We Used To Live Here | CreepCast

Welcome back to Creepcast! We got a really exciting episode today. I'm fired up. Because we are reading a story from an author that the last episode we read was fucking awesome. Also, I almost instantly became like a fan favorite. Oh yeah, it was such a good story. Little things in the basement are moving. Little coat rack meme. So, Marcus Klewer, the author of The Thing in My Basement, takes a step closer every week. Every week, yeah. Which got a ton of traction online. Marcus continued to write. He was polterkites on Reddit, so a bunch of his stories just started to take off. And one of his stories, called, We Used to Live Here, became a book that Marcus has published through Simon & Schuster, right? It's like a pretty big publishing house, and it's always cool to see these guys be able to take their stories and make them into novels and stuff that they can make income off of and continue to write. We love to see it. And Marcus and Simon & Schuster have been gracious enough to give us access to the original Reddit post that has since been taken. Because, according to Marcus in the message he sent after the book came out, the original Reddit story got a copyright notice because I guess Reddit thought he was plagiarizing his own story because it's now a novel, which is funny. But he still has all of the text from the original Reddit post. So he has given us that story to read, and this is the Reddit post that got turned into that book. What's kind of fun about that, though, is that this is going to be different than, like, the changes and updates that are happening in there. So it's always fun whenever we touch on something or we read an author, like, that has translated their stuff into, like, maybe a longer-form book. Because there's always updates. So you kind of get the best of both worlds of, like, reading the original and then being like, ooh, what changed? After we read the thing in my basement, taking a step every week, whatever, so many people I saw post and tag us, whatever, or so many people I saw post in the subreddit of, like, went out and got this, and I've been hearing good things. I'm excited. But, like, also look at, like, the bare bones, like, the first approach to the story, you know? I think it's going to give us a lot of sexy insight on. I think even, like, Marcus was posting it on his story, and we were talking about how cool you all are, that after we covered that story, so many people went and bought that, that it made its way to, it was one of the top Amazon bestsellers of, like, the couple weeks around the episode coming out. I think it reached top. Top ten, maybe for that week. Yeah, yeah. Some metric on Amazon. Yeah, it, like, you all are fantastic any time we cover an author, and we're like, hey, they've got this stuff. That author always gets, like, propelled up from it, which is cool. But I feel very lucky and stoked that, I don't know, the author was kind enough to give us, like, the first version. And also, like, talk with publishing, the publishing house, and be like, hey, you should let them read this, because we have tried, transparently in the background, we have tried to be like, oh, is there other cool, cool published books? Because we get that recommended a lot, too, people being like, you know, various new age horror authors that are published, that are doing cool stuff, that I think would fit really well with this channel. But, you know, it's, it, if it, if they're published, it's very hard to, like, actually get that go ahead. Yeah. So. But We Used to Live Here is one that, like, after you guys started to pick it up and read it, y'all are like, a bunch of people have said, oh, you guys got to check this out, got to read it if you can. So now we are. We are going to be reading the original Reddit version. So if you like this, you can see the version two as it was adapted into a novel. And I think that's really cool. Marcus even left us a note that says, aside from a couple of typo fixes and two small line edits, I fought my instinct to do any changes from the Reddit post. There's obviously changes to the book, but this is other than those small edits preserved from the original Reddit post. And he said, I think it's best to share the story in its original form. So people can see how it evolved. So that's what we're going to do today. A lot of fun. You know, it's fun to have this spectrum of stuff of people coming from old creepypastas to now full-fledged published authors. It's a lot of fun. I think they all kind of came from the same. I loved the thing in my basement takes a step closer. I thought that the, I mean, there was so much in it that worked well from the characters, the misdirection to even the bear symbolism. I loved how that came out at the end with him encountering the bears. Stepping back and just like, you know, sometimes it's best to leave that door shut, you know? Yeah. I'm a sucker for great characters. And I think like, I mean, you know, controversial opinion, but I like it when things are good. I like when characters are good in stories, which is pretty fucking stupid to say, but the pretty big fucking moron forever actually uttering that into the world. But moral of the story is I liked it too. I really didn't know what to expect when going into it. So I'm hoping that we get, which that will actually, I was going to say is. I don't know what I was, what to expect. We went into with that story and then we ended up getting like blown away and had a lot of fun reading it. Now there's a level of level of prestige or hype with this motherfucker. So hopefully we'll see how it, uh, let's see how it fares up. Yeah. All right. We'll see where it goes from here. I'm excited. Guys, if you want some extra content, we did interview Imperial, Imperial invective recently who wrote a flush gate. He wrote, it breeds, it breeds, it bleeds, it breathes. It bleeds, it breathes, it breathe, it breed, read, a breed, a breed. It's one of my, it's a story that was right in my alley. One of my favorite thumbnails we ever did. Yeah, I'm sure. I like that one. And one of my favorite of his is in source old in the earth, but creep cast goat. One of the, we've read him a lot and he's been one of the most vocal and like actively supportive, uh, members or like, like authors that have, has gone to even our subreddit tells from the creep and like gives constructive feedback. Just genuinely a person that like wants to help other people be creative and be, you know, be as successful as they can in terms of like writing a story and getting started in that world. And we got to sit down and talk with him. It was really fun. So, and we, uh, have also done some bonus episodes recently, new stories and stuff. So if you want some extra content over there, go to patrion.com slash creep cast. And then also if you're listening to this on Spotify or Apple podcast, or even like YouTube music or wherever you can listen to podcasts. Consider giving us a nice rating. It does help us out. Isaiah, are you ready? I'm so ready. My body is ready. Let us begin. We used to live here. Part one, the family on my doorstep look normal enough, normal in a 1950s sitcom kind of way. Tall, handsome dad, petite blonde wife behind them. Three young blue eyed kids lined up by height. One girl, two boys. This was the type of family that showed up early to get the front row. Hello, miss. Said the father. Sorry to bother you so late. Hey, how can I help you? I grew up in this house. Oh, nice. He cleared his throat. Would you mind if we showed the kids around? Like, like inside the house? He nodded. Show them where their dad grew up. If it's not too much of a problem. Oh, I'm not sure. My, uh, my girlfriend's coming home soon. And the mother winced at the word girl. My girlfriend, almost like someone had spat in her face. I pretended not to see it. The father smiled. We'd only need 10, 15 minutes tops. Yeah, I just, I mean, we're still moving in and it's a bit of a mess and say no more. Put up his hands and a little surrender. Step back. This is all very last minute and thank you regardless. Muted disappointment fell over the kids' faces. We'll give you a proper heads up next time. Might be passing through another, I don't know, year or two. Paul turned around and stared back down the snow-covered driveway. Watching them go, my ever-present, people-pleasing personality kicked into gear right on cue. Wait, just 15 minutes? Father looked back over his shoulder. Tops. Oof. What if I were to burrow myself in the walls? Was Marcus inspired by one of my favorite King of the Hill episodes? Which King of the Hill episode? It's when an old woman comes to visit Hank and she, like, used to live in his house. So then she wants to go in there and die because she wants to die in the house. And she refuses to leave. That's a really funny episode premise. It's great. Does she die in the house? I can't, I actually can't remember. I think he lets her die. We'll find it later. Yeah. Um, the, I can't, I know it's such a weird interaction. But I can almost see that interaction playing out with some people I know. Like, oh yeah, we'll just swing by the house. They'll be fine. They'll let me into their home. I've thought, have you ever thought about, I like, I've gone by my old childhood home and I've always wanted to just be like, can I, do you care if I walk around? Which is so invasive. Yeah. It's such a, like, inappropriate thing to ask. Especially because it's like, well, just because you lived here doesn't mean that, like, you get to just come over whenever you want. But that has been a thought before of being like, fuck, man, I wonder what it looks like now. Yeah. But would you let somebody walk through? Yeah. Yeah. I'll tell you what, I wouldn't. So, specifically, our home, where the couple who owned it before us had lived there since they were in their 20s, like way back in the 60s, and then now they were elderly and the husband passed. So, we got a letter from the woman who previously owned it, and she was like, if it would ever be all right with you all, I'd love to see the place again. So, we're probably going to invite her over at some time, because it's like, I mean, she lived in that house for 60 years. Yeah, everything just that she knows is ripped apart and YouTuber swag hung up all over the house. I've got like neon lights everywhere and like soundboards. RGB nano leaves up on the wall and stuff like that, playing Among Us as loud as you can as she walks in the house. There's holes in the walls. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, what are these? Well, Isaiah gets mad and he punches holes in the wall. God damn it! Yeah, but I could, it's not an impossible interaction. No, I could see someone being like, oh, sure, you know, but I will say, I don't know, yeah, if I was a, bringing the whole family along, if it was maybe one person, I don't know, it would always be a no for me, actually, now that I think about it. Even with the nice letter and everything, I take that letter and I'm like, hmm, over the shoulder. So, if like, if the exact same situation happened and your woman's like, I live too. I live with my husband, I raised our children, just one last time. Is that you at the door? Yeah, a yawn right in her face. Yeah. Listen, lady, I'm busy. Yeah, I just have the office, the office theme song is just blaring in the background. Yeah, she like, she's walking back to her car and she can see through the window, you just sitting on the couch, you take your shirt back off. Choking on my tongue with my sleep apnea. Reaching for my seatbelt. She's like, oh, my father was the one who put up the wallpaper in there, it's very special and it's very rare. She just looks inside, there's like just an Amazon Essentials TV stand, just like fucking burrowed into the wall. Amazon Essentials. 75 inch TV, six feet away from my face. There's like pieces of the wallpaper, like just tore up on the ground. Yeah, just thrown in the bushes up front. No, it's not impossible. We're also one page into a story and we already have homophobia. I think that's a record for the channel. She did wince. She did. Yeah. Yeah. That's our record for homosexuality and homophobia. I think that's pretty fast. Setting new boundaries. We used to have straight heterosexual sex in this house. And you guys are ruining that. You guys are just like, oh, I'm sorry. Are we in the fucking French canals? The French. Okay. Don't cut it, but like a beep. No, no, go ahead. I think a beep. No, you can cut it. It'll be all right. Well, Harry knows what to do. My girlfriend, Charlie, and I just moved in. A killer deal on a two-story at the end of a quiet suburban street. All surrounded by rolling hills and an old forest. Barbie's gothic dream house. All right. Let me change. Charlie joked. Needed some work. That was our thing. Fix up old houses, flip them, move on. Lucrative if you do it right. The neighborhood felt good too. A young married couple from across the street, Harpreet and Miguel, even invited us over for a game night next week. An actual game night. Two married couples playing board games. Isn't that like the settling down suburbia dream? Granted, Charlie and I weren't married yet, but we talked about it. And for some reason, this house was starting to make that feel possible. Anyway, there I was, alone on a Friday night, when this excruciatingly perfect family showed up on my doorstep. I'll tell you what it is a horror film is. Is a millennial couple buying a beautiful home to just destroy it. The house is groaning. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, she, he, the, they're like, I like, I don't know. This brick is just so abrasive. Let's paint it white. You just hear the, you hear the, uh, house. Kill me. Exactly. Burn me down. Yeah, burn me down. The, like, the number of times I'll see, like, a brick fireplace get turned into drywall or like wood panel get ripped down for gray plaster. It's like, oh my God. It's cool. It's so minimalist. Yeah, the front of it. Let's just. Paint it white and black. All of the spirit and soul. Let's just destroy all that. I saw one where I don't remember where this was, but someone bought a house and it was like a brick like cottage and the outside had like black vertical paneling and like these big like, um, prairie windows with like the white boards through it and stuff. And they converted it. I don't even know how they did it. They may have just built over the brick to just gray concrete and the windows just like your normal giant. Single pane windows to look like an apartment. I like every, uh, I like every house looking like a dentist office. That's my favorite thing. Yeah. Yeah. You know what? I hate fun spirit, joy, architecture, and things that remind me of humanity. I like things that are my, I hate, I hate things that you can tell people made with desires and passions. I think what though, if this is a horror premise about house flippers, millennial house flippers. I mean, this is horrifying. We are in hell. We used to live here when we were renovating our house. Cause it was an old house, but like the carpet needed changed. And stuff like that. And we wanted to put up some more wood paneling and whatnot. Uh, and I remember the contractors got there and like the carpenter came in and looked at the plans and he looked at me and went, thank you. And I go, what? He goes, this is the first renovation I've done where I haven't made it look stupid. I will say one of my, I will say one of my favorite videos on the internet is the Instagram video of you guys walking through your house with the people who, who did it. Oh wow. Whoa. In the comments. All right. In the comments. The comments were like, Isaiah has never beaten the gay youth pastor allegations. Cause you're like, oh my God, this is so great. Look at the topper tops and the backsplash. This table looks so good. I'm bewildered. All right. We don't need to dox me on that. I didn't give your address. Well, it's an area, I guess. I mean, I mean, no, it's, it's fine. I'm saying you don't need to dox my shame because that video they gave me like, they're like, oh, do you care if we record it? I'm like, yeah, that's fine. I didn't sleep in two nights. I was working on a video or something. And I was just like wearing a t-shirt. I showered last night. So I just looked like a slouch and then they're like, can we record you? And they're like, yeah. Okay. Come in. And they want these big reactions. Oh my God. I'd already seen the house like a week ago. Yeah. Yeah. You've already, you've already, I've already had them. I'm like, wow, this is gorgeous. I was like, you can tell. Kayla's like, cool. Yeah. Yeah. Cause we, she saw, she actually came over three days prior and looked through the windows. Like, oh, it looks pretty good. It looks beautiful. So we get there and I'm like, well, they want a reaction. So wow. Look at that. I'm happy with how it looks, obviously, but I'm like, oh my Lord, you guys outdid yourself. I did. I did watch that. Cool. I did. I did watch that video after it was posted. And I was like, well, why did I sound like when I buy a house, I want to, I'm going to pay Isaiah to walk through it. I'm going to record him reacting to my house. That's like, that's, that's the, that's the, the test though. That's just to see through to how good did they do with your house. If you walk through and you just do, you're being uplifting, but you're not like, oh my Lord. Like if you're just like, well, well, they were super pumped about me seeing it. Cause I didn't know I'd seen it. So I'm like, I want to be a people pleaser. Right. Yeah. I'd say, I'd say, fuck. I was like, okay, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. Right. Right. He kept walking, sharing a brief, mundane fact in each doorway. And then he stopped in his tracks as if remembering something. Turning around, he stared at the wall, puzzled. What happened to the dumbwaiter? The what? He placed a hand flat against the wall. Used to be a dumbwaiter shoot here. Uh, I don't know. He slid his hand down until it snagged. Leaning forward, he squinted. Beneath the wallpaper was a square bump? A handle? Huh. He stepped back. Looks like somebody covered it up. He glanced towards the kids. There used to be a dumbwaiter shoot here. Went all the way down to the basement. He stared at him, confused. It's like a mini elevator. We used it for laundry. The kids nodded. Their mother checked the time on her wristwatch, then crossed her arms, impatient. As the father moved on, his family trailed behind. He stopped at the last room, a closed door, and reached out. He froze, silent. This used to be your Auntie Abigail's room. He said, studying the door like it was a sad painting. Strange gloom hung in the air. Sensing a private moment, I cleared my throat. I mean, feel free to keep showing yourselves around. I'll be downstairs if you need anything. He looked back at me and smiled, grateful. I wouldn't leave him alone. No, that's a little too much, you know? I was downstairs now, hammer in hand, prying rusty nails out from above the fireplace mantel. Judging by the discolored rectangles on the wall, several small paintings used to hang here. But they must have been hung crooked, all shifted a bit too far to the right. Just as I wrenched out the last nail, the family filed into the living room behind me. The father strolled over to the basement door. Your grandparents used to measure our heights here. He said, running a hand over the frame's smooth white finish. I'll paint it over now, though. He tried for the handle. Locked. Looking towards me, he opened his mouth to speak, but. In the kitchen, the oven timer went off. One second. I said, setting down the hammer. Crossed over and turned off the timer. Father blinked at me. Can we get into the basement? Yes. Hands still gripped around the doorknob. Ah, shoot. Sorry, we're renovating down there. Lots of tools laying around. Not exactly safe. Opening the oven, I pulled out steaming roast. We'll be careful. Lights are out, too. I set down the roast. No work light set up? Not yet. His face twitched. I was a little nervous. I thought I'd be able to get out. That's my girlfriend. Don't think I caught your name, by the way. Eve. That's a good name. I'm Thomas, my wife's page. You can just call the kids. Headache one, two, and three. He glanced at me, expecting a laugh. I managed a polite chuckle. Oh. Yeah, I know. I know. Also, let me know. This is 100% the hell of probably being trapped in your home. Someone's just like, oh, that's funny. You're like, so this one is, this is headache one, two, and three. Except you'd pull a gun off a shelf and be like, laugh. Squatting down, he swept his light over the floor. He's probably in full-on hiding mode right now. We should split up. A couple more ground that way. I mean, this dude. They're all going to be. This situation is such a nightmare, awkward scenario already, and like, uncomfortable. I'd also just be like, what the fuck do you mean, full-on hide mode? I'm like, why don't you just yell for her to come out? I don't know, this whole. I'd be pissed. I would be royally pissed. Of course. We're all going to be in the walls in the next 10 minutes. Yeah, 100%. They're all going to be in the walls. They all disappear, and Charlie gets there, and she's like, uh. Hey, Charlie, so, are you living in the walls now? Yeah. I furrowed my brow, skeptical. You have to be quiet. I have to be quiet. Thomas pushed off his knees to stand. If you see Jenny, try and grab her, or she'll just run away and hide again. She's fast. Do they have like a, like a Savannah cat for a daughter? His voice strained with the exhaustion of having done this one too many times. You sure? Just grab her? Yeah, it's fine. All part of the game. Looking to his right, he whispered. I'll go this way. You go that way. He nodded to the left. Sure. I replied, still unsure. If that's the plan. He turned and disappeared around the corner. I moved left and was greeted by a long, empty hallway. Creepy. I trudged forward. This sucked. Charlie was right. The basement was screwy. All sorts of nooks and pockets. Rounding the next corner, I shone light into a garage-like room. Mostly empty. Save for a row of metal shelves. And, sitting in the far corner, a coat rack. A coat rack? A coat rack? Coat rack. Coat racks also exist outside of the story. No, I don't. Nope. Okay. Coat rack beside a dozen or so empty picture frames. A cold draft pushed through me. Shivering, I stepped forward and. 100% though, it's the basement. He made sure to include that for that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Something clattered against the concrete. Startled, I turned to look and, across the room, a tin can rolled over the floor. A mess of nails and screws. Great. Now the stupid kid's going to step on a rusty nail. It's tetanus, and the parents are going to sue us. Strolled over, set the flashlight down, and used my hand to sweep nails back into the tin can. As I swept, the flashlight started to roll away. Uneven floors. Nice. I set my foot out to block it, and. Something in the beam of light caught my eye. Or rather, hundreds of somethings. Ants. A trail of black ants marching along the bottom of the far wall. Fantastic. Add pest control to the unexpected expenses. Frustrated, I grabbed my flashlight and slogged over. The ants led around the corner, deeper into the basement, all marching in the same direction. Is that normal ant behavior? Am I supposed to march both ways? Vague memories from a Nat Geo documentary echoed in my head. Shrugging it off, I followed the trail. I rounded the corner into another long, uninviting corridor. The ants trooped into receding darkness. I could almost hear their little feet tapping against the concrete. Where were they going? I did not know. Curiosity building. I crept forward. Halfway down the hallway, they took a hard turn into a makeshift wine cellar. I stepped inside. Stone floor. Arched spray ceilings. Old, empty barrel racks. This room almost looked medieval. The ants ran in a straight line towards the furthest back corner, disappearing out of sight. I crossed over and hunched down. They filed into a crack at the bottom of the wall. "What's on the other side?" I raised my flashlight and. "What's on the other side?" "What's on the other side?" problem glanced over at me as if checking for my approval but i just shrugged looking away wouldn't be offering if it was thank you charlie the fireplace crackled went outside billowed creaks and groans of the old house filled the