Episode Transcript
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Hey. Guys, Thanks for tuning in for
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this episode of thirteen. Before. We
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get started. I want to shout out our
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new patrons. And you boroughs Kristin,
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you can chat about the show
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or whatever else is on your
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mind. We also. Has special events for
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on Friday, March fifteenth, we're having a
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Patron exclusive live event. We're going to
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a lot of fun. Will have a
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link in the show notes If you
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want to learn more before we get
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to the episode we want, tell you
1:00
about another show we think you'll love.
1:02
You. Can See Me in the Dark
1:05
is a true Ghost Story podcast
1:07
release twice a month. Know hosts
1:09
reading stories. no unnecessary banter filler.
1:11
These are story straight from the
1:13
source. From a Dutch Goth metal
1:15
singer battling a demon to an
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amateur anthropologists digging up a skull
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from the basement of a Memphis
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bar. These are stories from real
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people who encountered real ghosts, demons,
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sound design to create an intimate
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storytelling experience. Check. Out you can
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see Me in the Dark wherever you listen to
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podcasts. And. Now without further
1:36
ado, This. Month's episode
1:38
is beyond the lakeshore. Written.
1:41
By see Dane Brown. Are.
1:44
You ready? Sit. Back.
1:47
Turned. Down the lights, And.
1:49
Now. On. with
1:51
the show Shaela
2:17
was out of breath. She
2:19
had been running the train for the upcoming track
2:21
season. The brisk
2:23
air stabbed at her ragged throat. The
2:27
light of dawn had only just crested
2:29
over the eastern mountain ridges. A
2:32
gentle breeze fluttered through the trees off
2:34
the shoreline. It
2:36
was unseasonably warm this morning, so
2:39
even the usual cold air wasn't
2:41
there to cool her down. It
2:44
was her favorite spot along the
2:46
north shore of Flathead Lake. The
2:49
spring runoff had yet to happen, leaving
2:51
the shore open and smooth. A
2:54
near perfect area to train for
2:56
sprinting. She
2:58
was hunched over, resting from
3:00
her set while the
3:02
lapping of waves calmed her racing heart.
3:06
The road nearby was empty and quiet, waiting
3:09
for its daily travelers to overpower the gentle
3:11
sound of the waves on the shore. The
3:14
birds still nested, waiting for daylight.
3:18
It was the perfect morning. It
3:21
would be the last morning Shaela was
3:23
seen alive. Jeff
3:29
was a fisherman. He had
3:31
retired from his corporate job in search of peace,
3:34
and he found it in a fly fishing
3:36
rod. He talked to
3:38
his brother on the holidays, had nieces
3:40
and nephews he doted on when they were young.
3:43
But he'd been too busy climbing the ladder to
3:45
set down routes. Too busy
3:48
signing contracts to smell the roses. He
3:51
had no family of his own. So
3:54
he dedicated himself to one purpose
3:56
in life, fishing. fishing
4:00
was fun, and bass fishing
4:02
was rewarding and fast-paced, but
4:04
trout fishing was his life. He
4:08
had fished most of the US by this point,
4:11
but the emerald green of the South
4:13
Fork had captivated him the most. It
4:16
was there that he snagged a bull
4:18
trout the size of his leg, his
4:20
most prized catch. The
4:23
day was shaping up to be a nice one. The
4:26
spring sun kept him warm as the
4:28
glacial river cooled him down. He
4:31
had caught several fish with few casts,
4:34
and even fewer could be caught before his
4:36
limit was met. It
4:39
had been the perfect day, and
4:42
it was to be his last. The
4:50
rain pitter-patters against the window pane
4:52
as I sit here writing. My
4:55
fingers drum against the table top as I pause
4:57
to write each sentence. Listening
5:00
between the far-off clashes of thunder
5:02
for the tail-tail footsteps I
5:05
expect any day now. I
5:07
see the bushes by the fence whip against the
5:10
wind, and I startle, dreading
5:12
to see something that isn't there. I
5:15
rub my temples to steady my nerves. I
5:19
can't live like this. Not
5:21
anymore. My
5:24
therapist recommended writing out my thoughts, saying
5:27
it'll help me get back to reality to face
5:30
what happened, to
5:33
learn to cope and move beyond as
5:35
if that's something that anyone could do. I
5:39
know that he means well, my therapist,
5:42
or at least he wants to be paid well, but
5:44
still, I know that most
5:47
would say that this is fake or
5:49
even delusional. But
5:51
if it saves one person from
5:53
heading out on that lake, then
5:55
maybe my writing this
5:57
down won't be in vain. Gene
6:08
Kent floated through high school. He
6:11
had friends but no friend group. He
6:14
knew kids from each of the cliques but didn't
6:16
belong to one of his own. He
6:19
knew that the school had a principal and
6:21
vice principal but he'd never met them and
6:23
didn't know their names. He
6:26
knew his teachers well enough and they knew
6:28
him. He always turned
6:30
in his assignments, never needed help
6:33
and would always answer questions when called on.
6:36
But he never proffered any answers on his own.
6:39
He was the kind of kid who was told to
6:41
go to college because people thought that he
6:43
would do well there. Though
6:46
he had a 3.9 GPA, his
6:48
lack of extracurriculars or activities prevented
6:50
him from standing out among his
6:52
peers. His mom
6:54
thought that he would do well at an Ivy League school if
6:56
he could get in but people from
6:58
Montana just aren't cut out for it.
7:02
At least that's what our guidance counselor Mr. Grant
7:04
would say. Most
7:06
people from our class chose two
7:08
options, college or
7:10
the military. Gene
7:13
and I, we chose
7:15
neither. I
7:20
went to work for my family's business. Gene,
7:24
well, he just seemed to idle.
7:27
He jumped from job to job and
7:29
it's when he came to be a cook
7:31
at my family's place that we first truly
7:34
met each other. And
7:37
that's when I found out what
7:39
he had been researching, what
7:41
he was hunting down and
7:45
what ended up hunting
7:47
him. It
7:56
was April of 2020 during
7:58
the first wave of the pandemic. We
8:01
were still in lockdown as much as
8:03
we ever were. Most businesses were shut
8:05
down and plenty of people believe that
8:07
was all a hoax. Fight.
8:11
For the first month. You. Could
8:13
drive down the main strip. And see
8:15
only a few cars parked on the road. The
8:19
spring hayes was gone, having not been kicked
8:21
up in the first place by the daily
8:23
drivers heading to and from work. My
8:26
footsteps echoed across the glass windows
8:28
and wouldn't facades of Main Street
8:30
as I walked home. It.
8:33
Was during this month that are
8:35
restaurants shut down temporarily. It
8:38
was the first time I've had off since high
8:40
school and I wanted to make the most of
8:42
it. Most of my
8:44
social circle have left Montana. But
8:47
even the ones that state and stay
8:49
had gone to Missoula or Bozeman. They
8:52
had moved on with their
8:54
lives and here I was
8:56
twenty five washing dishes in
8:58
my parents restaurant with no
9:00
accomplishments and even fewer goals.
