Two fourteen-year-olds circle an abandoned temple at night and hear a scream that sounds too human to be a prank. Days later, playback from a harmless daylight visit reveals a red muscle car that never existed in the moment. When a flashlight inside the building dies the instant a camera points toward it—and a white car explodes from the lot—reality begins to shiver. Told as a first person confession, this story peels memory from evidence until neither will hold still, and the worst thing in the recording is the part that’s missing.
#nightfallcrypt #urbex #horrornarration #midnightdread #basedonarealstory
#nightfallcrypt #urbex #horrornarration #midnightdread #basedonarealstory
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CreativityTranscript
00:00When I say the car wasn't there, I mean I can put my hand on the notebook where we wrote everything down, the times, the temperature, what we wore in case someone later tried to call us liars.
00:13And the red car does not appear anywhere on those pages.
00:19On the video though, the Challenger sits at the far edge of the wide shot so matter-of-factly you can hear the heat ticking the way engines tick when they've just been shut off.
00:31If I turn the volume up on my phone and hold it to my ear, I can even hear what sounds like someone shifting in the driver's seat and clearing their throat.
00:43But I don't remember the car when I was standing there.
00:48I only remember the smell of cut grass and warm tar, a swallow's high, thin cry, the slack face of the building, and the blank eye of the broken window.
01:01We were stupid. That's the easiest version.
01:06We were 14 and thought we could outthink the parts of the world that were older than our bones.
01:13I can call it urbex now, like it was a hobby, a sport with rules.
01:19But the truth is, we just got off on trespassing into rooms that had been emptied of purpose.
01:25A place that used to mean something, turning into a mouth, that's what gets you.
01:32You feel as if you walk inside and don't choke.
01:36The mouth wants you there.
01:38The temple didn't look like a temple.
01:40The letters had been peeled from the sign, and you could still see their pale ghosts on the metal.
01:46Low concrete building, flat roof that sloped just enough to dump rain in an ugly arc, glass doors frog-eyed with bubble tint.
01:58The lot around it was a pan, hard and shallow, with the storm drains at the far corners, so when it rained, the place looked like it was floating.
02:10The back faced a strip of saplings and then a bigger building beyond, and the sound that first night came from somewhere back there, behind the far wall.
02:22Human, a girl, knife-bright and wet with breath.
02:27You think you know the difference between an absolute scream and a fake one.
02:32You think that until you hear someone choose to spend the last of their air on a sound.
02:38About the grey SUV, it was there the first night, engine off, windows up.
02:45The man inside had blonde hair that the streetlight turned into a shade of straw.
02:51He wore glasses that reflected a small, square image.
02:55He stared at my friend, not at me.
02:59That's the part I keep revisiting like a loose tooth.
03:02He looked at my friend the way you look at someone you think you recognize from a distance.
03:08Only to realize you don't.
03:11He didn't move.
03:12He didn't even pretend to be bored.
03:15We moved around him, pretending we hadn't seen him.
03:19And then the scream came.
03:21We ran.
03:22And later we said the man was either a druggie or someone who'd received bad news and needed a parking lot to sit in,
03:30until he could gather his thoughts.
03:32I didn't film that first night.
03:35I brought the camera and then forgot why I had hands.
03:40Back at my place, my friend fell asleep on the floor with his shoes on and a bottle of water tucked under his neck like a saint with a relic.
03:50And I fell asleep staring at the blinds because the slats were flashing white, dark white like a heartbeat.
03:58I woke up with the word back in my throat, the way you sometimes half-swallow something before you catch it yourself.
04:06And the fear is you won't get it back out.
04:10The next time, I went alone in the afternoon.
04:14That was my deal with myself.
04:17The afternoons were pure.
04:19The afternoons were math class, sunlight, and grocery store hum,
04:24and the squeak of a shopping cart that skips every fifth tile.
04:28Afternoons were not the weather of screams.
04:32I parked two blocks away and walked with the camera looped around my neck.
04:37So if anyone asked, I could say I was just a kid taking pictures for art class.
04:43The sky had that brassy, hard feeling where the sun doesn't look hot.
04:50But everything is sweating.
04:52The temple sat in it like a grey scab.
04:55I filmed the outside.
04:58I filmed the curve of the lot.
05:01The weeds in the seam where the asphalt met the building.
05:04And the front doors with the bubbled tint.
05:07I filmed the long window on the west side where the tint had peeled back in an L-shaped snarl.
05:15And I filmed the broken square pane near the bottom where someone had knocked out a piece
05:21and then leaned the glass shard back against the hole like a tooth.
05:26I filmed the back too, from the fence line.
05:30Trash huddled at the corners.
05:32The vapid face of the utility door.
05:35A light that was on inside even though the place was dead.
05:38I thought, at least in the afternoon, the world is honest with me.
05:45I thought that's so hard I didn't notice I had already made a mistake.
05:50I hadn't looked past my camera to see what wasn't there.
05:55Later that night, I settled into a cozy spot.
05:59Blinds drawn and the room dimmed.
06:02Just like you do when you immerse yourself in a film you want to truly experience.
