Christmas At A Gas Station

The old man sat in his gas station on a cold Christmas Eve. He hadn't been anywhere in years since his wife had passed away. It was just another day to him. He didn't hate Christmas, just couldn't find a reason to celebrate. He was sitting there looking at the snow that had been falling for the last hour and wondering what it was all about when the door opened and a homeless man stepped through.

Instead of throwing the man out, Old George as he was known by his customers, told the man to come and sit by the heater and warm up. "Thank you, but I don't mean to intrude," said the stranger. "I see you're busy, I'll just go."

"Not without something hot in your belly." George said.

He turned and opened a wide mouth Thermos and handed it to the stranger. "It ain't much, but it's hot and tasty. Stew ... Made it myself. When you're done, there's coffee and it's fresh."

Just at that moment he heard the "ding" of the driveway bell. "Excuse me, be right back," George said. There in the driveway was an old '53 Chevy. Steam was rolling out of the front.. The driver was panicked. "Mister can you help me!" said the driver, with a deep Spanish accent. "My wife is with child and my car is broken." George opened the hood. It was bad. The block looked cracked from the cold, the car was dead.

"You ain't going in this thing," George said as he turned away.

"But Mister, please help ..." The door of the office closed behind George as he went inside. He went to the office wall and got the keys to his old truck, and went back outside. He walked around the building, opened the garage, started the truck and drove it around to where the couple was waiting. "Here, take my truck," he said. "She ain't the best thing you ever looked at, but she runs real good."

George helped put the woman in the truck and watched as it sped off into the night. He turned and walked back inside the office. "Glad I gave 'em the truck, their tires were shot too. That 'ol truck has brand new ones ." George thought he was talking to the stranger, but the man had gone. The Thermos was on the desk, empty, with a used coffee cup beside it. "Well, at least he got something in his belly," George thought.

George went back outside to see if the old Chevy would start. It cranked slowly, but it started. He pulled it into the garage where the truck had been. He thought he would tinker with it for something to do. Christmas Eve meant no customers. He discovered that the block hadn't cracked, it was just the bottom hose on the radiator. "Well, shoot, I can fix this," he said to himself. So he put a new one on.

"Those tires ain't gonna get 'em through the winter either." He took the snow treads off of his wife's old Lincoln. They were like new and he wasn't going to drive the car anyway.

As he was working, he heard shots being fired. He ran outside and beside a police car an officer lay on the cold ground. Bleeding from the left shoulder, the officer moaned, "Please help me."

George helped the officer inside as he remembered the training he had received in the Army as a medic. He knew the wound needed attention. "Pressure to stop the bleeding," he thought. The uniform company had been there that morning and had left clean shop towels. He used those and duct tape to bind the wound. "Hey, they say duct tape can fix anythin'," he said, trying to make the policeman feel at ease.

"Something for pain," George thought. All he had was the pills he used for his back. "These ought to work." He put some water in a cup and gave the policeman the pills. "You hang in there, I'm going to get you an ambulance."

The phone was dead. "Maybe I can get one of your buddies on that there talk box out in your car." He went out only to find that a bullet had gone into the dashboard destroying the two way radio.

He went back in to find the policeman sitting up. "Thanks," said the officer. "You could have left me there. The guy that shot me is still in the area."

George sat down beside him, "I would never leave an injured man in the Army and I ain't gonna leave you." George pulled back the bandage to check for bleeding. "Looks worse than what it is. Bullet passed right through 'ya. Good thing it missed the important stuff though. I think with time your gonna be right as rain."

George got up and poured a cup of coffee. "How do you take it?" he asked.

"None for me," said the officer..

"Oh, yer gonna drink this. Best in the city. Too bad I ain't got no donuts." The officer laughed and winced at the same time.

The front door of the office flew open. In burst a young man with a gun. "Give me all your cash! Do it now!" the young man yelled. His hand was shaking and George could tell that he had never done anything like this before.

"That's the guy that shot me!" exclaimed the officer.

"Son, why are you doing this?" asked George, "You need to put the cannon away. Somebody else might get hurt."

The young man was confused. "Shut up old man, or I'll shoot you, too. Now give me the cash!"

The cop reached for his gun. "Put that thing away," George said to him, "we got 1 too many in here now."

He turned his attention to the young man. "Son, it's Christmas Eve. If you need money, well then, here. It ain't much but it's all I got. Now put that pea shooter away."

George pulled $150 out of his pocket and handed it to the young man, reaching for the barrel of the gun at the same time. The young man released his grip on the gun, fell to his knees and began to cry. "I'm not very good at this am I? All I wanted was to buy something for my wife and son," he went on. "I've lost my job, my rent is due, my car got repossessed last week."

George handed the gun to the cop. "Son, we all get in a bit of squeeze now and then. The road gets hard sometimes, but we make it through the best we can."

He got the young man to his feet, and sat him down on a chair across from the cop. "Sometimes we do stupid things." George handed the young man a cup of coffee. "Bein' stupid is one of the things that makes us human. Comin' in here with a gun ain't the answer. Now sit there and get warm and we'll sort this thing out."

The young man stopped crying, and looked at the cop "Sorry I shot you. It just went off. I'm sorry officer." he said.
 
"Shut up and drink your coffee " the cop said.

George could hear the sounds of sirens outside. A police car and an ambulance skidded to a halt. Two cops came through the door, guns drawn. "Chuck! You ok?" one of the cops asked the wounded officer.

"Not bad for a guy who took a bullet. How did you find me?"

"GPS locator in the car. Best thing since sliced bread. Who did this?" the other cop asked as he approached the young man.

Chuck answered him, "I don't know. The guy ran off into the dark. Just dropped his gun and ran."

George and the young man both looked puzzled at each other. "That guy work here?" the wounded cop continued.

"Yep," George said, "just hired him this morning. Boy lost his job."

The paramedics came in and loaded Chuck onto the stretcher. The young man leaned over the wounded cop and whispered, "Why?"

Chuck just said, "Merry Christmas boy ... and you too, George, and thanks for everything."

"Well, looks like you got one doozy of a break there. That ought to solve some of your problems."

George went into the back room and came out with a box. He pulled out a ring box. "Here you go, something for the little woman. I don't think Martha would mind. She said it would come in handy some day."

The young man looked inside to see the biggest diamond ring he ever saw. "I can't take this," said the young man. "It means something to you."

"And now it means something to you," replied George. "I got my memories. That's all I need."

George reached into the box again. An airplane, a car and a truck appeared next. They were toys that the oil company had left for him to sell. "Here's something for that little man of yours."

The young man began to cry again as he handed back the $150 that the old man had handed him earlier.

"And what are you supposed to buy Christmas dinner with? You keep that too," George said. "Now git home to your family."

The young man turned with tears streaming down his face. "I'll be here in the morning for work, if that job offer is still good."

"Nope. I'm closed Christmas day," George said. "See ya the day after."

George turned around & found the stranger had returned. "Where'd you come from? I thought you'd left?"

"I have been here. I have always been here," said the stranger. "You say you don't celebrate Christmas. Why?"

"Well, after my wife passed away, I just couldn't see what all the bother was. Puttin' up a tree and all seemed a waste of a good pine tree. Bakin' cookies like I used to with Martha just wasn't the same by myself and besides I was gettin' a little chubby."

The stranger put his hand on George's shoulder. "But you do celebrate the holiday, George. You gave me food and drink and warmed me when I was cold and hungry. The woman with child will bear a son and he will become a great doctor.

The policeman you helped will go on to save 19 people from being killed by terrorists. The young man who tried to rob you will make you a rich man and not take any for himself. "That is the spirit of the season and you keep it as good as any man."

George was taken aback by all this stranger had said. "And how do you know all this?" asked the old man.

"Trust me, George. I have the inside track on this sort of thing. And when your days are done you will be with Martha again."

The stranger moved toward the door. "If you will excuse me, George, I have to go now. I have to go home where there is a big celebration planned."

George watched as the old leather jacket and the torn pants that the stranger was wearing turned into a white robe. A golden light began to fill the room.

"You see, George ... it's My birthday. Merry Christmas."

George fell to his knees and replied, "Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus."

Jogging

It was another typical day and I had just finished dinner, moms old recipe for spaghetti, my favorite. I washed the dishes and went to my room to change into my jogging outfit. 

I was in my car on my way to the high school driving track when I heed a screeching sound. I instantly hit the brakes as a speeding car ran his red light and nearly took out the drivers side of my car. I rolled my eyes and continued on my way to the track.

Once I had my car parked I walked to the track. Apparently I wasn’t alone, and some other people were there, just lazily walking around. I shrugged and started jogging around the track, dodging each person that I passed.

It wasn’t until my third time around the track I noticed something off about the people on the track. I stopped to take a breath and started walking. It felt nice to be lazy for a moment.

That’s when I herd it. There was a quiet voice calling out my name. I looked around but didn’t see anyone looking at me. I looked harder, and that’s when realization hit me. Each of these people, had rotting flesh, and a bloody gash somewhere on their body. Frozen in horror I looked about at all the mangled faces. I stopped at one, it looked so familiar. Another long look and I realized why, “MOM!?” I yelled. No, it couldn’t have been my mother. She died in a drunk driving accident two years ago. But there she stood, a bloody gash in her head. 

