"We Found a Tomb From Outer Space" | ClancyPasta PRESENTS

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[00:01:01] ClancyPasta presents We found a tomb from outer space. By Empty Wing 7678. And you're listening to Clancy Pasta. Can you imagine what it's like to see a dead body? Lifeless eyes. Rotting flesh.

[00:01:32] It was fourth grade. I remember the day vividly. The messy overcast was like a thick sheet of lint. Our school was in a horseshoe shape with a playground in the center. Extending out of the playground was a... Field surrounded by woods. From the third floor of the playground, you could see Mount Crean covered in pines. His name was...

[00:02:03] Randall. He was past the chain-linked fence at the end of the field. This area was always so mysterious to me. A wooden bridge stood above a creek beyond the gate. What was beyond? What would happen if I just climbed that fence? Bees forced me to the spot. As a kid, I had an irrational fear of them.

[00:02:30] I'd run away and swear they were following me. Running away along the field's track, I bumped into my best friend Rory, who was wandering near the bushes. She joined me. We ran until we reached the fence, the forest beyond it. What little light that managed to sneak through the clouds and foliage shone on a sea of pine straw. Far to my left was old wooden exercise equipment no one used.

[00:03:00] The gate was close to my right. Randall was a macabre fixture in the environment, which anchored your vision and dragged it to its own center. His head poked out from under the bridge. He did not die peacefully. Mouth and eyes wide open.

[00:03:28] His face was frozen in horror like a grisly wax figure. It's not like we couldn't comprehend, Gore. We knew what we were seeing, but we didn't know how to process seeing it. All I knew was that I had to get a teacher. Rory stayed. When I returned, she was still staring at the body.

[00:04:02] School was cancelled for the rest of the week. The following week, we had an assembly. In the same gym we watched E.T. in during a sleep-in and played dodgeball, our short, balding principal had to explain to us what happened. The explanation was vague. For we weren't children. He gave the typical talk about mourning you'd expect.

[00:04:30] I can't say that Randy was an unpopular or reclusive kid, but I also never spoke with him. He was in Rory's class, not mine. Regardless, I had to go to the counselor's office every lunch for a week. It was two weeks for Rory. We were the only two kids at the allergy table, so for the week after they freed me, I had to enjoy the company of teachers.

[00:05:00] Months passed, and Randall began to seem like just a bad memory. Years later, I'd ask the town sheriff about it. Oh yes, I remember. We patrolled the school for two whole years. Didn't have anything better to do out here. Quite the brutal killing it was.

[00:05:29] There was a sort of grid of cylindrical holes going straight through him front to back, as if killed by an iron maiden. Except the holes were perfect cylinders. Broke his parents' heart. Was an only child. He'd been missing a week. Think his head only popped up because of rising creek water. Think they moved away after that.

[00:05:59] Down south, maybe. Don't know whatever came of them. But there's been no strange deaths since. Normal deaths, yes. You know, two years ago, Mr. Name. Shot Mr. Name. The killer? No, we never caught him. How or why he killed him, no one knows. It's a cold case.

[00:06:30] In fact, we don't even know where his missing flesh went. They had a closed casket funeral, I remember. I would also get asked about it sometimes. Unfortunately, I could give people no more information than I've given you now.

[00:06:59] Later, an ex-FBI agent confessed that trace amounts of radiation were found on Randy's corpse. This case has been a subject of interest for a few online personalities and podcasts. I doubt my account here will be taken into any serious consideration. I have no idea how to prove that I've seen what I've seen.

[00:07:25] Still, this story must be told.

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[00:08:28] Not having to worry about any more exams, I was up past midnight watching Star Trek. In between two episodes, I habitually checked Instagram. I saw a notification. A DM from a profile I didn't recognize. It was Rory. We hadn't spoken in ages.