06:09In the very first minute of the footage,
06:12I spotted a striking red car parked near the far drain,
06:16positioned toward the building as if it were eavesdropping.
06:21Excitement coursed through me as I paused the video,
06:25zooming in eagerly until my thumb ached.
06:28It appeared to be a challenger.
06:31That vibrant shade of red that almost dances on your taste buds,
06:36with a hood stripe faintly visible in the dust.
06:40No one was inside, and everything was still.
06:44Yet, the shadow cast along its rocker panel felt too pronounced,
06:49hinting someone was lingering just out of sight.
06:53Even with the sound turned down,
06:55I could sense the slight metallic sound of the car as if it were catching its breath.
07:01I rewound,
07:03wondering if I had overlooked something in the moment.
07:07But no, the car was already there as I approached and still there on my way back.
07:13Just as I turned to capture a final glimpse of the sign with its peeling letters,
07:19the car vanished.
07:20What a mysterious twist.
07:24I couldn't help but feel intrigued by it all.
07:27Not driven away and gone like I had imagined it to explain some other thing that didn't want explaining.
07:34I didn't want to text my friend because a weird thing is smaller if just one person looks at it.
07:41But I also didn't want to sleep with the blinds flashing questions at me again.
07:45I told myself it was a reflection of a billboard from the street behind me.
07:52I told myself there had been a parade of red cars all my life that I'd never noticed.
08:00Because the world doesn't owe you attention.
08:03We went back together the next day, early afternoon.
08:08The front window had been smashed since my last visit.
08:12The square pane knocked out and the shard that had been leaning there pitched inward,
08:17as if someone had reached through and pulled the room toward them.
08:20Someone was inside.
08:23I saw a shape move the way a breath moves.
08:27The shape turned, and it borrowed the light, and it was a person.
08:32All the soft names we have for person fell off me at once.
08:37Woman, man, worker, squatter, friend, and I ran.
08:41I didn't say we should run.
08:43I just left, and my friend shot after me with this sound in his throat like he had turned himself into a small engine that ran only on fear.
08:55We stopped at the nearest store and were the kind of boys convenience store clerks hate
09:01because we stand and breathe and don't buy anything until our hands stop shaking.
09:07Then we purchased iced tea because it felt good to hold a cold, sweet treat.
09:14We went back anyway.
09:17That's the part I don't know how to defend.
09:20We told ourselves we were going to walk past, only past,
09:24to see if the figure was still there and maybe say something like
09:28We're sorry, sir.
09:30Or
09:31We didn't mean to disturb you, ma'am.
09:34Because if you can name a thing and apologize to it,
09:38a part of the world becomes yours again.
09:41We were near the southeast corner when the banging started.
09:44It was the kind of sound you don't know the name for until you see the tool that makes it.
09:51I didn't know the tool then.
09:53Only felt the pipe and the sound.
09:56A hollow bar against something twice,
09:59then a drag on concrete,
10:01then twice again,
10:03patient,
10:04as if measuring us.
10:06We didn't run that time.
10:08We walked like we were being graded on it,
10:11like if we didn't break stride,
10:13whatever had lifted the pipe would forget we had bodies.
10:17We turned the corner and didn't look back,
10:21because sometimes the only dignity you get
10:24is the dignity of not giving the thing your eyes.
10:29That night, at home,
10:31I watched the footage from the afternoon again.
10:34The red car had moved.
10:36It had moved without lifting a shadow.
10:39In one shot,
10:40it's near the far drain.
10:42In a later shot,
10:44it sits two spaces closer to the building.
10:47The front wheel had turned a few degrees toward the front door,
10:51like an ear.
10:53My friend said there was probably some lens warping
10:57he'd seen on YouTube videos about skate trick footage.
11:00I said yeah.
11:03Then I scrubbed back and forth until the sound did that slow down groan and sped up squeal.
11:10And in one pass,
11:12I heard something in the background lift like a person saying,
11:15hey.
11:16When I scrubbed again to catch it,
11:19the sound was gone.
11:21The machine swallowed its own ghost.
11:23The night we brought masks
11:25is the night that keeps happening in my head right now
11:28as I write this at 11.29.
11:32The screen making my window into a mirror.
11:36We weren't brave.
11:38We were greedy.
11:40The masks made us feel like men.
11:42That's what they were for.
11:45They were for not looking like ourselves
11:47and permitting our bodies to be used by a dumber kind of animal.
11:52We had cheap flashlights with rubber bands around them
11:55so we could strap them to our wrists and still keep our hands free.
12:00We had the camera.
12:02We had a list in the notebook of rooms we thought we'd find.
12:06Office.
12:06Small sanctuary.
12:08Storage.
12:09Utility.
12:09And beside each word,
12:12we'd written a plan to be quiet.
12:15A light was on inside.
12:17It was on in the way lights are on
12:19in houses that haven't been lived in for a while.
12:23A little too steady.
12:25A little too patient.
12:27It was something like a flashlight.
12:29The beam low.
12:31Pointed at the floor
12:32so the dust rose to meet it like smoke.
12:36We were at the west window
12:37with the peeled tint.
12:39And as I lifted the camera,
12:42the light flicked off.