silence minus the daughter we're all seated around the dinner table now it's just like hours i mean i would be like why are you not checking your daughter are we waiting in the basement go get her yeah the fireplace crackled went outside billowed all right charlie reached across and grabbed a wine corkscrew maybe the kid will smell the food and give up chuckling softly thomas picked up his fork and thomas miss page his wife he set down the fork cleared his throat would it be all right if we set a quick fire before eating charlie shot me a look not wanting to oppose this is your house after all yeah it's okay grateful he smiled bowing their heads they shut their eyes i never had a problem with the prayer grew up in a religious household myself i still value some of the lessons but for every great lesson there was something that made me question who i was page cleared her throat we'd like to thank eve and charlie the host of this house for allowing us to eat with them considering how traditional this family appeared i would have expected thomas to lead the prayer but as page prayed i glanced over at thomas his eyes were wide open staring blankly at the tablecloth in front of him looked distant almost out of place was he even religious i mean down to the basement he took the precious lord's name in vain so page continued we'd like to thank god for our health our family and our friends we thank you for allowing us to have a fresh start as we move across country amen yeah amen i mumbled an old reflex back from the dead charlie shot me another look this time with a playful smirk i glanced away embarrassed that look you just gave me was not a playful smirk imagine yeah you're like amen you look up and the first thing you see is this you're putting some stink on charlie i don't think she deserves i think she's being a little too friendly that was the day oh so i thought that was thomas no i thought it was gonna be a creepy thing no no no no yeah so she looked up and she was just like yeah because she eve said amen yeah yeah uh and charlie's like oh like there's the old christian i thought it was thomas being weird no no that's just charlie being like haha you did the thing right so you're moving huh twisting the cork out of a red wine bottle charlie poured herself a glass what prompted that i needed a fresh start where to oh downstate this is delicious by the way page cut in looking at charlie it's really appreciated oh don't thank me that's even better than the best wine bottle i've ever had don't thank me that's eve the master cook tonight charlie held up the bottle wine thomas shook his head we don't drink very wise said charlie she glanced at the two boys listen to your parents kiddos paige smiled opened her mouth to speak but the techno cover of beethoven's fifth cut in charlie pulled out her phone my bad she muted it she went to put it away the screen caught her eye oh she held it up for me to see notification dangerous driving conditions along the number five connector winter tires recommended hmm said thomas oh they're gonna get stuck there roads are getting worse charlie tucked her phone away hopefully the kid shows up soon huh hopefully the kid will show up soon huh oh she will just give her space charlie glanced at the time looks like she's going for the hide and seek record tonight you guys got winter tires or i used to drive long haul trucks year round we'll be fine charlie grabbed the salt there's some tire chains up in the attic we'll be fine page looked at him concerned you sure it's worth risking mouthful of food he half shrugged page deflecting thomas's indifference shifted topic are you married us i asked she nodded charlie almost scoffed nope there's some there's some animosity underneath that nope for sure yeah she's just like dang put a ring on it yet eve what the with that page nodded again as if to say i expected as much are you religious she asked looking directly at me now what me uh uh no not really i mean i used to be hell yes because i noticed a bible in living room oh i mean that was a gift from my parents we used to go to church together smiling tight page jabbed her fork into the roast and started sawing with a steak knife what about them who i asked starting to feel interrogated your parents do they still go to church yeah what denomination lutheran are they aware her eyes flicked to charlie back immediately you could it couldn't go five seconds of your disease do they know that you're a sinner do they know that yeah have you told them her eyes flick to charlie then back to me aware of what page glanced at her children as if the following words might be too much for their innocent ears of wearing you and your friends lifestyle choices what to be to be in this situation also i'd be like dude get your rat kid out of my house and leave the basement yeah i don't give a if it's a terrestrial blint or winter outside you are go yeah yeah get out they are lifestyle choices and they accept it uncomfortable i open my mouth to respond but charlie cut in chewing on a mouthful of roast what about yours page looked at her hmm your parents they know about your lifestyle choices page furrowed her brow i don't really understand what you're getting at she said pointedly page thomas intervened that's enough page started charlie for a long moment charlie didn't break eye contact finally paige looked away and returned to eating you're you're in their house eating their food and you're like no i'm gonna regardless of the food you're your child has been in the house for what i can only assume yeah let's not lose sight of these people in the house for what i can only assume it's been hours of the objective to have the audacity to of the objective to have the audacity to of the objective to have the audacity to just be like they know you're sick in just be like they know you're sick in just be like they know you're sick in the head right or no you're like so the head right or no you're like so the head right or no you're like so insulting i mean i would seriously just insulting i mean i would seriously just insulting i mean i would seriously just be like i'd be like you need you have 10 be like i'd be like you need you have 10 be like i'd be like you need you have 10 minutes or else i would i would just be minutes or else i would i would just be minutes or else i would i would just be like cool i'm gonna call the cops they can trespasser there's actually no record of you you know being allowed into the house i don't have a ring doorbell be funny if charlie was just like well they don't they do understand our life's choices and i can also take this crowbar you put it in the roof of your mouth and up 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Thank you so much to Ridge for sponsoring this show. Now, hey, back to that episode. Paige stared at Charlie for a long moment, but Charlie didn't break eye contact. Finally, Paige looked away and returned to eating. As a chronic conflict avoider, I was actually relieved when Thomas stepped in. But Charlie, she was chomping at the bit, ready to battle. Had I not been there. She would have gone at it until Mary Magdalene started crying. I was only curious. Right then, a blistering gust of wind slammed against the windows. The house lights flickered. Thomas looked over his shoulder. I hope the power holds out. He turned back to the table. It went down all the time when I lived here. He said, trying his best to change the topic. The rest of the meal dragged on in tedious silence. The table had been cleared. The kitchen had been cleaned. Now, I was leaning over, setting kindling into the fireplace. Outside, it was a full-on blizzard. Wind whipped the quick-piling snow into a frenzy. Thomas had already gone down to the basement several more times. But still, no Jenny was in sight. I still couldn't shake how calm he and Paige were about it. Calm might be an understatement. It was bordering on apathetic. Eve? Said Thomas, stepping into the living room. Yeah? I replied, crumbling a ball of newspaper kindling. No any nearby motels by chance? Hmm. Nothing close to home. There was a spy that I could think of. Silence hung in the air, almost like he expected me to say something more. I continued. I mean, worst-case scenario, you guys can crash here for the night. My God. What? No. You got a U-Haul. Light a fire in there. Keep yourself warm. You'll be all right. You can crash here for the night? There's probably a 24/7 Walmart or a McDonald's nearby. Have fun. You can also get some Marsh Bars. If these were, like, if the. Okay. Yeah, you know what, you know why this bothers me? Because I could 100% see my. If Kayla was not with me, I would talk myself into this situation. Yeah. That's why. I was going to ask you, I was like, could you see you getting this situation? Not this far, but inviting them in. If I was. Like, you would definitely. If I was without Kayla, I would be the, just stay the night. Look at the couvertops and the backsplash. I'm bewildered. And I know it would be the wrong decision, but I couldn't, I couldn't. Now, if Kayla was there. You're going to make a fine, a very fine skin lamp when you get murdered. I like, okay, I would a million percent do the, oh, come in, right? Yeah, 100%. Um, the dinner thing, I would be like, I would probably do the dinner thing. It'd be a little reluctant now with the whole added layer of like, oh, she's in, she's in the basement somewhere. I would not quit doing that. I would be like, we have to find the child. Yeah. I'm not letting the child run around. The level of like, oh, it's a game. I mean, I'd be like, I mean, that's fun and everything for you. That's fun. That's fun for 90 seconds. There is a, there is a child in this fixer upper that we do not know where it is. Yeah. Yeah. There's a child running around the basement. 100%. Um, I would be like, we're not leaving that, but even like remove the child thing from the scenario. It's just. It's just a family sticking around. I think that they could get you to do it. I would definitely invite them to dinner. Um, if Kayla. You would have forgot about the kid because you would think about you is someone could be like, I love that shirt. You'd be like, oh my God, thank you. And you'd get, you'd get caught up in that. That's going to be a little harsh. I have got mad at people before. Really? Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. Rarely, rarely. But I've got screaming mad at people before. Really? Yeah. I would not have expected that. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, it's rare, but it can have, but it takes a while. It takes a lot. It takes so much. To me, this is a lot. This would be at my. To me, this is still like entryway. To me, they're not even, aside from the daughter getting lost, the daughter getting lost thing and their behavior around that. Yes. But if the daughter was not lost, if a family was like, oh, I used to live here, I'd be like, come in. And then I'd invite them to dinner. And then if it was snowing, I would invite them to stay. I think that. Well, here's the thing. Follow up question though. So you get the girl out of the walls. So they're all seated out having dinner, but then they start making passive aggressive comments about your religion. What do they get to say at the night? Because that's the thing too, is like, it's so much beyond that, but it's also like now they're, now it's like the most condescending conversation of like looking at your lifestyle and judging you. All right. All right. As the snow is falling. Hold on. Hold on. There's layers to this. So if I'm by myself and they were making, you're going to hate this. If I was by myself and they're making passive aggressive comments about my religion, right? And then. It's like after dinner or whatever, in my head, again, by myself, I'd be like, I'm going to win them over. I'm going to show them just how kind a Christian man can be. You're so dead. You're so dead. A million percent. I would be like, y'all should stay the night. All your kids and stuff. I'll make breakfast. Like I would be. There's that skin lamp coming. There's that skin lamp. You know what? If we were gay together, I would be the voice of reason, I would say. Yeah. You'd be my Kayla. No. Yeah. I got to take his ass. So for. What? Please. That's like a sauna or something. Don't look to him like he's going to delegate this. He delegates. Harry, would you tell him to stop? No, I'm talking about. Because I can't stop you, but he can in the edit. Harry, please. I need you to just like. We can also keep reading. No, hold on. Hold on. We need to get to the bottom of this. The point I was trying to get to. Is Kayla would have said no at the door, right? So everything afterwards, she would be enraged about. And if we were sending at dinner, and like Kayla's tattoos, for example. Say the wife was like, oh, do your parents. Are your parents religious? They know they have those? That would be the like. It's getting pretty late. Y'all should probably go thing, right? But like Kayla would have been like, no, you can't come inside. Like there would have been no further. Further steps or things like that. That renovation video is so illustrative now of both of yours dynamics with the outside world. Yeah, because I'm very like, ha ha, little blah, blah, blah, blah. And she's like. And she was like, yeah, it looks good. It's not yesterday. We have a joke between like the friend group back home, the Kayla face, right? Like anyone who isn't someone we know approaches us or whatever. And someone just something as mundane as like, oh, what? What food did you order? I want to get that. Or like, oh, I like your shirt. She'll always go. Like just immediate, like, who's this stranger? I don't like you go away, blah, blah, blah. So I would be there like, yeah, of course you guys can come in. And Kayla would be over my shoulder like Batman. Like so. Isaiah, don't don't check your phone right now. I don't like that. Hunter. The amount you've sent me gay porn. Okay. Well, we're using the word porn loosely here. One of them shirtless. This is a still image. The implications there. Okay. I didn't read that. I didn't read the title. Yeah. The caption is. No. I'm just saying that you plan. That could be us right now, man, we need an HR department that I can go to. I got a, I got a couple of big razors. No, you don't want Allison as a, she'd be like, do it. I'm scared point being point being a million percent. I would find myself in this situation. I think so, too. I regretted the words the second I spoke them, but in my defense, their daughter was still missing. What was I going to do? Send them off into a blizzard. One kid short. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That's fine. Are you sure we wouldn't want to impose, but we can sleep in the truck too. I mean, you've already done so much now. It's fine. Oh, thank you, Eve. I'm sure Jenny will show up soon, but just in case she doesn't, that really means a lot to us. We can compensate you financially for the. trouble too. That's okay. But sure enough, Ginny remained a no-show. About another hour clocked by until the family finally retired for the night. I mean, bro, how are the cops not been called yet? Yeah, call the police. Fire department, anybody. The actual response to this situation, assuming you let them in and the daughter's missing, is to look hard for like 20 minutes and being like, we should call someone, you know? Yeah, I'd be freaking out. We're not having dinner. We're calling someone right now. Yeah. Two boys into an upstairs guest room, Thomas and Paige into adjacent bedrooms. Despite being married, they didn't sleep in the same room. Yikes, almost felt bad for them. God, that'd be heaven. I thought about implementing that. I wanted a two-bed set up for a while. Why? I like, you know why I run hot? Me too. And then I wake up and I'm in a fucking pool of sweat because she's sweating, I'm fucking sweating. And I have to have a giant fan on me, but it can't be at a certain angle because then she gets upset because it's like the wind or like the wind will like wake her up if it's blowing her face. But I like it when it's just like all in my face. It's two different setups. Right. And if anything too, I can go in there and play Legos. She has her boyfriend show up. I just hate being in the room while it happens. I guess that's the biggest thing. Yeah, it's too loud. A chair is fine, but in the bed. Easy with her. Hey, pal, that's my wife. She's not supposed to have been like that. That's a, that's a really, that's a good bit. The dude in the chair, like, hey, pal, that's my wife. Yeah, careful. Hey, buddy, watch it. Honey, you all right? She's like, shut the fuck up. It's all put in my mind because of the cookies thing. That's all, that's, that's all that's on my mind. I asked my wife about it and even she knew about it. I was like, how the fuck did I miss this? Dude, it was so funny because it was like, like dropping information. That should be a Creepcast episode. We read the entire transcript. Alone at last, Charlie and I shared a blanket on the living room couch. The warmth of the fireplace filled the room. Charlie leaned forward, grabbed a bottle of wine off the coffee table, noticing the hammer and bent nails from before. Took out the nails. She looked up at the empty wall. From above the fireplace? Yeah. What? That's where I was going to hang our crucifix. Stop. Leaning back, she twisted the bottle opener into the cork. You seem on edge tonight. Something up? I mean, besides our new roomies. I just, something feels off about them. Yeah, agreed. But something feels off about everyone to you. She popped the cork out and started pouring herself a glass. I know. I just, I need specifics. Before you got back, Thomas and I were in the basement looking for the kid and. Charlie finished pouring, set the bottle down, and looked at me attentively. She used to say I overreacted to things, but lately, she'd been working on her empathy and active listening skills. The effort was appreciated. In the wine cellar, I heard footsteps, and when I looked back, the dad, Thomas, he was just standing there. Back turn, blocking the entrance. I called out like three times, but he didn't respond. He just kept whispering to somebody named Abby. Abby? I think that was his sister's name. But there was nobody there. And then he just snapped out of it. So he was standing in the doorway, whispering? Was he talking to the daughter, maybe? No, her name is Jenny. I don't know. Maybe I'm overreacting. What do you think? About the family? Yeah. Charlie took a long sip. To me, casual bigotry aside, she handed me the glass of wine. They seemed pretty unremarkable, or at the very least. I doubt they're gonna murder us in our sleep. Don't speak too soon, Charlie. Yeah, exactly. As Charlie shifted her weight, a shiny glint caught my eye. I turned to look. She's wearing a new necklace, a thin silver chain with an oval locket. What's that? It's a necklace. I rolled my eyes. Charlie reached down, popped open the locket, and held it up. Inside was a photo. A blurry picture of me, hiding my face behind a single hand. I remembered the moment instantly. When we first started dating, Charlie always joked about how less than zero photos of me existed. I was notoriously camera shy. Still am. So one day, Charlie, 35mm Pentax in hand, snuck up from behind me. I saw her at the last second, turned away, held up my hand, and hid my face. Close call. Charlie clicked the locket shut. It's the only known photo of Eve Palmer. When did you get it made? Today, in town. Little cheesy, huh? No, I think it's sweet. Charlie was never the sentimental type, but I was a big sap, so the locket was a welcome surprise. We stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, and then, behind us, Thomas stepped into the living room. Groggy, rubbing his eyes, glanced down, surprised to see us there. "Hey." Said Charlie. "Mind if I sit?" "Sure." I relented. "Dude." "We all getting ready to lez out?" Uh-oh, Charlie and Eve getting busy. So is this where the scissoring thing happens, or.? Thomas! He just starts having a really, like, Reddit conversation about, like. So tell me, how does this actually work? Get the fuck out of my house! The moment his wife's away, he reverts to that voice. Yeah, exactly. Something of ladies, myself. Yeah, exactly. What is it? Ménage à trois. 100%, that whole interaction about, like, the necklace and everything is very, like, one week to retirement coded, you know? Like. Oh, like, one last job, and then I'm out? Yeah, like, in every horror movie, it's like, "Oh, the young couple in love and everything." It's like, "That is who's gonna die." Yeah, 100%. Charlie ain't making it out of the story. Well, at first, I thought it was gonna say that the locket was something that she found in the house, and she's like, "I've just been wearing it." And I was like, "Well, that's not good, but. " Yeah. It definitely is gonna be something where it breaks off, or she's gonna find it later, or something, you know? It's gonna have some significance, I think, in the story. So, I know this is hard for you to imagine, a situation where you're being this hospitable, but if you were to imagine you're in the same circumstance, dude's in the house, you know, been kind enough or whatever in the middle of the night, he's like, "Can I sit and talk?" Right? I would almost say you would let him, because there's clearly weird stuff going on, and you want to learn what you can. Even that comment he made in the kitchen, like, "Have you noticed anything strange?" I would want elaboration on that, right? I would talk with him to be extremely passive-aggressive. Okay. I don't think you would be passive-aggressive. I think you'd be aggressive-aggressive. I would definitely be passive-aggressive to make him feel uncomfortable that I was really. It wouldn't be. I would be like, "Hmm, your kid's really good at hide-and-seek, huh?" I'd guilt trip him to not sleeping and be like, "Probably should get looking for your daughter, right? She's probably scared right now." A lot of rusty nails down there. Bet it's cold. Yeah. It'd be a shame if I went downstairs with a ball-pin hammer and started swinging violently. I set up all those bear traps earlier. Oops. Exactly. There's about 600 rat traps downstairs. There's also all that water I pour next to that open electrical current. I was going to start putting buckets of bleach around the entire house. Did I mention that? Did I mention there's a boiler down there that's about to blow? Yeah. It's a bad gas leak down there. It's like a Willy Wonka death factory down there. Yeah. Yawning, he wandered over to an armchair beside the fireplace and slumped down. A flickering shadow stanced on his face as he looked around the room. His eyes seemed filled with memories. After a long, ponderous silence, he finally spoke. My parents, they used to make us stand in that corner over there. Cool. He pointed across the room. Called it the quiet corner. Chuckling, he leaned back in his chair. His eyes caught the bottle of wine. May I? Go for it. Said Charlie. He leaned forward, grabbed a spare glass, and poured. So much for not drinking. Trouble sleeping? Setting the bottle down, he nodded and took a sip. Your kid should give up soon enough. Charlie reassured him. He nodded again, detached. They're not even ours. He's sad, looking into the fire now. They're my wife's deadbeat brother-in-law's kids. And we adopted them. Oh. God, this guy's in hell. Yeah. Yeah. God, yeah, he's just like, she's like, we don't even, we don't drink, do we, Thomas? Nope. 100% that motherfucker's going down to the bar every night. He immediately tries to pick a fight with the lesbian homeowners. And he's just like, oh my God. He also is like, yeah, it's the deadbeat brother-in-law's kids. Yeah. Doesn't sleep in the same bed as her. Man, I'm gonna be playing Nightcrawlers every night, hiding and shit. He's just like, holy fuck. I will say, I mean, it could all be a lie, right? But him showing some level of, like, discomfort. Well, there's a facade for sure. He's playing a character in front of the family. But seeing that facade drop some here makes me feel a bit better about him not being a monster or killer or something like that. Oh, I disagree entirely. I think it's something to do with his sister. Because he's like, this used to be Aunt Abigail's room. And he was talking to Abby in the basement. Maybe, like, she died here and her spirit haunts the house or something. I don't know. I mean, fuck, man. He's gonna get