Episode 188 - Susan

Welcome to other world, I'm your host Jack Wagner. In this episode, I talked to a guy that we're calling Nate about something that happened to him when he was 16 years old and it centers around a relationship that is very familiar to me, a friendship that he had with a younger kid named Kyle who lived in the neighborhood. I remember when I was growing up, all the kids on my street used to hang out and play together, no matter what age anyone was, even the kids who I maybe wouldn't normally hang out with by choice. Then, as I got older, became a teenager, I had my real friends from school, but I still maintain a friendship with the younger kids on my street, even the ones who were a little strange. Like, there was a kid next door to me who was constantly making up ridiculous lies. Like, my uncle works for Nintendo and let me meet the real Mario, Britney Spears is going to come to my birthday, I think everyone has met a little kid like this, but he lived next door to me, I saw him every day and I was nice to him. That's sort of how it was for Nate and his friend Kyle in the story you're about to hear. Kyle was a little strange, he clearly had an extremely difficult home life and at a certain point, he began talking about something pretty unusual, something that Nate, at first, chalked up to him just being a weird, younger kid. This whole story takes place in Monroe, Washington, a town north of Seattle and what I would describe as Twin Peaks or Twilight Country. Speaking of movies, this is the second episode recently that involves the film paranormal activity. I swear this is not some sort of branded partnership. In fact, I would have loved to just edit out the mention of it in one of these episodes, but you will see that it's an integral part of this story and it's a story that myself and the entire team really love. I can't wait for you to hear it. By the way, the story does discuss suicide. I want to give everybody a quick heads up. This episode is called Susan and you're listening to the other world. I am Nate Fieldson. I am 33 years old. I am technically from Orange County, California, but I moved up to the Pacific Northwest when I was five years old, so I'd pretty much lived up here my whole life. I grew up in a suburb, an hour northeast of Seattle called Monroe, but I moved to Seattle in 2013, graduated from culinary school and moved up to Seattle. I basically just worked in restaurants for my entire life. I currently still work in the industry. I'm also a filmmaker, more as a passion project. I live in West Seattle with my wife and my 10-year-old pit bull. The Pacific Northwest, if you've never been, it is very wet and very cold and very dark. Most of the time, it's incredibly devastatingly beautiful and it's basically for about eight months of the year. It's like 45 degrees and steadily raining. Then we have gorgeous summers where that all kind of changes for a very short window of time. If you've seen the movie Twilight, that's basically what it feels like to live here. Not that you're turning into a vampire, but that gloom and that gray overcast. You live here long enough, you learn to drink lots of strong coffee and do lots of cozy things indoors. I think a really interesting thing that there's always more to peel back with this, but there's a lot of serial killers that are from this area. It's not surprising due to how difficult it is to keep your mental health in a good spot. You really have to find ways to take care of yourself. I remember I was 16 because I had just gotten my driver's license, which was a big deal because where I grew up, I lived in a very rural area. The nearest thing to me was a convenient store that was about three and a half miles away from my house. I had neighbors along my street, but it's like all very spread out and yeah, we're just like a decently long car ride to any sort of like regular civilization. There was this kid named Kyle who lived three houses down for me. Kyle was like about three years younger than me. So when we started hanging out a lot, he would have been like 13, kind of like a short, stocky kid with long blonde hair. I don't know if these are still a thing, but he would always be wearing like a bunch of those, um, ornery teen boy t-shirts that said like sassy things. Like he had the shirt that said, "I'm out of bed and dressed. What more do you want?" or something like that. Like he had like the shirt that said like, "I do all my own stunts with like the stick figure falling down the stairs." Boy Stras is really the best word I can use to describe him, like he was just very animated. He was really goofy. Like he'd just be like talking like different cartoon characters or he talked really fast. Like he'd like kind of like ramble and go on these like monologues and stuff. And the first kind of impressions being around him, I found him to be really annoying. He was like a very loud kid that just kind of took up a lot of space in like a group setting and things like that. I'm not sure exactly when he moved there. The house that he lived in was, the house was like a sort of revolving door of like various extended family members. So he moved in there with his mom and his two half sisters. But like this house was constantly there'd be like a cousin that would move in for a year because his mom was on drugs. And then he would get farmed out to somebody else when he got into too much trouble. And then there'd be like an uncle that stayed there for a while because he got evicted from his house and he'd be there for like the summer and then be on his way to try and like get his life going. So there's like a lot of people coming going from this house. And so I kind of met him amidst that just like playing football with some of the other cousins and stuff like that came over to hang out with us. And first impression was just I found him to be really annoying. And I was like, I don't like this kid. But then around age 16, I don't really know what happened. But we just all of a sudden started hanging out a lot more, which was pretty common, especially in your teens. Like your interests and hobbies and passions and values are constantly changing. And so it wouldn't be uncommon