9:03
I didn't even live on my own yet. Still,
9:06
Rinsing the basement apartment for my folks until
9:08
I had a chance to figure out what
9:11
I wanted to do. After
9:14
what happened, I can't really recall the
9:16
events that led to Jean and I'm
9:18
meeting up their first day. I
9:21
remember getting a text and then ending up
9:23
in one of the local parks. After
9:26
that, we cruised around for a little
9:28
while until we got bored. Finally,
9:32
I. Remember pulling up to his garage door
9:34
to dropped him off. I remember that
9:36
he invited me to hang out for
9:38
a bed and what he calls his
9:40
man cave. The
9:43
building before us was a
9:45
standalone garage. The
9:47
white paint have faded long ago. And
9:50
in most places the paint shipped off
9:52
enough to see the bleached word been
9:54
he said. Seen in
9:56
I walked around the side towards the back
9:58
door. much like Just the rest of
10:00
the structure, the door hung loosely in
10:02
its frame, held shut
10:05
mostly by gravity rather than
10:07
the half across its face. A
10:10
single blacked-out pane of glass in the door
10:12
was the only window into the building. When
10:15
Gene opened the dilapidated door, I
10:18
first tasted the damp, moldy air. A
10:21
slight sheen of dust hung in the air for
10:23
just a second, highlighted by the
10:25
light coming from behind our backs. Gene
10:29
walked through, causing a swirling
10:31
eddy that raced behind him. He
10:34
flicked a switch, and a low,
10:36
dull hum came from above. A
10:39
second later, the light followed
10:41
the sound. The
10:44
concrete floor was covered with a faded,
10:47
rat-bitten rug. Beside
10:49
the rug, an equally worn
10:51
couch stood slumping into itself.
10:54
A small TV stood on a short
10:56
wooden stand and viewing distance from the
10:58
couch. My attention was
11:00
soon fixed upon the right-hand wall. A
11:03
thin computer monitor sat on a
11:05
long table, buried up to its
11:08
screen in loose paper. Behind
11:10
the monitor, dozens of papers
11:12
were taped, stapled, or nailed onto
11:14
the wall. A
11:17
few pictures were interspersed among the various
11:19
scribbled notes, a web
11:21
of thread connecting them all together.
11:25
It was like something out of a bad movie. A
11:28
picture of the lake taken from the North Shore.
11:32
A brunette teenager, linked to
11:34
a missing person's notice. A
11:37
picture of a middle-aged man, salt
11:39
and pepper hair, contrasting his
11:41
pale skin. I
11:43
turned to Gene. I
11:46
think you've been watching too many movies, man. What
11:48
is all this? He
11:50
glanced over to what had drawn my attention.
11:54
He gave me a look. There
11:56
was an excitement in his eyes. Don't
12:01
know what. Gene
12:04
started pacing in front of the rainbow web. You're
12:07
telling me that you haven't heard? He
12:09
about faced abruptly, leaning in
12:11
close to me. It's
12:13
Flesse. My
12:16
jaw dropped. Come
12:19
on man, Flesse? Flesse's
12:22
just a bad joke. It's
12:24
a cartoon lake monster dreamed up by people
12:26
like my parents so that tourists will spend
12:28
money on those awful little knickknacks. It's
12:31
even named after another hoax for God's sake.
12:35
Gene rolled his eyes. Nah man,
12:37
you just don't get it. Flesse
12:39
is real. Just look at this.
12:42
He gestured to the wall of pictures, starting
12:45
from the center and slowly working out.
12:49
So it all started last fall. A
12:51
runner disappeared on the north shore. He
12:55
gave a little pull to the string that was
12:57
wrapped around the tack holding the picture of the
12:59
brunette teenager. This
13:01
is Shayla Stone, all state champion
13:03
at the 200 meter dash. She
13:06
was just running along the shore one morning,
13:09
training like she always did, and then bam!
13:12
Gone without a trace. Her tracks even
13:14
washed away in the surf. I
13:17
was incredulous. And
13:19
so what? You think it's
13:21
Flesse? The tourist trap? Not,
13:24
I don't know, a girl that drowned
13:26
or got kidnapped or ran away? Gene
13:30
ignored me and kept going. Okay,
13:33
then just a few weeks ago another
13:35
one went missing. He
13:37
tapped a picture of a middle aged man. He'd
13:41
gone up to the south fork to fish. After
13:44
a few days, sheriffs are called and only
13:46
his truck is found, just stranded out there
13:48
in the middle of nowhere. His
13:50
brother called the sheriff back after he didn't hear
13:52
from the guy, even said to check for his
13:54
tracker, gave them the info and everything. His
13:58
face grew grim and serious. The
14:00
tracker? It was down too. Something
14:05
in his voice pulled my attention away. I
14:09
looked back at him and I noticed something
14:11
different in his eyes, a
14:13
gleam that I hadn't seen beforehand. We
14:16
were friends like most coworkers can be.
14:20
We'd done our share of complaining together, complaining
14:23
about servers not clearing their plates or
14:25
maybe about how busy it was that
14:27
night. There was never
14:29
a lot of life in Gene's eyes, but
14:32
now there was a fire
14:34
behind his blue pupils that surprised
14:37
and, looking back on it, even
14:40
frightened me. I'd
14:42
seen that gleam before in other people's eyes.
14:46
I'd always chalked Gene up as a person
14:48
that didn't have many friends, who
14:50
didn't have anyone to talk to about his hobbies. Now
14:54
he finally had somebody to show his creation
14:56
to. And that gleam
14:58
in his eyes? It pulled
15:00
me in. It sparked
15:03
my own curiosity. Having
15:10
lived in the Flathead Valley my entire life,
15:13
it wasn't unusual to hear about tourists going
15:15
missing, especially during the summer
15:17
months. While it
15:19
was unfortunate, a lot of people that
15:21
come visit have never set foot in the woods and
15:25
they don't have even the most basic knowledge
15:27
of the wild. It
15:29
goes like this. They arrive
15:31
to start their trip, unload and
15:33
set off. Then something
15:35
goes wrong along the way. An
15:38
accident leaves them in a precarious place.
15:41
And what do they do? They
15:44
try to rescue themselves. And
15:46
a lot of times, they end up further
15:48
in the woods and worse off. Sometimes
15:53
they haven't even let anyone know where they're
15:55
going. So when it
15:57
comes to looking for them, nobody
15:59
even knows where to start.
16:04
But that wasn't what happened with these cases.
16:08
Shayla was a local. She had a routine.