a little Dionysus in his belly. And fuck. fucking start getting a little loose lip probably you know i think that the alcohol's gonna probably unlock some demons as i assume i will say this kind of like cabin fever setup is a real not cabin locked in the cabin uh setup has been so far a very cool way to like unfurl this story you know like they have to be stuck there for a reason it's a little creepy but kids do weird things i guess and now like up late at night he's talking stuff like that it's very interesting damn narrative uncomfortable silence that's good of you i offered i guess didn't have much of a say in it though taking another sip he turned away from the fire sorry about my wife's comments earlier at the dinner table i never got the obsession with people's personal lives pretty sure jesus has more important things to worry about charlie and i nodded appreciating his effort at the very least he seemed well-meaning he checked the rest of his wine and set the glass down anyway i'll let you be he started to say okay that that that was the whole interaction you want to come down and apologize for that and stuff it's a very human normal thing what have you said there man skin skin lamp is all i gotta say probably would it be my face or would it just be like the ed gein patchwork it'd be a bit of all of it but i think those fucking lips the entire time he would get to the lips okay every time small miniature is a uh lamp that you could have on your desk like instead of the leg it's just the lips and there's a little yeah like the christmas story thing old man the future takes out mama mia it's a giant puffy lips wrapped in lace all right i don't like it's well i don't know about the lights um he started to stand but earlier you wanted to tell me something thomas stared at me puzzled before your daughter started hiding you you asked if i had ever noticed anything clarified oh he said understand you know it's stupid it's nothing he turned to leave but wait said charlie now i'm curious he sighed it's just weird things happen here when i was a kid as well what kind of weird things charlie never believed in ghosts but she sure as hell loved hearing stories so did i i mean i don't think it's haunted thomas paused debating whether to share more relenting he sat back down let out a long sigh and then we've been living here for about three years when my sister started to believe the house was changing she'd wake up not recognizing her own room said weird things and then she said i don't know what to do with it i don't know what to do with it said weird things like the walls were a different color now the furniture was getting swapped out but she was the only one who could see it to everyone else myself included it was just the same house like it always was paused rubbing his square chin with a knuckle mom and dad told her it was just nightmares delusions but then she started forgetting faces people she'd known her whole life became strangers our parents never took her to the doctors they didn't believe in that they believed in prayer so we tried to figure out what to do with her and she said i don't know what to do with it believed in prayer so we tried to figure out what to do with it prayer so we tried that for about prayer so we tried that for about prayer so we tried that for about half a year or so and then she just half a year or so and then she just half a year or so and then she just vanished she just vanished and now the vanished she just vanished and now the vanished she just vanished and now the hurt his hurt his hurt his weird half daughter yeah is also gone weird half daughter yeah is also gone weird half daughter yeah is also gone not even half it's her it's his wife's not even half it's her it's his wife's not even half it's her it's his wife's brother no biological relation to the brother no biological relation to the brother no biological relation to the child's child's child's man man man that's a cool premise i thought it'd be that's a cool premise i thought it'd be like ghosts or spirits or something but like ghosts or spirits or something but like ghosts or spirits or something but like a like a like a like a uh like a uh like a uh not i know i bring it up every five not i know i bring it up every five not i know i bring it up every five minutes but like a house of leaves kind minutes but like a house of leaves kind minutes but like a house of leaves kind of like shifting room geometry well it of like shifting room geometry well it of like shifting room geometry well it also makes the initial uh also makes the initial uh also makes the initial uh walk through the house a little more walk through the house a little more walk through the house a little more interesting because he's even just like interesting because he's even just like interesting because he's even just like questioning himself like oh is this here i think he's like trying to find that like relation with his sister trying to like get on her level but then it's like brought back to them being like oh no we painted the wall and he's like oh there's even that comment earlier where it's like this room used to be blue you know and then he's like since painted green like he shakes it off almost yeah i mean it's it's interesting from a flipping house standpoint of having that kind of weird backstory it's very fun yeah yeah thomas went silent eyes flicking back and forth across the far wall one winter she just disappeared in the middle of the night police did a three-day search and nothing ever showed up shook his head again but about one week later a witness came forward said he saw a young girl down by the river that night standing on the kettle bridge cop said she probably jumped case closed right made sense to my parents but i just wrote his brow in his next words carefully it's it's strange but part of me wondered if she ever even i was paused for a moment despite all the searching all the diamond teams they never found anything and i just stopped himself again and looked towards us anyway that's that's about it he said with somber finality i was apologizing for the dark story i'm really sorry to hear that said charlie gave a slight shrug and turned towards the fire i thought coming back here would bring some sort of closure but trailed into silence muffled wind aching creaks and groans from the house filled the empty space i didn't know what to say thomas's gauge drifted up to the blank paintingless wall above the fireplace mantle his face twitched ever so slightly anyway i should get back to sleep pushed up to stand in good night night drifted out of the room and went back upstairs charlie waited to the moment to be sure he was gone what the fair enough we went to bed shortly after charlie was out in five minutes flat but after hearing that story i lay wide awake staring up at the stucco ceiling considering what happened why would anyone bring their family back here how was he even sleeping while his daughter was still missing i couldn't shake any of this finally after two hours or so somehow managed to fall asleep um i wonder how much of that if any is a lie because there was that thing he said in the basement where it sounded like he was talking abby and what was it he said you uh i thought you wanted this or whatever it's almost like he planned to do something here maybe he knows that his sister's still in the house somehow you know a distant clang snapped me awake i sat up listened carefully went outside clock ticking charlie breathing okay you're fine climbing from bed i stretched up my arms and shook out my hands maybe the dad's story was getting to me either way i needed a glass of water downstairs in the kitchen i set up lukewarm tap water from a tall glass ruminating on the strangeness of everything when will that stupid kid finally show up across the living room the basement door was wide open maybe the kid finally caved sitting down the glass i crossed to the top of the steps and peered down uninviting darkness no thank you i was about to close the door when at the bottom of the stairs a small silhouette motionless child-sized enveloped by shadow jenny missing kid i squatted down to appear less intimidating same way one does when trying to coax an unfamiliar cat hey jenny i said almost whispering your parents are really worried about you didn't it be a good time to come back upstairs her head tilted but otherwise she remained motionless now i could see the slightest glimmer in her eyes reflecting the moonlight a long silence dragged by until i realized something else she wasn't blinking 10 maybe 20 seconds had gone by and she hadn't blinked 20 seconds had gone by and she hadn't blinked 10 maybe 20 seconds had gone by and she hadn't blinked 10 maybe 20 seconds had gone by and she hadn't blinked 20 seconds had gone by and she hadn't blinked not even once what the hell and then as if reacting to my realization figure slowly rose to stand it wasn't child size after all it was only hunched down now standing at their full height the person at the bottom of the stairs must have been six feet tall in one quick motion i jumped upright and slammed the door shut then i scrambled upstairs with record-breaking speed no thank you i shook charlie awake what there's something in the base there's someone in the basement charlie blinked at me yeah the kid no an adult charlie shook her head and reluctantly pushed up to sitting how do you know i saw them on the stairs they were tall charlie sighed i could tell part of her wanted to believe me but mostly she was just tired in her defense i had a long history of freaking out over things that turned out to be nothing was it dark she asked trying and failing to sound patient yeah but eve i'm exhausted and still a little drunk can we figure this out in the morning charlie i know what i saw i know i believe you but not enough to look around the basement at three in the morning i didn't want to let it go but charlie was close to a breaking point and barely awake on top of it okay maybe she was right maybe it was just a trick of the light maybe my paranoia was getting the better of me once again but charlie rolled away windows back to sleep. I sat beside her in bed, staring at the cracked open door until, finally, I fell asleep too. I don't care how much of a nuisance I am, you're checking on the six foot tall shadow figure in the basement. Yeah, I've seen stuff before them, like, I almost look like a person, but I shake it off. But if I had that, like, I'm staring and I'm blinking and it's still there and it's not moving and stuff. If you feel like you caught something in the corner of your eye, maybe, but a full-on she was there for a minute. Yeah. Yeah. Also, I was almost thinking at first, I thought it was going to be the dad. I thought it was Thomas. And he was down there and all of a sudden he, like, stood up. Could be. Or I was actually thinking Paige. Well, they said she was small and petite, but still, I mean, she's some supernatural thing. She can grow or whatever. But if I was, like, I mean, there's been times before where I thought I've heard someone in the house or thought I've, like, saw someone in the house and stuff like that. Did you go check? Yeah, with a gun. I'm not just like, is anybody there? Sometimes I feel like I hear stuff and I just I, like, I'm too lazy and too fat to do anything about it. So I'm just like, if you're going to get me, you're going to get me. There ain't no ifs, ands, or buts about it. There's not going to be a struggle. What's your procedure if like someone breaks in to do you harm? I'm, they're going to do harm. They're going to get what they want. It might be about it. I might tell Allison, be like, you better fucking skedaddle. I'm going to sit there. I'm going to lean back into my, my, my king-size bed. So it comes in to kill you. I look at the guy holding the knife or gun and I just say, not the face. And then not even an attempt to, no, no, I'm good. I'm done. I really, I, yeah, there's not a lot that can be done. I mean, you can shoot them. I can't be bothered. Yeah. I'm going to make Allison his zip line from her window to some escape route. She can just slide her happy ass down the thing. The zip line from her separate bedroom. Yeah. From her bedroom. That's true. Yeah. Actually, if anything, you know, I do, I lock the door and I, I'm, uh, I set up a speaker system. So all the sounds coming from her room and it diverts. I'm in here. You hear someone break in and you just like, yeah, you see my fat ass running down the long driveway. You have a sign on your door. That's like, she's that way. Yeah, exactly. It just says utility closet on the front of my, on my door. There's a bunch of mobs and shit outside of it. Allison's right. Why are you taking me like that? No idea. Are you and your boyfriend getting along? Maybe her boyfriend could defend her. I wait to, I, I stay outside. I look at the windows until I hear pop pop. And then Allison's just like, Hunter, are you out there? And I'm like, oh, thank God. Let her boyfriend take care of it. Well, what's a, what's that name? You always say your son, you have some fictional name for like a child. You have the baby doll. Oh, Modine Modine. That's it. Yeah. So where does Modine stack into this? Say you have like five Modines. Modine's been dead for like a year. No, I'm saying like in this scenario, imagine you have kids. Okay. Where, where does the order of priority go between like Allison and the kids and stuff? Oh, like what am I doing with Modine? Yeah. Well, please if it was me and Allison first off too, this is horrible. I don't know. I'm going to say this. Nevermind. Go ahead. If there was a life or death situation, if there was a life or death situation and it was a thing where it was like, we had a baby that had no idea of what the world would be like, Allison, we can make it a fucking another one. Okay. I mean, that little motherfucker ain't going to even know what's going on. If anything, I probably got to take the kid. That's what I'd say. Yeah. No integrity. I mean, it's horrible. So would you exactly. It is. Would you point the arrow to the, uh, to the child's room instead of Allison's where do you want the intruder to go? Uh, anywhere. I'm not and if they're with me, here's the thing. If they're with me, I could potentially help them, but like, I'm not going to go out of my way, I guess. Like, I'm not going to be crossing hallways. You know, like, I, I got my escape. I'm not going to leave the room. No, no, exactly. I, if you're in the room with me and I have my zip line set up and you have the deal, you can come with me. It's probably about it. I plan on dying alone in this lifetime. I mean, you're, it's with this defense description, you're working your way towards it. So, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You're taking all the right steps. Oh, well, yes. Yeah. Warm beam of sunlight rouse me awake. I looked to my side. Charlie wasn't there stretching my arms. I climbed out of bed and yawned all the strangeness of yesterday felt smaller in the morning light, like a fading nightmare. As I stepped out into the hallway, the smell of breakfast filled the air, eggs, bacon, coffee, the only meal Charlie knew how to make. Downstairs, I wandered into the kitchen. Charlie was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Thomas stood over the stove humming a happy tune, making scrambled eggs. His family, minus me and my kid, sat at the table. I lingered on the edge of the kitchen at a loss. Thomas looked towards me and smiled. Morning, Eve. How do you like your eggs? Where's Charlie? Who? My girlfriend. Oh, she mentioned something about picking up. I took a generator from town for the basement. I raised an eyebrow, leaving without telling me. I wasn't like Charlie. She didn't want to wake you. Everything okay? Yeah, I'm good. Unsettled, I stepped around the corner and pulled out my phone. Time to call Charlie. Tap the screen and. Nothing. I held down the power button. Nothing. Dead battery? Nothing. I paced up to the bedroom and plugged it in. Still nothing. I blew in the socket. Nope. Factory reset? Nada. I definitely charged this thing last night. Charlie didn't plug it and put hers on? Maybe. Regardless, I kept my phone plugged in, just in case it started working again. I returned downstairs. Back in the kitchen, Thomas had joined the rest of his family at the table. Can I borrow your phone? He looked at me, chewing a mouthful of eggs. He swallowed. Don't have one. I blinked in disbelief and looked at Paige. Can I borrow yours? She shook her head. We don't have phones. Modern family without cell phones. Might be the strangest thing to happen yet. You think he's going to try to gaslight her into thinking that she's the sister? Interesting. It's not a bad idea. A little fucking Shutter Island kind of meme? Yeah. Some kind of weird. Could be. Could be that. Could also be the. Like they're disabling the phone and she disappeared in the house, just like Jenny did or something like that. I just wonder who the one in the basement was. Because they said Abigail died when. Or she disappeared when they were kids, right? That's the implication I got. Yeah, well, I think the whole thing was that she ran away and then supposedly. Supposedly. They saw her jump off a bridge, but no one saw the body. No one covered the body. Yeah, yeah. So she got lost in the house. The house, yeah. What was going on here? Frustrated, getting more weirded out with each exchange, I turned for the foyer. Just borrowed the neighbor's phone. Halfway across the living room, I stopped short. Above the fireplace, where I'd removed the nails, an unfamiliar painting now hung. A large painting of a tree line, the edge of a dark, green forest. Vaguely familiar. Looked old. Almost menacing. I glanced towards the living room coffee table. The hammer was gone. Did Charlie put it up to troll me? Maybe, but. It seemed a bit much, even for her. Thrown, I continued for the front door. I needed to phone Charlie now. Dressed for winter, I stepped down onto the driveway and my heel crunched against something. Looking down, I lifted my foot. Buried in the snow was a small, shiny object. Charlie's locket. End of part one. Holy shit. Oh, boy. Guess what else we have? The Marcus Cleaver special. Oh, is this. Is there. It says where. Where? Like W-H-E-R-E? W-H-E-R-E. Okay. All right, part two. Get to the neighbor's house. Pushing forward down the driveway, I tucked Charlie's necklace into my back pocket. Maybe she dropped it by accident? Doubtful. Regardless, my goal didn't change. Call Charlie. Find out where she is. Why she left without telling me. At this point, I was even considering calling the police, but what would I tell them? I let a family of five into my house. I think they put up a painting. Not exactly police priority. call charlie first evaluate from there the storm was getting worse as i dredged down the road freezing wind swept through me down into the forest at the end of the street my face stung teeth chattered eyes burned fun finally i reached harpita miguel's place a mint green bungalow with a meticulous but snow-covered japanese garden out front i gave three sharp knocks and waited nothing as i reached for the bell the door swung open harpreet answered hello dressed in a house coat her eyes were tired and her hair was tousled wait what time was it i checked my wristwatch 6 58 on a saturday morning yikes hey harpreet sorry to bother you so early she looked at me a little confused almost like she didn't know who i was fair enough we'd only met once before but you it's eve just moved in up the street we're gonna do a game night together she smiled oh right eve but it almost felt like she still didn't recognize me and was just being polite that or my social anxiety was yet again taking the reins can i use your phone mine's dead sure she reached into her pocket and handed me her cell phone thanks punched in charlie's number three tones rang out but no answer i went to dial again when i called her she said hello charlie called back thank god hello she said i excelled relief just hearing her voice felt like a big warm hug charlie who where are you who's this raised an eyebrow then remembered i wasn't using my phone it's eve my phone's dead i'm using the neighbors oh hey eve it's pretty loud in here you'll have to speak up in the background barcode scanners beeping muffled voices cars sounded like she was lined up in a grocery store a thousand questions passed through my head but i settled on when are you coming back long drawn out silence eve i i can't talk right now can we do this later charlie i just why did you leave without beep oh she hung up on me that or the call dropped yeah the call must have dropped storm messed with the signal that's all no way charlie hung up on you stop catastrophizing everything arpreet glanced over his shoulder the back to me restless smiling apologetically i redialed charlie but this time it went straight to voicemail hey charlie i think our signal dropped i i fed your lock on the driveway and this feeling is just really weirding me out come back as soon as you can okay ending the call i handed back the phone or pre-study me with a subtle concern in her eyes is everything okay yeah i'm good thanks part of me wanted to tell her what was going on wait here until charlie got back until this creepy family was gone but arpreet wasn't exactly rolling out the welcome mat i couldn't blame her because people with healthy boundaries don't just let random strangers into their house go figure maybe i feel like there's a time thing happening you know between like abigail being in the house disappearing and now him talking to her in the basement and then the like i can't do this right now felt weirdly like well that's what that's my favorite part so far is that we've gotten a couple things with their dynamic which is eve seems to be somebody who emotionally maybe is i hate to use the word immature but someone who like i don't know like goes to the worst place always you know like almost feels like she i would say immature she needs her she needs her handheld with a lot of stuff so this whole thing of like even her last night being woken up she's like dude what there's been a history of her already freaking out about that and then now in this case charlie being gone the day before also sets a precedence to it or it's like i'll just go i see what you're saying so the i can't do this right now when more so charlie like quit freaking out yeah yeah that almost gave me a rap of like uh like time had passed and charlie had been gone or so or like like it's almost like or not charlie eve had been gone and eve's almost like skipping to the future or something like that so i'm like i don't know what to do with that you know uh but yeah i could see that it's just like just shut up for a second yeah the uh the the story's doing a good thing though too with the locket dropping and stuff i feel like it's like you're wanting you're wanting to figure out where this not necessarily a threat but like these negative things i keep assuming the worst so then it was kind of interesting that charlie did answer because when she called i was gonna be like there's not gonna be an answer she's that's what i thought yeah but i like that little misdirect of her answering and being like dude fuck it because she's like i'm gonna be like i'm gonna be like i'm gonna be like i'm gonna be it puts me in the same mindset that maybe i'm on the same kind of like am i overthinking things yeah as well so i feel a lot of sympathy for her character too but if you're jumping to conclusion so quick of course character's gonna be like dude what the fuck like it's building paranoia very well um once again though a child be gone overnight and still that's insane to where that's why i'm also thinking that like not necessarily is this in her head but like is this like an orchestrated fucking shutter island kind of thing yeah it seems like she's being gaslit in a way yeah yeah like with the painting going she doesn't seem like she is in the know and everyone else is kind of just like oh yeah i don't know it feels a little too like i feel like any other rational person would be like the fire department and i bet you there maybe that comes soon but still like how it hasn't happened yet is absurd yeah your comment about time passing is and kind of the your comment hunter about the suspension of like belief or the suspension of memory kind of makes me think of i'm thinking of ending things oh yeah yeah charlie coffin yeah feels like a