12:44Not like it had burned out.
12:46Like a finger had found a button.
12:49The switch in my hand found the same position.
12:52We walked.
12:54The air had that summer night taste like pennies and algae.
12:58The far lot was empty.
13:00The nearby lot was empty.
13:02The world was the kind of quiet that doesn't leave room for crickets.
13:08We did the thing we promised each other we'd do if the world felt wrong.
13:12We walked to the corner store and performed the ritual of being alive.
13:19Opened the cooler.
13:21Cold air on the forearms.
13:23Two bottles of tea.
13:25Pay.
13:26The heaviest thank you we could make sound casual.
13:28The store smells remembered for me.
13:31Mop water.
13:32Bread.
13:33Spray cleaner.
13:35Someone's too sweet floral deodorant.
13:37When we stepped back outside,
13:40the night bit the inside of my nose with the smell of hot brakes.
13:45We were going to cut behind the store and go home the long way,
13:49when my friend said we should pass the far side of the lot
13:52to make sure the light really was off.
13:54So we did.
13:55And the white car shot out from the back corner so fast
13:59the bumper bounced when it hit the curb cut.
14:03It wasn't even a second between the headlight glare and the emptiness.
14:08The car tore past.
14:10No plates visible.
14:12And took the corner on a cry of rubber like a mouth pulled wide.
14:17I couldn't tell if the driver had seen us
14:19or if we were just something the car peeled off the pavement.
14:23My friend said he knew they'd seen us.
14:27I nodded because it was one of those statements
14:29that you don't want to trap inside your friend's body alone.
14:34We didn't need to talk about what the white car meant.
14:38It meant the building was a lung
14:40and someone inside was breathing.
14:43It meant the scream that first night had lived somewhere in that lung
14:47and the grey SUV had been a cough the building couldn't get rid of.
14:53And our cameras and our masks
14:55with toothbrushes in the wrong mouth.
14:58We went home anyway
15:00stepping over the little flags stuck in the grass by city workers
15:05to mark underground wires
15:07as if the city could map dangers that burrow.
15:11This is the part where the story picks itself up
15:16and shows you you're never done.
15:19I watched the footage from that night
15:21and found only the part where I raised the camera to the west window.
15:25The video begins where the light goes out.
15:29I remember lifting my arm.
15:31I remember seeing the cone of light and the dust glitter in it
15:35like sparkling rain.
15:38I remember my friend saying something under his breath.
15:42That was just breath.
15:43The clip is four seconds of darkness
15:46and the sound of my thumb brushing the strap
15:49and then a small scrape of a shoe on grid.
15:53Then it ends.
15:54My gallery is a deck of cards
15:57where the top one has been peeled away
15:59and glued elsewhere.
16:02When I scroll backward to the earlier afternoon footage
16:06the red car sits in the same place
16:08and then my phone freezes on a single frame
16:12and stays there like a held note.
16:15The frame is the front doors of the temple
16:18and my reflection inside the glass pane.
16:22Only the reflection is wrong.
16:24My hair is shorter.
16:26I'm wearing glasses.
16:28I don't have glasses.
16:29The mouth behind the glass is open
16:32as if it's speaking my name
16:34and what bothers me isn't that he's me
16:37is that he's older.
16:39I told myself I was tired.
16:43I told myself the phone had built a collage
16:45from older selfies I didn't remember.
16:48I told myself all the comforting words
16:50about glitches and caches.
16:53I slept with the phone face down on the desk
16:56and the window shades at that not quite closed angle
17:00where the room feels like a public space
17:03you've been locked inside after hours.
17:07Dreams were the kind you get
17:09when you've watched too many videos
17:10of things you can't have.
17:13Running not away from anything
17:15only running because there is a road and feet.
17:19We decided to stop.
17:21This is the part of a story
17:23where people usually say they decided to stop
17:25and then they don't.
17:28We actually did.
17:29For a couple of days it held
17:32when the urge to circle the lot
17:34came up like a burp in the throat
17:36I swallowed it.
17:38At school
17:39my friend and I didn't talk about it
17:42where other people could hear.
17:44If we thought about the scream
17:46we thought about it sideways
17:48like a sun you never look at
17:50but always feel on the edge of your eyes.
17:54None of this matters
17:55because stop
17:56is a verb that doesn't stick to time.
18:00It's a thing you do
18:01until you are doing a different thing
18:03and the temple kept living behind the words
18:07we were using to be good.
18:09The next thing wasn't going back.
18:12The next thing was the banging.
18:14It didn't start at the temple.
18:17It began in my house.
18:19Two thuds
18:19then a drag
18:21then two thuds
18:22not loud
18:24like the person who owned the sound
18:27was testing the door
18:28to see if the noise would carry.
18:31My room is on the second floor.
18:34There are no neighbours who share a wall.
18:38There's a maple tree near the window
18:39but the leaves in summer
18:42only make their own kind of static.
18:46I lay there
18:47and listen to the two dragged to
18:49and counted between the sets
18:50sometimes twenty seconds
18:53sometimes
18:54as long as two minutes.