to you know be really close with one kid. And then all of a sudden I'd be hanging out with his brother way more. So it's kind of what happened with this. It was like something clicked and we just started hanging out like all the time kind of out of nowhere. I think that we probably bonded over like our mutual dislike of sports because it's like at the time all the neighbor kids were really into playing football and stuff like that. And it would always kind of devolve into just arguing about the rules. We were just like we don't care about this. We're going to go over here and do our own thing. I can't even remember what a lot of our conversations revolved around. But just picture a very long windy country road like all these houses have like five to 10 to 15 acre lots. I remember we spent a lot of time hanging out very late at night. It'd be like after school, after homework and all that. Like he'd come over at like 10 o'clock or something. What we would do a lot is we'd go for these night walks and we'd go and trespass on like neighbor's property. All these big open horse and cow pastures and stuff connected to woods between them. We would just kind of wonder and just talk about probably just like movies and video games and stuff like that. His mom, she was a nurse or nurse is a sister or something. She worked crazy overnight shifts, which is how we we would spend a lot of time late at night because it's like his mom would be at work all night. And so he was kind of just left to his own devices. And like his sisters, they were much younger than him. They were like five and seven or something. They would basically go to bed and then they'd be under the watch of like his grandparents or whatever. And then so then he was just kind of left to his own devices a lot. Even though he was very animated, very silly, seemingly happy kid, the more time I spent with him, the more I would see these little snippets behind the facade. I think living in a house with that many people, he just maybe wasn't getting a lot of attention or something. Yeah, I would just see it through the cracks into kind of like how he really felt here and there. And I was like, oh, this kid actually seems really sad sometimes, but he wouldn't show it very much. He was really into horror movies, which I love horror movies now. But when I was 16, I was pretty scared of all that stuff. So like sometimes he would convince me to watch like a scary movie. I remember we watched House of Wax the like early 2000s remake. We would like watch scary movies and he would vaguely bring things up like the existence of ghosts and ask me what I thought and stuff like that. And like had a lot of strong opinions about what demons are and what ghosts are and talking about like the void and stuff like that. And yeah, I was just kind of a topic of conversation. So then there was one night after we were hanging out for a few months where we watched the first paranormal activity at my house and he said something that really freaked me out when we were watching it. I can't tell if he meant for me to hear it or if he was kind of muttering it to himself. But at one point in the movie, it was like earlier on where like somebody goes downstairs and like they could just feel a presence. There was like a covered door open or something like that and he was like, that's how it goes. I was just kind of took a mental note like what the fuck is he talking about. And so after the movie, which terrified me, I was like, what were you saying earlier about that's how it goes or that's what it's like. And he kind of pretended he was like, what are you talking about kind of pretended like he didn't know what I was saying. And I kept doubling down and I was like, no, you said something in that one scene. You were like, that's what it's like. And like I kept pushing him about it. He was also just kind of acting off that night in general. Like what I was saying earlier about the kind of seeing through the cracks, like I think whatever coping mechanisms he was using to sort of fight his like depression and his anxiety were that particular night. They were just his defenses were really down and I was kind of seeing this more sad side of him, the most that I'd seen it. And so it was like kind of like picking up on that and then hearing his comment during the movie just made me really kind of concerned. So finally, I kept pressing him about it and he was like, okay, let's go for a walk. So we like, we walk like really far away from our house. And I keep asking him like, are you going to tell me what's going on? He's like, he's just kept like shushing me. And I was like, okay, but yeah, so we walked a couple of miles from our house. And it's like one in the morning or something. We should not be up this late, but here we are. And he finally, he looks back and he's like, okay, she didn't follow us. And at this point, I'm like, what are you talking about? And we go a little further and we go off the main road and down. We're like in the woods deep in someone's property. Like one of these kind of trails that we would go on. So we're a couple miles away from my house. And he finally decides that she didn't follow us. Whatever the fuck that means. Which he then tells me that he's being haunted by a ghost. And I'm like, okay, I don't believe him, but it's the middle of the night and we're in in the woods. And it's dark. And I just watched a really scary movie. So this is making me feel scared. And even though I don't believe you, but I'm like, okay, tell me more. So he's like, yeah, I'm being haunted by a ghost. And her name is Susan. And he describes our physical appearance to me. And his whole description of her is very stereotypical, sort of ghost. She's like this woman in her 60s or 70s. She's wearing like a white dress, white hair, just like super pale skin. I feel like there was something about the way that she would walk to, like I think she didn't walk. She sort of like floated or like glided places. And I'm like, okay, yeah. I'm being very respectful. His whole time of telling me this stuff, he's coming from like a very vulnerable place. And I can tell it's taking a good deal of effort for him to describe all this