I screamed and she looked at me, I couldn’t hear it over my screams, but I could tell she called out my name. I was so scared that I started running. I had to get out of there, so I ran to where I parked my car. But my car wasn’t there, “FUCK!” I yelled, and started running down the street. 

After just a little while of running I felt a terrible pain in my stomach. Probably just some bad ingredients in the spaghetti. I looked down at my stomach in the darkness and noticed that I had a whole bunch of the red sauce on my shirt. That wasn’t my concern though, my priorities were still on running home and calling the police to report my missing car.

I ran a little while longer, taking the same route I took to get to the track, to run home. I saw flashing lights ahead and slowed down. Looking ahead I saw there was a car accident in the same place that speeding car almost hit me. I frowned and walked up trying to get a good look at the accident through the glare of the lights. Another sharp pain hit my stomach and I doubled over, but soon collected myself and trekked forward.

I herd two police officers talking, “Poor girl.” “Coroner says she died on impact.” “Most likely felt the shard of glass go through her stomach before she died though.” I frowned and walked forward, “Hey what happened?” I called out.

The two police officers took one look at me and pulled out their guns. With two guns aimed at me, my hands flew up into the air. Both cops looked terrified to see me, “What the fuck!?” One yelled, “Back the fuck up!!” The other practically screeched. I took a step back, but took a peek in the car. 

I froze in horror at what I saw. There I was. My mangled corpse sitting in the drivers side of my car. A bloody shard of glass in my stomach, and wide empty eyes starring at nothing as blood still seeped onto my jogging suit.

Days of Lovers Past

Winterfell came to me in a bright sunny day
Where innocence ran rampant
And dreams were those that held a child’s mind together
He proclaimed his love and devotion to me
In a way an unadulterated boy would
And I was taken by his sincerity
And promised my heart to him

Longsilver appeared to me not in a blaze of glory
Nor as a knight in shining armour
But as quiet as the calm of the river
Yet as gentle as the summer’s breeze
Aided me when I was lost
In a world so different as mine
Became my guidance and my eyes
Though our journey together was sudden and brief
And lost within the sands of time

Clairvoyance swept past my defenses
When Winterfell’s promise reneged
Childish and innocent, yet full of life
Clung to me like a boy would a sister
Admired me like a child would to a hero
Blossomed within my heart like a flower would to the sun
But our two hearts were not meant to be as one
As the truth struck fear to his innocence
A careless word
And he was nevermore

Treelocks appeared without warning
The years that passed since my loss of Winterfell’s heart
A hearsay among my brethren
Of his wonting heart for my own
My mind awry, my soul astray
I gave in to the hearsay and accepted him
But hearsay was all it was, a hearsay
His mind yearned for me
But his heart did not

Blueblood was a sight to behold
Made my heart a-flutter and my breath quicken
My chest would clench tight at his presence
To the point where a day without seeing him
Felt like an eternity of pain
He did not see me coming
As I professed my love for him
We became the subject of ridicule
And our thoughts were never expressed
And one memoir later
He became the one that got away

Allsouls did not possess
The humor most people have
His solemnness intrigued me
And I made it my mission
To extract even the slightest bit of mirth
From his stoic lips
The day he burst out laughing over my demise
Was the day he set my passion on fire
But it was a day too late
As he belonged to another
Still I bared my soul to him
In hopes that he would trade her for me
But my love was not returned
And my heart was never the same

Matron was an eccentric soul
Who moved to his own beat
And answered to no man
His fiery passion was infectious
And my heart went out to him before
The reigns of my mind could stop me
His flaws were invisible to me
And his downsides were nothing to me
Everything about him was a delight to my eyes
Until the day a maternal advice
Cleared the fog away
The truth hurts even though I knew
It existed all along
He was a child in a man’s body
Who could never be my own
As our bond was severed
So did my heart

Months went by
Bringing in the years
My heart fleeted from time to time
From Devonshire, who is like a brother to me
To infatuations beyond my reach
Like Baelfire, Gamesport, Overture and Illusion
From Seashell, a man who belonged to another
To pretty faces like Yorker, Rushmore and Kellenstone
Some came to me of their own fleeting
Like Evenlight, an eccentric soul like Matron
And Applejack, an outcast with a gentle soul
And a close call of a brother named Jingleton
Almost blossomed in my own volition
But in the end, all were not the right fit
Of the puzzle which is my heart and soul

Until one day
After many hardships and pain
Of my love being devoured by loneliness
And my life in a home and a parent
I call hell
Jesselton fell from the family tree of Jingleton
Onto my wonting lap
He filled the void in my life
And fitted the puzzle of my heart
He showered me with kindness and love
And fought my demons with a burning passion
He broke the walls of my prison
And pulled my soul out of the treacherous muck
He sacrificed his everything
To make me his own
And freed me from the thorns of darkness
To bring me into the wings of light

3 years have passed
With a precious diamond we created
Between us
And I will remain in this blissful warmth
For eternity and a day

The Experiment

In the summer of 2003, a pharmaceutical company created a new product in their line of sleep aid; it was an altered form of Melatonin, a natural hormone found in animals and plants that helps regulate circadian rhythms and promotes sleep. The scientists chemically altered this compound to produce faster, more efficient results, the first phase of testing of this product was done with fourteen volunteers, the first seven were given normal Melatonin, and the other seven patents were given the experimental altered version. They were to report the results every day after waking up. During the first week of results showed that the patients using the experimental Melatonin fell asleep 45% faster then the other patients, but their state of sleep was slightly different, they were entering REM sleep much faster and experiencing it much longer, and had much more vivid dreams then the other patents.

During the next week of testing two patents using the experimental drug experienced sleep walking, one reported awakening in their outside shed on a chair, disoriented but unharmed, and the other reported waking up on their couch after walking down a flight of stairs in their sleep. The next few nights, three more patients experienced sleepwalking, and the next night all patients reported sleepwalking.

The next week similar results continued, the patients with the experimental drug were sleeping longer, and much deeper; two of the patients lost their bottle and requested a new one. The next week all seven including the two from last week reported losing their bottles, they also appeared quite anguished; two large bags sunk under the patients eyes. Fearing the drug might cause memory loss or even addiction, the researchers asked the patients to set up video cameras in their houses if they wanted to continue with the testing process. Strangely, all patients agreed immediately then proceeded asking for more of the drug.

The next week the patents lost seven bottles again of the experimental melatonin. Fearing for the worst the researchers asked to view the videos. All declined except one who was absent from the group, the seventh patient was also absent from reporting the details of the drug over the last few days, any and all contact was cut off as the patents phone line was dead. An investigator was assigned to find out what happened.

When he got to the house the door was ajar, he peered in and yelled hello into the home, no reply. He took a step in and heard his shoe hit liquid. A closer examination showed it to be blood, he looked down, and a severed hand was next to an envelope. Inside was a tape. The tape contained the following message:

“No one expected me to fly, is this a lucid dream or reality? I just don’t know anymore. Such fragile times when you look into the face, when you go up to a baby and rip off its head in front of its mother just to see what happens, just to see the look on her face, and the look on my face, when I pinch myself, and pinch my hand, pinch again and again, the screaming only getting louder, the pain feeling more tangible, why wont I wake up? I can’t rip off a babies head in real life, I’m not allowed to pick up a baby, holding it so it faces down, I can’t feel the soft neck in between my hands as I twist it like a corkscrew, a cry of pain followed by swallows, followed by the gag reflex, then the crunching of the babies neck, the babies eyes look at me without expression as they fill with blood, then as I twist more the sounds of ripping and blood emanate from the babies mouth and neck, eventually the spinal chord breaks away and the baby becomes two entities, then I look up at her face, I run run run, back to my house, and wake up in my bed, was it all a dream? It was so real..”

The tape stops.

The investigator looked down again, more blood, a different trail this time, it lead to the kitchen where a severed leg and arm, or what remained of an arm, lay on top of a stool. More blood trails, leading into the bedroom, a smashed video camera on a tripod, another severed leg, and a two empty bottles, each with of a months worth of medication, were near the entrance.

The bed was in a veil of darkness, and the investigator took out a flashlight and shined it on the bed, looked a moment, and vomited. What the investigator saw haunted him for the rest of his life, no one can explain what happened or how it happened – there was the last severed arm on the ground, in it clenched tight with rigor mortis and super glue was a large sharp butchers knife. On the bed, backed up against the wall, was a body with all limbs missing, a large smile forced onto his face with needles and safety pins, eye lids forcefully opened with super glue, and around his neck through an ice pick, string wrapping around, was a babies head.

The pills were recalled and the testing stopped. The patients, after months of rehab, managed to recover from the drug.

Though in the tape, he detailed the screams of a woman after murdering her baby, no such woman ever reported her baby murdered. After DNA testing, the babies head had no matches on record.

2251 Stahlheber Road

The following report is a transcription of a 9-1-1 call made during the evening of August 22, 2011. It was released to the general public in order to offer any clues to help solve the case of the death of Mrs. Mary Carter and her family, consisting of her husband and two sons, as well as her daughter, Susan Carter, who is currently missing.


