0:00

All aboard!

0:05

Tickets, please. Find

0:08

your seats. The

0:10

train will be departing shortly. You're

0:15

aboard the Sleepless Express.

0:18

A direct journey into the darkness

0:21

of the night. There

0:24

are no sleeping cars available

0:26

on this train. On

0:30

this journey, you will experience

0:32

the horrors found within the

0:34

dark landscapes and endless black

0:37

tunnels. You will

0:39

hear things which will leave you

0:41

frightened and disturbed. And

0:44

remember, there will be

0:46

no stops until the very

0:49

end of the line. Brace

0:54

yourself for the No

0:56

Sleep Podcast. Welcome

1:01

aboard the No Sleep

1:05

Podcast. I'm

1:19

your conductor, David Cummings.

1:27

The No Sleep Podcast has begun its

1:30

21st season. Imagine that. The

1:33

show is now old enough to drink, so

1:35

let's raise a glass of bubbly and

1:37

celebrate the new season. And

1:40

some champagne is exactly what you'd

1:42

expect to receive while starting your

1:44

journey aboard this unique train. Yes,

1:47

the theme for season 21 is

1:49

the ghostly train known as the

1:51

Sleepless Express. No one

1:53

knows where the train came from or where

1:55

it's going. All We know is

1:57

that it only runs at night. Serious

2:00

abandoned tracks that seem to

2:02

never reach an end. A

2:05

big thank you to the Maestro brand

2:07

in Boone and our senior producer Phil

2:10

Michael Ski for the music and sound

2:12

design for this season's new seem arrangement.

2:14

I dare say it sounds like it's

2:17

right on track. And

2:19

since were on board a ghost train,

2:21

we're going to kick off season Twenty

2:23

One with stories that remind us that

2:26

everyone we meet is going through their

2:28

own struggles even after they leave this

2:30

earthly planes. And

2:32

so fellow travelers find a comfortable

2:34

seat and get ready to ride

2:36

the rails into season. Twenty One

2:38

Where glad you're going on this

2:40

sleepless journey with us! And

2:43

now the train is

2:46

ready to depart. Your

2:48

journey into the darkness

2:50

begins Now. In

2:58

our first tale we find ourselves

3:00

back in the early twentieth century,

3:02

a board a train. What a

3:04

strange coincidence on the train. As

3:07

a writer just killing time by

3:09

people watching. But in

3:11

this tale shared with us by

3:14

Arthur Jason Emerson, it's only when

3:16

he meets a man who shares

3:18

his interest that the journey becomes

3:20

intensely interesting. Performing

3:23

this tale are Graham Roads and

3:25

Peter Lewis. And so if you

3:27

want a ghost story a board

3:30

a train your in the right

3:32

place. The next stop is that

3:34

the loathsome post How. many

3:50

years ago shortly after the end of

3:52

the first world war i was traveling

3:54

by rail to new york city to

3:56

meet with a publisher about a new

3:58

project after a late dinner I went

4:00

to the club car for a cigar,

4:02

one of my preferred devices. There

4:05

are few activities better than enjoying a smoke

4:07

in a Pullman club car. The

4:10

comfortable green velvet lounge chairs

4:12

lining the car sides, the

4:14

polished oak puddling, the large

4:16

windows exposing the countryside. It

4:18

is like relaxing in a European

4:20

monarch's parlor. One of

4:23

my favorite pastimes, as if I

4:25

were a regal heir myself, is

4:27

people-watching. Praising my

4:29

fellow seatmates' dress, mannerisms, and

4:31

conversation, and trying to discern

4:33

their character, profession, and even

4:36

possible names. After observing

4:38

whom I surmised to be

4:40

a married banker named Mr.

4:43

Oliver Winstead in conversation with

4:45

a young bachelor pharmacist named,

4:47

probably, Davey Nussbaum, I

4:49

realized the older gentleman beside me

4:51

was assessing me. He

4:54

gave me a friendly smile. Have

4:56

you decided on their names and

4:59

professions yet? Indeed I

5:01

have. Have you as well? Oh,

5:03

no. I've been considering you. And

5:07

indeed he seemed a gentleman. His

5:09

Brooks Brothers suit was clearly

5:11

high-end. He was comfortably portly

5:13

from expensive dining, but not

5:15

obese, and his full white

5:18

beard and a mustache were perfectly coiffed,

5:20

as though by daily attention from a

5:22

valet. He had the

5:24

air of a man comfortable with

5:26

himself and accustomed to leadership, and

5:28

a certain degree of benevolent superiority.

5:31

I think you must be a writer

5:33

of some kind, am I correct? Somewhat

5:37

surprised I said I was. But

5:40

not a journalist, I hope. Surprised

5:44

again, I agreed, and said

5:46

my pen moved more towards

5:48

fiction and poetry. Good.

5:51

I cannot abide, journalist. It

5:54

was then I decided the gentleman was a man

5:57

of business, probably an important

5:59

one. or perhaps even a politician,

6:01

for such men despise the press. You

6:04

have no love for reporters." I

6:07

openly glanced at the folded newspaper

6:09

balancing on his trouser leg. "'Oh,

6:12

I read what they write every day, but

6:15

I know the majority of

6:17

it is fictitious, either through

6:19

ignorance or malice, but I

6:21

still must be informed, I

6:23

suppose.' I decided

6:25

my seatmate must have been in his

6:28

seventies, and although his body was aged,

6:30

his mind seemed acute and aware, and

6:32

he spoke as a person with long

6:34

life experience. As we

6:37

sat together enjoying our cigars,

6:39

we commenced a stimulating conversation

6:41

that ranged over many topics,

6:44

including literature, history, the recently

6:46

concluded war, politics, labor

6:48

relations, the legal profession, and

6:50

the pros and cons of

6:52

the melting pot of our

6:54

American society. I

6:56

was impressed by the depths of

6:59

his knowledge, by his strong yet

7:01

unpretentious opinions, and his fatherly patience

7:03

when he clearly disagreed with points

7:05

I made, but to which he

7:07

neither took offense nor sought to

7:09

rebuke me. It was

7:11

a very enjoyable hour of conversation, and

7:13

we eventually reached a moment of companionable

7:15

silence where we both puffed our cigars.

7:19

Rather than just idly smoking, however,

7:21

my acquaintance seemed deep in thought.

7:25

Are you currently looking for a new

7:27

story to write? Well

7:29

I'm always looking for a good story. Do

7:32

you have one to share? I do.

7:35

He spoke rather contemplatively, as if he

7:37

was still considering his offer. He

7:40

sat there looking forward, legs crossed,

7:42

right elbow propped on the chair

7:44

arm holding his cigar, the

7:47

blue smoke tendrils slowly meandering up

7:49

to the ceiling. I

7:51

took another draw from my cigar and let the

7:53

moment linger. I've enjoyed

7:55

our conversation. I can

7:58

tell you're an honest, earnest, and honest.

8:00

person. Perhaps I should

8:02

give you a story." He

8:05

was still looking forward and not at me.

8:08

It was then I noticed the previously

8:10

full car was now practically empty, and

8:13

the hour must have been getting late. A

8:15

few of the lamps had been dimmed by

8:17

porters, giving the car what I can only

8:19

call a rather crepuscular feeling. Two

8:22

men conversed across the aisle. A

8:24

low, indistinct mumbling was all I could hear

8:26

of their words. My

8:29

companion maintained his composed silence.

8:32

The smoke from his cigar continued its

8:34

upward linger. "'The only

8:36

person I've ever confided this story to

8:38

was my son. But he died

8:40

thirty years ago

8:43

before he even reached his

8:45

majority. But I think it

8:48

is a story that should not die

8:51

with me.'" I

8:53

was flattered by his notion, but

8:55

also confused that he seemed about

8:57

to give me a complete stranger

8:59

something apparently precious to him. I

9:02

was about to object when he said, "'Do

9:06

you know shorthand? Oh, good.

9:09

Get out a pen and notepad.

9:12

I would like you to write this all down.'"

9:15

Written below is the story as he told it

9:17

to me. I

9:25

grew up in Springfield, Illinois,

9:28

and I knew Abraham Lincoln

9:30

and his family extremely well.

9:32

I never advertised the fact,

9:34

because if I did I

9:36

would be overwhelmed with endless

9:38

requests for anecdotes and information.

9:41

I tell stories to my friends,

9:43

of course, but this story is

9:45

one I have kept to myself

9:47

for various reasons. I

9:50

fumbled my pencil here as I jerked my

9:52

head up at him in astonishment. Abraham

9:55

Lincoln! My God! What

9:57

story could he be about to tell me? Lincoln

10:01

was a superstitious man.