18:57After forty minutes
18:58the sound stopped
18:59and left the shape of itself behind
19:02the way a heavy thing
19:04leaves a mark in the carpet.
19:06The next night
19:07it happened again.
19:09When I sat up
19:10and turned on the lamp
19:11the sound at first grew softer
19:14like whoever owned it
19:16had leaned away.
19:17Then
19:18the two thuds came
19:19from farther inside the house
19:21like someone moving
19:23from room to room.
19:25I thought about my mum asleep
19:27and the dog
19:28who sleeps like a person.
19:30I thought about my friend's window
19:32across town.
19:34I thought about the pipe.
19:37I didn't wake anyone.
19:38I didn't call.
19:40I just took out my phone
19:42and started recording the dark.
19:44That seems so stupid now
19:46but it's the only thing
19:48that felt like action.
19:50We move the way
19:51we've taught our bodies to move.
19:54The video is seven minutes
19:56of nearly black
19:57with a glow along the bottom
19:58where the streetlight outside
20:01bleeds under the shade.
20:03In the second minute
20:05the screen shifts
20:06as if something outside the frame
20:09is throwing light
20:10and then taking it away.
20:13A warm roll-like headlights
20:15turning and then leaving.
20:18I listened later
20:19with the volume pressed
20:20into my ear
20:21and could swear
20:22there was a breath
20:23in the room
20:24that wasn't mine.
20:26A little pocket of air
20:28that gets taken
20:29and then given back
20:30in a rhythm
20:31that never quite meets
20:32your own.
20:33I told my friend
20:35about the banging
20:36and he said
20:38he heard something too
20:39but on his roof
20:40soft footfalls
20:42then a knee
20:43then a turn
20:45as if someone
20:46who had done it a lot
20:48was trying to make
20:49the old wood
20:50say as little as possible.
20:52We met
20:53at the corner store
20:54in daylight
20:54like our lives
20:56were in English class
20:57and we could work
20:59this into sense.
21:01The clerk watched us
21:02the way grown-ups
21:03watch boys
21:04who don't buy a lot
21:05but always show up
21:07wanting cold air
21:08and eye contact
21:09without responsibilities.
21:12I said I wasn't
21:13going back.
21:14He nodded too quickly.
21:17We didn't go back.
21:19The video kept
21:19editing itself
21:20in my pocket.
21:22That's what I started
21:23to believe.
21:24Clips were missing
21:25that I knew I had shot.
21:27New ones appeared.
21:29Three second nothings
21:30of a dark wall
21:31and the sound
21:32of my own breath.
21:34The lilt of a radio
21:36in someone else's car.
21:38The shaved syllables
21:38of a newscaster
21:39reading a headline
21:40in a room
21:41I've never been in.
21:43That's when the scream
21:44started up again.
21:46Not out loud
21:47in the audio.
21:49Embedded like old stains
21:50under new paint.
21:52In one clip
21:53if I isolate the highs
21:55there's a strand
21:57in the sound
21:57that could be a girl
21:58or could be a hinge
21:59but it's shaped like
22:01no.
22:03In another
22:03the low end swells
22:05when the camera
22:06passes the back door
22:07and if I loop it
22:09you can almost hear
22:10a man say a single
22:12word so slowly
22:13it takes all his air
22:15and gives him
22:16none back.
22:17Stay.
22:19My mom says
22:20I've been jumpy.
22:22She says
22:22I smell like
22:23outside all the time
22:25and asks
22:26if we've started
22:27running again.
22:28I say yes
22:29because running
22:30is one of the good lies
22:31and my shoes
22:32have dirt on them
22:33that I don't remember earning.
22:36School becomes
22:37a soup of eyebrows.
22:39My friend walks
22:40in exact lines
22:41in the hall
22:41as if the floor tiles
22:43are traps.
22:45We stop texting
22:45at night
22:46and then I start again
22:48because the phone
22:49is louder
22:50when no one answers it.
22:52About the grey SUV.
22:54I think about it
22:56all the time.
22:57Not the car.
22:58Him.
23:00The first night
23:01when he stared
23:02at my friend
23:02like they had a history
23:04neither of them wanted
23:05I thought he was a threat
23:07in the obvious way.
23:09The more I replay
23:10the way his head
23:11didn't turn
23:12when the scream rose
23:13the more I think
23:15he had already been
23:16to the end
23:17of this and back.
23:19His face
23:19wasn't angry
23:20the way I remembered it.
23:22It was the face
23:23of someone
23:24who has had to walk
23:25into a room
23:26to take a bone
23:27from a dog
23:28and knows
23:29he will be bitten
23:30for it
23:31because the dog
23:32doesn't understand
23:33that the bone
23:33is poison.
23:35I am not saying
23:36I think the man
23:37was me.
23:38That would make
23:39the story small.