stuff to me. So I'm in my mind, I'm like, this is all a steaming pile of horse shit. But at the same time, I'm like, trying to give him the dignity of explaining all this. And so basically she follows him around everywhere in like the neighborhood, like his house, my house, that whole vicinity. So it's like when he goes to school, when he leaves, when he goes to town, when we walk far enough away from the house, there's like sort of like a certain area that she doesn't leave. And I'm like, so has she been to my house and and he goes, yeah, she was there in the room tonight with us while we watched that movie. And I was just like, oh fuck, that just filled me with this just intense feeling of dread. What the fuck am I getting myself into right now? I have all these follow up questions and I'm like, okay, well, what does she, what does she want? And he's like, I don't know, I'm still figuring that out. But he says she gives me power. There's like another layer of dread for me. I'm like, oh no, where is this going? Okay, what kind of power? And he's like, well, I killed my family's bunny. And I was like, what? And he said that she kept telling him that she had power that she could give him and that he was like, I don't believe you. And then he tells me that he he didn't mean to, but he like used the power she gave him to like kill the bunny that they had basically just with his mind. Like it's heart stopped and like died, which I'm like, I didn't even remember them having a bunny. This would have happened before I started kind of hanging out with him more. So in my mind, I'm like, okay, this is this bunny diet of some sort of natural causes or something, something happened. And this is just your story that you're making up to describe what happened. I felt concerned. Like, you're making this up. Why would you make up something like this? That's fucked up. But I'm like, okay, go on. Like tell me more. What does she want you to use the power for? And he's like, she wants me to use it on my grandma. And I'm like, okay, this is really concerning now. This is getting kind of dark. And I'm like, what do you mean? And he's like, I don't know if she just really doesn't like my grandma. She wanted to use the power on not only his grandma, but his grandpa too. But it was like, it was more specifically his grandma. I don't know. I had some follow up questions about it. And I was like, why does she want you to do that? And he's like, well, I don't know. He just kept me like, I don't know. And I was like, well, you're not going to do that, right? And he was like, very adamant. Like, I already told her I'm not going to use the power for anything else. I told her not to give me any more power, stuff like that. And so at this point, I'm freaked out. I'm concerned for this kid. But at the same time, I really don't believe him. And I just more or less am like, this is a cry for attention. He just wants someone to talk to and to share something intimate with. And this is like, this can be our little secret. For sure, part of me was like, maybe I should talk to his mom about it or something. But I don't know. I was 16. I wasn't really taking it too seriously. What he was saying, essentially, he's telling me like, I might kill my grandparents, but you're also telling me you're being haunted by a ghost. So I don't really believe anything you're saying. It just seemed like, okay, you're not actually capable of following through with anything that you're talking about here. I remember one of the last questions I asked him was like, why, why did you tell me this? Basically, he was like, I can't handle being the only one that knows about it anymore. And I trust you enough to tell you about it. I need someone else to know what's going on. And I was like, okay, now I know all this stuff. So, fuck. Before we walked back to the house, the last thing he says is promise me that you will not bring this up when we're around her at all. Just don't say the name, Susan. Don't bring up any of this because you're she cannot know what I told you. And I'm like, okay, sure, I'll be your secret keeper. And we basically just walk home and he goes to bed and I go to bed. And I'm just like laying in my bed trying to go to sleep. It's probably like a Wednesday night or something, it's a school night. And I'm just like, what the fuck? My neighbor just told me that he's being haunted by a ghost that can give him supernatural powers. They have the power to kill other beings and that there's something going on with his grandparents that she really doesn't like. And that's just like trying to absorb all of that and being like, what is wrong with this kid? Like, this is some dark shit. I remember just going to bed and like having this like sense of dread. This thing has been in my house. Again, I really truly don't believe anything he told me but it's just, it doesn't change the fact that I just was just absorbing the emotional density of what he was sort of like bestowing upon me. (dramatic music) All right, we'll be right back after this quick break. Get ready for more of the gripping mysteries you love because forensic files is back and they're revisiting some of your favorite episodes. Come along as investigators, scientists and experts piece together evidence, clues and data in search of the answers behind violent crimes, unexplainable mysteries and other strange occurrences. Listen to forensic files on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. The wilderness can hide a lot but it can't hide the truth forever. I'm Dilya DeAmber, a host of park predators and every week I investigate true crime cases, hidden in national parks, forests and beaches. I follow every lead, every clue and every overlooked detail because even when a trail seems to disappear, the truth has a way of resurfacing. Listen to park predators wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, I wanna tell you about a head gum podcast. I think you're gonna love. It's called Two Scary Didn't Watch. Have you ever read the entire plot of a horror movie on Wikipedia because you have to know what happens but are terrified to actually watch it? Obviously, I do not fit that description but I know many people