10:04

Did you know that? He believed

10:06

in the power of dreams, but

10:08

he also, in his younger days,

10:10

was impressed by what some would

10:12

call witchcraft. For instance, when

10:14

one of his sons was bitten by

10:17

a rabid dog, Lincoln took the boy

10:19

to Terre Haut, Indiana, to get the

10:21

mad stone cure. When Lincoln

10:24

told stories around the general store

10:26

stove in winter and while rying

10:28

the judicial circuit in autumn, his

10:30

favorite tales to hear and tell

10:33

were about ghosts, goblins, and the

10:35

haunted doings. In some ways,

10:37

you could say he was like Washington

10:40

Irving's Ichabod Crane. Many

10:43

people thought he certainly looked

10:45

like Ichabod with his ill-fitting

10:48

clothes, gangly form and large

10:50

ears. The

10:52

man chuckled here as if from a private

10:54

joke. But during

10:56

the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858, Mr.

10:59

Lincoln needed a ride from Rushville

11:01

to Beards Town and then back

11:03

home to Springfield, and Mrs. Lincoln

11:05

asked me if I would take

11:07

their horse and carriage and pick

11:09

him up. I was

11:12

fifteen at the time. It was

11:14

October, around the time of the

11:16

Quincy debate, I think, and as

11:18

we drove across the prairie that

11:20

afternoon, Mr. Lincoln delighted in telling

11:22

me about his days as a

11:24

surveyor in the 1830s when he

11:26

was a young man and lived

11:28

in New Salem, which was about

11:30

twenty miles from Springfield. The

11:32

area he passed through was part of

11:34

the region he surveyed, and he took

11:36

great delight in occasionally telling me to

11:39

stop the carriage and run into the

11:41

woods to check a certain tree that

11:43

he had blazed as a survey corner.

11:45

He did this several times, and he

11:47

never made a mistake once. He

11:50

laughed in delight every time I returned to

11:52

the carriage and said he was correct. Mr.

11:55

Lincoln had the biggest smile and the

11:57

heartiest laugh in the middle of the

11:59

night. west. It's a shame

12:02

the pictures of him don't show that

12:04

joy. After one such

12:06

sprint by me, the smile

12:08

still lingering on Mr. Lincoln's

12:10

face and his loud gaffaw and

12:13

knee slap still echoing across

12:15

the prairie, he suddenly

12:17

went quiet. His

12:19

face turned grave as his eyes

12:21

stared over my shoulder. I

12:24

turned and in the distance saw

12:26

a dead oak tree. It

12:28

was monstrous and clearly must

12:31

have been a beautiful sight,

12:33

green, round and lush, when

12:35

it was alive. But by

12:37

then, it was totally desiccated,

12:39

all gray branches pointing upward

12:41

and outward like a skeleton's

12:43

hand but with fifteen or

12:45

twenty fingers. Mr.

12:47

Lincoln stared past me a moment

12:49

longer, then looked at me

12:51

and gave a faint smile and a

12:54

chuckle. He told me the

12:56

tree was called the Lonesome Post

12:58

Oak. It stood at the

13:00

fork of two roads and back at the beginning

13:02

of the century, it was the only tree around

13:04

for miles. He said

13:06

everyone in the area knew of

13:08

the tree, not because of its

13:10

size or location, but because of

13:12

what happened there and the superstition

13:15

that has claimed the tree ever

13:17

since. Of course, being fifteen,

13:19

I was eager to hear the story.

13:21

The prairie was slowly inching by

13:23

as our old horse walked

13:25

along. I remember the

13:28

clump of his hooves on the road

13:30

and the sound of the carriage wheels

13:32

crunching the dirt. The sound

13:34

of the prairie was everywhere,

13:36

birds chirping and squirrels chittering

13:38

and the wind shuffling through

13:40

the tall grass and tree

13:42

leaves. It was

13:44

a crisp October day full of

13:47

sunshine all around us and I

13:49

remember thinking how content I felt,

13:51

writing as Mr. Lincoln's companion. He

13:54

Said there were two brothers who lived around

13:56

that area back in the early times of

13:58

the country. They were known

14:01

as Big Saw in a little

14:03

so up and to my execrable

14:05

monsters never existed. They.

14:07

Terrorize the entire region by

14:09

attacking any travelers they came

14:11

upon. Robbery or rape and

14:13

murder was old and new.

14:16

In the early days not many

14:18

people's lives through their butts. as

14:21

town sprung up in communities were

14:23

formed, the people have had enough

14:25

of the socks and their crimes.

14:27

So sometime in the eighteen twenty,

14:29

his posse formed up one night

14:31

and set off after the brothers.

14:34

And found them on the road

14:36

and chased him for miles. One

14:38

young man named Davis had a

14:40

fast a horse than his neighbors

14:42

and eventually left everyone behind. When.

14:45

The sorts separated as Davis kept

14:47

on after the older brother who

14:49

was the worst of the bear.

14:52

The thought big sort right at

14:54

the road for for I'd wear

14:56

that post oak is and the

14:58

to squared off. Both.

15:01

Had rifle was knives and tomahawks.

15:03

They faced each other on the

15:05

road aim in their rifles. The

15:07

news is horses pay seems jittery

15:10

circling each other. Made. Saw

15:12

him fired at Davis and missed.

15:15

Davis. Immediately fired back but missed

15:17

for can stay hidden his horse right

15:19

in the rub. The. Animal bounded

15:21

forward and crash been debated

15:23

cause knocking most men to

15:26

the ground. A scrambled up

15:28

through knives and faced off

15:30

again with slashing the air,

15:32

stabbing, occasionally cutting their bone

15:34

and. Big. Saw it was

15:36

a brutish, treacherous man and he

15:39

knew how to fight after years

15:41

of violent living. Davis was a

15:43

young man who had barely grow

15:46

a beard, brass in full of

15:48

bluster and what seemed like fun

15:51

while riding with a posse and

15:53

suddenly become very real. As he

15:55

stood alone, he realized almost immediately

15:58

that he couldn't win. My.

16:00

Companion paused for a moment to realize

16:02

his cigar, which had gone out. And

16:05

I was so tense waiting for him

16:07

to continue the story, to hear what

16:09

was about to happen. my pencil hovering

16:12

above my paper. That. My wrist

16:14

began to eight. Know this

16:16

happened in a mood seconds. Who

16:18

understands The rest of the posse

16:20

was still coming for. Davis was

16:22

already exhausted fighting for his life.

16:24

his blood soaked in his closing

16:26

druze the name of the ground

16:28

for more than my skirts he

16:30

had taken from his opponent. Feed

16:33

so I'm barely breathing hard. Drew

16:35

his tomahawk from his mails ready

16:37

to finish the fight, but certainly

16:39

out of the black. Miss Davis

16:42

is huge black wolf dog was

16:44

had fallen behind and chase leapt

16:46

into the fray and grabbed sought

16:48

by the throat. Davis

16:51

quickly jump forward and stabbed as

16:53

a distract him villain right in

16:55

the heart causing a hideous screen

16:57

to erupt from thought that he

17:00

said still can be heard on

17:02

Dark Knight ringing across the prairie.

17:04

Within minutes Davis his friends arrived

17:07

in a series of who's made

17:09

jumped off their horses ready to

17:11

fight with found only that slaughtered

17:13

villain on the ground and he

17:16

exhausted moink ready to pass out.

17:18

They dug a hole and tossed.

17:20

Big So Ups body and married

17:23

him. Right at the base of

17:25

the Lonesome Post Oak it is

17:27

still believe as a big saw

17:29

a ghost hans be area night

17:31

connected in desk to his mutilated

17:33

body. Nobody. Ever travels that

17:35

way after door, Mister Lincoln had

17:37

to stop talking. but I was

17:39

so mesmerized by the story and

17:41

was picturing it so vividly in

17:43

my head. But I had to

17:45

see myself out of the dream.

17:48

What happened to his brother?

17:50

Little sore I asked. he

17:53

got away he told me for

17:55

joined up with some other criminals

17:58

in cincinnati he was caught and

18:00

hanged a few years later. Did

18:03

you ever go that way when you

18:05

were a surveyor, past the post-oak?" I

18:07

asked. Did you ever hear the screams?

18:10

I'll never forget the look he gave me.

18:12

It was one I had never seen before

18:15

on his face. Perturbed,

18:17

he said. I was foolish

18:19

enough to take that route once at

18:22

sunset. I asked him what happened and

18:24

he was quiet for what seemed a

18:26

long time, although I'm sure it was

18:28

only a few seconds. I've

18:30

never told anybody what happened that

18:33

night, he eventually said. Not

18:35

Mrs. Lincoln or Mr. Herndon or

18:38

Judge Davis. He looked at

18:40

me then and said, I will

18:42

tell you the story if you

18:44

promise never to tell another soul.