sequential but it's also like this was a big future yeah i i think past element i don't know if it's going that way for people that didn't hear it harry said that it's making him think of uh i'm thinking of any things which is like a charlie kaufman movie i think it was a book too though but it's like but uh yeah very dreamlike and it's like a passage of time but it's all from like an almost like uh it's an entire narrative taking place in like a janitor's mind of like how his life could have gone or something but the the the story presents itself as like the uh through the lens of a woman gonna break also a wintry storm yeah yeah and that's exactly yeah what a great set piece in that movie too like the milkshake stand or whatever that's ian reed is the author he's really good at like building dread i really if we get to read books like one of the books i really want to read is this book his book called foe it's really cool but yeah published but yeah so march back home i kept playing the phone call through my head something seemed off with charlie she sounded distant standoffish even maybe it was something i said last night maybe it was something i did last weekend stop stop spiraling stop mind reading focus if something was bothering charlie she would have told you she's probably just hung over preoccupied i took a deep breath and exhaled what would charlie do charlie would go home tell these creeps to get out of her house i sympathize with this eve so much that insecurity of like i feel like i do that all the time roll through your head and you're just like oh my god like i'm you just start stacking every like a plate of like catastrophic things of like did i fuck up are they mad at me what did i do wrong or like just being like people fucking this is terrible whatever and then you have just a stack of plates that you're carrying or whatever and they have to be like oh my god just like fucking give yourself a break which is impossible and then you have to be like oh my god just like fucking give yourself a break which is impossible she can say stop all she wants but it's like it's it's that that within itself is the biggest front and biggest like lie that she's taught herself stop it's fine that's the most like yeah that's the most damaging thing is her coming i'd be like no no it's fine because she like i think is consciously she's it's that fucking horrible thing when you are consciously able to understand that you're like spiraling yeah is a fucking i think a like it's it's a shitty place to be in yeah you know i think so too because i think kayla feels a similar way but on the other end of the spectrum i can't if i'm being honest i don't know aside from really weird social interactions when was the last time i've thought about in a negative way my relationship with someone you know i guess less relationship and more so i mean like with me or something it's more like i don't know like a social interaction or like uh i don't know that's what i that's i don't mean interrelationship but i don't mean interrelationship but i don't mean interrelationship like uh conversational social stuff like oh sure almost never like second guess myself yeah i feel like maybe i should more but i don't know i mean i think that's a blessing i just think what's interesting coming from that is i think like because of that a lot of times too sometimes i like will play like almost a catch-up game where you are like trying to like if he's like not that if you think someone's mad at you but like maybe you're overly friendly or like you're just trying to like test or fill out that water because you are really unsure of how you're going to do it of how this person's feeling or like how you're standing in this social interaction so like i the only thing i the only reason i thought that was interesting is that i wonder when she's like charlie would say get the fuck out of the house and i think that she's having this a negative like negative reaction being like i bet you charlie's mad that like these people are here at the house and i'm like causing a big stink and i'm whatever so now she's going to have this emotional reaction of being like get the fuck out of the house and be like yeah a little more standoffish and dickheadish to these people and does that just like put her up shit creek a bit yeah yeah with renewed focus i slogged back through the snow halfway across the road i noticed a figure obscured by the snow a person it's standing at the end of the street on the edge of the forest back turned unmoving dressed in a white gown or at least that's what it looked like from this distance gown in the middle of a winter storm maybe it was the hiding kid jenny called out the shrieking wind swallowed my voice i tried again louder no response then the figure withdrew into the woods disappearing from sight a little bitch is gonna jump off a bridge i can tell you that right now i glanced down the street towards my house go back inside or go after the kid it's freezing out here even with my whole winter get up on in a gown she might catch hypothermia or worse took a step forward and an image flashed through my head an image from last night the hunched figure on the stairs slowly rising to stand the memory was so sudden so vivid i could almost see it in my head i could almost see it in my head i could almost see it in my head projected onto the snow in front of me my eyes drifted back towards the house then back to the dark forest last night was just a trick of the light told myself you've got this eve go find the kid besides i'll get this family out of your house reluctantly i headed towards the tree line the old forest swayed and groaned as i tracked the faint trail of footsteps up ahead the kid slipped behind a gnarled tree was her hair black all the kids were blonde but maybe it was the light again picking up the pace i trailed the winding footprints as they led deeper into the woods over a bank to a small crevice and banished trail just ended hard stop as if the person i was following just ceased to exist i paused looked around the trees branches snow and more trees i called out again but only then i heard a voice in the distance only the dim echo of my voice responded great my skin tied in as the wind needled through me somewhere close a heavy crack followed by a thundering boom is that a tree falling over this was getting dangerous left with little choice turned back for the house sorry kid in the foyer i shook off snow the uncanny strangeness of everything still clouded my thoughts thomas stepped around the corner any luck blinked at him sure of what he meant getting a hold of charlie oh i had to leave a message he nodded i was just about to mention the kid in the woods when behind him his daughter jenny stepped into the room i stared at her lost for words thomas glanced back oh she finally surrendered jenny wore white t-shirt and blue corduroy overalls not a gown it's raised an obvious question who was the person outside the room who was the person outside the room who was the person outside the room who was the person outside the room who was the person outside i almost brought it up but again something told me keep it to yourself my distrust in this family and even my own judgment was growing by the second anyway we're heading out as soon as the storm clears up i i think it's safer now i know but without winter tires my wife was a little paranoid don't care i do not care tire chains yeah well next line surprising myself i pushed more i'll get the tire chains from the attic he smiled grimly not sure they'll fit our truck they're universal thomas paused ever so slightly and then perfect that'll work he excelled with seemingly genuine relief we'll start packing up our stuff right away check out times 11 right jeez smiled at me expecting a laugh i gave him a blank stare his dumb smile evaporated paige called out and disappeared in the living room but jenny lingered behind looking up at me there's a deep sadness in her eyes almost like she didn't want to leave poor kid it's my brief time around her parents i didn't blame her i would have hit in the basement too i smiled sympathetically but she just looked down at the floor and jay page's voice snapped from the living room help us tidy up now jenny looked up at me turned away slipped out of view tire chains you've tired chains i turned to head upstairs but there was a jagged fist-sized hole in the drywall wait was that there before i left did the movers do it last week i didn't notice until now no that doesn't make sense i would have seen that better yet charlie would have a hundred percent caught a hole in the wall and called them out did the movers do it last week i didn't notice until now no that doesn't make sense i would have seen that better yet charlie would have a hundred percent caught a hole in the wall and called them out come back to that later i was about to step away when i noticed an ant crawl out from the hole an ant crawl out from the hole an ant crawl out from the hole bloated as hell bloated as hell bloated as hell a fat with surprising speed zigzag a fat with surprising speed zigzag a fat with surprising speed zigzag down the wall slipped dropped right to down the wall slipped dropped right to down the wall slipped dropped right to the floor without missing a beat it the floor without missing a beat it the floor without missing a beat it scurried across the hardwood and slipped scurried across the hardwood and slipped into a crack beneath the front door into a crack beneath the front door into a crack beneath the front door okay almost felt like it was running from okay almost felt like it was running from okay almost felt like it was running from something something something what was that about what was that about what was that about focus eve universal tire chains focus eve universal tire chains focus eve universal tire chains standing at the top of a pull-down ceiling standing at the top of a pull-down ceiling standing at the top of a pull-down ceiling ladder i poked my head into the ladder i poked my head into the ladder i poked my head into the attic hobbled wooden floors no windows attic hobbled wooden floors no windows attic hobbled wooden floors no windows everything covered in dust this will be everything covered in dust this will be everything covered in dust this will be fun flashlight in hand i hoisted myself fun flashlight in hand i hoisted myself fun flashlight in hand i hoisted myself up up up i peeked my head in here once before but i peeked my head in here once before but i peeked my head in here once before but never got the whole tour never got the whole tour never got the whole tour slanted boards low ceilings narrow slanted boards low ceilings narrow slanted boards low ceilings narrow hallways weird attic hallways weird attic hallways weird attic i eased my way in it was quite up here i eased my way in it was quite up here i eased my way in it was quite up here too too too save for the muffled sounds of the save for the muffled sounds of the save for the muffled sounds of the family downstairs family downstairs family downstairs according to charlie the tire chains according to charlie the tire chains according to charlie the tire chains were in the last room on the left were in the last room on the left were in the last room on the left stepping deeper into the attic i stepping deeper into the attic i stepping deeper into the attic i entered a long entered a long entered a long shoulder-width passage claustrophobic shoulder-width passage claustrophobic shoulder-width passage claustrophobic up here the house's time warm innards up here the house's time warm innards up here the house's time warm innards were exposed were exposed were exposed reddish pink insulation rusting pipes reddish pink insulation rusting pipes reddish pink insulation rusting pipes frayed wires frayed wires frayed wires looked like a botched surgery curving looked like a botched surgery curving looked like a botched surgery curving through the corridor i came upon a gap through the corridor i came upon a gap through the corridor i came upon a gap in the wall in the wall in the wall a three foot by three foot square at a three foot by three foot square at a three foot by three foot square at stomach height stomach height stomach height an entrance an entrance an entrance appeared inside appeared inside appeared inside it was the dumbwaiter shoot it was the dumbwaiter shoot it was the dumbwaiter shoot why would it go up to the attic why would it go up to the attic why would it go up to the attic i beam light down i beam light down i beam light down a long narrow shaft led all the way to a long narrow shaft led all the way to a long narrow shaft led all the way to the basement the basement the elevator cart was at the bottom the elevator cart was at the bottom the elevator cart was at the bottom three stories three stories three stories that's a long drop that's a long drop that's a long drop suddenly the hair on the back of my neck suddenly the hair on the back of my neck suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stood up stood up stood up memories of the basement twisted through memories of the basement twisted through memories of the basement twisted through my head and my head and my head and was coming up here such a good idea was coming up here such a good idea was coming up here such a good idea maybe i should have stayed with the maybe i should have stayed with the maybe i should have stayed with the neighbors neighbors neighbors maybe i should have maybe i should have maybe i should have doesn't matter now eve tire chains you doesn't matter now eve tire chains you know the uh uh know the uh uh know the uh uh the i'm thinking of ending things the i'm thinking of ending things the i'm thinking of ending things parallel seems right too because parallel seems right too because parallel seems right too because she's so like she's so like she's so like it's like a lot of inner inner it's like a lot of inner inner it's like a lot of inner inner dialogue too of like talking to herself dialogue too of like talking to herself dialogue too of like talking to herself of like this whole thing of just like of like this whole thing of just like of like this whole thing of just like is this right is this like kind of like is this right is this like kind of like is this right is this like kind of like always questioning yourself and kind of always questioning yourself and kind of always questioning yourself and kind of moving through there's like so much moving through there's like so much moving through there's like so much self-introspection like happening in real self-introspection like happening in real self-introspection like happening in real time yeah like second guessing and time yeah like second guessing and time yeah like second guessing and questioning everything it's really questioning everything it's really questioning everything it's really putting a lot of like i really like the putting a lot of like i really like the putting a lot of like i really like the i like the way that the story keeps i like the way that the story keeps i like the way that the story keeps tapping that because it makes me so tapping that because it makes me so tapping that because it makes me so suspicious of everything yeah and but suspicious of everything yeah and but suspicious of everything yeah and but very rarely am i ever like what is she looking at it i'm looking at through her lens versus just like continuously questioning the main character or anything like that i feel like i'm yeah just sympathetic to i don't know that kind of like uncertainty that she feels that kind of the giving more and more into that insecurity and shit and just kind of like the ever-growing kind of tension that's building between her and this family yeah i can see that it's like the self-doubt that sometimes we'll get grading in lesser story is very applicable here as stuff happens finally i reached the end of the hallway rounded the corner and a door wooden covered in peeling olive green paint adorned with three locks unlatched an attic with dead bolts on its doors any other time this would have sent me running pulled it open in blinding light from the far wall glaring sunlight shown through a porthole window i flicked off the flashlight stepped forward looked around this room was barely bigger than your average walk-in closet random junk crowded up against the walls a motley crew of thrift store rejects bald tires old books more empty picture frames a fish tank and turtle pellet food behind that a dusty watercolor painting of a bright green smiling turtle i guess the previous owners really like turtles i mean turtles are pretty cool but why didn't charlie mention any of this stuff behind the turtle tank was a file box written on its side and black sharpie charlie's stuff donate leaning forward i hoisted the box up onto the turtle tank inside were a few camera lenses a bunch of film rolls and an old 35 millimeter pentax charlie's camera photography used to be a passion of hers i still remember the day she had her own gallery showing it was a rain soaked day in downtown seattle but i'd never seen her happier she even put up the blurry photo of me the one from the locket i was flattered despite the fact you could barely see my face in it charlie always wanted to start a photography side business but three years back after her father passed charlie put away the camera and never took it out again Her dad was the one that got her into photography to begin with. I asked her about it once, but she just shrugged. Said she didn't have time for it anymore. I was so unlike Charlie. Before that, she never walked away from anything. That said, I was in no position to judge. I'm the type of person who gives up on projects I don't even start. I'll give you an example. I dropped out of art school three months before the first semester. Setting the lid back on the box, I turned the survey of the room. In the far corner, a pile of tire chains. Finally. I crossed over, bent down, and. Outside the house, a door slammed shut. I tilted my head. Silence. But then, muffled, heavy footfalls crunched against gravel and snow. Charlie? I stepped over to the porthole window. Down on the driveway, Thomas marched towards the street. Got about ten yards from the house. Charlie? Then lurched to a stop and let out a primal scream of rage. What? What the hell? He went quiet and glanced around, looking embarrassed. Then, he shook out his hands. Did he and Paige just have a fight? Maybe, but what about? Who? I'm sure it's some supernatural means or something. But who in a fight is like. One minute, please. Who in a fight is like. You know? I don't think it's totally. I don't think it's totally crazy. I think also, we see him living a facade in front of Paige. And then, whenever she's gone, he's a completely different person. So, I imagine that she was probably just like. I don't know, being like. Maybe being overbearing or something. Or you could tell that she was snapping with the kids. Maybe she snapped at him to where he's just like. All right, sweetie. Just one second. I'm going to grab something from the truck. Goes outside. He's just like. Whatever. This guy is like textbook family annihilator. What is that? Guys that killed their whole family. Oh. Yeah. I think. Like, just a. I don't know. Just a fucking. I'm just saying this kind of guy over the course of 20 years. And then, one day, she's like, I don't like it when you take out the trash like that. He's like, okay. Let me hear it one second. Just the last straw. Is that too harsh? Is that too harsh? Is that too harsh? Is that a fair read? I think that's a fair read. Well, it's only hard because it's not even fully. Like, he is saddled with a tough bag. Like, it's not even fully his family. But as soon as he's away from the family, he's like. I mean, don't get me wrong. I think if I was going to kill any of my family and they weren't even mine, it'd be a lot easier of a sell. Well. That's true. I mean, like, him. Between, like, that he doesn't sleep with his wife and the kids aren't even his, and the moment he's away from them, he's like, I'm sorry about my wife. Is that a drink? Thank God. Like, you know, he's. There's already signs of the misery. Yeah. There are demons. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and glanced back towards the house. All clear. Lit up, took a long drag, and relaxed a bit. Secret nicotine addiction. Impressed anger issues. Two more points against this picture-perfect family. Maybe he punched that hole in the wall, too. He continued down the driveway, onto the street, and disappeared beyond the tree line. Along the forest surrounding my house, from this angle, the trees were eerily familiar, old, almost menacing. Was this the tree line from the painting? Behind me, a labored, metallic rasping sound. I turned, listened. Around the corner, dissonant grating, like overgrown fingernails scraping against rusting metal. Tedious, guttural, growing. Growing louder and louder with each passing second. Disturbed, I crept over to investigate. But before I could even get there, the sound rattled to a sudden stop. A halting noise that made me realize what it was. The dumbwaiter. Flashlight in hand, I peeked around the corner. Nothing. Just a long, empty hallway. Maybe it's the kid again. Maybe she's coming up here to hide. I glanced at the tire chains. Come back for those later. I eased forward, one step at a time. From this angle, I couldn't see into the dumbwaiter's chute. Yet. But part of me worried something terrible was waiting inside. Something waiting to pull me down into the basement, drag me into who knows where, and. Stop. Don't spiral. Take a deep breath. Exhale. It's just the kid, Eve. Everything that's happened so far has a reasonable explanation. Really? What about the dad's whispering freakout in the basement? Yes, even that. The painting above the fireplace? Yes, that too. The figure on the stairs? Yeah, I think. Mildly emboldened, I stepped forward to look, and. The elevator cart was empty. Joy. Somebody must have pulled it up here from below. Of course, you can pulley a dumbwaiter's chute without being inside it. That's actually how they're meant to be used. Exhaling relief, I turned away, and. Footprints. So, pretty much what that's saying is that, like, somebody was up there and grabbed the thing that was in the dumbwaiter, right? All right. Fun. Good. Great. Awesome. Footprints in the dust. Long, narrow. Well, I think the implication is. Because you can. Depending on the dumbwaiter, you can also move them from the inside, if, like, the rope is in there next to it. So, someone pulled themselves up to the attic, and the stopping was them getting out and now hiding. Oh. Oh, so you're saying that someone was inside and. Yeah, yeah. All the way up. I see. Starting at the dumbwaiter entrance and leading off down the hallway, away from me, down through the attic, towards the only way out. Not good. Thank you, Eve, for that commentary. They sure as hell didn't look like kid footprints. Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly, but they almost didn't look human. Womp womp. Yeah. Okay, no more attic. I took a deep breath. Pointed my flashlight and headed for the ladder at the end of the hallway. I quick-stepped into an open area and swivel-checked the corners like a wannabe marine. All clear. We're good. Just get to the exit. The flashlight dimmed into darkness. Seriously? I smacked it. Flickering light. Ah, shit. I've watched enough horror movies to know, nothing good follows a randomly dying flashlight. I smacked it again. Harder. I flicked the on and off switch. Nothing. Smacked it again. Nothing. Again, nothing. And if it is stupid rage, I hurled it into the dark. Clattered off a wall and fell to the floor with a hollow thud. Silence. A growing sense of panic swelled with me. Whoever brought the chute up here was still in the attic. And I was seriously starting to doubt it was one of the kids. Was it the figure on the stairs? What if it was. My tailspin was saved by a literal ray of hope. About 40 feet away, the still-open attic door. Just follow the light. Moving one foot at a time, using the distant glow to guide me, I focused on my breath. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. Be careful. Don't trip on the notched floor. Behind me, something moved. A skittering, almost fragile sound. Now, completely terrified, I hauled ass towards the light and my foot snagged on a floorboard. I staggered forward, nearly biting it. Close call. Scrambling, I sprinted towards the exit. Almost there, almost free, and. The stairs slammed shut with an authoritative wham. Darkness. I yelled for whoever was down there to open it. No response. The stairs slammed shut. Does it mean the door slammed shut, you think? Yeah, the door to the stairway. All right. No response. Collapsing onto the hatch, I frantically searched for the handle. Sliding my hands over the splinter-infested floor, hunting for something, anything. Cold sweat trailed down my forehead. My heart thumped. Breath gasped. I stopped myself again. Calm down. Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. Ground yourself. Focus on your surroundings. Your senses. Sight. Pitch dark. Smell. Musty air. Rotting wood. Touch. Cold, wet hair. Coarse hardwood. Sound, your own breathing when gusting outside. Creaks, groans of the old house. And a rolling sound behind me like a metallic cylinder against hardwood. I gazed back over my shoulder, only darkness, but then light flickered to life. A flashlight about 30 feet away, rolling in a lazy arc, beaming through stagnant clouds of dust. I looked up. I watched, hypnotized, the rolling flashlight slowly scanned over the walls, the reddish-pink insulation, and then, it settled to a stop, shining into the narrow hallway at an angle. It almost felt as if this light was trying to show me something, but nothing was there. Just a dark, empty hallway. I squinted, and then I saw it. a figure stand in the darkness just outside the light's edge a person cast in shadow i stopped breathing slowly the figure became more defined it was a woman wearing an off-white hospital gown tall her head was shaved down to thin black roots bluish veins pulsated beneath pale skin her face was concealed behind peekaboo hands like a child playing a game motionless the breathless moment seemed to stretch on for eternity and then she took a sudden shuffling step forward frozen place now the front of her bare feet stood in the light overgrown dirt-stained toenails and then another quick step forward flashlights snapped off darkness returned slow monotonous footsteps followed like a lumbering metronome speeding up bit by bit bottomless dread pushed up from my stomach into my throat but only a gasping wheeze escaped i couldn't even scream so i spun around and pounded on the floor hitting harder and harder all the while footfalls getting closer and closer one short step at a time finally i managed to scream scream louder than i'd ever screamed before i screamed for help but no one responded only the sound of footsteps getting closer closer they were nearly upon me and then the stairway swung open i tumbled downward and slammed into the hardwood floor head first darkness is this leaning itself do you think into a ghost story now or do you think these are actual physical people that are actually there um that's what i'm trying to decide i have an assumption with the whole thing about abigail seeing the house change that the house is kind of like a uh do you think people have gotten stuck in there and they've just like the house changes whatever and then you're trapped i think it's a time thing i think the house is a uh what's the word i'm looking for like a focus point in time where uh it's kind of like all the moments of different people being there kind of collapsing and on itself or at least the same kind of thing is that like a different take on like i mean like what do they say about ghosts or spirits or something don't they say that they're in an infinite time loop where they think that they're like living in the same spot i mean that's one idea that spirits are like uh that ghosts are not our it's not a dead person who's like still like wandering the earth or whatever it's us seeing through the bridge of time so like people in a location like you hear stories about like a gettysburg people will step into the basement and then see like a whole room of people like treating the sick and all that then they blink and they're gone it's like for a minute for whatever reason i see like the barrier of time is snapped so we could see them and they could see us kind of thing um so i think this house may be an example of that that's why the walls change colors because different tenants have painted them different colors the child like uh the childlike game the person played made me think it was like an infantile person that has grown i think it's like i think because abigail could see it she became trapped in it somehow she got too close to it and kind of fell in which is going to which which is you're alluring to the fact that eve might be trapped in it could be trapped in as well she can see it eve and experience that that's where i was also going with the call earlier and stuff that creates a perfect uh setup too with somebody who's like paranoid and people don't believe her all of a sudden now she's like by the way different points of time are happening at once like i thought i took down that painting why is that painting still hanging up you know stuff like that yeah um and then this could be abigail and abigail still has still a little girl but it's her body even at different points in time right but she's still present it's like the house is a uh like a fulcrum that a lot of this stuff's converging at and you can kind of see off all sides of it in a sense that also explained the cover of the book how it's like uh the segmented house you know oh sure how we used to live here about to know i really do love this story i think it's i think it's been a ton of fun i'm super hooked it's been really fun sharp gasp i snapped awake where was i slumped on the living room couch with a nasty headache thank god i've expected to be tied up in an underground torture chamber next to the fireplace paige sat in a chair knitting her kids played with lincoln logs on the floor it's still daytime but slowly getting darker you okay that's thomas stepping into view uh i don't know what to say i'm still processing everything there there's somebody in the attic nodded considerately kids looked up at me on edge glanced towards them why don't you go upstairs collecting their toys they filed out holding a smile he waited for them to leave and sat down across from me tell me what happened yes thoughtfully there there was a person they were i trailed off trying to make sense of it i i think i saw them in the basement too last night on the stairs but you wait this for a moment before you moved in how long was the house sitting empty huh when did the previous owners move out oh about a half a year ago i think he smiled grimly sitting empty that long could be a squatter habits more often you think especially out here i don't know well did she seem dangerous the bizarre image of the one wait did she even say it was a woman no i couldn't get nothing by me i'm too fast i catch it skin lamp still skin like yeah as much as you're catching you're still winding up hard cut to me you're catching an axe to the face can't get nothing by me the bizarre image of the woman hiding behind peekaboo hands flashed through my head it was almost as if she were taunting me we i should call the police shook his head no reason to escalate things until we know what we're really dealing with you we gotta call him now i was barely even listening my thoughts were still in trapped in the attic circling around something that i couldn't quite place yet cleared his throat i'll go up and take a look all right i don't think it's safe i'll be fine pushing up to stand he strode towards the foyer page chimed in don't forget the tire chains she said not even looking up from her knitting grunting non-committally thomas disappeared around the corner she five minutes had passed and thomas was still upstairs investigating the attic what was taking him so long who was that up there could be a sister abby rhythmic creaking interrupted my train of thought i looked up page was rocking back and forth in a chair knitting an unfamiliar red rocking chair catching my gaze she stopped moving a few awkward seconds of silence went by nice chair said pointedly she offered a meat smile thomas grabbed it from the truck it's good for my spine when i was younger i hurt my back in an accident and used to ride horses almost qualified for regionals read that line who gives a that wasn't said by her but leaning back across my arms the fire crackled and hissed slowly dying into fading ember that that series of events is a hundred percent the kind of thing that's totally reasonable for thomas to scream outside and have a cigarette like thomas clearly is like uncomfortable i mean he probably has something malicious going on but on the surface he's uncomfortable we've overstayed our welcome we need to go and then your wife's like go grab the fucking century rocking chair go get the rocking chair from the moving van it's like we're about to leave i don't care go get it i totally get the ah she went back to knitting unfazed by my lack of response considering the peekaboo lady up in the attic part of me was actually glad for the family's presence but now i had less than zero faith in them more still i didn't even fully know why sorry about last night said paige almost blurted it out raising an eyebrow i looked towards her she continued what i said at the dinner table wasn't appropriate i stared at her surprised but not invested i just i'm not used to how fast the world's changing these days she tapered off i was scanning the floor same here dead quiet and then thomas stepped into the room okay so i was thinking about if it is a time fulcrum thing then them looking like they're from the 1950s and pages comment like i'm surprised with how fast the world's changing they may straight up be from the 50s you know like straight brought over explains to no cell phones too and stuff like that kids playing with lincoln logs like old toys not a batman or something yeah yeah um also the she the word she in all caps i don't think she said that and she hasn't realized that yeah i think that was the narrative kind of you know i think that was her saying it she i think maybe not yeah i don't know because she did it she's not acting like she's put that together yet i set up awaiting his report but he just looked at me and shrugged didn't see anything said almost apologetically found this though he handed me my flashlight no footprints hmm footprints nope impossible I rose to stand, but he pressed his hand against my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. Eve? His eyes filled with the type of concern that makes one feel pathetic. Is everything okay? I didn't respond. I didn't know how. He continued. I know you barely know us, but you can be open here. Maybe we can help. What was this guy up to? I shrugged his hand away and stepped towards the kitchen. Pulling a cup from a cabinet, filled it at the sink, gulped it down, and slammed it onto the counter like a shot glass. You should leave. Thomas' face twitched like something did not compute, and then he snapped back to his pseudo-charming self. Why don't we wait until Charlie gets back? Ready to rip, I opened my mouth to respond, but then I noticed the cup on the counter. The one I just sat down. It was an unfamiliar red plastic kid's cup. They're bringing their shit into the house. I think that's Thomas' thing from inside the chair, and now it's going to be. It could be their stuff from inside the house, but it could also be. It could be the house shifting. Again, times. Different stuff, different owners have had theirs. Maybe it's tenant stuff. Yeah, like, the whole thing about, like, oh, he went and got it from the truck for the rocking chair? I don't know. I think that may have been, like, another shift, you know? Like, like, several events have happened in the house. Different people have had different stories, and then, like, the symptoms, almost like the skin of the house rotates through and through. Like, that hole in the wall with the ant going through it may have been from someone punching a hole in the wall in the 80s. Somewhere in time. And it just appears, and then just, yeah. It was an unfamiliar. Red plastic kid's cup. On its side, pale blue moon with gentle shut eyes. Smiling a toothy smile. Whose cup was this? More importantly, what was it doing in my cupboard? Something wrong? Asked Thomas. How long was I out? He studied me, unsure. I locked onto his eyes. After I hit my head. Oh. 10, 15 minutes. He broke eye contact. Tops. Clearing his throat. He tried his pitch yet again. We'll stay with you until Charlie gets home. Then we can use our phone to call the police. And after that, we'll finally get out of your hair. Sound good? Uh-huh. I would go across the street to call the cops. Just be like, hey, remember earlier I said everything's cool? Nope. You know. I muttered, only half listening. Now, I was staring at the creepy moon cup, searching for something. Something just out of reach of my mind. Something that. She. Minutes earlier, when he asked me about the addict person, Thomas said, Did she say. Seemed dangerous. But I never mentioned. The blaring ring of a cell phone cut into my concentration. Repetitive. Monotone. Beeping. I looked around. Bewildered. Sound was coming from Paige. Bumbling in her pocket. She yanked. Oh my gosh. Goddamn bitch. She yanked out a flip phone and switched it off. What'd you say? Said lying fucks. Yeah. Deafening silence filled every corner of the room. No, I guarantee you. This is, uh, Paige's phone. No, that's what I'm saying. Or, not Paige's phone. Are you thinking it's Claire's? Uh, Charlie's phone. Or Charlie's phone. Charlie's phone, yeah. I looked at Thomas, but he looked away, embarrassed. So much for not having phones. Let me use that. Oh, it's not. The surface out here is. And I just. Midway through her sentence, I marched over and snatched the phone away. Paige shot to her feet, trying to grab it back, but Thomas spoke up. It's okay, Paige. Let her use it. She paused, staring at him for an uncertain moment. Sat back down. Smart move, Paige. I was about to break your jaw. It's about the fact I didn't have the slightest idea of how to do that. Dialing Charlie's number, I stepped back into the kitchen. Three tones rang out, and then. Faintly, through a vent in the floor, a muffled synth cover of Beethoven's Fifth played out from the basement. Charlie's ringtone. End of part two. Holy shit. Because also, it's the thing, too, that they've been doing well. Lens, again, like I said earlier, is setting up this idea of, like. Maybe I'm being paranoid. She answers the phone. Okay, so she's still alive. Okay, well, whatever. And then the whole time, you're like. I kept thinking, why the fuck is she not back yet? And then all of a sudden, oh, nope. She probably did come back at some point. What happened to her? I don't know. Again, it could be the time thing. Could be, like, different people. Like, maybe Charlie just blinked to a different point in the house and something like that, you know? The only thing that makes me unsure about. The only thing that makes me unsure about that is just why is the family then so consistent? I think the dad may be aware of it. And he just knows how to navigate around without getting zapped? Getting caught into, like. Oh, yeah, yeah, or something like that. Like, he grew up with it, and he witnessed it happen to his sister. So maybe he's left and become obsessed with it over the years. Now he's come back to get. I don't trust Thomas. No, of course not. Absolutely not. And I was wrong about. I thought. But, yeah, the ringtone. She would recognize the ringtone because it was mentioned earlier. It was mentioned earlier. But, like, I was thinking, oh, maybe Paige has Charlie's phone, but no, the phone's under the floor. No, they're just trying to weasel their way in. I still think that. I'm still. I know you have your time theory. I'm still in this, like, weird. I'm still in this weird mindset that, like, they're trying to, like, move themselves back in, or there's, like, something. Like, trying to, like, infect themselves into the house. That could also be true. What makes me think the time theory is the stuff Abigail said when she was a kid about the walls keep changing. Changing colors and the furniture keeps moving. I think that, yeah, there's definitely something weird happening. I just. I still think Thomas, though, is, like. Like, the fucking, you know, I want to die here kind of thing, almost, or something. Like, refusing to leave, you know? Yeah. All right, fine, we'll get out of your hair. But. Things keep trickling down. Yeah. Yeah. Part three? There's Morse code. Oh, let's do them. Well, the first one was where, right? Yeah. Yes. This one is. It's only two letters. Two dots and then three dots. I think three dots is T. Where is. Maybe Charlie. S. Or where's Abby, maybe? Where's Charlie? Where's Abby? Where's Abby? This one is just is. Where's Eve? Part three! Whew. Thomas and Paige stared at me, both playing dumb. Pretending they couldn't hear Charlie's ringtone. Oscar-worthy shit. But I didn't have to appreciate the performance. If Charlie was somehow in the basement, then she might be hurt. Or worse. I needed to get down there. Call the police and find out. Find her. Now. Tucking away Paige's phone, I started out of the kitchen. Eve, where are you going? Ignoring him, I hauled across the room, snagged the flashlight from the couch, and. Eve, you could talk to us. He grabbed me by the arm. Don't fucking touch me! I wrenched free, stepped back, silence. They just stared at me. Wide-eyed. Scared, even. Good. I should be. Eve, what's wrong? He stammered, still giving a top-notch performance. Bravo. Oh. Flashlight clenched in my hands like a weapon. I eased back towards the basement door. Slipping inside, I slammed it shut. Darkness. With both hands grasped around the knob, I braced for Thomas to follow, but he didn't. I listened for a moment. No footsteps, only muffled voices. I pressed my ear to the door. What if she finds? Said Paige, but I couldn't make out the rest. Doesn't matter now. Thomas muttered a barely audible response. What were they talking about? Who knows? Probably some death cult stuff. Just. I find Charlie. Convinced Thomas wouldn't follow, I crept back, then spun around and hurried downward. At the base of the stairs, I pulled out Paige's flip phone and punched in 911. Two ringtones. A young woman answered. I want an operator. What is your emergency? Home invasion. If you can, get outside or barricade yourself in a room. Okay. Sure, after I find Charlie. Name? Eve. Eve Palmer. Eve, are you hurt? No. Is the intruder still in your house? Yes. There's more than one, actually. Can you describe them? A man, a woman, and. I trailed off. Can you just send help? And? Three kids. Three kids? Yes, they're. a family. And they've threatened you? Yes, well, not the kids, but the parents did. Technically alive. Sue me. Are they armed? Possibly. I think they hurt my girlfriend, or they're holding her hostage. There's another woman in the attic, too. She might be the guy's sister. I don't know. Just send help now. Address? 3719 Heritage Lane. Ma'am, a car has already been dispatched to your location. Great, thank you. No, what I mean is, someone from the address has already called in a disturbance. A disturbance? Guess at 5150. Was that you? No. Let me guess, Thomas called it in. Worthless piece of shit. Ma'am? Did I say that last part out loud? Eve, I'd like you to stay on the line until the police arrive. You should know, the storm has delayed response time and. That's when I noticed the blood. A trail of tiny red dots spattered on the ground. I lowered the phone to inspect, and. Upstairs, a sudden crash. Followed by heavy scraping across the floor. A flood of footsteps. Like dozens of people marching around. Puffs of dust wheeze from straining floorboards above me. What the hell was going on up there? Focus, Eve. I think, again, these are time. Points in time culminating, but the, um. I really admire Eve right now from, like, as soon as, like, her girlfriend's in trouble, being like, "Alright, I'm doing everything at once. Don't touch me, get out of my house, I'm calling the police, I'm going to the basement." I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like I keep having this hearkening that Eve is, uh. Like, Abby, or whatever. Like, I just had this thing of, like, Paige being like, "Well, what if she finds this? Ah, well, it's not even my. " Like, there's something of, like, Eve is. not, I don't know i just keep on this feeling like it's leading us towards something weird is going on for sure of course but it's being my mind keeps yeah yeah my mind just keeps going to the spot where it's like oh well like fucking thomas is like yeah he seems weird he's overbearing but it all it also almost reads like visiting a fucking nut in the nut house and then being like hey you know you know am i going home today well you're home or like that kind of yeah you know i'm so locked in right now i flipped the phone shut authorities were on route it's all that mattered even if thomas called them in first what would he say when they get here um it's actually my house because i put a rocking chair in the living room i could look with that one buddy following the trail of blood i entered a long narrow hallway doors on either side symmetrical numbered it almost looked like a prison what the hell flashlight in hand i pushed forward the scattered line of blood led straight ahead past several doorways and curved into an open door room a musty brick wall nook so she's never seen this hallway before right well no because it seems like even what we experienced in the attic is it seems like it seemed we haven't really even heard exactly what she does in the renovation process because it seems like so far charlie does all of the work basically of like well she's the one it seems like they're in business together flipping houses but it's like oh well charlie never told me that this happened yeah whatever if anything maybe she does like more of the like face like the face the selling and the you know like oh like yeah like makes it look presentable to me so but it seems like charlie's the one who maybe does all of the like actual construction she hadn't even been in the basement yeah exactly and also it seems like they're it's been relatively like they're very fresh to this building continuing into the back corner the blood ran over a pile of abandoned clutter a beam light through the mess behind it a blocked doorway i started grabbing debris and tossing it aside up above the scraping and footsteps grew louder a rickety percussive drone finally i cleared away the old trash and opened the door a long uneven staircase receded downward into a darkened void a basement within a basement come on suddenly the sounds from upstairs cut short silence behind me two quick shuffling scrapes i spun around aim light into the doorway empty uneasy i turned back and redialed charlie's phone two tones rang out in the darkness beyond the bottom of the stairs ludwig's classic rift chimed alive okay creepy sub basement here i come at the bottom of the steps the trail of blood ended hard stop did it start or finish here i stepped forward into a vast shadowy room down here charlie's ringtone pinged off the walls echoing from every direction worry i struggled to get my bearings the sound of a phone ringing in the background i heard a voice in the background the circular glow from my flashlight revealed the room bit by bit it almost looked like an abandoned mine cave-like makeshift bizarre strained wooden beams struggled to keep the earth at bay the room itself was filled with paintings stacks and stacks of paintings but none of them were hanging they were just strewn on the ground leaning against the dirt walls piled up in the corners charlie's ringtone stopped and for a moment its echo lingered in the stagnant air silence i redialed but this time calling from down here it didn't ring i checked the screen no service charlie i called out nothing determined i wandered deeper maybe there was something here something that would make sense of all this insanity but there were only paintings and every single one was more or less the same depictions of this house in different contexts half built fully renovated abandoned burnt down to a crisp an exceptionally odd one portrayed the windows and doors swarmed with tiny black dots ants who painted these was it abigail did she make the one above the fireplace too smiling turtle in the attic as i crept forward my light