ends i was shocked and found myself speaking a little louder of a tone than i'd expected what oh i have to see this thing that through. I have to make sure she's okay. Look in his eye implicated that he wasn't going to argue with me. Oh, Smith, you're going home. We'll take care of everything. Have my word. Well, I wanted to fight it.

I wanted to scream and yell that this was bullshit, but I knew my place, and I knew I didn't have any standing to force the issue. Reluctantly, I got in my car and drove home, mad at the world. That night was awful. Couldn't stop thinking about that monster I'd come face to face with, all the conversation with Walter that now made complete sense. Yeah, the thing was hunting him, and it was smart enough to get him to sacrifice someone else in his place. I wouldn't be out of sleep either if I knew that thing was coming for me.

Hell, it probably explained him running away too. He was probably trying to get as far away from it as possible. Still, he knew he'd never succeed until... either it took him or it took someone else but why why not just take the kid why did it matter who it was if it was just hungry did it just like to fuck with people did it have some kind of sick mind that matched its even sicker appearance well i wish i knew the next day i tried to keep a sense of normalcy my morning was fine albeit i scared myself a couple of times thinking that lady had found itself in my house I threw myself into my work the next day, finishing my report in record time.

I wanted to hand it to the chief personally, in part so I could ask you about what went down the previous day. But in response, he simply asked me to close and lock the door behind it. See, they asked me, he said calmly, and I did. Look, I appreciate you doing the work you did. You're a damn fine cop, damn fine. but here's what's going to happen I know you

you're an honest guy you want to do things the right way and your report is going to reflect that isn't it I am yeah I replied cautiously I respect that

but this report on my desk doesn't exist he pulled out a stack of papers from his desk this is actually the report that you email me today and handed to me in person it says you talked to the wallet kid he told you that fay had tried some new drugs found a spot to use him in being killed by a woman unknown assailant and that the farmhouse she was using had been burned down likely by some homeless squatter on

accidents now that sounds more realistic doesn't it what was he saying to me my blood was boiling and It took everything in my power not to rush the man right there and crack him across the jaw. Sir, that's not at all what happened. The girl was alive when I saw her. There were armed officers who went in to take her. He nodded. And, what, Smith? They went to fight a creature of the night like superheroes.

You were there. There's no way they didn't see. There's no way you didn't see. I was beginning to crack. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. I was there, and I did see a lot. Look, he doesn't do either of us good to lie. Smith, there are things out there,

things that we are completely incapable of dealing with. So we'll just run and hide? I snapped. Isn't that what you did? He replied calmly. I... He was right, and his word stung like a salted dagger to the guts. What could I even say?

But that's not what we do. I was wrong. He exiled loudly. Well, let's say that people believed us. We don't live in a world where anyone could ever accept that things that go bump in the night are real, even if we say it's true. We get looked at as crazies who aren't doing their job, but let's pretend like that's not the case.

Where do we go from there? Arrest someone like her? Keep her in jail with all the other criminals. Smith, do you think burning down that farmhouse killed her? Fuck no. They just scared her off. We literally don't have the capacity to deal with things like that. So, what's the next best move?

Stop the panic. those things to more obscure locations if we can but otherwise operators if things are normal and move on we focus on the real crimes that we can deal with i was speechless my own damn chief was telling me to just forget that a family had lost a daughter because he didn't think there was anything he could do to help the only thing left to do was ask did you know he was silent for a moment and then said I had a hunch. I've seen these cases before. After talking to some other counties about similar disappearances, the signs pointed to this maybe being the case.

And when your frantic call came through, I wanted to confirm it for myself. Smith, you did good work. This was a problem we'd needed to address for a while, and... Well... And if she strikes again, I interrupted. well then we figure something else i suppose look you're going to be on some easy cases for a while you've earned the break and i don't want to see you well seeing anything else traumatic even by normal standards for a while but i'm demanding that you play a ball on this one just trust me about saying another word i nodded and walked out i never said a peep to anyone i never even spoke about it it to the other officers that I knew were there little did I know I'd eventually become a trusted person in these types of cases someone good enough to investigate and

trustworthy enough to say anything it was hard to live with knowing the truly messed up and outright terrifying parts of our world the creatures we live with daily do horrible things while the people sworn to protect us just stand by and do nothing it was a significant course of conflict and eventually led to me leaving. But these stories, these stories will always stick with me. Forever burned into my memory as genuinely defining moments of my life. When the time comes, I'll share more of these tales. But for now, just remember, when you hear something go bump in the night, don't think for a second that it can't reach out and drag you

away. Stay safe, everyone. I investigate disturbing cases. Here are my stories. The episode two, Watchers. When people think of police officers, I think there's a disconnect between our image and the reality of who we are. A lot of people see us as the good guys, real-life superheroes that jump in at the last moment with shining golden badges ready to stop the bad guys from having their way. But that's not the reality. We don't have superpowers. We aren't capable of seeing all the crime in a given area, and we certainly don't have the ability to respond to everything as fast as we'd like. At the end of the day, we're simply human beings reading and reacting to situations the law says we have to get involved in. When you dig a little deeper,

you see the ugliness, the racism, the abuse of power, the violence. Many people see these aspects every day, and others are none the wiser. What does this mean? That we're monsters disguised as a good guise. To some people, yeah, and maybe that's fair. To me, I think it means something different. In my view it means a reflection of the good and the bad of society. And much like society at large, we're complicated and nuanced.

We can either be what you see or what your sight is limited. to. As a cop, you struggle with that, because at the end of the day, you never know if which way someone sees you is the truth. It was early into my shift when the chief called me into his office. He was actually

working on some documents and chewing away at a toothpick. I sat quietly for a solid 30 seconds while he scruled down some notes before finally shoving the papers to the side and giving me a questionable look. Smith, he boomed in his usual commanding voice.

I wanted to get your advice on a situation. Of course, I replied, so long as it's not relationship advice, because I'll definitely lead you down a path to divorce in like two months. I caught the slightest glimpse of a smile before he began to recount the earlier events of the day. Single mother, Miss Wilson, I believe the name was. She came in here yesterday begging to talk to one of our higher-ranking officers. I was down in admin to grab some of this paper. work so I was with an airshot of her request. I go over, introduce myself as the chief,

and we get to talking. She tells me that she needs police protection ASAP and wanted to make a direct plea to someone with authority to make it happen. Police protection, I pointed out loud. This must be something serious. That's what I assume too, he agreed. But Ms. Wilson starts spinning this tale about how a little boy is seeing a man outside his window, staring at him down near every night. And that no matter what he does, the man won't go away. Of course, being a good mother, she always goes to check in on him. But every time, there's no one there. Well, the fear in her boy's eyes is real, though. The look in his eyes says he's seeing something terrifying, and she believes her kids. To fix the

situation, she wants us to keep a guy outside watching her place until we catch the bastard. So, what do you think our move should be? I scrunched my face into a look of confusion. I, um, don't understand. I mean, do you really need my opinion on this? Seems pretty straightforward, doesn't it? I get that her fear of this mystery man is real, but we can't just loan out offices as bodyguards on request.

Oh, I'd love for us to help, but if she doesn't have any proof, this guy exists. There isn't much we can do, right? I suggest she'd set up some security cameras, maybe even invest in a gun. If she catches this guy on video, we can do a proper investigation and hopefully find it. The chief chuckled, which threw me off because the guy maintains a serious demeanor 99% of the time. I like the way you think, Detective Smith. Straightforward and logical in every situation. It's a trait that'll either save your life or get you killed.

One way or the other, it's going to make all the difference in your life. But you're missing something big. He was trying to leave me somewhere, but I couldn't pinpoint where he wanted me to go with this. All I could do was raise an eyebrow in response. Well, he caught on to my confusion, took the toothpick out of his mouth, and exhaled as if he was blowing out cigarette smoke.

So you don't think a single mother whose young child is telling her that a man's looking through, his window a night would have already bought cameras. After a few nights, she had some of the most expensive cameras she could find installed outside his window. And, and obviously we're still sitting here without any evidence of a man even being there. Yet she came in here adamant that her son saw him just last night. It took a moment for me to put the pieces together in my head. I didn't understand how in the hell that could be possible. could someone have some device that disrupts a security camera feed or maybe the boy is seeing things the detective put the toothpick back in his mouth and shrugged leaning back in his chair i don't know but it's what you're going to find out i've already sent you an email with her address and details this was the unfortunate bombshell i was hoping he wouldn't drop as much as i wanted to argue against being a

assigned to this case, I knew I wouldn't be getting out of it. Since my last encounter with a tall woman, I knew the chief and I had an, well, an understanding. I'd seen something that he didn't want very many people to ever be aware of, but she wasn't the only thing out there. If he had even a hint of a suspicion that something may be in the realm of the unusual, then I'd be his guy on it. Still, neither of us could go assuming anything. I had to approach this like any other case, and that approach started with the facts. As soon as I walked out of the chief's office with a commitment to the case, my mind started getting to work. I immediately made a beeline from my desk to do some background research.

A mother claiming that her son is seeing a man outside his window at night, but no evidence such as a man exists, at least not on video. Not anywhere near the amount of information I'd need to figure out of the information I'd need to figure out. all of this out, at least not yet. Officer Ryan, who had only been with us for a little over a year, caught me off guard while I was lost in thought at my desk. He was a happy-go-lucky type of kid,

in his late twenties, and always wore a large smile on his face. Hey there, detective, he said after taking a swig of his diet soda, I saw you come out of the chief's office, and I was, um, wondering if you were working on a... He took a quick look around before leaning in and whispering, Secret Project. I gave him a blank stare, and he returned a big wink that confused me even more.

I don't know about secret, Officer Ryan. Just a potential trespassing an harassment case. Nothing major. He looked disappointed at the news. Oh, man, that sounds kind of boring. Need any help? You literally just said it was boring. But you want to help?

Why? Shoot, yeah, he replied a little too excitedly. Man, I've seen your work, and everyone talks about how you've solved some really wild cases over the years. I've thought it'd be fun to see what I could learn from you. I have to admit, his enthusiasm was oddly charming. But aside from that, I knew that if I was going to figure this out, but only would I need to talk to the family, but I'd need to do some evidence collection, and at the end of the day, two pairs of eyes and ears were better than one.

Bracing myself for his overly giddy reaction, I agreed to let him tag along so long as he did the note-taking, and let me take point on everything. Within half an hour, we're out of the station and knocking on the front door of a modest-looking house. It took a while before anyone answered. But when someone finally did, it was our first look into just how serious this situation was. The middle-aged woman before us looked absolutely exhausted. Deep bags under her eyes were accompanied by unkempt greying hairs and a posture that belied someone who just didn't care to put much energy into anything.

Ms. Wilson, I began pulling out my badge. My name is Detective Smith, and this is Officer Ryan. We heard a talk to you and your son. about the strange person you've been seeing around your home. May her come in? She blankly scanned our badges, and when it registered who we were, her mood noticeably shifted.

Oh, come in. I'm sorry the house is a mess. She quickly heard us inside her living room while calling for her son Lucas to come over and greet us. Everything seemed to me moving so fast that I was almost caught off guard by the sleepy-eyed young boy that seemed to materialize.

in front of me he looked to be about 12 years old and physically mirrored his mother his his exhaustion was apparent by the way he was constantly rubbing his eyes and yawning Lucas and Ms. Wilson took the sofa while Officer Ryan and I set across from them on chairs we borrowed from the kitchen I just want to say it's a pleasure to meet you both I know that these aren't the best of times but I'm here to help in any way I can I said with a smile. Ms. Wilson, I was made aware that you came to the station before

to give a statement, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate you briefly explaining to me again what exactly is going on. She nodded and took a deep breath before beginning. This all started over a week ago. Lucas ran into my room,

crying about seeing something in his window. I checked it out and didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so I assumed he'd just had a bad dream. but then the same thing happened the night after and then the night after that she stopped for a moment to crest lucas's hair as he laid next to her but i never saw anything well after the third night i immediately went and installed security cameras and for two days nothing happened i'm thinking it's over but then all of a sudden it started up again that same night i went to check on the cameras and saw nothing but i know my son i know my son i know we wouldn't make this up. On the nights he actually manages to sleep, he gets horrible nightmares, and on the nights he doesn't, we're both wide awake. I've called in repose before to the police, but nothing's happened. I don't know what to do. I understand where you're coming from. I said

softly, and I can only imagine how rough this has been for the both of you. I just have some follow-up questions. She nodded, and I continued. I don't want to downplay your experiences, but is it possible that maybe your son is seeing things? Is there potentially any history of psychological disorders in your family? She almost sounded offended by how forcefully she gave her answer. What? No, my son isn't... He's not seeing things.

Officer Ryan cut in then. We're not suggesting he is, ma'am. We just want to have everything straight so we can approach this properly. There have been instances where maybe things aren't as they appear, and we don't want to arrest someone over a small mistake. Ms. Wilson took a deep breath and nodded in approval. He's never had these issues before. There was a time Lucas's father and I thought he might be suffering from ADD, so, well, we took him to a specialist for a few weeks. As far as I know, everything's perfectly normal.

And what of the father? I caught back in. Do you do you do have a good relationship? We do, she answered. Lucas stays with him over the summer, and they talk every other night on the phone. He and I actually have a better relationship divorce than we ever did together. Well, still, I'd appreciate it if you sent me your ex-husband's info. We're on a background check and make sure everything's okay on that end. I wanted to ask you if you ever simply considered letting your son sleep in your room.

Maybe removing him from the situation would help. Of course, all the time, but it's not a permanent solution. I've had Lucas in my room, and by the time I'm asleep, he finds his way back to his bed. Well, I couldn't be absolutely sure, but she seemed to be telling the truth. As much as you don't want some psycho with a grudge stalking a kid, they just didn't seem to be anyone that stood out as a candidate. But I've been doing this long enough to know that in many cases kids know things that their parents don't. and when I asked if I could speak with Lucas alone, Ms. Wilson hesitated for a bit.

She was understandably reluctant to leave her young boy to be grilled by a police officer. Surprisingly, it was Officer Ryan, who acted as a somewhat effective intermediary. He mentioned something about working as a children's therapist before becoming a police officer, and according to him, children often feel more comfortable talking about traumatic events when their parents aren't listening. counterintuitive at first but the more you dive into it the more it made sense and she even seemed to flutter a bit when he said i'd love to discuss the matter with you in another room she contemplated and eventually agreed as the two got up to walk away officer ryan gave me a wink on his way out and i responded by rolling my eyes at the sly bastard now it was just me and the boy he seemed to me nervous. I tried to give him a smile and tell him it'll be okay, but I could easily tell that he didn't really trust me yet, or at least he didn't trust that I could help him.

Hey, uh, Lucas, before we start, I just want to say that I know what you're experiencing is really scary. It's my job to make sure that you and your mom are safe. But for me to do my job, I just need you to answer truthfully to the best of your ability. No detail is too small. He simply nodded at my request, and we began. Good. Now, did you happen to recognize the person you saw in your window, or are you able to describe them at all? He thought for a moment, his eyes darting to the ceiling,

trying to recall what he'd seen. I didn't recognize him, but he had a really big head, big eyes. His mouth went all the way from one side of his head to the other. I think his face was kind of wrinked. Oh, he was bald. At first the description didn't make too much sense. My first thought was that maybe it was someone wearing some sort of mask.

Logically, that had fit if they didn't want to be identified. This potentially gave some credence to the notion that it was someone Lucas knew. Maybe they felt he'd recognize them. Did this person speak? Maybe a voice you're familiar with? He shook his head. I see. What about when you usually see this person?

Is it around the same time every night? He nodded. Kind of. It only happens really late at night. How late? I seem nervous to answer. Don't tell Mom but at two or three a.m. I'm not supposed to be up that late.

If I'm not up already, then sometimes I wake up randomly and he's just there. I laughed. Don't worry, Lucas. I won't say anything. You can trust me. But you really should get to bed earlier. I said with a wink. Your mom mentioned that sometimes you'd sleep in her room,

but do you go back to your bed? If you're seeing this scary person in the window, then why do you go back? He shrugged. I don't know. I don't even notice, really. I just wake up back in my own bed, possibly sleepwalking, I thought.

After asking him some standard follow-up questions, they eventually brought his mom back to wrap up the interview. I decided to look around his room to see if I could find anything of note. But everything seemed to be in order. The only thing of interest was that Lucas's blinds were drawn. I questioned how he could see anything outside his window with them closed at night. This was something that his mother had already spoken to her son about. But Lucas was adamant that they were always already open, whenever he'd wake up in the middle of the night, even if he knew that they were shut when he went to bed.

