The NoSleep Podcast - NoSleep Podcast S10E17

Episode Date: March 18, 2018

It's episode 17 of Season 10. On this week's show we have five tales about curly killers, rotten relationships and all-seeing eyes. "There Was A Little Girl"† written by S.H. Cooper and performed by Addison Peacock & Erin Lillis & Atticus Jackson & Nikolle Doolin & Mary Murphy & Mike DelGaudio. (Story starts around 00:15:22) "Look Up, See Through"‡ written by Gracie Dunne and performed by Addison Peacock & Kyle Akers & Atticus Jackson. (Story starts around 00:30:40) "The Devil's In The Details"‡ written J.D. McGregor and performed by Mike DelGaudio & Jeff Clement & Nikolle Doolin & Peter Lewis. (Story starts around 01:07:45) "The Haunted Items Business is Closed"¤ written by Rays Rodriguez and performed by Nikolle Doolin & Addison Peacock & Jesse Cornett & Erin Lillis & Atticus Jackson & Dan Zappulla. (Story starts around 01:24:06) "Back Alley Sue"† written by Gemma Amor and performed by Andy Cresswell & Nikolle Doolin & Penny Scott-Andrews. (Story starts around 01:55:53) Click here to learn more about the voice actors on The NoSleep Podcast   Click here to learn more about the Escape the Black Farm Tour   Click here to learn more about Charlie Cody   Click here to learn more about S.H. Cooper   Click here to learn more about J.D. McGregor   Click here to learn more about Gemma Amor   Host: Peter Lewis Executive Producer: David Cummings Musical score composed by: Brandon Boone Audio adaptations produced by: Phil Michalski† & Jeff Clement‡ & Jesse Cornett¤ "There Was A Little Girl" illustration courtesy of Charlie Cody Audio program ©2018 - Creative Reason Media Inc. - All Rights Reserved - No reproduction or use of this content is permitted without the express written consent of Creative Reason Media Inc. The copyrights for each story are held by the respective authors.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The following audio horror presentation is intended to frighten and disturb. Join us on this dark and unsettling journey at your own list. Because behind these doors, there will be no sleep. Brace yourself for the No Sleep podcast. Doors not going to hold out much longer up there. Mike did the best he could, but we're going to have company real soon. soon. Understood. Kyle, can you stand? I can. Interface is right over there. Let's get full access to the system, huh? See what our options are to shoo away these crows. That interface will not suffice. I need to use

the main control console upstairs. Uh, sure, I'll come with you. Hold still, geez. You're going to tear your hand off. There. Try not to move your fingers for a while. How did you fix his hand? Story button? Two birds. Hmm. Now at least I'll stop losing the damn thing. It puts a bit of a damper in my breeze hole, but I'll get over it.

I like the splash of green. It brightens you up a bit. Aw. How's the leg, Corinne? I'm better. Tingles. Bio-gill flushed out the ants. I can put a little weight on it. This is maddeningly pointless. The console, hmm? Let's get up to the main console.

Yes, we're going. Just... Hold on. Hey! Does Kyle seem strange to anyone else? Uh, yeah. Big time. Should he be alone with the controls?

There's not much he can do without this. The crystal inside the story button also acts as a battery of... for that control station. Frankly, I didn't want anybody messing with it while we were gone. Nicole, how's your shoulder? Never better. With you then? I would appreciate a competent pugilist, just in case. Everybody else, stay alert, hmm? If the door is breached, the alarm will sound.

Anyone fancies bolting up the stairs to save us, we'd sure be appreciative. No obligation. Indeed. Safety. safety first and all that. If things go super south, make your way deeper into the compound. Take out the lights. Stay hidden, like tiny, quiet little mice. Most of us will die in the dark among the endless echoing screams of our friends, mixing with our own in some twisted harmony. It's, well, it's been a pleasure. It truly has. Uh, yeah. Or I could reroute the pneumatics to deliver various ordinance from the armory to the

Great Hall in case they get in. Set up an ambush on our own terms. Yeah, I'm not really trusting Kyle to get the defenses online after all this. Exactly. So we could instead, all work together to lure them in here with us and... Pop goes the weasel? We just need someone to go down in the armory to fill the tubes with whatever we've got. Grenades, mines, pineapple. I don't know. You'll figure it out. Aye, aye, Captain. You can count on me. Yeah, I could go in for a bit of that. Then you can count on us. That gives me an idea, actually. Corinne, are you well enough to accompany me to the Arboretum?

Oh, sure. All my ant bites filled the bloodstream with savory toxins which are treating me all kinds of right. That's probably all the morphine we gave you. Or perhaps a clever combination of both? Hmm? See, I'm still one step ahead of you, Sir Reginald. I'll, um, keep an eye on her. So, wait, we're not hiding? Oh, man, I've been working out my crouch muscles.

For crouching. I could crouch for days down there in the dark. Go use your thunderous calves to help Mike hold the door, huh? As for the rest of you. of you. Good job on Plan B. Nicole and I will give Kyle one cautious chance to dispel the siege while expecting the worst. If the doors should rupture, we'll fall back to the Great Hall. Run directly for the far wall and hug it like it missed you. We'll angle the tubes to make our barrage dead center. Anyone behind us that makes it into the Great Hall still breathing? They don't make it back out,

understood? We have secrets to protect. will make them regret their trespass. How's it looking? It's looking grim, man. Hurry! Caves are coming in hot. It doesn't matter. Even so, this isn't going to hold.

