The Midnight Radio Show

The Midnight Radio Show

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The headlights emitted two bright beams of light, which illuminated the empty mountain road. Each bump my car went over shook the tree-shaped air freshener under the rear-view mirror. Casting their shadows over the road, a web of crooked branches protruded from the leafless trees on both sides. The hood of my car scattered piles of dead leaves in all directions as I sped through the dark night. Rather it was a branch being wiggled by the warm autumn breeze, or something alive crawling around, constant movement surrounded me.

A few minutes away from midnight and the thirty first of October, the night was young. My nephew’s favorite day of the year, Halloween was something he had been looking forward to for months. I planned on keeping my promise, and being the first thing he saw in the morning, along with a special costume I bought from the neighboring city.

Some music would have helped the time fly faster. Being far away from a city, I couldn’t find a single station. Just as I planned on giving up, something came up.

A short catchy tune passed, signaling this was a radio show, and a man spoke out with his calm soothing voice.

“The clock hit the one-two-zero-zero, it’s midnight, and we are live. As always, shoutout to the nightshift, everyone with insomnia, the night owls, all of you underaged folk who should be in bed, even though you will be getting up at six AM for school, and knowing it’s Halloween... everyone and everything supernatural. This is your host Mark, ready to keep you company throughout the night. A quick word before we start; each night of the year, we sit down, and for a little fragment of our daily life, we go to another world. Forget the troubles that await our return, and we laugh, cower, and cringe together. It’s the time when the barrier between that world and ours is the thinnest, so let’s enjoy it.

You know me, I love stories, and each night we have a topic. Can you guess what tonight’s will be?

Since it’s Halloween, we will be telling each other anything supernatural we’ve experienced. Anything from your socks mysteriously disappearing, to the ghosts you see in your selfies.

Good thing the night is long; there are a lot of people lining up. Caller number one, first come, first served.”

A quick beep signaled someone was on the line.

“I knew you’d pick me first, I just knew it!” A woman shrieked.

“I’m excited to meet you too,” mark answered in a friendly tone. “But have in mind that some people are wearing headphones.”

“Oops. Sorry.” She talked quieter.

“What is your name, and what story do you have for us?”

“Name is Tania. It’s about this pen pal. I’ve been single for almost a year, and everyone on the dating apps were intimidated by my good looks, so I couldn’t find a soulmate there. Then a friend told me prisons have this program where you can write to prisoners. It’s like a dating app, but with a bunch of felons.”

“So a normal dating app?”

“Haha, yeah. I did some searching, and found this really hot guy, whose only crimes were tax evasion and battery. After trading a few letters, I realized we had a lot in common. We were both animal lovers, liked art, liked music, the list goes on; so I wanted to arrange a date. He told me when the visiting hours were. Wearing my hottest attire, I arrived at the prison. The visiting room was this big place with a bunch of tables and chairs. I began to search. And wouldn’t you know it, he was talking to another woman! Supposedly he hooked up with some bitch, and forgot our date. Could you believe that?”

“How is any of that supernatural?”

“If you saw me, you’d agree that not finding a soulmate is not natural.”

Mark cut the line with a beep.

“Caller number two, remember the topic.”

“This one is definitely supernatural.” A man answered.

“What is your name, sir?”

“Anthony. Night shift construction.”

“Much respect for your profession; what have you got for us?”

“Thanks, Mark. This is something that happened last week. My team of four had just finished repairing a small road at the park, and we thought we were done for the night. Our boss, who was always a chill guy, called and sounded stressed. Without giving us any details or time to prepare, he ordered us to repair a road at the outskirts. ‘No need to be a good job, just cover it up’ were his exact words. The team and I jump in our truck. Getting there fast wasn’t a problem since there isn’t a lot of traffic at night. The old houses there were spread a quarter mile apart; the neighborhood, if you can call it that, looked dead. On our arrival, we see chunks of asphalt scattered everywhere. I’m talking big pieces torn out of the single-lane road. A tole truck with a destroyed car moves past us towards the city. I’ve seen car crashes, but that vehicle was something else. I shit you not, it looked like a chewed up dog toy. We park our ride and get out. Aside our headlights and flashlights, there aren’t any lights. The road looked horrible, I swear I saw gashes and claw marks. And they were big.”

