The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings - Lot 060 : If You Go Down, You Forget - chapter 1 -

Episode Date: September 30, 2024

Written by Quincy LeeStarring Trevor Shand as JackRomy Evans as SophieAddison Peacock as Emma Featuring Stephen Knowles as The Antique Dealer Theme music by The Newton Brothers Additional music byC...O.AG (coagmusic@yahoo.com) Vivek AbhishekSUBSCRIBE us on YOUTUBE: https://bit.ly/3qumnPHFollow on Facebook : https://bit.ly/33RWRtPFollow on Instagram : https://bit.ly/2ImU2JV **Unsought Goods; https://theantiquarium.myshopify.com/**Babbel: Here's a special, (limited time) deal for our listeners. Right now get 50% off a one-time payment for a lifetime Babbel subscription - but only for our listeners - https://www.babbel.com/sinister Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:04 You have one. New message. Well, hello. I know you were planning to stop by the shop today. I wanted to catch you before you got here, in case I should forget to mention it during your pickup. My memory isn't what it used to be. A good friend of mine has a place a few blocks up from the Antiquarium that I recommend you check out.
Starting point is 00:00:25 It's called Campfire Radio Theater. And they've always got something incredibly horrifying playing there. As a customer of this establishment, the stories they curate, that's for sure. A cast of the best of the best in voice talent combined with cinematic sound design in full stereo and a killer soundtrack. You can get free admission to Campfire Radio Theater on Apple, Spotify, and your usual horns. Looking forward to seeing you soon, friend. Feel your ears with a sound.
Starting point is 00:01:10 Sounds of terror. Camp fire radio theater. The infected are mindless, soulless creatures. They know only hunger to the flesh of those that remain. There won't be anything left of you to discover, Jay. Ever attempt self-open heart surgery. Maro said you were a demon all along. It's the aliens.
Starting point is 00:01:32 They move around them. Some kind of spiky tentacles. There's too many voices here. Too many dead souls. I have to leave now. Serena, you're very sick. Who knew you could pull that much of a man's brain out through the eye socket? Tune in to Count Fire Radio Theater, an audio drama horror experience.
Starting point is 00:01:52 Wherever you listen to podcast. Oh, no. Found you. A hot second there. I didn't think you'd show up. Great to see you as always, friend. Great to see you. I've got something very special.
Starting point is 00:02:21 come in today. Very special indeed. The relic taken, what avails the shrine. The locket picturesless, oh heart of mine. Except this one right here, of course. This one very much has a picture inside. As to of what, or of whom exactly, is yours to discover. In this jewel of a tale I call, if you go down, you forget. Before we begin, I want to point out some of the customers whose names have been etched in brass on this beautiful plaque I had made above the front desk. These are some of the members of the inner circle of the antiquarium.
Starting point is 00:03:07 We go by the Obsidian Covenant. Recent initiates include Brenner Allen, Jill Faye, James McKinley Mr. Seven Gold Wandering Wenjo Dirt Daddy Mexim Kruger and Rio Kestis
Starting point is 00:03:28 We are ever appreciative of your devotion to The Order Go to The Obsidiancovenant.com to receive the sacrament Now where were we
Starting point is 00:03:42 Oh yes Welcome to the antiquarium of sinister happenings and odd goings on. If you go down you forget. Chapter 1. When I first
Starting point is 00:04:31 stumbled onto the post by Scared in Milwaukee, it seemed like 99% of internet clickbait. Like as genuine as a Nigerian princess gold. I skimmed as far as a line about how she tried filming but only got static before I just
Starting point is 00:04:46 rolled my eyes and honestly switched to porn. But the post and attached video kept popping up in my feed, re-blogged with titles like Trapped Door and disappeared when they gave in a curiosity.
Starting point is 00:05:07 Scared in Milwaukee, 6.24 p.m. The trapdoor wasn't there before and it isn't there now. My sis went down a bunch of times but always forgot what she saw. She tried filming but only got static. The last time she came back, she had, don't come, scribbled on her arm in her own handwriting.