18:47

I promised him as sincerely and

18:49

seriously as I could. Apparently

18:52

it satisfied him for he commenced

18:54

to tell the tale. He

18:57

said his surveying work had taken him

18:59

longer than he expected one day and

19:01

the shortest route to get to his

19:03

lodgings that night was along the road

19:06

that passed by the lonesome post-oak. The

19:08

sun was setting, so it was not

19:10

yet dark, and although he was nervous

19:12

he figured he could make it past

19:14

the tree before full darkness set in.

19:17

His horse was walking at a

19:20

quick clip, not trotting, but not

19:22

meandering either. It was

19:24

summer then, he said, and the crickets

19:26

were at their loudest. The

19:29

sky was red-orange as the sun was

19:31

setting like it had been sliced with

19:33

a knife, and he was starting to

19:35

feel the damp beginnings of the dew

19:37

starting to settle in. As

19:40

he approached the post-oak, its

19:42

dead limbs stabbing the sky,

19:44

he noticed, although it was

19:46

still a good thirty-five rods

19:48

away, the world had gone

19:50

completely silent. The crickets, the

19:52

birds, even the wind had

19:54

stopped moving the long prairie

19:56

grass. He looked around, his horse.

20:00

pilgrim, continued walking but

20:02

was suddenly alert, ears

20:04

pricked up, muscles tensing.

20:06

The sun was still

20:08

setting. Evening was approaching but

20:11

the red hue of the bleeding sun

20:13

was still spreading slowly over the tops

20:15

of the prairie. The world

20:17

was still visible although starting to

20:19

blur, the night had not yet

20:22

come. It's not right,

20:24

Mr. Lincoln said he remembered thinking.

20:27

It's not dark yet. I

20:29

should still have time. The

20:31

post oak got closer as his

20:33

horse picked up its pace, its

20:36

skin rippling and quivering in apprehension.

20:39

But even the sound of its hooves

20:41

on the road seemed to have been

20:43

stolen from the world. Here, seen into

20:45

that silence just then, was

20:47

a high-pitched scream like a

20:49

panther's cry in the night

20:51

with a wailing of a

20:53

tortured man. Mr. Lincoln

20:55

girt his head left and right

20:58

and without warning he was

21:00

struck full in the chest as if

21:02

kicked by a mule and thrown from

21:04

his horse. He landed on

21:06

his back in the dust and had the wind

21:08

knocked out of him. He lay

21:10

stunned for a moment, then

21:13

rolled over onto his hands and

21:15

knees and gasped desperately for air.

21:18

He sat up, face turned

21:20

up to the sky, heaving for

21:22

breath. He saw something black

21:24

fly past him on the left.

21:26

On the right he felt it

21:28

above him, behind him, and then

21:31

he heard the horrible grunk of

21:33

a raven, half gurgle, half call.

21:36

He was smashed in the back of

21:38

the head and knocked down again, face

21:40

bouncing off the packed dirt, the feel

21:42

of feathers flapping on the back of

21:45

his neck. His mind

21:47

went spinning. He felt a

21:49

cutting pain behind his left ear. The

21:52

raven cries pierced the night, turning

21:54

from grunk to an evil sort

21:56

of cackle as it flew circles

21:58

around Mr. Lincoln. He sat

22:00

up again and felt the blood running

22:03

out of his nose, the scrapes on

22:05

the heels of his hands, a thunderous

22:07

pain around his right eye from where

22:09

it hit the ground, and

22:11

he realized he was right in front

22:13

of the horrible old dead tree. To

22:16

his right was a large stain

22:19

on the road that seemed to

22:21

grow in size and coalesce into

22:23

a shiny puddle of blood. He

22:26

became aware of a veil of fog

22:28

hovering a few feet above the ground

22:31

and smelled gunpowder in the still air.

22:34

He heard another call, watched the

22:36

raven circle him viciously, flying down

22:39

nearly into the dirt of the

22:41

road, up through the hanging mist,

22:43

leaving smoky circles in the air.

22:46

But the bird did not attack again. Instead,

22:49

it landed in the branches of the post,

22:51

oh, to about eight feet

22:53

above Mr. Lincoln's head. He

22:56

looked up, he watched it land on

22:58

a skeleton arm of a branch, and

23:00

then saw right next to it, standing

23:03

in the tree, the shape of

23:05

a man. It was

23:07

huge, shoulders full of

23:09

muscle and hair long and stringy,

23:11

knife and tomahawk in its belt.

23:15

Mr. Lincoln looked at its face and

23:17

knew it was big thawp. He

23:19

saw gray skin, tight

23:22

and withered, blue lips and

23:24

eyes burning red as if

23:26

hot coals had replaced the

23:29

eyeballs. The raven took

23:31

flight again as the ghoul in the

23:33

tree just stood and stared. Mr.

23:36

Lincoln got up to his feet and took

23:38

only a step or two before he tripped

23:40

over a tree route that he swore was

23:42

not in the road before, and when he

23:45

fell the dirt was no longer packed but

23:48

it became soft and damp as

23:50

if freshly dug. The

23:52

stench of death and decay filled his

23:55

nose as he scrambled to stand up,

23:57

but he could not get off the

23:59

ground. He felt

24:01

himself sinking. His scrambling became

24:04

almost swimming in the wet

24:06

soil, a frantic paddling of

24:08

his arms. Something

24:11

was grabbing at his legs and

24:13

ankles, maybe claws, maybe roots that

24:15

had come alive trying to drag

24:17

him down. The mud crammed

24:19

under his fingernails as he fought and

24:22

failed and continued to sink,

24:24

all while the raven caught

24:26

and cackled its laugh that

24:28

echoed from every direction. Suddenly

24:31

he was crawling on firm ground,

24:34

feeling pebbles embed themselves into his

24:36

palms and bore into his knees.

24:39

He stood up and ran to

24:41

his horse, which had fled a

24:43

short way down the road, pacing

24:45

in the middle, looking at him,

24:48

afraid to go forward or back

24:50

or leave the road's boundaries, as

24:52

if surrounded by vast ditches or

24:54

bottomless quagmires. Mr.

24:56

Lincoln nearly broke his ankle,

24:59

twisting it into the stirrup

25:01

and getting mounted in his

25:03

saddle, but pilgrims stopped pacing

25:05

and just stood, fixed, implanted

25:07

to the spot. Mr.

25:10

Lincoln looked back at the tree and

25:12

saw the raven had returned to its

25:14

perch on its branch, but the shadow

25:16

man was not there. He

25:18

was out of the tree, he

25:20

was standing in the road, staring

25:23

with those red eyes. The

25:25

raven cackled, the scream

25:27

again pierced the dusky evening

25:29

that was quickly turning into night.

25:31

The horse would not move, despite

25:34

the heels pummeling into his

25:36

sides. He was in a

25:38

trance, staring at the red

25:40

eyes. Mr. Lincoln

25:42

reached into the knapsack, tied to

25:44

his saddle and grabbed his dip

25:46

pen in his fist, swung his

25:48

arm behind him and stabbed the

25:50

metal tip into pilgrims' haunches. The

25:53

horse boxed and jumped into a

25:55

run down the road, the raven

25:58

groaning and crying behind the night

26:00

now nearly black, on the

26:02

edge of darkness and oblivion.

26:05

All Mr. Lincoln said he could

26:07

remember after that was the pounding

26:09

of pilgrims' hooves on the road,

26:12

the wind scraping his already bruised

26:14

face like dead branches and brambles,

26:16

an indistinct gray blur of road

26:18

ahead of him. He

26:20

rode that horse until it was lathered

26:23

and panting, until it was wheezing with

26:25

each breath. He raced for miles across

26:27

the prairie, until he reached the home

26:29

of his friend Ebenezer Peck, where he

26:32

was to stay the night. Mr.

26:34

Lincoln explained the condition of his

26:37

clothes, the blood on his

26:39

hands and face, and what turned out

26:41

to be a black eye, with a

26:43

vague half-truth that his horse had spooked

26:45

and thrown him. Mr. Peck

26:48

did not press for more details, but

26:50

knowing full well the region in which

26:52

he lived, he seemed to know there

26:54

was more to the story. As he

26:56

cleaned himself up that night, Mr.

26:59

Lincoln said he found scratches like

27:01

claw marks all over his ankles,

27:03

where his pants, always too short,

27:06

had exposed his flesh. There

27:08

was a wound on the back of

27:10

his head by his left ear that

27:13

took a long time to heal and

27:15

left a long scar that every once

27:17

in a while would open up and

27:19

seep for no apparent reason. Mr.

