0:00

Warning. This episode contains

0:02

descriptions of domestic violence. Listener

0:05

discretion is advised. Lighthouse

0:08

is a production of I Heart Radio

0:10

and Bamfor Productions.

0:15

For six long years after the night of my

0:17

twelfth birthday, I lived in a

0:19

constant state of fear. After

0:21

we opened the dark room, the man in

0:23

the hat made more frequent appearances.

0:25

He didn't visit every night, but

0:28

I was always afraid he would. I tossed

0:30

and turned in my bed, restless, afraid

0:32

that every creak of the settling house, every

0:35

banging of the pipes, every gust of wind

0:37

outside was him coming for me. On

0:39

the nights he did come, the ritual

0:41

was always the same, his shadow

0:44

blocking the tiny bit of light spilling

0:46

into my room from under my door. He

0:48

would turn the knob, jiggling the handle,

0:50

trying to open it. When the lock

0:52

prevented him from doing so, he tried

0:55

to force his way in, banging against

0:57

it with such force that I was sure he

0:59

would tear from its frame. I

1:01

cried myself to sleep those nights, often

1:04

curled up with my sister by my side,

1:06

eyes closed tight, slowly

1:09

counting to five over and over

1:11

again, wishing him away.

1:14

However, the man in the Hat

1:16

was only the beginning. Though his

1:18

presence was often seen. He

1:20

was nothing more than a malevolent spirit that

1:23

used us as ponds to unleash something

1:25

else upon our house that had long

1:27

since been sealed away. We

1:29

did not realize it at the time, but

1:31

when we opened the dark room, we freed

1:34

something from a prison that should not have been

1:36

unlocked, something that was set loose

1:38

upon the halls of Lighthouse once again,

1:41

and we my family or

1:44

its prey, pray that it

1:46

toyed with and tormented endlessly.

1:49

For six long years.

1:52

Lighthouse became my prison. The

1:55

darkness that lived within its walls had

1:57

us in its grasp, and it wouldn't

2:00

let us go until it tore my family apart.

2:21

Lighthouse Chapter three.

2:46

Conditions in the house steadily declined

2:48

over those six years, not only mentally

2:51

but also physically. The

2:53

first time I truly realized how bad things

2:55

were getting was when I was thirteen. Yes,

2:58

the nightly torment from the man in Hat

3:00

was gnawing away at my nerves, and things

3:02

we set loose from the dark room were slowly

3:04

beginning to make their presence known. But

3:07

things took a turn for the worse the first

3:09

time my father hit my mother. Since

3:12

moving into Lighthouse, my father began

3:14

to transform into someone else. Though

3:17

his initial hesitation about moving in

3:19

went unheard by my mother, it was

3:21

beginning to become apparent that it was for a good

3:23

reason. He never shared much about

3:25

his childhood and his family home with us, but

3:27

it was clear that his time in the Lighthouse

3:30

was not a pleasant one. Being surrounded

3:32

by his past memories of a place he once

3:34

escaped but was now trapped in again

3:37

took a toll on him. Once we

3:39

settled into Lighthouse, he took

3:41

a job at a local factory that manufactured

3:43

plastic products. With most

3:45

of the inheritance from my grandmother's passing

3:47

now gone, used to pay off their outstanding

3:50

debts and for living expenses over the

3:52

past years, we desperately needed

3:54

money to survive again. How they had dwindled

3:57

away so much so quickly was lost to

3:59

me at the time, but my mother's lavish

4:01

spending habits were likely part of the problem.

4:04

She only wanted the best for our family, though, and

4:06

now that she was finally able to provide

4:09

that, who can fault her for some extravagant

4:11

spending. It fell on my father,

4:14

though, to pick up the slack, hence his

4:16

job. A naturally thin man, the

4:18

job demanded a lot of physical labor that

4:20

he was just not suited for. But

4:22

a job was a job, and he took it

4:24

in stride. Every day, he

4:27

left early in the morning before we awoke,

4:29

and didn't come home until after nightfall.