“A monster, which hates roads?”

“We thought so too, but once examined closely, we found a tunnel big enough to fit a grown man. Whatever did that to the road, it came from beneath. Wish I could tell you what it was, but we just repaired the road and didn’t discuss it. Guess it will stay a mystery.”

“Giant moles under the city; thanks for the story Anthony.”

“No prob Mark, enjoy Halloween.”

“You as well,” Mark cut the line. “Much better than the last one. Caller three, keep the ball rolling.” The beep followed.

“Hey.” The tired voice of a boy answered.

“Hello young sir, past our bed time, are we?” Mark joked.

“Sadly, yeah. My evil teacher brought down a hellish tsunami of homework on my ass. Listening to your show to keep my sanity.”

“Good on you for doing your schoolwork, name and story?”

“I’m Harry. I just finished writing this paper and celebrated, then remembered it was double sided.”

“Sounds really scary.”

“Just messing around. That story is true, but I’ve got a better one.”

“Go on.”

“This happened at school. Just to draw the scene, my school is big, and this takes place in the cafeteria. There are a lot of people and tables. I’m waiting in line to get lunch. You can pick some small side things on the way, but the main course is the same for everyone. My turn comes, and this monster faces me. Our kind old cafeteria lady is replaced with this fat, ugly troll. Doesn’t even wear a hairnet to hide her slimy, short hair. Her stained tank top reveals tattoos and scars all over her arms.

She stares at me as if I’m a cockroach, and slaps a pile of crap on my tray. The old lunch lady wasn’t a five star cook, but the food she served looked like food, and was edible. I sat at the table I usually sit at with my friends, and start digging in the pile, trying to understand what it is. I glance at the lunch lady, and she is staring at me from the other side of the hall. I quickly take a bite out of it, and she looks away. It tasted like a salty banana dipped in barbecue sauce. A few moments past before a sharp pain ran through my stomach. Each second that past, it felt as something was burning and stabbing my insides.

I got up and bolted towards the toilet. Halfway there, in one of the corridors, I vomited all over the floor. I was feeling dizzy, and my vision was blurred. I collapsed next to my vomit and stared at the ceiling. Then the lunch lady appeared above me. She extended her hand towards me, but grabbed what I threw up next to my head. She lifted the disgusting waste and dropped it in a bucket. Half-awake on the floor, I watched her walk away.

Right before I passed out, I saw something I’ll never forget. The bucket was shaking, as if something was trying to get out. I heard nails click against its metal interior, and this creepy hiss. I never saw the lunch lady again. Turns out two other guys suffered the same thing, but we’re all fine now. They checked us, and we are healthy.”

“Sentient vomit... doesn’t sound fun.”

“Whatever it was, I’m just happy it’s over.”

“Glad you are ok.”

“Me too Mark, me too. Thanks for having me, but I gotta go finish that homework, wish me luck.”

“Good luck Harry.”

The beep sounded.

“What an experience that would have been, poor kid. Next caller. Number four, name and story?”

“Name’s Balthasar, barman.” A man answered with his low pitch voice.

“What have you got for us, Balthasar?”

“You ever heard of body modification?”

“I have, but some of the listeners haven’t. Fill them in, will you?”

“Oh I will. Body modifications can be a lot of things. As an example, the most common are piercings and tattoos. Then come contraptions, which deform your limbs, metal rods you stick through your body, getting parts of you cut and sewed back into something entirely different, injecting different substances under your skin to give your body a... different shape; definitely not for everyone, but it is art. I’m personally a tattoo guy with a little piecing here and there.

With that lesson out of the way, I work in an underground establishment for everyone with different tastes. I see all kinda people, but most of them are pretty cool. This nice couple comes each Friday; they mostly stick around the bar for a bit, and leave. I’ll call them Luke and Leia; not to give away names.