Odd but, well, potentially significant. Out of questions, Officer Ryan and I gave them our contact info and made her way outside. I told Ms. Wilson, I'd get back to her on the request for officer surveillance, but I'd rather look into this through other means first. I couldn't get over how little sense this all made. nothing seemed to fit and there wasn't a good place to follow up a lead with all the facts I'd had before me appeared meaningless a man in a mask that shows up at two in the morning to scare kids well if he was a kidnapper why just look inside his room maybe he was some sort of sick voyeur that liked to watch young kids sleep if that was the case then there was a decent

chance I'd end up in jail myself for strangling him unfortunately it was a was only one place I knew I could get some concrete direction in this situation. I reluctantly reached into my pocket and searched with my contacts for the most dreaded name available in my phone. Hello, Smith. What the hell do you want? The forceful voice came through on the other end. Hey, Officer Jars.

Yeah, fantastic to speak with you too. I said in a slightly irritated tone before filling her in on the situation. Anyway, I'm here at the Wilson. I already questioned the family, but I'm still a bit lost on where exactly to go with this. Any chance you can guide me in the right direction? She let out a very audible sigh. Did you call people to do your work for you in school too? Or did you start that in your professional life?

Ah yeah, being an asshole. A classic way to get shit done. If you keep out it made with the guy's talking this child will turn himself in. out of pity for me. I couldn't see it, but I knew she was rolling her eyes. Ah, very funny. I do fancy myself a comedian.

It's my second career choice if this police shit doesn't pan out. Well, funny, man, if you're my advice, I'd recommend checking around the kid's window for anything important, ideally like footprints or fingerprints on the window and so on. Also,

talk to the neighbors to see if anyone has seen anything. Maybe you get lucky and hit on security camp footage. When he get back to the office, check to see if there are any guys in the area with an M.O. for peeping late with masks. If he's doing this constantly, and he probably doesn't live too far away.

Well, I have to hand it to her. She was damn good. And if all that turns up nothing. I'd seriously question why we're even wasting our time. But if you think he'll come back, in theory, you could try and see if you can catch him yourself and grant her that surveillance. I mowed over her suggestions and thanked her before hanging up.

Looking down the street lined with identical houses, I knew we had some work to do, but Officer Ryan and I were ready to hit the ground running. By the end of the day, we'd racked up a decent amount of overtime and exhausted all potential avenues. When it was all said and done, we had exactly as much information as we'd started with. Well, it seemed impossible. If there really was a guy running around peeping on, kids how could no one have seen anything i wrote up my report for the day and planned to take a fresh look at things in the morning however i didn't get that comfort as i heard my phone buzz at two in the

morning with miss wilson frantic on the other end it had happened again acting on instinct i immediately threw on the first pair of clothes i could find and sped down to the house crookedly parking in the street i jumped out of my car and ran around the perimeter looking for the man When I didn't see anything, I called for any available offices to be on the lookout for a man potentially wearing a mask fitting the description Lucas had given me the previous day. I waited with Ms. Wilson and Lucas inside while a couple of offices searched the area and talked with neighbours. The fear in the eyes of the young boy said a lot, and the way his mother hugged him tight

and whispered in his ear, no doubt with words of comfort and love, made the non-verbal aspect of the situation speak that much louder. As time went on, it was the same story. We searched and came up with absolutely nothing. But even so, that moment made me believe this went way beyond the lack of evidence. Something was deeply wrong. Deep down, I knew what Lucas was seeing was real. I contemplated the fact that the way we were looking at this was off. I needed a different approach, and maybe Ms. Wilson was right the first time.

perhaps we just needed to sit and wait for the guy to show. The next day I spoke to the chief about my lack of progress and suggested this new strategy. I figured that if we kept arriving late to the scene and Ms. Wilson's request should be granted. Despite the lack of evidence, I told him I was confident that the boy's concerns were real and that we needed to take them seriously.

Surprisingly, he went for it, but only on the condition that I was the only guy on surveillance duty in case I caught something extra. Yeah, we made an agreement to significantly cut back on my in-office time so I could spend between four and six hours apart in front of the Wilson home. The first couple of days were incredibly uneventful. Admittedly, I spent more time playing games on my phone and watching videos than I probably should have.

In my defence, surveillance is goddamn awful. Seriously, try sitting and looking down a dark, empty street for 30 minutes by yourself and you'll see what I mean the third day was when things took a turn for the horrible. Precisely one in the morning the light flicked on in Lucas's room and my gut screamed at me that this was it. But there was a problem. I didn't see anyone outside Lucas's window as it happened. The outside was just as empty as it had been the two previous nights.

Either way I rushed towards their home with a gun in half. For the second time I ran around the house shouting for anyone hiding in the dart to come out and surrender, checking any potential hiding places I went. And still, nothing. I was standing around in the cold, looking down an empty street, thinking about how dumb I must have looked. I was screaming in the air, waving around a pistol like a crazy person. And a lot of neighborhoods, I'm the exact guy people would have called the cops on. It's one of the many moments in my career I had to shape my head and ask myself

What the fuck am I doing? I didn't know if this family was messing with me If this was all in the kid's head Or if it was some third option I hadn't explored yet By the way there was a deep frustration One that was different from other cases You see I could deal with having the puzzle pieces And not figuring it out to put them all together

But we don't know if you have any pieces at all or if you're even completing a puzzle, it makes you question what the hell you're even doing with your life. Well, I fully intended to confront the two over this. If they were messing with me, then there'd be hell to pay. But when I finally entered the house, I was quickly met by Ms. Wilson. She insisted on showing me something I never in a million years would have expected. The large imprint of her hand was staring back at me from the other side of the window. I yanked out my phone and quickly went to take a picture, but before I could even raise the phone

to take a snapshot, it was gone. A million questions flooded my mind. I'd been staring directly at the window when the light was turned on. I ran around the whole dam house, and there wasn't an iota of evidence that a person was out there. I called in for an officer to come by and help me collect evidence in case there was some piece of DNA we could gather. Still, in waiting for them, I wanted to talk to Lucas and Ms. Wilson again.

The familiar faces of distress were present, but this time I could pick up on something different. An expectedness. It was almost like I could hear them asking, what are you going to do? And frankly, I didn't know the answer. My conversation with them was standard. I asked the basic questions I've asked people a million times before. What did you see? Did you hear anything? Was anything after day? And so on. Nothing of note came back. The eventual searches for DNA also left me with nothing. All I could tell them was that I'd try again tomorrow.

I recommended they stay with family or in a hotel for the rest of the night. As I was walking out of the house for the second time to regroup for the next day, Ms. Wilson stopped me at the door. Do you have any children, Detective Smith? she asked her question froze me for a moment it took me a second to regain my composure before i turned around and replied with a clumsy i uh why do you ask what would you do if it were your kid well my first thought was i'd do everything for him but i knew that wasn't the type of response she was searching for be there I'll be there to protect him at all costs that's what a good parent does yep it is she replied softly please take care of my son as if he were yours i nodded in understanding and walked out without saying another word as i got in my car and made the drive home i tried to zone out to an instrumental playlist I was doing my best to phase the night's events out of my mind, but my best wasn't good enough.

My mind was buzzing. How could there have been a handprint there? I was there the entire time and saw nothing. No person came up and there certainly weren't any cars. I needed a new and innovative way to either catch this guy or convince the family to move out of town. By the time I got home, I'd figured it out. a new angle to pivot towards. It was a solution so simple that I almost laughed at myself

for not doing this the day the chief gave me the case. I realized I needed to take my own advice and be there for Lucas. I decided that I'd sit inside Lucas's room every damn night until I was face to face with the bastard behind all of this. Ms. Wilson was hesitant when I brought up the idea the next morning, which was understandable. But with some pushing and a phone call with Officer Ryan, whom she really seemed to take to, I eventually got the green light.

Well, hopped up on energy drinks and the sheer force of will, I sat in a chair staring at that damn window as Lucas slept on the other side of the room. 10 p.m., nothing. 11, nada. The clock struck 12 and I was still seeing the same thing as before. One quickly slipped into two, and I could feel my eyes starting to get hell. heavy. I looked over at Lucas, who was illuminated by his nightlights, and I watched him for a bit. A small smile was on his face. The way he'd shift around ever so slightly indicated that he was having a dream, a good one. I'd seen that face many times before on a sweet sleeping child. At that moment, I couldn't help but reflect that smile back. Something about that moment reminded me of why I was going so hard to protect this kid.

inner feeling to right or wrong. But I was so damn tired. My mind was sweet talking me into the idea that a quick nap couldn't hurt. As my eyes slowly closed shut, my entire being was cut off from the world. Until I heard a scream, I quickly shot up from my position and snapped my neck towards Lucas, who was cowering on the bed, staring at something. I followed his line of sight to the window and couldn't believe what I was looking at. It was indeed a man or some kind of twisted approximation of one. His entire pale head nearly filled the window. The massive eyes and dilated pupils were locked in on the boy, and even as I reached from my gun and pointed it directly at him, he never broke his gaze. A thin, wrinkled mouth stretched from ear to ear in a neutral

expression, still it heavily contrasted with the rest of his smooth and utterly hairless face. He also appeared to have a sizable beak-like nose that came to a point well below his thin lips. His nose almost seemed like an arrow pointing down to his rotund body and bone-thin arms, both sporting liver spots and long grey hairs. But perhaps the most disturbing thing about him was that he appeared to be completely two-dimensional. It was as though he resided within the thin walls of the window instead of being on the other side of it. It was almost as if he was being projected onto the window. But that was impossible, as there was no light coming from the other side of the window and no visible projector in Lucas's room.

"'Lougars, move. Go to your mom and tell her to lock the door,' I screamed. Well, he didn't need to be told twice. In an instant he was gone. After you was out of the room, I backed up towards the door, locked he behind me with one hand and kept the gun pointed with the other. Now the man's massive eyes shifted towards me, and his lips went from neutral to a thin smile. He spoke slowly in a deep yet confidently calm manner. You shouldn't have done that, Detective Smith. If every single hair on my body wasn't already on end, they most certainly were now. I am. How do you know my name? I shot back with false confidence. Knowledge is critical.

I know you and your mistakes. We all do. He replied, a matter of family. Who the hell is we? A society of people. No different from the one you live in. The way you talked down made me feel like I was a child speaking to an adult with decades more experience than I could ever dream of attaining. Still, trying to maintain my poker face. I squeeze my gun tighter and raise my voice a couple of octaves. But why is your society attacking this family? Why attack Lucas? Attacking? No. I am merely observing. You are fascinating. You've been scaring the bejesus out of a 12-year-old boy. And you're doing it because he's fascinating? don't give me that shit."

He didn't reply. Instead, the imprint of two hands appeared on the window. Before I could understand what was happening, they pressed forward, warping the glass as if it were a thin, malleable plastic. The hands began to stretch towards me, and memories of my encounter with a tall woman flashed in my mind. I wasn't about to let that happen again. I fired off three rounds into the window, hoping to destroy his only means of passage

into this world. but the man kept on undeterred every instinct told me to get the fuck out of the house but i knew he'd surely attack lucas and miss wilson if i didn't stand as the last line of defence all i could do was hope that i could destroy every last bit of the window before i knew it the hands were at my face i squeezed my eyes shut and didn't open them again until i realized that they weren't hurting me instead they were caressing my face He was feeling my scraggly beard and running his fingers through my fate. I didn't know whether to feel fear or relief, but I quickly figured out which way to lean when the hands violently wrapped around my cheeks and slammed the back of my head against the wall.

I dropped my pistol in the commotion, and as I struggled against his grip to pick it up, he pinned me face down onto the ground. He violently grabbed me by the arm and dragged me towards the window. I could see him looking at me, smiling in anticipation of what was to come next. His pupils were dilated and nearly filled the whites of his eyes. He forced one of my hands through the warped surface at the window,

and all I could feel was this immense coldness. It was a cold like I'd never felt before. It was like dunking your hand into a bucket of ice on steroids. Sent waves of pain firing through every nerve in my body. whatever impossible level of cold this was i knew that frostbite was mere seconds away it took all the strength i could conjure to yank my hand from his grasp i writhed around on the ground in agony cursing at the man above me well i knew he enjoyed my pain he took a moment to watch as i struggled to scoot myself against the door before speaking again the boy belongs here with us deep down he knows it he also

wants to be with us and maybe you do too you've already seen the other side detective and it's always been unpleasant you're all safer with us fuck you i screamed i dove for my pistol shot up and unloaded another few shots into the window with my good hand but he was still there smiling in a rage i began to bash out large holes with the butt of my gun by the time my anger had subsided i'd taken notice of the fact that the man was gone. All I was staring at was a large hole in the woods on the other side of the home. I needed a moment to relax. My heart was beating fast in my chest. I took a moment to sit on the bed and inspect the bruise on my head and contemplate whether or not I'd need to go to hospital for a check upon concussion. After a few minutes, I figured I was

all right enough to call the chief and tell him why the neighbours would likely call soon about multiple shots being fired. I told him to get dressed and get down here, and I'd fill him in on everything that had happened. One deep inhale later, and I turned my attention back to Ms. Wilson and Lucas. They let me in only after I assured them that I wasn't the intruder. The first words that came out of her mouth were ones that I admittedly wasn't prepared for. What happened? She asked, with tears streaming down her face. This may have been the most challenging part of the night. Lucas had seen something truly horrible, and he knew that I'd seen it too. I was someone he was supposed to trust. I was someone that was supposed to stand for truth and honor. I was someone

that was supposed to be on his side. And yet, despite all of that, I was someone that lied about everything. He was a man in a mask and multiple others outside with him. We had a confrontation. I have to go in through some files of work. I actually believe him to be a guy with we've dealt with before. He uses a device to jam security cameras and his clothes make him incredibly difficult to see in the dark. That's why we couldn't see him the first time. Look, once my chief is here, you can talk to him about everything. Complete bullshit. I hated myself more and more with every lie that came out of my mouth. I wanted so badly to tell them the truth. And if it were up to me, I absolutely would have. But after the last encounter,

I knew it wasn't my choice to make. Eventually the chief arrived on the scene. I passed her off to him and a couple of officers accompanying him. I recognised them as the two guys that went into the farmhouse with a tall woman. When the chief excused me to leave, I took one look back at Lucas as I went. He was staring at me with tears in his eyes and an unmistakable look on his face. It was one I'd seen before. Disappointment.

Oh, the boy had been through so much, and sometimes all a child needs to heal is validation. They want someone to acknowledge that they believe what they're saying is true, and what I did took any chance of that ever happening away. And it hurt. In the coming days, the two of them were relocated across the state. They were lied to about a dangerous type of mole growing under the home. They were also told a giant sinkhole was forming under the house, putting the whole property in danger.

As Wilson was led to believe that none of this could be fixed within a reasonable budget, so it would make more sense to move. With the additional belief that it would be a fresh start for Lucas, she obliged. My chief told me he did his best to keep up with them. From what he's heard, there hadn't been any reports of anything unusual. This, of course, was fantastic to hear. I even opened up a special bottle of wine with Detective Joss one night to celebrate.

break. In the weeks following, everything went back to normal, everything outside of my personal life, at least. We all go through periods where we feel like we're being watched. That feeling was coming on much more strongly than I typically noticed it. Well, in the weeks following, everything went back to normal, everything outside of my personal life, at least. We all go through periods where we feel like we're being watched. That feeling was coming on much more strongly than I typically noticed it. It didn't matter whether I was alone at home, driving in my car or just taking a walk. I always seemed to catch myself doing a double take as if I'd heard something that sounded awfully close to a voice, or I'd see a figure just out of the corner of my eye. This came to a head when, after a shower, I was doing my facial scrub routine in the mirror when I undoubtedly saw a man behind my reflection. I nearly had a heart attack when it registered as that familiar large face. The man from Lucas's window was staring into my soul.

A broad smile plastered across his face. I avoided looking at myself in any reflected surface for a month and a half after that. It was Nietzsche, who remarked. If you gaze for too long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. I'm not sure if you understood how right he was, but it's a phrase that holds more meaning to me than almost any other. If anyone can help it, I urge them to avoid that abyss at all costs. Well, the darkness that stares back into you is never worth satiating your curiosity.

Stay safe, everyone. I investigate disturbing cases. Here are my stories. Episode 3. The Hermit. There's a famous quote by Robert Evans. There are three sides to a story. Yours, mine, and the truth.

In my line of work, you come to realize that the truth is rarely an objective perspective. For example, a bloody fight is a result of an argument. One side claims self-defense, the other claims a brutal attack, and a camera shows a man striking another in the heat of the moment. Case closed, right? Oh, the truth is stored in that digital medium. No. When you look further, what do you find?