4:32

All evenings and week ends used to be reserved

4:34

for family time. He now spent his

4:37

free moments sitting in his study, staring

4:39

at his old family portrait hanging above

4:41

the fireplace, drinking. He

4:44

started to deteriorate, and all

4:46

the time alone in his study was not helping.

4:49

One evening, when dinner was ready, my

4:51

mother called out to him from the dining room. Leaney

4:54

and I were already seated, awaiting the oka

4:57

to begin eating, but my mother insisted

4:59

we wait for him. When

5:01

he still didn't respond after the second and

5:03

third time, she stood up to fetch

5:06

him. Leny and I waited and

5:09

waited and waited, But

5:11

then they're raised. Voices began to float

5:13

down the hall toward us. We couldn't

5:15

quite make out what they were saying, but as

5:17

curiosity got the better of us, we both got

5:20

out of our seats to see The

5:22

study door was cracked ajar, but we stayed

5:24

out of sight. We used the tiny

5:26

crack between the door and the wall so we

5:28

could peek into the room without risk of being

5:31

spotted. What we saw was

5:33

my father, still slumped over in his chair,

5:35

drink in hand, while my mother stood

5:37

over him. It was obvious

5:40

from their body language and their voices that

5:42

their conversation was heated and my mother was

5:44

upset. The exact

5:46

specifics of what they were saying have long been

5:48

lost in my memory, but what is

5:50

forever etched there was the moment when

5:53

my mother, in an impassioned

5:55

flash, knocked the drink out of

5:57

my father's hand. The sound

5:59

of shattering last stunned both my

6:01

sister and I as we froze as still

6:03

as statues. We watched

6:05

intensely to see what would happen next.

6:08

We could see my father finally rise

6:10

from his chair. As my mother began to apologize,

6:14

she was caught off mid sentence by the unmistakable

6:16

sound of flesh striking flesh.

6:19

He hit her so hard, the back

6:22

of his hand connecting with her face, that

6:24

she fell to the ground. The sound

6:27

echoed within the house, Hanging in the

6:29

air for what seemed like an eternity.

6:32

The silence was only broken by the gasp

6:34

that escaped her lips. My

6:36

father didn't say anything else after that.

6:39

He merely stared hard at her, rubbing

6:42

his old scar before sitting back down

6:44

in his chair. My mother,

6:46

stunned, slowly got back to her

6:48

feet and walked out, holding

6:50

her face, where a red mark began to

6:52

form on her cheek. She didn't register

6:55

our presence as she stormed away towards

6:57

her bedroom. Leaney took off a

6:59

few secon games later in the opposite direction,

7:01

sobbing. That night,

7:04

I saw the dim glow from atop the lighthouse

7:06

again, the first time since

7:08

the night we had moved in. I watched

7:11

it from my bed and fell asleep while

7:13

wondering what it was. While

7:16

the opening of the dark room may have set

7:18

the darkness loose upon the house, what my

7:21

father did to my mother emboldened

7:23

it. The man in the hat had

7:25

friends, and they wanted to

7:27

make themselves known. The

7:29

first did so in a most unexpected

7:32

way. During one of my many

7:34

many sleepless nights, I laid in bed

7:37

staring at the ceiling. Thankfully,

7:40

the man in the hat did not pay a visit that

7:42

evening, but something far

7:44

worse did. As I tossed

7:46

and turned, I heard the music box in Lini's

7:49

room begin to play. What was once

7:51

a comforting sound for me had since turned

7:53

into a waking nightmare. I found

7:55

that the haunting melody was often a precursor

7:58

to a visit from the man in the Hat. With

8:00

the music wafting from my sister's room

8:02

into mine, I decided I was in no mood

8:05

to listen to his assault of my doorstep

8:07

that night. Instead, I opted

8:09

to do something I started a few weeks prior.

8:12

I gathered my blanket and pillow, opened

8:14

my balcony doors, and created a makeshift

8:16

bed out there. My hope was always

8:18

that the night air would drown out the cacophony

8:21

of noise caused by the man in the Hat, and

8:24

while that theory didn't always work, being

8:26

out there did calm my nerves a bit. As

8:28

I stepped out on to the balcony, I felt

8:30

an immediate chill run through me as

8:33

wind from the ocean blew in my direction.