Yeah, it does seem a little ludicrous feeling for story purposes that it's held this long. What? Uh, hang in there. You must understand how much is at stake here. Yet you play these little pranks. Toy with me. It is aggravating. Ooh.

All right. Look. Man, I don't really know how to say this without coming across a little, uh, judge, not lest ye be judged, but you're acting. A bit of a fruitcake. A bit of a double nut muffin, my friend, a little weird. Is that so? Yeah, we were just talking about it downstairs behind your back. What he means to say is that we're all worried about you.

Keep your worry. Activate the console, and I will save your friends. Don't you mean our friends? You insult me. Activate it. Look, I don't think so, man. This will all end far faster if you just do as you are told. Then again, there's always plan B.

Activate the console, where I will tear your hand away at the wrist. That's quite enough. You will regret this when the rest of me gets up here. I'm sure. Now shut it. Do you hear that? No, I... The battering ram stopped.

Go check it out. I've got this. Right, on it, and... Thank you for that. What happened? I'm not sure. They just stopped. No, maybe the ram got tired.

You do know it's not an actual ram, right? Ah, they really did a number on the door. Hey, I can see through the crack over here by the hinges. I don't see the beacon light. I can't hear sirens. It's dark out there. Very dark. Get back. Get back.

Daddy's home. Beautiful face. What did you do? I told you to stay put, to watch over the stories, to keep the peace. What did you do instead, huh? He broke your equipment. He violated your private diary. He thonged a man.

Well, Kyle thonged. He desecrated your grave. He never even introduced himself. How do you know all this? Are you spying on us from the bushes or something? We listened to the show. Do you have any idea how big Texas is? We listened a few times.

What happened to the officers outside? Who? The others outside. They were trying to break down the door? Of course. I'm just toying with you. I, uh, I handled them. They're dead? Goodness, no.

I merely handled them. My fault, really. I picked up another rare, esoteric tome for the club while we were in Portland. Shouldn't have left it lying around the van. If man is not meant to practice unspeakable arcane powers while careening through the American Midwest at highway speeds, then I am no man. You have much to answer for, Lewis, more than you may even know. You made a play for it, didn't you? My little secret? I did what any caged animal would have given the chance. Yes, I made a play for it.

Tell me you didn't use it. I didn't... Thank you. ...get the chance, too. Because Kyle... Well, he heard them calling. He injected it. How could you be so?

Where is he? Nichols watching him in the control room there. Beanbag rounds loaded. Go, put him under. Then sedate him. Then restrain him. Aye, sir. He's down. Nicole, are you right? I need someone in here.

I'm here. What happened? He shoved past me when he saw the gun, knocked me down. I'll be fine. Just need a minute. Excellent shot, Erica. I imagine that will be excruciating when he wakes up. Speaking of, Miss Goodnight, would you help me get him down to the dungeon? Of course. We'll get it out of him. We can fix this. There's still time. Yes. Time. I believe I am ready. Peter, give me a hand. Sure thing. Here we go.

Pathetic. Let's put this back where it belongs. Nicole, what are you doing? No, uh-uh, uh. Guess again. Amalgam? The all and only. It's been so very long since I've been free. So very long, David. Let's change that, shall we? Now we are finally free, and soon we will all of us be one.

I have not known joy in many years. I am overwhelmed. This is bad, guys. This is world-endingly bad. We need to move. Peter, you have to defend yourself. We cannot allow this to happen. Defend yourself. Is he even conscious? I don't know. Let's go. Hey, Alexis is setting up some kind of trap in the Great Hall.

Might be our best chance of making a stand. We're supposed to hug the far wall. Right. Love a good ambush. To the Great Hall, then. Everyone locked and loaded? Ready as I'll ever be to face a screaming horde of newly unfrozen monstrosities? I take it you've never had a late-night craving for fish fingers.

Oh, we've all been there. Can we focus on not dying for a minute? This way. Hey, grab these earpieces. Search the channel, see if anyone's out there. Hello? Hello? David?

Jessica? I'm glad to hear your voices. We are heading for the Great Hall as per our instruction. Also, David. Good. We have a party ready. Kyle, Nicole, and Peter are out of commission. We have an infection.

I understand you made some modifications to the button. Can you pinpoint the frequency again to send the activation signal without the crystal itself? It's about that time. but I don't think Peter's going to make it. Hey, touring team. Welcome home. Corinne and I are heading back from the Arboretum. We got upgrades, and I didn't die. Glad to hear it.

See you soon. Listen to the stories now. Do it. Let's get this train back on track. Dear listeners, unable to properly express the depth of my emotion towards you. Choosing to, instead, remain outside in the distant bushes, call aloof. And this is the No Sleep podcast. Prepare your entire self for Season 10, Episode 17, as it is even now partway upon you. Our touring team is traversing the final stretch of their long journey and will soon be flying home to the warm embrace of friends, family, and in Brandon's case, 100 steel bear traps arranged haphazardly in.

his garage. Up on the toes, my friend, nimble as a fawn, work for it. That's the stuff. David will be securely back in charge this time next week, and I will be but a distant, unpleasant memory. To speed you soundly toward this goal, let us jump right into the stories. In our first tale this week, we join the residents and staff of a hospice, Haunted by a mysterious, curly-haired girl. Buckets are kicked, farms bought, and as madness seems to spread through the home, a catastrophic event looms.