23:41I am saying
23:42that when I saw
23:43the reflection
23:44in the front door
23:45my reflection
23:46but older
23:48with glasses
23:49with a mouth
23:51making a shape
23:52I knew
23:53would feel
23:54like my name
23:55in a different throat
23:56I didn't feel
23:58the thrill
23:58you're supposed
23:59to feel
24:00when you think
24:00about time
24:01winking at you
24:02I felt the tiredness
24:05that is bigger
24:06than my body
24:07I felt like
24:08the temple
24:09was a machine
24:10for recording
24:11and replaying people
24:12and I had stepped
24:14into the part
24:14that makes copies
24:15the last time
24:18we went there
24:18we had no plan
24:20we were walking
24:22to prove
24:22we still could
24:23and the road
24:25pulled us
24:25like a moving walkway
24:27you don't realize
24:28you're on
24:29until the scenery
24:30has changed
24:31we were in
24:33full afternoon sun
24:34the temple
24:36looked smaller
24:37the way you
24:38sometimes drive
24:39by your old school
24:40and can't believe
24:41you ever fit
24:42a childhood inside
24:43the west window's
24:45peel-tinted
24:46sagged lower
24:47so that the glass
24:48showed more of itself
24:50a clear throat
24:52the front window's
24:54broken square
24:54was the same
24:55the shard
24:57that had been
24:57pitched inward
24:58lay on the carpet
24:59a foot
25:00from the hole
25:01and the smear
25:03of dust
25:03made a fan
25:04where it had skidded
25:06there's a thing
25:08that happens
25:09when you see
25:10evidence of motion
25:11and can't tell
25:12which way it points
25:14it makes your brain
25:16ask question marks
25:17in a circle
25:18and feed itself
25:19its own tale
25:20I reached my hand
25:22through the broken square
25:23without thinking
25:24there was a desk
25:26just inside
25:27the surface
25:29had a film of grit
25:30that had learned
25:31the shape of sunlight
25:32on the far wall
25:34a cork board
25:35held the brown
25:36ends of staples
25:37where flyers
25:38had been pinned
25:39the air
25:41smelled like paper
25:42and wet plaster
25:43then a slight sound
25:46came from deeper
25:47inside
25:47a single knock
25:49like a knuckle
25:50on wood
25:51and the dust
25:52in the room
25:53lifted as if
25:54someone had
25:55walked through
25:56that's the precise
25:58sensation
25:58air
26:00disturbed
26:00by a body
26:01the sound
26:03wasn't a threat
26:04it was a notification
26:05I pulled my hand
26:08back
26:08and left
26:09the ghost print
26:10on the glass
26:11we walked
26:12along the west wall
26:13past the long window
26:15with its peeled
26:16L of tint
26:17the glare
26:18made the inside
26:19a picture
26:20of the outside
26:21and we became
26:22figures moving
26:23in the glass
26:24all at once
26:26my reflection
26:27stopped
26:27and didn't
26:29in the window
26:30I kept walking
26:31in the world
26:33I stopped
26:34the delay
26:35wasn't a trick
26:36of angles
26:37my friend
26:38hissed my name
26:39and I looked
26:39at him
26:40and in the window
26:41he was still
26:42looking forward
26:43the glass
26:44snapped back
26:45to us so hard
26:46I flinched
26:47as if we had
26:48yanked a thread
26:49that had been
26:50holding something
26:50heavy
26:51we kept moving
26:53at the back
26:54corner
26:55the pipe
26:56lay on the ground
26:57that's the only
26:58way I can say it
26:59there was an
27:01old metal
27:02conduit
27:03maybe three
27:04feet long
27:05ragged
27:05on one end
27:06where it had
27:07torn free
27:08it lay at the
27:10base of the
27:10wall
27:10like something
27:12had slid it
27:12there
27:13with the sole
27:14of a shoe
27:14I touched it
27:16with my shoe
27:17cause I couldn't
27:18knot
27:18and the sound
27:20it made
27:20against the
27:21asphalt
27:21was the same
27:23sound from
27:23the other
27:24afternoon
27:24two taps
27:26and a drag
27:27my friend
27:29stepped away
27:29there was a
27:31white smear
27:31on the pipe
27:32like the
27:33kind of paint
27:33you use
27:34on parking
27:35lot lines
27:35I put my
27:37toe into
27:37the curved
27:38end and
27:38lifted
27:39the pipe
27:40felt warm
27:41as if it