8:36

I didn't mind, just held my night gown

8:38

around me closer to fight some of it off. The

8:40

dark shape of the lighthouse loomed in the

8:43

distance. The glow not making

8:45

an appearance. That night, clouds blanketed

8:47

the sky, allowing only small slivers

8:50

of light to touch the ground. In

8:52

these small patches of moonlight, I

8:54

could see our vast yard stretching

8:56

out in all directions. I

8:58

leaned against the railing and I breathed in

9:01

the cold air, stinging my lungs. For a

9:03

moment, it was quiet outside,

9:06

more so than usual. Crickets usually

9:08

saying their symphony by this time, helping

9:10

me to block out other noise, But this night

9:13

was devoid of life. I thought

9:15

nothing of it, though, just glad to be out

9:17

of the house for a few brief moments.

9:20

As my eyes adjusted to the dark, they fell

9:22

upon the red oak tree. I wondered

9:25

how long it had been there. It's

9:28

massive and gnarled branches sprung

9:30

off in many directions, creating its own

9:32

labyrinth maze of limbs. As

9:35

another soft gust of wind blew, I

9:37

noticed an odd shape, something I

9:39

had never seen before, swaying among

9:42

the shadows of the tree. I assumed

9:44

it was a dead branch, hanging on its last

9:46

vestiges of life, soon to become

9:48

another stick in the yard. The clouds

9:51

above shifted, allowing more

9:53

moonlight to shine through, and

9:55

the shadowy thing came into a clearer view.

9:58

It was a body hanging from

10:00

the trees limbs. I

10:03

stumbled backwards, shocked by the sight. I

10:05

tried to turn away, but my eyes would not listen

10:07

to my brain. Instead, they continued to stare

10:09

as every gruesome detail came

10:12

into focus. An old knotted

10:14

noose was wrapped around its neck. The

10:16

body swayed in the light breeze as I could

10:18

see that the clothing was nearly unrecognizable,

10:21

rotted away, as if he had been hanging there

10:23

for some time. The flesh peeking

10:26

out from behind it hung loosely, giving

10:28

it a sickly appearance. Thankfully,

10:31

I burn up bag covered the face, saving

10:33

me from seeing anything worse. I

10:35

could only imagine the face decomposed

10:38

over time, the empty eye sockets

10:40

burning in whatever direction they faced.

10:43

I saw the head begin to turn in my direction.

10:46

It was too much for me to bear. I quickly ran

10:48

back into my bedroom and closed the balcony doors

10:51

as fast as I could. I jumped into

10:53

my bed, and I pulled the covers over me. When

10:55

I did finally sleep, I had a nightmare

10:58

about its dead lifeless eye is

11:00

trying to see through the gaps in the burlap

11:02

to catch a glimpse of me, before somehow

11:05

cutting itself loose and hurrying down the tree

11:07

to get me. I never used

11:09

that balcony at night again. Lighthouse

11:15

will return after these messages,

11:23

and now back to lighthouse.

11:31

As my father began to drink more and more

11:33

over the years, the beatings he laid

11:36

upon my mother got worse. What started

11:38

as a slap across the face here and they are soon

11:40

turned into a black eye or a broken

11:42

limb. Though these things were never done.

11:44

When Leaney and I were present, we often

11:46

saw the immediate aftermath. Sometimes

11:49

one of us would come across her, laying at his

11:51

feet, victim to a recent strike.

11:54

Other Times it would be her hiding her injury

11:56

as best as she could, though we could always

11:59

see right through her reception. He

12:01

never struck us like he did her, but

12:03

we felt his wrath in other ways, mostly

12:05

when he yelled. His temper became

12:07

short, and his tolerance for his family

12:09

grew thinner by the day. The smallest

12:12

thing would irritate him, sending him into a

12:14

tailspin of anger that resulted in us running

12:16

off to cry. As these

12:18

instances increased, my sister

12:20

began to change, not in the prepubescent

12:23

sense that everyone goes through, but in mannerism

12:26

send the way she held herself. She

12:28

used to run into my father's arms when he came

12:30

home from work, anxious to tell him about

12:32

her day. Now she ran in the opposite

12:35

direction, often hiding somewhere

12:37

in the house for hours before making an appearance

12:39

again. It was months before

12:41

I discovered her secret hideaway,

12:44

and I was shocked when I realized where it was. It

12:47

was late one summer afternoon and I was

12:49

hungry, so I went to check the pantry for snack.