Author S.H. Cooper and performers Addison Peacock, Aaron Lillis, Atticus Jackson, Nicole Doolin, Mary Murphy, and Mike Delgadoo insist there was a little girl. Mrs. Dawson wasn't doing well. As soon as September had arrived and the weather had started to turn, so too had her health. While it wasn't unusual to see that sort of thing working in an assisted living facility, I just hadn't expected it to happen to Mrs. Dawson, especially not so quickly. She was

visty, she was crass, and she had a lot of life left in her. At least she had when I clocked out Friday evening. By the time I returned the following Monday, she was bedridden and babbling, a completely different woman than the one who had constantly told me to cherish my youth, my looks, and frisky men with firm bottoms. My heart ached as my supervisor, Yasmin, filled me in on Mrs. Dawson's rapid decline. Docs think it was a stroke. Hit her in her sleep. Marsha went up to see why she hadn't come down for breakfast on Saturday and found her. As soon as I was done sorting meds and had helped Yasmin do the usual morning rounds, checking in on residents and making sure they took their pills,

I slipped away to pay a visit to Mrs. Dawson. I knocked gently on the door to her suite, waited a moment, and then let myself in. Someone had propped her up in bed and made an attempt to brush her hair, a halo of fine white fluff against her pillow. She didn't even look towards me as I came to stand by her bedside. Instead, her eyes, bloodshot and sunken, were fixed on the far corner of the room. And she was mumbling to herself. Mrs. Dawson, it's Virginia.

I just wanted to come and see how you were doing. She continued to mumble, but turned her head slowly toward me. Do you remember me? There was no flicker of recognition. No hint she knew who I was. She just stared up at me, her dry lips moving constantly in a jumbled whisper, thinking she might be trying to tell me something. I leaned down to listen. There was a little girl.

A girl. There was a girl. She had a little girl. There was a little girl who had a little girl right in the middle. In the middle. Forehead. She went on and on, repeating herself, stumbling over words, getting stuck on phrases. It broke my heart to see her so confused. I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

It's okay, Mrs. Dawson. We're going to take care of you. You just need to rest. She studied my face for a moment before her gaze slipped back to the corner. Good, very, very good, but when she was bad... I stayed for a little while longer and tried to get her engaged in a couple things. First, a gardening magazine that she subscribed to with bright, cheerful pictures, and then a TV show I knew she liked.

But she didn't even seem to realize I was still in the room. All of her attention was on that empty corner. I sighed, gave her a pattern. on the hand and left her to stare at the wall. As I closed the door behind me, I heard a soft, but distinct, high-pitched giggle coming from within the room. At least you're still able to laugh, Mrs. Dawson, I thought. I was in a gloomy mood when I returned to the caregiver's station. You visited Mrs. Dawson, huh? I sat down heavily. I can't believe that's really her. I was. I was in a gloomy mood. I was her. She was fine on Friday. You've been here long enough to know how it goes. Age makes our bodies

unpredictable. I know. I know. Knowing didn't make it any easier, though. Still, there were a lot of other residents that still required a friendly smile and prompt care, so I couldn't let myself get caught up in my emotions. That's what the privacy of my own home and the tub of ice cream in my freezer were for. Yasmin insisted that it was best to keep busy and handed me charts to log into the computer. The hour after lunch, when most residents were napping off their meals, was usually the quietest time during my shift. Often I'd use it to play ketchup on my paperwork and that afternoon we had a stack of doctor's orders to sort through. I had my nose buried in forms when the soft patter of feet crossed in front of my desk. I looked up, prepared

to find a resident or a visitor waiting with a question, and was surprised to see no one there. Off to my side, someone giggled. I glanced over in time to catch a glimpse of a little girl topped with Shirley Temple Curls running down the hallway to one of the sweet wings. Curious, as I hadn't seen any adults around and we didn't allow children to roam around unsupervised, I got up and went after her. No running in the halls, hunt. The words died on my lips as I rounded the corner and discovered she was nowhere to be seen. I frowned, a bit annoyed that I was now having to play babysitter to someone's grandkid, and walked the length of the hall to check behind every potted plant and curtain along the way.

The little girl wasn't hiding behind any of them. Where the heck did you go? I turned back around, my hands on my hips. All the doors in the wing had been closed when I passed by. the first time. Now, though, one stood open. The suite belonged to Mr. Audrey, a retired fireman who called all of us staffers his kids since he'd never had any of his own. It seemed unlikely that the little girl would have been visiting him. I hurried towards his room, hoping that the kid hadn't just let herself into the first unlocked door she came across. As I got closer,

I started to hear a quiet but steady thumping coming from inside. I also recognized Mr. Audrey's voice. Great, I groaned internally. She's bothering residents. I'll probably get blamed for it if Mr. Audrey raises a stink, unlikely as that was given how much he loved kids. I just had to hope he wasn't in one of his rare bad moods. I wrapped my knuckles on the open door a couple times to announce my hands.

and stepped inside. The little girl wasn't in the suite, but Mr. Audrey was. He was across the room from me, walking into the closet door, bouncing off, and walking into it again. And all the while, he was mumbling. Was a little girl. Mr. Audrey? As soon as I said his name, he stopped, swayed in place, and then slowly faced me. The end of a pen jutted out of the angry red wound that had once been his eye. It was bad. She was sorry. With that, he collapsed to his knees. The wail of the ambulance sirens lingered in my ears long after Mr. Audrey was taken away.