who do including a friend of mine that had nightmares just from seeing a poster of a certain horror movie. If you are like that, Two Scary Didn't Watch is exactly what you need. It's hosted by Sammy Smart, Emily Gonzalez, and Henley Cox. Two Scary Didn't Watch is a horror movie recap podcast that gives you all the gory details of scary movies without you ever having to actually watch them. They've recapped almost 200 movies from classics like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby to recent horrors like Hereditary and Barbarian. Pascas include Zach Kregger, Haley Joel Osment, Alison Williams, Sarah Sherman, friend of the show, shout out, Paul F. Tomkins, and many more. So, ditch Wikipedia and join Emily, Henley, and Sammy as they face their fears and explore the wild world of horror, one recap at a time. Subscribe to Two Scary Didn't Watch on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, new episodes drop every Wednesday. I took a knife away from a guy once that was 10 on killing me. I took it up on the knife and I tacked two to circle around his heart, lasting circle. That was a very intimate act. He said, "Here's a list of all Aaron Brotherhood Dropouts. Go through this list, send a letter to each one of these MFing rats, and ask them if you could come and interview them for me." Tell me, Eric, he's kind of a borderline con person most of your life, too, but you got conned by a conman. Blood Memory, a new podcast series from Love and Radio. Search for Blood Memory, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Rachel, and I have a new show "Woo-Woo" with Rachel Dratch. It's an otherworldly comedy podcast where I, along with my co-host, Irene Remis, talk to my funny friends about their own experiences with the eerie and the unknown. Psychics, spirits, astro-projection, check, check, and check. You may think we live in a world where there's a logical explanation for anything out of the ordinary, but after you spend some time with me in my pals, you might have your doubts and find that you, too, are "Woo-Woo." Search for "Woo-Woo" with Rachel Dratch, wherever you're listening now. We continue to hang out, but there's this whole other layer to it now where there's this presence that it's the elephant in the room, for sure. It's like something that we don't talk about unless we're not there, and I definitely start pushing to kind of more hang out at his house because the whole grandparent thing kind of, even though I'm like, I don't think he's going to act on anything that he brought up. It's just kind of, I want to start kind of hanging around his house a little bit more and see what that's about. So yeah, we're over there, maybe a little bit more often. We just kind of continue on, and it's like he goes back to his animated self and all of that, and like on the surface, everything seems the same, but now I have this knowledge of what he told me. I get to know his mom a little bit better, and I can just tell you know, it's like she's really struggling, single mom working way too much. There's some sort of tension with the relationship his mom has with like these two different fathers that she's trying to still allow her children to have like some sort of connection to them, but it's definitely rocky with both situations. He goes over to visit his dad very, it's like once every couple months for like an afternoon kind of thing, and he never really wants to talk about it, but like I pick up on all those kind of tensions a lot and the relationship. Overall, I'm just noticing that the whole family situation in the household is, it's just a lot of sad, struggling people that have not been dealt very good cards in their life, and the grandparents are sort of like the ones that are kind of keeping everything together, like they technically own the house, but it's like everyone's kind of paying a little bit of rent. I'm noticing a lot of conversations about money and like how like the mortgage is going to get paid and stuff like that, and a lot of arguments about money too, there's a lot of big arguments too, they're happening in other rooms that I can't, it's like grandma and grandpa get into a big shouting match or like grandma and Kyle's mom are in a fight, and I feel like a lot of it had to do with money, it could be other things, but even if it's not like an argument, I can just tell from like their way that they're talking that it's like a, they're having really difficult conversations about stuff, and so if a fight broke out, he was just very avoidant, he would usually just kind of be like okay, let's leave, and we just get up and leave the house, but if it had to do with him, he would get really defensive, he'd get up and start yelling and start getting really loud and angry, trying to hold his ground, I guess with whatever the situation was, it was difficult to be in that household for a long period of time, because it was just deeply sad and just a very difficult situation in general. I start bringing him around my group of friends as well that are kind of outside of this neighborhood, like if I have a friend that comes over to visit from like outside the neighborhood, I'm like inviting Kyle over to hang out with us, because I think this kid just needs to feel loved and feel less lonely, that seemed to do a lot for him, I think he really enjoyed sort of being in the loop with some of my other friend group and stuff, and like we continue to do our once or twice a week like late night walk that we do or we kind of like go across the neighbor's property, and so if that's where we would start talking about Susan, where would then we get a certain distance away from the house, and then I'm like okay what's going on, tell me, give me the update and stuff like that, and it seems like talking to me about it has helped him to kind of manage it a little bit better, and he seems to have like a little bit better boundaries with her, like you know she's still there in the room with him when he's like trying to go to sleep and stuff like that, and like she's around, but he's like I'm just not interacting with her as much, and I'm like okay well that's good. Things kind of just go on like this for another few weeks