16:11
She ran every morning and lived less than
16:13
a mile from where she disappeared. When
16:16
she didn't show up, her mother called the
16:18
sheriff's office right away. There
16:21
were no other tracks found at the crime
16:23
scene. It was
16:25
like Shayla had simply vanished into
16:27
the air. Jeffrey
16:31
Corner wasn't a local. He
16:33
was camping out of his car near the
16:35
river deep in the woods. But
16:38
he took all of the precautions and
16:40
he had a tracking device that would ping his
16:42
location throughout the day. By
16:45
the third day, his brother had called
16:47
the sheriff's and the search began. All
16:51
they ever found was his car
16:54
still locked. Gene
16:58
laid all this out for me. As
17:01
he did so, a thought began to
17:03
coalesce in my mind. Why
17:06
are you so interested in all this? A
17:09
wide smile split his face in two. So
17:13
I know a guy who knows a guy. We
17:15
got to talking about this a week ago. And
17:18
before you know it, I was
17:20
standing in the impound lot looking at
17:22
Jeffrey's truck. I
17:24
took a look inside and I found the tracking info
17:26
in his center console. You'd think
17:28
the sheriff would have been able to use their eyes, right? He
17:32
shook the mouse on the table and woke
17:34
up the computer monitor. Let
17:36
me ask you something. What is
17:39
a satellite tracker attached to a guy
17:41
that disappeared up the Flathead River doing
17:43
on an island over a hundred miles
17:45
away? On
17:47
Gene's computer screen, in the
17:50
middle of the Flathead Lake, sat
17:52
a bright red flashing
17:54
dot. I
18:03
wanted to call the authorities, but
18:05
instead, when I left Gene's
18:07
place that night, we decided
18:09
to look into the flashing dot the next day.
18:13
Under the cover of early morning twilight,
18:16
I left my apartment to meet him at
18:18
the local boat launch. I
18:20
arrived at the north shore before he did. During
18:24
the summer, this loading zone is
18:26
so full of cars you have to park
18:28
on the grass median that separates it from
18:30
the highway, but
18:32
on this dark spring morning, it
18:35
was empty. I
18:38
got out of my car and lit a cigarette. The
18:41
lake sent gentle waves up to the shore.
18:44
On any other day, the
18:46
black sky and the cool air would
18:48
have been calming, but
18:51
instead, my mind
18:53
raced and I felt shivers
18:55
trickle down my spine. I
18:58
leaned against my car and glanced south.
19:02
People said the lake looked like an ocean, and
19:06
that morning, I couldn't have agreed
19:08
more. The
19:10
fog bank, highlighted in the early
19:12
dawn's light, poured down
19:14
the mountains. It
19:17
obscured the water both east and west of
19:19
here, and it spread
19:21
far across the lake, blocking
19:23
out the southern half of the expanse, including
19:26
the island that Gene and I were
19:28
going to sail to. The
19:32
lake was a silent sea, gray
19:35
and black. The
19:37
waves rolled quietly against the shore, wishing
19:41
to pull me in as
19:43
I stood on the banks. I
19:51
spent several minutes in that quiet before
19:53
Gene arrived. His truck
19:55
whipped into the parking lot. The
19:57
small aluminum boat was loaded haphazardly.
20:00
over the tailgate. It screeched
20:02
as the ratchet strap that kept it from
20:04
tumbling into the highway was strained. He
20:07
killed the engine and it was quiet
20:09
once again. The creak
20:11
of his rusty door greeted me
20:14
as I joined him toward the bed of the truck. Gene
20:17
took a deep inhale before cracking a
20:20
smile. Ah, now
20:22
that's the smell of adventure. I
20:25
took a deep drag from my cigarette. Whatever
20:28
you say, man, did you bring
20:30
everything? Hell yeah, I
20:32
brought everything. Everything and then some.
20:35
You won't believe what I found when I raided
20:37
my dad's stash. Here, grab
20:39
the other side. We
20:42
unloaded the boat by hand and set it
20:44
on a grassy knoll that separated the parking
20:46
lot from the lakeshore. Bags
20:48
were shuffled from the truck to the boat and
20:51
soon we found ourselves skimming along
20:53
the surface of the still lake. Gene
20:57
held onto the motor handle, guiding
20:59
it but using it mostly to lean against.
21:02
As we traveled, Don crested
21:05
over the eastern mountain ridges. It
21:08
started as light blue rays casting away the
21:10
dark of night. Then
21:12
it slowly transitioned into the
21:14
deep red and orange of
21:16
early sunlight. The
21:19
cold humid air began to warm up, but
21:22
not enough to take away the chill from our bones
21:25
as we continued across the water. The
21:28
warmth and the new light invigorated
21:30
my soul. The
21:33
sun had nearly risen when
21:35
we rounded a bend and
21:37
saw the end of our journey. I
21:45
turned to look at the island. It
21:47
was as beautiful as the Suncast Lake. Much
21:50
of the old growth had been removed, but
21:53
plenty of trees still remained. The
21:56
bulk of the island was overgrown with
21:58
grassland across the rolling hills. I
22:01
could almost hear the horses neighing over the
22:03
motor, but as Gene killed
22:05
the engine, the only sound was
22:07
the lapping of waves against the sight of our
22:09
boat. I turned
22:11
back to Gene and saw him pulling out his
22:14
phone and bringing up the tracking sight. He
22:17
spoke in a quiet, measured tone. According
22:21
to the sight, the track should be on
22:23
the island itself. How
22:25
could it be on the island? I whispered,
22:28
more to myself than to ask the question out
22:30
loud. Gene answered
22:32
anyway. That's the point of
22:35
adventure, isn't it? He
22:37
smiled and kicked on the motor again, bringing
22:40
the boat toward the public beach. All
22:43
right, we can land there and head inland. He
22:46
gestured toward a point on the island. It
22:49
gave way on both the left and the right
22:51
to form a small bay. What
22:54
do you mean we're going inland? Isn't the
22:56
island private land? Gene
22:59
raised his eyebrows. Most
23:01
of it's still public land. We're just going
23:03
to take a look and see what we can find. We
23:06
won't even go on or near any private land. Why
23:09
did you come out here if you didn't want to do this in the first
23:11
place? In my mind,
23:13
I began to ask myself the same question.
23:21
We pulled ashore without any issues, and
23:23
soon we had our packs on, ready
23:26
to cross the island. The
23:28
state had built several hiking trails, and we
23:30
followed one of them inland. The
23:33
beach that had been our landing spot quickly
23:36
changed into a woodland forest. Evergreen
23:39
trees pushed in on each side of
23:41
the trail as we walked, gaining elevation.
23:44
The early morning sun gave us plenty of light
23:46
to travel by, but the
23:48
hills on the island had blocked out the sun
23:50
and put us back into the cold. On
23:54
any other day, this would have been a
23:56
pleasant walk, but the mood
23:58
had soured. Well, perhaps
24:00
it hadn't soured, but
24:02
it had become disquieted.
24:05
We walked in silence along the trail, and
24:08
it wasn't until we reached the flat plain at the
24:10
top that the true width
24:12
and breadth of the island was
24:15
realized. To
24:18
our left, looking east, trees
24:20
crowded the hilltops. A
24:22
lush green contrasted with the orange and red
24:24
of the morning light. And
24:27
to our right, a large
24:29
hilltop loomed above, blocking
24:31
out our view beyond. This
24:33
side of the island was covered
24:35
only in grassy plains. Gene
24:38
stopped in place, nearly causing
24:40
me to stumble into him and fall down. He
24:44
spoke up. It says
24:46
the tracker's right here. The
24:48
two of us looked at each other, then
24:50
turned to the grassy plain for an
24:53
answer. It
24:55
didn't make sense. Wait
24:57
a minute. Oh, wait just a minute.