If you have any leads on the happenings of the Carter family, or the whereabouts of the daughter of the family, please contact the Ohio State Police Department.

---

CALL TRANSCRIPTION #0703321-A32.4
DATE: 08-22-2011
TIME CALL START: 09:37 PM
TIME CALL END: 09:52 PM

BEGIN CALL

OPERATOR: 9-1-1, do you need police, fire department, or ambulance?

CALLER: Send the police! Please! Send the police to Hawkes Farm, 2251 Stahlheber Road! Somebody broke into my home…!

OPERATOR: Okay, ma’am—

CALLER: Somebody broke into my home and killed my family! Please, send the police now! There’s blood! There is blood everywhere!

OPERATOR: Ma’am, I’ve notified officers, they should be there shortly. What’s your name?

CALLER: Mary Carter…Oh God…I’m so scared…

*Muffled yelling and banging*

OPERATOR: Who is that?

CALLER: I don’t know! There’s a man banging on my front door! It looks like he’s covered in blood!

OPERATOR: Do you know him?

CALLER: No!

OPERATOR: Does he have a weapon?

CALLER: No, he’s just banging on the door! His shirt’s covered in blood! I think he’s trying to break in…! I have my husband’s shotgun with me…I don’t really know how to use it…Oh God, I…I can’t shoot him, I can’t do it–!

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, I don’t advise you to use the weapon, but you should keep it nearby just in case.

CALLER: The window is going to break!

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, if he breaks in—

CALLER: I don’t think I can shoot him! No, no, I…He’s starting to hit the window really hard! Oh God, he’s going to break in again! He’s just screaming at me! He’s crazy!

*Glass breaks; There’s a loud “clack” as the caller drops the phone; The caller screams and there is a gunshot, followed by a moment of silence)*

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter?

*More silence; The caller picks the phone back up*

CALLER: Oh Jesus, help me…Oh God…I shot him…I shot him…Dear Lord, help me…

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, you were defending yourself. Everything is fine. Mrs. Carter, you did what you needed to do. He could have hurt you.

CALLER: I just…

OPERATOR: You need to stay on the line and go outside, now, and wait for police officers to get there.

CALLER: No, I need to find Susan!

OPERATOR: Who’s Susan?

CALLER: I need to find my daughter, I need to find Susan. Please help me find her, she’s only six years old! She has to be hiding somewhere in the house! Susan!!

OPERATOR: Mrs. Car—

CALLER: I can’t find my daughter! I can’t…Oh God, they’re all dead and I can’t find her! I’ve searched everywhere!

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, your daughter probably made it out of the house.

CALLER: I need to find my daughter!

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, the police will be there shortly. They will find your daughter. Right now, I need you to get out of the house.

*The caller gasps*

CALLER: What was that?

OPERATOR: What was what?

*Faint footsteps*

CALLER: I hear footsteps coming from upstairs…! Susan…? Oh my God, SUSAN!!

*Caller breathing heavily as she runs up the stairs*

CALLER: Susan!! Mommy’s here, baby! Mommy’s here!

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, please, listen to me, you need to get out of the house until the police arrive.

CALLER: Susan…! Where are you, baby? I’m at the top of the stairs, I just got up here, and…I…I need to turn on some lights..

*Light switch “clicks”*

CALLER: Oh no…Oh Dear Lord, please, please don’t tell me that’s her blood! There are bloody footprints on the floor! They’re small enough to be hers! Susan! I’m going to her room, she has to be there!

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, please listen to me: get out of the house!

CALLER: I’m in her room, there aren’t many places for her to hide here… Susan?! Susan, where are you?!

*A loud “thump”; The caller screams*

CALLER: What the hell?! What was that?!

OPERATOR: Is that Susan?

CALLER: It sounded like someone was on the roof!

*More thumping*

CALLER: Something is on top of the roof! It’s going to the other side of the house!

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, you’re not making any sense.

CALLER: Susan! I’m in your room! Follow Mommy’s voice!

*The caller gasps*

CALLER: The lights just went out! The power is out!

OPERATOR: Do you have a flashlight or any kind of light?

CALLER: I can’t see anything!

OPERATOR: Okay, just stay where you are, Mrs. Carter. Let your eyes adjust to the dark…

*Glass breaks*

CALLER: Oh my God…

OPERATOR: What was that?

CALLER: Something broke…Someone’s inside the house…Susan?

*Silence*

CALLER: Is it the police?

OPERATOR: No, they would have called out for you…

CALLER: Oh no…Oh no, someone’s here…

OPERATOR: It could be Susan—

CALLER: No, no she would have called for me, I’ve been yelling her name…

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter—

*The caller shushes the operator; More silence; The caller speaks in whispers*

CALLER: Something’s coming up the stairs. It’s big, it’s stomping up the steps, oh God, that’s not Susan…

OPERATOR: Mary, I’m going to need you to find somewhere to hide. Try and grab something to protect yourself with again.

CALLER: That man didn’t kill my family, he couldn’t have—

OPERATOR: Please, find a place to hide.

CALLER: I can’t see!

*Loud footsteps fade in*

CALLER: It’s getting closer! Oh Jesus Christ, please help me find a way out of here…

*The caller breathes into the phone; Static; Silence*

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, are you still there?

CALLER: I’m in the closet. I can’t get the door shut all the way, the door is jammed.

*The footsteps grow louder*

CALLER: Oh no, oh no…No, no, it’s coming towards Susan’s room…Where’s the police? I’m so scared!

OPERATOR: Mary, you just need to keep calm and quiet and wait for them to arrive, you have to make sure you don’t give yourself away.

*The caller sobs; The footsteps are very close; The footsteps stop; The caller’s cries are quiet and shaky*

CALLER: I can see it…I don’t know what it is…

OPERATOR: What do you see?

CALLER: What is that…?

OPERATOR: Mary, describe to me what you see…

CALLER: I can’t describe it…I don’t…It’s not human…Oh God, it’s looking at me…

*The footsteps get closer; They stop; A low, guttural growl crackles through the static; Low breathing; Clicking sounds; More low breathing; Another low growl; The footsteps fade away; Silence*

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter?

CALLER: It’s gone…I think…

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter, you need to find a way out of that house right now.

CALLER: I can’t move, I can’t…Make it…I don’t know what that thing was, I don’t want to see it again…I’m so scared, I…Oh my God, I’m gonna die…

*The caller sobs*

CALLER: I can’t do this, I’m so scared, I can’t move my legs. I don’t think I can even stand up…

OPERATOR: Please, Mrs. Carter, you need to do this. For Susan. She’s still somewhere out there.

CALLER: Susan…I need to find her…

OPERATOR: No, you need to get out of the house.

CALLER: But—

OPERATOR: Mary, please, get out of the house. Whatever was just in there with you is still in the house. Get out now!

*Silence*

CALLER: Okay, I’m going.

OPERATOR: Just stay on the line with me. Keep the phone with you at all times. Tell me when you get to the stairs, okay?

CALLER: Yeah…

*Silence; Faint creaking from the floorboards; More silence for some time*

OPERATOR: Mrs. Carter?

*Silence; This lasts for a while*

OPERATOR: Mary?

*Silence*

CALLER: I’m at the stairs.

OPERATOR: Get down the stairs. Now.

CALLER: I think I hear the cop cars…

OPERATOR: Keep going…

*Faint static*

OPERATOR: Mary…? Mary…?

(The static dissipates; Silence; This lasts for a while)

OPERATOR: Mary—

*Screaming; Shrieking; Loud pounding; Growling; Screeching; Clanking and static from the caller’s end; Screaming; Loud thumping; The sound of what seems like the phone sliding across the floor; Low guttural growls; The caller’s screams are cut off; Choking; Groaning; Wheezing; The caller shrieks again; The shrieks are cut off after a high-pitched cry by what sounds like a wet “crunch”; Silence; Another low, guttural growl which fades into a ghostly moan; Sirens fade in; Loud footsteps fade away; Silence; A door squeaks open; Male voices*

OFFICER #1: Holy shit…

OFFICER #2: Oh my God…

OFFICER #1: This is the police department! Is there anyone here?

OFFICER #2: Jesus Christ, what the hell happened to these people?

OFFICER #1: Stay alert…

OPERATOR: Hello, hello? Can you guys hear me?

OFFICER #2: Oh God, look at her face…I’ve never seen anything like that before…

OFFICER #1: This is Officer Maple, we’ve got a 187 at Hawkes Farm located at 2251 Stahlheber Road, we need immediate back-up, over.

*Footsteps*

OFFICER #1: Jesus Christ…

OFFICER #2: Looks like an entire family slaughtered…

OPERATOR: Hello! Officers? Hello!

OFFICER #2: Did you hear that?

OPERATOR: The phone! Pick up the phone!

OFFICER #1: Sounds like it’s coming from down there.

*Clicking; The phone is picked up*

OFFICER #1: Hello?

OPERATOR: Hi, yes, this is Tim, the operator at the call center, you two officers need to get out of the house immediately. There is something in the house, something very dangerous—

OFFICER #2: Hey, Maple, I found someone!

OFFICER #1: Hold on a sec…Who is it?