honestly, I'm just trying to be a good friend and I really just feel for this kid and I want to be there for him so I continue to hang out with him, ask him for updates, check in on him, and I really am despite my skepticism about the existence of Susan and all of that I am really intrigued at the same time, why is he like making up this whole elaborate story, why now those kind of things are going through my mind, he just keeps telling me that he's, he's just not interacting with her as much. And which is like all the advice I'm giving him is like, just don't even talk to her because in my mind, I'm like, well, this isn't real anyways. So I'm like, I just keep telling him, you know, just, just ignore it. He seems to agree with that and says that's what he's doing. And overall, I'm like, okay, I think he just, he seems to be doing better with all this. I think he just needed some attention and needed a friend to kind of like taking him under their wing, which is what I'm trying to do. He does still have his bad days, where I am seeing that facade come down a little bit and I see his like emotional fatigue or his depression sort of crop up. But being around his house more, I understand where he's coming from and I get it. But more or less, he's doing all right. And then after all this kind of goes on for a few weeks, we are hanging out one night at my house. And we like hang out, watch a movie, play some video games, whatever. And then we're just chilling in my room, basically going to have a sleep over. We're just laying there. He's laying on the couch. I'm laying on my bed. And we're just kind of laying there half asleep, like barely talking. And I would know where he just goes. And I'm like, I'm like on the verge of falling asleep. And he goes, I told her. And I was like, what, you told her? What? Because this is like a big deal to me. I'm like, wait, I thought we weren't supposed to talk about this around her. And he was like, told her. And I'm like, what does that mean? He's like, I told her that you know about her. And I was like, you did. And he's like, yeah, because she could tell. And I was like, okay, where is she now? And he's like, she's in the room with us right here. And I just like, this is like the closest I come to like believing this whole thing because I'm just like, oh my god, I've spent so much time like picturing this Susan character in my mind and thinking about her intentions and her overall countenance and all the stuff. And now he's telling me that she's in my room with us. And that she knows that I know that she exists. And the sense of dread in the room is like, palpable to me at this point. I'm like, I don't like this. And so he kind of just drops that bomb and then falls asleep. I'm just like laying there like, oh, what the fuck should I do or say? And so I just start talking to it, her, whatever. And I'm like kind of angry at this point. So I'm like, I don't like how much this is taking over my attention and my thoughts. And I'm scared, but I'm also like really frustrated. And I just start talking to it quietly. And I'm like, look, I don't know what you are or who you are or where you came from or why you're here. But you need to get the fuck out of my room and leave me alone. And I just keep saying stuff like that over and over. And I eventually fall asleep. In the next several days, the conversations about Susan have really tapered off now. It's like barely a topic doesn't feel as much like the elephant in the room anymore. And I'm like, okay, maybe this is behind us now. Maybe I got it to leave. I don't know. Or at least to not come over to my house. Maybe a week after this. Like definitely a weeknight. It's probably like a Tuesday or Wednesday night. Finish school. Have dinner with my family. Probably like play some video games or something like that. Didn't hang out with Kyle. Didn't hang out with anybody. Just went to bed that night at like a normal time for me, which is like for 16 year old Nate is like probably like midnight. And then sometime in the middle of the night, I want to say probably three o'clock in the morning. I wake up to this tapping sound and I just look over and there's someone at my window at my bedroom window tapping on the window and saying something to me. Like oh, what the fuck is going on? Who the fuck is that? And I look out and like my bedroom faces the backyard and all that. And so there's just someone in the back here tapping on my window. And I sit up in my bed and I look and it's like this old woman with pale white skin. And she's saying something. Tapping on my window and saying something. But the whole area by the window is like it's either like the windows really foggy or like I'm just really groggy. And I can't see clearly. So I get up and walk over to the window and realize that it's Susan standing at my window. I'm like kind of just frozen for like a moment. People say fight, fight or freeze. I'm just frozen. Do I need to get out of my bedroom, get the hell away from here? Do I need to like confront this person? Like what is going on? When someone describes someone or something to you that you haven't seen and then you see it for the first time, this is what that felt like. Like it was like most of his physical description about her was there, but it was like all these little details about her that were sort of filling in the gaps. She was wearing a white dress, but like the dress had this like floral pattern. She had pale white skin, but she was wearing some sort of like that white makeup that people wear in like theater and film. It was like so white that it looked artificial almost like whoever this person was. When they died, maybe they they had like makeup put on or something before they were buried like that sort of thing. Super pale. I remember she had like I can't remember the color of her eyes, but they were like a very deeply saturated color. It was like blue or brown or something, but it was just like all these details were like coming to life way more. She sort of looked Eastern European or like Scandinavian or something. She had like a kind of a long thin face with like a longer nose. Her hair was like super curly. It was like long and flowing, but it