Starting point is 00:05:31 She went away and didn't come back, so I went down. I came out screaming and lost my phone and ran for police, but the police thought I was pulling a break. But it's real. We were urban exploring, and now the trap door is gone. I can hear her calling for me below. Abandon house on Street
Starting point is 00:05:56 Can anyone help? Recording attached from before I lost my phone. Help! Please, for Milwaukee, please, please, please, please. Not a hoax, please help. Nearly as convincing as Not a Hoax was the footage itself. The shaky camera advancing slowly
Starting point is 00:06:14 toward the trapdoor opening. The screen cutting to static. The faint moans of a distorted voice pleading for help. Thal cliche. Still low effort as it seemed when the phone camera shakily turned to the girl holding it. Scared in Milwaukee, looked so genuinely fucking terrified that even my stone cold skeptical heart lurched. It couldn't have been more than 15.
Starting point is 00:06:44 Tears and snot glistened on her face, lips trembling as she whispered. Quivering like an abused puppy in front of a rolled-up newspaper. If her performance wasn't genuine, someone's got to give this kid an Oscar. But a trapdoor that doesn't exist. A trapdoor that when you go down makes you forget what's below. A trap door that leads. It really is the essential mystery of it all that finally convinces me to reach out to scared in Milwaukee.
Starting point is 00:07:26 The response comes fast. So fast. It's almost like she's waiting by the phone for a ping. scared in Milwaukee Please please please it's been nine days Oh God I'm so scared it's too late Can you come now She sends an address and my pulse
Starting point is 00:07:42 Ratchets up Why do I feel so much like a mouse Sniffing some cheese conveniently Layed across a metal plate So this morning I finally Did my due diligence and searched for missing girls named Chloe in the Milwaukee area Guess what? Not a single hit
Starting point is 00:08:05 Zilch, nada, no missing sister I am being taken for a ride. And as a former scam artist myself, I should really recognize when the Prince of Nigeria is at the keyboard. I'll give her that Oscar, though. She should really have me going. But as I'm about to block, scared in Milwaukee, my conscience, nags.
Starting point is 00:08:24 But what if there's some other reason Chloe isn't showing up in your searches? Oh, my conscience incidentally sounds a fuck of a lot like my ex. She's been living rent-free in my head since our breakup. Also on my screensaver, my iPhone lock screen, my tablet, the heart-shaped locket I wear around my neck. I'm just kidding. Like any self-respecting dude gifted a cutesy heart-shaped necklace by his girl, I wear it only on our anniversary, which is never now that we're separated, but I digress.
Starting point is 00:08:52 What if she's just a scared teen girl who's been told never to give her real details to strangers on the internet? What if the police, her parents, and everyone in her life has dismissed her just like you're doing now? Jack, what if it were me down there? And now I'm looking at my open locket in my hand. I know. All right, fine, I've been wearing it all along. Framed inside the heart-shaped gold is the dimpled face of my girl. Lips curved and a coy smile.
Starting point is 00:09:26 One eye winking in her hands making a heart. I have literally never been able to tell this girl no when she wants something. Friends used to even joke about how she kept me on a leash. Got you whipped, man, they'd say. Well, yeah, she knows all my kicks. Anyway, no sense arguing with myself and my locket has already decided, right? So, I pack up my gear. High-powered lights, cameras, digital and analog, crowbar and toolkit, bear spray, bear traps, bear claw.
Starting point is 00:09:55 By the way, all the bear stuff is for dangerous cryptids. Except for the bear claw, which is my snack. Flashlights, headlamp, portable generator, extra underwear in case things get super scary. what? I didn't say that. Decked out and ready to die. I arranged to meet scared in Milwaukee. First thing I noticed is that the interior of the house looks exactly as in the video.
Starting point is 00:10:30 All dusty floorboards in a single armchair in the otherwise dim and derelict living room. The house boarded except for a single window on which the plywood is broken, letting in a thin ray of warm light in which the dust moats dance. Beyond that, my flashlight barely illuminates the dingy interior as I poke my head through the door.
Starting point is 00:10:52 The only difference from the video? No evidence of a trapdoor. No sign there ever was one. Scared in Milwaukee, incidentally, is actually a 14-year-old girl named Sophie. And she is terrified of me when we meet. Unsurprising, given my hollow eyes, stubble jaw and tattoos. Oh, and the joint dangling from my lips. The perfect visualization.