27:42had just
27:42been held
27:43I didn't
27:44bring the
27:45pipe home
27:45I didn't
27:46even carry
27:47it
27:47I set it
27:49back down
27:49and we
27:50moved away
27:51as if a
27:51sleeping animal
27:52had twitched
27:53that night
27:54the banging
27:55started earlier
27:56two thuds
27:58then a drag
27:59then two
28:00thuds
28:00and in
28:02between them
28:02the street
28:03outside
28:04brightened
28:04and dimmed
28:05with the
28:05slow pass
28:06of a car
28:07you could
28:07feel
28:07but couldn't
28:08see
28:09when I
28:10looked through
28:11the blinds
28:12the glass
28:13held my
28:13reflection
28:14and then
28:15swallowed it
28:15and in the
28:16not reflection
28:17I thought
28:18I could see
28:19a red
28:19parked at
28:20the curb
28:21it was a
28:22trick of
28:23the street
28:23lights
28:23it was
28:25anything
28:25but a
28:25car
28:26something
28:27else
28:28bothered
28:28me
28:28the way
28:30a seed
28:30husk
28:31stuck
28:31behind
28:32a molar
28:32bothers
28:33you
28:33until
28:33your
28:34tongue
28:34is
28:34tired
28:35every
28:36time
28:37I
28:37watched
28:37the
28:37footage
28:38of
28:38the
28:38afternoon
28:39with
28:39the
28:39challenger
28:39in it
28:40a
28:41different
28:41shadow
28:42fell
28:42across
28:42the
28:42car
28:43depending
28:44on
28:44where
28:44the
28:45camera
28:45stood
28:45not
28:47just
28:47the
28:47car's
28:48own
28:48shadow
28:48the
28:49shadow
28:50of
28:50someone
28:50standing
28:51between
28:51the
28:52vehicle
28:52and
28:53the
28:53building
28:53only
28:55when
28:55I
28:55scrubbed
28:56frame
28:56by
28:56frame
28:57did
28:58I
28:58catch
28:58the
28:59shape
28:59of
28:59the
28:59shadow
29:00occupying
29:00a
29:01position
29:01that
29:01doesn't
29:02exist
29:02there
29:03is no
29:04place
29:04you can
29:05stand
29:05in the
29:05real
29:06world
29:06to
29:06cast
29:07that
29:07particular
29:07parallelogram
29:08across
29:09that
29:09specific
29:10line
29:10of
29:10reflections
29:11it
29:13is
29:13the
29:13geometry
29:13of
29:14a
29:14thing
29:14that
29:15lives
29:15on
29:15the
29:16glass
29:16I
29:17told
29:17myself
29:18this
29:19was
29:19the
29:19part
29:19of
29:19the
29:19story
29:20where
29:21older
29:21people
29:22would
29:22say
29:22we
29:23needed
29:23to
29:23tell
29:24an
29:24adult
29:24but
29:25if
29:25I'm
29:26honest
29:26we
29:27did
29:27the
29:28temple
29:28had
29:29older
29:29people
29:30built
29:30into
29:30it
29:31the
29:31man
29:32in the
29:32gray
29:32SUV
29:33watching
29:34us
29:34the first
29:34night
29:35was an
29:35adult
29:35and
29:36and
29:36and
29:36he
29:37did
29:37and
29:38they
29:38have
29:39been
29:39sanded
29:39down
29:40by
29:40time
29:41he
29:42watched
29:42and
29:43did
29:43not
29:43act
29:44because
29:44the
29:45act
29:45he
29:45would
29:45have
29:46taken
29:46had
29:47already
29:47been
29:48taken
29:48in a
29:49moment
29:49we
29:49hadn't
29:50reached
29:50yet
29:50he
29:51was
29:51the
29:52message
29:52and
29:53we
29:53didn't
29:53know
29:54the
29:54language
29:54I
29:55won't
29:56tell
29:56you
29:56that
29:56we
29:56went
29:57inside
29:57I'm
29:59not
29:59going
29:59to
29:59tell
29:59you
30:00we
30:00found
30:00a
30:00room
30:01with
30:01candles
30:01and
30:02pictures
30:02of
30:02girls
30:03with
30:03their
30:03eyes
30:03scratched
30:04out
30:04or
30:05that
30:05we
30:06chased
30:06a
30:06white
30:06car
30:07to
30:07the
30:07highway
30:07and
30:08got
30:08the
30:09plate
30:09and
30:09called
30:09it
30:10in
30:10none
30:11of
30:11that
30:11happened
30:12in
30:13the
30:13afternoon
30:14we
30:15touched
30:15the
30:15pipe
30:16with
30:16our
30:16shoes
30:17and
30:17then
30:20like
30:21we
30:21were
30:21walking
30:21across
30:22a
30:22face
30:22we
30:23didn't
30:23want
30:23to
30:23wake
30:23up
30:24the
30:25doors
30:26of
30:26the
30:26corner
30:26store
30:27opened
30:27for
30:28us
30:28with
30:28their
30:29clean
30:29little
30:29sigh
30:30the
30:31clerk
30:31nodded
30:32like
30:33he
30:33was
30:33proud
30:33of
30:33us
30:34for
30:34buying
30:34something
30:35instead
30:36of
30:36just
30:36breathing
30:37the
30:37air
30:37we