swept across a painting with people in it i crouched down for a closer look it was a family standing in front of the house a rock welding couple with two children boy and girl the father was nearly the spitting image of thomas right down to his perfect teeth the young girl looked sad despondent the boy had thomas's eyes this had to be his family painted when he lived here as a kid thomas his sister abigail and their parents they looked so traditional so serious it almost made the family upstairs look fun in comparison almost i was about to step away but i squinted in this painting young thomas looked at a place like he was put there after the fact by a lesser artist his dimensions weren't quite right his arms were just the slightest bit too long his mouth the slightest bit too wide even his texture looked off i pressed my thumb tip against his face the paint for him felt different from the rest cheap acrylic cold unnerved i pulled away my hand leaving behind a pinkish smear where young thomas's jaw used to be the paint for him felt different from the rest cheap acrylic cold unnerved i pulled away my hand leaving behind a pinkish smear where young thomas's jaw used to be gleam caught my eye i swiveled to look but it was just an unlit oil lamp and set atop a cramped desk covered in stacks of black leather journals and above the desk across a horizontal support beam a message scrawled in olive green paint thomas foster is not my brother oh boy i'm in hell so with all the olive green paint it seems like maybe a girl was kept up in that attic room back in the day because all of green door in the attic so i'm like i mean like the harry potter ass and keep her up there between the attic and the basement the shoot oh yeah yeah that's why they covered it up yeah yeah she would go between the attic and the basement but she's been down here painting and writing these things over and over she sees the house at every point in time every destruction is thomas it really is too yes exactly okay i crossed over the desk lamp still had oil and beside it lay an old pack of matches i struck one and held it to the lamp until a dim flickering glow stammered alive shaking out the match i looked around absorbing the room in all its weirdness distorted jittery shadows cast over precarious picture frame towers in the far corner lay a dirt stained mattress overgrown with roots covered in dust hadn't been touched in years is abigail sleeping down here is abigail sleeping down here is abigail sleeping down here above the bed hung a rope ladder leading up to a hole in the ceiling did that connect to the dumbwaiter turning back to the desk i grabbed a journal from the nearest stack maybe this would explain what was going on here i flipped through but every single page was filled to the margins with thomas foster is not my brother thomas foster is not my brother thomas foster is i'm useless i tossed it aside grabbed another one you are part of the house you are part of you are part of the house you are worthless i snagged the next one you are useless abigail is just like please read this note and listen to my warnings or just being like whoever reads this for the love of god heed my warning yeah you know well i mean she's established that some weird stuff's going down right yeah well yeah thomas that big fucking slim jim son of a bitch is going to be lurking around there for too long i snagged the next one you are not who they say you are you are not who they say you are you are nothing nothing but the meaningless ramblings of a seriously unstable person i bet a thousand bucks the next one said all work no play makes abigail a dull girl but what did she mean thomas wasn't her brother i was about to turn away when i noticed a solitary deep red journal tucked away at the bottom of the furthest stack i shimmied out cracked it open and skimmed through entry after entry of young abigail talking about moving into the new house her aspirations to become a painter how she felt at a place in her own skin yeah we had that note earlier that she dropped out of art school yeah i mean i'm telling you i feel like abigail seems like it's eve or it's it's something there's some parallelism between them yeah i kept flipping through glimpsing handwritten moments of abigail's tragic life all the while looking for something anything that would help me she wrote about the kids in school how they torment her for being too tall how they called her drabby abby drabby abby drabby abby she wrote about the time she shaved her head how her parents as punishment locked her up in the attic until all her hair grew back how they sent her food rations up through the dumbwaiter shoot how on the first night locked away up there she awoke covered in ants swarmed from head to toe she wrote about how she hated being an only child an only child then she wrote about how thomas was not her brother how he came from the woods in the light of day how he lived here before the house was even built before the trees before that i'm so oh i'm in my element before the trees were planted how he was trying to drive her mad and nobody believed her not even her parents how he was trying to turn her into something caught my periphery i looked up ants above the desk from a crack in the wooden beam a trail of ants crawled out onto the olive green oh and thomas okay slipping the red journal into my back pocket i followed the trail as it disappeared behind a stack of rotting picture frames they rounded a corner and stretched down an ever-narrowing passage receding into darkness i raised the flashlight flicked it on and a woman standing at the edge of a dead-end passage with her back turned not charlie too tall it was abigail had to be wearing an off-white hospital gown just like in the attic but somehow it looked like she'd been standing there for years almost rooted to the ground like she'd become a part of the room itself paralyzed looming arms hanging limp clutched in her left hand a small hammer the same one i'd used to pry nails out from above the fireplace but now it was covered in red blood then she started shaking a strange soundless movement somewhere between weeping and laughter you i stepped backward and she looked over her shoulder towards me her face was pale sunken cheeks her eyes were gently shut with surprising speed the trail of ants climbed up the side of her leg onto her back over her shoulders and began to circle around her neck an unearthly choker her mouth twisted into a pained toothy grimace and then the ant started swarming her face crawling into her nostrils her mouth writhing ants frantically forcing their way cracks of her gums, her teeth, but she remained unfazed, unmoving. The sight was so terrible, so incomprehensible, I questioned if it was even real. Then the ants began to recede, disappearing into her face until there was only one ant left, wriggling its way between her blood red gums, writhing until finally it slipped through her teeth with an almost audible schlick. Abigail's eyes snapped open, cold and blue, wide, mystified. She looked down at the blood-drenched hammer in her hand, face filling with a horrific mixture of terror and unimaginable guilt. She whispered, My name isn't. I took a slow step backward. My name isn't Eve. Brother. Oh my gosh. I'm hanging it up. The jerseys and the rafters. I'm hanging it up. Retiring the number. I'm retiring the number. It's up there with mother horse size, dead girl in my yard. Here, give me some others. I know there's more. Pen pal. It's up there right now. Put it on the Mount Rushmore. Oh, gosh. It's so good. I love weird houses. I love weird stuff. I love weird stuff so much. That's what, you know, if I, if I got, if I got a bajillion dollars, right, just unlimited money, I would, I would use a lot of it to help people. Sure. Use a lot of it. Take care of people. Sure. Whatever. But I'd use, I'd use a lot of it to, to make, to make a, do you think the Winchester house is weird? This thing, this thing wouldn't even make sense. I'd, I'd have, I'd have different teams of contractors. So no one knew what each other was building. Has there ever been a Winchester escape room house that someone's built as like, cause it's escape room still big or is that kind of like a dead meme now? They're still out. They're just less big than they were. I think themed ones are still pretty big, like horror escape rooms. Well, in fucking Vegas, when we went to Vegas, there was like a huge John wick escape room that has like actors in it. That's like pretty fucking big. Crazy. Yeah. It's kind of like interesting. I mean, you know, regardless if you like the movies or not, it was like pretty, it was a crazy experience. I would love like a, like a back rooms or like some liminal space, you know, what I'm wondering is like with the Winchester thing. Cause in that area, the Winchester, it's such a huge part of their economy. Like the tour, like people who go and show up, whatever. I'm surprised. I mean, I can't even imagine that how expensive it would be, but like not, it doesn't need to be a mansion scale, but I'm surprised there isn't a thing where an escape room where things move or you get like, you know, you're like, this doesn't make any sense. I'm surprised that there wasn't dude. There's something so interesting about this to me because like house of leaves, I think was kind of the inception of this idea, at least in a physical form of like a house in house of leaves does, does the character like, is there something where it's like, you've been living here or like, is there something with the characters like this so far? Because what's happening right now is this is trickling into like a psychological horror where. I think she's going to start believing that she is this person, but it's, I think it's going to be unveiling where she's going to like psych yourself out so much that there's going to be a revelation where Thomas is like, you're very sick. You know, we came here to check on you, blah, blah, blah. Charlie isn't even real. That's your alter ego or something. So in house of leaves, it's almost the reverse and house of leaves. It's there's the house and there's the story of the house and people who come across the story began to become obsessed with it and almost like possessed by the presence of it and the knowledge. It's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like a bit in knowledge. Once it gets into their head, it like starts to consume them. This is almost the other way around where the people in the house are the ones who are like experiencing and like these lost memories, new knowledge and stuff like that. So it's almost like, imagine if like everyone who knew of this house had those like gaps in memory. See, I feel like I'm deciphering it a different way of like, I feel like this is just a literal this, like the house has nothing to do with it. The house, like to me, I'm almost reading it in a way where it's slowly becoming a thing where it's like, this is just a literal, this is a character study of Eve who is like, maybe not going insane, but it's something where her psychosis or something is enveloping these things that she's saying. I would agree if it were not for the fact that the first thing he said is Abigail saw the rooms changing and the walls changing and stuff like that. Well, what I'm saying is that I feel like Eve or Abigail, if she is this character is experiencing that kind of psychosis and she's saying that she's seeing those things and it's like, it's a character. It's like, it's a part of her, uh, her loop or whatever, maybe thing that she's manifesting, but then there's also the element that Thomas is some kind of supernatural thing. He was here before the trees were, you know? Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, once again, I'm still like my money or at least so far, how I'm deciphering it, uh, is, well, one, I don't know if I believe Thomas is an entity versus someone who is, is it going to be someone who is trying to like, if there was a person who was in like a deep psychosis or something and they're like, you need help or whatever, are they manifesting that person to be something they're not? Yeah. You know, I don't know. There's so many different avenues, you know? I mean, there's still so much to be discovered, but it's fun to think about. Yeah. It's fun to say what if forever, but yeah, I might as well keep reading and keep reading. My name isn't Eve. She spun around and took a sudden step towards me, a sudden unbalanced movement as if puppeteered from above staggering forward. She raised the hammer back, wound up to strike and I turned and hauled it out of there. Abigail in pursuit, I barreled up the stairs out of the empty room into the hallway. And ran faster than I'd ever run in my entire damn life. Before me, her bare feet slapped against concrete gaining, wait, scrambling forward. I slid around a corner doors on either side blurred past numbered symmetrical. Wait, wasn't already here ahead of me, a dead end above me. The ominous drones returned with a vengeance behind me, but falls getting closer left with no choice. I shoved into the nearest room, pulled the door shut and reached for the lock. Damn. I sat around hunting for a weapon, something to bar the door, a place to hide anything, but there wasn't, wait, in the far corner, a shutter door wardrobe without thinking. I hurtled over whipped inside, yanked the door shut and held it there. All the while the scraping sounds from upstairs grew louder. My heart pumped with short stuttering sprints. Damn, damn shut up. Calm down. Just calm down. It's only one person. Yeah, but she's armed with a hammer and ants crawled into her face and she's probably going stop. Just stop. First off, turn the flashlight off. It's lighting you up like a billboard. Minor voice was starting to sound weirdly similar to a frustrated Charlie. I don't know if that's a good thing, but I switched off the flashlight. Okay. It's it's off. Yeah. Okay, good. Now breathe. Inhale slowly through your nostrils, hold it and then exhale through your mouth. Does this not read almost like the way that she has conversations with Charlie, the way that Charlie and stuff, the same way that Charlie says like, don't do this now. Yeah. Is that not the same way that she's been referring to herself, you know, or that she's, she's been talking with herself. Yeah. That just, that's the thing that draws the suspicion is they've done this great. There's been this great, uh, dynamic between Charlie and you know, well, Charlie's basically the polar opposite of me or whatever. It's like the, it's your, it's your conscious or your like rationalization that is like now almost manifested itself. It's why I keep thinking. That way where Charlie might be a manifestation, whatever these big laps of time and like, you know, whatever, whatever. Yeah. No need to theorize, but no, no, no. I, I think that's certainly possible. It could be the Charlie's kind of like a manifestation. Um, I would also say that, um, what was I going to say? Oh yeah. This reads very similar to, cause it's not, it's not a connected story directly. But there's a lot of similarities between this and the thing. And, uh, my basement takes a step closer between the house and like the basements and stuff. There's a lot of similar themes. deception of everything that's one thing that i feel like marcus is very good at oh yeah setting up things and making you think one way and then just being like are you sure you're confused in a good way yeah uh but that whole the talking to yourself thing and even you remember in um the thing in my basement he kept doing the what's three things you can see three things you can smell sure that's i got to the burnt hair and gasoline over and over um she did that exact thing earlier when she's naming stuff she can see yeah cold wet hair yeah it's like uh it could just be a thing he likes to use a dynamic he likes to use in stories but i almost feel i'll save it for the end but i almost feel there's like a a thematic connection between eve and that protagonist in a way of the other story yes yeah uh we could see it we see it all the time with creepypastas that's like a huge thing yeah our session no sleep those intertwining and not not even that they're like literally connected but like the theme of what they're going through feels very similar oh sure and i think that sometimes too i mean it like just i mean you get it too i think like people like to people like to splash around the puddles they like to splash creatively right so it could be a thing where he's just like i like doing this and the the whole thing of like listing things off might be something he does in his real life and that just translates into the stories too i breathed in through my nose held it and exhale through my mouth did that help my heart still thump like a stampede do it again dipshit okay maybe my inner voice was a little meaner than charlie but it was actually helping my heart was slowing down and i was like oh my god i'm gonna do it again and i was like oh my god i'm gonna do it again and i was like oh my god i'm gonna do it continuing to focus on my breath i peered out through the wardrobe shutters into the dark room now the sounds from upstairs were unbearably loud an ever-rising earthquake getting stronger and stronger then the door to the room swung open instant silence there she stood bloody hammer in hand abigail deeply regretting my choice of a hiding spot i sucked in a spurt of air and held my breath be quiet abigail loomed into the room almost spilling my breath and then the door opened abigail loomed into the room almost bending over as she passed through the door frame oh my god she was tall hammer at the ready she crept deeper i'm sorry she trailed off she started circling the room like a caged animal i'm sorry about charlie she's still alive but thomas said it was the only way i could leave what did she mean what happened to charlie what was that charlie's blood on the hammer questions raced through me but my survival instinct pushed them back escape survive figure this out later all the while i was holding my breath still desperately trying not to make a sound pins and needles pricked across my face lungs growing tighter abigail wandered around the room for what felt like an eternity then she lurched to a stop side turned for the door and drifted away one painfully slow step at a time every fiber of my being was coming out of the door one painfully slow step at a time every fiber of my being screamed don't breathe don't you breathe just hang on a little longer but my lungs forced me to gasp in air abigail froze in the doorframe peered back over her shoulder and looked directly at the wardrobe then she tilted her head the exact same way the shadowy figure on the basement steps did head still cocked she stepped back into the room and out from her ear down onto her neck crawled a thin trail of ants oh my god she took a step closer and another one eve is that you she whispered edging forward her voice was tinged with repressed excitement now like she was about to pull off a horrific prank eve don't worry everything's going to be okay we can help each other you could help me leave it up and i can help you find charlie you're charlie i can help you find your charlie interesting and i can help you find your charlie interesting lips quivering she stood right in front of the wardrobe now staring at me through the shutters her eyes were empty like a doll's her cold breath brushed against my face frigid slowly raising her hand she slid her long fingers into the shutters reaching for me i leaned back as far as i could but her jagged overgrown fingernail scratched against my cheek it's okay the ants were now flooding off her hand rushing down from her fingers onto her nails and onto my face swarming ants crept over my skin towards my mouth towards enough in one quick motion i pressed my palm up against her outstretched fingers until they snapped back with the sickening crack i drop kicked the door open and she stepped back into the door open and abby wrenched to the side shrieking bloody murder her mangled fingers still caught between the shutters trapped the hammer flew from her hand and slid to a stop in the doorway shooting across the room i snagged the hammer and kept running frantically spitting ants out of my mouth all the while behind me abigail screeched and wailed struggling to yank her twisted hand out from the shutters good luck doors blurred past as i darted down the hallway hunting for the stairs escape just escape behind me her warbled screams echoed getting louder closer she was already free damn she was gaining on me this time she was vengeful part of me wanted to turn around and smash her skull in but i doubted i could bring myself to do it even in self-defense plus i wasn't sure if she was even human so i just kept running until finally i came upon the stairs still highlighted with a trail of blood sorry charlie but if i don't get out of here now we're both dead i bounded upwards until behind me abigail's cold writhing hands grasped at my heels reaching for my ankles trying to pull me back in a darkness but the door was just inside i was almost there almost free and i burst into the living room spun around shoulder slammed the door shut expecting a struggle but there was nothing no more footsteps no more screaming only silence deafening silence what's wrong thomas's bewildered voice called out from behind but i didn't look i was so intent on holding the door shut i almost forgot the family was even there sure they were god-awful but at least ants weren't crawling out of their ears behind me i could hear thomas rise to a stand and march across the room i didn't look back i kept holding the door suddenly he jerked me away what is going on he blinked at me stunned then i realized what he was looking at the blood-soaked hammer in my hand reaching down he yanked it away what did you find this he held it up but it was no longer covered in blood it was spotless inexplicably spotless he tossed it across the room hitting the floor slid to a stop in the quiet corner i was too shocked to even respond too exhausted to even fight back it felt like the entire universe was slowly turning upside down were you hurting yourself again his voice was filled with distress concern even he began patting his hands over my neck my shoulder searching for injuries thomas paige called from across the room but he ignored her still checking to make sure i wasn't hurt talk to me what happened down there thomas paige snapped so loud he almost jumped he looked back she stirred him down with a vicious glare take her upstairs you're scaring the children the kids were sitting in front of the fireplace gaping at me with shock and that's when it finally hit me everything was different completely different the furniture the rug on the floor the candles on the tables the paintings on the walls everything the house was now decorated like a throwback american dream home open my mouth to speak but only a sputtering wheeze escaped what was happening sign thomas tied into script pulled me away and pushed me into the foyer i don't know what happened down there but i need you to listen to me he stared in my eyes deadly serious you have to get yourself together or i'm calling the ward do you understand abby the kids have had their aunt running around the house like a lunatic i stared up at him blankly abby their aunt was this really his plan was he really going to try and convince me i was his sister all along how stupid did he think i was that dumb might have worked on a 12 year old abigail but not on me it would take a lot more than a redecorated house to make me believe i was a completely different person i cleared my throat what what did you do to my house ignoring that question he took a new tact smiling sadly you're my sister i'd do anything to help you but i can't put my family's safety at risk any longer i mean do you understand for a moment part of me wondered if i was truly insane if i might actually be a sister but none of that made any sense it's not how hallucinations work not how insanity works right besides everything that happened so far was technically inside the realm of plausibility insanely screwed up yes but not impossible maybe they were working with other people maybe they moved all the furniture inside while i was downstairs maybe they drugged me with hallucinogens after i hit my head or maybe maybe abigail's journal was right maybe thomas really did live here before the house was even built before