[00:08:54] After elementary school, we went to different middle schools and lost contact. It was strange. A month earlier, we had an elementary school reunion event, and I didn't even register that she wasn't there. Memories came rushing back. Her message was one word long. Hello.

[00:09:22] The Star Trek intro music began blaring and I scrambled to pause it. I contemplated for a second and messaged her back. Hi, how have you been? She had messaged me hours earlier, but I got a response seconds later. Want to meet back at... School name. Like the field. Okay.

[00:09:54] Our conversation ended there. I considered texting her back, but decided to simply continue my vegging. Resigned to this new mysterious burden. After I brushed my teeth, I looked at our chat again. I remembered that day. That day we found Randy. I went to her page.

[00:10:20] Just take a quick peek, then go to bed and let other thoughts consume me. Her Instagram page is rather barren. I have it pulled up right now. She has long black hair and a sharp face. There are only two posts. A selfie and a photo of Mount Crean. Neither post is captioned. Her bio reads as follows.

[00:10:51] UAlbany2030. Nature, lover. There was a bad storm that night. A tree fell on someone's house on my street. When I arrived at my old elementary school, it was like a tornado had gone through Mother Nature's closet, spilling its contents onto the playground. Leaves, branches, pine cones, a fallen bird's nest, a dead squirrel.

[00:11:21] It was surprisingly chilly considering the season. Gray clouds hid the sun. Everything felt smaller than when I was a kid. The play system didn't seem to reach as high. The field didn't seem to stretch as far. Mount Crean, however, seemed to loom as large as ever.

[00:11:49] There was a dark shape facing it on the far side of the field. I approached. Rory? She turned. I ran towards her. Rory! Rachel. Damn, I haven't seen you since... Fifth grade? Oh yeah, I think so.

[00:12:20] Her voice was a bit stilted. She didn't speak with much enthusiasm. How you've been? Okay. I've been doing great. Saw you got into UAlbany. Yeah. And congrats on NYU. Wanna walk? She gestured towards the gate.

[00:12:47] As far as I remember, I'd never been past it. What a strange experience it was, walking over the bridge and into those woods. Almost like going into a room of your child at home you didn't know existed. It was muddy and damp. I peered back under the bridge where Randy's body had been found. Could there be another body just out of sight?

[00:13:17] I thought. There was an earthy, natural smell like that of ginger. Wind rustled the trees. We ventured deeper in curious silence. She took a right at a fork and I followed her. Is there something you wanted to show me? Well...

[00:13:46] Well... She didn't continue. Her words trailing off into awkward silence. Rory? Rory? Rory? I remember I once read a story by Lovecraft. I forget its name and a lot of its details. Essentially, you got this town.

[00:14:15] There's this old couple. They live deep in the woods. And whenever cats wander onto their property, they kill them. Anyways... So this caravan from afar wanders into town with this small orphan boy, I think. Who only has this little cat.

[00:14:41] As she continued to babble, I just nodded. I regret it coming here. You can guess what happens next. It was a bad idea. So, the boy put some kind of curse on the couple. Next day, all the cats in the town are missing. They're at the couple's house.

[00:15:11] They ate the couple. We stopped. A dead end was ahead. A small circular cutout in the woods with a rotting, decaying bench fallen on one side. A dead squirrel was in the center. It laid in a... Small pool of blood. Decapitated.

[00:15:41] And split in half. Rory took my shoulder and turned us around. I think we need to go to my house. There's something I need to show you. We got in our cars and left. Long ago, I'd visit her house and play with her trains. Great lengths of tracks and bridges.

[00:16:11] I think some pieces were Toy Story and Thomas the Tank Engine themed. Well, her family didn't live there anymore. We parked on this dirt road and walked a distance to her new house. It was far from the center of the town, relatively close to Mount Crean, which towered above us. I wanted to meet her parents again, though she insisted they weren't home.

[00:16:40] The house's lights were on. We entered a shed and she flicked the light switch. Strung up on the wall were dead animals and other pieces of biomatter. All with chunks missing. A raccoon with a semicircular section missing from its back. A log with cylindrical holes going straight through.