After I told the head nurse of the facility what I'd seen, I wasn't asked much else. It was just assumed that Mr. Audrey had heard him. himself in an altered mental state, a polite way of saying Alzheimer's made him do it, and I'd been the unlucky person to find him. Yasmin had one of the other caregivers cover our desk and took me to the employee kitchen for a cup of tea and a chance to calm down. I appreciated it, but I couldn't stop thinking of Mr. Audrey's face, streaked with blood and Iker and twisted into a terrible expression.

Eventually, the shock wore off enough for me to speak again. He was saying the same thing as Mrs. Dawson was this morning. What was that? Something about a girl with a curl. Right in the middle of her forehead? Yeah. I clutched my teacup in both hands. You heard it too?

Not from them. It's an old poem. You know, there was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. And when she was good, she was very, very good. And when she was bad, she was horrid. I saw a curly-haired girl. Right before I found Mr. Audrey, I thought she was someone's grandkid and followed her to his wing. I could feel the blood drain from my face.

There haven't been any kids here today, Virginia. Look, it's been a rough day. Why don't you take off early? I'll cover for you. But... No, really, I think it's best. Just take it easy and come back tomorrow, okay? I tried to argue, but Yasmin wasn't hearing it and actually took my...

cup and started to escort me in a motherly but firm way to our lockers so I could get my things. Don't you think it's weird? I heard two people saying the same thing, two people who were fine a couple days ago but now suddenly aren't. And the little girl, I know I saw her. Yasmin just kept ushering me down the hall. A little odd, sure, but there's a reason for everything, V. And maybe there was a kid visiting today and I just didn't see her. It happens. Try not to dwell on it. I need you back here tomorrow feeling good. But yes, nope, don't want to hear it. We were still arguing at the elevator leading down to the lobby when someone murmuring nearby interrupted us. Right in the middle of her forehead. We exchanged a look, both uncertain, and turned to see Mrs. Waters ambling out of one of the common areas.

mumbling to herself. She walked past us without acknowledging us, even when we said hello, shuffled up to the banister overlooking the first floor, and threw herself over it. Gadsman's screams were almost loud enough to cover up the sound of Mrs. Waters' body, hitting the tiles below. While she ran to the stairs, I remained rooted in place, staring at the door that Mrs. Waters had come through.

It was open just a bit. just enough for a small face framed by ringlets to peer through. I blinked and she was gone. They labeled Mrs. Waters' death a terrible accident. She was confused, they said, and in her fugue state she managed to go over the railing. Yasmin agreed that that seemed to have been what we saw. An old woman who wasn't altogether there made a mistake.

I tried to bring up what she was. she'd been saying right before, how I'd heard others saying the same thing, but no one seemed too concerned with listening to a nursing aide. Frustrated, ignored, and afraid, I decided I would take Yasmin up on her offer and leave early. I grabbed my purse and my jacket, and I made a bee line for the exit. As I crossed through the lobby, I couldn't help but notice the way a few residents seemed to watch me, small smiles on their faces. It took every ounce of self-control not to run. I drank a lot that night, more than I'd ever had to drink before or since.

I didn't understand what I'd seen or heard. I couldn't make sense of it. It was easier to just try and forget. And if I couldn't forget, at least I could drink myself so stupid I'd pass out. I drifted in and out of dark, drunk dreams until the next morning. one's haunted by a little girl with Shirley Temple Curls and the devil's grin. It was 10 a.m. by the time I regained consciousness, two hours after I was supposed to be at work. In a panic, I tried to call the front desk, but no one answered. I pulled up Yasmin's number.

She didn't answer either. I scrambled to get ready, downed half a pot of black coffee, and jumped into my car. The radio came to life with the engine. tragic news coming out of Mount Lebanon this morning as the Terrace assisted living facility went up in flames early this morning none of the 107 residents made it out alive My heart seemed to stop and sink further into my stomach with each word Authorities don't yet know the cause of the fire But are working tirelessly to piece together this tragedy

I switched off the radio and I sat there staring at my steering wheel authorities might not know what caused the fire but I did I didn't know how or why or where she'd come from I didn't know why she'd targeted defenseless elders I didn't even know what she really was nevertheless I knew what caused the fire a little girl with Shirley Temple curls

one in the middle of her forehead when's ex-boyfriend requests her help and leads her into the woods. There, inside a hole in the ground, a very odd sight indeed awaits. This hole seems to have a strange effect on those who gaze into it, and a sinister purpose is revealed.