27:22

Lincoln had horrible nightmares that night

27:24

of a shadowy figure

27:26

with red eyes staring at

27:28

him, of screams and shouts

27:30

surrounding him, almost lifting him

27:32

off the ground with their

27:34

cacophony, of a lancing pain

27:36

in the back of his

27:38

head behind his left ear,

27:40

striking him and forcing him

27:42

forward into blackness. Strangely

27:45

and unaccountably, he said,

27:47

he remembered hearing a

27:49

woman scream, followed by

27:52

relentless sobbing. Not

27:54

long after that night, Mr. Lincoln

27:56

was elected to the state legislature

27:58

and began studying law. So he

28:00

stopped his work as a surveyor.

28:03

I only traveled that road very

28:05

few times again, I remember Mr.

28:07

Lincoln said to me, but not

28:09

alone and never at night.

28:13

A moment later he added with a wink,

28:15

I may be foolish, but

28:18

I am not stupid. My

28:27

companion finished his tale with a chuckle.

28:30

I looked up from my notepad, my hand

28:32

cramped with effort but my mind buzzing with

28:34

the import of the story I had just

28:37

heard. I looked around

28:39

and realized we were the only passengers left

28:41

in the club car and few lamps were

28:43

on. Now that I have

28:45

given you this story, I need

28:47

to extract from you a promise, a promise

28:50

that you will not make this

28:52

story in any way public until

28:54

after I am dead. He

28:57

must have seen the confusion and disappointment in

28:59

my eyes because he quickly said, Oh,

29:02

don't worry, it won't be too

29:05

many years from now. He

29:07

was such a genial, even fatherly man at

29:09

that moment that I could not but agree

29:12

to his terms. I

29:14

checked my watch to discover it was past 2 a.m. The

29:18

old gentleman said he had better get off to bed and

29:20

stood up. I stood as

29:22

well and as we shook hands I told

29:24

him this was one of the most entertaining

29:26

nights I had ever experienced while traveling. He

29:29

smiled and nodded. He

29:31

had a warm smile and blue

29:34

eyes that held a mixture of

29:36

authority, friendliness and melancholy. If

29:39

you are ever in Washington, D.C., please

29:42

call on me. He

29:44

handed me his business card. I

29:46

reciprocated and watched him as he left the

29:48

car. When I

29:50

returned to my seat, I gathered my writing utensils

29:53

and looked at his card. It

29:55

read Robert T. Lincoln,

29:58

President of the Pullman Company. me,

30:00

Chicago, Illinois, the

30:04

only living son of Abraham

30:06

Lincoln. Instead of

30:08

retiring, I immediately pulled out my

30:10

notes and made sure I had every

30:12

detail of his story correct and exactly

30:14

as Mr. Lincoln had told it to

30:16

me. It

30:23

may be unsurprising to learn that

30:25

after that night I became fascinated

30:28

by Abraham Lincoln's life. I

30:30

even acquired a rather respectable library of

30:32

histories and memories of that great man.

30:35

I was especially curious to learn about his

30:37

early years in New Salem when he worked

30:39

as a surveyor, but I never

30:41

read anything even remotely connected to the story

30:43

his son had told me or to the

30:45

area in which it occurred. While

30:48

some people who knew Lincoln told of scars

30:50

on his thumb, from an

30:52

axe while splitting rails and above

30:54

his eye, attacked by escaped slaves

30:57

while flat-boating in New Orleans, nobody

30:59

mentioned anything about one on the back of his

31:01

head. I studied what I

31:04

could about Lincoln's supposed dreams and

31:06

visions of his death and his

31:08

and his wife's apparent belief in

31:10

spiritualism and their holding of séances

31:12

in the White House, but

31:14

much of it seemed rather imagined

31:16

by people trying desperately to write

31:18

themselves into the Lincoln legend. I

31:22

think Lincoln himself never wrote or

31:24

spoke really about his father's life,

31:26

and there was no record that he ever

31:29

told another person the story he told me.

31:32

Once, however, while researching the events

31:34

of President Lincoln's assassination in the

31:37

Library of Congress, I found two

31:39

official reports that raised my arm

31:41

hair and flushed me with chills

31:44

because it seemed to verify Robert

31:46

Lincoln's ghost story in

31:48

a collection of medical documents regarding

31:51

the President's autopsy, the Lincoln's personal

31:53

physician stated of the President's wound.

31:56

On the occipital portion of the head, we noticed that

31:58

there was a great pyrimidema about

32:00

the wound and some extravasation

32:03

of text crossed out, blood

32:06

around the text is crossed out,

32:09

the wound itself seemed a clean cut

32:11

gaping slit through the scalp, right in

32:13

the middle of an existing excretance, linear

32:15

in shape, with the ends only now

32:17

visible as the bullet had gone through

32:19

the middle. A separate

32:22

report, written by an assistant to the

32:24

Surgeon General at the time, described Lincoln

32:26

in this way. The

32:28

external appearance of the face of the

32:30

President presented a deep black stain

32:32

around his right eye. The fatal

32:34

wound was on the left side

32:36

of the head, behind and in

32:38

line width and three inches from

32:40

the ear. The bullet entry was

32:43

exactly in the middle of a

32:45

linear secretization of long-standing existence, both

32:47

ends of white tissue still visible

32:49

on either side of the bullet

32:51

entry wound. I

32:53

also discovered, on a small scrap of paper

32:55

that was loose at the bottom of the

32:57

folder, a short note written in pencil that

32:59

had been subsequently crossed out. The

33:02

scrap was not dated and did not match

33:04

the handwriting of any other document. The

33:06

text was extremely faded, but I could

33:09

still decipher the words. While

33:11

excavating the wound we found, in

33:14

addition to multiple bone fragments, pieces

33:16

and shards of black bone with

33:18

a shiny surface made apparently of

33:21

keratin. We cannot account

33:23

for the fragment's origin. They appear as

33:25

pieces of a bird's beak, but

33:28

obviously that is impossible. They must

33:30

be some sort of detritus that

33:32

had accumulated within the assassin's gun

33:34

barrel. It's

34:11

gotta be tough being a 911 operator. You

34:14

have to deal with people going through the worst

34:16

moments of their life. Just

34:19

like Estella, an emergency dispatcher

34:21

in this tale, shared with us

34:23

by author Zach Melson, Estella

34:26

handles a call from a pizza delivery

34:28

person who is sure he's being stalked

34:30

by a killer. He's

34:32

very, very sure of it. Performing

34:36

this tale are Danielle McCray,

34:39

Matthew Bradford, Dan Zappula, Atticus

34:42

Jackson and Mike DelGaudio.

34:45

So let's hope she can help out the

34:47

man who is doing all he can to

34:49

make the last delivery. 911,

35:07

what's your emergency? I need the

35:09

police right now. Sir, I'm

35:11

sorry, but I'm gonna need you to speak up a

35:13

little bit. I can't understand you.

35:18

I need the police right now, huh? I

35:20

was doing the last delivery of the night for the

35:22

pizza place I worked for, but I think it's a trap

35:24

or something. Okay, sir. What

35:27

address are you delivering to? 5127

35:30

Crestview. I'm

35:33

sorry, sir. I'm gonna need you to repeat that.

35:36

There was some static interfering. 5127

35:39

Crestview Road. I'm

35:43

sending police immediately. What's

35:46

your name, sir? Todd. Todd.

35:49

My name is Todd. I'm 20 years old. I work

35:51

for Mario and Vinny's Pizza Corner. This

35:53

was supposed to be the last delivery. I'm supposed to go

35:55

home after this. I shouldn't be here. Okay,

35:59

Todd. I'm Estella. We're

36:01

going to get an officer to you as soon as possible.

36:04

Is there any medical emergency? Not

36:07

yet. What do you mean,

36:09

not yet, Todd? I,

36:12

uh, think he's trying to kill me. Are

36:15

you in a safe location? No,

36:18

no, I-I had to break into the neighbor's house to call

36:20

the police. You know I'm here.

36:22

I-I-I-I can't- How could you fuck that? Sir,

36:26

I can't understand everything you're saying. Police

36:28

are on their way, but I need you to find

36:30

a safe place to hide. Look

36:32

for a bedroom door you can lock or barricade

36:34

to keep the intruder out. I

36:37

can't- Fuck! I'm not cordless. It's

36:40

okay to leave a phone if you have to,

36:42

Todd. Is anyone home in the

36:44

house you entered? No, I don't

36:46

think so. I tried knocking and knocking,

36:48

but no one answered. The lights were on, but no

36:50

one answered the door. They locked the door

36:52

and went- I had to break the phone window. Their

36:55

television is on, but they aren't here. Okay,

36:57

sir. Don't worry. Police

37:00

are on their way. Is this the address

37:02

you provided the house you're currently in, or the

37:04

house you were delivering to? The

37:07

house I was supposed to deliver to. I don't

37:09

know what the address is for this house. It's the neighbor's

37:11

house. They're on the road. I

37:14

have to go away without chasing me. Is

37:16

there anything you can describe to help the

37:18

officers find your location? Sure,

37:21

sure. The house I'm in is bright yellow. It's

37:23

two stories. They've got a big front window. You

37:25

can see their television from the outside. Television

37:28

has knobs and antennas. I think

37:30

an older couple lives here. They

37:33

have bright yellow wallpaper that matches the outside.