A lifelong friendship, betrayal. months of tension threats and boil over maybe the attacker truly believed his wife was in danger and mistook the slightest movement as the beginning of a punch perhaps he just lays anger at the situation get the best of him maybe a mix of both what's the objective truth here and for whom is that truth valid when you're a cop understanding these nuances in truth is critical and understanding the power these nuances can have is even more important. Not only when we have to discern whether or not someone's recollection of the events is accurate, but when we lie to achieve a specific response, it's all something you become

very familiar with. For me and my investigations in particular, this was especially true. Since my investigation of who I've dubbed as the Watcher, well, I've been assigned to numerous cases, many were either uneventful or too out of control to do much more than

make an unofficial police report. However, during this time, Officer Ryan somehow managed to get into the Chief's good graces while I was bouncing between the real crimes and looking at unusual occurrences, while he in turn earned the opportunity to tag along on some of my investigations. In one instance, we even took a trip to what's easily the creepiest amusement park I've ever visited. I believe the name of it was Cheezys' world. Honestly, we could only spend, about ten minutes there before mutually deciding to nope out and just tell the chief that everything was on the up and up well i'm not sure if cheeses is even still around but either way i'm not really the guy to tell the story of the place the point being officer ryan and i had spent what was becoming a

considerable amount of time together and admittedly the guy was starting to grow on me because of that relationship they asked for him personally on my next case A local hospital had called about a man trespassing in the mental health ward. Supposedly, someone had been spotted inside the ward multiple times. One account from a patient even suggested that the man had been sitting on the ceiling. At first, these accounts were not taken too seriously, but when one of the security guards spotted a naked man, scale a wall and climb into a small vent in the ceiling,

and we got called. Typically, patrol officers respond to these types of calls. However, when information on the stranger accounts of this man made its way up the chain of command, I was called it. From an inhumanly loud scream to seemingly materializing into locked rooms, my interest was immediately peaked, along with my disgust. When Officer Ryan and I pulled up to the hospital, things were already in motion. Explanations for why we needed to evacuate the floor and bring in multiple officers were already given,

and on our arrival we were escorted down a set of hallways that led into the mental health ward. The security guard escorting us referred to it as the old hospital. Apparently it used to be the primary set of buildings. As the hospital decided to modernize and expand, they built a new set of buildings on top of the old. This was good for the hospital in general, but it left the older portion noticeably neglected. The first signs of this were apparent in the rickety elevator we took down to the main. mental health facility's main lobby. Who admittedly was a little

uncomfortable going down an elevator that lightly hadn't been serviced in who knows how long, when the creeks and moans of the rusty lift only added to my growing paranoia. Officer Ryan made small talk with the guard as we descended. The guard mentioned how the hospital

was storing an overflow of oxygen tank cylinders in the old hospital storage room. He usually made rounds to make sure that the tanks weren't compromised. During one of his rounds, he claimed to have seen who he referred to as the hermit, eating a dead mouse. The story made my stomach churn a bit, but listening to the guard take comfort in Officer Ryan took my mind off the stress for a moment. I also thought it was fascinating how that guy seemed to be beloved by everyone. But when the doors opened back to reveal a lobby that looked as though it hadn't been changed since the 60s,

my stress levels spiked way back up waiting patiently was detective evil in joss behind her were the two offices i usually saw accompanying the chief detective joss's light brown hair was tied up into a bun her navy blue attire and dark makeup contrasted with her fair skin and soft freckles across her nose and of course she was scowling took you long enough to get here smith she said with her a very detectable level of frustration. We've already cleared the floor because of the dangerous individual. I'm hoping that you won't make me do the rest of your job and actually assist me in catching him. We can all be track stars, Detective Jars.

I joked. Thus, we seem to have made it here before the heat death of the universe. So by my account, we still have plenty of time to figure this out. You're welcome. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention towards Officer Ryan. "'Hey, Barry, how are you? "'Did you manage to find a new place for you and your wife?' "'Officer Ryan nodded.

"'Well, actually, we did. "'This new set of houses has just finished getting developed "'about six miles north of here. "'We're thinking about moving in there.' "'Wait, Barry,' I interjected. "'How didn't I know? "'Since when the hell are you too close?' "'He shrugged.

"'We'll just talk sometimes. "'I guess, well, she's cool, mat. I looked back at Detective Joss with an eyebrow raised and saw a half-smile was being sent back in my direction. She then turned to the security guard and said, Thanks for bringing him down here, Davis. We'll take it from here. If you want to have guys win outside for the elevator, that'd be fine, but we don't want you guys interfering with anything down here. With a nod, he made his way back to the elevator and gave a simple wave as the doors closed in front of him.

"'Wait. You want them waiting upstairs?' I asked. "'How the hell are we going to get this guy out of here without them noticing?' Detective Joss motioned for us to follow her. Without a word she let us down a dark hallway that ended with a door that had a busted exit sign hanging over it. It leads back to the main hospital. I'm thinking we can corral him through here so that the rest of the staff doesn't see him, and then—' "'Wait,' I said skeptically.

"'This hospital is less than a mile from a major highway. "'You want to just send him outside.' "'She exhaled sharply before continuing. "'No, assuming we can't kill it, "'we have a couple of guys with trucks waiting in the back. "'Hopefully we can catch him and move him out of the city "'and into the woods somewhere to let him run off. "'We won't have much time, though.

"'Apparently Chief has seen this guy before. "'He's somewhat of an escape. gay-partist. Best we can hope for is out of sight, out of mind. Out of sight, out of mind. I scoffed. I'm glad we're really looking out for people. She shrugged. Yeah, well, I'd love to do more, but...

Yeah, we're not master fighters. I know. Still, just feels empty. Detective Joss went on to explain how the hermit has a tendency to fill any enclosed space. when exposed to the outside he'd lightly dive right for the back of the empty truck from there she gave us a tour

of the old hospital well there wasn't much to see everything was confined to a small floor he started with the main reception and living area to its right was a sliding glass door leading to the terrace straight ahead three hallways the hallway furthest of the left led down to patient rooms

behind a locked door the hallway in the middle contained the security station and a few more unseparated rooms further down. The last hallway was the most interesting. At first glance all you'd see was a few locked doors that you could easily pass off for simple janitorial closets and a water fountain. While thinking back on the conversation I overheard Officer Ryan having with the security guard, the door at the end of the hallway provided the most intrigue. Inside I found a number of oxygen tanks stacked on top of each other, with other miscellaneous items surrounding them.

And while oxygen itself isn't flammable for those that don't know, it can be incredibly dangerous near flammable materials. Not to get too much into the science, but as an oxidizer, it can cause an existing fire to spread much faster. Not to mention the fact that one pressurized tank exploding due to a rupture could cause some damage. Ten to twenty of them could be catastrophic. Now, feel free to correct me on the science,

but, by the way, this certainly didn't jive with the OSHA standards. Not only that, but there seemed to be a small hole in the ceiling. Point of entrance, perhaps. I snapped a couple of pictures on my phone. I informed Officer Ryan and Detective Joss about my discovery, but they both largely just brushed me off. All right, Detective Josh began. Barry, I want you to be at the...

Before she could finish. a voice that I assumed belonged to one of the offices assigned to watch over us came over through her radio. Supposedly he'd heard a loud noise coming from the terrace, and when he went to go investigate, he saw someone sitting outside. Dushed back to the main hall and found the same officer standing by the terrace door. Detective Joss went over to speak with him, but all I could focus on was the figure sitting in the fetal position outside.

Though he had a large frame, he was skinny with a distending, stomach. His head was probably twice as large as an average human head, but most of that seemed to be from his massive forward-hanging brow. His scowl accentuated deep wrinkles and thin, stringy black hairs fell over beady eyes that were aimed at us with a deep-seated hatred. Yet despite this disturbing look, he seemed to be otherwise human. It was hard not to wonder what this whole song and dance was for. Yes, trespassing is a crime, but evacuating an entire wing of the hospital and bringing us in here for one human man, well, it was odd. This could have easily been handled by a couple of patrol officers. I could tell Officer Ryan was feeling the same way,

but Detective Joss was on edge. When she finally came over to talk, I almost laughed in her face. This guy, huh? I said with the smart. possibly homeless. The man obviously needs help, but we brought all of us out just for him. Well, she wasn't having it. Do not underestimate this man, Smith.

I want you both sharp when we approach. That means to be prepared to fire at a moment's notice. My scoffed. Are you serious? Seen a lot of fucked-up shitters of late. I understand when there's a threat, but I'm not going to assume crazy

until I see you crazy. Do you know how bad it would look if we came at an obviously unarmed human man with guns drawn for the heinous crime of sitting? Could you imagine if one of us accidentally shot the guy? Yeah, Officer Ryan followed. You guys haven't technically seen him do anything wild, right? I mean, no reports of threats are him actually assaulting anyone. Sure, the trespassing is bad, but he's just sitting there. If he went to the media about three cops pulling guns on him without real provocation,

It's going to look bad. She shook her head. Look, I'm not... I've done this enough to know. I understand where you're coming from, but I'm telling you, that split-second difference between unholstering your weapon and firing could be the difference between life and death.

If he turns out to be just a guy, then who's going to believe... No, I nearly shot it. That's absolutely not the standard we said. We are... Or at least, we should be. better than that. Well, I've heard the stories to, but we can't make assumptions like that until we have the facts.

Everyone went silent for a moment. The tension in the air between Detective Joss and me was palpable. In his usual fashion, Officer Ryan attempted to ease the situation. So, two beats one?

My math is usually pretty bad, but I'm pretty sure we win, so yay, no guns? Fine. Detective Joss said through clenched teeth, before calling over the officer she was speaking with earlier. Murray, take a position where our friend can't see you. If anything happens, then you shoot to fucking kill. Well, we could at least agree on that.

I took point on the approach with my hand over my taser. Detective Ryan did the same to my right while Detective Joss stood at my left with her hand hovering near her gun. when we opened the terrace door there was a tangible feeling that we weren't wanted the man didn't move a muscle or say a word but it was as if his very presence was telling us to leave admittedly i got a little choked up in trying to speak with him unfortunately officer ryan didn't pick up on the hostile atmosphere and made the mistake of being the first to communicate hey man we've got a call about you being here and the hospital staff has informed us they'd like you to leave the premises. If you need us to get some more clothes or take you somewhere, we'd love to...

No! The hermit's gravely voice left a stunt for a moment. The sound seemed to boom, but it appeared as though he was barely putting any force behind his words. I looked over to Detective Joss for a moment and found myself mimicking her. my hand now firmly placed over my guns. I was slowly becoming aware that maybe this guy really wasn't human and that I'd made a grave mistake insisting that we'd come at him without guns. He took Officer Ryan a moment to regain his composure.

He laid out a nervous laugh and tried continuing. I, uh, sorry, look, we can't really take no for an answer here. If the hospital staff wants you gone, then you gotta go. We'd really prefer if you just want to. work with us here to make it easy. No, his voice boomed again. This is my fucking hole. Before I could even process what had happened, he sprung forward with incredible speed.

One moment he was sitting on the ground, the next, he was rolling around on the floor with Officer Ryan, beating his face raw. Detective Joss already had her gun out, but I knew she wouldn't get a clear shot without risking Shooting Officer Ryan. instinctively I yelled Don't shoot While I dived for the hermit Tackling him to the concrete

Well not only was the strength immense It felt like his whole body Was covered in some sort of oil That prevented me from getting a good grin While I'd done some wrestling in my youth But I was utterly unprepared For the grappling match that ensued Eventually he found his way on top

And I could see his massive hands About to swing down When a loud bang rang out then another and then suddenly i felt a river of pus wash over my face when the pressure of him sitting on my chest had lifted i hoped to whatever deity may or may not be out there that detective joss had killed him well i received no such relief when i heard that same booming voice command that we leave his home immediately looking up i caught him squirming his way into a vent that led back into the building.

Though his whereabouts were absolutely a concern, my immediate attention was drawn to my bloodied partner lying just a few feet away. I scrambled to his side, and the damage was apparent. Cuts, bruises, missing teeth and a severely broken nose. Damn it, I shouted. Evelyn, help me get him to his feet. Well, he managed to get Officer Ryan back inside and hand him off to Officer Murray to be taken.

up stairs and helped by hospital staff it burned me up inside that i couldn't go with him it was my call to go in without guns squarely trained on the hermit because for that stupid decision officer ryan could have easily received permanent brain damage and likely would need plastic surgery well we had a job to do it was hard not to wallow in my own foolishness detective joss was kind enough to give me some space and allow me to come to her. It took a few minutes to get myself back together. I found her wailing outside,

smoking a cigarette. Since when were you a smoker? I asked. She flicked ashes and blew out a bit of smoke. Well, I'm not, at least not usually. But the more I go on these cases, the more I find myself lighting up one or two to help me think, or just deal with, you know.

She turned towards me and held a light round. I'm trying to stop So here I don't have another one So as long as you have it I can't smoke I accepted the gift And lean next to her against the wall

So We're gonna find that thing And Phyllis body full of lad right Well she shook her head I know you want to get revenge For what it did to Barry Trust me I've been where you're at before

But that's not gonna work Well how do you mean it won't work He bled or pussed like a stuffed pig when you shot him. Between us two and the officer on standby, we easily have enough ammo to put him down. But if not, then we go get bigger guns. Two of us. Officer Zhang there needs to guard the elevator.

Besides, I think the shock of the moment made you miss something, Smith. I had to be within, what, 20 feet of him? I shot the bastard three times with my service pistol, three close shots. I was there. And after the pus stopped leaking. No wound. Well, this information froze me. I don't understand. He was obviously hurt. How could there be no wound? She shrugged. You ever heard of self-healing fabrics? You can puncture them, but they can fix the hole right after. Those bullets definitely went in, but you couldn't tell that by looking at him. He stands. right up there after three hollow point bullets to the head how much damage you really think they could

have done i think the most going in guns blazing would serve to do is annoy him we need a legitimate solution well that was tough to hear i wanted revenge for my friend and i was finally sure that we had a way to kill a horror just this one time it took me a moment but i knew i had to resolve myself towards a different method okay so what do we do that original plan she said placing a hand on my shoulder i wanted barry to operate the security station but with him gone i'll have to do it keep your radio on and i'll tell you where on the floor i see him if we can chase him around until he goes to the door leading to the trucks now we should be okay kind of like leading a fly out the window well admittedly i thought it was a horrible plan i understood

the general concept but playing high-stakes hide-and-seek with a super hermit sounded like a pretty dangerous proposition and that danger made itself immediately present when we found him standing at the end of the hallway with the security station i pointed my gun in his direction and ordered him to stay still he never broke eye contact as he spoke you two are intruders in my home you'll leave or be punished i will defend my property there was a point of horse and I shit you not the fucker started climbing the wall like gravity was optional and slipped into another vent the apparent breaking of physics didn't seem to bother detective joss in the slightest as soon as he was gone she went to work pulling up the security cameras and once she got everything up

she reiterated the plan follow her directions and lead him out of the building we knew that bullets could at least make it feel pain and the threat of that should have been a enough to corral him towards the truck. She remarked about how simple it was, and at first I thought she may be right. Well, it took some time, but eventually we saw movement in the hallway containing the patient's rooms.

This was it. As I walked towards my destination, pistol aimed straightforward, I couldn't shake the growing feeling that this would be the furthest thing from, simple. Making my way through the door, I had to take stock of my surroundings.

Inside the patient's rooms were open and situated on the right. Simultaneously, there was a mini-kitchen, a small television and a nurse's desk, or in a small area on the opposite side. A lot to be compacted into an ugly-looking hallway, but ultimately empty. I'm not seeing anything, I said on my radio. Did you change locations? Negative. He'd up behind the nurse's station to your left, likely setting up an ambush.

She replied. I methodically walked towards the counter, being sure to keep my back towards the rooms. My heart thumped in my chest, and sweat started to form on my brow. My mind was becoming flooded with all the ways that this could go wrong. When I was level with the desk, I took a deep breath and pivoted towards the desk's entrance, screaming for that ugly bastard to get out here. Nothing. Peaking around the corner of the corner.

corner to the nurse's station, I didn't see anything. All it took was one inquisitive step forward for him to spring from his position inside a hollow compartment of the desk and tackle me to the ground. I immediately fell a sharp pain in my right shoulder. His gums are dislocated from his jaw and shot forward like a goblin shark, sinking sharp teeth into my flesh. Well, my screams of pain only seem to make him bite down harder. Luckily, I managed to keep hold of the gun in my left hand and fire a couple of rounds into the first thing i could find the pressure on my shoulder lifted and he reared back in pain grabbing at his gun i sprang up and used my good shoulder to ram him into an empty room and shut the door behind him luckily for me one of the few things

they'd upgraded in the old hospital was the doors they appeared to be badge locked meaning unless a staff member came in to let him out he wouldn't be going anywhere I was hopeful that he'd give me some time to develop a new strategy, but his constant banging on the door made it hard to think. "'Keep smashing away,' I yelled. "'You're not getting out of here unless I want you to.' "'By Don Q?' He went silent. He inspected me for a moment and then pressed his face up with a small window on the door to speak.

