Bizarre Bedtime Stories: The Dead Don't Always Rest | Creepy Cemetery Stories Ep. 6

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We are wandering somewhere the limni don't usually linger after dark.
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A place where the silence feels heavier, the shadows seem
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a little too deep, and the names carved into cold
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stone belong to people whose stories should have ended long ago. Tonight,
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we're heading into the cemetery. There's something deeply unsettling about
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a graveyard at night. The weathered headstones disappearing into the darkness,
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the distant rustling of leaves when there's barely a breeze,
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And that strange feeling that you might not be as
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alone as you think. Maybe it's just your imagination getting
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the better of you. Or maybe some places hold on
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to more than we'll ever understand. So settle in, my friends.
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Get comfortable and let yourself drift into the darkness with me.
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And sometimes the scariest part of the cemetery isn't the dead.
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It's what might still be there with them. Happy nightmares.
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In the spring of 2003, I graduated high school and
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had a scholarship lined up at a nearby community college.
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I decided to get a summer job in order to
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make some extra money before I started my freshman year
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that fall. As it happened, a friend of my dad's
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worked as a caretaker at a local cemetery. but was
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taken a couple months off in order to recuperate from
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some back surgery he had scheduled soon. Duke, my dad's friend,
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told me his son Brian, who was about my age,
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had already volunteered to fill in as a temporary daytime caretaker,
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but if I was interested, he had another job I
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might be interested in. I asked him what it was.
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He told me, night watchman. Apparently, there had been several
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other cemeteries in the area that had been vandalized recently,
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probably the work of teenagers, and Duke needed someone to
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guard the cemetery between 8 p.m. when it closed to
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the public for the day and 5 a.m. when his
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son Brian would show up for his job. Duke told
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me it wasn't an official county position, but he was
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willing to pay me out of his own pocket to
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do it. I was a little hesitant at first to
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accept the job. I'm not someone who spooks very easily,
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but the thought of being alone in a deserted cemetery
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at night for nine hours did kind of give me
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the creeps. But I didn't really have anything else lined
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up for me that summer, and it sounded like it
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would be flipping burgers at McDonald's anyway, so I shrugged
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and said, sure, why not? The cemetery where I would
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be working was on the outskirts of town where I lived,
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out in the country, surrounded by wide open farmland on
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three sides. The back of the cemetery ended at the
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edge of a small wooded area. It was pretty big
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and sprawling, maybe six acres, and was one of the
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oldest cemeteries in the area with graves dating back to
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the early 1800s. I drove out there one bright, warm,
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late afternoon in early June for my first shift and
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was greeted by Duke, who was waiting for me near
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the entrance. He spent the next hour or so giving
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me a tour of the grounds and explaining what my
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job duties would consist of. Basically, I would give the
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whole cemetery a sweep every hour and write down any
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unusual activity, whatever that was, I encountered. And if I
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found anyone trespassing, I shouldn't confront them. I should call
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the police instead. He took me into a small shed
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off to one side near the front. The place was
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crammed with tools and gardening equipment. There was a small
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desk with a chair and a notebook on it for
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me to log my reports and a big flashlight, the
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long kind that takes 4D batteries to power. As soon
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as Duke finished showing me around, his face suddenly turned serious.
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He told me that he had something he wanted me
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to see and took a ring of keys out of
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his pocket. I watched intrigued as he unlocked a tall
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metal locker against one wall and opened it. I gasped.
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Inside stood a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a box of shells.
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Duke held the locker open for a few seconds to
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show me the shotgun, then closed and relocked it. He
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explained to me that the shotgun was only for extreme
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emergencies and that he didn't want me to touch it
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unless I felt sure that my life was in danger.
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He went on to say that you never know who
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might show up at the cemetery after dark. Usually it
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was harmful stuff, bored kids looking for a place to
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drink and screw around. But cemeteries also tended to be
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hangout spots for all kinds of weirdos, Satanists, drug addicts,
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sometimes even grave robbers. Seeing my look of concern, he
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gave me a reassuring smile and told me it wasn't
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likely I would run into any of those types of
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people on the job, but he wanted me to know
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about the shotgun just in case. Then he removed the
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locker key from the key ring and handed it to me.
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By then, late afternoon had given way to early evening
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and the sun had begun to set. Duke had pretty
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much shown me and told me everything I needed to know,
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so we shook hands and then he left to go home.
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I watched as he got into his pickup truck and
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drove down the driveway and through the cemetery gate and
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onto the road, disappearing from sight. I realized suddenly that
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I was all alone in a deserted cemetery, miles from anyone,
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and it was starting to get dark. I shuddered in
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spite of myself. I looked at my watch and saw
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it was nearly 8pm, the start of my first shift.
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I figured there was maybe an hour of daylight left.
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I did my first check of the cemetery grounds, beginning
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at the front and finishing at the rear. This part
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of the cemetery was especially creepy. Many of the gravestones
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were cracked and leaning and eroded by the elements. Several
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of the plots had a sunken look. Duke had explained
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to me earlier when giving me the tour that was
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caused by the soil setting on top of the old
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caskets as they deteriorated and collapsed underground. I shuddered at
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the thought. The back of the cemetery ended at an
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embankment that sloped down to a shallow creek with the
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woods beginning on the other side. At the bottom of
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the embankment was a heap of old, rotting flower bouquets
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and wreaths from the graves. I figured Duke must dump
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them there after they begin to dry out and fall apart.
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My whole inspection only took about 15 minutes, so I
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headed back to the maintenance shed to kill some time
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before the next one. I propped my feet up on
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the desk and pulled out a paperback Stephen King book
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I had brought along to help pass the time. This
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was 2003, remember, long before smartphones came along. I read, observed,
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and the harrowing ordeal of the Torrance family in the
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creepy Overlook Hotel, and before I knew it, 9 o'clock
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had rolled around. I put down my book, picked up
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my flashlight, and headed outside to patrol the grounds. It
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was almost fully dark now and I could hear crickets.
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I strolled through the cemetery, starting again at the front
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and working my way to the back, casually aiming my
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flashlight around. I had just reached the rear of the
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cemetery when something happened. I stopped, listening, suddenly alert. I
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had heard something. I cocked my head, listening. I could
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hear a faint scraping sound, soft and slow and steady.
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I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I shined
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my flashlight around but could see nothing out of the ordinary.
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Just as abruptly as the sound had begun, it stopped.
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I shrugged it off, figuring it was probably some animal,
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a raccoon or a possum or something, scratching at the
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bark of a nearby tree. Finished with my inspection, I
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returned to the shed and picked up my book. I
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spent the next hour or so reading, and was just
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at the part where the little boy Danny encounters the
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rotting naked old woman in the bathtub when I heard
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something outside that caused me to jump to my feet,
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knocking over my chair, startled. Footsteps. Slow, labored, shuffling footsteps
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that sounded like they were moving around just outside the shack.
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My heart began to race. I stood there, petrified with
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sudden fear. It was nighttime and the cemetery was closed.
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There shouldn't be anyone out there. I remembered what Duke
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had said about teenage trespassers. I waited, hardly daring to
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even breathe, my pulse racing, listening. The footsteps seemed to
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circle around the shack two or three times, then gradually
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faded off in the distance. Silence resumed. I waited there
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for several minutes, too scared to investigate. I glanced at
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the locker with the shotgun inside it, but remembered Duke
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telling me not to touch it unless I was in danger.
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It was probably just some local kids who came to
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have an underage drinking party or a teen couple looking
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for a place to make out. Except the cemetery was
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five miles out of town and I hadn't heard anything
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about it. cars pull up outside. I stood there for
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the better part of five minutes, scared and undecisive. Finally,
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I told myself I was being chicken shit and needed
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to man up. Protecting the cemetery from trespassers was, after all,
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my job. It was probably some harmless old drunk or
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a drifter looking for a place to crash for the night.
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I summoned my courage, picked up the flashlight, then opened
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the shed door and stepped outside. It was full dark
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now and totally pitch black. Thick dark clouds blotted out
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the moon and stars and the only illumination came from
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my flashlight. Cautiously, I began a sweep of the cemetery.
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There was no sign of any intruder and nothing looked
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out of place, but I could somehow still sense that
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something was wrong. Different. It took a couple minutes for
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me to place it. It was quiet. Too quiet. Dead quiet.
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The crickets had stopped chirping. An unnatural hush had fallen
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over the cemetery like a blanket. The only sound was
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my breathing. Besides that, it was as silent as, well,
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as silent as a grave. I felt like I was
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being watched. I had read that cliched expression in a
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thousand bad horror stories and never believed it before then,
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but at that moment, alone in the dark in the
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middle of the night in the unnaturally silent cemetery, I did.
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It seemed like I could sense a dozen set of
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predatory eyes boring into me, observing my every move so
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strong it was almost like a physical sensation. I was
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scared shitless. I stopped in my tracks abruptly, tensing, cocking
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my head. I had heard something. What was it? I listened. Faintly,
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I could hear that same soft, persistent scraping sound from before.
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I looked around, trying to pinpoint its location and source.
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It seemed to be coming from directly ahead of me
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and to my right. I cautiously moved on, tracking the sound,
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which seemed to get slightly louder the closer I got.
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I was in the newer section of the cemetery, the
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part still in use. I stopped in front of a
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new grave where the sound seemed to be at its loudest.
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I trained my flashlight upon the marble headstone. It belonged
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to an elderly woman who had died only a couple
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weeks before. The mound of soil in front of the
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headstone was still brown and bare and grass from her
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recent burial. I listened and realized the sound was coming
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from below the grave. Below the grave. I felt a
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chill as cold as ice water rise from the pit
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of my stomach up to my heart. I tried convincing
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myself it was probably just a gopher or some other
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subterranean animal burrowing through the earth. Then something happened. I
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felt a tremor and heard the rumble of falling soil. Earthquake?
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I thought for a split second, but it only seemed
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to be coming from the fresh grave before me, nowhere else.
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Then the rectangle of bare, mounded earth collapsed inward almost
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in slow motion, looking like the roof of an elevator
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car descending its shaft. It happened in no more than
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five seconds. I stood there transfixed in shock before a
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gaping black hole that only seconds before had been a
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full grave. It took a few moments for my brain
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to process what I had just witnessed. My mind was
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freaking out, screaming at me to run, but my body
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didn't listen. As scared as I was, some part of
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me was also curious. Some part of me had to see.
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Similarly not to their own accord, my feet stepped to
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the edge of the sunken grave and I shined my
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flashlight down. The beam centered on a casket lying askew
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at the bottom of a pit. A pit that was
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at least 15 feet deep, much deeper than a grave.
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more like a mine shaft, with drifts of dirt all
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around it. And as I watched, the casket was moving,
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scooting along the bottom of the shaft, inch by inch,
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scraping through the dirt. I moved the beam of my
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flashlight to the other end of the casket, and what
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I saw is something that still haunts my dreams to
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this day. There was a gaping black hole, the entrance
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of a tunnel, and the side of the pit, and
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a pair of thin, gray arms with unnaturally long fingers
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and long, black, claw-like fingernails were protruding from this hole,
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clutching the foot of the casket, dragging it into the
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tunnel a little at a time. That's when I turned
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and ran back to the shed, panting in terror. I
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reached in my pocket for my phone to call the police,
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but it wasn't there. I must have left it on
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the desk in the shed. I reached the shed, went
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through the door, and froze. The inside of the shed
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was in shambles. Everything had been trashed. Tools were scattered
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across the floor. The desk and chair had been turned over.