25:02
Gene perked up and smacked my arm,
25:04
sour disposition replaced with a smile. Hang
25:07
on, it's not right here. I
25:09
mean, like it is, but not right here. You get it?
25:12
I didn't. He
25:15
knelt down and began looking through his bag, his
25:18
frantic motion spilling the contents onto the
25:20
ground until he pulled out a piece
25:22
of folded paper. Okay,
25:24
I printed off a map of the island just in
25:26
case. I'm glad I did. Look at this spot
25:28
right here. This is where we're standing. Do
25:31
you see the elevation? I came
25:33
up and knelt beside him, looking at
25:35
his finger on the map as I did so. The
25:38
spot he pointed to showed 2,900 feet elevation. Then,
25:44
Gene shoved his phone into my face. But
25:47
look at this. The elevation of the tracker is 2,500
25:49
feet. So
25:51
it is right here, just 400 feet below us.
25:55
His smile was infectious, and
25:58
I found myself grinning at the news too. Okay,
26:02
so how do we get to it? He
26:05
looked at me, his smile only
26:08
growing. He won't
26:10
believe what I found in my dad's stash. We
26:23
walked back toward the beach and loaded up our
26:25
bags, casting off back into
26:27
the lake. Gene
26:29
gave me the motor while he sat in the front
26:32
and dug through his rucksack. He
26:34
pulled out a small black box with a cord from
26:36
his pack. So, I
26:39
grabbed this from his equipment stash. I don't
26:41
think he'll mind if I take it, it's
26:43
for ice fishing. He
26:45
finished unraveling the cord and pushed a button on
26:47
the side. A disorienting
26:50
vision crossed the screen until
26:52
Gene grabbed a small square shaped tip at
26:54
the end of the cord. He
26:57
pointed it out toward the water and
26:59
I saw the lake reflected in the small
27:02
square screen. Okay,
27:04
so what? We're just going to
27:06
put it under water until we see a dead body or
27:08
something? Gene ignored me
27:10
and went on. I did some
27:13
thinking last night. Either you
27:15
were right and the tracker had somehow
27:17
floated downstream all this way only
27:20
to come to rest in the middle of an island. Or
27:24
I was right and the tracker was taken
27:26
here. Now we looked on
27:28
the island, didn't we? I
27:30
nodded again. And we
27:32
stood on that exact spot listed for the tracker
27:35
and it said we were 400 feet higher than
27:38
the tracker. I
27:40
agreed. So there has
27:42
to be some sort of cavern or opening
27:44
or something beneath the surface that the tracker
27:47
went through. It would
27:49
explain why Flessie hasn't been found. She's
27:52
got a secret hideout. He
27:54
finished giddy with excitement,
27:57
having proven himself right, at
27:59
least in his eyes. own mind. It
28:02
did make sense in around about one in a
28:04
million kind of way, but
28:06
I didn't believe in Plessy. But
28:09
if the tracker had found a current, and
28:11
then another current, and another one, why
28:14
couldn't it have ended up here? So,
28:18
we set to work. It
28:20
was a long day after that point. I
28:23
kept the motor idling, trying my best to
28:25
keep us in one spot, while
28:27
Jean continually dropped the camera down,
28:30
trying to get some sort of look at the side of
28:32
the island. By the end of
28:34
the day, we hadn't found anything.
28:43
I was ready to call it quits after
28:45
the first day, but not Jean. We
28:47
went our separate ways with plans to meet up the
28:49
next morning. As I
28:52
returned home, my parents waved me
28:54
onto the porch before I could make my way
28:56
to my apartment. They
28:58
said that they had great news. The
29:01
lockdown was being lifted, and we
29:04
would be reopening the restaurant
29:06
next week. Though they didn't say
29:08
it, I'd worked with them long enough to
29:10
know that that meant my summer
29:12
would be booked solid. If
29:15
Jean and I didn't find what we were
29:17
looking for before we reopened, then
29:19
we never would. When
29:22
I called and told Jean, he
29:24
just laughed. Well, I
29:27
guess that means we have six days to find it. We
29:31
found it on the sixth day. On
29:42
that final day, that most
29:45
unfortunate of days, the
29:47
weather took a turn for the worse. Just
29:50
as it is now, with the rain
29:52
pitter-pattering against my window as I write
29:54
this all down, the
29:57
gray clouds that had marked our arrival to
29:59
the lakeshore. had turned
30:01
black. There were
30:03
streaks of decay highlighted by
30:05
far off flashes of lightning from the
30:07
south. We didn't
30:09
have much time. By
30:13
this point, we had stopped putting
30:15
in the boat before sunrise, choosing
30:18
instead to wait until it was light so we
30:20
could see better. In
30:22
our rush to find the tracker on that last
30:24
day, we skipped all but
30:26
the most necessary of items. We
30:29
brought the boat, gas, water,
30:32
goggles, waterproof headlamps,
30:35
a little bit of rope, and our camera.
30:39
We'd cast off from the ground only an hour
30:41
ago, and in mere moments
30:43
we could no longer see the shore behind
30:45
us. My hand
30:47
slipped from the propeller's rudder, and
30:49
for a moment, I thought that our
30:51
momentum would carry us over the crest of a
30:53
wave, send us broadside and
30:56
into the cold water. With
30:59
a quickness of surprise even myself, I
31:01
grabbed the rudder before we toppled and righted
31:04
the boat, pointing it back toward
31:06
the island. I
31:08
asked Gene if he was sure that this was a good
31:10
idea. Should we really be out here
31:12
today? Gene's hair
31:14
caught in his face as he tried
31:16
to answer, Come on
31:19
man, you know it's our last chance.
31:21
We have to work tomorrow and no offense,
31:23
your parents are kind of hard asses. He
31:27
said that we'd be lucky to have another day off
31:29
this summer, much less both of us
31:31
having the same day off together. If
31:34
we're going to do this, we need to
31:36
do it now. I
31:38
told him that that was exactly my point. It
31:41
was the last day of summer. I
31:43
didn't want to spend it on this damn
31:45
boat looking for his make believe fish monster.
31:49
Gene's smile disappeared. He
31:52
told me again that Flesse was
31:54
real, and he tried to stand up, but
31:56
just as he did, the boat crashed down
31:59
into the trough. of a wave, his
32:01
legs buckling beneath him. He
32:03
glanced up at me as he held himself against one
32:05
of the wooden benches. I
32:08
killed the engine and let the
32:10
waves take the boat in their grasp. Come
32:13
on dude, wake up! Blessy
32:16
is a make believe story. It's
32:18
made up. There's no sea monster in
32:20
the lake and there never will be.