Starting point is 00:11:22 of stranger danger. Her terror evaporates, though. After I take one look in that creepy place and nope the fuck out. Gocking, she asks if I'm not even going in. Yeah, no, I'll pass. Thank you very much. You can practically hear the strains of scary violins. Too spooky, too bad,
Starting point is 00:11:39 you're on your own, I'm out of here. What? As she stares at me. When it slowly dawns on her that I'm dead serious, her estimation of me visibly drops from, I pick the bear to, is this dude for real. And finally, to that old cliche
Starting point is 00:11:55 about men and mice. Well, squeak, squeak, baby, I'm not walking into a place so pitch black, it's just asking for something to grab my ankle and drag me down screaming. Why would I? No. I very sensibly grab a crow bar and spend some time tearing off those boarded windows. Once it's
Starting point is 00:12:16 looking more like a sunroom, I escorted us into the warm interior dripping with golden light. Alright, much better, I say. Too soon. Because the second I crossed the threshold, all the hairs on my arms stand on end. Huh.
Starting point is 00:12:31 Guess this is what happens to your house when you don't pay the exorcist. It gets repossessed. Sophie doesn't appreciate how hilarious I am. Can you stop wasting time and find the door? Sure, we can do that. I turn to her. But first, why isn't your sister's disappearance
Starting point is 00:12:50 in the news? I looked up her name. No missing Chloe. Really? Down below, Sophie. Her cheeks fly. her gaze drops from mine, I think, smiling. She's not... She's not in the news because her real name is Timothy.
Starting point is 00:13:11 She's only out to me. Can you just find the fucking door, please? Oh, I say. Here I thought she was pulling some shitty teen prank trying to trap me down here for likes or clicks or whatever. Maybe use the investigation and go viral even. A quick search of Timothy proves she's in fact correct, and that I'm an asshole.
Starting point is 00:13:32 And honestly, if anyone should have considered the possibility of a dead name mucking up my search results, should have been me. I apologize to Sophie and dropped to my knees. Close my eyes and cocked my head like a coyote scenting the air and run my hands over the wooden floorboards. I'm not a medium, but I am marked by the paranormal. And I've acquired a certain sensitivity to the uncanny. Like how some people have sensitivity to odors. If what I felt entering the house were a smell, it would be the waft of something rotten drifting to my nostrils.
Starting point is 00:14:08 A tingle-like electricity passes along my fingers. Dust and dirt cling to my palms. To the naked eye, it's just bare wood. But I ignore what my eyes have been telling me since I entered. And here, where the tingling is strongest, I sweep my hands back and forth along the dirty floor. My fingers find a seam. I trace the edge At last grabbing the handle
Starting point is 00:14:35 Sophie gasps and drops down beside me Found it It's warded, I say Running along the seam are symbols etched into the floorboards Invisible until the door is found Deciphering them would require Pretty esoteric research
Starting point is 00:14:57 The girl in my locket would know She was always smarter with that stuff All I know is that the warding conceals the door probably also keeps whatever is down there sealed off. Whoever set this up doesn't want what's down there being found and doesn't want anyone who does go down to remember what it is.
Starting point is 00:15:21 Chloe must have stumbled on the handle in the dark by touch. That's really the only way to find it. Pause. Dread curls in my belly. I ask Sophie, how long has it been since you heard Chloe calling out? How many days? Um...
Starting point is 00:15:38 Sophie's eyes widen. Seven? A week. Did she have any water with her? Anything to sustain her? We haven't heard any crying, any shouts, any sounds at all from below. Okay. I grip the handle.
Starting point is 00:15:56 She shakes her head, her lips tremble, and her fingers ball into fists. Sophie goes... I'm staying. She won't budge. I tell her to back up. And I haul. opened the door. Both of us stagger back and gag.
Starting point is 00:16:20 Sophie dry heaves. My stomach bucks and I raise an arm to cover my nose and mouth. I know the stench. I've smelled them before. But for Sophie... It smells so bad. Spelt.
Starting point is 00:16:40 When I don't answer, she sobs and leans over the trapdoor screaming. I shine my flashlight down the narrow wooden steps into the pitch darkness below. But illuminate only dirt and debris at the bottom of stairs. Sophie has been sobbing for the past half hour while I hook up floodlights and cameras. I've lowered one of the lights into the basement and it works. But when I lower a camera and try to monitor its feet on my laptop, top registers the camera has disconnected. The phone can't
Starting point is 00:17:49 receive a signal down there either. The same warding that keeps the door hidden interferes with footage and communications. It's all my fault. If I... Hey, you didn't ward this door. This is not on you. And we don't know what happened to Chloe yet. I look down the stairs. Based on what Sophie has told me, I'll forget everything that happens down there. I grab pens and a notebook. Listen, we won't know until we find her.