12:52

To my surprise, I found the basement door open.

12:55

A bit worried, I started to close it when I

12:57

heard a voice make its way up from its depths.

13:00

It sounded suspiciously like Lini.

13:03

I hadn't been down there since we discovered the dark

13:05

room, but I was a bit worried that if

13:08

it was Lini, she could be in trouble.

13:11

Against my better judgment, I crept down

13:13

a few steps and looked into the basement. The

13:15

light was on down there, so I assumed that one of

13:17

my parents had replaced the burnt out bulb At

13:20

some point. I listened intently

13:22

again, and there was no mistake.

13:24

Leoni was down there somewhere. I

13:27

made my way through the basement carefully,

13:30

even though the light was shining bright. My previous

13:32

experience was not one I wanted to relive.

13:36

I followed the sound of her voice as I continued

13:38

to get closer. It sounded as if she was

13:41

talking to someone. What

13:43

did you use it for? I heard her

13:45

ask. I stopped and

13:47

tried to listen for a response. Instead,

13:50

she started giggling. A few seconds later,

13:53

my heart dropped as I turned a corner and realized

13:55

where her voice was coming from

13:58

the dark room. I

14:00

hurriedly walked to the small doorway to find

14:02

Lini sitting cross legged on the floor, facing

14:05

the back wall under the glowing red light. Lini,

14:08

I called out, startling her and immediately

14:10

feeling bad about it. She turned toward me

14:12

and smiled. Dara.

14:15

She squealed, did you come to play too?

14:17

What are you doing down here? I asked her. It's

14:20

dangerous. No, it's not, she

14:22

told me matter of factly. I always

14:24

come down here now, it's my secret spot.

14:27

I was surprised by this, of course, because

14:29

I had avoided the dark room and the entire

14:31

basement since the day we found it. I

14:34

was under the assumption that she did as well. I

14:36

pushed the memory of my first

14:38

and only visit out of my head for now, though,

14:40

for fear of conjuring any unwanted attention.

14:43

While I was down there still, Who

14:45

are you talking to, Lini? Oh,

14:47

it's my friend, Abigail, she said. My

14:50

heart dropped and my blood ran cold.

14:53

There was no one else with her but an

14:56

old, dirty, teddy bear. When she held

14:58

out to me in greeting, I

15:00

immediately recognized it as the one that

15:02

once sat on the top shelf in this very room

15:04

when we first opened the door. It

15:07

was too far out of reach for either of us to grab.

15:09

Then I silently wondered

15:12

how Leni got her hands on it,

15:14

and also wondered if that is

15:16

who she meant as Abigail. The

15:19

implications of her making a new friend down

15:21

in the dark room were too much for me to comprehend

15:24

in that small, darkened space at the moment.

15:27

Very nice to meet you, I

15:29

stammered, starting to feel a bit

15:32

dizzy. A familiar feeling

15:34

of unease washed over me. And

15:36

look what she found, Lenie exclaimed,

15:39

as she showed me something else. It

15:41

took a moment for it to register in my brain,

15:44

but she held an old hunting knife in her hand.

15:47

My eyes grew wide, and I quickly snatched

15:49

it away from her. Lee that's dangerous.

15:52

It's not a toy. You shouldn't be playing with that. Sorry,

15:55

she said, looking sheepishly at the floor.

15:58

Abigail said it was okay. The

16:01

dizziness was getting worse, and

16:03

this Abigail was making me nervous. Who

16:06

was she and why was LINI treating

16:08

the teddy bear like a person? Regardless,

16:10

this was not the place to discuss it. Come

16:13

back upstairs, please, I told her, we have chores.