32:26
We sat staring at each other for
32:28
what felt like minutes but was
32:30
probably only a few seconds. Gene
32:33
turned away from me and looked toward the
32:35
island as he wiped off the lake spray
32:37
that had splashed onto his cheeks. It
32:40
was only another 10 minutes further. I
32:43
almost didn't hear him beneath the rocking of the waves.
32:47
Just give me another hour. If we don't
32:49
find anything after another hour I'll come back
32:51
later and do it myself. I
32:54
guess it was the least that I could do. Besides,
32:58
we were already out there. I
33:00
was even nice enough not to count the 10 minutes that
33:02
it took to get to the island. The
33:08
choppy cold water slowed down our
33:10
search and the constant
33:12
seesawing made an already tense mood worse.
33:15
We searched in silence. Gene
33:18
kept his face glued to the monitor and
33:21
left it to me to navigate the crests and troughs
33:23
of the waves. Gene's
33:25
only interaction with me was when he demanded that I
33:28
place the boat in a certain part of the lake.
33:31
Even then, it was more grunts
33:33
than words. Besides
33:36
the constant thud of metal on the
33:38
waves and the far off thunder, the
33:41
wind fell still and left
33:43
me alone with a tinny whir of the
33:45
small gas engine. The
33:48
minutes began to tick by. Each
33:50
time I looked at my watch, I
33:52
could see Gene out of the corner of my eye. Soon,
33:56
his leg began to drum against
33:58
the boat in anticipation from when I
34:00
called out that the time was done. Then
34:04
he said something in a dull
34:06
tone. There
34:09
it is. We
34:11
sat bobbing in the waves for a few seconds,
34:14
registering that we had found the tunnel that
34:16
we were looking for. He
34:19
looked over at me. The blue was
34:21
returning to his dull gray eyes as he
34:23
came to realize what he had just said.
34:27
The sky darkened further. The
34:29
clouds behind his head were more purple
34:31
than gray. Look
34:34
man, we found it. He
34:36
turned the camera toward me. The
34:38
underwater picture showed a little color, but
34:41
it was there. About 20
34:43
feet below the surface, there were
34:45
cracked rocks forming the mouth of a
34:48
jagged hole, nearly circular in
34:50
shape. The picture, now
34:53
combined with the pitter-patter of rain, sent
34:55
a shiver down my spine. I
34:58
looked back at him and saw the smile
35:00
that had spread across his face. I
35:03
fucking told you man. He
35:06
jumped up, threatening the balance of the small
35:08
boat. Come on,
35:10
Gene. Look at the sky. We can't do
35:13
this today. No, no, no. The deal was
35:15
that if I didn't find anything in an
35:17
hour, we'd go home. We found something. We
35:19
need to check it out. I
35:22
wanted to disagree. After all,
35:24
I'd given him more than an hour, but
35:27
I knew that that wouldn't matter. He
35:30
kept going. Come on, man.
35:32
Are you serious right now? We
35:34
can manage a quick swim down there. We'll just
35:36
poke our heads in and see what it looks
35:38
like. You just can't handle it if I'm
35:41
right, can you? He
35:43
smirked again, and I
35:45
knew that my argument was lost.
35:48
Fine, we'll do it. But it
35:51
has to be quick. I
35:53
looked around at the sky above us. We
35:56
Don't know what it's gonna look like out here when we come back
35:58
up. If
36:00
only I had known. The
36:08
rain was pouring soaking are
36:10
close. We shifted around the
36:13
increasingly unstable boat. Team
36:15
looked at me to as garbles,
36:17
raindrops are falling down and rivets
36:20
across our faces and we were
36:22
smiling about our discovery. The
36:25
rumble of thunder began over us.
36:27
The wind picked up and flung
36:29
raindrops sideways across the air. The
36:33
waves where violence rocking us over
36:35
the crest and slamming us back
36:37
down into the troughs. Standing water
36:40
had completely soaked our shoes and
36:42
I felt my quickly pruning toes
36:44
legal against. My damp sex. Scene
36:47
gave me a work okay, remembered to
36:49
two axe and start pulling me back.
36:51
I shouldn't be gone for more than
36:53
a minute. Team gave
36:56
me one curt nod and I
36:58
returned them. I finished tying up
37:00
the road to the add to
37:02
the boat and then he jumped
37:04
dead. I
37:07
said swearing on that rocking
37:09
boat for over a minutes
37:11
and then another minutes and
37:13
then a third. I felt
37:15
no tugging on the room.
37:18
I'd been able to see teens waterproof, have
37:21
lived for only the briefest of moments as
37:23
he slipped beneath the black ways. A
37:26
cold panic began to sedan and
37:28
my hands began to say. I
37:31
was white knuckling the little row. I
37:34
clamped a between my hands, ready to
37:36
pull the moment I felt one tag,
37:39
much less to. The
37:41
nature of our predicament rang
37:44
out in my head. He
37:46
or I stood in the
37:48
middle of a massive spring
37:50
storm, holding onto the only
37:52
lifeline for my friend, searching
37:54
for a tunnel nobody knows
37:56
about. And here's the kicker:
37:58
We broke the for roll.
38:02
Neither of us told
38:04
anybody where we were.
38:11
The possibilities began to run through my
38:14
mind. Maybe he was pulled far into
38:16
the lake and had let go of
38:18
the road. I looked across the crashing
38:21
waves for a head bobbing in the
38:23
water. by heartfelt as my seat slipped
38:25
out from under me casting me to
38:28
the side of above where I smack
38:30
my head. In a single moment I
38:32
laid staring at the black clouds above
38:34
me. I felt the lightness of my
38:37
body resting in the cool water the
38:39
gentle rocking seem to send be. Far
38:41
up into the sky. What
38:44
if he was tangled in the weeds at
38:46
the bottom screaming for help without air? I
38:49
twisted against the bottom of the both, splintering
38:52
my arm against the wouldn't seat as I
38:54
pulled my so far. I
38:56
grabbed the pack beside me, shoving my
38:58
hand and side and so I felt
39:01
the second pair of goggles and with
39:03
them over my head, I leaned over
39:05
the edge, impressed by faith, into the
39:07
water, punching my head below the surface
39:10
and looking for a light. Any light
39:12
to see if he was there. I
39:16
pulled my head up out of the water and through
39:18
my god or down by my son. I
39:21
move back to the rope, gripping
39:23
it with my hands once more
39:25
and I slumped to the bottom
39:28
of the boat, orienting myself. It
39:30
took a few moments for me
39:32
to open my eyes and see
39:34
it. The waterproof Rome was pulling
39:37
against my hands into sharp sucks.
39:48
Seen climbed into the boat and he saw
39:51
the blood streaming from my forehead. he
39:53
asked me what happened and i didn't wanna
39:55
tell him the truth i didn't want to
39:58
tell him that i panicked and slipped Instead,
40:01
I told him that I was looking over the edge
40:03
of the boat, when a wave caught
40:05
me and caused me to smack my head into
40:07
the side. I shouldn't have
40:09
bothered. Gene didn't seem to care. He
40:12
was too eager to tell me what he'd found. He
40:15
asked me if I could manage diving with the camera, and
40:18
then he changed his mind and asked me to throw it
40:20
into a pack and strap it against him. That
40:23
way we would have everything that we needed while we were down there.