37:36

They have a bright blue shot in the driveway. I

37:38

thought they'd be home, but I didn't see them. Okay,

37:42

thank you, Todd. Can you describe

37:44

the man chasing you? Well,

37:47

uh, he's tall, like really tall, starting

37:49

to bald, I think. He has an

37:51

easy look in his eyes. I've never seen

37:53

anything like it. I'm

37:56

so scared. I shouldn't be. I'm supposed to be home

37:58

right now. Please help me, man. I

38:00

just want to go home. Please save me Sir

38:03

police are on their way. Everything

38:06

will be alright. They're almost there

38:08

is The intruder in

38:10

the house with you right now I

38:14

just heard more glass breaking down You

38:17

just turn off the television I'm

38:20

scared Police will be there

38:22

in a few minutes. I

38:24

need you to find somewhere safe to hide

38:26

right now I'm

38:30

too scared to leave the phone Can

38:34

you find a bedroom with a phone that you can

38:36

lock yourself in? Okay,

38:42

I'll stay on the line don't worry

39:03

Are you there Todd? Sir

39:07

have you found another phone yet?

39:11

Are you there? Yes,

39:16

I can hear you now are you in

39:18

a safe room? I'm

39:32

Going to need you to stay quiet and

39:34

hide. I'll stay on the

39:36

phone. You don't need to say anything Tap

39:40

the phone once for no and twice

39:42

for yes, okay Okay,

39:46

great, can you still hear me? Perfect

39:51

I'm going to ask some questions. I'll

39:54

be quiet so the intruder can't

39:56

hear me and I still know

39:58

everything is okay Are you upstairs.

40:02

Okay, are you in a

40:04

locked room? Are

40:07

the lights on? Can

40:10

you still hear him coming up the stairs? Okay,

40:16

don't panic. You're doing

40:18

good, Todd. The

40:20

police are almost there. One

40:22

car will go to the original address you gave us

40:24

and one will go to the house you're in. Is

40:29

there anything you can barricade the door with?

40:35

Move it as quietly as you can

40:37

in front of the door. Perfect.

40:49

Is that done? Okay,

40:53

I need you to find something else

40:55

to hide behind if you can. We'll

40:58

stain on the phone. What

41:01

the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck? Sir,

41:04

what happened? Are you hurt? There's

41:08

two fucking bodies on the bed. There's

41:11

a pool of blood. I think they're

41:13

murdered in their sleep. What the fuck? What

41:15

the fuck? I want to go home.

41:17

I want to clock out and go home. My parents. What

41:20

the fuck? Todd, the

41:22

officer just pulled up. He doesn't

41:24

see the car you mentioned, but he thinks this

41:26

is the correct house. Stay

41:29

behind the barricade until you hear

41:31

the police knock on the bedroom door. We

41:34

will check on the couple when we get there. Try

41:36

to stay away from them if you can. Do

41:40

not touch them. I hear

41:43

someone coming toward the door. Is that the

41:45

police? No,

41:47

the officer has not entered the house yet.

41:51

Get to the safest area in the room. Put

41:53

down the phone if you have to. She's

42:01

been standing on the door. We're rattling

42:03

in here. She's trying to get in.

42:06

I'm gonna go to the closet. Shit!

42:08

He just shot the lock. I

42:10

don't hear the police. Are they here yet? The officers just

42:12

entered the house, Todd. He's

42:15

downstairs, making his way up to you. Can

42:18

you hear him? I

42:20

didn't hear anyone else come in. Are you

42:22

sure they're in the right house? They need to

42:24

hurry. It's almost day. Oh, fuck.

42:27

Fuck. He's in the door. I'm not

42:30

sure how much time I have left. Please hurry. Tell

42:32

the police to hurry. Please. Please save me. The

42:35

officer is coming up the stairs now, sir. Fuck

42:39

shit. Fuck. Fuck shit. He's just... Todd?

42:46

Are you there? Hello? Dispatch,

42:50

this is Officer Ramirez. I'm at 5127

42:52

Crestview Road. Are

42:55

you sure this is the right location? This

42:58

place has been abandoned for at least 20 years

43:00

by the look of it. The weeds

43:02

are grown up to the gutters of the house, and

43:04

all the windows are boarded up. Some of the boards

43:06

are even starting to decay. The

43:10

same way it's 5237 Crestview. The

43:14

house passes the description of calling game,

43:16

though. The label is signing it. It's a

43:18

28-foot-paint. All

43:21

the papers are in the back. What's

43:24

the situation? Something about

43:26

this place is familiar, though. You

43:30

can't quite place it. Deputy

43:33

Gauntlet, are you sure the house is empty?

43:36

I was just on a call with a young man

43:38

who was inside that house. I

43:40

sent an ambulance to your location. Be

43:42

on the lookout for an armed assailant

43:44

and potentially three injured persons.

43:48

One young male and two older. Husband

43:50

and wife, potentially deceased.

43:55

Copy, dispatch. Officer

43:57

Ramirez, make your way to my location.

44:03

As soon as Deputy Gauntlet informed me the

44:05

house was empty, I signaled

44:08

on my computer to my boss

44:10

Glen for immediate assistance. I

44:12

had only been working as a dispatcher for

44:14

about a month and this was way past

44:17

my experience. What's

44:19

going on Estella? Glen

44:21

walked up from behind, startling me a

44:23

bit. We have a

44:25

code 419 but things aren't adding up

44:27

sir. Deputy Gauntlet and

44:30

Officer Ramirez reported both locations

44:32

empty. I was just

44:34

on a call with the potential victim

44:36

and what he described matched Deputy Gauntlet's

44:39

description. Except, both officers

44:41

said the houses looked like they had been

44:43

abandoned for decades with no signs of anything,

44:46

even being in the homes for years. Not

44:49

so much as a squatter or even a

44:51

wild animal. But

44:54

the house wasn't abandoned. But

44:56

we're still living there when the caller broke in.

44:59

He didn't mention anything about it being

45:02

abandoned when he described the house. Where

45:05

is the caller now? I think

45:07

he was shot sir. I could

45:09

hear gunshots and screams coming from the call

45:11

as soon as Deputy Gauntlet came up the

45:13

stairs. But he reported the

45:15

house being abandoned and totally empty.

45:19

They're clearing the house now. An ambulance

45:21

is en route. Dispatch,

45:24

Officer Ramirez and I have swept the

45:26

entire house. It's empty. No

45:29

sign of anyone anywhere. No sign of anyone anywhere. No

45:31

sign of anyone anywhere. No sign of anyone anywhere. Last,

45:33

first, and second, it is still a little blood. It's

45:37

nothing. What is

45:39

the address? I

45:41

could hear the rising concern beginning to

45:43

fill Glen's voice as if the case

45:45

had the same eerie hints of

45:47

familiarity that Deputy Gauntlet

45:49

mentioned. The call

45:52

was placed from a landline in 5327 Crestview

45:54

Road, almost instantly as the words left

45:59

my mouth. All

46:01

color drained from Glenn's face.

46:05

Are you okay? He

46:07

didn't respond, instead resting his

46:10

hand on the corner of my desk

46:12

as he swayed back and forth. He

46:15

ran his other hand through

46:17

his hair, took a deep breath,

46:19

then sighed extensively. Sir,

46:27

is everything alright? Do you need me to

46:29

get you some water? He

46:32

was beginning to genuinely make me concerned.

46:35

He looked as if he would pass out at any

46:37

moment. After another

46:39

long moment of silence, he

46:41

sighed again. Tears began to

46:44

fill his eyes. Did

46:49

you say 5237 Crestview Road? Yes.

46:54

Why? I

46:56

started to feel dread filling

46:58

my body. That

47:01

was the very first call I took working

47:03

here as a dispatcher. It

47:05

was such a gruesome scene according to the

47:07

details I was given from Deputy Gauntlet. At

47:10

the time just Officer Gauntlet. He

47:12

was the first one on scene. By the

47:14

time he got there, there were three casualties.

47:17

No survivors and no

47:19

perpetrator to be found. He

47:21

searched and searched for any evidence. Fingerprints, boot

47:23

prints, bullet casings. There

47:25

was absolutely nothing to be found

47:29

other than evidence that tied Todd to the killings.