16:16

That was a lie, but I had to get out

16:18

of there, and the thought of leaving her alone in

16:20

the dark room was not one I was going to entertain.

16:24

Reluctantly, she got up, brushed

16:26

the dirt off her dress, and grabbed the teddy Bear. Come

16:28

along, Abigail, she said, moving

16:30

past me into the basement. Before

16:33

I followed, I took the knife I had

16:35

taken from her and looked for a good hiding

16:37

spot for it. Taking a quick glance

16:39

under the bench, I saw a small alcove in

16:41

there, one that someone wouldn't normally see

16:44

unless they were looking for it. I placed

16:46

the knife there, hopeful that it would be enough

16:48

to keep it out of Linie's hands. I

16:50

took one last look inside the dark room before

16:52

reaching for the chain and turning off the red light.

16:55

I couldn't get out of the basement fast enough.

17:00

H Lighthouse

17:03

were returned after a word from our sponsors,

17:11

and now Lighthouse continues.

17:21

Despite my protests, Lenie began

17:23

to spend more and more time in the dark room.

17:26

Her own bedroom was often neglected in favor

17:28

of it, and, much like my father with the study,

17:31

she would disappear for hours at a time down there.

17:33

Her continued insistence on playing with

17:35

this Abigail was worrisome for me,

17:38

but my mother didn't seem to mind. In

17:41

fact, if Lenie was occupied

17:43

elsewhere, that meant less work my

17:45

mother had to do. It also meant more

17:47

time for her to be alone with her thoughts,

17:50

which in turn left me alone with my own.

17:53

The man in the hat, the person hanging

17:55

from the tree, Abigail, all

17:57

of them were just a small portion of the things

18:00

I saw lurking in Lighthouse. There

18:02

were so many more things I saw

18:04

once or twice, things I only caught the

18:06

briefest of glimpses of things

18:08

that were almost as common as the man in

18:10

the hat. One of those

18:12

things was the maid in the kitchen. I

18:14

often saw her hurrying herself in there, perhaps

18:17

preparing phantom meals. Dressed in a

18:19

simple black dress with a small ornamental

18:21

apron. She only registered

18:23

my presence once, when I bumped

18:26

the table and knocked a fork from its place

18:28

setting. She turned to me as

18:30

I saw tears of blood staining

18:33

her porcelain cheeks. There

18:35

was also the servant in one of the spare bedrooms

18:38

upstairs, wearing dark gray trousers

18:41

a high buttoned black coat with a dark

18:43

tie. He busied himself with keeping

18:45

the room tidy, awaiting orders

18:47

from the master of the house. There

18:49

was a rust colored stain that spread on the

18:51

back of his coat as he worked. An

18:54

old sailor, likely a pirate

18:56

from the early days of sailing along the bluff,

18:59

occasionally made appearances on the grounds.

19:02

That gaping hole where his right

19:04

eye socket used to be dominated by his

19:06

face. In the attic,

19:09

there was an old woman who sat in a darkened

19:11

corner, rocking back and

19:13

forth in her chair, her face covered

19:16

in a shawl. She didn't do anything

19:18

else but sit there day in day out.

19:20

Whenever I saw her, there

19:22

was a man with some sort of file, maybe a doctor,

19:25

paying attention to her comings and goings,

19:28

writing down notes about what he was

19:30

observing. There's a little boy

19:33

often seen outside on the grounds, who moved

19:35

with an unnatural gait and whose teeth

19:37

never stopped chattering. Not all

19:39

of the entities made their physical presence

19:41

known. Some of them were content to open

19:44

doors and cabinets, move valuable

19:46

objects to different places, and

19:48

just generally cause unseen havoc.