"'And the reason you want me out is so that you can try and scare me out of my home, right?' I um What Your plan Stupid man He stated matter of factly You think that you can maybe abandon my home You run out of bullets

It'll hurt me Yes but if I stand my ground Just long enough You and your friends won't be able to hurt me Well I know I can take the pain But can you survive having your jaw rip on He paused to spit a yellow fluid at the glass.

I'm going to hunt you down first. His threat made me take a step back. He fucking knew. This whole time, we would have chased him around until the point of exhaustion, and then he would have struck. Detective Joss's voice came through over the radio. Smith, I see you have him contained there.

Listen, you need to... He knows. "'What?' "'He knows the plan. "'We have to try something else. "'I've got him locked up here, but I'll—' "'Smith, look down and get the hell out of there.' "'Confused.

"'I did as I was told and saw two thin fingers "'beginning to slide from under the door. "'Soon after, his hand followed. "'I didn't have much time to think. "'I sprinted towards the exit and shut the door behind me. Glancing back through the window in the door, I could see his arm had already made it through. Three options. The exit? No, he simply wouldn't follow me outside. I could run towards Detective Joss. We could at least hurt him together, but if this guy was a basically living bullet sponge, then we'd both eventually be defenceless, which left one real option.

The beginnings of a plan I didn't entirely trust started to form in my head. Another quick glance back showed I was almost out of time. He was pulling his legs out from under the door, and I knew he'd be gunning right for me. I got on the radio. Detective Joss, he's coming towards your location. He wants revenge for that gunshot earlier. Take a position outside by the truck. She replied with a simple.

Copy. Just in the nick of time. The man was free and barreling towards the door. I sprinted towards the open storage closet. Three of my steps must have been equal to one of his because I could hear him closing the distance with lightning speed. Despite the pain I opted to dive for the opening, spinning around as I landed and shooting a warning shot in his direction to hopefully slow him down.

It did the trick. The bullet missed, but I knew he didn't want to take unnecessary damage. He ducked behind a water fountain, leaving me enough time to get to my feet. out the lighter, Detective Joss had given me and point my gun to one of the oxygen tanks. Hey, you bastard, get out here. He raised up slowly and walked towards me. He was ruby red and I could tell from the look on his face that he was absolutely livid. You stupid man, you put yourself in a corner.

I'm not afraid of a little fine. I spat on the ground. I don't give a damn about a little bit. little fire. A lot of flammable shit in here, though, don't you think? What do you think happens if I start shooting oxygen tanks while I have this flameless? Admittedly, I wasn't even sure if the science was correct, but my bluff seemed to make him take pause. What do you plan to do? He said cautiously. You're obviously an intelligent guy. More intelligent than a lot of things I've dealt with. So let me put this in terms you'll understand.

oxygen tank plus bullet plus fire equals boom when boom happens in an old space with flammable stuff well i don't know if you can survive a fiery explosion but it doesn't matter because your precious home won't no he shouted throwing his hand forward you'll die too you wouldn't do this not to my home well he was partially cracked i wouldn't risk hurting the people in the hospital if this crazy crazy plan would have even worked, but that didn't matter so long as he believed I would. I don't give a damn about your home. Either you kill me or the explosion does. Honestly, I think I prefer this death over whatever the hell you'd do. Plus, it'd be way more satisfying to know that you don't get shit after this. I'll squeeze my finger on the trigger just a bit.

You take another step closer, and I swear to the universe. us. Stop! He screamed. Don't destroy my home. What do you want? Look, I'm a fair guy. There are some new empty houses six miles north of here. I'm not sure how you'd plan to get there, but they're empty. So, let's make a deal. You can't have this home, but maybe you can find yourself one over there. You do that and will leave you to your own devices. He contemplated my offer. I go there. I go there. you stay away from my new home i nodded in response seconds passed in silence the sense that i would have to readjust from my bluff seemed to become more real every moment but eventually after what

felt like minutes of tension the hermit took off in the other direction without a word i took the most enormous sigh of relief i've had in my life and flopped onto the ground grabbing at my shoulder but the pain seemed to be coming on more intensely now. Detective Joss's voice came through on the radio. Smith, we saw him come outside, but the little ship went down a storm drain on the sidewalk. Eventually I had to fill Detective Joss and the chief in on our conversation. Well, she was displeased that I essentially just shifted the problem somewhere else,

and absolutely was livid that I changed the plan without tell her, but ultimately she was proud of it. me. Well, the chief was more outwardly appreciative of my quick thinking. This way we knew exactly where he'd be, and we could prepare for his presence, and dealing with him in an empty house seemed far more ideal than dealing with him in a full hospital. Despite all I'd been through and the loose ends to still tie up, there was still one thing at the forefront of my mind. By the time I finished everything with the chief and the hospital staff, Officer Ryan already he had a room, but I wasn't allowed to see him, at least not officially.

I snuck past most of the staff to get to Officer Ryan's room. The ones that saw me didn't ask too many questions, given my badge. He was in rough shape and had already been put on some heavy drugs, but at least he was coherent, which was a good sign. Officer Ryan, Barry, I began. I'm sorry, man. I messed up. I should have known the danger and had us prepared.

and all he could muster was a week. The gauze and swelling made it hard for him to talk. The words coming out a bit muffled. I could only imagine how hard it was for him to find the energy, but he fought through the pain and simply said, Don't blame yourself, man. You did the right thing. I nodded and bent down to put my hand on his shoulder.

Knowing I should let him rest, I began to make my way outside, but a weak call stopped me at the door. what's up i asked spinning round don't call me barry man it's weird as shit well i was trying to be respectful you a blam bastard but all right officer ryan it is i replied smiling he gave me a thumbs up knowing you'd be okay i finally made my way outside well the night had been awful i was more than ready to go home and sleep off the trauma this is why it was less than thrilled to see a hospital staff member running after me in the parking lots. The woman looked to be in her late 20s, maybe early 30s. She was on the shorter side with a dark brown head, and her badge signified that she was a nurse working at the mental health hospital,

which immediately suggested that this would be another situation where someone would ask questions I really didn't want to have to answer. I didn't even get the chance for a proper greeting before she was standing in front of me. you're one of the offices dealing with that guy from earlier rights she asked in an accusatory tone i was yes did you need something well she looked at me like i was crazy did i need something are you serious you know what went down in there you're just gonna play it off i'm not exactly sure what you're referring to but if you have information you like to share i can give you my well shit she's shamed

while pointing a finger in my face you don't think I know about the man in the old hospital a human man that scales vertical walls and fits into tiny space as a child couldn't make it through that fucking voice of his your chief comes through and says he was just a homeless man living in the building and expects us to believe it I am no they didn't believe me when I said I saw him do you know how terrifying it is to have that thing stare at you from down the hall just inside the camera's blind spot only to disappear when you go and get help. Oh, she knew.

I wasn't going to convince her that what she saw was normal by any realistic metric, but still I needed to know where exactly she was going with this. But I agree that what you saw was strange now, but I'm sure there's a rational explanation for all of us. With him in custody, we'll eventually find those answers. But what good does telling me all this do to you? you. She scoffed. What good does it do me? Depends. Getting national media attention for a fucking monster stalk in our hospital could bring me some solace, especially if I knew the

police lying about what they saw were grilled by every major outlet in the world. Or you could tell me just what the hell is going on. I knew I couldn't lie my way out of this. The only I could really think to do was try and divert the conversation. You know, storing a bunch of oxygen tanks in an unsafe manner is definitely a breach of OSHA standards. I think the news would be far more interested in that than a silly monster story. I wave my phone in a face to emphasize my point, especially with evidence. But this didn't face her in the slightest. You think I can?

That security guard's a 19-year-old kid. Don't you think I could convince him to pull up footage from today? Hell, I'm sure he'd love to be on TV to say what he's seen. He's not the only one. Yeah, the oxygen tanks look bad, but which you really think is going to be a bigger story. Why push this? Why do you want to know so badly? Because, she shouted again.

My sister's a patient at the old hospital. What if he'd hurt her? What if he'd hurt my co-workers of me? I think as someone directly involved, I'd deserve to at least not. She took a moment to breathe. I'll make this easier. You tell me, and I promise I won't speak a word of it to anyone else. Just please, tell me what's happening.

Honestly, at that point, I was done. Emotionally exhausted, physically hurt, and just so fed up with the lies. Who the hell was I to hide something like that? Why should I have to pretend that what we saw was normal, or that it wasn't out there waiting for someone else to hurt? We're not master hunters, I get it, but is telling the truth too much to ask? Or at least my version of the truth? At least this one time.

That night I made the decision to tell her. I swore her to secrecy, but I informed her about everything. Honestly, I think it ended up being catharsis for me more than anything. But I like to think that we both walked to. away feeling better, or at least with a greater understanding. She didn't thank me, not that she needed to. She was owed my truth. Everyone was, and as she walked away, I reflected on what I'd done. The fact that there was so much we still didn't know. More monsters, more secrets, more things hidden just outside of where we can see. I can only hope that she used that knowledge to protect herself.

I thank you all for giving me your time for another one of my stories. I only have a couple more for you, so hopefully you'll stick with me through those last two. I was always, stay safe, everyone. I investigate disturbing cases. Here are my stories. Episode 4, Hammerhead. Usually I start these stories off with some kind of message about police work. But today, all I have for you is this.

Life is a bastard. It was a rainy October evening and I'd recently moved into my department's homicide division after a long hiatus. It was a department I was familiar with and initially loved being a part of. However, in light of certain events, I felt that I needed to leave for the sake of my own mental health. That being said, after a few years of investigating some of the most disturbing cases known to man, oddly, murder became somewhat benign. But more than that, I know it would provide a distrificing.

I was far past the point where I'd rather have my thoughts consumed by how to catch a killer than the growing number of monsters that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. As I pulled up to the apartment complex, I remember thinking to myself how odd it was that a place teeming with life could be so focused on death. The way people moved in and around the scene was like an ant colony, each individual doing their job independently of others. Yet the collective end goal remained the same. found out exactly what happened and who'd done it. I had hoped that being as late as it was, we'd have fewer prying eyes. But as I looked around, I found the presence of the morbidly curious tenants was apparent,

and it was understandable. People don't see murder every day. They're scared, curious, and fascinated all at the same time. It's an event so divergent from most people's normal, and it's difficult not to look at. But still, part of me wishes they'd take. stay inside and save themselves from the trauma that will undoubtedly rise up later. Seeing a dead body is something that never goes away. I scanned the crowd of police and forensics people, looking for a familiar face.

Luckily it only took a moment for me to find it, and he smiled and waved as I approached. Officer Ryan stood among a couple of other patrol officers wearing his trademark smile. Few scars remained from his encounter with the hermit, and his once crooked nose had been repaired to look brand new. Detective Smith, what's up, man? He asked as I approached. Nothing much, I suppose, I replied with a yawn, mostly just tired since apparently people can kill during regular working hours. The officer next to Ryan looked at me for a moment, puzzled before blurting out.

Smith, you're back in homicide. I thought you were done with it after what happened. I responded with a nervous. us laugh. Just a little break, Officer Bailey. I was always coming back. I looked past him for a moment to take a look at the body. What do we have on the Vic? Officer Ryan sighed and shook his head, motioning for me to follow him. We made the short walk over to the body. Calling it a bloody mess would have been an understatement. The man's entire face and chest were caved in. Large pieces of flesh had been torn out from his neck, and it appeared as though his right arm had been smashed

on the pavement. The way the body had been mutilated disturbed me to the core, and it was hard not to gag at the sight of the man. So, Officer Ryan began, as you can tell, we've got severe, blunt force trauma. Cuts and bruises consistent with the fight. So far, no one we've spoken to has seen anything. We have the 911 caller waiting to talk to you, though. After getting in the rundown, I went to inspect the body more closely. As previously mentioned, we were looking at an inordinately brutal attack. Thinking aloud, there seemed to be only one logical conclusion. This has to be personal. No way anyone desecrates a body like this if he was killed by a stranger, unless they didn't want him to be identified, but even then it's excessive. Maybe he had some of

their value, Officer Ryan added. He gets into an argument with someone trying to take his stuff and they do this to throw us off well i wasn't convinced as i went to check his pants pockets my suspicions were seemingly confirmed i don't think so his wallet and keys are still here so it likely rules out a robbery opening his wallet i found an id belonging to that of mr burney garrison 58 years old we still need someone to positively identify the body but we could now very likely give a face to the guy. I called for an evidence collector to come over and take the items away while I continued to search the body. When I went to look at his neck and trapezias, my eyes grew wide, and I immediately yelled for the crime scene photographer to come and take a look. Embedded into the

man's flesh were three yellow teeth. The man I presumed to be Mr. Bennett was only dead for an hour at most, yet the skin and muscle around the teeth were already rotting away. The look on his face mirrored mine, pure disgust mixed with confusion. Though neither was had a deep understanding of biology or the human body, we understood enough to know that it doesn't rot that quickly, nor should it only rot in one place while the rest of it remained pristine. Already I was getting the vibe of something deeply wrong. Preliminary thoughts were coming together in my mind that I wanted no parts of.

ideas of just what the hell could have done this froze me for a second could the tall woman have brutalized this person or something else once i regained my composure i simply noted to my team that we needed those teeth removed and checked with forensics to see if they matched any DNA we had on file just as i'm about done with the body i hear a faint buzz i instinctively go and check my phone but realize it's not me It takes a second to locate where the sound came from, but I eventually spotted a soft blue light emanating from a nearby trash bin. Walking over, I discover a phone, and immediately I noticed flex of blood on the case.

Pressing the home button takes me to a background image of a man who strongly resembled a slightly younger Roger Garrison and a dog. One miss-call headline the notification bar. A quick swipe not only shows me that Mr. Garrison doesn't keep a passcode, but he always shows. also has a text message from someone saved as asshole I said to myself one of the odds that it's mere coincidence that he's in contact with someone he obviously has a problem with at the same time he gets killed I walked the phone over to another evidence collector and told her to keep it safe and sound for me back at the station after making the rounds and talking to the other detectives about what I'd found it was time to speak with a 911 caller

Miss Eva Brownstein. I found her waiting outside her apartment door. I introduced myself and started off by asking her what the original 911 call was about. The tremble in her voice indicated she was still trying to deal with the stress. I was watching TV when I heard a loud noise outside. I think it was banging. I guess I assumed that one of the downstairs neighbours was doing some work or something. I know it's late and it seemed odd.

but I wanted to mind my own business. Well, the banging went on for a bit, and I'm sure Ernie had gotten sick of it, poor man. She shook her head. I hear him yelling that he was going to kick someone's you-know-what and slam his door. Next thing I know, sounds like there's a struggle outside. He's screaming cuss words at the top of his lungs

and telling someone to get off of him. And that's when I called the police. But after I got off the phone, it was just silence. Did you happen to poke your head out and see anything? I asked. She nodded. When things got quiet, peaked out of my window and saw Ernie's body lying there with blood all over it. No one around him.

And you didn't go out to check if he was still alive. Son, I'm 74 years old and grew up in Brooklyn. If there's a dead body outside, the last thing you do is go hang around it. Well, I couldn't argue that. Did she happen to know who he went to confront at least? Did you happen to know of anyone who'd do this to Ernie? She thought for a moment, but ultimately shook her head. No, I'm not sure who Ernie was going to see.

I know he had a problem with one of the neighbors, but he never told me who they were. As for her, would do this. No one I can think of. Ernie had a bit of a temper on him, sure, but overall he's a good guy. Outside of that one neighbor, he's never mentioned. having any real problems with anyone. Other friends or family we could ask. No, no kids, wife or siblings.

His parents died years ago. I'm one of the few people he talks to if there's even anyone else. Not that I wanted to call her a liar, but it was difficult to believe that a man who seemingly has no ties was brutally killed in that fashion. But between the phone, teeth, and the lead on the neighbor, I felt we actually had a pretty solid base to investigate. As I wrapped up the interview, she made one final off comment.

I know Ernie was a fighter. He always used to carry a golden pocket knife with his initials inscribed on it. When you find who did this, I swear to God they'll have scars from that. When I finally got back to the station, the first thing I wanted to see was that phone. I nearly flew to evidence to retrieve the device, and I was done. giddy as a kid on Christmas morning when I got the chance to see its contents. A couple of the other detectives in Officer Ryan crowded around my desk as I read what appeared to be a heated argument between him and his neighbour, Alan Wong. In short, they

seemed to be arguing about the loud banging. Mr. Wong seemed to claim that he wasn't making the noise and urged Mr. Garrison not to investigate. The two had a continual back and forth, which eventually led to Mr. Garrison going out to confront whoever was outside. which led us here. Now this was critical. The lab wouldn't have DNA results back to us for a while, but we likely had a direct witness to whoever killed Mr. Garrison. If we could pinpoint who was outside at the time,

then the DNA would be just icing on the cake. Either way, this all hinged on the testimony of Alan Wong. Finding his apartment once we had the name wasn't hard. Neither was getting him to agree to talk after, politely informing him that if he was withholding information pertaining to an active murder case, he'd be in deep shit. It took a short ride downtown for me to begin sizing him up in the interrogation room. There were no cuts or bruises on his body, no flex of blood either.