Author Gracie Dunn, joined by performers Addison Peacock, Kyle Acres, and Atticus Jackson, invite you to look up, see through... It was a crisp, bright afternoon in October, when Dan called me up and asked me to come out to the woods. Dan was an ex-boyfriend. It hadn't been the worst of breakups I'd ever been through, but it hadn't

been the best either. Dan wasn't a bad guy at heart. He was just directionless, lacking ambition, the kind of guy who'd rather blame his problems on the world than look inwards. And after we broke up, he became a little needy, let's say. Nothing I couldn't deal with, just the usual late-night texts and tearful phone calls asking me to come back to him. Sometimes I wasn't sure whether he missed me or just missed screwing me.

Then other times I'd chastise myself for being uncharitable. He was just a regular ex-boyfriend, the kind of ex-boyfriend most girls have had, who just won't let go, but you know that eventually they will, and things will ease up between you. We just hadn't reached that period yet.

All of this is to say that I wouldn't normally have followed Dan out into the woods on his whim. But something in his voice when he called me that morning, almost three months to the day since I'd last shared his bed, stopped me in my tracks. I found something. I need you to see this, Holly. I really... I need you to see this.

I need a witness. I need someone else to look at this thing with me and tell me it's there. This wasn't like Dan. For all his flaws, he wasn't prone to flights of fancy or strange esoteric behavior. I pressed him for further details, but he refused to share any more. I knew he knew this was a baiting tactic. Unlike Dan, I've always been interested in the unexplained. I'm fascinated, if skeptical, by the supernatural.

I've always low-key harbored a desire to be a cryptozoologist. After telling me where to meet him, Dan added one final thing, and as he'd intended, it got me. Hook, line, and sinker. It's the kind of thing you're interested in. It's the kind of thing you've always wanted to find. We tromped through the woods on the outskirts of town, cold sunbeams dappled skeletal leaves that crunched underfoot

as Dan led me deeper through the trees. As we passed by a fallen oak, both of us walking in silence, a flock of jet black birds exploded from the undergrowth, cawing angrily at our presence. Bad omen. I cocked an eyebrow at Dan, who'd stopped to survey what little horizon we could make out through the trees. Really?

You? I remember once Dan found a book called The Origins of Superstition on my bookshelf. He'd sat there reading it, laughing at the archaic beliefs people used to hold. Unfairly, I'd thought at the time. Now, Dan looked at me. No trace of humor on his face. Something's changed you, Paul's. The mellow drama in his voice, coupled with his serious expression, couldn't help but make me laugh.

It sounded Snyder than I'd intended, too loud for the quiet forest. Dan turned away from me and continued to walk through the undergrowth. I hurried after him, suddenly guilty. Dan, Dan, I'm sorry, okay? You're just being weird. This is all a bit odd. He didn't turn. It suddenly struck me that coming out here could have been a bad, bad idea.

I trusted Dan. Of course I did. We'd been together for over a year, shared moments of the deepest intimacy, both emotionally and physically. Even though we'd drifted apart, I felt like I knew him well enough to know I was safe. But did I, really? I was out here with him now, in the forest, far from town. There was no cell phone signal out here, something Dan and I both knew. I hadn't bothered to tell him. I was out of him. I hadn't bothered to tell him. I was. I was far from town. There was no cell phone signal out here. Something. Something Dan and I both knew. I hadn't bothered to tell anyone where I was going because, well, it was Dan. Soft, harmless, kind of pathetic at times even. The same Dan I'd broken up with because he didn't have enough drive, because he wasn't assertive. Suddenly, I felt very, very angry, both at myself for being stupid enough to come out into the woods with him and at Dan, for letting me down, for luring me out here. for not being the man I'd needed, never being emotionally supportive of me when we were together.

At Dan, for bringing me out into the woods where he was about to kill me. I could see it. I saw it. I literally saw him turn, approaching me as he pulled a wicked-looking bowie knife from his jacket. I could feel the blade sinking into my belly. Dan's other hand flying to the throat he once kissed so gently. I could hear the sound of my blood spattering against the fall leaves on the ground. But Dan was up ahead. There was no knife, no blood. He was staring at me, though. A strange, thoughtful look in his eyes.

I glanced down at my hands. They were clutched to my stomach, shaking. You can feel it too, can't you? There was relief in Dan's voice. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. My throat was dry, my tongue feeling like sandpaper against the roof of my mouth. It's easier when you're with someone else. I was worried.

I thought it might be harder. When you're alone, that's when it's really rough. That's when it's the worst. What is it? Dan crunched over to me and took my hand gently. I didn't flinch. It's just over here. He guided me towards a huge tree.

Its giant roots piercing the earth like carven tentacles. I gazed at it. Dan gently directed me away to the right of the tree and nodded toward the forest floor. I started to take a step forward. Dan's arm shot out, catching me around the chest and what felt almost like a hug. What the hell?

My eyes traveled down. What I'd taken to be the forest floor, a patch of brown dirt sweat clear of leaves. was actually a hole. The visual effect of the hole was striking, an optical illusion. If I turned my head slightly, if I wasn't looking right at it,

the hole appeared to have no depth. It was only as I stared straight on that I could see the dip in the earth. It looked like a sinkhole, about four feet wide, roughly hewn sides extended down into the earth, modeled with loose roots and stone. An earthworm wriggled free of the dirt, emerging into empty space.