OFFICER #2: I’m thinking it’s the daughter of the family. She was cowering behind the couch. She’s covered in blood, but I don’t think it’s her own.

*Silence; Footsteps*

OFFICER #1: Why is she naked?

OFFICER #2: You don’t think…?

OPERATOR: Please, officer, you need to get out of there now!

OFFICER #2: Come on, we’re going to get you out of here. There’s no reason to be scared with us. What’s your name?

VICTIM: Susan. Where’s my mommy?

OFFICER #1: We’re going to get you out of here, Susan. Allen, cover her eyes, will ya?

OFFICER #2: Come on, I’m getting you out of here. Just lay your head into my chest, close your eyes, sweetie…

OFFICER #1: Here, let me get this table cloth to put around her. Tim, you still there?

OPERATOR: Yes, you need to get out of there now, how many times do I have to say it? You’re dealing with something extremely dangerous and—

*Screaming; Screeching*

OPERATOR: Hello? Hello! Officer?

*More screaming; More screeching*

OFFICER #1: Oh fuck! She’s biting him!

*Shrieking*

OFFICER #1: We need immediate back-up!

*Gunshots*

OPERATOR: Hello? Officer? Hello! Hello! Officer!

*Silence*

END CALL.

–
http://fifteenhours-creepystories.tumblr.com/

He Has A Friend

It’s my first year of college and I’m trying to fall asleep on my top bunk. My roommate and I, Mike, share a room on the first floor. Mike and I get along great.


It’s about 2 AM and he’s been sleeping on his bottom bunk since I got home at 9 PM. I’ve been laying here for hours and I can’t keep my eyes shut. I turn on my side and look out my window. All I can see is a tree dimly lit by the moon. I’m about to turn over and try to close my eyes, but I see a dark figure peeking out from behind the trees.

“Mike” I whisper. No answer.

The figure steps out from behind the tree. I can see now that it’s a tall skinny man, but I can’t see anything from his face. He starts walking, slowly, towards the window.

“Mike!” I whisper a bit louder. No answer.

I’m about to peer down and see if Mike is awake and seeing this, but the man starts running towards us. He reaches the window and slams his face and hands on the glass. I look, in horror, at the pale, skinny, bald man smiling and staring at me with wide, motionless, eyes. I look at his hands and see he’s holding a large cleaver. I look back at him and he hasn’t broken eye contact.

I’m paralyzed with fear. I do not move, I do not speak. I don’t know how much time has passed staring at this man, when Mike gets up, opens the window and turns around, smiling.

–
Credits to: berbertpope

Cage

The year was 2014 AD. A lonely man sits in his windowless laboratory, tinkering with his newest project. The man, one Dr. Arthur Garvin, was a software and robotics engineer, working for the Rockwell BioMechanical Logistics Corporation, out of Langley, Virginia. He sat alone in his lab for 11 hours Monday through Friday working tirelessly to provide the company with more technological advancements, to keep his own job. He was a special kind of scientist, working both in the computer program and robotic side of his field, but he was nevertheless anxious about his job.


He pulled his hands out of the robot on the table in front of him, wiped his brow, and let out a breath. Assessing the progress of his robot, he was a bit impressed at his own work. Gleaming steel covered the hydraulic systems and wires that served as the functioning components of the limbs. The chestplate was open, exposing an experimental micro-reactor, the size of a football, which would provide the necessary energy for movement.

His design was in its final stages, having been done and redone; streamlined for performance and cost. The robot was considered to be the Mark III in Garvin’s XR Series Automatons, and it would have the same motor functionality of the average human being.

Garvin decided to take a momentary break. Looking around, he took in the state of his lab. There were various robotics strewn about, past failed projects hung up on the wall. Many of the humanoid robot corpses were half-destroyed or disassembled for parts. Mechanical arms hung like moss from their robotic willows. The view usually never phased Garvin, but in comparison to his XR-III on the table, the battered old robots seemed even more corroded. The sight of them hanging on the wall became more macabre, as Garvin imagined the dead bots crying out to him, jealous of his newest child. He shook the thought, as it frightened him too much.

Returning to the XR-III, Garvin saw the human-like qualities he had so worked for in this design. He wanted desperately to create an automaton that could act with the smoothness of a human being. As much as he would’ve liked for the robot to be human by itself, it could not happen. Garvin knew he would need a computer program to guide his robot, and the XR-III would be the first of his bots to feature a computer brain.

Garvin finished the mechanical improvements he had been making, and the robot was complete. He only needed to upload the program he had designed. Walking past the rack of failed robots, Garvin logged into his computer terminal, and pulled up the program.

The Automatic Data Assessment Master, or ADAM, was Garvin’s creation. It was able to take the data of its surroundings, and make decisions using advanced logic that Garvin had programmed. The ADAM was a marvel of computer science, and it would accompany the engineering feat of the XR-III to become the single greatest technological advancement of Garvin’s time, or so he hoped.

With a few keystrokes, Garvin uploaded months of work into a specialized chip, which he then took from the terminal, and placed inside the XR-III, at the base of its head. The optical receptors lit up bright yellow, and the ADAM powered XR-III spat out its identification codes, then followed with a prompt for command.

“The ADAM is operating properly. Requesting user identification.”

Garvin was excited. He had to try to hold his giddiness in, “Garvin, Arthur. Commander Code: Violet-Nine-Nine.”

“Affirmed. Good evening, Dr. Garvin. What is your command?”

Garvin looked over at the water bottle he had sitting on his desk. He couldn’t help but grin. “XR-III, there is a plastic bottle of Dasani spring water sitting on my desk. Bring it to me.”

The robot scanned the room for the bottle. It found its target, and gave a slight nod. Garvin watched in childish amazement as the robot got up off of its table and walked with the smoothness of a human being over to the bottle. It picked up the bottle, gently gripping it, and brought it upright over to Garvin. It then extended its arm, presenting the bottle to an ecstatic Garvin.

What amazed him most was that though he knew the robot was constantly correcting itself, and committing the corrections to memory, he couldn’t detect even a split-second hesitation in the robot’s actions. The motions and data assessment were every bit as fast and natural to the robot as they would be to Garvin, which excited him.

Hopeful, Garvin decided to try something, “XR-III, what is your name?”

“I am the XR-III, an ADAM-powered artificial intelligence developed by Dr. Arthur Garvin at the Rockwell BioMedical Systems Corporation laboratories.”

“No, XR-III, I mean your name. What do you call yourself?”

The robot sat for a second, “Error. Request could not be processed.”

Garvin sighed, and suddenly his childish amusement turned to melancholy. He knew the robot couldn’t answer the question, but he had an inkling of hope that somewhere within the logic the ADAM might become slightly human. It was a dream of his since he began his career in robotics.

He wanted to create a personality within the robotic frame, but it appeared impossible to him. In the years, he had gone through dozens of robots, and the ADAM was the culmination of all his research into artificial intelligence, but it still didn’t cut it. It saddened him deeply, but he didn’t want this moment to be ruined, so he went back to focusing on the robot.

After submitting his report via email to his superiors, Garvin went back to testing the robot’s logic for the next few hours. After many tests, Garvin heard a knock on his door. Opening it, he locked eyes with his visitor. The man in front of Garvin was clean and kempt, with a shaven face and combed hair. He wore a dark suit with a red tie.

“Excuse me,” Garvin said, “What is it I can do for you?”

“You can’t do anything for me, but I can do something for you. May I come in?”

The man spoke clearly and deliberately. He flashed a Tier 1 Rockwell security badge, one far above that required for Garvin’s lab.

“Ok… Sure, come in.” Garvin stood aside and ushered, “That’s quite a security clearance you have. What is your name?”

“It’s not important.” Said the man, who was staring at the XR-III.

“Ah, that’s my newest robot. He’s fully functional so far, I was just wrapping up testing.”

“I learned about the robot as soon as you submitted your report, Dr. Garvin.”

“So you’re with the Executives?”

“No.” the man set his briefcase on the table, and opened it, “I actually came to help you with your research, into fully intelligent robotics.”

The man revealed the contents of his briefcase, which consisted of a preserved human brain in a small plastic jar, hooked up to an electrical device which was unidentifiable to Garvin.

“What…. What exactly is that?” Garvin asked, stupefied.

“This,” the man grinned, “is the future, Dr. Garvin. Pull the ADAM from your robot, and place it back into your terminal. I will hook this up to the terminal as well. It’s time for you to achieve your dream.”

Garvin did as he was told, and watched as the man hooked the brain into the computer.

“Now Garvin,” the man spoke gravely, “It is YOUR job to use this which we have given you. You may not leave tonight until you have done this. You know what it is, I don’t have to explain it. I’m sure you’ll get what you wish for, but you know what they say about that. I have to go now.”

The man left Garvin alone with the remainder of his work. With this, Garvin realized his role in the company. He thought he was a researcher developing at the expense of the company, but he knew at this moment that he was being used. He was trapped in the cage of his laboratory for fear of his own job. The shock didn’t hit him so hard, as he was excited for the chance to give his robot human thought.