was also like really curly. She was like about my height. I'm 63. When I talk to people that are my height, I'm like looking more eye level or almost even looking up versus like kind of like looking down a lot. So I remember I was just kind of like right at eye level with her. She looked like a person that had all the life drained out of them like like in movies and stuff. We see like the version of them that when they were alive, but just like opaque. And that this was like it looked like someone that had been dead for 24 hours and then got up and started walking around. So I realized it's Susan. She's tapping on my window and I'm like what are you saying? Because it's like all muffled. And then I like open the window a crack so I can hear her because for some reason I can't hear her through the window. And she just keeps she's tapping on the window and she keeps pointing towards Kyle's house and she goes go check on Kyle. And I just all of a sudden boom I'm in my bed and I've woken up from what seems to be a dream. And I'm just like what the fuck? It's very disorienting. I kind of sit up in my bed and I'm mulling over what just happened and I'm like go check on Kyle. What does that mean? And it's like three o'clock in the morning or something. It's like the middle of the night. My initial thought is like just go back to sleep. But then I get up because I'm like you know what I'm not going to be able to fully fall back asleep if I don't go check on Kyle. I'm concerned at this point and intrigued like I need to follow through with this before I can just go back to sleep. So I quietly sneak out of my house go to his backyard. His bedroom is like similar to mine their balls like kind of facing the backyard. So I just kind of go into his backyard and I go and tap on his window and sure enough he's awake and he's like he pulls his drape back and he's like Nate what the fuck are you doing? He looks freaked out like more freaked out than I was like he's like very shocked that I'm there which granted it's the middle of the night and I'm like uh I just wanted to come check on you. It's like very awkward like what it like kind of like what the fuck you doing here? And he says how did you know to come here? Which that kind of clued me into like okay something's not right. Maybe there is a reason that I'm here. I don't talk about my dream or anything like that. I was just like I don't know man I just wanted to I was just feeling concerned about you. I haven't seen you in a few days just want to make sure you're all right and then he goes he kind of like assesses the situation for a second and then he goes I think you should go home and he just like closes his his blind and walks away from the window. And I'm like, okay, now I'm definitely concerned. So I keep tapping on the window. He's not coming to the window. I just need some sort of reassurance from him. Like, are you okay, dude? Like, can we hang out tomorrow? Like, just anything? And I'm just not getting anything from him. And I feel, at this point, I feel my gut reaction, my instinct is telling me something's really wrong. I try to open his window and it's locked. He's not answering. So I go around to the front of his house. And this is like really scary for me because I'm like, technically like, trespassing into their house. But I know for a fact that his front door is always unlocked, because his grandma is usually like half asleep in the living room. They just never really locked their house because there's so many people that live there. So I know the front door is unlocked. So I quietly go around to the front of the house and I sneak in to his house. And sure enough, his grandma is right there, like, fast asleep. She would like, fall asleep in this one armchair with the news on the TV. So I kind of just like sneak past her and I go downstairs into his room. And I'm knocking on his door, which then now I've finally got his tent. Like, now he's not ignoring me because he's like, on the other side, I hear him say something like, what the fuck? Like, you broke into my house, technically. And so he finally lets me into his room. And he's just like, I'm like, dude, are you okay? And he's like, yeah, everything's fine. But he's like clearly not fine. And he's kind of pacing around his room. Like, he won't make eye contact with me. He's like, just kind of like saying words. Like, yeah, everything's fine. Like, I don't know what you're doing here and stuff. And I was like, dude, what is going on? And it's just kind of like, I keep pressing him about it. And he starts to break down and cry. And he's like, I can't believe that I did this. I don't know what's going to happen and stuff like that. And he's really, really reluctant to tell me what's happening. I kind of put my foot down to like, dude, I'm at your house in the middle of the night. Something's going on. Like, you need to tell me what's going on. So he finally like goes over to his bed and retrieves this bottle of Tylenol and just hands it to me. I opened the lid and looked into it and almost all the pills are gone. And I was like, did you, did you just take a bunch of these? And he goes, yeah. And I was like, I was like, how many did you take? And he's like, a lot. And I was like, how long ago did you do this? And he's like about 10 minutes ago, which is like exactly when I would have been having that dream. Because I had literally just, I had woken up from the dream. And within 10 minutes, I was over at his tapping on his window. And so once he finally admits to me what he's done, we both kind of just sit there in shock for a second. And then I'm like, okay, so you're going to die from taking all those. And he's like, yeah, I was literally just laying in bed like waiting to fall asleep and not wake up. I just kind of sit there for like a short moment kind of just absorbing this information. And then I'm like, well, is that what you want to do? Do you want to die? And he's like, I don't know. And I go, well, let's get you to the hospital right now. So my thought is, I'm like, his mom is at work. His grandparents are fast asleep. Like, the whole house is asleep. It's the middle of the night. Like, we need to get him to the hospital