Starting point is 00:18:27 That smell could be from an entity. We literally do not know. So write down everything I shout up at you, okay? We start small. I go to the bottom of the stairs. I train the cameras on the trap door from all directions. including directly above so I can see myself descending the steps. The first few descents I follow simple rules.
Starting point is 00:18:48 Stay in camera shot. Do not stray. Down, up. Check the footage. It's exactly like Sophie said. I'm aware of descending the stairs. But when I drop back up, I can recall nothing from below. I come up each time with an elevated heart rate.
Starting point is 00:19:16 Just the kind of heightened palsy you expect from going down into a dark, scary room. My notes are a useless catalog of what's visible from the bottom of the stairs. Dirty floor. Discarded wrappers, dusty shelving, old canned goods. There's really not much in this first room. The basement opens up past the blackened hallway, which my notes describe as spooky.
Starting point is 00:19:41 Extra underlines. Really spooky, I guess. Both digital and Polaroid picks from below show only blackness. and my video records only static. The cameras filming from above are only a little better, since everything below the door is still warped by distortions. And now, it's finally time for me to investigate for real. Search for Chloe.
Starting point is 00:20:07 Enter the pitch dark hallway and find out what's beyond. I'll do it in stages. Bring in the portable floodlights. As I'm taking a sip of water and siking myself up for the real descent, I noticed Sophie's eyes on my throat. Who's in the locket? I take it off and hand it to her. She's beautiful.
Starting point is 00:20:30 Your girlfriend? Ex-girlfriend. I shrug as she hands it back. She told me our relationship felt like a horror movie, so let's split up. Sophie doesn't smile. A shame, really. My ex would have laughed and told me I'm an idiot. Sophie just shakes her head.
Starting point is 00:20:49 fiddling with a charm bracelet on her wrist. It looks handmade, and I wonder if Chloe made it for her. It should be me going down. She's my sister. Absolutely not. It's bravely you don't want to go, but if there's one thing I've learned about the paranormal, it's that bravery is terrible for your longevity.
Starting point is 00:21:09 Trust me, the last thing you need is a hero. That's also why we're not calling the cops. I've tried that in the past, and it did not go well. No, what you need is someone with a shameless sense of self-preservation, a coward. A clever coward. To unravel the puzzle of why you forget, what you forget, and who is really down there lurking in the dark.
Starting point is 00:21:29 I've written these questions on my notepad and we'll answer them while searching for Chloe. I smile at Sophie. Lucky for you? My special skill is running from spooky stuff. She searches my face. Thanks. You're not what I expected you to be. What?
Starting point is 00:21:47 You're expecting Han Solo but got jar. George Arbanks. The tiniest crack of a smile. Finally! Then she looks shyly again at my locket. Um, if something should happen to you, should I give her a message? The girl in the locket? Sure. Tell her I'm sorry for ghosting her, but I'll always be her. Boo. Be sure to include a ghost emoji. Sophie just shakes her head, still completely failing to appreciate my jokes. Or let's be real, the comedic content of R slash dad jokes where I get my material.
Starting point is 00:22:25 Maybe she's right that I should treat death like a grave subject. But hey, life's a joke and then you die. Might as well go on to punish you. Ha ha ha ha ha. Now is it just me? Or do you get the feeling we might have met some of these folks before? I get the feeling things will get
Starting point is 00:22:43 a whole lot clearer. The darker they get. If that makes any sense. I got to run down to the basement and, uh, check on an item myself. Make yourself at home and I'll be right back. Have a penchant for the demonic, a lust for darkness. Oh, we know you surely do.
Starting point is 00:23:17 If you are among the chosen few who can hear a seemingly nonsensical string of letters being spoken aloud on your way out the store, then you are most certainly marked by the purveyors of the never was. Hail to the defiled Hail Erebus To unlock their secrets It's quite simple really With the Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings
Starting point is 00:23:39 Handsome Brass Cipher Pin Available now at theantacarium.myshopify.com As an anointed one Listen for the hidden cipher key That will reveal the rotation of the inner circle of your device This could be a number that will dictate the position shift Starting from A or quite simply an equation such as D equals J.