This happened last Friday. It’s around midnight, the club is pretty full, and everyone is having a blast. Then suddenly this strange sensation hits me, and judging by their looks, it hits everyone else as well. I was close with my grandad, and when he died a few years back, I couldn’t leave my room for a month. I was depressed. That night, I felt the same way; I could smell the stench of death.

Some people begin to leave. Then this guy shows up, and sits at the bar next to Luke and Leia. Pale as snow, cosmetic lenses, which make his entire eyes grey, and dressed in all black. He casually orders a drink. He had his teeth chiseled; I had seen other guys sharpen, but never a full set. I’ll call him pale man.

While I’m preparing his drink, he is ignoring me. His eyes were locked on the couple. Guy didn’t blink a single time. I couldn’t quite hear him since their was loud music, but the couple sure heard him. Luke and Leia looked enraged but sat completely still. Really still; like statues. He is talking something, then all of a sudden Leia smiles and sits on his lap. Luke is now terrified. And here comes the crazy part...

Pale man whispers something in Luke’s ear and French kisses him. And the kiss is long, like half a minute long, while Leia just has this empty smile. He pulls back, and blood pours down Luke’s mouth. A piece of meat is hanging from pale man’s mouth, as he slowly slurps it in, and chews it. Hands all over Leia, he gets up and walks away with her. Luke is sitting alone, paralyzed in fear, blood pouring from his mouth.

At this point, I have no idea what I should do. They didn’t fight back, and the girl looked like she was liking it. I had seen people do pretty kinky things there, but this just looked wrong. I’ll call him Han, a huge guy who works at the establishment, came and forcefully dragged Luke out. I don’t know what happened to him, but he wasn’t outside when I was closing up a few hours later.”

“Eating someone’s tongue with a kiss, ouch. Sorry you had to see it.”

“Pale man looked pretty frail. If he ever comes back to the club, I told Han to kick his ass.”

“Glad you solved that problem. Thanks for calling.”

“Watch out for crazy tongue eaters, Mark, later.”

“Stay safe.” Mark cut the line.

“Nasty story, all kinds of things happen out there. Caller number... let’s skip the five, caller number six, my unlucky number.”

The beep was shortly followed by muffled noise from the other side.

“Caller number six?”

Heavy breathing became audible.

“Caller number six, do you have a story?”

The breathing continued for a few seconds, and stopped.

Mark cut the line. “Caller number five, we’re going back to you.”

The beep sounded.

“Yo Mark. It’s Fred.”

“Well hello Fred, is this the... sixth time you’re calling? Been a few months.”

“Dude, that’s so rad you remember.”

“What do you have for us?”

“Dude, I found the mermaid!”

“Here we go. Before you start, there might be new listeners.”

“Sure thing. Dudes and dudettes, a few months ago, I hooked up with a mermaid, but she kinda dumped me. Been searching for her since... found her a few days ago.”

“Were you high then?”

“Maybe, why would it matter?”

“Curiosity. But go on, the floor is yours.”

“Thanks my dude. I had her name, and a sketch I drew, so I put up fliers, ads in the newspaper, and questions in Internet forums. I also walked up to people and asked them, but nobody knew her. One time I was asking this dude about her, when two huge dudes came and kidnapped me.”

“You are calling in so I’m guessing that ended well for you.”

“It sure did, my dude. They brought me up to this cliff at the coastline, and said I knew too much. Turns out my mermaid ran away from her father, who is now chasing her. He saw the ads, and sent his dudes to check me out. The dudes were actually mermaids too. Or merman. There are a bunch of mermaids who live in the sea as well.”

“Apologies for interrupting, but you should cut back on the drugs.”

“My dude, marijuana isn’t a drug, and all of this is real. They kicked me off the cliff... and my mermaid was there! Just like I remembered her. She kissed me.”

“Im glad you got a happy ending.”

“Not quite. I woke up on the beach again... without her.”