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My paperback had been torn to shreds. And my cell
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phone had been smashed to pieces. Someone had been in
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the shed while I'd been outside. Or something. I stood there,
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taking in the destruction. Then I heard a sound coming
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from behind me. the same shuffling footsteps I had heard before.
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I spun around. I seemed to regress in age in
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a matter of a few seconds, reduced to the surreal,
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almost wondrous state of terror of a child in the
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grip of a nightmare. A figure stood in front of
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the doorway, only a few feet outside the shed. It
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was cast in shadow, only a silhouette, but I could
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see it was tall and thin, with unnaturally long, skinny
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arms that hung down nearly to its feet. Its eyes
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were red. I could see them glinting in the dark
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like embers. They were staring right at me. We stood
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there for what felt like eternity, regarding each other. Then
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the shadowy figure took a step towards the door. I
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darted forward, slammed the door, and turned the lock. There
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was an unnaturally high-pitched chittering screech from outside, a sound
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more animal-like than human. The creature began to pound widely
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against the shed door. I jumped at something else slammed
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against the rear wall of the shed. I could hear
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claws scratching against the wood as if something was trying
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to burrow through the wall. Something else slammed in the
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side of the shed. There was more than one of them,
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and they were all trying to break into the shed
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at the same time, trying to break in and get me.
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That's when I remembered the shotgun. I looked to the
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metal locker, still upright, but now leaning askew against one corner.
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I frantically searched the pockets of my jeans until I
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found the key Duke had given me. With shaking hands,
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I unlocked the locker and grabbed the shotgun, hoping it
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was loaded. I had never touched a gun in my
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life and had no idea how to load one, and
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there wasn't enough time anyway. I fumbled with it and
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expertly for a few seconds until I figured out how
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to get the safety off. The banging and screeching was
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coming from all around me. It sounded like the shed
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was surrounded on all four sides. I pumped the shotgun
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like I'd seen it done in the movies, then aimed
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it in my shaking hands at the door, clenched my teeth,
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and pulled the trigger. The explosion was louder than I
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ever would have imagined, and the kickback was so powerful
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it almost knocked me backwards. The next morning, I would
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find an ugly bruise on my right shoulder where the
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stock of the shotgun had struck me. A ragged hole
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the size of a fist materialized in the door. For
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a split second after I fired the shotgun, I thought
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I detected a high-pitched shriek of pain outside the shed door.
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Then I couldn't hear anything but ringing in my ears.
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For a few seconds, I feared I had gone deaf
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from the blast. Then slowly, my hearing returned. I knew
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because I could hear my own ragged breathing. Otherwise, there
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was silence. The screeching and banging had ceased. I listened intently,
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my heart pounding, but heard nothing. Then cautiously, still clutching
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the shotgun, I crept to the battered shed door, unlocked it,
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and threw it open, leveling the shotgun. There was nothing
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there but blackness. I fled the shed, running an all-out
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sprint to my car, leaped in, locked the doors, started
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the engine, and took off, slamming down that gas pedal.
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I sped down the driveway, my tires shrieking and sending
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gravel flying. I shot through the gate, then turned onto
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the highway back to town. But just before I drove
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through the gate, I saw, or thought I saw, one
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last thing in my rearview mirror. Several pairs of glowing
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red eyes in the darkness behind my car. My phone
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had been destroyed, so I drove to the sheriff's office
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when I reached town and told them I had been
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attacked by grave robbers. I was scared and badly shaken,
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but still possessed enough sense to know they wouldn't believe
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me if I told them what I had really encountered
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in the cemetery. After I gave my statement, they called
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my parents, who came and picked me up since I
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was still pretty rattled. My mom drove me home in
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their car, where my dad followed behind us in mine.
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I went straight up to my room after we got back,
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fell into bed, but it was several hours before I
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managed to fall asleep. The state police came by the
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next day to ask me more questions and I told
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them the same story I told the sheriff and his deputy.
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I had been doing my hourly inspection of the grounds
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and surprised a couple grave robbers who had chased me
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back to the shed and tried breaking in before I
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had scared them away with the shotgun Duke had showed me.
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I hadn't gotten a good look at their faces and
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couldn't even tell exactly how many there had been. The
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police didn't seem very satisfied with my answers and looked suspicious.
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I think they could sense I was holding something back,
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but they didn't press the matter and left soon after.
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A couple days later, Duke stopped by the house to
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see how I was doing. I told him I was okay,
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but after my experience, I probably won't be coming back
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to work. He seemed to understand and was apologetic about
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what had happened. He paid me $ 60 in cash for
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my single disastrous shift at the cemetery watchman. I noticed
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that something else seemed to be bothering him. He had
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a troubled frown on his face and seemed disturbed, maybe
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even a little scared. I asked him how the police
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investigation at the cemetery was going. There had been a
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brief story about it on the local TV news and
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if they had found any clues. But he just shrugged
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and said that so far there wasn't much to go on.
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Somehow I could sense he was lying. His answer seemed
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evasive and I got the feeling he knew more than
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he was letting on. He left and that was the
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last time I ever spoke to him. It took over
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a week for me to get over my ordeal, but
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then I was pretty much back to normal. I got
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a job working part-time at Blockbuster Video back when that
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was a thing for the rest of the summer and
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started college that fall. After I graduated in 2007, I
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got a job in the city, found a decent apartment, married,
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and had two kids. It's been 18 years since that
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night and I had mostly put it behind me and
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forgotten about it, except for the occasional bad dream. Then
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last month, Something happened. I had taken my family to
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the rural town where I grew up to visit my
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parents for the weekend. Just by chance, I ran into Brian,
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Duke's son, while in town getting some groceries. He recognized
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me from when we had been kids. We had never
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really been close friends, but he had attended the same
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schools growing up and belonged to some of the same
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social circles. Anne invited me to the bar where we
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reminisced about old times and caught up on each other's
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lives over a couple beers. His father, Duke, had died
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peacefully in his sleep eight years before, and now Brian
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worked in his dad's position at the cemetery groundskeeper. I
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asked Brian if the police ever got any leads on
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whoever it was who had dug up the grave and
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attacked me that night back in 2003. His mood instantly changed.
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His face darkened and became guarded. He was silent for
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some time and seemed to be debating in his head
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what he should tell me. Finally, he leaned in close
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to me and made me promise I would never tell
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anyone what he was about to tell me. I promised.
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Brian explained that the police had inspected the open grave
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and discovered the tunnel I had seen at the bottom.
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They had investigated and discovered a whole network of underground
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tunnels running below the cemetery that looked to have been
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dug out by hand. Another tunnel entrance had been found
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partially concealed by undergrowth in the ditch at the bottom
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of the embankment in the rear of the cemetery. In
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the center of this subterranean tunnel system had been a
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large cavern that had been filled with splintered caskets, some
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dating back over a hundred years, and bones. and body parts,
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some still relatively fresh. The human remains had all shown
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signs of having been devoured. I felt a chill pass
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through my body. Brian finished off his beer with a
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hard swig and set the bottle down with a trembling hand.
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He went on to explain that after the gruesome discovery,
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the police had notified the FBI, who had shown up
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to investigate and And after the FBI came, another government
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agency had gotten involved. I asked him who, but he
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just shook his head and told me they hadn't said,
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only that their jurisdiction had superseded both the state police
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and the FBI. They had taken over the investigation, shut
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down the cemetery, and had ordered everyone involved, including Duke,
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to stay silent with the threat of prosecution and imprisonment
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if they breathed a word of it to anyone. The
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cemetery had been closed for over a year, while men
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in hazmat suits had collected the bodies in plastic bags
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and loaded them into unmarked black vans. Then one day,
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they were just gone. They left without a word, seemingly overnight,
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leaving no trace behind. The underground tunnels had been filled
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in with dirt, and after that, things had pretty much
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gone back to normal. Brian sat there quietly for a while.
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I thought he was finished. And then he added one
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final detail. The morning after my night in the cemetery,
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after the sheriff had looked around, but before the state
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police had arrived to do a more thorough investigation, Brian
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and his dad had found something outside the shed the
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sheriff had overlooked. A small puddle of black liquid on
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the ground outside the door I had fired the shotgun through.
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Duke had figured it was probably just spilt motor oil
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from a bottle in the shed and told Brian to
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clean it up. But Brian had noticed something his dad hadn't.
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A thin trail of the same black substance in the
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grass leading away from the shed, toward the embankment in
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the back of the cemetery. He had been curious and
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collected a small sample in a jar when his father
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wasn't looking and mailed it to an older cousin of
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his who worked as a technician in the anthropology department
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of a university across the state. A couple weeks later,
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Brian's cousin called him. They had analyzed the sample. They
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were able to determine it was blood, but the DNA
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sequence wasn't like anything they'd ever seen before. They couldn't
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identify what the blood sample had come from, but whatever
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it was, it wasn't human. Our next story of the
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00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.680
night is called Working at a Cemetery is a Unique Experience.
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And the author of the story, Nick Botick, He has
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a new book releasing on November 17th, and as always,
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I will put all the information in the show notes,
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so if you like his story, go check it out.
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So I work at a cemetery, Pine Lawn Memorial Park
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to be exact. My family has owned it for nearly
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five generations, and I've been working there since I was 12,
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officially since I was 15. Cemeteries, I know, are sort
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of inherently creepy, and despite my family being in the
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dead people business since long before I was born, I
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still have always found it to be a weird place
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and for much, much more than the obvious reasons. I
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posted a couple of my stories related to Pine Lawn
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here in the past, but I decided to put them
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00:27:10.910 --> 00:27:14.309
in a more concise format as well as add several more.
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Growing up, I heard stories, plenty of weird things that
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happened at the family cemetery. One thing I'd always been
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told is that even though weird things happened, No one
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that's ever worked there had ever been harmed. Other people
447
00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:34.220
are another story. I suppose I should begin with the
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very first one I ever heard, per my mom. Some
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weird stuff had happened before this, I guess, but since
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it was the first story I'd ever been told about
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Pine Lawn, this is what made me weary to ever
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be there by myself or at night. Something like a
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hundred some odd years ago now, the cemetery was obviously
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much smaller than it is now. At that time, there
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was around 120 bodies buried there. Apparently, the city wanted
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to develop and they wanted to buy the particular land
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that my family owned, effectively shutting us down. My family
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fought it and a deal was reached to sell them
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the land we had. If the city would then also
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pay a portion of the land next to it, on
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which my family could continue the business. The city accepted
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and they partially paid for an equal amount of adjacent land.