40:26
He looked back over at me. I
40:28
was looking at him confused. He
40:30
looked up at me when I didn't answer, and
40:33
then he told me what he found. He
40:35
said that the tunnel leads to
40:38
a cave. A
40:40
smile came over his face. Gene
40:43
shook the camera in his hands. I
40:45
was right, man. Vlessi's down there. We're going
40:47
to be the first ones to prove it. The
40:50
boat rocked one more time, threatening
40:52
to toss Gene and I overboard. After
40:56
setting ourselves, I stood there, gesturing
40:59
between the black water and the blackening
41:01
sky. Shaking
41:03
my head, a sentence just tried and failed to
41:06
come out of my mouth. All
41:08
I could manage was a dejected sigh.
41:12
Gene spoke up again. Don't
41:14
worry. I have an idea.
41:16
He grabbed the edge of the rope that he'd originally
41:18
taken with him. He put
41:20
the bag around his back and wrapped the rope
41:22
a few times around his arm. Give
41:25
me a few minutes and wait until I tug on
41:27
this again, and then just follow behind. It'll
41:30
keep the boat in place and align for you to follow.
41:32
Easy, right? Again,
41:35
before I had a chance to respond, Gene
41:38
disappeared beneath the black surface. A
41:41
few minutes later, I felt the
41:43
sharp tug signaling the all clear. I
41:46
stood on top of the prow, ready to
41:48
dive below. I felt
41:51
my feet leave the safety of our dinghy. A
41:54
crack of lightning peeled across the sky behind
41:56
me, casting my
41:58
shadow against the the surface of
42:00
the lake. Underwater
42:07
my headlamp beam cut through the darkness, highlighting
42:10
the tunnel opening as I swam toward it.
42:13
The cracked rocks grabbed at my arm and
42:15
the current brushed me against it, threatening
42:18
to pull me back into the lake as I tried
42:20
to move through. My
42:23
hands struggled to hold onto the rope. I
42:26
tugged myself through the mouth of the cave. The
42:29
deep waters weren't like the choppy, twisting
42:31
waters on the surface. The
42:34
sounds from above, the thunder
42:36
blasting against the mountains. It
42:39
hadn't followed us down here. While
42:41
the occasional streak of lightning flashed behind
42:43
me, only the light cast
42:46
from my headlamp could be seen inside the
42:48
tunnel. Warm salty
42:50
water played at my lips as I struggled
42:52
through. It was the taste of
42:54
the blood from my head, mixing with
42:56
the lake. I
42:58
reached out to touch the walls and
43:01
found them surprisingly smooth. There
43:04
was an oil-like film coating everything,
43:06
leaving my hand feeling slick in spite of
43:08
the water surrounding me. At
43:11
last, I found myself rounding a
43:13
corner, quickly heading upwards.
43:16
When I surfaced, I was in
43:18
some sort of natural grotto. I
43:21
gulped down the air and immediately began
43:23
to retch. It was
43:25
humid and dank with the smell of
43:27
fungus. The smell
43:30
laid across the cave like a still
43:32
blanket, each breath leaving
43:34
a stale sour taste in my mouth. Between
43:38
these deep acrid breaths, I
43:40
looked around the room. The
43:43
ceiling of the cave was far above the
43:45
surface. The light from
43:47
my headlamp disappeared in the shadows at the
43:49
top. The lag tights
43:51
dripped from the inky blackness. The
43:54
wet sour taste in my mouth spread
43:56
to my nose. Each
43:59
breath burned down. My nostrils and
44:01
made my know the T. It
44:03
was only exacerbated as I searched
44:06
the underwater sky. I
44:08
look back down, seeing Jean and
44:10
swimming toward him. He
44:13
stood on a short ledge at the edge of the
44:15
water. I pulled myself
44:17
up despite that oily sensation
44:19
covering this purchase well. I
44:22
looked around and my had been cast
44:25
a thin ray across the room. There
44:27
was some kind of seen that reflected
44:29
the light across the surface of the
44:31
cave was. It was on the
44:33
water to. As I
44:35
move my lamp away, a fungus
44:38
on the walls cast a pale
44:40
green glow around the whole cavern.
44:43
I pulled genes attention away from his
44:45
past and after a brief moment scene
44:48
and I looked at each other with
44:50
the same thought. We.
44:52
Turned our lights out and
44:55
the entire castle burst with
44:57
the green flair. Beneath
45:02
his green glow seen continued to
45:05
unpack is clear. And rolling
45:07
a waterproof back and pulling his phone out
45:09
of it. I saw the
45:11
new fleshy sticker that scene and put on
45:13
his case earlier in the week. And
45:16
it was my turn to smile. Though
45:18
I may have been wrong about this
45:21
cave, I was still certain that fleshy
45:23
wasn't real. I
45:25
moved away from him and went over
45:27
to examine the walls and deaths. My
45:30
shoes made a squishy sound and
45:32
a barely echoed out the fungus
45:34
lines, cave walls, I
45:37
turned my headlamp balco despite the
45:39
fact that the fungus continued it's
45:41
green glow. As
45:43
I did, a slight hissing
45:45
noise echoed all around. The
45:48
light passed over the fungus
45:51
and the green glow start
45:53
disappearing beneath the harsher ladies.
45:56
i reached out to touch it and
45:58
found it delicately sauce My
46:01
hand crushing the little fibers between
46:03
my fingers. They
46:05
wicked away the oil that I had picked up from
46:07
the tunnel wall, and for a
46:09
moment, I felt as
46:11
though it wiggled with excitement. Or
46:15
with hunger. I turned
46:17
back to Gene. He was holding
46:20
his phone up high, taking a video
46:22
of himself with the green glow behind him. He
46:25
introduced himself like he was making a
46:27
YouTube video. My
46:30
jaw dropped. From
46:32
across the cavern, I raised my
46:34
hands up and shook my head in
46:36
confusion. Gene was
46:38
still talking to his phone, saying
46:40
that he had evidence that Plessy was real.
46:44
I began to walk back across the cavern
46:46
toward Gene to ask him what he was
46:48
doing when my attention was drawn toward a
46:51
cut in the cavern wall. I
46:54
turned to look inside, and I
46:56
found the crack in the wall continued further than
46:59
just a few feet. In
47:01
fact, it looked to be another
47:03
tunnel. Hey, Gene,
47:06
look at this. I
47:09
turned back around and found Gene staring
47:11
at me. Dude, what
47:13
the hell? You just ruined my shot. He
47:16
shook his head and frowned, starting to
47:18
mess with his phone again. I
47:21
gestured at the cut in the wall behind me. Dude,
47:24
I think it's another tunnel. Instead
47:27
of keeping on with his phone, Gene
47:30
put it back in his pocket and started to
47:32
squish his way over to me. By
47:35
the time he was by my side, I'd
47:37
cast enough light into the tunnel that
47:39
the fungus inside of it was glowing.