30:38held
30:39cold
30:39sugar
30:39and
30:40the
30:40bottle
30:41sweated
30:41and
30:42we
30:42smiled
30:43because
30:43we
30:43needed
30:44to
30:44prove
30:44to
30:45our
30:45mouths
30:45we
30:46could
30:46make
30:46that
30:47shape
30:47now
30:48it's
30:4911.29
30:50and
30:51I
30:51keep
30:51hearing
30:52that
30:52engine
30:52tick
30:53like
30:53a
30:53stove
30:53cooling
30:54and
30:55my
30:55phone
30:55says
30:56there's
30:56a
30:56new
30:56video
30:57in
30:57the
30:57gallery
30:57that
30:58I
30:58didn't
30:58take
30:59the
31:00thumbnail
31:00is
31:01grey
31:01on
31:02grey
31:02the
31:03way
31:03a
31:03throat
31:04looks
31:04from
31:05too
31:05close
31:05when
31:07I
31:07tap
31:07it
31:08the
31:08clip
31:09begins
31:09with
31:09a
31:09shimmer
31:10of
31:10dust
31:10in
31:10a
31:11low
31:11beam
31:11of
31:12light
31:12the
31:13exact
31:13light
31:14the
31:14night
31:14it
31:14went
31:15out
31:15I
31:16want
31:16to
31:16say
31:17the
31:17flashlight
31:17but
31:19it's
31:19not
31:19a
31:19flashlight
31:19it's
31:21light
31:21that
31:21behaves
31:22the
31:22way
31:22a
31:22flashlight
31:23would
31:23if
31:23a
31:24person
31:24weren't
31:24holding
31:25it
31:25the
31:26frame
31:27tilts
31:27as if
31:27someone
31:28as
31:28tall
31:28as
31:29I
31:29am
31:29is
31:30shifting
31:30the
31:30phone
31:31in
31:31the
31:31same
31:31hands
31:32I
31:32have
31:32and
31:33the
31:33beam
31:34falls
31:34across
31:34a
31:35broken
31:35square
31:36of
31:36glass
31:36in
31:37the
31:38reflection
31:38I
31:39am
31:39not
31:39wearing
31:40glasses
31:40my
31:41hair
31:42is
31:42the
31:42length
31:42it
31:43is
31:43now
31:43the
31:44glass
31:44shows
31:44me
31:45as
31:45I
31:45am
31:45and
31:46behind
31:46that
31:47deeper
31:48in
31:48the
31:48room
31:48where
31:49glass
31:49is
31:49not
31:50supposed
31:50to
31:50reflect
31:51a
31:51pale
31:52shape
31:52leans
31:53forward
31:53like
31:53a
31:54face
31:54discovering
31:55a
31:55mirror
31:55the
31:56sound
31:57is
31:57there
31:57too
31:58two
31:58thuds
31:59and
31:59a
31:59drag
31:59and
32:00then
32:00the
32:00thuds
32:01again
32:01slow
32:02as
32:03if
32:03rehearsed
32:04I
32:05pause
32:05the
32:05clip
32:06with
32:06my
32:06thumb
32:07my
32:07hands
32:08are
32:08sweating
32:08and
32:08the
32:08phone
32:09feels
32:09as
32:09if
32:10I'm
32:10holding
32:10a
32:10fish
32:11and
32:12try
32:12to
32:12scrub
32:12back
32:13the
32:14video
32:14jumps
32:14ahead
32:15the
32:16frame
32:16is
32:16now
32:17the
32:17parking
32:17lot
32:17the
32:18camera
32:19is
32:19low
32:19at
32:20waist
32:20level
32:21the
32:21way
32:22I
32:22hold
32:22it
32:22when
32:22I'm
32:23being
32:23careful
32:23far
32:25off
32:25at
32:25the
32:25corner
32:25a
32:26white
32:26car's
32:27headlights
32:27swell
32:28and
32:28then
32:28slide
32:29away
32:29no
32:30plates
32:31the
32:32flare
32:33leaves
32:33an
32:33after
32:33image
32:34on
32:34the
32:34sensor
32:34like
32:35a
32:35fingertip
32:36on
32:36a
32:36closed
32:36eye
32:37somewhere
32:38between
32:38the
32:39car
32:39and
32:39the
32:39camera
32:40someone
32:40moves
32:41but
32:42in
32:42the
32:42way
32:42fog
32:43moves
32:43a
32:44thinning
32:44a
32:45thicker
32:45patch
32:46a
32:46scent
32:47my
32:48own
32:48voice
32:48says
32:49a
32:49word
32:49that
32:50could
32:50be
32:50my
32:50friend's
32:50name
32:51or
32:51could
32:51be
32:51mine
32:52then
32:53the
32:53clip
32:53stutters
32:54and
32:54ends
32:55the
32:56following
32:56the
32:57face
32:57the
32:58face
32:58the
32:59face
32:59the
33:00face
33:01of
33:01the
33:01temple
33:02again
33:02the
33:03bubble
33:03tint
33:04the
33:05reflection
33:05of
33:05the
33:06lot
33:06layered
33:06over
33:07the
33:07reflection
33:07of
33:08the
33:08inside
33:08the
33:10camera
33:10creeps
33:10closer
33:11and
33:12in
33:12the
33:12glass
33:12two
33:13faces
33:13bloom
33:14one
33:15mine
33:15and
33:15one
33:16knot
33:16the
33:17knot
33:17face
33:18wears
33:18glasses
33:18and
33:19has
33:19hair
33:19like
33:20straw
33:20under
33:20the
33:21street
33:21light
33:21and
33:22the
33:22shape
33:23of
33:23his
33:23mouth