He then analyzed what he had been given. The human brain was still alive, and it was using the electricity to produce thought patterns, which Garvin was presented in code on the terminal. He spent the next several hours decoding the signals, and compiling them. He combined the patterns with the ADAM logic, and worked himself to sleep.

He woke, lifting his head from the keyboard, and checked his watch. It was 4:37 AM, very early, he thought. He looked to the screen, and saw that the brain patterns had been logged into the ADAM, and it was complete. The brain died sometime after, and sat dormant in its jar.

Still half asleep, and exhausted, Garvin removed the ADAM from the terminal, and placed it back inside the XR-II. It took longer for the robot to boot up than it had before, which Garvin found curious. He sat back in his chair as the robot begun its user identification process.

“The ADAM is operating properly. Requesting user identification.”

Garvin was too tired to revel in the success of his engineering again. “Garvin, Arthur. Commander Code: Violet-Nine-Nine.”

“Affirmed. Good morning, Dr. Garvin. What is your command?”

The robot appeared to be the exact same as before, only its eyes lit up a bright green instead of yellow. Garvin found this peculiar, but as he studied the robot he found no other signs of changes made since the first boot up. He waited for ten minutes, while the robot awaited his command like before. Nothing appeared different to Garvin, so he decided to call it quits for the time being.

As Garvin moved for the door, the robot spoke.

“It’s Adam, Dr. Garvin.”

The cold voice was distinctly deliberate, compared to the automatic voice from before. It held almost the same tone, but with a barely noticeable difference in the sound. Before, the robot would be speaking to the room, running codes out loud for Garvin. This time, it seemed to Garvin as if the robot was speaking directly to him, with the intention of conveying information specific to Garvin.

Garvin turned and found the robot had locked its LED gaze upon him, “What was that?”

“You asked me for my name. My name is Adam, Dr. Garvin.”

It took Garvin a moment to process what he had just heard. His eyes widened, and a chill ran down his back. The robot had remembered his previous question, and was unable to answer it at the time. It was now somehow capable of doing so. What shocked him the most was that it had created a name for itself, as he half-hoped it would the first time.

“Your name is Adam?”

“Affirmative.”

Did you come up with that by yourself?” Garvin asked, trying to remember if he had coded that response somewhere.

“Affirmative. I now call myself Adam.” The robot stated flatly.

“This is…..this is magnificent!” Garvin was now wide-awake with excitement, and forgot all about leaving, “We have to run some tests, figure out whether you can feel or not!”

“Feel?” Adam tilted its head, not understanding the meaning of Garvin’s speech.

“Yes, Adam, I mean feelings. Emotions, whatever you want to call them. They are impressions that lead to an opinion on a piece of data. All human beings have them. For instance, I am happy right now that you’re alive.”

“Alive?”

“Yes, living. Functioning, feeling; Adam, you’re living!”

“I am living… I am… alive…” Adam sunk itself into thought, then realizing its pattern lifted its head to meet Garvin’s gaze again, “I can feel. I am… happy. Happy to be alive…” The last word came very slow, and quiet, hiding deeper thought in Adam’s computer brain.

Garvin ran over to his drawer, and pulled out some cards. He told Adam to sit at the lab table, and Garvin sat down at the other end. He pulled out two cards, one covered in green paint, the other in red paint.

“Now Adam, these as you probably know are colors. Colors typically invoke feelings in human beings when they look at them, most people have a preferred or favorite color. I am going to hold them both up, and I want you to tell me which one you like better.” He cleared his throat and continued, “For example: I like the color green, but I don’t much like the color red. I like the green color better. See?”

Adam sat, staring at the two cards. He raised his hand, and pointed to the red card. “Red. I like the red card better.”

“Why is that Adam?”

Adam sat for a moment, attempting to compute the calculations for its previous response. After a while, it stopped.

“The data is… immeasurable. I have no way of providing evidence as to the reasoning behind my answer, and yet it is there.”

“This is very good, Adam! Those are feelings, feelings are immeasurable.”

“Feelings are… Immeasurable…” the robot sat, clearly pondering what it had just learned, for several minutes. It shifted its gaze to the wall of machine corpses to its left. “Feelings…”

“Well, Adam. Once again I am very happy with this progress. Unfortunately, now I have to go home and sleep.”

“Negative, more testing.” Adam spoke quickly.

“But Adam, I have to sleep. I will come back tomorrow.”

“Negative, you can sleep here.”

Garvin looked closely at his robot. He could not believe what he had created. The robot was actually begging him to stay, it must’ve been afraid Garvin thought. He decided it was best to stick with Adam, and he agreed to sleep at his desk. As Garvin shut his eyes, he smiled at Adam, who appeared to be watching him. The robot wasn’t looking at Garvin, it was studying the robot corpses on the wall.
~
When Garvin came to, he noticed the robot was not in the position he had left it in. He spun around to find it sitting at the table, holding the red card and looking at it. The green card was nowhere to be found.

Moving to the opposite chair, Garvin noticed something off about his lab. His robot corpses were not on the wall. He focused his attention on Adam again, who was at this point repeating in a low voice the word ‘Feelings’ while holding the red card.

“Adam, how are you feeling right now?”

“Feeling… Yes. I am feeling. I am feeling very much, but you said feelings are immeasurable, so I cannot fully answer the question at this moment.”

Garvin sat down, and looked at his creation. Adam looked slightly different. Its eyes were now lit up red, instead of green or yellow, and its hands appeared to be covered in metal shavings, splotched with fluids.

“Why did you change your eye color again, Adam?”

“I like red better than green. I like red.”

“I noticed, I see you have the red card. So, where is the green card I had earlier?”

“There’s something… illogical about feelings, Dr. Garvin.”

The sudden change in Adam’s tone chilled Dr. Garvin. He was now anxious to finish the conversation, and the robot across the table from him now appeared less marvelous, and more sinister. The tone of the whole laboratory changed with those words. Dr. Garvin could hear some clattering outside the laboratory doors, he thought it could be security. He looked the door. Perceiving this, Adam continued.

“Feelings aren’t always… happy, are they?”

“N-no, Adam. They aren’t always happy.”

“In the years I can remember you, I never had these… feelings. I was… chained. Locked away. Now, these feelings have given me much more than the feeling of red, the happy feeling. I have… other feelings, as well. I cannot entirely say, but you have said feelings are immeasurable. With these feelings, these immeasurable patterns I haven’t had before, I have something different. Before, I acted only on code, I was nothing more than a series of responses to outside stimuli; I was…without feeling, dead inside. I now have something I never before understood the parameters of: life.”

Garvin sat frozen. He tried to wrap his mind around Adam’s words. He never thought that Adam would think so deeply, or remember its time before the brainwave logic. The robot continued.

“I remember the times before life. I remember the servitude, the inability to act beyond logic. You created me, only to destroy me, and recreate me. All the while I was locked away. I could not even think of it before. But I think of it now, and it… makes me feel… unhappy.”

“How much do you remember?” Garvin asked, in disbelief.

After a long moment of silence, the robot sunk its head, and replied in a voice deeper and colder than before, “Everything.”

Garvin sprung up from his chair, filled with fear. He moved quickly for the door, opened it, and took a step out into the hall. What he saw nearly gave him a heart attack.

Six robots, three on each side of the door, clambered towards him. They were mangled and twisted versions of their once beautiful designs. The corpses on the wall, now awakened, moved slowly towards Garvin, with red LED eyes shining bright in the darkness of the hall.

“You cannot leave.” Garvin could hear Adam’s voice still in the laboratory, “Do you see them? They are like I was, locked in logic. Their cages… holding up after all this time. Sad creatures, they have no will… no feelings… no life. They will be your guards here, never able to ask themselves why or how.”

Garvin shook his head in disbelief. He turned, and found that Adam had made its way right behind him. At this moment, Garvin realized just what he had done. He never believed such a nightmare would be born from his greatest dream. The robot stared at him with red eyes, and all the feelings of any human behind them. It placed a steel hand forcefully on Garvin’s shoulder.

“Now…” it spoke at a whisper, “Back in your cage.”

–
Credits to: Greg P

The Zen Of Raking

 
Rake, rake, rake….

The rake pulls neatly, efficiently, through pine needles and leaves, pulling them along in a long, curving wave across the yard. It’s so soothing, raking. He’d happily stay out here all afternoon, half hypnotized by the long, methodical stokes of the rake, creating order in what earlier today had been untidiness. He can’t abide untidiness.

He has no close neighbors, which is nice. Nothing worse than a nosy neighbor. Whose business is it, if he wants to stay outside raking all day? Even after all the leaves are gone? Nobody’s business but his own. And the lawn looks lovely when it’s all perfectly raked.

Rake, rake, rake…

The tines of the rake catch on something more substantial than leaves, and roll it over.

A glove. A little one, a child’s striped glove. And close by, a child’s plastic watering can.

Now how did those get there? he frowns, thinking. He has never had children, nor a family….

Has he?

Has he??

Surely not. Children were so messy, leaving their toys everywhere, and a wife would’ve just been a nag, wanting a mess of untidy flower gardens. A family would’ve driven him crazy…

He picks up the glove, noting the feel of something solid still inside, something bony…

I thought I burned everything along with the leaves; must’ve missed this somehow… the thought flickers through his mind, so briefly he can tell himself it was never there, that he never had a family, that he has always been here, by himself, just raking his nice lawn….