19:50

And Lighthouse one waited until

19:53

the dark early hours of the night

19:55

to whisper indiscernible words

19:57

to me in a chorus of gentle saying

20:00

song voices from the events. There

20:04

were many things slowly tormenting

20:06

us in Lighthouse, but none of them were

20:08

as terrifying as the shadowy thing. Whatever

20:11

it was, I had never actually seen its

20:13

full form. I named it for its black,

20:16

shadowy shape that kept its form

20:18

nebulous, often appearing just out

20:20

of the corner of my eyesight, but making

20:22

it known that it was present. I was

20:24

certain it was the very same thing that chased

20:27

us from the dark room on the day we opened it, less

20:30

person and more thing. I

20:32

came to think of it as the very darkness

20:35

living in the heart of lighthouse. I

20:37

mean it quite literally when I say it was

20:40

living within the walls of the house. I

20:42

sometimes saw it slithering behind the

20:45

wallpaper, a bulging

20:47

shape protruding from the hallway, giving

20:49

the appearance that the house itself was alive.

20:52

I tried to avoid it at all costs, especially

20:55

after the night I saw it with my father. Unlike

20:58

the rest of my family, I didn't try

21:00

to avoid him like they did. Despite

21:03

his temper, I made a concentrated effort

21:05

to try to keep connected, to make sure

21:07

he knew that I was there for him and that he was

21:09

loved. One relatively calm

21:12

evening, where I had gone an entire day without

21:14

seeing or hearing from one of the many inhabitants

21:17

of the house, I had an uneasy

21:19

feeling that I was overdue for a visit.

21:22

As my bedside clock struck three am,

21:25

I realized how right I was when

21:27

the whispering voices began to call out

21:29

from my vend again. I

21:33

tried not to listen to their hushed words,

21:35

But sometimes the more you try to block something

21:37

out the more your brain allows it. In this

21:40

time, instead of just words,

21:43

I could not make out, there was something

21:45

else coming through the cacophony.

21:47

They were calling out my name. I

21:54

was immobilized because this was the first

21:56

time that anything had addressed me by

21:58

my name. It knew who I was. My

22:09

fear overtook me, and every rational

22:11

part of my brain told me to stay where I was, But

22:13

my body was not my own. Then it

22:16

was in some sort of trance against

22:18

my will. I found my legs swinging over the

22:20

edge of my bed and then walking along the floor

22:23

outside my bedroom. I supposed,

22:25

despite all my terror, the lizard part

22:27

of my brain could not resist the call of whatever

22:29

it was out in the hall. It

22:31

continued, much

22:36

like the music box. I followed it down the

22:38

stairs and onto the first floor of the house.

22:43

It beckoned me, the voice drawing

22:45

me towards my father's study. As

22:47

I got closer, I found the door jar again,

22:50

the light spilling into the hallway like a

22:52

beacon night. The

22:56

closer I got to the door, the more my anxiety

22:59

grew. My footsteps slowed

23:01

as another part of my brain was fighting

23:03

against whatever was calling out to me in that room.

23:06

But it was too late. I was too close

23:08

to the doorway, and I had no choice but to give

23:10

into my instincts and look inside.

23:13

Was a scene I had laid eyes on many times

23:15

before. My father sat in

23:17

his favorite chair in front of the fireplace and

23:19

family portrait, with his back towards me.

23:22

In his hand was a glass of whiskey, with

23:24

a nearly empty bottle sitting on a table

23:26

nearby. But as my eyes grew accustomed

23:29

to the bright light of the room, there was a dark

23:31

spot in my vision that refused to go away,

23:34

a shadow that was cast in the room by an

23:36

unseen object. My brain

23:38

tried to make sense of it, but there was no sense

23:40

to be had, because this was not something that human

23:43

eyes were meant to see. It wasn't a trick

23:45

of the light. It was a piece of living

23:47

darkness that had lodged itself in the middle

23:49

of the room, sucking all the light and life

23:51

away from where it stood. The shadowy

23:54

things stood tall over my father and leaned

23:56

in close, whispering to him. But

23:58

these whispers were not the same ones that lured

24:00

me here. These whispers were dark

24:02

and full of malice. Whatever brought

24:05

me here, it wasn't one and the same. Whatever

24:07

it was, it wanted me to see this. It

24:09

wanted me to see this malicious thing

24:12

leaching into my father and filling his head

24:14

with dark thoughts. It wanted to show

24:16

me what was happening. I

24:18

took a step back, and a floorboard

24:20

creaked. Almost

24:23

immediately, the shadowy thing turned

24:25

its rough approximation of a head

24:27

toward me, hissing in anger. My

24:30

father sat unmoving as the

24:32

shadow coiled itself up like a

24:34

compressed spring and then leapt in my

24:36

direction. I took off at full

24:38

run, my trance broken, and made for the stairs.