[00:17:09] And even something as innocuous as a leaf with a circular hole. Her collection was extensive and well organized. But the room smelled like a urine and roadkill. Many of the corpses were decaying. With flies swarming about. I couldn't believe her parents would let her do this. She gazed at the walls.

[00:17:41] What is this? Do you remember when Randy died? Her eyes stayed glued to the walls. She seemed to be in deep reflection. As if all the work in this room had been building to this moment. I nodded. Randy.

[00:18:11] Yes. His body had holes in it. Perfectly cylindrical. Yeah. The sheriff told me about it a couple years back. My voice was awkward as you'd expect. I stepped back towards the door. Not so much out of fear as impatience.

[00:18:41] You've found a lot of other things with cylindrical holes. Think you've found something? Since me and my dad moved here a month ago. I've been having the same dream every night. Is that when you started this collection? No. I've had it for years. She turned and held my hand.

[00:19:10] Listen. I... Forget about the dream. No. Every night. I've dreamed of that mountain. It's the exact same every time. The same movie being replayed in my head. From above. Then it's of this rocky area. It has this hole. I know this sounds crazy. But do you want to hike the mountain with me?

[00:19:39] I feel like we may find something out about Randy's death. We were the ones who... Found his body. Either way, there... Has to be a way to solve this. Everything has an answer. Why shouldn't we be able to find it? I shrugged. Please. For Randy.

[00:20:12] Did I take up this call to adventure? This call for justice? For Randy? That kid I barely knew? For this old friend of mine with strange dreams and a shack of dead animals? Well... We exchanged contact info and I said I'd think about it. Then I drove home and went to bed. When I woke up the next day...

[00:20:41] I was dreading getting a message from Rory. I didn't want to be mean and refuse her but I also didn't want to join her. She messaged me. Update? Update? I messaged her back. Let me think about it. I avoided thinking about it the whole day. I didn't mention it to anyone either.

[00:21:10] How could I? It was too bizarre. Eventually. At a gas station? I committed to confronting it. Have you not told the police? They won't listen. I typed out the message. Why me? Before deleting it. I was a bit self-conscious.

[00:21:40] Did she have anyone else? It was almost 24 hours after she first contacted me. I was in bed. In the dark. Hunched over my phone. I'll... Join you. Are we going tomorrow? My rationale was this. Why not?

[00:22:08] Sometimes in life, strange doors will open to you. Might as well take them. Why do people go on trips to Europe? To see things. And would I not do that? See things on our hike? Worst case scenario, I waste a couple of hours and I get a weird story to tell about this girl. An odd adventure. I'd be safe. I had hiked up the mountain before.

[00:22:40] Really, I just felt pity towards her. The same kind of pity you feel towards a drug addict or an imbecile. We finished our conversation. And I drifted off to sleep. Peaceful dreams I had. Indeed. Hi there. I am fully charged and here to tell you, Toy Story 5 is now on Disney+. Woody!

[00:23:09] It's been too long, cowboy. Woody, Buzz, and Jesse are back for a brand new adventure with some seriously cool new tech. What? Holy butterscotch! You said it, Jessie. So, save your batteries and watch the global phenomenon at home. And the best part? It's perfect for the whole family. Power up your movie night and watch Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5, now streaming on Disney Plus, rated PG. So, you're not worried about hosting the whole family for the holidays? Why would I be? Wayfair had everything I needed to get the house holiday ready.

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[00:24:08] From school name... Elementary? Yeah. Oh, tell her I said hi. I didn't tell my mother that we were going to see the hole from Rory's dreams. I just told her that we had reconnected on Instagram and were going hiking. She told me to be careful, wear a life jacket on the boat, check my phone, etc.