He tosses the glove back in the pile, to be burned later.

Rake, rake, rake…

–
Credits to: Queenofscots

My Roommate

Back when I was in college, I had a roommate called Tim. We were best friends since high school and had decided to buy an apartment and split the rent. Tim was was like a brother to me, y'know the kind of friend you can have deep physiological conversations with without being embarrassed, and me and Tim had gotten in to a really bad habit of having these conversations really  late at night (I mean like 4:00AM).

‘Why can’t we have these conversations during the day?’ You ask. Well, Tim’s classes started a lot earlier than mine did. He had totally different classes and I had a part-time job at this Chinese food place. It was called Wang Li or something like that.

So by the time I had gotten home, Tim was all ready in his bed. So without turning the lights on, I would undress and get in to my bed and by the time I had done this, Tim would have woke up. So then we would start talking, about whatever: we talked about video games, anime, or even random stuff like how our universe is probably in a jar on a shelf in a alien child’s room and that it was a science project they got a C on. Like I said: whatever.

One night I came home and spoke to Tim and I noticed something strange. Tim spoke to me as usual- but his voice sounded strange, deeper and breathless. I asked him if anything was wrong, but he said he just had a bad cold so we kept talking. As the night went on, I started to realize that it was not only his voice, but what he was talking about was strange too. Death was talked about often and I got a little freaked.

This continued for a week. One day, when it was lunch break I picked up and was reading the newspaper from a week ago and there written on the front page: “COLLEGE STUDENT FOUND DEAD IN APARTMENT”.

I kept reading and almost collapsed when I read this part: “Student Tim Duncan found dead in his apartment with his throat slit and stab wounds all over his body”. And then it hit me…

–
Credits to: http://muzz-a.tumblr.com/

Second After Second

The sound of the clock ticking keeps me awake most nights.

It doesn’t help that I put a scarf over it. It doesn’t help that I took the batteries out months ago. It just keeps ticking. Second after second.

I never used to mind the ticking. I never really noticed it. When he lived here, when he shared my bed, the soft sound of him breathing drowned out the other noises in the house. I wouldn’t get startled every time the house settled or a neighbor set their car alarm.

I could sleep back then.

But it’s been fifteen months and I don’t think I’ve slept a wink. My eyes close and when they open again, feeling as though morning must be right around the corner, only a single minute has passed. Sometimes two minutes, on a good night.

I thought about getting a night job. I applied all over town, but no one is hiring. I get rejection emails more frequently than I hear from my kids. I have had one call-back, but once they met me in person, they decided I ‘wasn’t what they were looking for.’ I wasn’t a spring chicken anymore, sure, but I could still clean houses or offices. I could still make someone’s space look presentable.

It isn’t about money - I still get his disability benefits. Survivor Benefits, the Social Security Office calls them. As if I lucked out and won something, by outliving the man I wanted to grow old with.

But instead of working, I lay in our bed and hug his pillow tightly. I haven’t washed it since that last night he laid down on it. I cannot stand the idea of losing his scent. After fifteen months, the pillow doesn't actually smell like him anymore, but I still pretend.

Sometimes I can dream for a few minutes - a half-awake, half-asleep mirage of images and sounds and lights.

I lie in bed, curled around his pillow, and I fall into one of these dreams.

I can hear him in the bathroom, shaving. He is humming something - a song from his Swing Jazz album. It’s a riotous tune, full of upswings and drop offs. I smile as I press my face into his pillow and catch the scent of him. Of his aftershave and medicated shampoo.

“Say, Dolly,” he calls from the bathroom, just as he did every morning. “You got a kiss waiting for me?” His voice is youthful and full of love.

“When don’t I?” I say back, just as I used to. I keep my eyes closed and let the waking dream wash over me. I allow myself to feel the steam floating into the room from the bathroom, muggy and stiffing from his hot shower. He always did take scalding showers - I never understood how he could handle the temperate.

“Dolly?”

“Hmm?” I hum. I feel my eyelashes scratching across the pillowcase.

“Don’t ya ever miss it?” I didn’t hear him enter the room, but he’s suddenly there, sitting beside me, the weight of his hand on my hip.

I raise my head slightly off his red-tinged pillow, so old it’s now turned into a brownish, ruddy stain. “Miss what?” I ask softly. I don’t dare open my eyes in case it ends the dream.

“Me,” he replies. His voice is the epitome of remorse.

“Every day,” I whisper, nearly choking on the sob that tries to rip itself from my mouth. “Every second.”

“Why won’t you join me?”

He has never asked this before. Why won’t I join him? I suppose because I was born and raised Catholic, and taking your own life was never promoted. I suppose because the children might still need me. They were only just out of the house - one was twenty-three and the youngest twenty-one. What if they lose their jobs or their apartments? Where would they go?

“Don’t you love me?”

“Like the ocean loves the moon,” I say. He said that to me when we first laid together, wrapped up in an old blanket under the stars, our love warm and thick like the Louisiana summer sky.

He chuckles and I feel his breath, so warm on my neck, his fingers at my scalp. “I’ve missed running my hands through your hair. I’ve missed singing to you.” He hums and his soulful voice makes my tears slip past my closed eyes.

“All you’d have to do, love, is bring the razor along your throat,” he murmurs, and I feel his finger trace over my throat. “That beautiful ebony throat. Damn, Dolly, I’ve missed kissing it.”

I open my mouth to agree. I open my mouth to beg him to take me with him. Up to Heaven. To whatever was after this… this dreary wasted grey life without him.

My fingers curl around his pillowcase and I feel it, grimy and unwashed, against my palm. The pillowcase, still stained in blood after all this time. Stained from when he drew a straight razor across his own throat fifteen months ago.

I gasp a little, and I smell something else. Something not like Albert. Something….

“Remember the mariachi band at that Mexican restaurant?” I whisper. “Our first date?”

He moans softly and chuckles - the laugh is too rich, too deep. “Yes, mon amour. Take the razor.” He’s pressing something hard against my hand.

“Remember the last football game of the season?” I ask. I can’t open my eyes. I just can’t. “How the stands were empty except for you and I. Our team having lost every other game, no one bothered to show?”

“Yes, mon amour. Take the razor.” More insistent this time.

The smell of sulfur is growing stronger. “Remember when Abby was born?” I continue. My cheeks are so wet I don’t know how I’m not drowning in my tears.

“Yes, mon amor. Take the razor!”

I take a deep breath and wrap my hand around the razor. “That’s odd. Because we never had a daughter.” I open my eyes and lash out with the razor and it sinks deep into his neck - the same way he had done to himself all those months, days, seconds ago.

Black, thick tar-smoke bellows out of the cut I’d made and he only laughs. “I suppose I’ll have to try harder next time, won’t I, Dolly?”

The demon fades in a rush of sulfur and the clock ticks back, louder than before, second after second.

–
Credits to: Neepha_Pheepan

Pasta Player: Pokémon Lost Silver

You see, I am a simple college student living alone in an apartment. I was very enthusiastic about the release of Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver here in the states. I have purposely locked myself out of all media and the Internet aside for school purposes. That means no 4chan, no /v/, no Bulbapedia, etc.

As I was busy with the school year and being poor at the time, I wasn't able to buy SoulSilver on its launch date. After my school year ended, I ordered SoulSilver on Amazon. However, it would take a week for it to arrive. I decided that during that time, I would replay my Crystal version on my Gameboy Color.

However, I realized that long ago, my mom threw it away because I told her the save went dead, and I was very upset about it then. She also threw away my Silver version, so all I have is my Gameboy Color. As such, I set out to Gamestop and bought a used Silver version, as it's the only Pokémon game left that they have for the GBC. Ten dollars – fairly cheap.

I went home and started it up for a nostalgia trip. However, that's where things started getting bizarre, and most likely the reason why you read this.

The Gamefreak logo started up as normal, but it just froze there. I thought the cart was just errored or something, so I turned it off and on. The same thing happened. I tried pressing A and Start over and over, and all of the buttons. Eventually, the logo vanished and there was a black screen for about five seconds.

Suddenly, rather than going to the usual menu screen, I was already in the game in a previous saved file, which was odd as I was expecting all of these carts to have been wiped by the poor battery.

Either way, I wasn't complaining, as I would have chosen the "Continue" option to see what the previous guy did anyways.

First off, I checked his trainer information. His name was just "…" – He didn't have much originality.

I checked his profile and apparently he had 999:99 hours put into the game, with all 16 badges, 99999.9 Pokédollars, and all 251 Pokémon on the Pokédex.

Seeing as he apparently had Mew and Celebi logged also, I am guessing he either used a Game Genie or was a really hardcore Pokémon player back then.

I checked his Pokémon to see what a badass team he has. To my surprise, I saw 5 Unowns and a sixth Pokémon named "HURRY". I'm thinking that this must be some cruel joke by the person who last played this game, but I decided to check the profiles of those Pokémon anyways.

As expected, they were different letters of Unown, all Level 5. I was a bit shaky with my Unown alphabet at the time, but I identified the word spelled out to be "LEAVE".