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My family at that time also bought several more acres
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past that, which we're still filling up to this day. Anyways,
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when that happened, my family had to inform all the
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other families that the remains of their dearly departed loved
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ones were going to be moved into new plots. Work
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began on that, and as bulldozers and other large shoveling
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equipment wasn't yet common, it all had to be done
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by hand. All went well for the first roughly two-thirds
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of the moves. The ground was dug up, the caskets
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were retrieved, and they were moved along with their headstones
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down to the new freshly dug plots. The final third
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is where things get weird. Back then, caskets were generally
475
00:29:10.190 --> 00:29:13.769
made of wood, and rather than crafty woodwork designs made,
476
00:29:14.250 --> 00:29:19.069
a decorative cloth was laid over it. These wooden caskets
477
00:29:19.150 --> 00:29:22.430
more often than not weighed roughly equal to or less
478
00:29:22.470 --> 00:29:26.589
than the body they contained. All this to say that
479
00:29:26.630 --> 00:29:29.190
in my case, the weight of the body inside was
480
00:29:29.250 --> 00:29:34.509
discernible from the casket itself. Well, when they got to
481
00:29:34.549 --> 00:29:37.160
that final northernmost third of the land that the city
482
00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:40.710
had bought, the caskets became lighter. The sounds of the
483
00:29:40.779 --> 00:29:45.779
corpses within, example, slight sliding, a jerky step, making a
484
00:29:45.799 --> 00:29:49.769
limb fall to one side, hitting the inside of the box, etc.,
485
00:29:49.900 --> 00:29:53.299
began to become fewer and farther between. Eventually, with the
486
00:29:53.339 --> 00:29:55.660
last 20 or so caskets, they felt like there was
487
00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:59.089
nothing inside at all. With the permission of the families,
488
00:29:59.170 --> 00:30:02.589
the cemetery employees opened these caskets they thought were empty
489
00:30:03.009 --> 00:30:06.329
and found just that to be the case. The insides
490
00:30:06.369 --> 00:30:08.559
of the caskets were bare and looked as if there
491
00:30:08.599 --> 00:30:13.640
hadn't been anything inside them. This was quite a bit
492
00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:16.559
of a scandal, as I'm sure you can imagine. My
493
00:30:16.700 --> 00:30:20.380
family both publicly and privately swore up and down that
494
00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:23.680
the land had been untouched since the caskets in question
495
00:30:23.700 --> 00:30:26.890
were buried. and that the absence of any contents as
496
00:30:26.930 --> 00:30:31.049
well as the cleanliness of the caskets themselves was simply impossible.
497
00:30:31.650 --> 00:30:34.329
It took some years for the reputation of Pine Lawn
498
00:30:34.349 --> 00:30:40.890
to recover, but at last, it did. My grandpa worked
499
00:30:40.950 --> 00:30:43.599
at Pine Lawn starting in the 60s, but lived there
500
00:30:43.619 --> 00:30:46.480
his whole life. The house that my family built on
501
00:30:46.500 --> 00:30:49.779
the property, one that I actually live in now, it's
502
00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:53.950
been passed down generation to generation. is about 30 yards
503
00:30:54.029 --> 00:30:56.730
back from the main office. His room was on the
504
00:30:56.779 --> 00:31:01.519
second floor, facing the cemetery itself. By then, some 40
505
00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:05.000
years after the missing body incident, the cemetery had grown
506
00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:09.140
quite a bit alongside the town city itself, with several
507
00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:14.900
hundred burial plots. Just before they began, there was a
508
00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:18.269
thin concrete walkway about 20 feet from the main office
509
00:31:18.349 --> 00:31:21.289
leading from the road that goes through all the different sections.
510
00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:24.559
Back then, it wasn't split up into sections, but there
511
00:31:24.579 --> 00:31:29.809
was a main road around the area of plots. On
512
00:31:29.869 --> 00:31:32.390
either side of that walkway are two huge trees and
513
00:31:32.450 --> 00:31:35.890
a lamppost. One night, when they were kids, my grandpa
514
00:31:36.009 --> 00:31:38.930
and uncle were up late. My uncle happened to look
515
00:31:38.990 --> 00:31:42.109
out their window and swore to my grandpa that he'd
516
00:31:42.170 --> 00:31:46.220
seen someone walk behind one of those trees. The lamppost
517
00:31:46.359 --> 00:31:49.720
illuminated the very first handful of plots and headstones on
518
00:31:49.740 --> 00:31:52.049
the other side of the road. but at that point,
519
00:31:52.529 --> 00:31:58.279
they were undisturbed. My grandpa and uncle stood at their
520
00:31:58.339 --> 00:32:01.640
window for a little while, while my grandpa ultimately teasing
521
00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:04.900
my uncle for being scared. However, when they woke up
522
00:32:04.940 --> 00:32:09.859
the next morning, the police were there. In the hours
523
00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:11.910
between when they looked out the window and saw the
524
00:32:11.930 --> 00:32:15.470
burial plots undisturbed, about 4 a.m. and the time they
525
00:32:15.529 --> 00:32:19.869
noticed the commotion, about 7 a.m., seven of the plots
526
00:32:19.950 --> 00:32:23.890
had been dug up. The headstones were stacked very deliberately,
527
00:32:24.289 --> 00:32:27.930
like a house of cards. And behind them, the caskets
528
00:32:27.970 --> 00:32:31.670
were atop one another, the first one laying flat, the
529
00:32:31.710 --> 00:32:36.450
next one straight up, then flat, straight up, flat, straight up,
530
00:32:36.690 --> 00:32:41.869
with the final one flat. With basic casket dimensions taken
531
00:32:41.910 --> 00:32:48.000
into account, that's nearly 30 feet high. I'm sure you
532
00:32:48.019 --> 00:32:50.880
can imagine even with machinery in the present day, that
533
00:32:51.180 --> 00:32:53.730
would take at least a little bit of time to accomplish.
534
00:32:54.390 --> 00:32:58.069
But nope, back in the 1950s, this was somehow done
535
00:32:58.130 --> 00:33:01.329
in a span of less than 180 minutes with no
536
00:33:01.410 --> 00:33:03.250
one that lived in the house able to hear it
537
00:33:03.309 --> 00:33:07.269
going on? I suppose I should tell you one of
538
00:33:07.309 --> 00:33:12.910
my own. Obviously, as time has gone by, improvements in
539
00:33:12.970 --> 00:33:16.920
addition to the cemetery have been made, namely the crematorium.
540
00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:20.700
I've had a number of odd experiences with our crematorium,
541
00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:24.220
which was built on as an extension of the main office.
542
00:33:24.980 --> 00:33:28.640
One such instance was in 2012 following a funeral for
543
00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:34.829
a very large man, roughly 375 pounds. I got the retort,
544
00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:39.890
the cremation chamber, preheated while my wife, then girlfriend Kimmy,
545
00:33:39.990 --> 00:33:42.150
set up a movie to watch while the body was
546
00:33:42.190 --> 00:33:45.549
being cremated. She was nice enough to wait with me.
547
00:33:46.099 --> 00:33:48.980
I used the elevating platform and then slid the body in,
548
00:33:49.299 --> 00:33:52.150
closing the door to the retort afterwards and going to
549
00:33:52.210 --> 00:33:57.829
sit down. About five minutes after I shut the door
550
00:33:57.910 --> 00:34:00.109
to the retort while Kimmy and I were beginning to
551
00:34:00.150 --> 00:34:03.529
watch the movie, we heard a thump. Neither of us
552
00:34:03.609 --> 00:34:06.480
paid it much mind, but a few minutes later, there
553
00:34:06.519 --> 00:34:11.980
was another, and then another. I stood up, worried that
554
00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:14.900
the man may have had a pacemaker still in his body.
555
00:34:15.590 --> 00:34:20.960
however unlikely as he had his organs removed. As we
556
00:34:20.980 --> 00:34:23.719
got up and walked over to the retort, the thumping
557
00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:27.199
and thudding got more hurried. We looked through the front
558
00:34:27.239 --> 00:34:30.539
window of the retort and couldn't believe what we were seeing.
559
00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:34.909
The body inside was flailing about. Both of the deceased's
560
00:34:35.030 --> 00:34:37.250
arms and legs were bouncing around like he was in
561
00:34:37.289 --> 00:34:41.030
extreme pain. Now, it isn't odd to see body parts
562
00:34:41.150 --> 00:34:43.750
move while the body is being cremated as the limbs
563
00:34:43.909 --> 00:34:47.059
are broken down. They will often contract as muscles and
564
00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:54.010
tendons snap. But this was more decidedly not that. I
565
00:34:54.050 --> 00:34:56.070
went around to the side of the retort where we
566
00:34:56.110 --> 00:34:58.789
have three longer windows that give us a profile view
567
00:34:58.829 --> 00:35:01.909
of the body. The dead man's fingers were balled up
568
00:35:01.949 --> 00:35:05.050
in fists and were banging against the windows and his
569
00:35:05.210 --> 00:35:07.909
legs seemed to be kicking downward as to get out.
570
00:35:08.550 --> 00:35:11.619
As I watched from the side, the man's mouth opened
571
00:35:11.659 --> 00:35:16.389
and the first groans began emanating from within. Then screams.
572
00:35:16.949 --> 00:35:20.010
The man had been confirmed dead nearly 80 hours prior.
573
00:35:20.190 --> 00:35:24.670
There's no way, absolutely no way whatsoever that he could
574
00:35:24.750 --> 00:35:28.230
still have been alive. His organs had been removed for
575
00:35:28.309 --> 00:35:31.929
fuck's sake. But for about 20 seconds after we'd gone
576
00:35:31.969 --> 00:35:35.000
up to the retort, the corpse inside the cremation chamber
577
00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:38.119
screamed and flailed his arms and legs about as if
578
00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:44.739
he were being burned alive. Then he simply stopped. Kimmy
579
00:35:44.780 --> 00:35:47.260
and I were in shock. Neither of us said anything
580
00:35:47.300 --> 00:35:49.239
for a few minutes, and when I was finally able
581
00:35:49.320 --> 00:35:53.360
to find words, I advised her not to ever mention
582
00:35:53.400 --> 00:35:57.820
it again. It was an anomaly. Air escaping from the lungs,
583
00:35:57.960 --> 00:36:01.420
an excess of strained muscles and tendon snapping. I said
584
00:36:01.460 --> 00:36:03.840
whatever I could to justify it and not to move
585
00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:07.610
past it. Even so, it's something that has never left
586
00:36:07.659 --> 00:36:12.849
our minds. Another quick one was actually just last year.
587
00:36:13.530 --> 00:36:16.329
The addition to the main office that contains the cremation
588
00:36:16.369 --> 00:36:20.269
chambers naturally has an exhaust. I was sleeping one night
589
00:36:20.329 --> 00:36:23.389
late November when Kimmy shook me awake. I asked her
590
00:36:23.429 --> 00:36:25.300
what was wrong and she told me to look at
591
00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:29.079
the office. I got up and went to the window
592
00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:31.500
and saw that from the exhaust there was a thick
593
00:36:31.579 --> 00:36:35.000
smoke plumbing out as if a body were being cremated.
594
00:36:35.420 --> 00:36:38.219
Seeing as we're the ones who operate the crematorium and
595
00:36:38.280 --> 00:36:42.510
neither of us were there, this absolutely should not have
596
00:36:42.550 --> 00:36:47.469
been happening. I had Kimmy call the police while I
597
00:36:47.510 --> 00:36:51.070
went over to check on things. A fire of over
598
00:36:51.110 --> 00:36:55.329
a thousand degrees was likely burning inside. One way or another,
599
00:36:55.369 --> 00:36:58.030
it had to be turned off as quickly as possible,
600
00:36:58.670 --> 00:37:02.889
at the very least controlled. All the lights were off
601
00:37:02.929 --> 00:37:04.929
and the doors were locked as they were every night.