immediately. So I don't want to wake anyone up. I'm like, he's like, what are we going to do? I'm like, here's what we're going to do. We're going to sneak past your grandmother. We're going to go out the front door and we're going to go over to my car. And we're going to go to the hospital, which is exactly what we do. Because I'm like, if we wake up his grandma and stuff like that, it's just going to take longer. Because they're going to be disoriented. Like, what are you talking about? What's going on? I'm like, we just need to get there as soon as we can. I don't even want anyone else to know about it at this time. So we go back up out of his bedroom, up, sneak past his grandma, which is like, this is like the craziest reason to be sneaking out of your house. And we go and get my car. So on the way, I have this piece of shit, old Toyota Corolla, but I'm driving the car as fast as I can, which it was in the moment. Even though this is like an extremely desperate situation, I remember in the back of my mind being like, I can speed as fast as I want right now and not have to worry about like, if the cops come, they're just going to follow me to the hospital. I'm not going to pull over. I just remember thinking, I'm going to drive as fast as I possibly can. I'll give a fuck what happens. So we get to the ER and it probably takes us about 10 minutes to get there from the time we get into my car. I was holding his hand more or less just to like know that he was there with me like, he wants to die so I'm like, I don't want to turn around and just see him not following me. So I'm holding him by the hand into the ER and go right up to the front desk and like tell them what happened. I was like, he just overdosed on Tylan all. He needs help or he's going to die. And they were like, oh, okay. And they just within like a minute like had him. So they take him back. I couldn't go back there with him because I wasn't family. So I just waited outside to see what would happen. So I'm just kind of sitting there like having no idea what's happening. I'm like, he could be dead right now. About 30 minutes to an hour just waiting. And then his mom shows up and obviously very distressed and just pretty much completely despondent. She corresponds a little bit with I over here a little bit of her chat with like one of the staff like a nurse or somebody. And then she sits down to in the waiting room. So I guess neither of us can go in there yet. And we're just kind of sitting in silence. And then I remember I eventually tried to say something like I'm so sorry or like something and she just like immediately cuts me off. She's like, no, it was just like don't talk to me. She's just kind of staring at the ground. And then I just kind of sit with their her for a little bit and then she like basically tells me to leave. She's like, you need to go home. I didn't want to. I felt really confused why I'm like, obviously I felt really bad for her, but I was also like frustrated because I'm like, well, I just saved his life. Like, can I not sit here too and wait and see what happens. But she really didn't want me to be there. So eventually I did leave. And I went home. I was just kind of on autopilot. I went back to my house. I went back into my room and just like got in bed and I just kind of sat there like. Obviously I'm able to fall back asleep or anything. I mean at this point it's like five in the morning or something like that. So I remember I'm sitting there trying to fall asleep and then I hear my parents wake up. My dad woke up super early for work like he gets up at like five 30 or something. So I hear my parents get up and then I kind of just go upstairs and just to be around someone. They're obviously like, why are you awake? Because I'm never up that early. And I don't really like respond for a bit. But then after a few minutes I tell them what just happened. And obviously they're just in shock too. Like, oh my god, is he okay? And I'm like, I don't know. I had to leave. But I think he's okay. The pump is stomach. That was like the last update I got was like they they had successfully like pumped his stomach and gotten most of it out of his system I think before it could really affect him. And he was going to be okay. But he had to stay there overnight. Strangely enough, after all this stuff goes down like I really like stop hanging out with him almost entirely. Very abruptly. I think mainly it was like his mom became a lot more involved in his personal life. Obviously after that. And so I think she didn't fully realize how loose of a grasp she had on her son and like what he was up to and stuff. And I think it's like she didn't really know me that well. Like I'd gotten to know her a little bit. But I think she just kind of didn't trust anything. And it was just kind of like trying to shelter him and stuff. And so it was a lot of like me like calling him and like him not answering and then I would like go over there and like can I hang out with Kyle and they're like yeah probably not. And like I'd see him sitting there. He might like look over at me in like wave. But it was like that for at least a few weeks or like a month after the incident. It did get to the point where like he was kind of coming back around hanging out with the neighbor kids again and stuff. And I did get to hang out with him a couple more times. But the weird thing is like Obviously I really wanted to talk to him about everything. kind of only in group settings that I would get to hang out with him for a long time, but then eventually I did get a chance to have someone on one time with him. And at this point, I still haven't told him about the dream. So that's what I really want to tell him about. But every time I tried to bring up the incident, he would talk to me about the overall like health stuff. Like it definitely damaged his liver to a certain extent, to where he had to be really careful about being at certain altitudes and stuff like that. And he would kind of talk about that stuff, but it's like talking about Susan, like anytime I tried to bring up Susan or the dream, like I never even got a chance to tell him about the dream, 'cause he would just cut me off and he would change