47:32

According to forensics, there was no

47:34

fourth person. Just that boy and

47:36

the old couple. The

47:38

official statement was that a murder-suicide occurred

47:40

after a robbery gone wrong. I

47:43

knew that wasn't the case because I was on

47:45

the call with Todd when it all happened. It

47:48

was 1995 and back then the police calls

47:50

weren't recorded and used as evidence like they

47:52

are now. I fought

47:54

and fought to try to protect Todd's name. He was

47:56

just a kid trying to pay for his way through

47:59

school. Everybody was convinced he was

48:01

trying to rob an old couple when everything went

48:03

wrong. I was brand new,

48:05

so no one would take my word for what happened.

48:08

The real killer was never caught, and

48:11

Todd's family never found out what truly went

48:13

down that night. I almost

48:15

quit right then and there. My

48:17

very first call, and everything that could

48:20

have gone wrong, it... it

48:23

haunted me since then. Every few

48:25

months, my dreams bring me back to that night.

48:28

I remember seeing that call. Just

48:31

then, the phone began to

48:33

ring again. This

48:35

shouldn't have been possible. I

48:38

was still assigned to the call with Todd.

48:41

He never ended the call, and I didn't

48:44

finish my assignment, anyone. I

48:46

glanced at Glenn, and

48:48

he gave me a slow, cautious

48:51

note. Knowing this

48:53

shouldn't be possible either, but

48:55

letting you know to answer it anyway. I

48:58

ignored everything in you telling me not

49:00

to answer the call, and picked it

49:02

up anyway. Why

49:05

didn't you save me? Why

49:08

didn't you save me? Why

49:10

didn't you save me? Todd's

49:12

voice began to warp as he repeated

49:15

those five words, sounding

49:17

less and less human, with

49:20

each repetition. Why

49:22

didn't you save me? Why

49:24

didn't you save me? Why didn't

49:26

you save me? I

49:29

threw my headset off as quickly as I

49:31

could, slamming it onto my desk. His

49:34

voice... no. Its

49:37

voice was still coming through

49:39

the headset, repeating the

49:42

same phrase over and

49:44

over. It no longer

49:46

sounded human at all. The guttural

49:49

scream sounded as if there were

49:51

three voices twisted together in the

49:53

most haunting way possible.

49:56

It sounded deep static as the

49:58

bass line of the sound. Watch

50:01

it shine! Suddenly,

50:09

everything fell silent.

50:12

The voice coming from my headset

50:14

ended abruptly and the murmurs of

50:16

my coworkers on calls with other

50:18

people abandoned the air, leaving

50:21

everything still. I

50:25

stood up only to see the room

50:27

entirely empty, as soon as

50:29

I realized there was no one else in the

50:31

room with me, including

50:33

Glenn, who was now nowhere

50:35

to be seen. All

50:38

of the light went out in

50:40

an explosion of fluorescent light and

50:42

glass. All the

50:44

monitors where my coworkers should have been

50:47

working went dark, and I was

50:49

left in absolute darkness.

50:52

The only light seeping in from the dim

50:54

glow of the street lights outside. One

50:58

by one, the street

51:00

lights began to pop. First,

51:03

the ones in the distance slowly

51:05

closing the light here on the

51:07

building. The

51:10

last light exploded, plunging me into

51:12

total darkness. Just

51:14

as I reached by my cell phone, every

51:17

headset in the office boomed with

51:19

the sound of an incoming call. The

51:24

noise was deafening. The

51:26

only stillness my ears got was

51:29

the short pause between the ringing

51:31

of fifteen calls acting

51:33

simultaneously. I

51:35

answered the call, dreading the decision,

51:38

but wishing desperately to see it again.

51:44

Why would you say? Why

51:46

would you say? The

51:49

demonic voice was shouting from every computer

51:51

in the room. Why would you say? There

51:53

was no trace of humanity left in the voice

51:55

that was once thought. Again, just

51:58

a second. Everything

52:01

fell silent. And

52:05

then a familiar voice came through.

52:10

Dispatch, this

52:13

is Deputy Gauntlet. Something

52:17

about the monotonous tone of his voice,

52:20

lacking any emotion at all, deeply

52:22

disturbed me. Deputy

52:24

Gauntlet, do you copy? He

52:27

forced the question out as my mouth turned to

52:29

cotton. Dispatch,

52:33

this is not the Gauntlet.

52:37

His voice was shadowed by

52:39

something much deeper and

52:42

much more unnatural this time. Deputy,

52:45

do you copy? Why

52:52

did you save me? Why

52:57

didn't you save me?

52:59

Still keeping the complete lack of

53:01

emotion and fluctuation in his voice,

53:04

Deputy Gauntlet began to repeat

53:06

the same phrase caught him.

53:09

Why didn't you save me? Why

53:12

didn't you save me? Behind

53:17

me, Glenn, who

53:19

suddenly reappeared, joined the chance

53:21

with Deputy Gauntlet. The

53:24

same demonic echo followed Glenn's

53:26

voice. I whipped

53:29

around, startled. Glenn was

53:31

standing less than a foot behind me

53:33

with a lifeless stare. His

53:35

eyes had glossed over with a black mirth,

53:38

and his skin was frosted over by a

53:40

pale white, the purple

53:42

creeping all over his body. He

53:46

was the perfect, terrifying image

53:48

of how I imagined those

53:50

who would go on ridiculous not-enclining adventures,

53:52

how they must look after they realize

53:55

they'd bit off more than they can

53:57

chew. The

54:00

only. True in

54:02

his hands of the realization of the

54:04

final moments. Why?

54:10

Why? Why?

54:17

Glenn's has had began to fall.

54:19

Back as as he lost all

54:21

consumer society. Says continues

54:24

out as a scathing

54:26

wide mouth or to

54:28

be nuisances that sounds.

54:31

I ask how.

54:38

The south and stunned my ears leaving

54:40

them ring and as if I was

54:42

standing only see away from. An

54:44

explosive. Over

54:47

Harper. In my ears and. My

54:51

name's sitting in my scalp.

54:53

Sister signed up for grabs.

54:56

His body began some mother.

54:59

Insists off the ground with

55:01

a flock surrounding. It

55:05

out and was had

55:08

grown half of his

55:10

driver covering higher face

55:12

successes cause I. Love.

55:18

Long. Hard.

55:21

It. Is

55:24

has. Not sounds neat. Murray

55:26

gave. Us

55:28

believe in him unless slanted

55:31

once more. After.

55:38

A slow. Somebody

55:40

got that and Glenn both his rescue. Simultaneously

55:42

see are filling their voices

55:45

that was finally their own

55:47

against. A list

55:49

of desperation cells. Cleanses

55:51

leading. To stop

55:54

what ever he comes as. A

55:57

sensor renounced his a has since he

55:59

says. Humans have

56:01

twisted in a second. It

56:36

can be bad enough to lose

56:38

some when you're in love with

56:40

that kind of. Greece isn't easy

56:42

to process. Just ask John Sullen.

56:44

You see her boyfriend is dead,

56:46

but that isn't the worst fears

56:49

as will learn in this to

56:51

shared with us by author John

56:53

Baird Fi. Most everyone seems to

56:55

think Jostle is responsible for her

56:57

boyfriends das, and that's not an

56:59

easy thing to let go of.

57:03

Performing this town are Nicole.

57:05

Goodnight Reagan Tacker Pile

57:07

Acres, Sarah Thomas and

57:09

Jesse Cornet. So let's

57:11

try to understand what

57:13

jostling means when she

57:15

tells us I killed

57:17

my boyfriend twice. Only.

57:32

Saw it was supposed. To rain a funerals

57:34

like unbalanced beneath gray. Skies mourners

57:36

gathered around the hungry darkness. Of

57:39

the throws. The weather was

57:41

perfect on the day without my billie

57:43

Send Andrew as to the people they're

57:45

probably wish that they were burying me

57:47

and spent the whole town. blamed me

57:49

for andrews dance and ah I see

57:51

stairs me the sunny may day feel

57:53

cold as that most of the service

57:55

staring at the flowers that me see

57:57

applying my son a conversation with him

57:59

over and over and my mind. We

58:02

Are You A shattered into the phone

58:04

that night. I thought

58:06

you were going to come over after the

58:08

keg. Andrew mumbled over the laughter and screams

58:10

around him. Well, I

58:13

was, but he was thrown

58:15

this afterparty eve. I. Assumed

58:18

for the night as long. As

58:21

you're when he lies twenty and eating a

58:23

fifteen year old. Much so. Would say the

58:26

law says he knows this producer is

58:28

going to be of the parties and

58:30

he says andrew. Rambled on while I

58:32

gritted my teeth and pulled my him,

58:34

how could he be so naive the

58:36

background noises like a jackhammer in my?