[00:24:39] Rory was waiting for me when I arrived at the docks. Across the lake, the mountain trail was only accessible by boat. The day looked beautiful. The deep blue of the lake set against the light sky. The horizon split by a dark green line of oak trees. We didn't speak on the boat ride.

[00:25:04] Rory drove while I looked into the shell-shaped crevice the boat made as it parted the lake. From a distance, Mount Crean looked like the gray-bluish outline of a sleeping giant lying on its side. I wondered how exactly this day would play out. Would I have to spend hours searching with her, waiting for her to give up?

[00:25:31] Would we find something that'd satisfy her enough and go home? Not that her discovery was insignificant. Maybe there was some relation? Not that I thought we'd find anything. Her dreams, on the other hand, I was confident were products of pure craziness. Still, I felt enough pity to continue with her.

[00:25:59] However, we docked and started hiking up. First, there was a slope littered with boulders and rocks, like the aftermath of a rock slide in which trees and plants had grown out of the debris. To the sides of this rocky path, trees walled us in. There were few others hiking that day. The path got steeper and steeper,

[00:26:30] until we took a sudden turn into an opening. Huh? Why are we turning here? It's this way. Why? Rory seemed to march on with a newfound confidence. She took sweeping struts around rocks and trees. My shirt began to soak with sweat, and I could hear my heart pound.

[00:26:59] She began to talk more. About her dreams. About Randy. I can't help but feel that he's alive somehow. Like his essence. You mean like his spirit? Not sure. We'll find a piece of him, I think.

[00:27:30] I thought we were looking for whatever killed him. Yeah. That too. You really think he's out here? Absolutely. Either way, we have to find out. I can't live any longer without knowing. Why shouldn't we be able to solve this?

[00:27:58] The path ended, but we kept going on in its direction. I got increasingly frustrated at her. She was crazy and mourning. Wasting our time. My pity vanished. So, how well did you know, Randy? I sneered. She seemed to blush.

[00:28:29] Jesus Christ, Rory, it's been years! No, you don't understand. You don't understand at all. I think tears were forming in her eyes. Did you make the holes in all of those things? Fuck, did you kill those animals? Why? No.

[00:28:57] I see him in my dreams. Screaming in my dreams. They're identical dreams. Vivid, too. Like having a movie be played to me every night. You must listen. It can't be a coincidence.

[00:29:18] I no longer felt safe with this inane woman who I was alone with. I stopped, pausing my thoughts to listen to nature, an attempt to calm down. There was the rustle of trees and howl of the wind, but no birds chirping or animals yelping. I felt compelled to turn to my right.

[00:29:49] I saw a collapsed tree. It looked like it had been the target of a firing squad in a cartoonish sort of way. Fallen to the wayside and full of the cylindrical holes. Hey.

[00:30:12] We ran towards it, saw more holes in a bush farther down, and then kept going in that direction. The forest began to thin out. We were very high up on the mountain, and I could see the town in the far distance. We found more and more holes. In patches of grass on the ground, in broken tree branches, and more.

[00:30:41] Eventually, we found a sort of crater. I felt below the thin layer of dirt, a cold layer of rough stone. Almost metallic, but not quite. I described the area as a crater, but it was more like a cone. All sides converging to a circle in the center. Geometrically perfect, as far as I could tell.

[00:31:13] Under the dirt, that circle seemed dark. Like charcoal. I used my finger to make a line in the dirt, as if it were a sand drawing board. Damn. Rory looked panicked. No, no, no. What's wrong? The hole.

[00:31:42] It should be here. I banged on the surface. The sound made was metallic, though indicated no hollow body. I stood up. Well, what can we do? Wait, let me try. She pushed me out of the circle and began a series of weird movements.

[00:32:12] Jumping jacks, salutes, spins. She repeated the same movements again and again with slight alterations, as if trying to hit some sweet spot. Listen, Rory. At the moment I stepped into the circle, it vanished. Dissolved into thin air.