602
00:37:05.289 --> 00:37:07.750
I went inside and the inside of the retort was
603
00:37:07.849 --> 00:37:10.989
bright with flames, but there was nothing inside of it.
604
00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:16.320
We cleaned the cremation chamber after each use and while
605
00:37:16.360 --> 00:37:19.219
the flames alone would likely produce some kind of smoke,
606
00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:21.880
the smoke that we saw coming from the exhaust was
607
00:37:21.900 --> 00:37:25.340
the kind of thick gray and black smoke that could
608
00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:32.760
only be produced by something actually physically burning. I shut
609
00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:34.800
it off and went around to check the windows and
610
00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:38.360
poster and doors, which were all intact and locked. There
611
00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:40.760
is a ladder that leads to a stealing exit, but
612
00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:44.070
that too was locked from the inside. the police showed
613
00:37:44.170 --> 00:37:47.429
up and took a report. But there was really nothing
614
00:37:47.510 --> 00:37:50.469
to be done. It was attributed to someone having left
615
00:37:50.510 --> 00:37:53.989
the retort on before leaving, even though Kimmy and I
616
00:37:54.110 --> 00:37:58.150
both knew the other hadn't done that. That's one that
617
00:37:58.289 --> 00:38:01.769
I will forever ponder. I have many, many more of
618
00:38:01.829 --> 00:38:05.679
both of my own experiences, namely the mausoleums, Halloween nights,
619
00:38:05.889 --> 00:38:09.019
and the grass being cut, and instances passed down from
620
00:38:09.059 --> 00:38:11.809
my family from years ago. I'll work on typing those
621
00:38:11.949 --> 00:38:17.309
up and posting them soon. Our next story of the
622
00:38:17.369 --> 00:38:20.510
night is, I agreed to be a cemetery watchman for
623
00:38:20.610 --> 00:38:26.440
one night. I'm not sure I should have. I felt
624
00:38:26.500 --> 00:38:28.519
as though a weight has lifted from my shoulders as
625
00:38:28.579 --> 00:38:30.380
I walked out of the testing room where I had
626
00:38:30.440 --> 00:38:33.079
just taken my last final of the year and was
627
00:38:33.159 --> 00:38:36.599
greeted with beaming sunshine and a cool summer breeze. Though
628
00:38:36.639 --> 00:38:39.340
the walk back to my house was long, I enjoyed
629
00:38:39.559 --> 00:38:43.949
every second. This was my most successful year at university yet.
630
00:38:44.469 --> 00:38:46.829
I finished most of my classes with an A on
631
00:38:46.889 --> 00:38:51.000
top of having completed multiple internships, the latter of which
632
00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:54.360
had wrapped up just a few weeks prior. I was
633
00:38:54.460 --> 00:38:57.440
ready to celebrate. You know the feeling of having a
634
00:38:57.500 --> 00:39:00.559
cloud over your head reminding you of your responsibilities and
635
00:39:00.619 --> 00:39:04.719
impending deadlines? Well, for me, those were all fading away.
636
00:39:04.739 --> 00:39:11.099
All but one. I've been trying and failing to secure
637
00:39:11.179 --> 00:39:14.480
another internship or job for the summer. This has occurred
638
00:39:14.500 --> 00:39:17.360
to me once again while my victory walk home that morning,
639
00:39:17.659 --> 00:39:21.550
ruining the overall mood. My thoughts turned away from thinking
640
00:39:21.590 --> 00:39:24.070
about how I would celebrate the end of my classes
641
00:39:24.489 --> 00:39:26.670
and ordered how I was going to find a job.
642
00:39:27.050 --> 00:39:29.070
By the time I had made my way off campus
643
00:39:29.110 --> 00:39:32.260
grounds and onto my street, my pace had slowed considerably
644
00:39:32.380 --> 00:39:36.059
as my mind became preoccupied. My gaze happened to drip
645
00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:38.750
the cemetery on the other side of the street, something
646
00:39:38.809 --> 00:39:41.730
I often looked at while passing by. It always felt
647
00:39:41.789 --> 00:39:43.630
out of place for me, sitting in the middle of
648
00:39:43.710 --> 00:39:47.929
apartment buildings and houses occupied by mostly students. though it
649
00:39:47.969 --> 00:39:53.739
wasn't just its location that felt odd. It has to
650
00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:57.480
be the most fenced-in cemetery I have ever seen. The
651
00:39:57.539 --> 00:40:00.360
fencing that surrounds the square plot of land is about
652
00:40:00.360 --> 00:40:04.110
8 or 9 feet tall, and its quality is no joke.
653
00:40:05.050 --> 00:40:07.489
It's safe to assume that whoever put it up meant
654
00:40:07.510 --> 00:40:09.269
for it to be more than a marker of the
655
00:40:09.309 --> 00:40:14.369
cemetery's borders or for decoration, with the exception seemingly being
656
00:40:14.389 --> 00:40:18.789
the ominous-looking gargoyles at each corner. The fence was most
657
00:40:18.829 --> 00:40:21.289
certainly built to keep people out. It was on this
658
00:40:21.389 --> 00:40:24.289
towering fence where I had noticed a new sign posted,
659
00:40:24.670 --> 00:40:26.909
and though I had still been across the street, the
660
00:40:26.949 --> 00:40:30.639
giant help wanted text was more than readable at that distance.
661
00:40:31.219 --> 00:40:33.280
I had never seen a single sign posted on the
662
00:40:33.320 --> 00:40:39.119
fence before, adding to my curiosity. I crossed the street
663
00:40:39.159 --> 00:40:41.349
to get a better look. As I approached the sign,
664
00:40:41.469 --> 00:40:44.690
I quickly made out the limited text that remained. See
665
00:40:44.730 --> 00:40:48.469
security booth inside for details. I glanced around the sign
666
00:40:48.510 --> 00:40:50.380
where I could make out the silhouette of a man
667
00:40:50.469 --> 00:40:54.980
inside the small wooden booth. Without hesitation, I proceeded inside.
668
00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:00.239
The man behind the booth window must have noticed my
669
00:41:00.300 --> 00:41:03.099
approach as he stood up, facing me with a sincere,
670
00:41:03.239 --> 00:41:06.739
friendly expression. Though he appeared to be an older man
671
00:41:06.820 --> 00:41:09.469
by the looks of his white hair, he certainly looked
672
00:41:09.530 --> 00:41:12.869
healthy and spriteful for one as he graciously sported a
673
00:41:13.090 --> 00:41:18.159
stylish black suit. How may I help you today? He
674
00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:20.920
asked through a warm tone, through a deep and relaxed voice.
675
00:41:21.860 --> 00:41:23.980
I just noticed this sign out on the fence there.
676
00:41:24.059 --> 00:41:27.300
Is that for some sort of job or something? I
677
00:41:27.420 --> 00:41:31.429
asked unsure. He bobbed his head back and forth. Of sorts,
678
00:41:31.929 --> 00:41:35.190
he responded. I stood in silence in what must have
679
00:41:35.210 --> 00:41:38.989
been an evident expression of confusion as I waited more details.
680
00:41:42.030 --> 00:41:44.949
Why don't we take a walk? He added with a
681
00:41:44.989 --> 00:41:47.190
small nod of his head and a smirk as he
682
00:41:47.230 --> 00:41:52.730
took stride down the cemetery path. I followed, listening intently
683
00:41:52.789 --> 00:41:57.090
as we walked past the rows of headstones. I don't
684
00:41:57.130 --> 00:41:59.210
intend to waste much of your time, so I'll get
685
00:41:59.250 --> 00:42:01.969
to the point. This place has been here for a
686
00:42:02.849 --> 00:42:06.630
long time. I would imagine longer than you, my guest.
687
00:42:07.159 --> 00:42:10.380
Many keepers have looked over it through its time. This
688
00:42:10.420 --> 00:42:12.739
has been my role for more than 40 years, and
689
00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:16.599
I don't intend for that to change anytime soon. However,
690
00:42:16.739 --> 00:42:21.449
some what you might call accentuating circumstances have dictated that
691
00:42:21.650 --> 00:42:23.750
I leave my post for a few days to attend
692
00:42:23.809 --> 00:42:27.150
another matter, and those whom I might regularly call on
693
00:42:27.210 --> 00:42:32.900
for situations like this are unavailable. The job I'm offering
694
00:42:32.940 --> 00:42:36.460
is simple. Act as its keeper for one night and
695
00:42:36.619 --> 00:42:39.639
one night only. A night that just so happens to
696
00:42:39.679 --> 00:42:45.500
be exactly one week from today. I pretty much ignored
697
00:42:45.519 --> 00:42:48.119
the first half of what he said entirely, as I
698
00:42:48.159 --> 00:42:50.280
was more focused on the fact that he mentioned the
699
00:42:50.340 --> 00:42:54.360
job was only for one day. I'm sorry, sir, but
700
00:42:54.380 --> 00:42:56.929
I'm looking for more of an actual job than one
701
00:42:56.949 --> 00:43:00.030
day of work. It's just not enough. He cut me
702
00:43:00.130 --> 00:43:05.289
off quickly. For this shift, I'm offering $ 2, 000 cash up front,
703
00:43:05.630 --> 00:43:11.159
off the books entirely. My mouth slightly hung open in
704
00:43:11.260 --> 00:43:14.440
shock for a few seconds before feelings of disbelief, doubt,
705
00:43:14.500 --> 00:43:20.139
and mistrust took over. I don't think we can do that. No,
706
00:43:20.300 --> 00:43:23.030
none of the university jobs would ever work like that.
707
00:43:23.190 --> 00:43:26.429
That would be unacceptable. They, he cut me off again.
708
00:43:27.230 --> 00:43:31.289
This cemetery isn't owned by the university. If it was
709
00:43:31.369 --> 00:43:33.489
up to them, this place would have been long gone
710
00:43:33.570 --> 00:43:36.639
by now. They don't have a say and thank God
711
00:43:36.719 --> 00:43:43.360
for that. I again was silenced, unsure of what I
712
00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:46.219
had just walked into or what was going on at all.
713
00:43:46.739 --> 00:43:49.800
The man must have sensed this as his expression changed.
714
00:43:50.659 --> 00:43:53.010
My name is Marcus. I suppose it would have been
715
00:43:53.050 --> 00:43:57.269
appropriate to start with that. I told him my name
716
00:43:57.309 --> 00:44:00.909
and shook his hand reluctantly. He stopped walking, turned to me,
717
00:44:01.150 --> 00:44:03.639
and stared for a moment before reaching into his suit
718
00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:07.420
jacket pocket. As I said, I would prefer not to
719
00:44:07.460 --> 00:44:10.019
waste any more of either of our times. He pulled
720
00:44:10.039 --> 00:44:12.119
out a set of keys and extended his hand to me.
721
00:44:12.639 --> 00:44:15.449
The choice is yours, but I need you to make
722
00:44:15.489 --> 00:44:20.170
it now. I slowly reached out my hand and picked
723
00:44:20.210 --> 00:44:22.210
up the set of keys without much thought as to
724
00:44:22.289 --> 00:44:26.389
what I had agreed to by doing so. Be back
725
00:44:26.429 --> 00:44:28.949
here in a week at 7pm. These keys will get
726
00:44:28.969 --> 00:44:31.510
you into my booth. I will leave you a letter.