58:40

And. Applied as patiently as I could you.

58:42

I probably need that up to see

58:44

you guys. A good was stupid party is

58:47

bad news and he promised me that he

58:49

wouldn't send run that stuff. Anymore

58:51

The. More excuses Andrew made the

58:53

more I wanted to reach to the sound

58:55

and strangled. I been so excited to see

58:58

him says give him the late night behind

59:00

the said kiss that had been our virtual

59:02

ever since we started dating junior year and

59:04

now he was blowing last and breaking the

59:07

promised he'd made me about the who's You

59:09

know it pisses me off the most about

59:11

you and suddenly screen. He

59:13

to be so much better than the vessels

59:16

that you keep holding them drag you down

59:18

a through. The phone so hard I was

59:20

afraid I'd broken. Just Before I did though, I

59:22

thought I heard andrew. Yeah, something over the roar

59:24

of the party. It sounded

59:26

almost like and coming over. And

59:29

he was Andrews just ten minutes away

59:31

from my house in the Stags. As

59:33

to his windshield? None of

59:35

the safety features on the second hand pick up

59:37

Andrews uncle had bought him worked that even if

59:39

they had. It. Wouldn't have made any

59:42

difference. My. Boyfriend died with

59:44

thirteen inches of buck antler puncturing his

59:46

less long. He. Suffocated

59:48

slowly, Into the driver's

59:50

seat. Each breath weaker and

59:52

were bloody than the one before Standard hadn't

59:54

been speeding to see me because of our

59:56

site. if only i told

59:58

him just to stay at stupid party.

1:00:01

I'm sure the others were thinking the same thing. After

1:00:04

Eli told the whole town about our argument, Andrew's family

1:00:06

told me to my face that they didn't want me

1:00:08

at the funeral. But I went

1:00:11

anyway, and I placed a bouquet

1:00:13

of red carnations on the tombstone. The

1:00:15

same type of flowers that Andrew had bought me when he asked me

1:00:17

to prom. Maybe I needed

1:00:19

to say goodbye to Andrew. Or

1:00:22

maybe I just needed to see six feet of dirt piled

1:00:24

on top of the whole awful mess, even

1:00:26

though I knew that the nightmare was just beginning. Andrew's

1:00:29

family had lived here for generations while my parents

1:00:31

and I were newcomers. As

1:00:33

far as the public opinion was concerned, I

1:00:36

was the outsider who'd murdered a hometown boy

1:00:38

by being a frigid, controlling bitch. Small

1:00:41

southern towns have long memories, and

1:00:43

I knew that sooner or later, they'd come for me. I

1:00:46

just didn't know it would begin that very same night. It

1:00:51

was around midnight when the phone rang. Remember

1:00:54

me? Whoever they were, they were

1:00:56

trying to make themselves sound like Andrew. I wanted

1:00:59

to scream at them that I didn't need their

1:01:01

blame. I blamed myself enough already. But

1:01:03

that would just be adding fuel to the fire. I

1:01:06

hung up. Ten minutes later, the

1:01:08

phone rang again. Hey, babe.

1:01:11

It's me. It sounded like

1:01:13

another bad impression of Andrew, but it was hard

1:01:15

to make out anything over so much background noise.

1:01:19

I couldn't tell if I was hearing howling wind,

1:01:21

laughter, screams, or all of them at once. I

1:01:24

couldn't hold back anymore. Listen,

1:01:26

you sick fuck— I'm behind the shed

1:01:28

like usual. I can't wait

1:01:30

to see you. The blood

1:01:32

rang cold in my veins. Andrew and

1:01:34

I were the only people who knew about our secret meeting

1:01:36

spot. I peered out the blinds

1:01:39

at my parents' backyard shed. It

1:01:41

used to be a happy reminder of our

1:01:43

relationship, but now, it felt unfamiliar and ominous

1:01:45

in the twilight. Who

1:01:47

or what may be waiting behind it? I

1:01:50

ended the conversation, and when the phone rang for a third

1:01:53

time, I didn't

1:01:55

answer. The next morning,

1:01:57

the eerie phone call felt like a bad dream.

1:02:00

I staggered downstairs for breakfast, but the floor seemed to

1:02:02

drop out from beneath my feet when I saw what

1:02:04

was on the kitchen table. What's

1:02:07

that? I tried

1:02:09

to keep my breathing under control. My

1:02:11

father glanced up from over his newspaper. They

1:02:14

were on the front porch this morning. I think

1:02:16

it's a nice gesture, don't you? The

1:02:18

red carnations were all wilted, but the bouquet

1:02:20

was unmistakable. They were the

1:02:23

same flowers that I'd left on Andrew's tombstone. I

1:02:25

even thought I could see flecks of grave dirt on the stems.

1:02:29

I ran to the restroom and vomited. Just

1:02:31

how far were these people willing to go? At

1:02:36

school, I found my locker glued shit. The word

1:02:38

killer had been carved into it with a key. Judging

1:02:41

by the raking brown clumps around the locker vent, someone

1:02:43

had grabbed shit inside as well. I

1:02:46

decided I could do without my books that day. As

1:02:48

it turned out, it didn't matter. No

1:02:50

one, not even the teachers, dared to look me in the

1:02:53

eye. People who I thought

1:02:55

were friends wouldn't even speak to me. It was like being

1:02:57

a ghost. By lunchtime,

1:02:59

the silences started taking its toll. I

1:03:02

went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face, imagining what my

1:03:04

grandmother would have said to me if she were alive. You are strong.

1:03:07

You'll get through it. This too shall pass. I

1:03:10

was back

1:03:12

in the cafeteria when I realized that I had forgotten

1:03:14

my glasses. I didn't have to return

1:03:17

to the bathroom to find them. They

1:03:19

were laying in the hallway, stomped to pieces. Justin.

1:03:24

The school secretary said my name like it was something disgusting

1:03:26

she wanted to spit out of her mouth as soon

1:03:28

as possible. Call for you. The

1:03:31

last bell had already rung. Who would be calling me

1:03:33

now? I pressed the office

1:03:35

phone against my ear. There it

1:03:37

was again. That awful sound

1:03:40

like roaring wind laughter and screams. Hey

1:03:43

babe, I don't

1:03:45

know why you're not answering my calls, but I

1:03:48

need to see you. I slammed

1:03:50

down the receiver cutting off that voice I knew

1:03:52

so well. It wasn't

1:03:54

Andrew. It couldn't be. And

1:03:57

whoever was stalking me had mastered his voice

1:03:59

in mannerisms perfectly. And as

1:04:01

I found out that afternoon, it wasn't going to

1:04:03

end with phone calls. Without

1:04:07

my glasses, anything more than 20 feet away was just

1:04:09

a blurry mess. But I

1:04:11

didn't need good eyesight to know that I was being followed.

1:04:14

It was in the goosebumps on my arms, that

1:04:16

tingling feeling on the back of my neck. And

1:04:19

while I couldn't make out the features on the figure walking

1:04:21

behind me on the sidewalk, I recognized

1:04:23

their clothes. The red

1:04:26

leather jacket, Misfits t-shirt and jeans that Andrew had

1:04:28

been wearing the night of the crash. As

1:04:31

my pursuer closed in, I realized why I couldn't see

1:04:33

their face. It was

1:04:35

wrapped in gauze as though something horrible was hidden

1:04:37

beneath. I looked around. The

1:04:40

suburban half-mile between school and home was deserted at

1:04:43

3.30 in the afternoon. No

1:04:45

cars passed. All the windows were

1:04:48

dark. I increased my

1:04:50

pace. My pursuer kept up. I

1:04:52

started to run. They matched my speed. A

1:04:55

shriek escaped my lips as I sprinted, half

1:04:57

looking over my shoulder at those dead man's

1:04:59

clothes at that awful bandaged face. I

1:05:02

didn't turn around until I was at my front door. And

1:05:05

when I did, whoever or whatever had been

1:05:07

following me was gone. Laying

1:05:11

in bed that night, I wondered if maybe I'd played

1:05:13

right into their hands. Anyone

1:05:15

could have bought those clothes and wore them. Those

1:05:18

eerie God's wrappings might have just been away from my

1:05:20

pursuer to hide their identity. For

1:05:23

all I knew, Eli had been behind those

1:05:25

bandages. Andrew's deadbeat cousin,

1:05:27

Liam, had been recording the whole thing from behind

1:05:29

a sycamore tree. It was

1:05:31

easy to imagine their conversation. Look

1:05:34

at her run. She knows she's guilty.