“You kissed a mermaid twice, who can beat that?”

“Yeah, I guess dude. Going to get high and listen to the rest of your show.”

“I know you will,” Mark let out a friendly chuckle. “Next caller. Number seven.”

“Markie, what up?” A woman sluggishly asked.

“Doing fantastic as always. Name and story?”

“Johana. My name is Johana. Second year in college. Do you know Bloody Mary?”

“The legend or the cocktail?”

“The legend. Say her name, spin three times in front of the mirror, and she is there.”

“A classic, would love to hear it.”

“Well... I didn’t summon Bloody Mary, I summoned a similar spirit. Her name is Acid Mary.”

“Acid Mary?”

“You take acid, spin three times in front of a mirror, and boom.”

“Does Acid Mary look like a combustion of colors?”

“Yeah, did you summon her too?”

“Wild guess,” Mark cut the line. “Next caller. I feel like a seventeen, caller seventeen, you’re up.”

“Buenas noches.”

“Good evening to you as well. Could you speak in English?”

“Si.”

Mark cut the line.

“Caller number twenty. Name and story?”

“Who am I? If I told you my real name, I might as well sentence you to death. Only the highest of ranks in the most secret of secret organizations know my true identity. Low ranks call me The Carnage Cougar, a nickname I received for successfully completing over ninety-five missions. And by missions, I refer to ones, which usually require an army of hundreds. Assassinations, espionage, cyber warfare, defensive and offensive operations, you name it. I have driven anything and everything, from baby bikes and ice cream trucks, to nuclear submarines and spacecraft. All kinds of entities keep attempting to end my life, from the generic human assassins and hit squads, to eldritch beings and aliens. I know what you are asking yourself, why would someone like me call. Well it is simple, my job doesn’t legally allow me to talk about these things, but telling it here as a fictional story is a loop hole. And why would I want that? I want people to know how amazing I am. So don’t hold back on the worshiping.”

“Alright Carnage Cougar, amaze us.”

“I am currently undercover as Doctor Big D, the newest stripper on the block. A biological warfare mutant escaped from the local secret government base, and infected a human. As always, I have to fix the problem. Sounds easy enough, right? Just kill them and get it over with. Well, that’s just it, they act and look entirely human. The special locator device, installed in the zebra themed speedo under my pants, can detect them up to a foot.”

“I’ll have to stop you right there; we’ll be forever grateful you shared this story with us, but this isn’t that kind of show,” Mark cut the line. “Hmm... a lot of people have a story to tell. Let’s look at the back of the line, number eighty-one, what can you bring to the table?”

A few seconds of muffled speech past before a man answered. “Hey. First time caller.”

“A hey back to you, name and story?”

“My name is Ca-ugh.”

“Your name is Ca-ugh?”

“Ugh... no, I meant to say my name is Conor.”

“Sure thing, Conor. What kind of story do you have?”

“It all happened at the coast.”

“I love those stories; the floor is yours.”

“My job doesn’t pay well, so to earn some extra money, I own a small boat I’d take out to fish in the sea, just far enough to still spot the city lights. The night this happened was different. I was there to... ugh... enjoy the view. Just as I was about to stop... ugh... enjoying the view... a distant pop focused my attention at the horizon. Opposite the city, far in the sea, a red dot blasted through the air. Someone had fired a flare gun.

While there were other boats closer to the shoreline, the chance they saw the signal was very low, and with no information, the coastguard wouldn’t have known to search there.

I hastily turned the engine on. My boat was definitely not a yacht, however I had mounted a small roof to partially protect myself from bad weather. Since I couldn’t tell the exact location the flare was fired from, I slowed down after relatively closing in, and unpacked a heavy flashlight.

“I’m here to help!” I yelled and moved the bright beam of light through the darkness. “Say anything!” I kept on shouting.

The further I moved away from land, the bigger the waves became. A shiny surface reflected moonlight. My eyes instantly snapped onto it, and I illuminated a yacht.