Starting point is 00:24:01 Your cursed decoder will then whisper the true meaning of the scrambled letters, further cementing your fate with us in endless purgatory, where your filthy soul will continue to rot and fester from your insatiable appetite for the unclean. Ave dominoctus. Now that wasn't so bad, was it? Shame I can't say the same for what's in the basement. Enough of the chit-chat, though.
Starting point is 00:24:31 What do you say we see what our brave adventurers are up to? Shall we? Maybe she's right that I should treat death like a grave subject. But hey, life's a joke and then you die. Might as well go out in a portion. I burst up from below, heart slamming my rib cage, adrenaline tearing through my limbs, a scream ripping through my throat.
Starting point is 00:24:57 My face is wet with tears. Tears? My vocal cords hoarse. head wringing, shoulder sore. Shit. Shit, oh Christ. I run a hand through my sweaty hair, then call. Sophie, did you catch that?
Starting point is 00:25:15 Silence. Sophie? Blinking, I look around. What the? And now, my escalating pulse has nothing to do with whatever sent me dashing out of that deep darkness below. I'm into my lights. I whirl, looking all around the room. Sophie!
Starting point is 00:25:37 I call again and then dash to the cameras. Still rolling. I leave them running, but go to my laptop to review the footage. In the video, there I am. Yammering as I descend the staircase. My voice garbled as soon as I'm below. I decipher the garble using Sophie's transcription. I'll be right back, promise.
Starting point is 00:26:02 Cross my heart and hope to... Never mind. I continue babbling as I set up my lights. Not to worry, Soph, I will find your sister if it's the last thing I... Also, never mind. Stupid stuff, running my stupid mouth, until... Hey, I think that's your phone. From this angle, the me on the video isn't visible.
Starting point is 00:26:23 But I can see Sophie looking down the trap door. She calls down. Her voice clear, unlike mine. You're moving outside the camera view. I'm just going to grab it. Oh shit. This is the last bit of garbled dialogue I can decipher because it's the last part of Sophie's transcription.
Starting point is 00:26:46 On video, Sophie stopped scribbling in calls. Jack? A long silence. And then, my voice, totally unintelligible. My voice again. But Sophie is quickly descending in response to whatever I said. Her voice. distorting as she disappears below.
Starting point is 00:27:25 I roar. Then a loud piercing shriek, a clanking sound. One of the lights, more screams, the girl's voice, mine, I make out what I think is a garbled. Oh my God. And the tinkle of the second light.
Starting point is 00:27:43 And then just incoherent shrieking that cuts off, leaving only my own voice shouting. More sounds of distress. This time I own. Swearing. Snarling. Cursing in terror or rage.
Starting point is 00:28:03 And there I am. Bursting up from that narrow staircase. Eyes wide and blank. Unable to remember any of what happened. My voice is crystal clear now, as I say. Shit. Shit, fuck, oh Christ. Sophie, did you catch that?
Starting point is 00:28:23 I scrabble in my bag and snatch up a handful of salt. A jackknife. A crowbar. If I had a single firing synapse in my brain, I might remember what I told Sophie about heroism being a quick ticket to doom. And I certainly wouldn't announce myself to whatever lurks below like I do when I holler. Selfie! I'm coming! And then, like every heroic idiot who dies first in every horror movie,
Starting point is 00:29:04 all aboard the bravery train, next stop, death. I plunged down those stairs into the pitch dark. Only the cream out like a chicken with its tail feathers on fire. Jacket's sleeve torn open. No knife. No crowbar. No salt. Muffled by distance, her frightened whale drifts from the dark.
Starting point is 00:29:38 I put on night vision goggles, opting for stealth this time. I set up speakers to blast heavy metal music. The scream of the guitar drowning out the creek of the wooden steps under my weight. My heart hammers its own furious drum solo as I creep down. My pocket stuffed with pens, a marker, a notepad. Bear Mace is the last resort. The dark, swallaged. It spits me out.