the trees were even planted maybe he came from the woods in the light of eve those were just the ramblings of an unwell mind he's only a person a psychopath but a person nonetheless i refocused play along until the police show up or until you find the right moment to escape come back with help and save charlie don't escalate things yet smiling back i nodded gently good now he continued we were just about to have dinner i love you to join us show the kids show the kids everything's okay tell them their aunt was just looking for something down in the basement and got lost all right okay we love you abby you're a part of this family he reached out and touched my shoulder gently i shuddered but he didn't seem to notice or care you'll get through this you've gotten through worse thanks thomas smiling warmly he turned back for the kitchen lingering behind i watched him go wait until he disappeared around the corner and then i dashed to the front door grabbed the handle and locked from the outside i went for the window barred the adjacent room every single window was barred my house was like a prison now how did they pull all this off so quickly abby called out from the kitchen you ready for dinner i stopped took a deep breath collected myself eve you're outnumbered play along until help shows up if help doesn't show do whatever it takes to find charlie even if you have to burn this house to the ground end of part three and the worst coat here is abigail so where is abigail abigail is what is what it is so far i'm guessing part four is the last part yeah i mean there's uh 14 pages left so i assume yeah part four the family was seated around my dinner table like it was their own eating laughing living it up without a care to be had but as soon as i entered the party stopped just sat there staring at me as if i was the one who didn't belong thomas filled the dead air abigail there you are you were going to share with us what happened in the basement yes keep playing along eve don't escalate wait for help to show up why do they all look so calm i i was looking for tools and got lost in the dark it reminded me of an old memory a scary one and i let my imagination get the better of me but i'm okay now and it was all in my head thomas gave a slight nod good work kids nodded to page she just stared at me eyes narrowing a sharp gust of wind slammed against the windows the house lights flickered the family jumped thomas looked outside shaking his head these storms get worse every year hopefully the power holds out emotion for me to take a seat hesitating i stepped forward pulled back an empty chair and sat paige wrapped her fingers around the handle of a serrated steak knife your auntie's going to be moving out soon kids she said got into her steak blood oozing from the veins of the dead meat jenny the hide-and-seeker just sat there watching me only now her previous gloom was gone she looked content cheerful almost stared back searching for cracks in the performance but there were none abby i looked up he blinked at me expecting an answer to a question i didn't even hear you're going to explain your reasoning for moving out oh i i just think it's time for me to be on my own it feels like the right time the kids nodded in unison well you sure will be missed but i think we can all agree it's time for a change i managed to fake another smile didn't know how many more i had left in me so said thomas turning towards his daughter how was school today jenny smiled cheapish i i don't know what you don't know that's a first jenny gave a little shrug and smiled wider thomas leaned forward you gotta tell me one thing that happened just one thing that's all i ask jenny laughed a bit okay um there there was a dog in class today a dog what's a dog doing in a school it was seeing and it was a seeing eye dog she squirmed in her seat shy thomas sprinkled salt onto his steak an icing dog what's that it's a dog that it helps blind people walking around wow a professional dog what's that thomas raised an eyebrow professional it's when you get paid for your work oh i don't think the dog's getting paid well he should maybe with treats i don't think the dog's getting paid well he should maybe with treats maybe with treats thomas john golden glanced over at me the way a proud parent does his eyes filled with isn't she cute for a moment i almost forgot everything else that was going on it was just a typical family dinner but then what about your friend in the city s page killing the mirage right on cue snap back into the screwed up present what she gulped down another mouthful of steak your friend in the city does she still have that spare room i shook my head not sure how to respond page sighed your friend charlie my stomach twisted oh i i don't know if if she still lives there i replied continuing to play along barely hmm said thomas dousing his mashed potatoes with gravy we'll figure something out but don't feel rushed you can always stay longer if needed one week is just ideal for us page shot him a disapproving look wow a whole week to move out of my own house thanks thomas very generous i said it sounded a little more sarcastic than intended page huffed and rose from the table she strode to the cupboard and grabbed a bottle of charlie's favorite red wine perusing for an extra moment she grabbed the corkscrew eyes locked onto mine she sat back down twisted the corkscrew into the wine cork and another ruthless blast of wind pushed through the house the lights flickered on and off until darkness power outage off the orange glow of the living room fireplace it would have been pitch dark thomas let out an exasperated sigh great don't get the candles pushing up from the table he stepped out of the kitchen it's not my chance what do i do the front door is locked the windows are barred abigail queen of the ants is down in the basement i can't even hear myself think page kept cranking on that corkscrew staring at me the whole time she had to be doing it on purpose now then finally she popped out the cork poured until her glass was nearly full right to the brim classy but then that's when i noticed the necklace around page's neck charlie's necklace i checked my back pocket empty a flood of emotions followed grief fear confusion rage it started in my temples pushed to my hands my feet every single part of me like an uncontrollable wildfire until now i'd been in denial about what happened downstairs charlie wasn't hiding charlie wasn't being held captive charlie was dead she must be yeah abigail said charlie was alive but i saw that hammer it was covered in blood and now page foster was wearing charlie's locket like it was her own where did you find that i said almost blurting it out said page slowly looking towards me sipping from her wine the necklace where'd you find it oh just a store i rose to a stand the kids tensed up weary page stared at me confused i moved closer wait what was i doing here what was my plan abigail said page nervous she kept blathering on but i wasn't there anymore i was in the past memories were playing out of my head those strange little moments that stand out more and more as time goes on the way charlie snorted when she laughed sometimes and laughed even harder out of embarrassment the way her face lit up every time she saw a dog stick its head out of a car window and she was like i don't know i don't know i don't know i don't know i don't know the way she wrapped her arms around me from behind nuzzled her chin up to my neck as we fell asleep all these memories played out of my head like they were happening right now and then before i even knew what i was doing i grabbed page with one hand and the corkscrew with the other arms gripped around her i pulled back and her chair fell to the floor with a crash time slow to a near stop as i held the corkscrew to the side of her throat her children screamed the fireplace crackled the wind outside howled but page she was silent for the first time in her life she didn't have a thing to say not one word only quick terrified little breaths music whoa now said thomas treading into the dining room cell phone in hand cell phone see that's the thing she can't just be crazy because she remembers the present she remembers things like phones and stuff like that right um i mean sure it's the 50s but they wouldn't have 70s or they wouldn't have cell phones right so there's some disparity happening with that other than just her being crazy i think i've been spun around a million times i have no idea okay i'm so scared right now i spun page around to face him where is charlie kids go to your rooms lock the doors but they didn't respond they just sat there paralyzed no he boomed and they scrambled out of the kitchen abigail he spoke as calmly as possible you have to let her go what the fuck happened to charlie took a deep breath and excelled she's living in the city now you told us yourself abby you thomas stop my name isn't abby i'm fucking done with this just tell me where charlie is right now thomas thomas please page's voice quivered petrified page don't worry she's not gonna do anything abby listen to me charlie's okay we can call her right now she didn't explain everything and the medications i know you've been missing your doses that's what's happening here your mind is going through withdrawal playing tricks on you your sponsor they're on the way right now they're gonna try to help you and yelled up his phone look i mean i just called him and thomas yelled so loud it shook the floorboards lowered my voice thomas i need you to listen to me listen carefully if you don't tell me where charlie is something really really bad is gonna happen page winces the corkscrew pricked against - Amen. Did Thomas just tell her? She quivered again, riddled with fear. Thomas took another small step forward. Abby, listen to me. I need you to ground yourself. Focus on your senses. Focus on. Wait, how did he know about that? Focus on. Sight. Paige's blonde hair. Thomas's dumbstruck face. The glow of the fireplace. Sound. Heart thumping. Panicked breath. Howling wind. Smell. Red wine. Blood. Desperation. Touch. My hand gripped tightly around the corkscrew and. A sudden, clawing pain shot through my right thigh. My whole body tensed up in a spasm. I staggered backward, let go of Paige and looked down. My god, she stabbed a steak knife right into my thigh. Then I realized. My hands were empty. The corkscrew was gone. Paige toppled to the floor like a bowling pin. The bloody knife was still in her hand. She hit the ground, choking, gargling. What just happened? My eyes darted around for an answer until finally I saw. The corkscrew was lodged, handled deep into the side of Paige's throat. Oh shit, I must have. I didn't mean to. A thin line of blood trailed down her neck, onto the hardwood floor. Her mouth slowly opened and closed, opened and closed like she was trying to speak, trying to breathe. Paige. Thomas whispered, stunned. I stumbled backward into the kitchen. Snapping from his gaze, Thomas collapsed to the floor over Paige. He held her neck, trying to stop the bleeding. Paige. He stared into her eyes, but her gaze just flicked side to side. Empty. Desperation growing, Thomas pressed harder, trying to stop the bleeding. Mind spinning, leg throbbing. I limped out of the kitchen and into the hallway. Paige wasn't human, I told myself. She wasn't even real. None of this is real, but it felt real. More real than anything I'd ever felt. Every memory I ever had, good or bad. It didn't matter. Everything drowned in the present. Staggering into the moonlit foyer, I went for the door. Locked. I already knew that. Damn, I needed to get out of here. I looked down. A dark circle of warm blood seeped through my jeans. Deal with that later. Just get outside. I turned around and remembered. The hammer. I could use it to pry open the door. Paige! Thomas whimpered from the kitchen. I'm here! I'm here, Paige! I'm not leaving! Focus, Eve. I swept back into the living room, trudged up to the so-called quiet corner, snatched up the hammer and scrambled back to the foyer, wasting no time. I shimmied it pry bar first into the doorframe and wrenched back. The wood splintered and strained. I kept prying, kept pulling, but it seemed hopeless. It seemed. Thomas screamed. Animalistic, filled with unimaginable grief. Paige. And I knew exactly what it meant. Paige was dead. No. No. No! He trailed off into a strange, guttural moan, tragic and terrifying all at once. He clenched his fist, thud against the floor, an impact so heavy I could hear the hardwood crack. More screaming, thrashing. Now he was breaking things, tearing apart the kitchen, wrathful. I pried on the door harder and harder, but it was no use. It wouldn't budge. Amadeu! He screamed, his voice filled with murder. Screwed the door. Hammer still in hand. I scrambled upstairs. Thomas charged into the foyer, just in time to see me disappear at the top of the steps. Right leg going numb, I pushed off the wall and staggered down the hallway. Behind me, footsteps thundered up the stairs like an ever-rising war drum. I tried the first door. Locked. The next one. Locked. My eyes shot down to the end of the hall. Abigail's bedroom. Screw it. I burst inside. Slammed the door shut. Spinning around. I pressed my back up against it. I scanned the room. Searching for somewhere to hide. Somewhere to — Abigail. She was standing in the far corner of her room. Back turned. Head slumped. Shaking. Sobbing. Weeping. I didn't know. I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. She whimpered again and again. Sorry about what? Behind me, the door burst open and Thomas slammed into me like a freight train, pinning me against a barred window. He jammed his forearm against my throat, crushing it. He stared into my eyes. Silent. Dressed by rage. Sorrow. As I gasped for air, I looked to the far corner. Empty. Abigail was gone. Was she even there to begin with? I looked back to Thomas. Before this, I thought maybe he'd been putting on a show, but now I could finally see it in his eyes. He actually believed he lived in this house. He actually believed I was his sister, but — "We did so much for you," he snarled, spit-spraying my face. "We gave you everything!" With his free hand, he clutched me by the head. My hair jerked my head forward and smashed it back into the wall, throbbing pain. "We accepted you into our home!" He slammed my head back again, harder this time, each impact heavier than the last. Pain radiated. Vision grew blurry. This was it. I was going to die. This was — might as well back-dip shit. With my left leg and all my remaining strength, I kneed him in the stomach. Winded, he staggered backward, crumpled to his knees. I gasped in air, barely conscious. He looked up. He beat himself to lunge, and — I swung the hammer, claw in first, into the side of his face. A sickening crack filled the room as it lodged into his jaw. Still on his knees, Thomas stared up at me in disbelief. He didn't think I was capable of this. Neither did I. Our eyes locked for a strange, quiet moment, and then I pressed my foot onto his stomach. Pushed it forward and, with both arms, all my strength wrenched back, the hammer tore open his face. With a sickening, wet sound, his perfect teeth ripped out and clattered to the floor in a bloody mess. Oh, fuck. De-jawed the guy. Goddamn, dude. He crumpled over, blood trailing down his jaw, over his neck. The torn flap of his cheek hung open, dangling. Horrific. But slowly, I raised the hammer, tensed up, and — Thomas started sobbing. His pitiful, rising whimpers filled Abigail's face. I had no idea what was going on. I didn't know what was going on. He was holding his face now, as if trying to put himself back together. Blood seeped through his fingers, and his whimpering grew more panicked, more desperate. "But please, please don't, Gabby. Please." He sputtered, drooling ropes of blood onto the floor. All the while, I just stood there, hammer raised, readying myself to finish the job. But I couldn't. Despite all my fear, all my hatred, I couldn't let go. I didn't know what to do. i pulled back he reached up pawing trying to tear them away futile weak pulling tighter i pressed my knee into his back and pushed he gasped choking wheezing i pulled back even harder he coughed a spatter of blood his efforts to fight were fading with each passing second until finally stop i looked up in the doorway eyes wide with terror stood charlie i froze in shock released thomas and staggered back he fell forward gasping for breath barely alive charlie but charlie was looking down absorbing the sight of a devastated thomas then she looked up at me questions shuffled through my head so rapidly i couldn't even speak what about her phone in the basement how was she okay how was she alive all the while charlie didn't say a word she just stood there eyes filled with growing fear but she wasn't scared of thomas she was scared of me charlie wait i finally managed lowering the chains i took a step forward but she stepped back eyes flicking down to the blood slicked weapon in my hand i dropped the chains and took another step charlie kept backing away shaking her head on the verge of tears devastated downstairs the front door burst open heavy footsteps clambered through the foyer up the stairs sirens charlie i could explain i stammered voice cracking she looked into my eyes one last time then turned away disappearing down the hallway she's up here said charlie wait i stepped over thomas into the hallway and two police officers grabbed me by the arms shoved me into the wall face first pink insulation sliced my skin like paper cuts i clasped handcuffs around my wrist and yanked me back i didn't fight i didn't even speak i just stared ahead blankly as they tugged me through the attic now from exhaustion and blood loss i was slipping in and out of consciousness i was slipping in and out of consciousness as they dragged me down the upstairs hallway a few paramedics rushed into the attic my gauge drifted across the wall the dumbwaiter chute was once again covered up as if it were never even there to begin with they pulled me around a corner my eyes landed on a cracked bedroom door from behind it jenny peered out face filled with inconsolable dread they pulled me down the stairs into the foyer towards the front door just as they pulled me outside i looked back and saw a painting a painting on the foyer wall a painting of the house covered up the jagged hole thomas's family was in it can also just make a note too earlier whenever that she said that she's like there was thomas and he looked fucked whatever not like hers she touched his jaw and moved the paint out of the way from his oh yeah yeah that's right like it was covered up like the facade was put back up yeah but yeah the the painting the cheap material whatever when she touched it she moved the jaw that's a good call i forgot about that yeah that's a good call i forgot about that yeah thomas's family was in it page and three kids all of them standing out front happy smiling but behind them peering out through the porthole window a hazy solitary figure eternally trapped outside the storm was over now the snow was melting as the sun crept up over distant mountains the sky split down the middle half night half day on the ground commotion everywhere fire trucks cop cars ambulances neighbors crowding on the street are pre to miguel among them my started around looking for charlie but she was nowhere to be seen the cops dragged me down the driveway past the yellow tape through the crowds onto the street and then i saw standing at the edge of the forest hands once again covering her face like a peekaboo abigail but slowly she started to pull her hands apart revealing her face bit by bit until finally showing her face to the camera showing herself fully this time in the early morning light her one stole eyes were now permeating with life vitality her once sunken face was full again red-cheeked she looked straight into my tear-stricken soul and smiled serene a look of pure contented peace grateful grateful for what then she turned around withdrew into the darkened woods away from the crowds the chaos the night before i could even process what this meant i was thrown into the back of a van and the door slammed shut darkness everyone keeps calling me abigail but my name is eve i was born on october 3rd 1987 at 2 56 in the morning my current residence is 3719 heritage lane my partner the love of my life is charlie bastion we renovate old houses and flip them for profit we 've been together for the last seven years my name is eve palmer but everyone keeps calling me abigail foster now even according to my official documents the family owns the house and they've been living there for years all my neighbors vouch for them even her breed and miguel nobody recognizes me even more not even charlie i still look the way i always have but everyone treats me like i'm a completely different person you know what's up is like in her mind i bet you anything abigail was the person who went up to their house and did i i used to live here yeah or something and they're like oh i guess you could come in and they took her in or something you know what i mean yeah i don't know it's like a cyclic thing happening it's almost like abigail switched places with her because she's like it's the only way i could she i think she did what she thought they did to her is what it is but you know we're almost it's like a cycle of people new come to this house and it just repeats and repeats and repeats yeah so now beyond all reasons all justice i'm locked away in a criminal psych ward charged with one count of homicide and one count of attempted locked away in a room no bigger than a walk-in closet white walls rickety bed cold fluorescent light i'm not sure how long it's been anymore it could be months could be years according to the lead doctor here i've been in out of mental wards my whole life they tell me i've got a laundry list of psychotic delusions they say my version of events story above is nothing but an elaborate hallucination mixed in with little bits of reality complete complete bullshit which also would explain her delusions of being like i flip houses i'm in and out of wards all the time is what i think is why she's like i flip houses i bet you do anywhere for that long exactly i've done enough reading to know that psychotic delusions and hallucinations don't work that way they don't work like they do in the stories with continuity and tied up loose ends these weren't hallucinations these weren't delusions somehow thomas foster bent reality around me like a frayed wire yep this is the same person talking for sure well i mean she she's she's got got she's screwed there is no way she is going to be able to talk her way out of what happened like thomas got her right oh do you believe that she's not crazy yeah with the woman in the attic and the peekaboo and the running through the forest and all that yeah i think that she's completely delusional yeah i think there's some weird i think him getting think about it so thomas whipped in the face thomas fabricated documents that had records of her in a psych ward in and out of sight she switched places with abigail abigail said this was the only way i'm sorry thomas is something else why would you why did charlie not why did you why is charlie turning on her then because like you said the reality wrapped around her right wrapped around the house oh man charlie i i feel like we have completely different okay thomas foster bent reality around me like a frayed wire and i'm pretty sure sister abigail was in on it too i'm still putting it all together but i think she took me down in exchange for her freedom i think she replaced me as for the rest of his family i don't know if they were in on it held captive or something in between i'm still figuring that one out what about charlie according to so-called officials charlie was nothing more than my part-time sponsor for the last six months basically a volunteer caretaker maybe that's what she is now maybe that's what she is in this reality at first i thought everyone was pulling some horrific stunt on me even the doctors like i said neighbors friends even my own parents nobody recognizes me anymore it's like thomas foster pushed me into a completely different reality so what do i what do i turn to charlie i've tried to contact her dozens of times email phone even letters but she never responded not even once the only good thing about this place is the library i mean don't get me wrong i'm sure this facility helps people who actually need it but i don't need it i'm not psychotic thomas foster is that said if this place didn't have a library there's a good chance i would have actually lost my mind they've got computers with them there's a good chance i would have actually lost my mind they've got computers with internet too so internet but still that's where i've been doing my research writing the real version of events putting together my case i still have abigail's journal too so i'm threading together pieces from that oh so this is how they connect the r slash no sleep thing is that she's she's at the story throwing together pieces from that figuring out what thomas is how to stop him i'm not going to share everything until my case is airtight but you just wait soon enough the whole world will know what thomas foster did to me i'm not going to share everything until my case is airtight but you just wait soon enough the whole world will know what thomas foster did to me i'm not going to share everything until my case is airtight but you just wait soon enough the whole world will know what thomas foster did to me either way i don't care if you believe me or not either way i don't care if you believe me or not either way i don't care if you believe me or not even if i had all the evidence in the world it even if i had all the evidence in the world it even if i had all the evidence in the world it wouldn't matter to some of you I just need to convince the few people I still care about first. Then I'll worry about everything else. But despite all this, I feel hopeful. As long as I can stay stable, play along with the doctors. If nothing sets me off, then I can finally get out of here. Then I can finally talk to Charlie in person and explain what happened. Find a way to make everything go back to how it was before. At least, that's how I felt up until a week ago. I was lying on my bed when. My eyes caught something. Up on the white stucco ceiling. A solitary ant, aimlessly wandering in circles. Abigail? A voice snapped me out of a daze. I turned. Standing in the doorway, a nurse. Two security guards behind her. You have a visitor. Flickering cold fluorescent light cast over the visiting room. Faded brick walls. Spaced apart tables. Guards standing at attention in every doorway. Finally, the door buzzed open. And in walked. Thomas Foster. The father. My supposed brother. A sickening chill crawled down my spine. Caught my eyes from across the room and gave me a lopsided smile. The side of his face was scarred, but considering the injury, surprisingly well healed. His eyes were bright. Present. I looked down at the table, staring at my handcuffed wrist. Part of me was expecting the visitor to be Charlie. I don't know why. Still holding out hope, I guess. Thomas sat down across from me. A long silence passed. Buzzing lights. From somewhere deep within the ward, muffled hysterical laughter. Laughter that slowly turned to sorrowful weeping. "Abigail," said Thomas, finally breaking the silence. I didn't look up. My eyes traced back and forth along the handcuffs' chains. I cleared his throat. "It's okay if you're still not ready to talk. I mean, I understand. I just wanted to share a few things." Thomas waited for me to acknowledge him. I didn't. So he just kept going. "I'm sorry. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I'm not going." "This is kind of odd, but… do you remember Walter?" "Nope." He continued. "Walter. My pet tortoise. You actually made me a painting of him for my fifth birthday. Still up in my office. I must have been six, maybe seven when he died. Even little things can be pretty world-ending when you're a kid. Everyone kept trying to make me feel better. Except Dad. He said I needed to get over it by the end of the day. Mom said it was normal. Tommy. She told me. Pets die all the time. Part of life. Walter's up in heaven now. I don't know if you remember this, but you were the only one who actually made me feel any better." I looked up. He was looking down at the table now. "You just sat beside me, wrapped an arm around my shoulder and let me cry. That's it. No lessons. No advice. No ultimatums. Just sat there quietly and let me know it's okay to feel like crap sometimes. Even if it was just a stupid turtle." He sniffed a little. Eyes started to water. "Gosh, Abby, I don't know. I've been thinking a lot about you lately." He looked right at me, and I looked away. "It's okay if you don't want to talk. I get it. I just wanted to let you know that-" He paused a moment, thinking over his next words carefully. "I've been working on myself a lot, and through all this, your relapse, my injuries, Paige's passing, I've rejoined the church. I don't know if you're okay with that." "I don't know if you knew, but I'd lost my faith, but-" He paused again, expecting me to say something, but I remained silent. "I've been talking with doctors here, and they said you've made a lot of progress. They said as long as you keep at it, keep improving, following their guidance, as long as nothing unexpected happens, you could be out of probation sooner than you think." He remained quiet. "Look, I've come to accept that you weren't in control of your actions. You have a condition, a condition you're getting treated for, and I just want to let you know that-" "Abby?" He leaned in slightly. "Abby, look at me." Slowly, I turned and stared blankly into his eyes. He stared back for a sullen moment. "I forgive you." The words hung in the air like a rotting stench, but my face remained neutral. I looked away. Thomas kept hovering, waiting for a response, but again, I gave him nothing. That wasn't playing his part. He looked away. He looked away. He looked away. He looked away. He looked away. He looked away. He looked away. He looked away. He looked away. He looked away. He looked away. "I understand. We can talk when you're ready." He stood up, turned to leave, and froze. "Oh. I almost forgot." Pivoting back, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a manila envelope. "The guard said I could leave this here." He placed it on the table. "I know it meant a lot to you and Charlie." "No, it didn't. It's not what you think. I know it meant a lot to you and Charlie." Finally, I looked up at him. For the briefest of moments, his face twitched. Then he smiled sadly, turned around, and went for the exit. Footsteps punctuated the silence. The door buzzed shut as he left the room. I just sat there, staring at the envelope. I already knew what was inside, but I couldn't bring myself to look. Seconds dragged by like minutes until, finally, I reached forward, opened it, looked in, and found it. Aching sorrow filled every part of me. Inside, just as I expected, was the locket. Charlie's locket. I pulled it out, flicked it open, and there it was. The photo of me. The one Charlie took when we first started dating. The one she put up in her gallery on that rainy Seattle day. The one in which, at the last second, I turned away, held up my hand, and hid my face. The only known photo of Eve Palmer. supernatural or a time issue with the house because of the way physical items keep jumping or things keep moving so for example you have jenny who's a bright bubbly kid the facade's gone but then terrified at the end of the night obviously after her mom dies that same jenny is the one that hides in the house and is depressed at the beginning of the story but you have that happening with objects too you have the dumb waiter which is covered in wallpaper then they rip it down and then it's covered again you have the furniture physically moving just like abigail said the rooms keep changing the colors are changing the furniture's moving stuff like that this house seems to be a rotary door that you can move through different points in time at the same place and they all kind of converge at this one moment and for whatever reason if thomas he said we built the house at the very least thomas can manipulate it he can change change time he can bring people in and he can effectively trap them in the spiral of it i think your mind is in the right spot with that the house is a rotary door but i think it's literally her mind i just the one thing that i don't that's not connecting me with your theory is just the idea of like besides fucking with people what does the what would a thomas entity have on new people moving in versus uh this thing of like abigail or like an abigail person or somebody saying like the house is changing or moving i do think it's something where it's like things are moving and things are moving and things are moving and things are moving and things are manipulating and covering things back up and it's like so it's also through we're going through the guys potentially at least on the surface level of the story that is through the eyes of an unreliable narrator so like things are patched up but is she seeing that correctly i think she's unreliable because she's made to be unreliable because reality's shifting around her what's interesting about both of our takes is these are both the correct takes of the story because the right take of the story because the reality's shifting around her what's interesting about both of our takes is these are both the correct takes of the story because the or these are her crazy thoughts right i think you could take it either way i think you can take it either way i also think that on multiple readings i'm also 100 curious what this this so that has got me fired up about this i am 100 we should definitely read this and talk about it because also just to just to reiterate too when we we were talking about this story there was morse code inside the book that led to hold on real quick before we get to that because i have a lot to say about that uh the reddit story we just read was the one that was the one that was the one that was 57 pages typed out on google this is a pdf 312 yeah so what do you do when you take that story and make it 312 pages well that's what i'm curious to even ask marcus about is be like which because i think he's going to lean heavier into a certain direction of either what you're saying of because i i want because here's the other thing too is at the beginning of this you said you saw this thing there's new you saw the title page and you made you think of house of leaves or whatever yeah hold on that stuff i'm about to get fired up about that well let me just yeah yeah sorry sorry go ahead yeah you're you're talking about house of leaves thing which i think is leaning you towards more of a house of leaves response probably i read this story so much in the vein of shutter island of leo and at the and it's like a thing of a man who has been like it is that like ultimate deep psychosis of whatever issue it is and at the end it's like kind of that big reveal i kept just picturing like a shutter island kind of feel yeah harry why me as a what do you think which way you lean in yeah i was split going to the end i was leaning more towards isaiah's take on it going in but i do agree the weird you're letting thomas win you're letting him get to i think the tortoise the tortoise painting thing too also felt like a full circle moment the very last meeting of thomas and them because you can read it one way of like there needs if he's going to meet and also reveal himself as the trickster there needs to be a wing which you could say is the locket of like i'm the only one that also knows and owns this photo of you as the actual you and i'm gifting it back to you because we both know you but i do agree like hunters it's very interesting because the the way he speaks to her at the end to me very genuinely reads as as a brother who is grappled with that's right because he's good at it that's right they're just like i don't know it's a really fun way of being able to do both i just think for me personally the story is at its most effective and i like was like oh that last line of the last known photo of eve palmer which charlie says to her is almost something where if it is a caretaker or something and she's and i would assume that abigail in the sense or eve is saying like oh i'm eve palmer and i don't see a world where the caretaker is like no i don't think that she's trying to like and trying to neglect her fantasy but i do think it's like when she took a photo she's been very like hesitant to take any photos or whatever it is like a fun thing of like that's the only photo of eve palmer because that is her alter ego or whatever and that's like such this to me i was like oh come everywhere like i was like that's amazing such a payoff such a fun payoff and on the because again wait sorry sorry i zoned out for a second what part did you say was such a fun payoff for me if it is the translation that eve palmer was a alter ego yeah hers that the end part where she reiterates the line that charlie said the only known photo the only known photo of eve palmer is such a that's a such a banger line at the end because if you think of it from this is reality warping and she's been tricked or whatever the eve palmer somewhere else like it could be there'd be like she's she's she's gone this is the only photo of eve palmer in this reality the way that you take it it is a thing of like that she's gone yeah i mean like yeah yeah and i for for me and i think that this also could be a way of and it once again such a such an awesome i legitimately am i'm going to jump into it this is going to be a fun thing of knowing the story now and then going into being like oh that's a fun way of turning left and this you know i opened it and started looking there's new character names there's segments that have morse code throughout them and there's also part oh they did the house of leafs thing where midway through the narrative it stops and gives like like a note says if someone else is reading this book and then typing amendings and stuff like that because in house of leaves there's the narrative and then the the editor chimes in and is like this book they were talking about doesn't exist we have no idea what i think there could be a world to isaiah i'm curious is the r slash no sleep version from the from the perspective of a psychiatric person in a ward listing out what because to stay in the confines of that narrative where it's like oh my god i'm going to die i'm going to die i'm going to die i'm going to die like i don't know what this is docket 19 interrogation and it's like a description of two characters in the story like but it could be a thing where then in the book version maybe it plays more into like some kind of different house of leaves eve palmer calling except decline like there's a bunch of visual stuff i don't mean to keep cutting you off no no it's fine but all i know is it's it's it's one of those things where and i love stories that do this it's uh it's it's a lot of fun to read it each time that's like some of my favorite parts of even watching fucking movies you go through and you get something new out of each time it's like that's like that my love of like the thing the fascination with the thing is just kind of like have a fun interpretation of it but i mean legitimately though marcus thank you so much for these books too man i'm so excited bro look at this giant letter scratch don't forget what house you're in like so there's uh new character names there's new segments and stuff i am so excited to see what this looks like as a as a novel length story man can you get this anywhere i know that i know i've seen people posting on the subreddit right now they picked up a copy i saw people picking up at like barnes and noble i would assume that their stuff if you don't have a barnes and noble by you that there might be like i'm sure it's on amazon or anywhere that you could get a book gosh this is so cool and then is there but the the morse code thing so yeah he sent us two books so this is like his best seller big deal that came out and then i think this is his most recent one it's called the caretaker uh another book that also has a house on the cover uh it looks creepy and then he marcus is that the from the fucking perspective of charlie no i opened it up and it says macy mullins can't say why the job posting grabbed her attention but i'm sure it's another house weird scenario that goes it probably is because the morse code thing led us to he he gave us these things in here so morse code and that translated to 258 we turned to 250 we turned to page 258 and then there was a tiny piece of paper let me let me pull it out so if i put also also just uh the the non-euclidean cardinal directions map and stuff like that what a doll yeah right here on 258 i turned here and then there was a little piece of paper on the inside which which had a thing here that said r slash old house archive which isaiah pointed out and the house is in red the same way that in house of leaves you see that on the camera in uh we'll put a photo up of it so in house of leaves uh anytime the word house appears in the book the word house regardless of the context is written in blue um so here at on the copies he sent us he gave us morse code which led us to a page which gives us the snippet that says r slash old house archive so then hunter looked it up r r slash old house archive is a collection of stories between himself about this like uh um i don't think it's just him i think there's other writers involved but there's a website called old house archive.net that is a collection of stories and like patient interviews. It almost seems like the same way that like fucking lovecraft this stuff of like building a universe with other writers we we just found out about this during a bathroom break so there we don't have everything up but i just it looks like and there's a the subreddit looks like it's active and people are adding stuff to it or like just someone someone posted something a few hours ago like there and on the website there's all these logs with like these like weird directional um like i said like cardinal direction symbols but they're like carved off and strange and stuff and then as hunter pointed out in the front of the look at the cover of the caretaker that's so cool in the front of uh we used to live here there's all the drawings and schematics like a house of leaves thing like someone's trying to chart the impossible infrastructure of the house yeah um yeah that's in the open of uh we used to live here so it looks like marcus is either part of or founded this large universe uh like a house of leaves as weird impossible structures and non-euclidean spaces and time shifting and there's the potential at all that in this universe it's all from the same house no because so on that website we were just we just scrolled through the logs and the title of one of the logs was um coat rack tulpa which is the thing in my basement and i don't think this house would be the thing in my basement house now i would say that i would say that it's a they all exist in the same universe you know you can imagine like a world where like these things continue to crop up over and over again for whatever reason um but i would say that but i don't think it's the same name of that her address didn't that sound familiar though 3719 heritage lane the heritage lane thing i don't know why i i'd have to go back through and see but i unless it's just something but i'm gas the house of house of leaves is ash tree lane well i guess more so i was thinking about the coat rack i just i don't know i don't know if they ever said the i'd be curious to see oh i know like very very fun and i and i will say marcus incredible work i can't wait to dive into this i'm fired up man that story what like i said in the rafters this is this is i'm putting it i'll definitively say top five of the show for me it would be one two that i think it's going to be there's going to be a lot of discussion about like on rereads or like i'm curious if people i mean like because i believe that people have talked about this but like i said marcus gave us the pdf to read the no sleep version which 100 is going to be different than the thing you can get here so i'm curious too to where even in the future once we both have read this if we just have a little segment just talking about it yeah or even discussing on like patreon or something where it can be it's well i want to i'm actually considering so the only other time i've ever done this on the show was mother horse eyes uh which i mean to me that's still my favorite thing we've run the show just because it was so it just hit every niche interest was giants and cia and mk aldrin all that um but after we did mother horse eyes i went and i i went through all of like uh the different reddit theories around it and all the posts and i made a video on my own channel i'm thinking because at some point i will make a house of leaves video but honestly i want to get like people on site and do like some clever because house of leaves is such a clever book i don't want to do it the disservice of just talking about it i want to do fun stuff with the edit and visuals and whatnot sure so eventually i will make a video on that but it looks like marcus with with this and honestly also with the thing in my basement um it seems like he has begun to create an expanded universe or at least be a part of it around a spiritual successor to house of leaves or like successors and all these stories and like the website and the different patient logs and interviews and there was like mp3 files on there to like listen to audio recordings of stuff so i'm thinking i'm gonna read these books and i'm gonna dive the website and i'm i'm feeling pretty heavy i want to make a video about it this uh and this i mean just it's cool seeing something from an author that's still so active i mean like this i looked on the back here it says 2024 it was the copyright i mean like it's just cool i'm very curious to see uh what else he does next with it it's not so cool we talked about this a lot how like there's so many great authors like you know you're talking about arkham house and lovecraft and stuff like that uh but it's so cool it's like right now people are still you know making stories in these interconnected worlds and things like that i mean the more that i even think about us reading this show and stuff a lot of it just comes from like did a title grab you did we i mean we have luckily we have an audience that helps us recommend stuff and everything and point us in a direction but i can't even imagine being an author in the history of i mean all of literature with just the sheer amount of volume of stuff that's still being made and stuff it would be a fucking crazy to be able to rise to the top of the world and be able to like this is insane and i'm i just feel lucky enough that we get to like read cool shit like this yeah uh as mentioned before huge huge thank you to marcus and simon and schuster yeah because the original reddit you know it's got the copyright stuff but they're like no go ahead with it and now we've read a 57 page reddit story that i'm fired up to read like a thousand pages coming up about the rest of marcus i mean uh and like i said if you did like the story please consider going out and picking up the book uh they they were very cool and let us read this we we wouldn't have been able to touch it so very very cool and also it's awesome that it's always satisfying at the end of an episode when you can say if you like that there's an updated version that the author has also like got to fine-tune and stuff which very rarely in any kind of creative circle can you experience i mean like what the snyder cut that's about it you know so uh very very cool thank you so much guys for watching this episode if you were listening to this on audio platforms consider us giving us like a nice uh uh nice rating there and then also consider going to the patreon for extra content and to support the channel we thank you so much y'all stay creeped stay creeped and uh because i i hope this story sparks a civil war in the comment section um all of us eve truthers are need to wage war against the um um the thomas what's what's the word for someone who's like listen evangelicals bro the tom truthers what what is the uh what what is the uh uh the word for someone who's complicit in something accomplice the tom complices the evangelicals need to defeat the tom complices over here as they perpetuate the gaslighting against our very righteous and correct eve palmer don't let eve palmer's name die say her name um evangelicals for the win all right