47:42
It stretched beyond the cavern's wall before twisting
47:45
out of sight. I
47:47
looked over at Gene. Should
47:49
we check it out? He
47:51
looked back to his pack. I don't
47:53
know, man. Plessy couldn't fit in this.
47:56
And If she isn't in the main cavern, then that must mean
47:58
she's out in the lake right now? I
48:00
wouldn't be perfect if we got like a shot of her
48:02
coming up our the water. By.
48:05
This point I was excited to keep
48:07
going, so I decided to humor Gene.
48:10
Okay, well what if you set up your phone
48:12
so there was recording just in case you missed
48:14
about how we get back. I
48:17
still have the hard to tell him that I
48:19
didn't believe the fleshy was real or that we
48:21
weren't going to find anything down here. But
48:25
after a moment he nodded, mentioning
48:27
that maybe if we were still
48:29
here when Fleshy came back, our
48:31
smell would keep her away. I.
48:33
Know it along. The. Mm.
48:35
maybe you're right, After
48:38
all, He was the expert.
48:46
Less than a minute later, we were squeezing
48:48
through the crack in the wall. That
48:51
same oil like substance who's out
48:53
of the crack and well it's
48:55
smell bad and tasted worse. It
48:57
did help us manage our way
48:59
to the small gap. The
49:02
walls of this tunnel were covered with
49:04
the same fungus as before. They were
49:06
pockmarked. That line did at random intervals,
49:09
none of which for larger than a
49:11
foot across. The
49:13
fungus didn't grow in these offshoots,
49:15
instead a steady deposit of oil
49:18
drips out of each one. The
49:21
further that we went into the
49:23
tunnel the more holes appeared. Also,
49:26
the air was steadily growing warmer
49:28
and that so that had settled
49:30
over us was dissipating. Our pace
49:32
quickens with the wars and we
49:34
followed the green trail in front
49:37
of us, content to walk without
49:39
our lights on the need to
49:41
soft glow. It's
49:43
only now writing it all down
49:45
and looking back on it then
49:47
I realized that we had missed
49:49
or most important warning. It
49:53
wasn't a strange surroundings to we found
49:55
ourselves and. It wasn't the
49:57
growing warms. It was so we
49:59
had forgotten. The reason that we had come
50:01
to this place to begin with. Are
50:05
working theory was that the
50:07
tracker we were looking for
50:09
had floated underneath the island
50:11
through the tunnel and ended
50:13
up getting stuck. But how
50:15
could it have floated down
50:17
here if the tunnel that
50:19
we were walking through had
50:22
no running water? Far
50:30
inland, we rounded a corner and
50:32
found the end of the second
50:35
and final tunnel. It
50:38
spilled out into a much larger cavern
50:41
than the first one. A
50:43
dripping sound echoed off the walls.
50:47
So lag mites weeps themselves
50:49
up from the floor all
50:51
around the room, obscuring the
50:53
edges in darkness. We sat
50:55
beside around and over the
50:57
amounts of rock as we
51:00
made our way through the
51:02
cavern there with no fungus
51:04
clinging to these walls and
51:06
the pale green light. Died
51:09
as we walked deeper. We
51:12
clicked our lights on, but unlike the
51:14
other cavern, this one was too large
51:17
for our beams to see the end.
51:20
As we stepped in, our
51:22
lights barbed with us. Shadows
51:24
moved and danced. The
51:27
walls and this cavern more
51:29
so than the tunnel, held
51:31
scores of pockmarks. The
51:34
squish beneath our shoes was replaced
51:36
with a slick sound. The floor
51:38
was covered with excel. At
51:41
the end of the cavern,
51:44
nested in a shallow pool
51:46
of oil slick fluid where
51:48
the remains of a middle
51:50
aged man. Dark
51:53
tattered rags hung off of is bloated
51:55
body. Quip down to
51:58
the pants was a small place. Device
52:00
the track of the we have
52:02
been looking for. The
52:04
pale white flash held only a single
52:07
block of dark skin on one of
52:09
his arms. There was no
52:11
decay. The
52:13
face with turned upward toward the ceiling.
52:16
Eyes wide and glazed over and
52:18
his mouth i'm a wide open.
52:20
There was a stick a web
52:22
of mucus play between his lips.
52:25
We. Knelt down to look closer, And.
52:27
There was a foul, noxious stench to
52:30
it. As.
52:32
Gene reached out to grab the
52:34
tracker, the blot on the dead
52:37
man's arm, move down toward his
52:39
have. Seen
52:41
with his head back to his size. Gene
52:44
reached out again, his hand hovering
52:47
over the on. the
52:49
block dark mirroring his
52:52
movements. Seen
52:54
grabbed at the finance risk,
52:57
I reached. When
53:03
I was to miss. The
53:07
dark spot on the dead man's
53:10
arm shot down from his elbow
53:12
and tore through his wrist right
53:14
into teams had flesh rifts and
53:16
there was a wriggling mass shooting
53:18
and seen some. I grabbed at
53:21
the swollen shape and it's slip
53:23
through my fingers. Team
53:25
screened as he ripped it away from
53:27
a small needles tearing to the wedding
53:29
of is all. He
53:31
hurled the thing to the ground as he flew
53:33
back. He slipped in
53:35
the film that surround. I
53:38
stepped forward, smashing my shoe to
53:40
the ground feeling a popping crunched
53:42
under the soul of my first.
53:45
Scene landed with a heavy stuff and
53:47
his head slaps against the wall behind
53:49
them. I
53:52
knelt beside as the sound of his
53:54
impact echoed all around. It
53:57
echoes the cavern dozens of times. The
54:00
and times and all at
54:02
once. We
54:08
learned to our she's falling away
54:10
from the body. I
54:12
turned around. Our
54:14
headlamps cast shadows dancing and
54:16
moving around. the refund. My
54:20
eyes were drawn to one of the pockmarks in
54:22
the wall. I
54:24
was frozen as I saw
54:26
two aspects of here from
54:29
with this. Between
54:34
each finger with a massive
54:37
thick. A
54:39
wiggled and rise with each movement of
54:41
the digits. The hands
54:43
grab at the wet edges of the
54:45
opening and they put. The
54:49
figure plopped out of a small hole and
54:51
onto the floor. A
54:54
rose to with see unfolding from
54:56
the waist down. As
54:59
a reached it's full height, I
55:01
could tell that at one time
55:03
it had been a human. Vein
55:06
sick legs held up a
55:08
bloated torso and from there
55:10
there was a head and
55:12
to artist but they were
55:14
bulbous. lips opened into a
55:16
wide mouth and needle white
55:18
teeth pulled down from the
55:20
gums within. The
55:23
things eyes were glazed over with
55:25
that same show like fluid that
55:27
was all over the floor and
55:30
the nose looks like it a
55:32
collapse in on itself leaving only
55:34
two nostril holes. Set between
55:36
the eyes in the mouth. there
55:39
with brown hair caped and frozen
55:41
to one side of it's face
55:43
covering one year are leaving the
55:45
other. Seen uttered
55:48
something in a low whisper. It
55:50
was a name. Same.