For a murder that brutal, you'd absolutely expect there to be signs, but one thing was apparent. Mr. Wong was nervous. Even if he wasn't the perpetrator, he knew something. Beads of sweat were forming on his brow, and his eyes seemed bugged out, darting back and forth as if he was looking for something. How are you doing today, Mr. Wong? I asked, attempting to break the tension. He gave a nervous laugh. Well, a question to ask, considering the circumstances. Can we just get to it? Fair enough. I suppose the first thing I'd like to know is, how do you know we're only Garrison?

I fixed things so. One day he asked me to help fix up his car because he thought I'd be cheaper than a regular handyman. Okay, so, you helped him out. And what? Everything was cool between you two? Do you ever speak again after that, or... He shrugged. I mean, there was a little dispute, I guess you could say.

Nothing major, though. A man ends up dead after a dispute with a neighbor. an unfortunate yet classic storyline. The pieces were starting to add up in my hands. And, uh, what was this dispute over? Payment for my services. I'm a fair guy, but he was low-balling me on price. I tried to give him something below what he'd pay elsewhere, but that wasn't good enough.

Just because the guy's my neighbor, doesn't mean I'm going to work for free, you know. After threatening to take him to court, he pays up. but he starts complaining about everything. Noise. My dog. He said he thought he smelled drugs from my apartment. Just a lot of shit. The guy was trying hard to get me kicked out.

Sounds rough. He must have hated the guy. I hate's a strong word. Well, we weren't friends, but I'd never wish anything bad on him. It was just stupid. Hey man, I get it. That's fair. The problem here, of course, is that man handed up

dead. So what I want you to do is tell me in your own words what you think happened. The shift in demeanor was quick. I could hear his foot tapping rapidly now, and he choked up a bit when he spoke. I have no idea. I just know the dude got killed. It's sad as hell, but I don't have much to add. Bullsheds. That's odd, Mr. Wong, because we know that you were the last person to communicate with mr garrison and that he went to your place to speak with you add the fact that you two had clear problems and surely this points to more than a coincidence even though he shook his head i could tell from the look on his face that he wanted to say something more look out i'm gonna be frank with you i already told you that if you're holding back information you need to talk to us

right now you could be facing murder charges if this comes back to you He could either have me tell the prosecutor that you were honest or that you try to hide shit the entire way. What's it going to be? He scoffed and slammed his hand on the table before pointing a finger towards me. Don't do that. I didn't have anything to do with his death. You think I don't know how serious this is? He let out a lal groan, put his hands to his head as tears started to form in his eyes.

This is so fucked. If I'm being looked at as a murder suspect, the last thing I want to do is tell the truth and look ridiculous. He was starting to panic. I took it as my cue to stand up and let him have some time to think. As I walked out the door, I turned around and let him know to just give me his truth, however ridiculous it sounded. After 20 minutes by himself, he was ready to talk.

I'd hope for a confession, hopefully some story about how anger led him and accomplice to murder. Horrible but easy. Open and shut. What I got, however, was so much more disturbing. Mr. Wong went on to spin a story about how he was out late at night, throwing his trash away, when he spotted something he'd only refer to as an abomination across the street. Apparently, as soon as they made eye contact, this abomination came for him,

and his only option was to run inside and hide. You could hear the boom, boom, boom, boom, as this thing tried to break away. at the door. Mr. Garrison had apparently heard the noise and thought it was Mr. Wong. Mr. Wong attempted to convince him to stay inside and stay away. Still, Mr. Garrison wasn't having it, and subsequently ends up dead. Well, that's why Mr. Wong didn't simply tell Mr. Garrison about the creature. He merely laughed and said, You think he would have believed that? I wouldn't expect the person that trusted me most in the world to believe it.

alone someone who obviously hates me he would have come down regardless well it was indeed a ridiculous story more than i'm damn sure nearly everyone outside watching the interview was laughing at an abomination coming from the darkness attacked him yeah right except yeah right the way he spoke about what he saw and the genuine fear in his eyes as he flashed back to the memories was familiar i was familiar with that demeanour because I'd experienced that exact same thing personally our conversation continued for a while after that but I ended up letting him go I informed him that I'd stay in touch but deep down I knew I'd never see him again because he simply wasn't our guy I don't know if it was for my own mental well-being or respect for due process but I needed to hold on to the

idea that this wasn't another hellspawn that came to wreak havoc on society I needed to see this through and make sure I wasn't dealing with the standard type of darkness we see from human beings. For all intents and purposes, Mr. Wong didn't know what he saw, and this could easily be the work of some local mania. It took some weeks, but when the DNA profiling came back on the teeth and other pieces of evidence we collected, things started to look bleak, and a single match. Simultaneously, as we did further research into Mr. Wong, we found no traces of his DNA at the scene, nor did we find any evidence that he'd been communicating with a third party to set up some kind of hitman job. Furthermore, searches from his home computer at the time of

the 911 call indicate he was inside using his desktop around the time of the murder. Even potential security camera footage from the area turned up nothing. If Mr. Wong was involved, there wasn't any hard evidence to show it. Our two best leads were drying up, and Over time Mr Garrison's case went the way of many murders before it. Cold. The days went by, and with no new leads, we had to try something new. I convinced the chief to hold a press conference and ask the public for any info. The hope was that if someone recognised the types of injury or Ernie Garrison himself,

perhaps they could plug some holes we'd been missing. The tips that came in at first were of little to no help. They were primarily people suggesting completely random names. Maybe a creepy uncle or ex-boyfriend. Yeah, we even got a few suggestions that a bizarre set of stairs off in the woods or skin walkers were to blame. Honestly, I don't know what to make of either of those. I've heard stories of both, and to put it simply, no, I'm staying far away from both of those things. The point being, we weren't getting anywhere new.

wasting time chasing dead ends, at least until I heard a familiar voice on the phone one late office night. She sounded nervous about speaking at first. Hello? Is this Detective Smith? Yeah, speaking, and who is this? I never gave you a name when we spoke last, but this is Maria Alvarez, nursed at the old hospital. We taught in the parking lot after what happened. The words old hospital brought back a flood of memories that made me shudder. The face of the hermit flashed in my mind and I reflectively turned towards an air vent above me just to make sure nothing was hiding inside it. Yeah, I remember you, of course. How are you, Miss Alvarez? She let out a sigh. I'm managing. What she said to me back then, I've been on my mind a lot lately and has given me

a different perspective. I don't know. I just feel like the world has become a much scarier place almost overnight. Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that, truly. It's okay, or at least tolerable. I saw your press conference, by the way. I just brought up some thoughts, you know. A lot of thinking about what it could have happened to that poor man. And yet, the more I thought, the more I realized I may have an idea. an idea of what she went silent for a moment but i could hear movement on the other end and a harsh whisper came through technically i'm not supposed to be sharing this with anyone because of um patient confidentiality so a while back someone came in with similar injuries at night bite marks with rotted skin around the injury side and severe head and chest trauma we'd try to ask him what happened but all he'd say is some animal jumped him in the woods. I remember us all thinking how weird it was, considering the bite marks looked human.

Well, after our conversation about how real monsters exist, I started to connect some dots. Maybe he was attacked by something similar, and he didn't feel comfortable speaking on it. A potential pattern was forming, and my mind was eager to put the pieces together. And, um, he's alive. What's his name, and where could I find him? Yeah, um, his name's Leonard Houston. I can send you some of his details, and maybe he'll be willing to shed some light on what happened. Bingo!

We finally had a solid direction. I was eager to go and meet Mr. Houston to break this thing wide up, and... I'd very much appreciate this, Ms. Alvarez. But before I go, can I just ask, why take this risk? Why don't just leave it alone? I don't know. I guess because you shared the truth with me and I felt like I owed some truth back to you. Well, that was good enough for me.

I finished the convo by letting I know that if she needed anything, even just someone to talk to when the dark thoughts creep in, I'd be right here for her, always. The next move was to bring someone along to meet this gun. I would have had another detective accompany me under normal circumstances, but this was far from normal. of all the people I trusted to help me deal with the abnormal one name was at the top of my list officer Ryan was ecstatic to get the call once we had our info on the guy we immediately set out to find it

the mood on the way over was jovial here we were investigating a murder a ruthless one at that and the two of us couldn't stop laughing now as I've mentioned before Ryan had that impact on everyone he came into contact with I was certainly feeling the stress of finding the person or thing responsible for Ernie Garrison's death. Yet, all I wanted to talk to him about on the way over was what anime he was watching and whether or not aliens had visited Earth. Over the years I've come to attribute many great things to Ryan, but the one thing that sticks out is the centering effect he had on me. Hell, all people. Without him, there's no doubt I would have gone insane by now.

I found myself uncharacteristically calm when we pulled up to the run-down apartment. Despite the apparent sound of television inside, we had to knock a few times before we heard any movement. Eventually we decided to say, screw it, and yell police to get his attention. The pale skinny man that opened the door was quite obviously not thrilled to see it. He smelled of cigarettes and beer cans littered his couch. Whatever y'all is saying I did, I didn't do it, because I was busy that night, he said, throwing his hands up. Um, I cleared my throats.

Is Leonard Houston Hall. Hey, he's speaking. I took a quick peek behind him and saw he was alone. Right, well, um, good. Mr. Houston, you're not in any trouble. I'm Detective Smith, and this is my partner, Officer Ryan. We're looking into something. We thought you might be of some assistant.

He scoffed. Boy, do I look like a snitch to you? Not a snitch, Officer Ryan interjected. If anything, you'd be a hero. Something awful happened, and we figured you could help us right around. Mr. Houston thought for a moment before inviting us in. He offered us a place to sit on the couch, but between the beer cans and potential mold spots,

we both opted to stand. So, I began. I heard from a reliable source that you were in the hospital a while back with some pretty gnarly injuries. What was all that about? Who told you all that? I mean, yeah, I got hurt pretty bad while going on a night hike. Some animal or something. Probably a coyote with mange.

A coyote with mange that had human-shaped teeth and rotted the skin where it bit you. He shrugged and lured. lit up a cigarette. I guess so. A lot of weird shit out there in them woods. I turned towards Officer Ryan and saw him reflecting my unamused look. Turning back to Leonard Houston, my tone turned a bit more serious. A man is dead, Mr. Houston. If you saw something that could help us figure out who or what did it, then I need you to be more honest than saying it was a coyote with mange. His demeanor shifted quickly and underlying stress snapped to the surface. You're in my house.

If I said I ain't seen nothing but a coyote, then I ain't seen nothing, okay? But that's not the truth. I fired back. You know it's not. Trust me, I understand what you saw was probably strange, but we really need your help on this. Well, maybe the truth ain't for ten. I'm gonna be honest with you sir. I've seen shit in my life, but that day I realized there are some things better left good and forgotten. No sense in trying to convince anyone that it

wasn't nothing but a mangy coyote. So, that's what I was. I'm sorry I couldn't help you all, but it's all I got. I gave Officer Ryan another look. This time he knew what meant I was imploring him to do his thing. On cue, he walked over and put out. hand on Mr. Houston's shoulder, pointed to a picture on the wall and asked, that your daughter, man? He nodded in response. Yep, that's my baby. Turn six this mother. Ah, she's adorable. Always wanted one on my own. Why isn't she here? Mr. Houston gave a non-direct answer about troubles with the mum, but Officer Ryan knew it was more than that. I forget the badge for a second

this is just a job man Officer Ryan said pointing out his uniform I'm asking you as a human I know you don't know me but it's still just me just two dudes talking no judgment tell me about what's going on like clockwork the Barry fucking Ryan effect happened

and Mr Hooston opened up I listened in silence as the two discussed how Mr. Houston was well aware of his less-than-ideal situation and how he ended up there. After his initial encounter in the forest, the stress became unbearable. It couldn't work. He began drinking heavily, and as a result, his marriage fell to shambles. His decision to hide the truth was born out of fear of ridicule. Even if he was to be believed, he was terrified to introduce anyone to the nightmare world he so desperately wanted to leave. This common of unfortunate events landed in where he was now, a place unfit to see his child even in a

limited capacity, and maybe he preferred it that way. Perhaps he wanted to be isolated in his own growing darkness. I couldn't help but feel profoundly sorry for him, and to this day I hope he found peace. This was the type of world the chief envisioned when he implore me to keep things secrets, a world of fear. From the contemporary evidence, he was absolutely right. Eventually, the conversation returned to Mr. Houston's daughter. Officer Ryan had asked a question that really seemed to strike a chord with him. The both of us here are saying we believe you, and we're willing to do something, then, as a father, wouldn't you want to help us make the world a safer place for your daughter? There was a long silence as he tried to get his thoughts together.

he lit another cigarette and nodded for the next half hour he went into horrifying detail while walking through the woods at night he'd heard a banging noise like someone taking a sledgehammer to a tree he thought about locating the sound source but as the sound grew louder and more aggressive paranoia set in and he decided to try and leave

he set out in the opposite direction but didn't get very far before what he said felt like a batter ring ram knocked him off his feet in the dark it couldn't quite see what was standing over him but he could make out the outline of a lumpy humanard with a tall head he didn't get much time to consider just what the hell he was dealing with because in an instant it started biting at his flesh and smashing his face in his only means of survival was to pull out his pistol and fire off a shot into its torso he had a loud groan of pain as it staggered backward. They knew that was his chance and took off into the night. Someone eventually managed

to find him on the road, but he passed out on the way to the hospital. When he was fully conscious, he recalled a nurse at his bedside asking what had happened. He contemplated telling her the truth, but ultimately decided against it. From that moment forward, all he'd ever tell anyone was that he simply got attacked by a coyote. Both Officer Ryan and I listened intently. as he poured out his trauma. At the end of the conversation, he gave us the location of the forest he was hiking through and the specific trail he took. Well, and behold, it was only a few miles from where any Garrison had been murdered.

By the end of the conversation, he was crying and repeating the words. Never go back. Stay away. Honestly, I wasn't quite sure if it was a message to himself or to us. we stayed with him until he calmed down doing our best to reassure him that everything would be okay eventually he evened out emotionally enough for us to thank him for his cooperation as we walked out the door we assured him we'd do our best to use his information to make the world a safer place for his daughter still he made it a point to stop us at the door and give us some parting words I don't know what you boys plan to do, but if you go looking for a nightmare, you're going to sure as hell find one.

And stay safe out there. We nodded in approval and continued on. As we walked to the car, the road to solve in this case had become clear. The biggest question that remained was whether we were dealing with a human or something else entirely. But one thing was for sure. We needed to examine those woods. but no sooner had we sat in my car to discuss our next move then a call came through on the radio

another murder had taken place this one on the edge of the city line when the details of the crime and the victims came through on the radio my heart sunk and my mind began to falter a mother and her child were dead killed as brutally as mr garrison the deep rage and sadness filled my entire being and I could just barely find the words to respond opting for a simple

on it over the radio without another word I sped off into the night towards our new destination when we arrived on the scene of the murder there was a cavalcade of cops crawling about due to the crime taking place at the edge of a jurisdictional line police from our neighboring city had shown up as well they were proceeding with their own investigation while everyone attempted to determine which city the murder belonged to. Looking through the sea of faces, one in particular stuck out to me. In nearly any other case, I would have walked up to him with a smile or made a joke to break the tension of the heavy atmosphere.

But when standing face to face with the man, all I could ask in a stern tone of voice was, What the hell happened? Detective Michael Christian looked at me and simply said. Ah, Smith, this one is awful. almost like the devil himself was at work he asked officer Ryan and me to accompany him into the house to inspect the bodies and the scene was gruesome the first thing of note was that the woman's door had been broken down unlike someone had used a massive bat to splinter the wood and create a hole just big enough for a person to crawl through

we had to be careful not to step on the miscellaneous items strewn about as we made our way further through the house Detective Christian threw out theories about how this looked like a robbery gone wrong, but well, he wasn't so sure. When we reached the upstairs bedroom and faced with a mother and her child's mutilated bodies, it became evident that this was something much more profound. Well, I'll spare you the details of what it looked like, but comparisons to Ernie Garrison were a propox. I think Detective Christian was beginning to talk out an idea about how it was likely some

personal vendetta that someone tried to hide as a random robbery and murder. But I honestly began to tune him out after the first sentence. I could feel myself getting lost in thought. It seemed as though the rest of the world was fading into nothing and the only other things had existed outside of myself with the two bodies staring back and asking, why? Why couldn't I solve this case sooner? Why do they have to be the victims of my incompetence? Why wasn't I good enough to make a difference for once in my fucking life and ensure that the world was actually safer for that sweat was forming on my brow and it felt like all the air was slowly being sucked out of the room why why why i was drowning in a sea of questions with no ability to

find my way back up and then a new voice broke through i felt a hand on my shoulder helping me back up to the surface and slowly i began to see swim out of my own darkness. You okay, buddy, the calming voice said. I spun around and saw Officer Ryan with a deep look of concern on his face. Detective Christian stood by him,

but all that he showed was a look of confusion. Yeah, I replied, just need some air. Carefully I made my way out of the house with Officer Ryan following close behind. I made it a point to find a spot away from the madness of the murder scene, I was a struggle to pull myself together, and Officer Ryan could clearly read that from my own body language.