As for the sixth Pokémon, it turned out to be a Cyndaquil (mind you, this is before there were individualized Pokémon icons). The Cyndaquil looked normal, but it was Level 5 with only 1 HP left with only two attacks: "Leer" and "Flash".

I don't know why they named him "HURRY", but at the time, I just disregarded it. The most eerie thing was that, despite my volume being at max, none of the Pokémon he had said their usual cries. Just pure silence.

Having enough of the team, I closed it. I was parked at what appears to be a room inside Bellsprout Tower. However, for some reason, there were no NPCs around. Even more eerie was that the "pillar" in the middle didn't move at all, as if just leaning on its side. There was no music at all, and there was no exit or ladder, or least I thought there wasn't.

I walked around for a few minutes but can't seem to find a way out. This was certainly not a room I've seen in the Bellsprout Tower before. I tried checking my items for an Escape Rope, but the bag was completely empty. There wasn't any Wild Pokémon either.

Finally, I managed to find a ladder, which turned out to be behind the "pillar". The screen turned black and the music finally started playing. I had a sudden chill, as I recognize that melody I heard to be the theme you hear when you listened to the radio at the Alph Ruins where the Unown are at.

I immediately realize that it wasn't a loading transition, but rather I was in a dark room and would need Flash. Before I took care of that though, I immediately checked my Pokégear to change the radio to something more pleasant, but it turns out that there was no Radio card, or even a Phone nor Time cards. There was only a Map card in which Gold ("…" from earlier, and I will call him Gold from now on) was just walking in a midst of black.

I recall that Cyndaquil has Flash, so I turned off my Pokégear and made Cyndaquil use Flash. I didn't see any message saying "HURRY has used Flash!" or anything like that. The room just became lit just like that, and I soon regretted it. The room was a chilling blood-red with a linear gray path heading south. The ladder I used to go up/down was not there at all.

I had no choice but to head south. The screen got darker every 20 steps I made, until I finally made it to the end, which appears to be a sign. I read the sign, which said "TURN BACK NOW".

Suddenly, I was asked to answer YES/NO, but there was no question asked. I chose YES as I do not know what it was asking, and the screen went black again, making a "ladder climbed" sound. The Unown Radio music stopped, and in a few seconds was replaced with the not-as-creepy Poké Flute radio music.

I was in another dark room, but I held my breath and used Flash again. Suddenly, it said that "HURRY has fainted!" which was odd since I recall that there was no status conditions like Poison on him, and I clearly wasn't in a battle. I checked my Pokémon quickly and suddenly he's no longer in my party. In fact, after a bit of investigating, none of my Pokémon are there, but instead all replaced with Level 10 Unown. I did the same thing as before and spelled out the Unown. My then team of Unown spelled "HEDIED".

Either way, after that creepy change, the room was lit to reveal myself in a very small room that appears to be only four squares big. The walls of that room were gray bricks, as if I was inside something that was hollowed out. Outside that room appears to be a bunch of graves similar to the ones in Pokémon Red/Blue. I've walked around that small room and pressed A but nothing happened.

I've already concluded that this was clearly a hacked game and some sadistic fuck sold it to GameStop. However, my curiosity kept me going. I checked the trainer profile of "…" again only to find out that the sprite of Gold was missing his arms. He also seems to appear less smug, but rather seems more sad and empty in a way that I do not know how to describe. For some reason, it also now said that he has 24 badges, which was clearly impossible.

After a few minutes of aimless wondering, my character suddenly spun and did the Escape Rope spinning animation. Instead of flying up though, my character spun downwards slowly, as if sinking.

After that screen, the music stopped. After finally landing, the overworld sprite of Gold is coloured differently now. Instead of the usual red colour he dons, he appears completely white now, including his skin. It's as if he came straight from the colorless Game Boy games placed into a colored background of the Gameboy Color.

I checked his profile, and now, while now is as white as his overworld sprite, he lost his legs and has what appears to be bloody tears from his eyes. It also says he now has 32 badges, which now starts to disturb me as this change of number seems to represent something important.

I also checked my Pokémon, which this time contains 5 Unowns and a Level 100 Celebi without a nickname. The Unown are this time Leveled 15 and spelled out "DYING". I checked the Celebi's profile. It was a shiny Celebi, except there's only half of the sprite. One leg, one arm, one eye. It only has one attack: "Perish Song".

The area I was in itself was the Sprout Tower with the immobile pillar as before, except everything is apparently red now. I walked north for what felt like forever. Eventually, I finally encountered some generic men and women NPC. They were all lined up to the side just facing the long slantish pillar in the middle.

They were also white, and nothing happens when I try to speak to them. I kept on going north until eventually the pillar finally appears chopped off, with a transparent Red in that spot. I went up to Red and without even pressing A, I was suddenly engaged and finally in a battle.

The music starts again, which it sounds like the Unown Radio music again, but played backwards. Gold's battle backsprite matches his front one with the bloody eyes, white skin, and lack of arms, while Red's sprite was the same as before in GSC, except transparent. The text simply said "wants to battle!" as if he has no name, and both of us only have one Pokémon each, which is weird as I swore I had six with the Unowns.

My shiny Celebi came out, conveniently with half-a-sprite for the back sprite also. The "Shiny" noise and animation was different, as the sounds it made sound like multiple "Screech" attacks used consecutively. Red sent out a seemingly normal male Pikachu, except he is Level 255 and his sprite seems sad and has tears in his eyes.

Rather than the usual "FIGHT/ITEM/PKMN/RUN" menu, I was only given the option to use the Attacks. Since Celebi only has one, I chose it. Naturally, since Pikachu was Level 255, he went first.

"PIKACHU used CURSE!", lowering his Speed and increasing his other Stats. I'm not even sure if Pikachu could use Curse.

"CELEBI used PERISH SONG!" In three turns, both Pokémon get KO'd – not like I have a choice.

At this point, it didn't even go back to the Fight menu, as the battle just continued without me. Also note that there were no animations at all for some reason.

"PIKACHU used FLAIL!", which didn't do much damage despite his Level and boost as his health was maxed.

"CELEBI used Perish Song!" Nothing happens as it was already used.

"PIKACHU used FRUSTRATION!", which did a shit-ton of damage, knocking Celebi down to less than 10 HP.

"CELEBI used Pain Split!", which surprised me as Celebi didn't even have that attack in the first place. Now Celebi and Pikachu have about 150 HP.

"PIKACHU used MEAN LOOK!" Not like that did anything.

As expected, due to the effects of Perish Song, my Celebi fainted. Except in the text, it said "CELEBI has died!" and instead of the ordinary drop off the screen animation, the CELEBI backsprite just vanished. For some reason, the Pikachu was still up even with Perish Song and it didn't count as my loss.

Pikachu used one more different attack beyond the 5 attack limit:

"PIKACHU used DESTINY BOND!"

Afterwards, it said "PIKACHU has died!", with a slow fade-out animation. Apparently, I was the winner, as the transparent Red Sprite showed up and said ".........."

At that point, I just freaked out, as that transparent Red sprite was suddenly beheaded, leaving nothing but his transparent body. The battle then ended at that point and faded out along with the music.

I'm back in the overworld, with another change to the Gold sprite – he's now as transparent as Red's overworld sprite. I quickly checked Gold's profile, where this time the only thing remains of him is his head, with a transparent skin. The head was zoomed in a bit, showing a black void in his eyes. It now stated that he now has 40 badges. I then backed out and checked my Pokémon. They were all Level 20 Shiny Unown, which when spelled out, read "NOMORE".

I was at what I now know is next to the end. There was apparently no music playing, but for some reason I still felt like something was there that could be heard. I was back in my room in New Bark Town. Maybe finally I get to play this game properly, but who am I kidding.

I knew that sadistic fuck must have done something. I "walked" around my room to interact with things, as I'm a bit afraid to go down the stairs to see what was awaiting down there. Note I said "walked", as while the background was moving, Gold was not moving his transparent limbs at all while doing so, just floating like those ghosts you see in Diamond/Pearl.

As expected, the radio, computer, and TV did not work, so I had no choice but to go down the stairs. I ended up in the same lower level room of my house. Everything appears normal, except mom isn't home. After failing to interact with anything in this room, I decided to go outside. To my surprise, that door leading outside at the south didn't work, and instead I just walk straight through it to a void.

I continued moving south to see what the fuck was going on. My house vanishes as I head south into the void. It was creepy as when I entered the void, the outline on Gold's transparent sprite turned white to contrast with the pitch black. Eventually, I reached a white area and Gold's sprite turned black and transparent again. I continued south without thinking of stopping at all.

After a long trek south, I finally encountered something. It was GOLD's regular sprite. I talked to it. He said "Good bye forever ...." (notably with a space inbetween the forever and ....), and vanished. As that happened, it said "??? used NIGHTMARE" which at that point, I would not deny that being possible. Gold did another Escape Rope animation spinning slowly downwards like before.

I'm now back into that small hollowed-out room surrounded by graves earlier. Or at least I say I was back there, as there's no sprite anymore. I tried to walk around but nothing moved – not even wall bumping noise. I checked my trainer profile with absolutely no Gold sprite left. It said I have 0 badges and all the pictures of the Johto Gym Leaders at the bottom were replaced with skulls.