55:57
The scene twisted. it's head around
55:59
with. Between Jean and I before
56:01
a loud screech came from it's
56:03
austerlitz. That was enough
56:06
for me. I smack teams arm and
56:08
told him it was time to get.
56:11
The footsteps of the creature mirrored our
56:13
own as we raced back toward the
56:15
grotto. By the time we reach the
56:18
pale green tunnel, dozens of other creatures
56:20
had dropped off the walls. And
56:22
they were all gaining on. Our
56:25
headlamp beams com more and more figures in
56:27
the pockmarks of the one. I
56:29
rounded a corner and a hand shot
56:31
out from the wall, grabbing at my
56:33
head and ripping my head. I
56:37
let out a scream as the themes vendors
56:39
tried to find purchase and my hair. Around
56:42
in the final corner and I
56:44
could see the grotto, the echoes
56:46
of the creatures crashed around us
56:48
drowning out the hardly the my
56:51
years. I turn to
56:53
with behind me and Gene was coming
56:55
up toward me but behind him there
56:57
was a horde of rising torso. They
57:00
were coming to the tunnel toward. I
57:03
crashed. The gets a crack in the
57:05
wall and began pulling myself through Keene.
57:08
meaning behind me, crashing into my back
57:10
is slamming me into the ground on
57:12
the opposite. Without
57:15
stopping the think, I dove
57:17
in and I swear fastest.
57:20
I'll grab at the road and began
57:22
pulling and kicking Despot trying to free
57:25
myself and. trying
57:27
to get to are waiting by. Thirty.
57:32
I broke the surface of ice. Storm
57:36
have continued raging while we were. Waves
57:39
crash down over my head, forcing
57:41
me back into the deaths. The
57:44
inky blackness of the water to sourced.
57:47
I popped up a few seconds later
57:49
and grab wildly for the first. I
57:52
missed and I was in below again
57:54
and ceiling A mouthful of. I
58:00
barbed one last time and he's myself
58:03
out of the water. I
58:10
looked around. I didn't see
58:12
James. I
58:14
plunged my head below the surface and
58:16
I still can see em. Waves
58:19
crash against the boat, threatening to put
58:22
me back into the water, Thunder
58:25
and lightning roared overhead, but I screamed
58:27
out to him. But
58:30
there was no response. Or
58:32
look back toward the island and I
58:34
saw figure pop up above the water.
58:38
Lightning Chris and I could
58:40
see brown jail cake air.
58:44
I had to leave. I
58:47
untied the row and I felt the
58:49
boat taken into the ways instantly. I
58:53
sit up one more time to
58:55
shout seems name and the wave
58:58
set me reeling toward the stern,
59:00
slamming me down onto the wind
59:02
seat, almost knocking the unconscious. I
59:06
grasped at the motor and turned it on.
59:08
I pulled the record so hard to I
59:10
thought I may have ripped out the entire
59:13
engine. But the
59:15
engine kicked on and
59:17
I pulled away. After
59:28
that, the rest was just a
59:30
blur of thunder and lightning and
59:32
rain. Eventually I made it to
59:34
the shore, leaping from the boat
59:37
and on to the rocks below.
59:40
I left the boat addressed
59:42
and a few moments later
59:44
the waves pulled it back
59:46
into the late, taking the
59:48
remains of our voyage with.
59:53
I look behind to see if I was
59:55
followed, scrambling up the rocks and of a
59:57
small grassy knoll. The Police.
1:00:00
We first launched our boat a week ago.
1:00:03
Tears and the driving rain stream down
1:00:05
my face. I
1:00:08
called out to seen one last
1:00:10
time and then. I
1:00:12
went home. I
1:00:18
threw away the closed and I've been wearing
1:00:20
and I sat in my dark room. At
1:00:24
some point I must have
1:00:26
fallen asleep because when I
1:00:28
came to the storm was
1:00:30
gone and some led to
1:00:32
my curtains. When
1:00:36
the cops came a few days later,
1:00:38
I told them the truth that I
1:00:40
hadn't seen Gene for a few days
1:00:42
and that I hoped he was okay.
1:00:45
I told him that we shouldn't
1:00:48
have gone out that day. I
1:00:50
said that we should go home.
1:00:52
I pleaded with him but he
1:00:54
just had to take us out
1:00:56
there. He had to look into
1:00:58
that tunnel. She had to take
1:01:00
us beneath them as rocks. Two
1:01:11
years later and I thought that I
1:01:13
can leave behind. At
1:01:16
first I thought that what I
1:01:18
was seeing but maybe just my
1:01:21
imagination. That I was
1:01:23
seeing things they reminded me of have. An
1:01:26
oil slick and a puddle, a flash
1:01:28
of his face and a crowd. But
1:01:32
I know that it's more than that now. I
1:01:35
know that he's watching me, waiting
1:01:37
for me to come to that.
1:01:39
Sure, After
1:01:42
last week's storm, I found
1:01:44
a bit of glowing green
1:01:46
fungus inside my mailbox. Today
1:01:49
as I write these words, I
1:01:52
can see the hedges outside my
1:01:54
window thrash. But
1:01:56
it's a black rectangle staring up at
1:01:59
me for my. Just
1:02:01
another corner of my vision that
1:02:03
proves. It's
1:02:06
that damn sticker, fleshy,
1:02:09
Taunting me. From the
1:02:11
back of an old battered
1:02:13
self. Thank
1:02:28
you for joining us for this episode
1:02:30
of Thirteen. If he likely you heard
1:02:32
sap what you're doing and leave a
1:02:34
five star rating in with you wherever
1:02:36
you listen to podcasts. This.
1:02:39
Was beyond the lakeshore. Written
1:02:42
by see Dane Brown. Narrated
1:02:45
by ear napper Sen. Jeanne
1:02:48
was mason on a das
1:02:50
music composed by Caleb. Richie.
1:02:53
Editing and sound design by
1:02:55
Brockton an additional assistance from
1:02:58
Bridget Freemen. Our producer level
1:03:00
patrons are Rec Lenval Tattooed
1:03:03
Fox Riyadh and son Gary.
1:03:05
Anthony D. S. Michael Vasquez
1:03:08
Amy Harper Katty Kay Dell
1:03:10
to Tango Sand Health and
1:03:13
Neck Emily Douglas, Stephanie Klinger
1:03:15
Jake are and Abigail for
1:03:17
as thank you so much
1:03:20
for your support! Sack out
1:03:22
the. Shown as to learn more about
1:03:25
joining us on Patreon. And you
1:03:27
can check us out on social
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You can also join the Facebook
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or the logo and you'll find
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1:03:41
you'd like to submit a story
1:03:43
to be performed on the cell,
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or if you'd like to contact
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us about anything else, get in
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1:03:51
You'll find submission guidelines and other
1:03:53
info on our website Thirteen podcast.com
1:03:55
You can. Find that in the shown. Us
1:03:58
to for free. He
1:04:01
just beneath the way. Thanks
1:04:05
for listening and I'll see you next man!
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