I watched as it plummeted down into the hole, spinning and cartwheeling until I could no longer see it. Dan's hand was on my arm. I could feel him trembling beside me. Our eyes met. For a second, he held my gaze, then glanced down at the gap in the world. That's it. That's where it's coming from.

I didn't need to ask what he meant. The whole atmosphere of the forest had been gradually changing, becoming more cloying, oppressive. You could feel it in the air like electricity. Even just looking around, everything seemed like it was in high contrast. Trees standing out from one another, colors too vibrant and painful to look at.

And then there'd been the fear. my vivid flash of Dan's ultimate betrayal, the pain of him sliding the knife into my belly. I could only imagine what Dan had seen. From the way he looked at me now, I knew it had been bad. He'd said it was worse when he was alone. I stared down into the hole.

So it's a sinkhole? I wasn't being dismissive. Dan knew what I meant. knew I understood. Keep looking. I stared down into the spiraling depths. My eyes tracing the whirls and ripples of the dry dirt wall that extended deep into the earth. I blinked.

Thousands of eyes. I think they'd always been there, those eyes. They'd always made up the wall of the hole. Always been staring at Dan and I. I just hadn't seen them before. not until I'd really looked. When I saw them, when my eyes focused, I wasn't afraid. It was like my brain had always acknowledged that they were there,

had conditioned me to accept them, and had gradually trained my eyes to see what really lay before them. I felt surprisingly zen. In that first moment, a hole-filled world. a hole filled with thousands of eyes seemed like the most normal thing in the world. I imagine if you'd stumbled across it, if you'd seen it for what it was without being prepared, your mind might have snapped. Looking back, I think that was the case with Dan.

I think it changed him. Or at least I want to believe it did. I stared down into the gaping wound in the earth. the eyes stared back. Occasionally, they blinked. Some of them swiveled in their mountains. I couldn't see what held them to the earth. They had no eyelids, no surrounding skin. I figured that stalks probably extended back from each eyeball into the ground. I considered this idly for a moment, still not questioning what I saw. All types of eyes made up the voyeuristic mural,

human eyeballs mostly, with irises of brown, blue, green, hazel, gray. I spotted a few roomy white eyes staring up at us, assumed blind if not for the fact they swiveled towards the sound of our breathing. Pupils, wide and pinpricked, all pointed at us. Lower down the wall of eyes, I could make out different kinds of eyeballs, yellowing sclera, spheres of different sizes,

the slit pupils of a cat, the hourglass blackness of a goat's gaze, tiny eyeballs, huge eyeballs, some of pure obsidian, some pure white, and they blinked. Oh God, they blinked in unison, and it was in these brief moments, of muscle reaction that I felt spikes of insanity clawing at my mind. When I could see the eyeballs, I could believe in the eyeballs. But during the split seconds in which they disappeared, the panic welled up in my chest, doubts spewing through my mind like ice-cold tentacles curling around my brain,

before the eyes opened again and calm descended on me. I don't know how they blinked. they had no eyelids, no way of doing so. Just occasionally, for a split second, the eyes disappeared. And I knew in that time blinking was just what they were doing. Perhaps there was a science to it. Perhaps were this thing somehow studied, scientists could explain how it blinked. But to me, right then, in that forest,

All I could witness was eyes, and then suddenly an absence of eyes. It was strange, I thought idly, during a blissful period when all eyes were on me. How being watched wasn't the terrifying part. There's that old cliche in horror stories. I felt like I was being watched, but I think that's an archaic expression for the 21st century. We're always being watched. It's when nobody's watching that we're truly alone, that the fear can creep in. That was the case here.

When the hole was just a hole, no matter how short those moments were, it was an endless abyss that led to the center of the earth. The hole was death, and with the eyes came life. It took a solid 30 minutes of Dan and I standing there staring. before I noticed the silence. Or at least, at first, I noticed silence. The forest was utterly quiet. When had I last heard a bird? Or the rustling of undergrowth?

I couldn't remember. I couldn't hear Dan's breathing beside me either, but I could sense he was still there. But it wasn't totally silent, was it? The eyes. they made a noise low and incomprehensible at first so subtle that you might not even notice

but when I did that noise became louder and louder building up in my ears until it had become a veritable crescendo drowning out everything else as the eyes twitched and shuddered on their stalks

the eyeballs rubbed against one another soft watery sounds drifted out from the hole or was it the sound of a tongue a tongue on tongue there was something vaguely sexual in the noise two bodies intertwining becoming one sweat slicked skin pressing together peeling apart i felt a strange uneasy feeling bubbling up in my stomach like i wanted to feel nauseous, but my body wouldn't allow it. Like my brain was seized with fear while my body demanded pleasure. The noise grew and grew in my mind, and with it every memory, experience and anxiety that related to my own body. Standing in front of the mirror as a teen, top off and chest exposed, feeling white-hot shame at the small size of my breasts compared to my peers. The first time boy had touched me down there in senior year and the quiet terrified tremble that had coursed through my body and later the first caress i'd felt from another girl gentle and less intimidating somehow

hundreds and hundreds of memories of my own hands exploring myself my body reacting with either pleasure or en wee as i learned the ins and outs of my own desires The sexual memories soon made way for other more painful recollections. The gripping pain of period cramps. An angry hot fist balled up inside my uterus. The agonizing ache of the broken ribs I'd suffered one summer after falling in the creek. The dull throbbing of a sprained wrist. The sudden blossoming agony of the shoulder and neck surgery I'd had at 22.