33:23my
33:24mouth
33:24makes
33:25something
33:26like
33:26my
33:26name
33:27but
33:27with
33:27the
33:27first
33:28letter
33:28lifted
33:28off
33:29and
33:29set
33:29aside
33:30so
33:30it
33:31isn't
33:31a
33:31name
33:31anymore
33:32only
33:33a
33:33sound
33:33you
33:34can
33:34hang
33:34a
33:34person
33:34on
33:35behind
33:36those
33:37faces
33:37somewhere
33:38inside
33:38the
33:39building
33:39a
33:40woman
33:40screams
33:41the
33:42scream
33:42is
33:42both
33:43close
33:43and
33:43far
33:44as
33:44if
33:45the
33:45glass
33:45conducts
33:46sound
33:46like
33:46a
33:46wire
33:47my
33:48thumb
33:49jerks
33:49and
33:50the
33:50clip
33:50freezes
33:51on
33:51the
33:51open
33:51mouth
33:52and
33:52that's
33:53how
33:53it
33:53stays
33:53no
33:54matter
33:54what
33:54I
33:55do
33:55I
33:57lock
33:57the
33:57phone
33:57and
33:58the
33:58room
33:59comes
33:59back
33:59with
33:59the
33:59white
34:00dark
34:00white
34:01of
34:01the
34:01blinds
34:02headlights
34:03move
34:04across
34:04the
34:04ceiling
34:04and
34:05pool
34:05in
34:05the
34:05corner
34:06two
34:07thuds
34:07then
34:08a
34:08drag
34:09then
34:10two
34:10thuds
34:11come
34:11from
34:11the
34:11hall
34:12closer
34:12as
34:13if
34:13someone
34:14is
34:14measuring
34:15out
34:15the
34:15length
34:15of
34:16a
34:16threshold
34:16before
34:17stepping
34:18over
34:18it
34:18I
34:19think
34:19about
34:20the
34:20pipe
34:20lying
34:21at
34:21the
34:21back
34:22of
34:22the
34:22building
34:22and
34:23I
34:23think
34:24about
34:24the
34:24way
34:24I
34:25lifted
34:25it
34:25with
34:25my
34:26toe
34:26and
34:27I
34:27think
34:28about
34:28the
34:28warm
34:29metal
34:29and
34:30I
34:30realize
34:31I
34:31have
34:32still
34:32not
34:32told
34:33you
34:33what
34:33color
34:34the
34:34pipe
34:34was
34:34under
34:35the
34:35dust
34:35what
34:37what
34:37color
34:37it
34:37is
34:38when
34:38someone
34:38uses
34:39it
34:39to
34:40talk
34:40to
34:40the
34:40floor
34:41I
34:42keep
34:42that
34:43for
34:43myself
34:43because
34:43a
34:44story
34:44needs
34:44a
34:45thing
34:45it
34:45doesn't
34:46give
34:46away
34:46to
34:46prove
34:47it's
34:47alive
34:48I
34:49am
34:49not
34:49going
34:50back
34:50I
34:51am
34:51going
34:51to
34:52sit
34:52here
34:52with
34:52a
34:52window
34:53full
34:53of
34:53my
34:53own
34:54face
34:54until
34:54the
34:55clip
34:55unsticks
34:56itself
34:56and
34:57shows
34:57me
34:58something
34:58I
34:58can
34:58live
34:59with
34:59I
35:00am
35:00going
35:01to
35:01pretend
35:01the
35:01gray
35:02SUV
35:02was
35:03a
35:03man
35:03who
35:04had
35:04nothing
35:04to
35:04do
35:04with
35:05me
35:05and
35:06I
35:06am
35:06going
35:06to
35:07pretend
35:07the
35:07red
35:08car
35:08was
35:08a
35:08reflection
35:09and
35:10I
35:10am
35:10going
35:10to
35:10pretend
35:11the
35:11white
35:11car
35:12just
35:12needed
35:12a
35:13fast
35:13lane
35:13through
35:14a
35:14problem
35:14that
35:14had
35:15nothing
35:15to
35:15do
35:16with
35:16my
35:16body
35:16I
35:17am
35:17going
35:18to
35:18pretend
35:18the
35:18scream
35:19belonged
35:19to
35:19a
35:20night
35:20where
35:21nothing
35:21else
35:21happened
35:22and
35:23that
35:23if
35:23I
35:24breathe
35:24quietly
35:24enough
35:25the
35:26banging
35:26will
35:26stop
35:27because
35:28the
35:28person
35:28who
35:29owns
35:29it
35:29doesn't
35:30want
35:31to
35:31waste
35:31the
35:31sound
35:32on
35:32someone
35:32who
35:33won't
35:33give
35:33it
35:33back
35:34or
35:35I
35:35will
35:35go
35:36to
35:36the
35:36window
35:36and
35:37look
35:37down
35:38and
35:38the
35:38lot
35:39will
35:39be
35:39empty
35:39and
35:40the
35:40street
35:40will
35:41be
35:41empty
35:41and
35:42the
35:42glass
35:43will
35:43show
35:43me
35:44myself
35:44with
35:44a
35:44life
35:45waiting
35:45behind
35:46it
35:46like
35:46a
35:46room
35:47and
35:48in
35:48that
35:48room
35:49someone
35:49will
35:50tap
35:50twice
35:51and
35:51drag
35:52and
35:52tap
35:52twice
35:53telling
35:54me
35:54I
35:54am
35:54here
35:55now
35:55I
35:56am
35:56here
35:56I
35:57am
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