[00:32:42] She fell into the hole through the falling dirt into the abyss. I tripped in and went after her. Rory! Luckily, the fall wasn't too great. I landed on my hands and knees, stinging them both. Bits of dirt dug into them. My eyes caught Rory in the shadows.

[00:33:09] Then, the entrance sealed again, silently, and we were left in complete darkness. Panic set in immediately. Our first instincts were to pull out our phones and turn on their flashlights. We found ourselves in a small, rectangular room. I pressed my hand against the wall. It felt ice cold.

[00:33:39] It reflected light like shiny metal, but had a rough texture like stone. Above was the same as below, with no sign of an entrance. On the opposite side of the room, there seemed to be a sort of tunnel going up to our shoulders. As if made for dwarves. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck! I stammered.

[00:34:08] Rory did a good job at calming herself down. It was almost annoying. Deep breaths with a small grin. More pressing was that neither of our phones? Had any cell service. What the hell are we going to do? Turn your flashlight off. What? We only need one flashlight and need to conserve battery.

[00:34:39] Why not you? Are you seriously arguing with me over this? I submitted. She also told me to turn on airplane mode. After all, why would I get a signal but not her? Better to conserve battery by making sure my phone wouldn't look for a signal. I won't say her ideas were unreasonable.

[00:35:08] But she seemed to be in some sort of trance. Very peculiar and strategic. Hey! I saw the shadow of her arm pointing. What? On the wall. There was a fist-sized slot on the wall. It looked like the port for a... plug.

[00:35:37] Or maybe some kind of... camera? It was hard to tell, especially because of the darkness. It was on level with the tunnel. Rory. What is this place? I don't know. What about your dreams? I don't know.

[00:36:05] I tried to rationalize everything in my head. It was some sort of government facility. Likely some kind of access area or ventilation thing. But how could that account for the entrance? The thing vanished and reappeared before our eyes. It was as I was trying to fiddle with the thing on the wall that she announced. We have to go deeper.

[00:36:35] Seriously? To look for another way out, I could hear my heart pound again. Aside from us, there was no sound in there. I couldn't take it anymore and began to scream, Help! Help us! Help! She held my shoulder. Listen. Stay calm. We can get out of here.

[00:37:07] We argued a bit more, but I relented. Would any search parties really find us here? There was no way forward except that tunnel. We began making our way through it in the dark. Rory insisted her eyes had adjusted well enough to go without a light. Traversing the tunnel was a pain in the ass. It was so cold I was shivering.

[00:37:37] We had to stay bent over to fit. Eventually, we met a downward slope. Rory led the descent. The roughness of the walls made slipping hard, at least. As we made it deeper, I found myself in a better mood. My legs felt better as well as my back. And my heart relaxed.

[00:38:05] My vision even adjusted to the pitch blackness. And I could see dark, purplish outlines of everything. It felt sort of like night vision. Even the cold felt easier to bear. We found ourselves in a Y intersection that joined us with another slope in a flat hallway.

[00:38:32] Up the slope, I could make out splotches of something in the darkness. I turned on my flashlight, which revealed it was blood. It was like you soaked a towel with blood and swung it around, squeezing and stretching. Variable size blood puddles. From little droplets to large pools.

[00:39:00] It was old. All brown and dried up. There was still a faint metallic scent. What? Looking back at it, we had strangely calm reactions. A complete mental haze. That slope did seem to be shorter than the one we came down.

[00:39:30] I could see the top at the edge of the light. It was steeper, however. For this, there were grooves cut into the floor. It was like a ladder, but the grooves were too far apart for any human to use it. We continued down the hallway, where we found a dead end. In the end wall was a spherical groove.

[00:39:58] In that groove was a substance resembling an old, cracked silly putty. Rory thoughtlessly stuck her hand in. No! No! What are you doing? She didn't answer. When she pulled her hand back out, it was swollen and blue as if oxygen had been cut off. I'm fine.