The drip, drip, drip of an IV bag feeding me soon. solution after a regrettable suicide attempt at 20. The nausea, chest pains, and stomachache of that same overdose. The agony of from within the hole, save for when they blinked and, oh, how I wished they wouldn't blink. The eyes stared. And yet it was with a bitter irony that I felt another pair of eyes watching me, studying my face, looking me up and down.

Dan. For the first time in nearly an hour, I wrenched my gaze away from the hole. I was surprised to note how far the sun had moved in the sky. It would be getting dark soon. Dan had a sad, pained look on his face. I found it one day. He didn't need to explain for me to realize he meant the hole. Of course he did.

After, well, after us, I went walking a lot. I came out here and I found this. It looked at me. Really looked at me. And I felt like I was being seen for the first time. You must know what I mean. You felt it too now. I did.

And I had. I know how it sees me and how you see me. I know now that I could never be what you need. That I'd never be the right guy for you in your eyes. I'd told him this myself over and over as gently as I could. could. You didn't need this thing to realize that. Some people aren't meant to be together. It's not your fault. Who broke your heart? Who is it that I can never live up to? I did a double take. Had Dan felt what I'd felt? Had he lived all those experiences, those sensations that I'd just been forced to relive?

Had the voyeur beneath the earth shown him my truths Even as it scrutinized me to find them Had Dan known that would happen I was suddenly Very very exhausted A guy A few years back

We were together in college He left me I didn't take it well Did you love him? Do you still love him? Yeah Yeah I think so.

I loved you too, you know. I know. I'm sorry, Dan. It's funny, isn't it? Dan turned away from me. We were both pointedly ignoring the hole. You can be inside someone, but you won't ever really see inside someone, will you? No matter how many times we fucked, no matter that I've seen every inch of your bare skin on the outside, I'll never see inside you, will I?

I frowned. I didn't like the crude way he was talking. It was something he'd taken to doing after we broke up, reminding me how he'd screwed me, where he'd screwed me, reminding me he'd seen me naked if I ever tried to take the high ground over his needy, pushy behavior.

As if this was something that weakened me, as if him seeing and causing some of my most intimate moments could somehow serve as a chink in my armor. Like I said, It's something a lot of women have dealt with. Dan certainly wasn't my first ex to behave like that either, but it didn't mean I liked it.

And here, standing on the lip of that hole, those eyes just below us out of sight, staring at this playing out, I felt a dark sense of foreboding. How did you know it'd show you my truths? It told me. It whispered to me across the days as it stared into my own soul.

It told me that it would show me everything I wanted to see. Anger burned red-hot in my stomach, where just moments before the memory of terrible pain had spiked. And what now, Dan? You've seen inside me. You've seen inside me, and now what? We go back to town, go our separate ways, and pretend this goddamn hole in the ground doesn't exist.

What are you going to do with the information you've learned exactly, huh? Dan couldn't meet my eyes. I just wanted... You just wanted. Yeah, that's exactly it. You wanted. You didn't care that to get it, you'd have to introduce me to this thing,

whatever it is. You know the knowledge of this thing's existence is going to change my life, right? I can't go back to my normal routine knowing that something like this exists out here. Of course you know that. You've seen inside me. You know everything there is to know.

No. So does. Somewhere off in the forest, a branch broke. The undergrowth rustled. A deer, skittish and afraid, skipped off amongst the trees, giving us and the whole a wide berth. Dan was opening and closing his mouth impotently. He looked like a fish. Wide open, closed shut.

Wide open, closed shut. I thought we could. I don't know. You've always wanted to pursue this shit, haven't you? And I found it. I found it for you. I thought we could... I don't know.

I thought we could do something. Together. We're connected now. In ways that we never could have been before. Maybe in ways nobody else is. We've seen inside each other. And... I held up a hand to cut him off.

No. You've seen inside me. You and this thing. I haven't seen inside you, Dan. I wasn't trying to. It's a tilted stage. And you really think I'll be cool with all this? It's a violation.

A very unusual, terrifying one. I... I trailed off from the hole. That slick, rasping sound was growing louder again. I turned to look, and immediately thousands of eyes had once again appeared in the dirt, staring up at me. staring into me. From above the cacophony of its impossible gaze,

I heard a voice. I have... Based on Dan's lack of reaction, I knew he hadn't heard the voice. I have more to show, Yen show... When the thing was done speaking, I turned back to Dan. I smiled and pulled him forward into an embrace.