24:41

I could hear it behind me, hissing and fury

24:43

because I had interrupted its carefully planned

24:45

interaction with my father. When I reached

24:47

the top of the stairs, I chanced to look

24:50

over my shoulder, only to see the darkened

24:52

creature wrapping its slithering form around

24:54

the banister as it raced up after

24:56

me. A dark appendage reached out to grab

24:58

me and just barely gray my arm. As I

25:00

picked up speed, I ran down the hallway

25:02

toward my bedroom, the shadow jumping from the stairs

25:05

to the walls, its form bulging

25:07

from the wallpaper, scurring beneath it

25:09

like an oversized cockroach. I

25:11

didn't let up until I was back within the safety

25:13

of my room, slamming the door shut behind

25:15

me. I

25:18

thought myself safe. For

25:20

a moment, I was.

25:23

It slammed into my door, forcing me away

25:26

from it and down to my knees. As I crawled

25:28

across the floor backwards, the

25:30

shadowy thing wasted no time

25:32

in trying to get through my door, the wood distending

25:35

inward towards me in an unnatural way.

25:37

It seeped out of the wood, forming its

25:39

black in shape in the middle of my room,

25:42

its form becoming less nebulous and more

25:44

beast like. It hissed and

25:46

ungodly sound as I screamed and

25:48

it swirled around me. It covered me

25:50

in its darkness, the blackest black

25:53

that I had ever seen. As it felt

25:55

I was no longer within my room, but

25:57

within a dark, never ending void

25:59

of her I screamed and

26:01

screamed and screamed, but the world was

26:04

gone, and all that was left was me and

26:06

the everlasting darkness. I

26:14

awoke the next day in my bed, my

26:16

body drenched in sweat and my energy

26:19

depleted. I didn't leave my room

26:21

for three days. But worse

26:23

was that I didn't know what was scarier the

26:26

fact that the thing attacked me, or

26:28

that no one seemed to notice. I was confined to

26:30

my bed for so long. My

26:32

father stayed in his study whatever

26:34

dark secrets that thing whispered to him

26:37

in casing his mind. My

26:39

mother, beaten down by my father both

26:41

physically and mentally, was not even aware.

26:44

And my sister, my little LENI,

26:47

was too busy spending her days in the dark

26:49

room to know that her sister needed her. I

26:52

do not know what the shadowy thing

26:54

did to me, but I knew after

26:56

that moment I had to do everything

26:59

in my power to leave Lighthouse. And

27:02

when I was eighteen, I finally

27:04

got my chance. Desperate

27:06

to start my own life out from under the oppressing

27:09

nature of the house and my family, I applied

27:11

for college. He was on a whim at the

27:13

encouragement of my guidance counsel or at school,

27:15

who saw potential in me. I had taken

27:17

quite a few photography classes during my high school

27:20

career, and the camera I found in the dark

27:22

room helped me along in that I used

27:24

it sparingly, never developing the film

27:26

I had used since I was too afraid to use

27:28

the room. But once I realized that technology

27:31

had evolved drastically since that camera was

27:33

made. I began to use ones that the school

27:35

had on hand. Recognizing a

27:37

talent in me and an eye for photography,

27:40

Mrs Brown all but forced me to apply

27:42

for program. I didn't tell my parents

27:45

at first because I knew how the conversation

27:47

would go. Money was tight and we couldn't

27:49

afford to send me away, especially since my

27:51

father had an incident at the factory

27:53

the year before which left him unable

27:56

to work. He was currently on disability

27:58

and spent his days in his rual spot

28:00

in the study. But when I was accepted

28:03

and the prospect of being somewhere else grew

28:05

more real I formulated a plan.