the subject. And he wouldn't even give me a reason why he didn't want to talk about it. He just, it was like this off-limits topic now in our friendship. So I never got to tell him what happened from my end of things. (dramatic music) The last time I hung out with Kyle, I took him to a friend's birthday party and the tough thing about people that have like severe depression or mental health stuff is like it's really fucking hard to tell how someone's really doing. If someone really doesn't want you to know how they're doing, they will hide it from you. I remember I was kind of like shabbrowning him to this birthday party, so I brought him there, but then I was kind of like hanging out with like the parents almost and sort of like interacting with his friends, but it was like he was back to his normal animated, funny self and all that, which on the surface was great to see that side of him again, but it was concerning to me some like what is he hiding? Like he doesn't want to talk about what happened. I don't really know how he's really doing and he doesn't seem to want me to know about it. It seemed like he was doing okay. He started dating someone shortly after that. The last update I got, this would have been when I was like 20 or 21 and I chatted with his mom briefly and she told me that he had graduated high school and basically immediately moved out of the house and he moved in with his girlfriend to an apartment and that he was doing pretty well. That's the last thing I know about Kyle. I hope that he's doing well. I hope that he was able to put some of that stuff behind him and get out of the situations that he was in. That weren't ideal. But yeah, I really don't have any way of contacting him anymore. So I do, I wonder whenever I tell this story, it makes me really wonder how he's doing and what he's up to and I hope he's doing well. Basically I see it, it could be one of two things. It's either Susan was someone around that neighborhood or geographical region that died and had some sort of unsettled dispute or something that was keeping them around. The fact that she couldn't leave a certain area was really interesting, which leads me to believe that if this was a real ghost or spirit of some kind that it was someone that died in that neighborhood a long time ago or the other option is that Susan was his way of trying to cope with or process some sort of trauma. Every time I speculate on this, I truly think that his grandmother did something nefarious either directly to him or to someone in his family think his grandmother and/or grandfather did something fucked up. There was just something not right going on there being around that house and being around that energy, something that Kyle saw in a movie or a photograph that conjured up this like description that he had of her and then my dream was sort of that combination of like what he told me and then my imagination sort of going into hyperactive mode in my dream. Yeah, I mean there's nothing like an experience like this to really wake someone up to just being a more empathetic person. It really just caused me to think about someone else's safety and security and happiness more than I ever had at that age. It really forced me to care about somebody other than myself that much. It made me really contemplate. I definitely am much less skeptical about the existence of ghosts and stuff like that. I mean everything in this story can be explained except for how it ends and because of that, I do wonder like how all that stuff works and I know that these, whatever you want to call it, entity, spirit, these other things that we can't necessarily see or hear do exist and whether this was an actual ghost or spirit or entity or not. This whole experience has really caused me to believe in the possibility of all that stuff. I just really hope that Kyle is doing well and that he was able to, I really hope that he was able to get out of that orbit of all the people that were having a come back to that family system and that home. I hope that he was able to get out and stay out because it was not a good place to be. I hope that whatever happened to him in his childhood that caused him to be this troubled and caused him to not want to be alive anymore. I hope that he has overcome those influences in his life and that he's found a life for himself worth living. (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) Thank you so much to Nate for talking to me and sharing the story. After the interview, myself and Nate continue to talk because we are both pretty curious about how Kyle was doing and whether or not Kyle was still with us, honestly. I did some digging and I am pretty sure I was able to find Kyle. I am really happy to see that they are indeed still with us. They seem to be doing pretty well, but for a few reasons we thought it was best to not reach out to them for this episode. I think this is a really difficult time in their life and I highly doubt it would be fun to look back on it. I wish them the best and I'm so grateful that Nate was there to be their friend and help them in this moment as well as whatever exactly Susan was. This episode was called Susan and you've been listening to Otherworld. Otherworld is executive produced and hosted by myself, Jack Wagner. Our producers are Theo Shaffer, Theo Krants, Haley Pearson and Nikki Kate Delgado. Our theme song is by Cobra Man, the soundtrack of this episode is by Wicca Faze, Springs Eternal, Juice Jackal and North Americans. Our artwork is by Colisex Studios. Please show us your support by subscribing, leaving a five-star review and telling your friends about the show. If you want to hear bonus episodes of Otherworld, you could become a patron at patreon.com/otherworld. Our social media is @otherworldpod. Thank you to the team at Odyssey, Leah Restennis, Mora Curran, Josephina Frances, Eric Donnelly, Kate Rose, Colin Gainer and Hillary Schuff. Follow and listen to Otherworld now for free on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And finally, if you or somebody you know has experienced something paranormal, supernatural or unexplained, you could send us your stories at [email protected]. (soft music) (soft music)