727
00:44:31.969 --> 00:44:34.650
Read it before you start anything. It will tell you
728
00:44:34.769 --> 00:44:37.110
everything you need to know. Your money will be in
729
00:44:37.150 --> 00:44:41.360
the drawer next to the chair inside the booth. Marcus
730
00:44:41.420 --> 00:44:43.780
turned and walked away, leaving me in the middle of
731
00:44:43.820 --> 00:44:46.110
the graveyard, looking down at the set of keys in
732
00:44:46.150 --> 00:44:49.630
my hand. I pocketed them and exited the cemetery to
733
00:44:49.670 --> 00:44:54.409
continue my walk home. Though still confused, my mood lightened
734
00:44:54.469 --> 00:44:58.329
quickly as I considered the possibilities. Worst case, I show
735
00:44:58.369 --> 00:45:00.289
up at the cemetery a week from now with no
736
00:45:00.369 --> 00:45:03.340
money and I go home. In the best situation, I
737
00:45:03.389 --> 00:45:06.659
walk away with $ 2, 000 for one night's worth of work.
738
00:45:07.500 --> 00:45:11.989
What did I have to lose? The next few days
739
00:45:12.070 --> 00:45:15.420
involved a lot of drinking, celebrating, and sleeping, followed by
740
00:45:15.460 --> 00:45:18.059
a few more days of unsuccessful job hunting, but I
741
00:45:18.099 --> 00:45:20.440
wanted to savor at least some of my summer before
742
00:45:20.480 --> 00:45:24.519
returning to the grind of everyday life. On the day
743
00:45:24.559 --> 00:45:26.599
I was supposed to work my shift at the graveyard,
744
00:45:26.619 --> 00:45:30.820
I woke up mid-afternoon feeling sluggish and with a raging
745
00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:34.010
headache from the night before. I considered staying home and
746
00:45:34.050 --> 00:45:36.679
hanging with my roommate for another night of getting wasted
747
00:45:36.739 --> 00:45:39.380
instead of walking down to the cemetery for what I
748
00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:44.579
expected to be nothing more than a scam. For some
749
00:45:44.780 --> 00:45:48.000
unknown reason, seeing the keys that Marcus gave me sitting
750
00:45:48.059 --> 00:45:51.610
on my otherwise empty desk motivated me to finally get
751
00:45:51.670 --> 00:45:54.750
out of bed. I decided that the 10-minute walk to
752
00:45:54.789 --> 00:45:58.250
the cemetery and back was worth seeing if I miraculously
753
00:45:58.329 --> 00:46:02.610
found the easiest $ 2, 000 I have ever made. Without much
754
00:46:02.710 --> 00:46:05.369
else going on, I decided to head out early and
755
00:46:05.469 --> 00:46:11.260
I arrived at the cemetery around 6.30. I waited around
756
00:46:11.300 --> 00:46:14.099
for a few minutes before walking into the cemetery gates.
757
00:46:14.659 --> 00:46:17.380
I wanted to scout out the area for anything suspicious
758
00:46:17.480 --> 00:46:20.940
and given the circumstances, who wouldn't? I found no sign
759
00:46:20.980 --> 00:46:23.340
of Marcus or anyone else who might raise an alarm
760
00:46:23.389 --> 00:46:25.989
in my head, so I decided to just go for it.
761
00:46:28.809 --> 00:46:31.409
I walked fast with no purpose into the cemetery and
762
00:46:31.449 --> 00:46:33.940
towards the booth on the inside. I pulled out the
763
00:46:33.980 --> 00:46:36.159
set of keys Marcus gave me and with some luck,
764
00:46:36.239 --> 00:46:38.900
the first key I tied was the right one. I
765
00:46:38.940 --> 00:46:41.639
had partially expected none of them to work at all.
766
00:46:43.940 --> 00:46:46.239
As I pulled open the door, I caught a rather
767
00:46:46.320 --> 00:46:51.760
delightful scent. The small interior appeared simple yet comfortable and
768
00:46:51.920 --> 00:46:55.869
unexpectedly clean. A single chair sat in front of a
769
00:46:55.929 --> 00:46:59.880
counter and window in a small square-shaped space. Beside it
770
00:46:59.929 --> 00:47:02.539
towered a large wooden cabinet with two doors and a lock.
771
00:47:02.800 --> 00:47:04.920
After a glance around the room, my eyes fixed on
772
00:47:04.940 --> 00:47:07.860
the small drawer below the counter. My heart began to
773
00:47:07.920 --> 00:47:10.219
speed up as I stepped inside and pulled the door
774
00:47:10.280 --> 00:47:13.630
shut behind me, locking its mechanism as I did. I
775
00:47:13.769 --> 00:47:15.989
fumbled through the chain of keys, trying each one on
776
00:47:16.010 --> 00:47:18.530
the small lock until the right one fit, causing my
777
00:47:18.610 --> 00:47:21.309
heart to skip a beat. I turned the lock and
778
00:47:21.349 --> 00:47:26.380
pulled it open to reveal a stuffed envelope. My hands
779
00:47:26.440 --> 00:47:29.559
scrambled to pull it out and count each fresh $ 100 bill.
780
00:47:29.739 --> 00:47:32.619
It added up. I counted it again. Once more, I
781
00:47:32.679 --> 00:47:35.320
checked each bill for all the official markings and any
782
00:47:35.400 --> 00:47:42.400
sign of forgery. They were legitimate. I was so attentive
783
00:47:42.440 --> 00:47:44.579
to the money, I failed to notice the letter that
784
00:47:44.599 --> 00:47:47.610
had fallen out the envelope as well. After stuffing the
785
00:47:47.639 --> 00:47:50.429
bills into my backpack, I unfolded the letter and began
786
00:47:50.469 --> 00:47:55.570
to read. To whom it may concern... Though the job
787
00:47:55.730 --> 00:47:57.869
offered to you may seem like nothing more than an
788
00:47:57.969 --> 00:48:01.380
opportunity to make a quick buck, the responsibility is far
789
00:48:01.460 --> 00:48:04.440
greater than you can imagine. Below, I have left a
790
00:48:04.480 --> 00:48:07.380
list of rules, each to be followed with extreme care
791
00:48:07.420 --> 00:48:10.079
and attention. There are a few burial sites in the
792
00:48:10.119 --> 00:48:13.210
world as special as this one. The most important thing
793
00:48:13.250 --> 00:48:17.170
to remember is simply this. No one good has ever
794
00:48:17.230 --> 00:48:23.630
been buried here. 1. The Gates The cemetery has one gate.
795
00:48:23.750 --> 00:48:57.210
The only way in? the ghost hunters. As a consequence
796
00:48:57.250 --> 00:48:59.610
of being located in an urban setting with a younger
797
00:48:59.670 --> 00:49:03.880
demographic in its surroundings, this cemetery is frequently visited by
798
00:49:03.940 --> 00:49:10.380
those who call themselves ghost hunters or paranormal investigators. Though
799
00:49:10.420 --> 00:49:12.969
the gates should be locked for the majority of your shift,
800
00:49:13.340 --> 00:49:16.849
if you are to spot any such individuals entering or
801
00:49:16.929 --> 00:49:20.119
otherwise attempting to enter the cemetery grounds, you are to
802
00:49:20.179 --> 00:49:23.820
remove them immediately. You are permitted to call on law
803
00:49:23.840 --> 00:49:27.659
enforcement for the removal of such trespassers, but as stated,
804
00:49:28.199 --> 00:49:31.610
law enforcement is not allowed to step foot inside of
805
00:49:31.650 --> 00:49:35.949
the cemetery gates after 8 p.m. Get any trespassers out
806
00:49:36.030 --> 00:49:39.050
as soon as possible. God only knows what these fools
807
00:49:39.090 --> 00:49:44.449
would do if they found something real. Three, the suit.
808
00:49:44.920 --> 00:49:47.659
Another key on your chain unlocks the wooded closet next
809
00:49:47.679 --> 00:49:50.739
to you. Inside are numerous items, one being a suit
810
00:49:50.780 --> 00:49:53.239
much like mine and a pair of shoes to accompany them.
811
00:49:53.739 --> 00:49:56.280
You must change out of your current attire and into
812
00:49:56.320 --> 00:49:58.980
this suit for the remainder of your ship. I have
813
00:49:59.039 --> 00:50:01.679
guessed your measurements as closely as I could before I
814
00:50:01.760 --> 00:50:04.199
ordered it. It may not be the best fit, but
815
00:50:04.300 --> 00:50:07.469
it will serve. They must think you're me. You may
816
00:50:07.530 --> 00:50:13.190
keep the suit once your shift is over. Four, the salt.
817
00:50:13.809 --> 00:50:17.170
I have placed white roses on four graves within the cemetery.
818
00:50:17.670 --> 00:50:20.989
Locate them. Inside the closet alongside the suit, you will
819
00:50:21.030 --> 00:50:24.989
notice canisters of salt. After locking the gate, go to
820
00:50:25.030 --> 00:50:28.110
these graves and pour a circle of salt around each headstone.
821
00:50:28.650 --> 00:50:31.289
It doesn't have to be perfect, but the one thing
822
00:50:31.349 --> 00:50:33.800
you must be careful of is to leave a complete
823
00:50:33.889 --> 00:50:39.280
circle with no gaps. After doing so, remain as distant
824
00:50:39.320 --> 00:50:42.380
from these graves as possible and never disturb the salt circle.
825
00:50:42.840 --> 00:50:49.280
Keep an extra canister of salt with you at all times. Five,
826
00:50:49.699 --> 00:50:52.440
the bells. Above a few of the graves, you may
827
00:50:52.500 --> 00:50:55.280
notice bells hung up and a string that goes underground.
828
00:50:55.739 --> 00:50:58.179
These are remnants of an old practice from hundreds of
829
00:50:58.239 --> 00:51:01.269
years ago invented as a safety measure for those who
830
00:51:01.309 --> 00:51:04.230
had been buried alive. If the body moved, the string
831
00:51:04.250 --> 00:51:07.130
would be pulled The bell would ring and a watchman
832
00:51:07.190 --> 00:51:09.699
such as yourself would know how to dig them back up.
833
00:51:10.329 --> 00:51:13.010
These bells now serve a different purpose. If you hear
834
00:51:13.030 --> 00:51:16.150
a bell go off, encircle the headstone of said grave
835
00:51:16.190 --> 00:51:19.429
with salt. Like the others, keep away from the grave.
836
00:51:22.849 --> 00:51:26.010
There is another possible situation you may face with the bells.
837
00:51:26.489 --> 00:51:29.809
If several begin ringing at the same time in rapid succession,
838
00:51:29.949 --> 00:51:33.780
stop where you are and encircle yourself with salt as
839
00:51:33.929 --> 00:51:37.130
fast as you can. Give yourself some room as you
840
00:51:37.170 --> 00:51:39.730
will likely not be able to leave your circle for
841
00:51:39.769 --> 00:51:42.710
a while. Remain still and do not be tricked into
842
00:51:42.750 --> 00:51:50.000
leaving or breaking the circle. Six, the gargoyles. In each
843
00:51:50.099 --> 00:51:53.219
corner of the cemetery, you can spot a stone gargoyle.