[00:40:27] There was a high-pitched wail. I fell to the ground and covered my ears. Then, the wall slid open with a deafening rumble. Okay. What is this place? I don't know. You know more than you're letting on about. How else did you know to do that?

[00:40:56] What else was I supposed to do? Jesus. Is your hand okay? Yes. Now let's move on. I am fully charged, and here to tell you, Toy Story 5 is now on Disney+. Woody! It's been too long, cowboy. Woody, Buzz, and Jesse are back for a brand new adventure with some seriously cool new tech. What? Holy butterscotch! You said it, Jesse!

[00:41:26] So, save your batteries and watch the global phenomenon at home. And the best part? It's perfect for the whole family. Power up your movie night and watch Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5, now streaming on Disney Plus, rated PG. You're not worried about hosting for the holidays? Oh, Wayfair's got me covered with holiday decor, extra dining chairs, and guest bedding. All with tons of five-star reviews, so there's no surprises. Unless Uncle Matt brings his dogs again. For worry-free hosting, Wayfair delivers.

[00:41:57] There's another door. I guess you could call it that. And she opened it as well. I offered to use my hand that time, but she insisted that she do it. After she did that, the door behind us began to close. I panicked for a minute, but soon the door had subsequently opened. The first door had a groove on the back side as well.

[00:42:27] Assuming all the grooves worked the same, that would mean we hadn't cut ourselves off from the entrance. The next room was much larger than the previous ones. In the dark, I could make out the circular edges of platforms. Rory! Rory! She bolted out and to the right. Not being able to hold my frustration any longer, I murmured, Oh, fuck off!

[00:42:59] At that moment, the room was lit up with dozens of glowing, spherical orbs. They were like stars. Fixed in the air, but not connected to or held up by anything. They made loud shrieks, as if a load of firecrackers were going off. I covered my ears. Shit!

[00:43:28] Rory ran back to me. Now her other hand looked blue and swollen. I couldn't hear what she was saying, so she started dragging me off to an adjacent room. As we walked, I saw in the center of the room a sort of silo, with a giant, distorted, pinkish sphere floating in the middle. Drenched in a thick fluid that looked like saliva.

[00:43:54] It looked like a bunch of mashed-up baloney. Stretching around it were various circular bridges also suspended in the air, leading to abstract structures. When we reached the darker, adjacent room, Rory screamed in my ear. I turned the lights on!

[00:44:23] Luckily, I had noise-canceling ear pods, which helped somewhat. Rory didn't have anything of that sort, but didn't seem to mind much. The new room we were in was a very tall box, which was connected to the bigger room by a passage we had to crawl through. In the darkness, I could make out two more switches above, but they were both far out of reach.

[00:44:54] Are you okay? Fine. Rory began to crawl back out. My annoyance had turned to bewilderment and curiosity at this point, and I followed her. The bridges looked like strips of brown granite. We could only reach one of them. It wrapped around part of the ball.

[00:45:22] The others were attached to nothing. Floating, physical anomalies. Rory had to boost me so I could get on. The first thing that struck me was the material's heat. It wasn't so hot that it burned me, but it did make me flinch back. When I looked back down, Rory was staring into the ball like a deer in headlights.

[00:45:54] I continued on. At the end was some kind of machine. Or at least, I assumed such. It had eleven of those pinkish switches. Seven on the front, three on the sides. The shape of the whole body was phallic. Most curiously, stuck inside it was a screen made of what looked like diamond.

[00:46:25] My imagination ran wild. I assumed this place was either the creation of mole people or aliens. Aliens. If so, where were they? The place looked ancient and lifeless. Were they dead? But then where did that bloodstain come from?

[00:46:59] The sound was faint so much that I thought I imagined it in my head. I turned to the left. In the folds of the shape, distorted like an image through a funhouse mirror, I could see the outline of a cow. Hey, did you hear that? I see Randy?