28:08

I saved my own money from working at the local

28:10

grocer over the past few years, and

28:13

researched bank loans. I was confident

28:15

I would be able to do it on my own, and

28:17

now that I was eighteen, I realized I

28:19

didn't need their blessing. I was an

28:21

adult. I had the ability to make my own

28:24

decisions, make my own way,

28:26

and despite whatever they said, I

28:28

was leaving. In a rare

28:31

instance where I was able to get my father

28:33

out of his study, I sat both him

28:35

and my mother down to present my plans. When

28:38

I was done, my

28:40

father merely grumbled something

28:42

that sounded like don't expect

28:45

any help from me, and left

28:47

the room. But my mother, I

28:50

could tell by looking in her eyes that she was

28:52

heartbroken. Though the years

28:54

had not been kind to her and she

28:56

was a mere shell of the strong, confident

28:59

woman she was, she was still

29:01

my mother, and she loved me dearly. The

29:04

thought of her firstborn moving away out

29:06

from under her supposed protective

29:08

wing was devastating, but

29:11

deep inside I think she saw it for exactly

29:13

what it was, an

29:15

escape. Three

29:17

weeks later, I found myself climbing into

29:19

a taxicab, two suitcases

29:22

full of belongings in the trunk, ready

29:24

to start my new life. The time

29:26

flew by in a heartbeat, and though

29:29

I tried my best to spend those last few

29:31

days with my family to regain some semblance

29:33

of what we once were, things were

29:35

just not the same. A

29:37

part of me felt pained pain

29:40

that I was leaving my family, especially

29:42

leaning in an unsafe situation. I

29:45

don't know why, but I had fared

29:47

better than all of them by not falling into

29:49

the clutches of lighthouse and

29:51

yet a part of me felt bad because of that.

29:55

I tried my very best to help them

29:57

climb out of that hole, but they just

29:59

seemed to dig themselves deeper despite

30:01

my best efforts. My father did

30:04

not acknowledge my goodbye. I

30:06

couldn't tell if my mother's tears were

30:08

of joy or sadness. And

30:10

Leni, well, our

30:13

relationship had declined since she found

30:15

a friend in Abiil. She

30:17

wasn't fond of my leaving, so she hit away

30:19

and refused to accept it. A

30:22

soft rain began to fall as I

30:24

closed the taxis door, the droplets

30:27

creating a hazy view of lighthouse.

30:29

As the driver began to pull away, I

30:32

looked through the rear window one

30:35

last look at the place I had called

30:37

home for six years. How

30:40

stood out among the dark clouds, the

30:43

lighthouse looming in the distance

30:45

like a guardian keeping watch. Regardless

30:48

of all its ups and downs, it

30:51

was still home. Leni

30:54

appeared on the porch, teddy Bear in hand, staring

30:56

at me as the cab made its way down the driveway.

30:59

A sad smile formed on her face

31:02

as she raised her hand goodbye. I

31:04

waked back, matching her sad smile with

31:06

my own. In a sudden

31:08

flash of lightning, the Teddy Bear

31:10

was gone, replaced by

31:13

another figure at Leaney's side. In

31:16

my rapidly shrinking view of

31:18

the porch, I could see that whomever it

31:21

was was younger than Leaney, closer

31:23

to eight years old, wearing a pale

31:25

blue dress and pigtails. Her

31:27

eyes stared hard at me as I tried

31:30

to make sense of what I was seeing. This

31:33

figure was Abigail, and

31:36

the smile she gave me chilled me to

31:38

the very core Lighthouse

32:01

is a production of I Heart Radio and

32:04

Bamford Productions. Chapter

32:06

three featured the voice of Ali Trasher,

32:09

written and directed by Jeff Himbuck

32:12

audio engineering, an original musical

32:15

score by Corey Celeste. Production

32:17

assistance by Alex Gona. Executive

32:20

produced by Holly Fry. Questions

32:24

comments, you can reach us at

32:26

the Man in the Hat is Watching at gmail

32:28

dot com. Thank you for listening.