844
00:51:53.699 --> 00:51:56.519
All four of them, the same design, a small body
845
00:51:56.599 --> 00:52:01.119
with bat-like wings and a devilish face. They sit atop
846
00:52:01.159 --> 00:52:03.280
the stone pillars that meet the ends of the fence.
847
00:52:03.900 --> 00:52:06.860
These face inward towards the middle of the cemetery. If
848
00:52:06.900 --> 00:52:10.039
you happen to notice that one is missing, disregard it.
849
00:52:10.460 --> 00:52:12.900
If you happen to spot one that has been misplaced,
850
00:52:13.039 --> 00:52:16.380
turn away or close your eyes. Do not give any
851
00:52:16.440 --> 00:52:19.500
indication that you know it has moved. None of them
852
00:52:19.539 --> 00:52:23.880
will be a danger if you leave them alone. 7.
853
00:52:23.880 --> 00:52:27.440
Henry Near the southwest corner of the cemetery sits a
854
00:52:27.500 --> 00:52:31.349
weathered headstone marking the grave of an unknown man. The
855
00:52:31.409 --> 00:52:33.909
only lettering left it was must be either the man's
856
00:52:33.989 --> 00:52:38.050
first or last name, Henry. No dates or other details
857
00:52:38.110 --> 00:52:41.139
are visible anymore. The only thing you need to know
858
00:52:41.199 --> 00:52:44.099
about Henry is that if he rises from his grave
859
00:52:44.219 --> 00:52:47.679
on your shift, watch your back and avoid going back
860
00:52:47.739 --> 00:52:51.119
to the security booth at all costs. Inside the front
861
00:52:51.179 --> 00:52:54.119
pocket of your suit jacket is a small box of matches.
862
00:52:54.699 --> 00:52:57.510
Light one and throw it to the grass on Henry's grave.
863
00:52:57.929 --> 00:53:00.349
Pay no attention to Henry if you spot him after
864
00:53:00.389 --> 00:53:05.179
you do this. You may return to the booth. When
865
00:53:05.219 --> 00:53:07.380
your shift is over, unlock the gate and leave the
866
00:53:07.400 --> 00:53:11.340
set of keys in the drawer. Best wishes and good luck, Marcus.
867
00:53:13.510 --> 00:53:15.230
I laughed at a few of the roles as I
868
00:53:15.289 --> 00:53:18.630
read them, appreciating what I assumed to be their intended
869
00:53:18.710 --> 00:53:22.389
humor and exaggeration. As funny as I found the effort
870
00:53:22.449 --> 00:53:25.719
Marcus had put into this letter, I decided that not
871
00:53:25.760 --> 00:53:28.920
a single role would go neglected. No matter what kind
872
00:53:28.960 --> 00:53:32.500
of pranks might be pulled on me, $ 2, 000 was worth
873
00:53:32.559 --> 00:53:37.210
going through all of it. I began by opening the
874
00:53:37.250 --> 00:53:39.429
wood closet next to me. Greeting me on the other
875
00:53:39.489 --> 00:53:42.929
side was a suit as Marcus had mentioned. I marveled
876
00:53:43.110 --> 00:53:45.829
as it's designed for a moment. Though I had seen
877
00:53:45.849 --> 00:53:48.320
the same thing on Marcus before, I hadn't taken in
878
00:53:48.380 --> 00:53:51.440
its beauty as much then. I quickly changed out of
879
00:53:51.480 --> 00:53:54.460
my shoes and clothes and into the suit. To my pleasure,
880
00:53:54.480 --> 00:53:57.219
it fit like a glove. I don't know all that
881
00:53:57.280 --> 00:54:00.059
much about suits, but something about this one told me
882
00:54:00.199 --> 00:54:03.659
it was quality. Such a quality that I'm certain that
883
00:54:03.719 --> 00:54:06.139
I would never have been able to afford such a
884
00:54:06.239 --> 00:54:11.619
suit myself. I looked back to the list to read
885
00:54:11.659 --> 00:54:14.489
the first rule once more before folding and stuffing the
886
00:54:14.530 --> 00:54:17.769
letter back into my pocket. I figured this one would
887
00:54:17.809 --> 00:54:20.050
be easy to get out of the way. I grabbed
888
00:54:20.090 --> 00:54:22.010
my set of keys and headed out of the booth
889
00:54:22.050 --> 00:54:25.570
toward the gate. As I approached... I once again looked
890
00:54:25.610 --> 00:54:28.250
around in all directions to try and get a glance
891
00:54:28.309 --> 00:54:33.670
of someone who might be watching, or Marcus himself. Once again,
892
00:54:33.690 --> 00:54:40.000
I saw no one. I attempted to pull one side
893
00:54:40.019 --> 00:54:42.699
of the gate shut with only one arm before realizing
894
00:54:42.739 --> 00:54:45.639
that it wasn't going to happen so easily. The metal
895
00:54:45.679 --> 00:54:49.090
gate was incredibly heavy, and though it sat comfortable on
896
00:54:49.130 --> 00:54:51.690
its hinges, pulling it shut took all the force I
897
00:54:51.710 --> 00:54:55.170
could muster. I needed a short breather between closing the
898
00:54:55.210 --> 00:54:58.730
first and the second. After closing both, I pulled up
899
00:54:58.769 --> 00:55:01.829
the largest key and inserted it into the keyhole. As
900
00:55:01.909 --> 00:55:05.030
I twisted the key, the satisfying noise of the lock
901
00:55:05.070 --> 00:55:11.659
mechanism clicking into place filled my ears. I turned away
902
00:55:11.719 --> 00:55:14.099
from the now locked gate and pulled out the letter again.
903
00:55:14.519 --> 00:55:17.300
I figured the ghost hunters shouldn't be too bad. I
904
00:55:17.360 --> 00:55:20.750
assumed they're a frequent problem for Marcus, especially at night.
905
00:55:22.219 --> 00:55:24.760
It isn't all that hard to imagine why this is,
906
00:55:24.900 --> 00:55:28.079
especially when considering what Marcus wrote in the second roll.
907
00:55:28.739 --> 00:55:30.460
Being that I hadn't gotten a good view of the
908
00:55:30.500 --> 00:55:33.739
whole cemetery yet, I decided to take a stroll through
909
00:55:33.789 --> 00:55:37.309
the area and look for anyone who might still be inside.
910
00:55:40.349 --> 00:55:43.469
While walking, an interesting thought occurred to me. Of the
911
00:55:43.510 --> 00:55:46.929
countless times I have passed by this cemetery when walking
912
00:55:47.010 --> 00:55:51.010
to or from classes, work, or anything else, I had
913
00:55:51.090 --> 00:55:54.940
never noticed a single visitor inside. I thought that I
914
00:55:54.960 --> 00:55:58.380
would have spotted at least someone visiting a relative that
915
00:55:58.420 --> 00:56:01.659
had been buried here, but to my recollection, no. I
916
00:56:02.480 --> 00:56:06.360
had never seen anyone. I recall what Marcus wrote in
917
00:56:06.409 --> 00:56:09.849
his letter before the rules, no one good has ever
918
00:56:09.909 --> 00:56:13.829
been buried here. The thought made me uneasy. What did
919
00:56:13.889 --> 00:56:18.320
he mean by that? I wondered. After making a few
920
00:56:18.360 --> 00:56:22.179
loops around the cemetery, I confidently concluded that no trespassers
921
00:56:22.199 --> 00:56:25.099
were remaining. I began to make my way back to
922
00:56:25.139 --> 00:56:27.440
the security booth where I planned to mess around on
923
00:56:27.460 --> 00:56:29.440
my phone and made me read the book I brought
924
00:56:29.460 --> 00:56:32.960
with me to kill some time. It was on this
925
00:56:33.059 --> 00:56:35.179
walk back to the booth that I happened to look
926
00:56:35.219 --> 00:56:37.739
down and see a white rose on the ground near
927
00:56:37.780 --> 00:56:41.510
a headstone. I casually walked back to the booth and
928
00:56:41.530 --> 00:56:44.449
grabbed a canister of salt before returning to the grave
929
00:56:44.550 --> 00:56:48.289
and pouring a circle around it. As I generously salted,
930
00:56:48.789 --> 00:56:51.590
I wondered if it would hurt the grass. I'm no
931
00:56:51.769 --> 00:56:55.119
expert in lawn care, but I was fairly certain that
932
00:56:55.159 --> 00:56:58.500
pouring copious amounts of salt on grass isn't good for it.
933
00:57:00.920 --> 00:57:04.280
As per my observation, the grass in the cemetery seemed
934
00:57:04.300 --> 00:57:07.909
to be nothing short of perfect. Then came the question
935
00:57:07.969 --> 00:57:11.010
of why Marcus would have me do such a thing
936
00:57:11.110 --> 00:57:16.820
to this beautiful cemetery. I dodged my own question, brushing
937
00:57:16.860 --> 00:57:19.980
it off as a silly thing to even ponder. I
938
00:57:20.039 --> 00:57:25.579
was here to earn money, not ask questions. After completing
939
00:57:25.599 --> 00:57:28.780
the first circle, I moved on to locate and eventually
940
00:57:28.840 --> 00:57:32.590
encircle the other three with salt. I nearly used the
941
00:57:32.650 --> 00:57:35.769
entire canister I had just opened to complete the circles,
942
00:57:36.389 --> 00:57:39.050
going off of Marcus's rules to be most assured that
943
00:57:39.070 --> 00:57:43.630
the circles had no gaps. After all four were complete,
944
00:57:44.159 --> 00:57:47.239
I retreated to the security booth. After reading the letter
945
00:57:47.360 --> 00:57:50.219
over again, it seemed I had completed everything I would
946
00:57:50.260 --> 00:57:53.489
need to do. The gate was shut. The graves were
947
00:57:53.530 --> 00:57:59.170
accounted for and no trespassers were to be found. The
948
00:57:59.210 --> 00:58:03.349
next several hours went by quietly and uneventfully. I played
949
00:58:03.389 --> 00:58:06.159
around on my phone, texted a few friends, and read
950
00:58:06.179 --> 00:58:09.110
a couple chapters in the book I had brought. I
951
00:58:09.150 --> 00:58:13.070
decided against zoning out and listening to music, not because
952
00:58:13.230 --> 00:58:15.369
I believed a corpse was going to pull the strings
953
00:58:15.449 --> 00:58:19.019
on a bell, but because I didn't feel all that
954
00:58:19.099 --> 00:58:23.300
comfortable sitting in a dark cemetery alone at night, sitting
955
00:58:23.360 --> 00:58:29.079
in a lit up tiny little booth. Eventually, I got
956
00:58:29.119 --> 00:58:31.449
bored of sitting around and took a step outside of
957
00:58:31.489 --> 00:58:35.590
the booth to get a breath of fresh air. A
958
00:58:35.639 --> 00:58:38.500
cool night breeze greeted me as I exited the booth.