[00:47:29] I jumped. Rory now had her arms outstretched and was inserting them into the folds. At this point, my patience snapped. God fucking damn it! Get your fucking hands away from that thing! Shit! She did not react. In the silence that followed, I heard another sound. They were mechanical, wet footsteps.

[00:47:59] I turned and saw the thing that killed Randy. What the fuck? Three twirling, rocky rods shot out of a smooth, pinkish sphere like needles out of skin. Poking out across

[00:48:29] that sphere were smaller cylinders that looked like scopes. Blood covered its right half. Rory! I turned back to her. Rory! She was pressing herself against the larger sphere. I love you. It consumed her.

[00:48:59] She fell in, creating a splash of a tan fluid that fell back in towards the center of the sphere. At the same time, some kind of thicker elastic layer was broken. Flaps of a skin-like material fell from where she went in. The sphere then began to sag as if about to be blown over by the wind. It turned a yellow color,

[00:49:29] and clear fluid began to leak out of the bottom. The lights turned a pinkish color. At this point, it turned into a standoff between me and the spider. Seemingly, it had come in the same way we had. The more I looked at it, the more I wondered if it was damaged. There were dents in its

[00:49:58] legs and yellow pores in its body. Our face-off must have lasted for a minute before I decided to try and make a run for it. I let myself hang on the edge before dropping down, minimizing the impact, though it was still severe. I then tasted something very bitter and passed out.

[00:50:28] I had a short dream. It was very vivid. I was falling into the earth, a black void ahead and rocky walls to my side. Then I stopped. I looked up and could see the sphere far above. Below, there was something else, a massive red circle. In it was something unidentifiable.

[00:50:59] Rock? Mountains? Circuits? A city? Something sprawled out over a large area. It vanished. When I woke up, I was drenched in a disgusting yellowish fluid. It reminded me of bile. Smelled like it too. I turned

[00:51:29] back to see the sphere deflated and lying on the ground like a crashed hot air balloon. a couple meters ahead of me was the spider. Its body had turned a bit yellowish, like the giant sphere had. It spun around in circles. The mechanical clinking of footsteps reverberated throughout the room. I stood and watched the spider for a couple minutes,

[00:51:59] but it showed no change in behavior. I decided that I'd try to sneak past it and try my luck at the entrance or explore the other path. Halfway through the semi-circular path I was taking around it, the spider stopped. Then it bolted in my direction. Its behavior reminded me of an overly friendly

[00:52:29] dog. It went up to me and sort of pounced. I dodged, but it pounced again. This dance continued a couple of times, horrifying me, before it stopped. Then it stretched itself upon the ground, slowly. All of the rods retracted back into its body. Finally, it popped open like a jack-in-the-box.

[00:53:00] Inside was a pedestal with a mountain of cylindrical objects. They were made of various materials, wood, stone, and flesh. Some blood drizzled onto the floor. It looked immobile, so I made a mad dash to the exit. The first door was opened, which made

[00:53:30] me wonder how that thing opened it. When I reached the second, I stuck my hand in to open it. It felt like boiling water or dry ice. I screamed, though it was hard to hear over the rumbling of the walls. When I got back to the Y intersection, I noticed a light coming from the top of the steeper path. I doubted that it was natural light, but I realized

[00:54:00] that I may get cornered at the entrance. The climb was steep, and I stained my clothes with blood going through a fresh puddle. Halfway up, I heard the rumble of a door from below. Christ! I yelped. Whether it be that place or adrenaline, something was keeping me from breaking down. I made it to the top of the slope,

[00:54:30] panting, with tears in my eyes. When my breath quieted, I could hear a new sound. It sounded slimy and squishy. Then I realized it was getting louder. To my right was a very long hallway, spaced with the floating lights. I ran down it. I ran and ran as much

[00:55:00] as I could. It was rhythmic, I'd run against a loud, scorching hot light and then passed it. Then I'd find myself next to another. I noticed that above and below me were what looked like a series of trap doors. If they were, I had no clue on how to open them. Eventually, I caught sight of what looked like a dead end.