I kissed him on the lips, and he kissed me back, hard and passionate. He was enraptured. I could see it in his eyes. I was his again, completely, and it dazed him. It dazed him so much that he didn't even notice we were walking in the wrong direction when I led him away from that clearing. From the hole, all he could do was look at me, taking in what he saw, perhaps remembering,

what he'd been shown. He looked at me so hard that even as the ground opened up beneath him, his gaze never broke from mine. It was only as he began falling that he reacted. It was only as the ground began to close back upon him that he let out his first screen, the first of many. When the deed was done, I looked down. A hole, a different hole, gaped open. sated. As with the other, it was a deep, spiraling pit into the earth. But this one wasn't filled with eyes. In fact, I knew this hole couldn't see at all. But the thousands upon thousands of teeth and tongues that chattered and writhed and drooled along the whole sides told me that it could taste, if not see. And what good is looking?

Bloody fangs glinted in the setting sun. Tongues flicked and teased, stained red with Dan. And then, winking like an eye, the whole closed. The only solid ground remached down and touched the earth. It was warm beneath my fingers. My eyes shone with promise of the future as I turned. They're almost on you. Armory, you ready?

Armory ready. We'll keep the projectiles flowing down here if you do the same. Great Hall, are you ready? Hell no, but they're coming regardless. Is everyone armed? In a manner of speaking. Corinne and I selected some of the more volatile crossbreeds from the Arboretum and integrated the deadliest features with our own cellular structure.

I do actually need sunlight to live now, like some sort of reverse vampire, but... Check it out. Roses wither, but the thorns remain. Should I show them my? It's silly. It's just like a vine whip thing. Those are the two coolest things I've ever seen. Hey, we have everyone on this channel, right? Look, I just want to say, I've made a lot of mistakes getting here.

I tried to make up for as many as them as I could, but there are some sins you simply can't wash away. I want to say, working with you all, protecting the world, cataloging its secrets these last few years. last few years, I'm so damn proud of what we've done here. I'm so damn proud of all of you. Ditto, boss man. A privilege is always to serve. I don't know quite how this is going to play out, but no matter the outcome, I'm right where I want to be, standing with you all. We're in this together, to the very end. Give them hell. Fire! Fire!

I feel the fragments of myself being picked off, dying away. deep inside. It is an agony I am unable to describe. Still, your friends will not find success. I am too many.

This all could have been avoided. You did not all need to die. I didn't want anyone to die. I just... I would not suggest that you try to stand. You've lost. Well,

That's not sugarcoat things. A fatal amount of blood. I take no pleasure in telling you that your best course of action here is to merely lay down and die. Oh, I appreciate the Bermil the same to you. Ours? You severely overestimate your friend's child? You don't know anything about them.

That's the thing. You may have been locked up down here for centuries, millennia. Doesn't matter. Oh it all that you, the people that gravitated to this place, to... We've made something new, something no one is going to see coming. Ooh, they're really putting the hurt to you down there, aren't they? Silence! Don't be like that.

Not here at the last. We should, all of us, attempt to leave this world peacefully with you. Stay quiet, dignity. Preferably better than we found it. Don't you agree? The great hall is overrun. That was the last of their defense. They are coming for you now.

We will scour the remainder from their alcoves. All will be purged. Your world is at an end. No! What have you done? I need to get out of here. I need to be free. Why are all the lights off? Anybody? Hello? Hey, where's the welcome wagon, yo? We've been busting our asses on tour. Where is everybody? Oh, God. Kyle? Is he okay? Kyle? Hey, wake up? That's it. David? Guys? Hey, geez. I was, I had, and you were, hey, you were all there. What happened, Kyle?

I don't, no. How did the hosting go? Did you get the stories out on time? Hosting? Yes, you did host, didn't you? I... You don't know, got it. Okay, I guess we'll just have to listen back to what went out after we get settled in.

Hey, I'm sure you did your best, Kyle. Now, why don't you go get some sleep? You look like you need it. Wait, here on his temple. Does that look like a needlemarked to anyone else? What? Like an injection site. What the hell?

Where's Peter? He's still locked in the dungeon. Down with the others, we've all been shackled the entire time. Huh. Well, maybe there's just a mosquito in here or something. Let's get unpacked. It's been a long day. Kyle, I may as well unshackle you now.

You can go top up the feed bags down there. get yourself a handful of boats. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Hey, uh, Peter. What? Hey, sorry, it's just the tour group just got back, and I'm really having trouble remembering what happened. I think I was supposed to be in charge, but I wasn't. I wasn't in charge of anything.

It was like some horrible nightmare. You just described literally every day of my life. Kyle, is there a point to this? I just... I know this might sound silly, and I'm really sorry, but you didn't like... You didn't break out of here

and put something in my brain while I was asleep in the control booth, right? No, how would I have possibly done that, Kyle? Hmm? Hmm? Yeah, of course. Silly. I... I just wanted to make sure.

Hey, anything I can do to provide a little peace of mind. Have a good night, Kyle. Yeah, good night. It's time to rest on our dark journey. We thank you for joining us. If you would like to find out how you can hear the full-length versions of our audio program, please visit the no-sleeppodcast.com to learn about our season pass program. 25 episodes, each over two hours long,

and three exclusive bonus episodes all for only 1999. On behalf of everyone at the No Sleep Podcast, we thank you for listening. Join us again next week when the journey resumes its descent into the sleepless night. This audio production is copyright 2017-2018 by Creative Reason Media Inc. All rights reserved. The copyrights for each story are held by the respective authors. No duplication or reproduction of this audio program is permitted without the written consent of Creative Reason Media, Inc.