1:05:37

I was still turning it over in my mind when I

1:05:39

heard pebbles clatter against the glass of my bedroom window. That

1:05:42

was another one of Andrew's signs. Time

1:05:45

to meet behind the shed. Enough

1:05:47

was enough. It was past midnight, but I

1:05:49

still balled my hands into fists and stormed

1:05:51

downstairs to confront whatever was in my backyard.

1:05:54

I should have told my parents. I

1:05:57

should have told the police, even though

1:05:59

Andrew's on the ground. Todd was the sheriff's

1:06:01

deputy. I never should have

1:06:03

gone out into that moonless night alone. There

1:06:06

was no movement in our yard apart from the rustling

1:06:08

of trees. Where had they gone?

1:06:11

Of course, behind the shed. By

1:06:14

the time I rounded the corner, fear had replaced my

1:06:17

anger, but it was too late. A

1:06:20

hand clamped over my mouth, another pinned my arms

1:06:22

to my sides. Don't scream.

1:06:25

It was the voice from the phone. With

1:06:27

my jaw clamped shut, I couldn't even bite at the

1:06:29

fingers crushing my face. Even on

1:06:31

that warm night, they were cold and reeked of

1:06:34

damp, musty earth. I'd always

1:06:36

told myself that if something like this happened to me, I'd fight

1:06:38

back. I wouldn't let myself

1:06:40

be taken to a second location, but

1:06:43

the speed that it all happened left me paralyzed.

1:06:46

It felt like I was watching someone else's feet be dragged

1:06:48

into the woods. Like the

1:06:50

fast disappearing house lights beyond the trees had nothing

1:06:52

to do with me. But

1:06:55

once they were out of sight, I had no idea where

1:06:57

I was. A long

1:06:59

low moan that seemed to rattle the trees reverberated

1:07:01

through the woods. My

1:07:03

kidnapper clamped down harder on my jaw, trapping the

1:07:06

shriek that was rising in my throat. Whatever

1:07:09

made that noise had to be huge, close,

1:07:12

and desperately hungry. I dug

1:07:14

my fingers into the dirt, writhing to

1:07:16

escape my captor's grasp, and

1:07:19

realized that the ground beneath my feet was nothing like

1:07:21

the forest I remembered. Instead

1:07:23

of dry, crumbly clay scattered with leaves,

1:07:26

it was black, waterlogged, and

1:07:29

smelled like my captor. Strands

1:07:31

of mist drifted between the gnarled trees.

1:07:34

Where the hell was I? My

1:07:36

captor mumbled in my ear. Come

1:07:38

back with me. The gauze

1:07:40

covering his face brushed against my skin with every

1:07:43

word he spoke. I

1:07:45

don't want to be alone here. I hate

1:07:47

this place. I couldn't say

1:07:50

if it was primal terror, slick mud, or pure

1:07:52

dumb luck that allowed me to slip through my

1:07:54

captor's grasp. But when I did, my

1:07:56

arm brushed against something sharp and hard stuck in

1:07:58

their chest. I looked down.

1:08:01

It was a snap-off deer antler. Andrew?

1:08:05

My captor touched his own face beneath the gauze,

1:08:08

as though not even he could believe it was really true.

1:08:11

Now that my vision had adjusted to the dark,

1:08:13

I could see those gray-green eyes I knew so

1:08:15

well. Those tufts of

1:08:17

mousy brown hair. Even

1:08:19

those slouched shoulders that I was always telling him to

1:08:22

straighten out. I backed away,

1:08:24

tripping over logs and deep puddles of muck fleeing

1:08:26

from the impossible thing in front of me. Wait!

1:08:30

The antler and Andrew's chest crunched sickeningly as

1:08:32

he grabbed for me. I

1:08:35

tried to reach you so many times. How

1:08:37

long has it been? Years? Months?

1:08:40

There's no time here. There's no

1:08:42

anything here. He staggered toward

1:08:44

me through the gray mist. You

1:08:47

can't leave me like this! The

1:08:49

horrible thing in the trees let out another

1:08:51

blood-curdling moan. It was closer now.

1:08:53

A lot closer. As

1:08:56

Andrew looked around in terror, the gauze fell away and I

1:08:58

saw for the first time what the crash had done to

1:09:00

his face. I... I'm

1:09:03

sorry. My eyes scanned the

1:09:05

trees for the source of that awful sound. But

1:09:09

I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be

1:09:11

back with my family because I'm not... I'm

1:09:13

not... Don't say it. Flex

1:09:15

of blood splattered through his shattered mouth. To

1:09:18

our right, a flock of dark-winged creatures flew squawking

1:09:20

into the cold air. We

1:09:23

were gonna graduate together. I was

1:09:25

gonna have a band. A whole life.

1:09:29

And now all I have is... is... Andrew

1:09:32

gestured to the gloomy forest around us. The

1:09:35

gray mist was getting thicker by the minute. I

1:09:38

thought when I died, it would

1:09:40

be heaven, hell, or nothing. I

1:09:43

never imagined anything like this. The

1:09:46

things I've seen here. Please

1:09:48

stay with me, Joshson. I'm

1:09:51

scared. And I'm so... so

1:09:54

cold. Please stay with

1:09:56

me. Please. Mountain.

1:10:00

guilt, not fear that kept me frozen in

1:10:02

place. Andrew ran at me,

1:10:04

his arms outstretched, although whether he was trying to

1:10:07

hug me or attack me, I never found out.

1:10:09

When I pushed him away, the mist swallowed him

1:10:11

up. Although I couldn't say for

1:10:13

sure. I'd swear I saw a gigantic,

1:10:15

oily furred thing moving through the fog, and

1:10:18

a bony hand the size of a small car wrapping

1:10:20

around Andrew's body. His shriek

1:10:23

was cut short, but the

1:10:25

moan that followed nearly deafened me. I

1:10:27

scrambled away, hardly aware of what I was doing with

1:10:29

no idea where to run to. I remember

1:10:32

something slimy slithering over my shoe, and

1:10:34

rotting holes that opened beneath my feet,

1:10:37

trying to suck me in while I clawed at the

1:10:39

slick black mud. And then suddenly

1:10:41

I was through. I even

1:10:43

recognized where I was, the power lines

1:10:46

that cut through the woods where Andrew and I had smoked

1:10:48

our first cigarette years ago. When

1:10:50

I turned around, the trees behind me were completely

1:10:52

normal. No tendrils of mist, no

1:10:54

pits of muck, no monstrous shapes in

1:10:56

the dark. I wondered if

1:10:58

the woods had ever really changed at all, or

1:11:01

if Andrew had just brought some of the afterlife with him

1:11:03

when he'd come looking for me. Later,

1:11:06

I wondered if I'd dreamed at all. I

1:11:08

wondered if I'd had some kind of breakdown. As

1:11:11

much as I came to doubt my memories of that night, the

1:11:14

experience never left me. It might

1:11:16

even be what fueled my more morbid interests and led me

1:11:18

to work in end of life care. A few

1:11:21

days ago, I had the strange experience

1:11:23

of being Eli's bedside nurse at his

1:11:25

passing. He'd contracted a nightmarish disease from a

1:11:28

dirty needle. And by the end, there

1:11:30

wasn't much left of him. Just

1:11:32

yellowed skin stretched too tightly over his

1:11:35

nearly visible skeleton. Even

1:11:37

so, his foul smell and sores didn't disgust

1:11:39

me. I wasn't angry

1:11:41

or bitter about the past. I

1:11:44

just listened patiently to his

1:11:46

final words. No,

1:11:49

Andy. Come

1:11:52

on, man. I don't

1:11:55

want to go into those woods. I

1:11:58

held his hand. Everyone,

1:12:01

no matter who they are, deserves a

1:12:03

little comfort before they go. Especially

1:12:06

considering what might be waiting on the other

1:12:08

side. We

1:13:00

ask that you gather what's left

1:13:02

of your sanity and depart the

1:13:04

train. Thank you for

1:13:06

traveling with us on the Sleepless

1:13:08

Express. The

1:13:11

No Sleep Podcast is presented by

1:13:13

Creative Reason Media. The

1:13:16

musical score was composed by Brandon

1:13:18

Boone. Our production

1:13:20

team is Phil Michalski, Jeff

1:13:22

Clement, and Jesse Cornett. Our

1:13:26

editorial team is Jessica

1:13:28

McAvoy and Ashley McAnally.

1:13:31

To discover how you can

1:13:33

get even more sleepless horror

1:13:36

stories from us, just visit

1:13:38

sleepless.thenosleeppodcast.com to learn about the

1:13:41

Sleepless Sanctuary. Add

1:13:43

free extended episodes each week and

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lots of bonus content for the

1:13:48

dark hours, all for only one

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low monthly price. On

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behalf of everyone at the No Sleep

1:13:55

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