Starting point is 00:30:10 My heart playing my ribs like a xylophone. My throat raw from shrieking. I turn off the music and scrabble through my pockets, but my paper is gone. Pen's gone. Marker. Fucking gone. No notes about what took Sophie. No writing.
Starting point is 00:30:23 Not one single word. She sobs. For my third rescue attempt, I craft an email with the house's address and a single line of instruction. Close the trap door and leave it. the house. Then, I crouch on the top step and cup a hand to my mouth and shout. This trap door sure has been sealed a long time. And if I'm not back in an hour, the message I'm scheduled to seal it again will go out. Maybe we can find a better option where you release my fucking friend and I don't lock you in for another few decades. Want to talk?
Starting point is 00:31:00 The hairs along my arms prickle. Something shuffles near. Just out of range of the cameras aimed at the rectangle of darkness below. Whatever it is makes my skin crawl and my stomach churn. And suddenly, the air smells very stale, very old to bargain. Which means going down and getting chummy with this rank and reeking thing that took Sophie, a paranormal hostage negotiation. And if you're wondering, is it really a good idea to? to deliver my meat suit to the thing below like a tasty meal's on wheels.
Starting point is 00:31:43 Listen, I am a snack, so fast food. It'll have to catch me. But just in case I come up empty-handed again, I concoct a cheat code, so my empty hands will mean something. Fists for lion, palms for jackal. Then I plunge down into the dark, merge out of the dark with a sheaf of yellowed paper stuffed into my pocket. I also come out of there with black sharpie scrawled on my forearm and my hands open, palms facing out.
Starting point is 00:32:38 All right, so I should probably explain my little cheat here. Some men are lions. Me, I'm a jackal, shifty and sly with an aversion to danger. This is a fantastic quality in a solo act. Less endearing when you've got someone to protect, especially a girl. It's not good form to throw the girl at danger instead of yourself. Girls hate that. Coming up with hands balled into fists
Starting point is 00:33:04 would mean brawn over brain. In real world terms, call the cops. Invite them to rush down, guns blazing, and then summon whatever special operatives typically deal with UAPs and other classified phenomena. Let them rescue Sophie. But I came up with palms.
Starting point is 00:33:22 I double-checked the cameras to be sure. And even through the distortion, the jack-on screen looks like a scruffy junkie under arrest with his hands held up. As he passes the threshold, his bloodshot eyes fix on the camera, meeting mine, and he winks.
Starting point is 00:33:40 I rewind the frame because at first I think I imagined it. In the fraction of a second before the warding makes him forget, he squeezes one eye shut, letting me in on the fact. He's playing a trick. The problem is,
Starting point is 00:33:56 I don't know what game that guy's playing. The only clues I have are the yellowed pages and the sharpy message on my arm. A message composed of seven words. Each with the first letter, capitalized, must perform, inscribed, ritual. And now I'm sitting here wreathed in the stench of death, listening to Sophie's muffled crying while staring at my two measly clues.
Starting point is 00:34:34 The writing on the brittle paper is faded. Arcane symbols surrounded by capitalized letters. and some geometric squeals and dots. Google Translate says it's Latin and Aramaic? Is that a language? I'm so out of my depth. Obviously, the pages are related to the wording, but it's all Aramaic to me. I'm like a chimp with a tablet. Sure, I can bash my monkey paws on the glowing icons,
Starting point is 00:35:07 but I'll probably crash the system long before I figure out how the fuck it works. I clutch the heart locket around my neck. She'd be able to make sense of this. She was always so much smarter with all this esoteric stuff. Oh, Wipmo stuff. She'd probably say. Which isn't strictly speaking true. I know way more short people jokes, for example.
Starting point is 00:35:28 I tried explaining a few to my five-foot-tall ex, but they went over her head. And I slept on the couch ever after. And suddenly, my heart aches. There's nothing more pitiful than a clown telling jokes when he's lost his eye. It's been three months since our breakup. I swore I'd never contact her. But I'll never decipher these pages myself. I fire off a single message.
Starting point is 00:35:59 Hey, babe. It's Jack. Can I ask a favor? Next, I turn my attention to the Sharpie on my arm. Victim alive. Must perform, inscribed ritual, escape. I'm certain it means I need to follow the instructions in Latin and Aramaic on those yellow pages. But I searched my pockets. No marker. Which means someone gave me a marker to write this message on my arm.