What's going on, man? You didn't freak out like that at the other scene, he asked. I, um, don't know, maybe the stress of everything was just catching up with me for a moment. It felt like everything was hitting me at once, I said. He wasn't buying it. Smith, is there something you're not telling me? I looked at him briefly but remained silent. He sighed. I really don't know what it is, but this whole situation has felt different, you know, weirder than the other cases we work together.

He leaned against a nearby tree and turned his attention to the woods facing us. Did you know my wife's pregnant? What? No, I had no idea. That's awesome, man. Congrats. Yeah, I'm pretty stoked about it. I've always wanted to be a dad, but, well, it's got me thinking a lot.

Well, it's natural, isn't it? I asked. Trust me, every dad to be gets to thinking, especially when you're in our profession. But that's the thing, man. After encountering the hermit and our other adventures together, I suppose I've just been considering my own safety. Being a cop is enough, but this. There's a real question to be asked about how far we should be willing to go.

I raised an eyebrow. What do you mean? He shrugged. I mean, I want to be there for my kid's first steps. I want to be there when they say the first word. Graduate, get married, and so on. You know what? I want you to be there, too.

I want to see our kids laugh and play together. I'm yours to come to me for advice and vice versa, man. I saw how hard you worked to make sure that Lucas kid was safe. You've got fatherly instinct coming out of the wazoo, and I'd love to see that in a real setting. But how likely is that to work out when we're chasing demons all the damn time? Well, he made a solid point. I didn't have a good answer outside of...

Not likely, I suppose. Yeah, you only get to walk away from those situations so many times, he said. Whoever this case goes to is going to do their investigation, probably do a damn good job of finding the facts, but we know where this is trending. Smith, over this time, you've become someone I consider to be my best friend.

Outside of my wife, of course. I fucking love that woman. Obviously, whatever you're dealing with personally is rough, and I won't push you on it, but please, as your friend, I'm asking you to consider how far you really want to go with this. really think about where your limits are he was right i absolutely needed to consider my limits going forward i didn't realize the emotional toll that all this craziness was having on me officer

ryan's words would profoundly affect me in the future but still at that moment i knew i needed to solve this case weirdly that became easier once detective christian came over to deliver the news well looks like you fellas came out here for nothing he said looks like this one is in our jurisdiction so we'll be taking the lead here i nodded informed him of the similar murder that we'd had just weeks prior i told him that we'd offer all the information we had and be of any assistance in any way possible he nodded and said he appreciated the help after he walked away i offered to take officer ryan home on the way back i told him how much i appreciate him him and that his words weren't lost on me but also that i still needed to figure this out as there

were dimensions to it that meant a lot to me we said he understood and simply warned me to be careful and that he expected me to come back from this relatively unharm because in his words my future kids need their uncle i couldn't help but smile and make a promise that i would come back the next day after work i returned to the scene of the crime i spent the hours talking to everyone occurred about what they saw the previous night, hoping that someone could lead me in the right direction. At the end of my rope with no new information,

I decided to double back and re-check the neighbours of the family that had been killed. Turned out that I'd missed a house. The elderly woman inside introduced herself as Ms. Watson. When I introduced myself as a detective, she seemed confused. Oh, I thought I already talked to the place. They didn't seem too interested in what I had to say.

Well, um, there's been some new developments in the case, ma'am. I lied. Could you repeat to me what you told us yesterday? What did you see? Hmm. She thought for a moment before pointing out towards the woods. It's not so much what I saw. It's what I know.

I'm pretty sure what happened as a result of that. Why do you say that? Well, my grand-nephew, Boris. He told me that he shot something on the leg a few weeks ago that tried to attack him. He didn't know what it was, just that it looked awful strange. Something comes hobbling out of the woods, and the police aren't interested in knowing more. There should be people patrolling this area every night. Seemed weird.

And, uh, had he seen this thing before? Any chance he knows where they come from specifically? She shook her head. Nope. Just heard stories of odd things coming from there, but he told me he really had no idea what it was. Just that it had this awful groan that he said almost sounded human. I can't be sure, but I swear I heard a rather strange human-like groan last night around the time that lady was killed. Tragic, really.

Yeah, it really is. Well, thank you for your help, Mrs. Watson. If anything, you pop, we'll keep you in mind. And with that I went to get back into my car. The puzzle pieces now lay before me. What did I have? What were the facts? Four attacks, three dead and one severely injured.

One scared whatever it was off. In both cases with survivors, it seemed that the common link was that those things reacted to being shot. I looked over at my pistol and knew I had a means of self-defense. Another connection was that all these cases seemed to happen either next to or a few miles from the woods. Pretty coincidental common denominator. I'm talking to Leonard Houston. I know precisely which trail to be on the lookout for. Still, there's a possibility them crossing part on that trail was merely coincidental.

Looking in a map on my phone revealed that the trailhead was directly north of where Ernie Garrison was murdered. Hypothetically, if you walk to a straight line, you reach the area of the apartment. Head south, and you do the same with the mother and her child, meaning that even if the trail, Hellhead wasn't precisely where these things originated. It was probably damn close. Finally, I had some direction. I contemplated asking Officer Ryan or Detective Joss to accompany me on my foray into the wilderness. Or I could feign a tip on our killer hiding out in the woods to get some backup.

We could all go in there and set the forest ablaze with a hellstorm of bullets. If you want to call me crazy or irresponsible for my next sake of actions, they absolutely respect it but I decided I couldn't do it a damn sure wasn't about to put officer Ryan or Joss in danger of being ambushed in the dark by who knows what and if I call for backup I would have had to consider how many officers would undoubtedly know the truth not only would the chief not be too pleased but what Leonard Houston and Maria Alvarez both opined stuck with me they survived their encounters sure one with no injuries but the mental scars of knowing what's out there.

Being aware that you live in a nightmare world where if one monster doesn't take you away, another one will, well, that fucks up a person. In Mr. Houston's case, it quite literally ruined his life. How could I willfully do that to other people? It just didn't seem right. I get it if you disagree with my reasons, but that's how it felt.

It's how I still feel. In my mind, I was doing the right thing. Over the next month I spent every day after work driving around the perimeter of those woods and walking the trail Mr. Houston had taken when he was attacked. Everything else in my life became secondary and I was committed to doing it until the problem was taken care of. One wet and muddy night, I took a moment to stop and rest on the trail. The physical toll of my routine was catching up to me. For a moment I heard what I thought was a mix between a groan and a wine. I caught just enough of it to know it was somewhere in front of me.

I grabbed my flashlight and shone the light forward, but I couldn't see very far through the trees. Quickly the sound shifted to my left. This time a very clear rustling accompanied it. Cursing to myself, I pulled out my pistol with my free hand and aimed directly towards the left. I waited, in silence, hoping that whatever it was would come out and face me,

and yet nothing i waited seconds turned into minutes and there was still nothing i could feel my heart beating out of my chest i sat back down and attempted to control my breathing chalking the incident to normal forest sounds likely a tiny critter that was just making its way through but just as i got comfortable another deep human-like groan emerged booming towards me from my left. This time rapid footsteps in my direction followed. I sprung forward, hoping it wouldn't notice my change of direction. I scurried to my feet and sprinted behind what looked like the vague outline of a pair of trees. I could hear the thing stomping around trying to search for me. It let out another disgusting groan before stopping in one spot and going silent again. Fear started to overtake my body. I could feel myself getting the urge to

to run the hell out of there and never look back at whatever it was ever again it took everything inside me to fight that primal instinct i couldn't be sure but i think it was waiting for me to move again if this thing operated at night it likely had an excellent sense of hearing i knew that if i was to make a move it had to be quick and decisive but at the same time it was pitch black outside plus if i was going to act i'd need to shine my flashlight on it to know where to aim, which could also give away my position, meaning the shots I took would have to be absolutely perfect, or else it had reached me and, well, game over, turning off the safety and cocking my gun. I took a deep breath and counted under my breath. One, two, three. I swung the flashlight towards where I thought I heard it last

and illuminated the ugly creature. I couldn't tell if it was human or something in between. It had a crooked humanoid body that was missing both of its arms, yet it spotted two hairy hand-like appendages where its feet would have been. Looking back up, I saw it had one saggy breast while the other side of its chest appeared to be flatter, with its ribcase showing through its pale skin. But the worst feature was that fucking head.

The head alone was maybe two feet tall, and incredibly lumpy with tops of hair on each side. His mouth hung open with puffy gums and a row of yellow teeth. As far as I could tell, the thing was utterly blind as it had no noticeable eyes. But still, I didn't stop it from shambling towards me while letting out another grow. I didn't even let it get close.

As soon as it started coming towards me, I unloaded my pistol into the thing. One shot to the head seemed to stun it. too and it began to falter, wobbling on its already weak legs. From there I kept going again and again and again until it was on the ground and unmoving. Silence followed. I led out a giant sigh of relief. Had I done it? I thought to myself.

Something about this seemed off. I walked over to the carcass and shone my flashlight over both legs. No gunshot wounds or signs of healing. Curious, I flipped its body over and examined the torso and found scar tissue from what looked like a gunshot in its gut. This had to be what Leonard Houston had come across, not the one that Boris had shot, which meant that there was at least one still out there. But how the hell was I going to find it? I shone my flashlight back towards where it initially come from.

Walking towards the area, I saw a little manmate, oh, I suppose a creature made path through the brush. its large hand-like feet making noticeable imprints on the muddy ground so i decided to follow it eventually the path came to a storm drain big enough to walk through it was partially flooded i'm not a believer in life after death but as i stood at the entrance it almost felt like a tunnel to hell every fibre of my being told me to turn around and never come back but deep in my gut i knew it was exactly where I needed to be. Before making the journey inside, I searched the area for the thickest stick I could find and held it as a makeshift bludgeoning weapon. Coming back to the entrance, I took a moment to steal my nerves, reloaded my gun, put the flashlight in front of me, and walked forward into the tunnel. As I descended deeper, my anxiety grew. Every little sound spiked my heart rate. Every vague shape made me jump back in fear. At one point I thought I saw a human body face down in the water.

When I rushed over to inspect the naked man, I was shocked to see it wasn't a man at all. In my hands was the rotting corpse of the fucking hermit. His head had been partially eaten and all the flesh inside was rotting away. God, it was a horrible sight. But at the end of the day, I suppose monsters aren't friendly to each other. I dropped the body back in the murky water and spat on it before walking away. Continuing on my journey, I got this sense it would soon be coming to her clothes. I thought back on the events that had led me to this moment, everything that had forced me to become the type of person who needed to be out there

doing the unthinkable. Officer Ryan's words rang in my head. How far do you want to go with this? Think about what your limits are. As I went forward, I really began to question why my limits had made me suffer. After all this was over, I needed to do some serious thinking. A familiar groan cut my inner dialogue. I froze where I stood and took a deep breath.

Slowly, I took short steps forward. Then the shape of a creature came into view. Walking closer I saw it resembled the thing I'd seen earlier, albeit slightly taller, with a more masculine chest, thicker frame, noticeable black eyes, and more hair growing out of the sides of its grotesque heads. He also clearly had chunks blown out of its leg and what looked to be a golden pocket knife stuck in its side. This was it, the creature responsible for this entire journey. Screamed at me and stomped in the murky water with its hairy feet. but I stood my ground When it saw I wouldn't budge

It tried intimidating me again Puffing out its chest and making its hairs stand on end But I wouldn't be deterred I was here to finish this And it caught on quick In response it did something odd It stopped Sped out phlegm turned around

And started limping in the other direction There was no chance in hell I was letting it get away I sprinted towards a thing, jumped forward into the air and shattered the stick on the back of its head. It didn't do any damage, but the force easily knocked it over. The thing wriggled around on the ground, trying to fight back. Quickly, I pulled out my pistol and shot it into the thing's back. It let out a scream of pain, but I didn't care.

Bang! Another into its spine. Bang! One to the injured leg. Bang! Another to its back. Oh, I was seething. Thoughts about what this thing had done to Ernie Garrison and Boris,

what it might have done to others, and especially what it had done to an innocent mother and her child. My rage began to take over. I stood over it and unloaded every bullet I had left into its skull, not stopping until I heard the click of an empty gun. But I didn't stop there. I flipped over the body using the butt of my weapon and bashed this thing's face raw.

only stopping when I physically couldn't smash it anymore. And then, silence. I was breathing heavily. I looked on at what I'd done, examining the thing for minutes, simply staring. I didn't quite know what to make of how I felt. The rage was gone, but I felt empty. I killed the creature, potentially saved lives, and yet there was nothing. It didn't bring back Ernie Garrison or a young family.

Leonard Houston would still be traumatized. Something about it just seemed hollow. Eventually I stood back up and began to turn back around to leave. But another sound emanated from deeper in the tunnel. Shit, I said to myself, please don't tell me there's another one. Picked up the remainder of my stick and flashed my light forward. I took careful steps towards the sound until I reached the source.

I almost gagged when I saw five greyish pink miniature versions of the two creatures I killed in a nest of rotting flesh. They were fucking breeding. I refused to let their younglings even get the chance to be half as dangerous as their parents. With the remainder of my weapon, I did what I had to do to end the bloodline. It was finally done. I dragged myself back towards my car. I couldn't tell you what was on my mind. I honestly think I just went blank.

No feeling of victory. Just blank. My only real thought was how to get out of those damn woods. Reaching my car provided the most incredible sense of euphoria I've ever had in my life. I must have sat for half an hour basking in the warmth of the heater and the comfort of my seats. But eventually I managed to call up the chief and tell him everything. I'd hold him where he could find the bodies and that he could do whatever he needed to do. but I wouldn't be there to see it through.

I drove straight home and took the most incredible hot shower. Twenty minutes later, I changed into some clean clothes and walked to the one place I knew I needed to be, the local bar. The bartender gave me a look of sympathies I sat down and ordered a shot of whiskey and a cider. I'm sure she'd seen a lot of characters come through in her time and could probably pick out the ones that were hurting from a mile away. When she gave me an extra shot of whiskey on the house,

it only reaffirmed that she knew I was going through a rough time. That night I wanted to do my best to forget everything. Two shots in and I was well on my way. But as I was about to let drunkenness take over, I heard a familiar voice pierced the veil of drifting thoughts. Smith, what are you doing here? I looked over and saw a familiar face staring at me with a wide smile. Detective Joggs.

Her face was red and I could see she was already a few drinks in. Detective Evelyn, fancy meeting you here. I quipped. She laughed and walked over to sit down next to me. I hope you don't mind me using you to get away from creepy, flotacious drunk eyes. She sad with a wink. I laughed. No problem at all.

I never imagined you as a bar type of person. I like to get dressed up and come. come here sometimes on Fridays. But I've never seen you here before. What gives and... You're a cider guy. That explains a lot. I rolled my eyes.

Yeah, I don't usually go out to drink by myself. But it's being a rough night, I guess you could say. Also, why the hell are you calling me by my last name in a bar? Kind of informal, isn't it? She shrugged. Don't know. Honestly, I call you Smith so often. I forgot what your first name even is.

I chuckled. Dabari. Dabari, Femi Smith. Yeah, I know it's not a common name, but my mom's Nigerian. My dad's from Birmingham. She wanted to take his last name, but they both wanted to keep in touch with our family's African roots through me. So therefore, a Nigerian first, a middle name with an American last name.

But growing up, my friends used to just call me Dre. She leaned in closer. I could see the genuine interest in her eyes. Oh, that's fascinating. There's a real history behind your name. I shrugged. I, um, I guess, yeah. I'm sorry.

This is, um, different. Usually we're throwing jabs at each other. Fun jabs, but jabs, not my less. And now you're here asking about my name. It's just an unexpected change of pace. She pulled back a bit and agreed. Look, I know it's different, and I know that usually I'm on you in an overbearing way. I swear I'm not always that person.