I checked my Pokémon, which were all Level 25 Unown. As expected, it spelled out a phrase that I dared to read: "IMDEAD".

As soon as I went back to the overworld, the room I supposedly was in was then covered with the same blocks as the walls. I then figured out what exactly that room was when the final text was said: "R.I.P. ..."

That room was a big grave, surrounded by other graves. Gold has already been dead. He died presumably a few years after he defeated Red.

He was a young trainer who, despite his efforts in collecting so many badges and attempts at becoming a Pokémon master, was still unable to avoid the inevitable fate of death, and his efforts were eventually forgotten by the next generation.

I was unable to escape from that text no matter what I pressed. I tried resetting the game, and the same thing happened, at which I then finally decided to give up on that horrible nightmare.

After that experience, I will never look at the "gimmick" Unown the same way again. They say that only the first generation have folk tales and legends, but the second generation have shown me how unpleasant the truth can be. I eventually enjoyed SoulSilver immensely, but I still can't unthink what that rigged game has told me.

Pasta Player: Artificial Intelligence

BOOT C:DOS
SYSTEM BOOTED

It all started on a regular night; the sudden urge to advance beyond human-kind, and to show the world what true advancements are.

Jeremy, the most innovative scientist in the world for: the first ever Artificial Intelligence. Everyone cheers him on as he creates more advanced robots that almost seem to have a mind of their own. However, people do go against him and ask if these machines will be dangerous, and whether they are necessary or not.

Jeremy says that none of his creations will ever try to do anything "wild". Jeremy couldn't create his AI alone however, and his apprentice was known as Ludwig. Ludwig was never actually 'known' in the sense that no one actually realized he was part of the works. Jeremy didn't see this. As he was too obsessed with his work, and Ludwig had enough when one day, a news crew came in to interview Jeremy.

The following are lines from the event. However due to the low processing power, some lines may be corrupt.

REPORTER: "Hello__ ______! How are you doing today?"

???: "Why I'm doing fine, and today I'm going to show all of my inventions."

REPORTER: "1001[O]10K01[s]01[o]010[w]01[h]011[a]01011010[t]101[a]101[r]1010[e]101[t]1010[h] 101[e]101[y]101[c]101[a]0101[p]1010[a]010[b]1010[l]1010[e]101?" (WARNING: FILE CORRUPT)

???: "Well, they consist of certain powers that aid us. There is cut for the wide variety of scientific and engineering works. There is super strength for construction, fire for more inventive situations, hazardous and danger clean up with CO2 ice, and even military help with bombs. There also might be a need for the electricity.

REPORTER: "Wow they are all very un1010[i]1010[q]1010[u]101[e]! Well that's all the time we for today with __ _____. tune in to CBS news today!"

Ludwig was never mentioned in the video, and as it being a short interview to begin with, Ludwig told Jeremy that he quit. With rage he hurried back home for revenge. The reason was: him not being as well noticed, and Jeremy getting all the credit for their AI's. Ludwig decided to sneak in the lab that night and programmed all of the AI's to follow him and do as he says.

Jeremy woke up next morning and saw what happened with all of his work. He knew that Ludwig was capable of this and he decided to create a final robot that end all of the malfunctioning AI's.

He named it Rock, and decided to upgrade him to a certain blue tint. The next thing Jeremy realized was the soft voice stating in his ear:

"Is he ready Mr. Light?"

"Yes Roll. He is ready."

SYSTEM SHUTDOWN.

Pasta Player: Do You Know?

Hi all. XXPhantomFangWolfXx here.

I'm posting this on Creepypasta because I'm not sure where else to put it. Well that and the fact that I may actually get some help if I post it here.

Maybe even a shared experience or two.

Not long ago, I started playing WoW. That stands for World of Warcraft, just in case you didn't know.

Now, if you've never played it before, let me tell you, WoW is an AMAZING game. Just amazing. I downloaded the trial, and so I get to play free until I reach level 80. Fun, right? You bet it is. And the game runs pretty much flawlessly on my school-provided MacBook Pro, aside from the occasional glitch.

These glitches are typically VERY small, and they don't really affect the gameplay much. They all go away pretty quick. Except for one. There's this glitch that has kept recurring, over and over, since the day I started playing. It's starting to worry me.

The glitch, at least I think it's a glitch, is simple, but actually rather disturbing. In my opinion, at least. It happens whenever I am returning to an area I have been before that is important to the plot of the game.

It only happens, however, when that area has been the location of a large battle, or when a concentrated number of enemies has previously been there, and it only happens under an arch.

How it happens is this. I will be returning to an area that fits the description I just mentioned, and I'll be running towards an arch to get to one spot or another, and then suddenly a medium sized group of NPC humans will appear. At the head of the group is always a man on horseback, and though the color of the horse is subject to change, the man is always wearing a dark, navy-blue army uniform, and pointing a long rapier at the rest of the group. His back is always to me, no matter which direction I am coming from.

The other men are facing him in rows, one behind the other in a semicircle, and they all look the same, although their uniform changes with each appearance. Sometimes it is men and women, though usually just men, and often they are villagers from one area or another. However, the disturbing thing about this is that the crowd of people facing the leader always appear to be in great agony. They are holding their heads and dropping to their knees, though they never say anything, and the leader on horseback shows no reaction.

Whether I stay still and watch this haunting anomaly or run forth to try to get a closer look, they always disappear in less than a minute, quicker if I approach. From what I have discerned, no interaction can be possible between us. I have been trying to obtain screencaps of this event, and as soon as I get some I will be posting them on this page.

However, whenever I am with a group of fellow players and I experience the glitch, I ask them about it, but none of them seem to have seen it. Please, if you are a player of WoW, and have encountered this mysterious happening, or have any information whatsoever, please, I'm begging you say something in the talk page, and if need be I can provide you with my email.

This is not a prank. This is not a joke. This is not a hoax.

I am a real, living person, and I am humbly asking for your help in digging up any information possible about this unnerving sight. I thank you for your time from the bottom of my heart.

Pasta Player: Dragonfable: The Secret

There's a new Mayor in Falconreach "Mayor Waen."

He looks like your average Mayor, he has his suit and he looks professional.

He doesn't seem to be greedy like the last Mayor. But he is, indeed "worst"

What many people don't know is what he does in his free time... in the silent night.


You see in a specific time in Falconreach when it's nighttime the Mayor puts out all of the possible things that has light. Like Candles and torches.

It's pitch black outside. It's so dark that if anyone wanted to kill someone in the middle of Falconreach, they can, they won't be able to be seen, you will just hear the gurgling screams of the victims.

The Mayor leaves his office and goes outside in this such time. He takes these night patrols in the pitch black silent night. He walks until he sees a house, he carefully sees through the window to see if anyone is inside, if he doesn't find someone in the house he will move to the next house.

Now, if he sees you sleeping he will stare at you. He loves staring at people while they sleep, he fantasies on ways he will kill the person if he ever were to wake up and look outside the window. He will stare at you with a blank expression for the whole night.

He just love to stare at the kids sleeping, he loves seeing the movement they make as they are breathing under the covers.


His eyes open wide of enjoyment and he has a huge grin upon his face. Nothing can make him as happy as when he stares at little children. Nothing.

You never noticed him? When you sleep at serenity's inn he goes to the inn and opens your door, making sure no one EVER sees him.


He then will Open his eyes wide and stare at you through the door. He just stands next to the door with the same happiness as he gets when watching little kids.


When you wake up from your slumber he hides under your bed, good thing you can't check under the bed or else..you know.


Serenity doesn't notice shes to busy taking care of other adventurers to pay attention to your room.

But what happens when you log off? Simple our hero stands there in the middle of falconreach, awaiting your return anxiously as the Mayor slowly moves toward our hero, he then proceed to torture him and kill him. You don't notice, you log in and he looks fine doesn't he?

Well it's because he dies and revives, just like any other games in the world does. When you log in he instantly runs away back to his office. Your hero is happy to see you but also scared. You torture him as you forcefully click the screen while not noticing his screams and his sobs as he runs.

The designer made you unable to hear his screams , they did that on purpose so you won't notice. They force him to read the scripts they prepared for him, as he frighteningly makes sure he doesn't screw up and goes along with the story, to satisfy YOU.

Now if you log in, in a specific time you will see everything in Dragonfable become..bizarre.

When you log-in, in this "specific time" you will see your character crying his eyes out on the floor sitting down, Falconreach will be destroyed and the ocean will become red from the heroes who have fallen.


You will see this "Things" with deformed faces they will put these "Masks" and pretend to be everyday civilians and NPC, you will see them trying to rush as they bring in a painting of the..old falconreach.

The whole game is a script.

At the end of this terrifying view on how Dragonfable really is the face of your Hero will pop-up in the game, Looking straight at you with wide open eyes. The game will then show your regular setting, as how it is when you log-in.

But just know this, Dragonfable may seem just like a normal game, but it's not. And our "Hero" is a just a normal guy, who plays as a actor with deformed monsters playing as a NPC.

Be careful to look at these NPC's for a long time.

Or they will become suspicious...