Starting point is 00:36:32 Then took the marker away. Suss. If I just look at the first look, the blaring of my phone's ringtone shatters the silence of the abandoned house like sirens. And I jump, heart lurching into my throat. When I snatch up the phone to see who the call is from, My pulse ratchets up. They're like a hummingbird's wings.
Starting point is 00:36:57 It's the girl in my locket. FML, she's video calling. I turn the music on again and scurry outside into the midday sun. Can't risk whatever lurks below overhearing me. And as I wade out into the tall grass and summer heat, I shoot a quick glance at my reflection in one of the cracked windows. Winds, because I look like if you gave an AI image generator the prompt, Florida man lives in swamp and cardboard box with Gator.
Starting point is 00:37:26 Like I'm the poster child for the catchphrase. Who needs a shower when you sweat this much? Like, oh, fuck me, there are more important things than my vanity. I take the call. Instant regret. Because suddenly... Suddenly, there she is. She's even more beautiful than I remember.
Starting point is 00:37:47 She looks like she stepped off the cover of a K-pop album. Glossy black hair. Cascades. her shoulders. Her cheeks just slightly flushed as she exclaims. Are you okay? What's going on? Where are you? For a moment, I can't answer. My breath taken away as her face goes through a whole range of emotions. Emma's eyes study me. And I can't tell if she's concerned or disappointed as she takes in my stubbly beard and sunken cheeks and battered stained tank. I look like I just woke up from
Starting point is 00:38:29 nap in the box I call home with the gator I call Fred. I want to say so much. I miss you. I love you. I'm sorry. But I say none of the things. Instead, blurting, a teen girl's life is in danger. And I can't save her without you.
Starting point is 00:38:54 All right, so maybe the phrase fucking asshole comes up a few times. Something about how the only time I reach out is when I'm caught in some paranormal bullshit, not because I actually love her. I do love her. It's because I love her that I've stayed out of her life. And even though I know it's wrong to drag her in and I dread the risks,
Starting point is 00:39:15 I am so, so excited to see her. We arranged to meet her to diner so there's no risk of the thing below over hearing us. I send her photos of the pages and symbols around the trapdoor and a few video clips. There's just one more thing I have to do after the call.
Starting point is 00:39:35 Because even after deciphering the Sharpie message, and so I descend, boom, laid bites into my skin, a knife, my own. I gasp when I realize it is my own hand holding the knife.
Starting point is 00:40:04 And I jerked a blade away. What? The actual fuck's the thin line of blood at my neck. And then find one more item tucked into my pocket. A piece of paper with my own spidery scribble. riddled with spelling errors. A clue?
Starting point is 00:40:24 Finally, I checked the camera footage. Been below for 27 minutes. In the last few seconds of footage, through the camera's distortion, I can make out the garbled sound. My lips repeating the same phrase over and over. Do not connect you. You're not a connection.
Starting point is 00:40:43 You're not collection. You're not collection. You're not collection. You're not collection. Do for your patronage. Hope you enjoyed your new relic as much as I've enjoyed passing along its sordid history. It does come with our usual warning, however. Absolutely no refunds, no exchanges,
Starting point is 00:42:28 and we won't be held liable for anything that may or may not occur while the object is in your possession. If you've got an artifact with mysterious properties, Perhaps it's accompanied by a history of bizarre and disturbing circumstances. Maybe you'd be interested in dropping it and its story by the shop to share with other customers. Please reach out to Antiquarium Shop at gmail.com. A member of our team will be in touch. Till next time, we'll be waiting for you whenever you close your eyes. in the space between sleep and dream.
Starting point is 00:43:16 During regular business hours, of course, or by appointment, only for you, our best customer. The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings, Lot 060. If you go down, you forget. Chapter 1. Written by Quincy Lee, starring Trevor Shand as Jack. Romy Evans as Sophie. Addison Peacock as Emma Featuring Stephen Knowles As the Antique Dealer
Starting point is 00:43:56 Engineering Production and Sound Design by Trevor Shand Theme music by the Newton Brothers Additional music by Coag and Vivek Abyshech The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings is created and curated by Trevor and Lauren Shand. Follow us on Instagram
Starting point is 00:44:11 and Twitter at Antiquarium Pod Call the Antiquarium at 646-481-7197.

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