959
00:58:38.659 --> 00:58:41.400
With the buzz of the light inside no longer clouding
960
00:58:41.440 --> 00:58:44.059
my hearing, the only sound to be heard was the
961
00:58:44.139 --> 00:58:47.760
soft chirping of crickets. I leaned back against the booth
962
00:58:47.800 --> 00:58:49.719
wall and began to take a sip of my energy
963
00:58:49.760 --> 00:58:52.860
drink when the sharp, piercing sound of a bell broke
964
00:58:52.920 --> 00:58:57.440
the calm silence and scared me half to death. I
965
00:58:57.519 --> 00:58:59.699
dropped the rest of my drink and spat out what
966
00:58:59.739 --> 00:59:03.039
remained in my mouth. The sound came from a few
967
00:59:03.079 --> 00:59:06.119
dozen feet away. but I couldn't see its source in
968
00:59:06.159 --> 00:59:10.760
the dark. I retrieved a flashlight from the closet and
969
00:59:10.800 --> 00:59:13.820
made my way over to the noise. I stopped and
970
00:59:13.880 --> 00:59:18.079
held the flashlight still. I stood in confusion for a
971
00:59:18.139 --> 00:59:21.090
moment as I watched the bell rock back and forth,
972
00:59:21.510 --> 00:59:24.690
chiming at each end. I snapped out of my trance
973
00:59:24.750 --> 00:59:27.030
and chalked it up to be an elaborate hoax from
974
00:59:27.090 --> 00:59:30.550
Marcus meant to scare me. At least, that's what I
975
00:59:30.590 --> 00:59:34.369
told myself. Regardless of what was truly causing the bell
976
00:59:34.389 --> 00:59:37.909
to ring, I felt goosebumps begin to rise and paranoia
977
00:59:37.949 --> 00:59:42.320
set in. After coming to my senses, I ran back
978
00:59:42.360 --> 00:59:45.159
to the booth for another can of salt. I hurriedly
979
00:59:45.219 --> 00:59:48.239
returned and poured salt around the headstone. The instant the
980
00:59:48.280 --> 00:59:51.760
circle had been completed, the bell stopped. I took a
981
00:59:51.800 --> 00:59:55.179
step back and caught my breath before reassessing the severity
982
00:59:55.340 --> 00:59:59.340
of the situation, deciding that it wasn't that bad. I
983
00:59:59.409 --> 01:00:02.309
began to nervously chuckle as I slowly began to feel
984
01:00:02.369 --> 01:00:07.150
at ease again. I turned away from the grave and
985
01:00:07.210 --> 01:00:09.750
took not more than a few steps before the bell
986
01:00:10.210 --> 01:00:14.039
began to ring again. I turned back, feeling tense again,
987
01:00:14.179 --> 01:00:17.059
as I watched the bell swing back and forth and
988
01:00:17.139 --> 01:00:22.400
terror begin to fill me. I jumped as another joined
989
01:00:22.460 --> 01:00:25.719
in from behind me, this one even more rapid and panicked.
990
01:00:26.239 --> 01:00:29.099
I didn't have time to process it before another joined
991
01:00:29.159 --> 01:00:31.880
in from down the path, another on the opposite side.
992
01:00:32.079 --> 01:00:38.579
Only seconds passed before they were five, six, seven. The
993
01:00:38.599 --> 01:00:41.949
combined chimes of the bells accumulated in a deafening collection
994
01:00:41.969 --> 01:00:45.949
of noise as they seemed to synchronize, though Marcus's rules
995
01:00:46.050 --> 01:00:50.389
never said it explicitly. I could feel that the bells
996
01:00:50.429 --> 01:00:53.679
were in a danger themselves. They warned me of something,
997
01:00:54.219 --> 01:00:57.139
something that was on its way. I quickly opened the
998
01:00:57.159 --> 01:01:00.079
canister of salt and poured a circle around me. I
999
01:01:00.139 --> 01:01:02.619
started to pour enough to give myself a good eight
1000
01:01:02.659 --> 01:01:05.039
or nine feet of space, but before I could finish it,
1001
01:01:05.579 --> 01:01:10.429
I ran out. I rushed to spread the salt I
1002
01:01:10.489 --> 01:01:13.170
poured to complete the circle, brushing the ground like my
1003
01:01:13.250 --> 01:01:16.389
life depended on it. After about 30 seconds, but what
1004
01:01:16.469 --> 01:01:19.929
felt like an eternity, I finally completed my job. I
1005
01:01:19.969 --> 01:01:22.579
leaned back, falling onto my rear as I caught my
1006
01:01:22.639 --> 01:01:25.699
breath and calmed down for a moment. I took deep breaths,
1007
01:01:25.760 --> 01:01:28.239
trying to calm myself down when every single one of
1008
01:01:28.260 --> 01:01:35.409
the bells stopped at once. The entire cemetery went silent.
1009
01:01:35.889 --> 01:01:38.590
Not even the chirps of the crickets remained. I felt
1010
01:01:38.650 --> 01:01:41.550
compelled to hold my breath to avoid making a noise.
1011
01:01:42.190 --> 01:01:44.349
My eyes darted all around me and I kept my
1012
01:01:44.389 --> 01:01:47.300
head on a swivel, fishing for a sign of something.
1013
01:01:47.900 --> 01:01:50.260
The silence alone sent me into a panic and I
1014
01:01:50.320 --> 01:01:54.150
began to hyperventilate where I sat. I knew something had
1015
01:01:54.190 --> 01:01:56.210
to be watching me. I felt like I was being
1016
01:01:56.289 --> 01:02:01.829
watched all around, yet I couldn't see or hear a thing. Eventually,
1017
01:02:01.889 --> 01:02:03.880
my eyes made their way to the corner pillar of
1018
01:02:03.889 --> 01:02:06.420
the fence in front of me. My heart skipped a
1019
01:02:06.460 --> 01:02:09.199
beat and a shiver rolled down my spine as I
1020
01:02:09.280 --> 01:02:12.360
noticed a gargoyle statue that had been at the top
1021
01:02:12.440 --> 01:02:15.860
was no longer there. I stood back up and shifted
1022
01:02:15.900 --> 01:02:19.090
my gaze from one corner to the next. All four
1023
01:02:19.119 --> 01:02:22.090
were gone. I didn't have time to process it before
1024
01:02:22.130 --> 01:02:28.150
the sound of harsh scraping captured my attention. I shined
1025
01:02:28.170 --> 01:02:30.889
my flashlight to the other end of the path. Behind
1026
01:02:30.949 --> 01:02:34.159
a tree, I could spot grass being disturbed and dirt
1027
01:02:34.239 --> 01:02:37.619
surfacing on the side. My first instinct was that some
1028
01:02:37.679 --> 01:02:40.280
sort of gopher had made its way into the cemetery.
1029
01:02:40.980 --> 01:02:44.590
That idea was shattered when a large mass emerged quickly
1030
01:02:44.650 --> 01:02:48.150
from the ground behind the tree. The dirt that crumbled
1031
01:02:48.190 --> 01:02:50.409
and fell from around it was the only thing I
1032
01:02:50.449 --> 01:02:53.269
could see from my position and I dared not leave
1033
01:02:53.309 --> 01:02:57.769
the circle. Everything was silent for a minute or two
1034
01:02:57.829 --> 01:03:00.610
before sharp clicking emitted from behind the tree and a
1035
01:03:00.690 --> 01:03:04.329
figure emerged. A corpse that was rotted to the bone
1036
01:03:04.369 --> 01:03:08.590
was limping its way into my direction with robotic-like movements.
1037
01:03:09.429 --> 01:03:12.150
When I say limping, you might imagine it moved like
1038
01:03:12.190 --> 01:03:15.969
a slow old man. No. No. This thing made its
1039
01:03:16.050 --> 01:03:19.489
way through the entire main path of the cemetery at
1040
01:03:19.550 --> 01:03:26.030
a sprinting pace. As it approached, my flashlight fully illuminated
1041
01:03:26.090 --> 01:03:31.610
the monstrosity. Blackened pieces of flesh reminiscent of putrid meat
1042
01:03:32.050 --> 01:03:34.429
that looked as though it had been shredded to pieces
1043
01:03:34.630 --> 01:03:40.489
were crudely attached to the ashen-colored bones. Translucent, pale, string-like
1044
01:03:40.570 --> 01:03:44.619
tendons hung loosely from the corpse, and thrashed around as
1045
01:03:44.699 --> 01:03:49.260
it closed in on me. From its ribcage, shriveled organs
1046
01:03:49.469 --> 01:03:53.010
dangled and moved in the open. Its skull, with the
1047
01:03:53.050 --> 01:03:56.269
same ashen color as the rest of the skeleton, was
1048
01:03:56.429 --> 01:03:59.349
missing a jagged piece from the top of its right side,
1049
01:03:59.869 --> 01:04:04.150
and from its left, a horn protruded. A horn that
1050
01:04:04.230 --> 01:04:07.750
somehow looked like it belonged. Its jaws and teeth looked
1051
01:04:07.809 --> 01:04:10.929
too still to be perfectly intact and perfectly white, but
1052
01:04:10.969 --> 01:04:14.340
from them, The black liquid oozed and dripped to the
1053
01:04:14.380 --> 01:04:19.679
ground as it walked. As it approached, I looked around
1054
01:04:19.739 --> 01:04:23.309
for something to do, somewhere to go. My feet shuffled
1055
01:04:23.349 --> 01:04:26.889
back and forth, aching to run, but I restrained myself
1056
01:04:26.929 --> 01:04:29.889
from leaving the circle. It kept its pace until it
1057
01:04:29.969 --> 01:04:33.119
stopped dead in front of the salt circle, mere feet
1058
01:04:33.159 --> 01:04:35.840
away from me. I had to catch my balance as
1059
01:04:35.900 --> 01:04:38.610
I nearly fell back. and out of the salt circle,
1060
01:04:38.710 --> 01:04:44.820
dropping the flashlight from my shaking hands in the process. Again,
1061
01:04:45.000 --> 01:04:48.199
everything fell silent as the jagged bones from the feet
1062
01:04:48.300 --> 01:04:50.460
of whatever this was stood on the very edge of
1063
01:04:50.500 --> 01:04:53.920
the circle. I didn't believe my little circle was going
1064
01:04:53.960 --> 01:04:56.980
to keep it out. I lost all hope entirely and
1065
01:04:57.019 --> 01:05:00.739
despair overtook me. I cowered and ducked to my feet,
1066
01:05:01.039 --> 01:05:03.090
holding my arms above my head as I looked at
1067
01:05:03.119 --> 01:05:05.789
the ground, preparing to be struck down at any moment,
1068
01:05:05.849 --> 01:05:11.769
accepting my fate. Only seconds passed before the feeling of
1069
01:05:11.829 --> 01:05:15.210
a strong wind swooped down from above me. A crashing
1070
01:05:15.289 --> 01:05:18.010
sound from a few dozen feet away from me followed.