In fact, most of the time, I'm the complete opposite. Some circumstances just make work one of the few places where I can keep my mind off while life. Yet I get a little intense. Oh, this intrigued me. Taking another sip of my cider, I asked her to tell me about what was going on. At first she was reluctant, but with some prodding. I got her to talk and it was a lot. To summarize, her father was a cop and not a good one,

not in the sense that he was terrible at his job, but in the sense that he wasn't a good guy on the job. He was corrupt and power-hungry, the type of shitty guy that taints whatever semblance of justice this badge has left. And at home he wasn't much better, verbal abuse, my expectations, and a cold, distant relationship that she'd never. forgiven for she wanted to do better than him she wanted to be one of the good ones and at least in her mind

do something to make up for his mistakes she threw herself into her work made sure to be on top of everything that went down to ensure that it was being done the right way all well and good while she climbed the ranks being a star cop and was living out her dreams until it came to her home life She was married once, a man she thought was perfect in every way. Man she thought she could trust until she found him in bad with someone else. Blame was thrown around. There were arguments every night. Her fault for being too dedicated to her work.

His fault for not wanting a family to give her a reason to slow down. Divorce papers were filed. A deep depression followed. The only thing remaining was the work she now had as her only true outlet to keep her mind busy. and away from the thoughts of him. It was rough to hear. I tried to offer condolences, but she insisted she didn't need them.

Joss was a fighter through and through. From a rough childhood to now, she was determined to figure out a way to make her situation better and live the good life she'd always wanted. What followed, however, was a question that struck me at my core. What about you?

I heard you left homicide. before I arrived. Now you're back. What happened? I could have given some crappy answer about my mysterious extenuating circumstances or a simple desire to do something different. But Joss had spent the last, who knows how long, pouring her life out to me. And at that moment, I couldn't help but remember my conversation with Maria Alvarez. Truth is oh truth. And so, I gave it to her. I told her about the night that my wife and young son were murdered in our home while I was away. I was out working a case and came back to find them dead together in the master bedroom. Of course, the police were called.

Empty reassurances that we'd find the person who did it were made. I drove around the whole damn county, searching for clues somewhere, anywhere. I followed up on every bleed possible. I managed to dig past dead ends. I triple and quadruple checked every piece of information, hoping that I could find the person who killed my beautiful family and put a bullet between their eyes. In the end, I never found them. The case remains cold to this day.

All we have to go on is some grainy footage of a man walking away from the scene. It was only on camera for a few seconds, but I must have spent countless hours watching it over and over again, hoping each time they would see something new. something relevant but i never did subsequently i left homicide not being able to deal with seeing the dead bodies and having a breakdown every time i thought of my family jost was in shock i had no idea i'm so sorry she said i told her it was okay i'd gone through a lot of personal growth to try and move on it never really leaves you nor should it but i was making progress for the next few hours or so we bonded over our trauma drinking together we went from talking about our past to our personal interests movies music politics and space hell she even told me about a psychedelic trip she had while visiting her family in sweden well officer ryan had mentioned it before but turns out she really was pretty cool eventually though as all good things to do

our conversation had come to a close. I was exhausted and the alcohol was telling me I needed to sleep. But before I went, she mentioned that her family owned a cabin a few hours away. She was initially going to go with some friends, but there was a change of plans and then asked if I wanted to go instead. I told her I'd love to. From there I walked out into the frigid air. On the way home, I had nothing but time to reflect on everything.

And with a smile on my face, I finally let my mind wander. As always, stay safe, everyone. I investigate disturbing cases. Here are my stories. Episode 5. Voices from nature. There are a few careers with the same considerations as a police work. Not only are we in a position to make life-changing choices,

but we also have to live with the consequences of those choices forever. It's not something a lot of people can handle. Time and again, we've seen what happens when people who clearly aren't prepared are forced to navigate these intense situations. And it ends in tragedy. You must come to grips with the fact that you'll make decisions that'll stick with you forever. And that those intense decisions add up, sometimes quickly. As the years go on, you have to determine when enough's enough.

But it's not just the choices you make for others that matter. The ones you make for yourself can be just, as impactful. Detective Joss and I were sitting across from the chief in his office. The two of us being together had become commonplace over the past few months. In retrospect, despite us being his most trusted officers, it was probably still bizarre for him to seeing us getting along. After the events involving the hammerhead creatures, Joss and I got to know each other on a human level, and from there our connection took off. Looking back, it's interesting how trauma brings people together. So, the chief began.

You two are going to be gone for the week, yeah? Yep, Josh responded. Up north at the cabin, just like we talked about. He eyed us for a moment, chewing his toothpick. While leaning back in his chair, he turned to me. Smith, do you know of the family that went missing up in the woods your cabin is located in, a typical nuclear family, taking the grandparents out for a camping weekend? Well, his question caught me off guard.

I, um, no, I don't believe I've heard of that specifically, but I'm sure a lot of people go missing in the woods every year, don't they? He nodded. Ah, they do. This specific family is intriguing, though. See, they knew the woods. Father's a former ranger. Mother's a wildlife biologist. Grandparents had backgrounds in botany. Hell, even the kids were involved in the scouts.

If anyone would have survived a camp in trance, have gone awry. It had been them. Well, at any rate, the number of people who've been disappearing up there has been more than alarming. Turning to Joss, he asked. Joss? You know Sheriff Gideal Cartinia, right? Yes, sir, she replied. One of the best sheriffs I've been around. Indeed he is, the chief said.

As luck would have it, he has jurisdiction over where your cabin's located. I thought he might help him out if you did a little digging while you two were up there. Not a full-blown investigation, of course. Maybe ask questions where you can and report back any abnormal findings. Well, I tried my best not to show her, but I was getting incredibly frustrated with the chief. Here we were about to go on vacation to get away from the insanity of police work and monsters, and yet he wanted us to use our free time for more investigations. Wait, I interjected it.

With all due respect, if it's Sheriff Cartinia's jurisdiction, then it's his business, isn't it? Not only do we have no authority in the area, but it's literally not our job to solve their issues. His own people should be looking into this. If it's a massive concern, why don't you shut down the park? I couldn't tell if the look on the chief's face was one of annoyance or respect regarding my challenge. He took out his toothpick, it made a motion as if he was blowing out in non-existent smoke. It's impossible to seal off hundreds of square miles will land. People will find their way into the woods regardless.

I understand where you're coming from, though Smith. But trust me, Sheriff Cartina has handled the disappearances as best as possible. His people still doing regular patrols and exhausting every lead. I know it's not your job, and you aren't required to do this, but he figured some eyes and ears from outside might help. I would appreciate the cooperation. I would have told him that we'd rather enjoy the break, but just got out in front of me and promised that we'd ask a couple of questions to the locals

and keep an eye out. after leaving the office I informed her that I wasn't too pleased with how that had gone down and joss apologised and said that we'd keep the police work to a minimum and as much as she wanted to please the chief she also wanted to enjoy the time we had she made the promise that this minor inconvenience wouldn't get in the way of that reluctantly I decided to go along with it on a week passed and we were finally on our way the car ride up north might have been one of the best parts of the trip. My worries about how our vacation would turn into work melted away when we were deep in conversation, laughter, and wrapping along to Odyssey and Tupac. After about four or five

hours of driving, she pulled into a diner in some small town. As soon as we walked in, it was evident that we stuck out. Every pair of eyes in the restaurant turned to us. I tried to give a friendly wave to a family sitting across from us, but they simply gave me a nasty look and turned to back to their food. Slightly offended, I figured it was best to ultimately try and ignore it. Luckily, we didn't get hassled much as we ate, paid, and then walked out. Well, that is until we caught a man in an apron admiring our car. Hey, I yelled from across the parking lot. Something interesting about that to you? The man turned around and gave a warm smile. His apron had the name of the diner on the front, and his name tag red, ariola tires, head chef,

"'Oh, hey guys,' he said kindly while walking over to us. He extended his hand, and I cautiously shook it. "'It all casual for someone in case in our car,' just said, crossing her arms. He looked at the car momentarily before looking back at us and waving it off. "'I swear it's nothing. It's just a really nice ride. We don't see too many cars that look like that out here, so while on a break I just wanted to take a closer look.

In fact, neither are you really looked like your friend. around here. Take it your visiting. Uh-huh, I replied. Look, this is some ploy to slash our tires and take us off to some Barasca in the middle of the mountains where you have a bunch of other people tied up. I just want to let you know we carry guns. He laughed at my scenario. I'm not more sure what a barasca is, but you have quite the imagination. Honestly, being from up north, I'm not really for violence. I try and bring that Canadian friendliness to my restaurant here. And your patrons? Just asked.

They don't seem too friendly. Orio shrugged. It's not that they're not friendly. Well, we've been having a lot of issues as of late. People used to say how much they loved our food and talking to the townspeople. They'd always come back on their way out of town. It hasn't happened a single time this year. I think now when new people come in,

there's just a bit of morbid curiosity, I guess you could say. I've heard about those disappearances. I replied. Do you know anything about them? He shook his head. Sorry, honestly, I wish I did. Everyone in town is genuinely afraid to even step foot in the woods. We've come up with this saying. The tree is watching, so take that as you will. He laughed nervously. Anyway, I'm just rambling. Just hoping you guys stay safe out there. With that, he walked back inside the diner. Well, as ominous as the parting message was, it provided little insight. Still, when I looked over at Joss, I could see she was lost in thought,

much in the same way I was whenever I got a new case. I asked if she was okay, and she insisted she was fine. Not wanting to dwell too much on the encounter, we made our move to leave. As soon as we got in the car, a text message popped onto my phone. One from the chief, and it read, told to Sheriff Cartena today. The family of a backpacker reported she never returned home. A kid was only 18.

We need to figure this out. Well, my loud groan made my feelings apparent. Of course I wanted to help, but it felt as though the very atmosphere was shifting with every mile we drove, placing us deeper and deeper into a situation we didn't go there to deal with. What was supposed to be a fun getaway was quickly becoming something much more sinister. Picking up on the changing mood, Joss made a hard ride at the next intersection out of nowhere.

According to my directions, we weren't heading the right way now. When I tried to bring this up, Josh shushed me and commented that she didn't want to ruin the surprise. Thirty minutes later, we pulled up to a medium-sized house at the edge of the woods, and Joss was telling me to get out. The young camp plants growing in and around the structure exacerbated an already rustic look. Confused, I asked what exactly we would be. doing there as I stepped outside. She met me on my side of the car, with a giant smile on her face said,

We're going to get drunk and hear some fun stories. Here, I asked, am I missing something? Are we supposed to go to the cabin? Joss laughed as she walked up to the door or not. Trust me, this guy is a close family friend. I've visited him every time I came up here since I was a kid. I'm still puzzled, I looked at her with a raised. eyebrow and crossed arms.

Well, I mean, I'm off for it, but seems a little out of the blue, doesn't it? Before answering my question, she knocked again at the door. Sure, but Mr. Oak is a really fun guy. He tells fantastic stories, and since he's a former bartender, he makes the best drinks. I thought we could stay here, make a few drinks, and have some fun. Maybe get back on the road tomorrow since we've been driving all day.

Well, that's if he opens up this century. I quipped. Well, a brief look of concern was her response to my statement. When she went to knock again, the door creaked open before her knuckles could even touch the wood. The person on the other side certainly wasn't the older man Joss had described. The woman looking back at her seemed to be in her mid-twenties. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she had the eyes of someone that hadn't slept in a meaningful amount of time. immediately Joss went into cop mode and reached for a gun that wasn't there before hitting the woman with a barrage of questions.

Most notably, Who are you in? Why are you in Mr. Oaksholm? Completely unfazed by the confrontation. The young woman yawned and nonchently replied, I'm Amelia. Granddad hasn't been here since the beginning of the year. I'm just keeping an eye on the place. Realising she was merely a relative, Joss allowed her back.

body to relax. But something in her tone insinuated that she still didn't trust this supposed granddaughter. Oh, she said, bringing her hands to her hips. Sorry to scare you. I'm a family friend. I wasn't aware Mr. Olga had gone. You said, what, since the beginning of the year? Do you know when exactly he left? Amelia thought for a moment and gave a half-hearted. February, couldn't be much later than that. He left a note saying he was going to do a lot of traveling. Just consider this for a moment and motioned for me to come towards them. Interesting. Do you know where your grandfather is now? She shook her head. No, he hasn't returned since he left, but I'm sure he's fine just like everyone else. Well, that statement caught my attention. Wait, just like everyone else. Who exactly is everyone

else. Well, her entire demeanour shifted after my question. Her eyes immediately darted to the woods behind us. Another smile grew on her face, and the inflection of her voice signified mild discomfort. Oh, um, I just meant like in general. Granddad's a tough guy. He told me he was doing well a couple of days ago. I wanted to press further, but just stopped me before I could ask any more questions and interjected with. Oh, my mistake then, now. Sorry to bother you. We'll be on our way. Without another word we left. The hastiness of the exit had me in shock. Here we had a direct connection to the disappearances, one that maybe could have led us to some exciting information, and yet the hardass of all hard asses wanted to just drop it.

The ride from the oak home to the cabin was roughly another couple of hours, and half the time I tried to get a reason as to why she didn't press it, but she wouldn't budge. When we arrived, I meant to push the point more, but my immediate attention was stolen by the beauty of the nature surrounding us. The lush green forests, rolling hills, and endless wilderness were breathtaking. The cabin itself had a very modern look to it. It was large enough to house of family, but cozy enough to not be overwhelmed by the space. Small lake sat next to it, and a fire pitch was a brief walk away. This is beautiful, I stated.

All this to ourselves? Just nodded. Yep, just us, nature, and whatever horrible monstrosities have taken visit. We don't know there are monstrosities. The fact is that this forest is enormous. Pretty easy for people to get lost. I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of some rogue predator that realized it's easier to harm people than dear. She shrugged and went to sit on the bed.

I hope you're right. Just seems like a lot of strange occurrences have happened since we got here. and the years I've been doing this, that usually means something. Well, isn't that why you told the chief you'd look into it? The way her demeanour shifted indicated that my question was taken in a way that I didn't intend. Don't do that, she snapped. All I wanted was for us to be out here together. Appeasing the chief just seemed like the quickest way for that to happen.

Plus, at the end of the day, I still feel at least a slight obligation to do my job. Well, I threw my hands up and explained that I in no way meant to offend. It just seemed as though she really wanted to take on the challenge of figuring things out. And that was a trait that I admire. A loud exhale escaped her. Just apologise for being so quick to anger. She explained how stressful it was to balance her allegiance to her work and her genuine desire to make progress with me in her personal life.

Well, it's a feeling I could relate to. I assured her that how she was going about it was fine. I wanted to spend time with her too, and we agreed to handle things as they come. Of course, we'd do our best to enjoy the beautiful environment. But if something strange came our way, then we'd be ready for that too. We spent the rest of the day exploring the woods around us, telling stories over a campfire, and then retiring for the night. Lying together in bed, we had plans to explore in a hike up to a spot that overlooks miles of forest.

Well, ideally, we'd stay up there, come back, make some food, do some sort of. some target practice with the Ganges you had there, and then wind down by the lake. Everything seemed set up for a fantastic day. And the following morning at first, it was all trending in that direction. We made breakfast, packed our supplies, and headed out. The trail was, admittedly, a little rougher than I'd anticipated. Still Joss, who's an avid runner and general health notes, was kind enough to go closer to half-speed to let me catch up.

Once we'd made it to the top, I couldn't believe my eyes. The view was unlike anything I was used to seeing. The mighty army of vibrant green trees extended infinitely into the horizon. The massive hills staring back at us held the promise of undiscovered ecosystems waiting to be explored. The nearby lake gleamed as the rays from the sun made the surface appear as though thousands of crystals were occupying it. It was absolute paradise. And to top it all off was being there with Joss. The look in her eyes showed a deep appreciation for what we had the pre-examble.

privilege to observe. For so long it felt like much of my time was dedicated to seeing either the worst of humanity or the worst of the paranormal. With each passing case, I could feel my stress heightening and my sanity slipping. But for the first time in a long time, the world felt right. It felt peaceful. After an hour or so, hunger eventually pushed us to make our way back to the cabin. I couldn't pinpoint what or why, but something told me that that peaceful moment would be our last on this trip. I didn't want to freak out, Joss, so I kept quiet out of hope that I was

simply being paranoid. But as we rounded the final turn off the trail that put the cabin in view, my fears were confirmed. A woman was on the porch, in the fetal position. Instinctively I pulled my pocket knife, and Joss mirrored the action.

Creeping out slowly towards the person, I shouted. Hey, this is private property. You need to identify you. yourself. The woman on the porch looked up at us, and I immediately recognized her. Amelia! Josh shouted in disbelief. Oh my God, what on earth are you doing here? How are you here? Before I could stop her, she'd already rushed over to the young girl and began helping her inside. Don't get me wrong, I understood why Josh was so gung-ho to help the granddaughter of a childhood friend, but this was clearly very off.