[00:55:29] No, no, no. I turned back, far away, on the floor and against the walls in a U-shape. I saw a transparent, slimy thing crawling towards me. It was like a wad of clear glue. My legs felt sore, but all I could do was carry on. When I hit the dead end, nothing

[00:55:59] happened. No, God, fuck, fuck! The creature was still coming towards me. Zooming down the hallway, it seemed to be getting faster. It was too long to jump through. When it hit the tip of my left shoe, I closed my eyes, expecting death. However, all that came was this strange sound.

[00:56:29] It was like soda fizzling. When I looked back at the creature, it appeared to have dissolved into a thin white fluid on the ground. I blinked and found myself lying under a tree. My heartbeat was slow but heavy.

[00:56:58] The beads of sweat I'd accumulated on my body during the scramble had vanished. My legs felt less sore. Hunched over with my mouth gaping open. I felt like some kind of ape. I was mumbling and darting my eyes around. The sun was setting. This was strange. We must have entered at noon and we couldn't have

[00:57:28] been in there for more than an hour. I recognized the area as a section of the trail. I wanted an excuse to ignore what just happened to me. Was it a dream? The gooey substance on my left shoe indicated otherwise. Fuck. Did that mean Rory was still down there?

[00:58:01] When I turned the boat's motor on a sort of despair came over me. The soreness in my legs, the adrenaline in my brain. It all returned tenfold. It was like a withdrawal. I felt helpless. As I floored the boat, sending it flying into the open waters, I began hyperventilating. At the docks, I went to

[00:58:31] the restroom just to chug water from the sinks. I threw up in them. I tried washing the clothes of the blood, but it wouldn't go. Worse, it wasn't my blood. At home, it felt like I was hiding a murder. I snuck in through my room's window, put the bloody clothes in a trash bag, and then took a shower. The next day,

[00:59:01] I burned those clothes in a trash fire. Yes, I know, these decisions were irrational. However, I didn't want to get blamed for Rory. I assumed she was dead, or some other person's deaths. the next day, I was questioned by the police about when I last saw her. I told

[00:59:30] them that she had disappeared on our hike, and that I assumed she was fucking with me. And yes, I did point them to that spot on the mountain. Since then, it's turned into a cold case. Her Instagram is all that remains. Right now, I am writing this in a crappy NYU dorm,

[01:00:01] while eating a box of vanilla wafers. It's been over a year. However, I'm now getting dreams. It happens every night. I dream of the red circle and the strange patterns far below within it. I dream of that big sphere. I dream of Rory.

[01:00:30] Somehow, she is alive, and she hates me. I thought it consumed her, but I left her to eternal torment, I think. My being feels sick with grief and lust. I need to go back. I know I will. I will find her in the belly of that place.

[01:01:01] Mount Crean. By the time this is posted, I'll be there. Fully charged, and here to tell you, Toy Story 5 is now on Disney Play. Woody! It's been too long, cowboy. Woody, Buzz,

[01:01:31] and Jessie are back for a brand new adventure with some seriously cool new tech. What? Holy butterscotch! You said it, Jesse. So, save your batteries and watch the global phenomenon at home. And the best part? It's perfect for the whole family. Power up your movie night and watch Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5, now streaming on Disney Plus, rated PG. Hey y'all, Kelly Clarkson here with Wayfair. You know my favorite compliment during the holidays? Your house feels so cozy. That's when I know everyone's

[01:02:00] comfortable enough to kick off their shoes, grab more dessert, and stay a little longer. Wayfair makes it easy, with everything from dining furniture to festive guest room essentials, all in one place. So whether you're hosting for an afternoon or all weekend, everyone feels right at home. Get holiday guests ready at Wayfair.com or on the Wayfair app today. Wayfair, every style, every home.