1071
01:05:18.719 --> 01:05:22.019
I reluctantly raised my head. My gaze met the stone
1072
01:05:22.059 --> 01:05:24.500
wings attached to the back of one of the now
1073
01:05:24.599 --> 01:05:28.820
standing gargoyle statues. The flashlight on the ground illuminated what
1074
01:05:28.860 --> 01:05:30.989
was beyond enough for me to see the other three
1075
01:05:31.030 --> 01:05:35.510
gargoyles standing in identical positions around the corpse which now
1076
01:05:35.550 --> 01:05:39.139
lay flat on the ground. seemingly having been thrown into
1077
01:05:39.159 --> 01:05:44.559
the tree behind it from where it crumpled. Remembering Marcus's
1078
01:05:44.619 --> 01:05:47.340
letter once more, I pulled it out with my trembling
1079
01:05:47.400 --> 01:05:51.019
hands and read the sixth rule. Turn away and close
1080
01:05:51.059 --> 01:05:53.579
my eyes. That's all I had to do. And so
1081
01:05:53.659 --> 01:05:59.230
I did. I heard bones crack and snap and stone
1082
01:05:59.369 --> 01:06:02.010
pound into the ground with a shock I could feel
1083
01:06:02.050 --> 01:06:05.409
beneath my feet. I heard flesh being torn away like
1084
01:06:05.449 --> 01:06:08.590
the membrane from a rack of ribs. I heard liquid
1085
01:06:08.670 --> 01:06:12.409
spurt and splatter onto the grass like water from a sprinkler.
1086
01:06:14.329 --> 01:06:17.949
I only looked back when the sound ceased. One gargoyle remained,
1087
01:06:18.030 --> 01:06:22.019
its arms holding what were now disorderly remains, the deformed,
1088
01:06:22.059 --> 01:06:25.519
detached skull neatly placed on top. I looked to the
1089
01:06:25.579 --> 01:06:28.320
corners of the cemetery to see the other three gargoyles
1090
01:06:28.380 --> 01:06:31.420
had made their way back to their original places. I
1091
01:06:31.480 --> 01:06:34.420
turned away from the remaining gargoyle. I picked up my
1092
01:06:34.480 --> 01:06:38.349
flashlight and after a moment of hesitation, I finally took
1093
01:06:38.389 --> 01:06:43.690
a step outside of the salt circle. I was still
1094
01:06:43.750 --> 01:06:46.329
very much shaken by the quick sequence of events, but
1095
01:06:46.369 --> 01:06:48.949
I concluded that the gargoyles weren't here to hurt me,
1096
01:06:49.699 --> 01:06:51.480
or at least that I would be fine if I
1097
01:06:51.559 --> 01:06:54.079
stayed out of their way. I let out a deep
1098
01:06:54.119 --> 01:06:56.380
breath and felt the tension leave my body while I
1099
01:06:56.420 --> 01:06:59.460
walked back toward the booth. I made it halfway there
1100
01:06:59.500 --> 01:07:01.800
when the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
1101
01:07:02.400 --> 01:07:06.380
I felt myself tense up again. Somehow I knew something
1102
01:07:06.460 --> 01:07:11.239
was wrong. Somehow I knew someone was standing behind me.
1103
01:07:14.030 --> 01:07:18.230
My intuition was immediately confirmed by sinister laughter that crudely
1104
01:07:18.309 --> 01:07:23.389
broke the silence. A mischievous voice whispered between giggles. You
1105
01:07:23.409 --> 01:07:29.179
shouldn't have left your little circle. I slowly... turned around
1106
01:07:29.239 --> 01:07:31.980
and shone my light on the towering man standing in
1107
01:07:32.019 --> 01:07:35.260
the darkest part of the cemetery between a tree and
1108
01:07:35.300 --> 01:07:39.079
the fence. His thin, scrunched shoulders matched the level of
1109
01:07:39.139 --> 01:07:42.059
his skinny head and bounced up and down as he laughed,
1110
01:07:42.579 --> 01:07:46.340
something he couldn't seem to control. He looked to be alive,
1111
01:07:46.780 --> 01:07:52.050
yet more diseased than I imagined anyone could look. His
1112
01:07:52.150 --> 01:07:55.869
body looked deathly skinny and scrunched together in some sort
1113
01:07:55.889 --> 01:08:00.309
of mutated skeletal structure I couldn't see more than his
1114
01:08:00.530 --> 01:08:02.880
arms and head, for which I am glad, as he
1115
01:08:02.909 --> 01:08:06.900
wore an old, dull-looking outfit, like a farmer. His nails
1116
01:08:06.940 --> 01:08:11.559
were long and dirty, much like his hands. His green-tinted,
1117
01:08:11.659 --> 01:08:14.960
poisoned eyes bulged from his pale and sweaty head that
1118
01:08:14.980 --> 01:08:19.569
hung forward. You better run, the man said with a
1119
01:08:19.609 --> 01:08:24.989
playful manner, yet a sadistic and sinister undertone. Ten. I
1120
01:08:25.050 --> 01:08:28.170
stood confused. Nine. My heart sank in my chest when
1121
01:08:28.210 --> 01:08:31.109
I realized he was counting down. Eight. My thoughts went
1122
01:08:31.149 --> 01:08:33.720
to where Marcus described the location of Henry's grave. I
1123
01:08:33.760 --> 01:08:36.300
figured that must be who this is. I booked it
1124
01:08:36.340 --> 01:08:39.439
for the southwest corner of the cemetery. Seven. Though the
1125
01:08:39.460 --> 01:08:41.819
pants I wore restricted my movement, I had never run
1126
01:08:41.859 --> 01:08:45.430
so hard in my life. Six. He began to shout
1127
01:08:45.439 --> 01:08:47.750
the numbers louder. I spotted what looked to be the
1128
01:08:47.810 --> 01:08:50.350
weathered headstone described in the letter, but before I could
1129
01:08:50.390 --> 01:08:52.819
see it, I tripped on a larger one. My knee
1130
01:08:52.880 --> 01:08:55.380
connected with it head on and I was sent tumbling
1131
01:08:55.420 --> 01:08:58.109
to the ground, letting out a scream of pain. Five.
1132
01:08:58.590 --> 01:09:00.520
I glanced up at the headstone. i was now laying
1133
01:09:00.560 --> 01:09:03.380
in front of it read henry and nothing else this
1134
01:09:03.439 --> 01:09:06.560
was it four i scrambled for the box of matches
1135
01:09:06.579 --> 01:09:09.229
in my coat pocket three i pulled them out quickly
1136
01:09:09.279 --> 01:09:11.829
but spilled most of the matches into the grass two
1137
01:09:12.310 --> 01:09:14.430
i retrieved one and lifted it to the match box
1138
01:09:14.810 --> 01:09:17.539
one I struck the match against the door, unsuccessful in
1139
01:09:17.600 --> 01:09:20.199
igniting it. I failed again and again as I hastily
1140
01:09:20.260 --> 01:09:25.520
brushed it. Here I come. Mistakenly, I look back to
1141
01:09:25.560 --> 01:09:29.159
see Henry's long legs carrying him at a diabolically fast
1142
01:09:29.220 --> 01:09:31.939
pace in my direction. I knew he'd be on me
1143
01:09:31.979 --> 01:09:33.960
in less than a second. I snap my head back
1144
01:09:34.000 --> 01:09:37.289
to the matching box, failing one more attempt before reactively
1145
01:09:37.369 --> 01:09:39.649
covering my head with my arms, ready once again to
1146
01:09:39.689 --> 01:09:43.180
be struck down. A strong thud hit the ground right
1147
01:09:43.199 --> 01:09:45.699
next to me. I flinched and rolled over, once again
1148
01:09:45.800 --> 01:09:48.960
facing the back of a gargoyle. All four had come
1149
01:09:49.000 --> 01:09:51.899
down and placed themselves between me and Henry. The two
1150
01:09:51.930 --> 01:09:54.130
in the middle held him in place as he attempted
1151
01:09:54.189 --> 01:09:57.149
to reach past and grab me. I took the opportunity
1152
01:09:57.170 --> 01:10:03.069
and continued to strike the match. No. Henry muttered in fear. No, no, no. Stop, stop.
1153
01:10:05.420 --> 01:10:09.119
He commanded before breaking down into nothing but incoherent screaming.
1154
01:10:10.770 --> 01:10:13.409
I ignored him, finally striking the match and dropping it
1155
01:10:13.449 --> 01:10:15.770
to the grass in front of me. I fell back
1156
01:10:15.850 --> 01:10:20.100
as green flames ignited on Henry's grave. He subsequently fell silent.
1157
01:10:21.199 --> 01:10:23.939
When I looked up, the gargoyles were gone and all
1158
01:10:23.979 --> 01:10:27.560
that remained was Henry standing lifeless, head hanging and arms
1159
01:10:27.699 --> 01:10:30.939
dangling in defeat. When I got back to my feet,
1160
01:10:30.979 --> 01:10:33.119
I looked away from Henry and walked towards the gate.
1161
01:10:33.720 --> 01:10:36.399
I was tempted to look back and when I did,
1162
01:10:36.619 --> 01:10:42.050
he was gone entirely. I gathered my things from the
1163
01:10:42.090 --> 01:10:44.369
booth and sat with my back against the fence until
1164
01:10:44.390 --> 01:10:47.130
the sun rose. When it did, I unlocked the gate
1165
01:10:47.170 --> 01:10:49.609
and returned my set of keys to the booth. I
1166
01:10:49.670 --> 01:10:51.899
walked as fast as I could out of the gate,
1167
01:10:51.979 --> 01:10:56.739
down the street, and to my home. I didn't sleep
1168
01:10:56.760 --> 01:10:58.979
when I got there. I don't think I slept for
1169
01:10:59.020 --> 01:11:02.220
a few days, no matter how hard I tried. Over time,
1170
01:11:02.300 --> 01:11:05.199
it got better for the most part. I still see
1171
01:11:05.239 --> 01:11:07.689
Marcus at the cemetery gates when I pass him from
1172
01:11:07.729 --> 01:11:11.090
time to time. I know he recognizes me. He smiles
1173
01:11:11.130 --> 01:11:13.529
when he sees me. I haven't talked to him since
1174
01:11:13.569 --> 01:11:15.680
the day I met him. I don't know what I
1175
01:11:15.720 --> 01:11:17.819
would say if I did. I have nothing to say.
1176
01:11:17.840 --> 01:11:20.100
I haven't said a word about this to any of
1177
01:11:20.140 --> 01:11:23.380
my roommates or friends. I don't know how I could
1178
01:11:23.399 --> 01:11:25.590
bring it up. I don't know who in their right
1179
01:11:25.659 --> 01:11:29.569
mind would ever believe me. Whenever I sit alone in
1180
01:11:29.609 --> 01:11:31.810
my room in the dark, the stench of rotting meat
1181
01:11:31.850 --> 01:11:34.470
seems to find its way back to my nose, and
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the auditory hallucination of clicking bones wakes me from the
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deepest of sleep. When I shut my own eyes, I
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still see Henry's own green, deceased pair of eyes staring back.
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Whenever I'm drifting off, I'm interrupted by a countdown from
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his whisper. 10, 9, 8, 7. I think we will
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end Bizarre Bedtime Stories with these three stories because these
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are three really creepy stories. Have you fallen asleep? Are
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you still awake? Let me know. If you like ad-free episodes,
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01:12:11.020 --> 01:12:14.000
whether on YouTube or the podcast, you can find those
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01:12:14.079 --> 01:12:20.710
on Patreon, patreon.com slash weeklybizarre. Until the next Bedtime Stories, goodnight.