By the time I caught up, Amelia was wrapped up in a blanket on the couch and crying her eyes out. I tried to get Amelia to explain what had happened and how she'd ended up at the cabin, but she wasn't making any sense. She went on some tangent about being led there before having a full-blown panic attack. She needed time to calm down, so Joss and I decided that it'd be best for us to walk down by the lake to give us some space. Once we were out of earshot, I looked Joss dead in the eye and said, Tell me you don't think this is art She took offence to my statement Of course I think this is art

You think I think this is non No, it's just I don't know that we should have been so quick to take her in You and I have seen enough to understand That this is right on the edge of no plan Drey, I get it I don't even understand how she could have possibly made it out here Forget not knowing how to get here

I didn't see another car walking the road to get her is a rough day for anybody but well mr oak is like family to me if there's a chance his daughter's in trouble i need to be there for her even if it's under weird circumstances there'll no part of me like the answer and frankly if you're up to me i don't know that i would have let her stay around but at the end of the day it wasn't my call to make this was her cabin and i needed to respect and trust jos Without any argument, I simply replied, Okay. Soon after we made our way back inside and found Amelia had calmed down a bit. I met us all some coffee and asked her if she'd be comfortable speaking about what had happened. She gave a reluctant nod and wiped away the remaining tears. She attempted to look Joss in the eyes before speaking,

but ultimately turned her gaze downward and began crying again and shouted, I was so sorry, I lied. I lie. Oh my God, I lie. Confused, I'll just bent down and put a hand on the young girl. You lied? About what? What do you mean?

Granddad, he never went on a trip. He's gone. What? Joss half shouted while popping up. Where and when did he go missing? Earlier in the year, he went into the woods and he never came back. Did you report this to the police? I interjected.

"'Of course we did,' Amelia shot back. "'Well, they'll never find him. "'They could search every inch of that forest, and it won't matter. "'My brain immediately flipped back to being a detective, "'and my questioning became a little more intense. "'How could you know for a fact that they'll never find him?' "'For the slightest moment she gave me an odd look. "'A contortion of her brows seemed to signal disbelief

"'as if she expected me to know the answer to her question. "'Because they don't know. know what to look for. It's not, she sighed. He's different now. Amelia, Joss began. What do you mean by difference? And do you know if your grandfather's okay? Tears began to well up in her eyes again, but oddly enough, there was a smile too. I know for a fact that Granddad is fantastic. He's living well and better than ever. Joss and I shared a look of confusion at this day, but literally none of this fit. In our brief moment of interaction, Joss must have been able to read my mind

because she asked a question that was also at the forefront of my brain. Amelia, how did you know how to find us here? A moment of silence followed. Amelia seemed to be contemplating how to tell us. Still, without her saying a word, I knew the answer would be an incredibly uncomfortable one. When she finally found the word, she simply turned to look out. a window and stated.

Granddad told me. She gave us a quick glance before looking back out the window and continuing. I can hear his voice from all around. He said a lot of things and they scare me. He both needed to know. I didn't know what to make of what she was saying, as much as I wanted to dismiss that she was just getting mental messages from her potentially dead grandfather,

well, I'd seen too much to rule anything out. On the flip side, also wouldn't be the same. the first time someone had, in reality, done something awful and then played it off with talks of voices in their heads. But at the end of the day, I needed to approach the situation rationally. I couldn't believe it was supernatural until I saw the supernatural. I suggested that she let us drive her into town. Ideally, we'd get her checked into a hospital, and maybe she could give the local police any information garnered from the voice of her grandfather. The Joss shut down, the idea instead insisted that Amelia stay she was adamant about monitoring her at least

for the night just later confessed that getting rid of Amelia without calming her down under supervision would be like abandoning her she wouldn't do that to the family of a close friend it was a rationale I didn't necessarily agree with but one that I respected we went about setting up the guest room for Amelia and spent the rest of the day fishing and taking shifts watching over her For most of the day, Amelia sat silently in her room. She'd be on her bed and stare out of the window, seemingly in deep thought. I'd try and talk with her, but most I could ever get out was a brief glance in my direction.

Eventually the time came for me to go to bed. I walked to the kitchen to brush my teeth and caught Amelia sitting at the table drinking some tea. By this point I didn't expect any sort of acknowledgement of my presence, but to my surprise she gave me a very warm... Adrian. Well, a little caught off guard. I greeted her back, but ultimately thought nothing of it. That is, until she got up and started to walk out.

Just before reaching her room, she stopped, turned around and stared at me. An unnervingly wide smile plastered on her face. You've seen terrible things, haven't she? Tragic. And with that, she simply went into her room. Well, I sat in silence for some time, just thinking. Was Amelia referring to the paranormal? The murders I've investigated in my career?

Was it something more personal? If I hadn't known this girl for more than 48 hours, how could she be aware of anything? Either way, her statement rattled me. Just asked what had taken me so long. I couldn't bring myself to tell her. Maybe that was a poor choice, I don't know. At a certain point, you just want to be done with the weirdness and move on.

I told Joss that I'd been thinking and when she pressed me for details, I promised I'd tell her in the morning. And luckily, she accepted that answer. Joss drifted off fast in my arms. But despite her being right there with me, I felt alone. Amelia's words unearthing a river of memories that I'd floated down. Reflections on my life, my mistakes, and the choices I've yet to make load me into a largely dreamless sleep. A ritual that I'd grown accustomed to you. Oddly enough, the only mental image I can recall was that of the watcher saying we'd all be safer with them.

Well, I don't know how much I slept, but it was clearly very early in the morning when I woke up. The sun had just begun to rise, and Joss had the blanket pulled over her face on the other side of the bed. I sat with my eyes open for a moment, when the realization hit me that I wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep. So with a quiet groan, I pulled myself out. bed, put on some clothes, I walked over to the kitchen to grab some water and brush my teeth. When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was that nine millimeter ammo had been left on the table. Confused, I walked over to Amelia's room and found that she'd left. Her space was clean and nothing indicated that she'd left in a hurry.

At first I figured that she'd likely gone into the woods to shoot. Perhaps Joss told her where to find the gun while watching over. When I went outside to try and find Amelia, I immediately noticed more bullets had been dropped, and they led to a nearby trail. As I walked to the trailhead, I heard a gunshot coming from that same direction. I figured I'd follow the trail and hopefully meet up with her at some point. But not too long after I'd started walking, I heard an eerily familiar voice call out to me from deep in the forest. A voice so familiar, in fact, that it froze me in place.

I dared not move from my spot in hopes it would call out again. Tears began to make their way down my face. I knew that it was probably some fucked-up trick being played on me, but I didn't care. The moment I recognised that it was my son's voice calling out to me, my baby boy calling for his father, I sprinted off towards it. I'd seen so much in my time investigating the paranormal that I suppose a small piece of me hoped that somehow, some way, something had brought him back.

Even if there was a 1% chance, I had to take it. So I ran and ran, my boy guiding me towards his location. I called out to him. He needed to know that his father was finally going to be there for him. I had no idea where I was headed, and I didn't care. I just kept going until I physically couldn't do so any longer. But ultimately my efforts have brought me no closer to him. Instead, I found myself in a grave situation.

I'd blindly run off trail into the woods and now I was surrounded by nothing but trees. Oh, how can I be so stupid? I thought to myself. The voice had seemed so real. The only thing it led me to was getting lost. It was the first time I had to consider whether or not I was indeed going mad. That consideration grew stronger and I saw what appeared to be a face embedded into the wood of a tree just to my right. However it was, seemed to be in anguish, their face seemingly twisted by unbearable pain. One would assume this was a case of face, paradox. The phenomenon where humans interpret random patterns as faces. But if it was just a random pattern, it was a convincing one.

It was as if the bark itself had instantly grown around this person, capturing a snapshot of their suffering. When I walked over to inspect the tree behind it, it was the same scene. Another person experience in great pain frozen into the wood. The third tree mirrored that, then a fourth. Soon I realized that I was surrounded by an army of petrified faces. Before I could even process what could have possibly caused this messed up exhibition, my son's voice broke through the confusion. It didn't take long to find the source, a tree that appeared younger and thinner than the rest, slightly further out from the others. And it's based on. was the face of a young boy. It looked like he'd been crying. I went to wipe the frozen tears from his

face and kissed his forehead. A small smile crept across my face and I hugged the tree. It had been far, far too long since I'd seen my son's face. Don't cry, Dad. You're finally here, he said to me. I suppose I didn't notice my tears and quickly wiped them away as I tried to ask how he'd ended up there. It was dark, he explained. After that day it was really dark, but one day I felt light, growth, and pain, and then just light again. I wanted to talk more, ask how I could help, what I could do. But before I got the chance, something else came through. My love, oh, it's been so long, she said in her beautifully sweet voice.

Alia? I shouted back. How, how are you both? alive, she said softly with a laugh. It wasn't thanks to you, you cowardly bastard. What? I asked in disbelief. No, this isn't. This can be.

Oh, but it is. Her tone became much darker. You left your wife and son to die, my love. I told you I wanted you to find new work. I told you putting people in prison would make enemies. I told you and now She was leading me to finish her sentence But I couldn't

No No I mumbled under my breath There's no way I stood up shouting You're not them You're some kind of apparition A fucking lie

A new voice emerged from the tree What I didn't recognize The voice was deep and monotone A lie No, Smith. We are truth. We are life. The curtain had finally dropped. Something sinister had been imitating my family and I was furious. What kind of life could you possibly be? Look around. All I see is a sick imitation of death. It laughed and unimpressed laugh. We grow. Our cells divide. We turn sunlight into energy. you call that death? We've brought life back from the husks of the dead. Our roots and mycelial networks

are far reaching from here to your home and bar beyond. We connect everything. We absorb everything, and we see everything. His voice quickly shifted to that of a young girl. Remember me, Detective Smith? I... Who are you?

Figgas. I'm the little girl you'll let die because you were too over-confident to call back up or stayed a fight even if it cost you your life you wanted all the glory for yourself but you couldn't handle the fire when it got too hot her coward fei Mizuki had come back from the grave the greatest failure of my career was literally staring back at me and i was speechless oh the voice switched up again and this time the entity's choice shocked me and i blurted out her name as soon as it is introduced itself.

Amelia? That's right. You know, there's a better path smith. When where you can make up for all the terrible things you've seen and done. Grandad had been speaking to me about joining this and becoming something more extraordinary. I was scary at first, thinking about leaving behind my old life. But we're so much happier now. That's how he found you, you know.

He was here the whole time, all around. I staggered back from this horrible scene. Amelia, oh my God, I'm so, so sorry. Why be sorry? This is life. We'll outlast everyone else for centuries and then growing you. I can tell you're scared, though. Well, don't worry.

The others that came through were scared, too. We can promise you they're so much happier now. Wait, others that came through here? I asked. You don't mean the missing people. do you? Jeez, that's where they've gone. You lured them in and then, and then showed them happiness. The monotone voice finished. No one could possibly know a better paradise. That's why they're all suffering like hell, huh? I spat back. My God, look at the faces.

There was no waver in its voice. Growth is pain. As it said this, I felt something slice at my leg. Happiness requires growth. Therefore, you must experience pain to be happy. As much as I wanted to trade jabs with this thing, I could feel my legs starting to go numb and my eyes growing heavy. My following few words were a jumbled mess, but I was conscious enough to understand my danger level. I attempted to turn in the other direction, but my foot caught a stray route, and I crashed onto the forest floor. The trees seemed more extensive now. their roots moved quickly towards me and wooden tentacles wrapped around my leg i shouted for them to get away but to no avail multiple voices from all directions surrounded me many i didn't recognize you'll be happy here we survive better together said one why fight to be apart this is your fate anyway another chimed in the pressure building around my leg was growing and with all my mind

I couldn't detach from the organism. The last things I saw before my vision went dark were more my sillial tendrils and roots that had sprung up around me. My final thought was a slight comfort in knowing that, at the very least, I'd be with my family again. Silence followed.

No thoughts, no feeling. It was as if I was disconnected from the world. And in that moment of nothing, I felt as though I could finally let go. Suddenly light flooded back into my world. A dry heave followed, and so did waves of pain. Joss was looking down at me. We were still outside but in a different spot than we'd been in before.

Before I could say anything, she pulled me into a tight hug. Beside her laid an axe covered in plant matter. I could only manage to eke out a week. What happened? Well, supposedly Joss noticed Amelia and me missing after she woke up. The ammo left on the table gave her reason for concern, especially given previous reports of missing people. So she grabbed an axe and set out to find us. The extra bullets left at the head of the northern trail tipped her off as to our direction.

As she searched, she also heard a voice that guided her to where she needed to be, that of her father. The difference between us being that Joss wasn't as entranced by the call. When she finally found me, nearly my entire body was wrapped. in the green and white tendrils. They squirmed and grew as they entered my body through various cuts. Apparently it took her at least half an hour to completely cut me out. The thing I couldn't understand is how she was able to ignore the entity. Surely it wouldn't just let her take me.

And, as expected, it didn't. The dead voices of her past whispered sweet nothings of eternal life, happiness and infinite growth. even amelia taking a shot at convincing jos to move on to the next life as she'd done at the end of a bullet for every mycelia and route she cut it tried reconnecting with her so she had to keep a constant offence to keep from joining the literal legion of the dead when i was finally free enough she dragged me just far enough to get away from whatever the hell that entity was i didn't know what to say what could i say. After hearing a story, I just sat contemplating what had taken place. For all the things I've

seen and fought against, I'd been bruised, scared, slammed, but never once had anything gotten into my head like that. Never once had something made me break down mentally. Just stayed with me the whole time as I gathered my thoughts until finally I said the magic words, Let's go home. Backing up was quick, and we rode silently back. When we finally arrived at my place, I didn't say anything as I got out of the car. A simple kiss on the forehead was our only means of communication. It stayed that way for the rest of the week. I spent all my time at home, just thinking.

When I was finally due back at work, I wore my best suit, showed up exactly on time, I went straight to the chief's office to place my badge and gun on his desk with my official resignation letter. I'm done, I said to him. I bought the items for a moment Then he looked up at me He leaned back in his chair And gave a very matter of fact About time

Well his blazay attitude infuriated me I've been to Helen back for him many times over And when it was over That's all I got It was goddamn insulting What the hell does that mean I have shouted No thanks

No trying to convince me to stay just an apathetic comment he leaned forward calmly picked up my resignation letter and neatly placed it in his inbox sitting on his desk Smith you remember how many days off of work you took

after your family's passing I uh no I don't remember but what does that have to do with none he interjected not a single day off sure homicide was challenging

but damn it if you you didn't try. Your work never suffered. You never complained. Smith, your ability to deal with adversity is far beyond what most people are capable of. I needed that. I needed you. To go through what you've gone through and still see things through to the end is remarkable. Hell, if 99% of people knew this was part of the job, they'd never joined the fuss in the first place. His speech wasn't making me any happier. So you used my trauma to your advantage? manage. And that's good? Not at all. It took a moment to open his drawer and pull out his cigar, place it in his mouth and lighty in one smooth movement.

I know I'm not supposed to be smoking in here, but what the hell? I'm not a heartless bastard. The human side of me doesn't want anybody to deal with this shit, especially not someone that's seen so much. Part of me wished that you quit, but... He stopped to exhale and take another part. At the same time, some things are necessary. Someone had to deal with this stuff. I want you to do the right thing, Smith. I want to do the right thing, Smith, and you were the perfect guy to help me with that.

It's so much bigger than my feelings are yours. Judge me however you want for that. It's going to be tough to replace you, but that part of me, the human element of me, is so happy to see you go. So, yes, it is about damn time. His words impacted me more than I thought they would. I stood there not knowing what to say. Ultimately, I opted for silence.

I needed time to process this, all of this. I gave him a simple nod of understanding, and from there I walked out and never returned. In the following months and years, I did my best to return to a normal life. As I'm sitting here writing this, Joss or Evelyn, I should say, was talking to a few of our friends about our upcoming baby shop.

officer Ryan is most excited about it he's insistent that our kids will be best friends writing these stories has given me so much perspective on these events retelling them and reading the feedback is meant so much and I thank you all for that I'm at a place where I've realized the truth is the most significant contribution I can give to people it feels so good to be able to share that as for the monsters and I've made any surprised appearances. Unsurprisingly, life has been much better without them. Granted, Evelyn came home from work the other day talking about how some birthday party ended up with multiple people dead. Supposedly a neighbor mentioned something about a clown, but didn't want to speak further on it.

When she told me, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and that old urge began to come back. Part of me feels it couldn't hurt to do some research, talk to some people, just to make sure everyone's doing okay. But another part of me says to enjoy the quiet life. It's an internal debate I've had many times. Office work doesn't quite satisfy that itch. Maybe it doesn't need to. Perhaps I can finally be satisfied with just being happy. I guess I'll have to see what the future holds. I'm really excited about it. And as always, stay safe everyone. And so once again, night'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.