For some reason back then, I expected a sinking boat or drowning people. Engine problems were far more common and likely to happen.

I was close enough not to have to yell, so I talked aloud about how I saw their flare, and asked if everything was alright. The well-kept, seemingly new boat, didn’t have any of its lights on. This creeped me out a bit, so I proceeded to speak in a quieter tone.

The silhouette of a person past behind the windows.

“I can see you, I won’t hurt you.” I tried to sound funny and playful, but since no one answered, it came off as creepy. I slowly became anxious as an entire minute past. The sea had calmed down, and the only audible thing was my boat’s engine.

Suddenly, quiet, gentle humming came from the dark boat. There was something calming, and welcoming to it.

“Ugh... hi?” I asked. The two boats were getting very close to each other. I said that if they are alright, I’ll be leaving. It felt wrong when I said those words. I didn’t want to leave. Something forced me to turn my engine off, and listen. And not like some evil mind control; it felt calming. The moment I came closer, and the humming could be heard better, it moved away as if it was teasing me. The two boats bumped against one another.

I tried to jump to the yacht, but hit my toe, which in a way, snapped me out of whatever state I was in. The smile I didn’t know I had faded.

The humming stopped, and a figure exited the interior of the yacht. I instantly moved the beam of light on it. A young, pale woman in a blue dress stood completely still.

She greeted me with a calm monotone voice.

I lowered the flashlight’s brightness down, and asked if everything was alright.

A single yes was all she said.

Before asking her anything else, I realized there was blood around her mouth. At first it appeared she was hurt, so I asked if she needed help.

She told me not to worry, since it wasn’t hers. The woman then took a step forward. Her hands, and long, brown hair also had blood.

Scary thoughts slowly filled my mind, and I asked her whose blood it was.

She said it belonged to those who owned the boat. The woman hadn’t broken eye contact. It felt as if there was nothing behind her bright, blue eyes.

Her answer was in the past tense. Meaning they weren’t there anymore. So I asked where they were.

And this is what she answered. ‘They are dead. A vicious animal tore them apart.’

I turned the engine on, and escaped as fast as possible. The woman calmly watched me the entire time.”

“Killed a ship crew, but let you leave?” Mark asked skeptically.

“I’ll never know why.” Conor coughed, and cut the line.

“Strange fellow. So little night, so many callers. I don’t know about you, but I need a drink. Enjoy some music, while I take a small break. Don’t worry, I’ll be back...”

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BREAK

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“This is your host Mark, the clock hit the zero-two-zero-zero, and we are back. Friendly reminder to those who are joining, the topic is anything supernatural-related. It’s Halloween after all. Caller forty-two, pick up where we left, would you?”

“Only if you ask nicely.” A woman cheerfully answered.

“Would you, please?”

“My name is Rose. I hunt cryptids.”

“Interesting. Go on.”

“I have a team of two. Bill takes care of all the tech: cameras, GPS, vehicles, that kinda stuff. Linda does the research, she pretty much knows everything about any animal on our planet. And I’m the one who gets her hands dirty. My job is to hunt the creature, and tranquilize it.”

“How many cryptids have you caught?”

“Well... we have a lot of footage. But we haven’t caught anything.”

“Has the world seen this footage?”

“It has, but not many people believe it. It’s either blurry, or people call it fake. The story I’m telling has solid footage, and we actually caught something.”

“I think this is something everyone wants to hear.”

“We travel to all different kinds of places. The latest one was up at the desert north of Santa Bacia. Aside a few festivals ones or twice a year, nobody goes there. We picked up on some rumors that the government has been doing secret experiments. Problem is, a lot of other cryptid hunters picked up on it as well, so we had to hurry. We got on the off-road van, and off we went. The desert is a really big place, and we didn’t know the exact location of where these government experiments were being held.

Bill used two drones to scout ahead, which made it much easier. We didn’t think something would come up quickly, but it did. An hour in, the camera caught a big hole in the sand. Perfect square tunnel; led to a busted trapdoor. Complete darkness underneath. We dropped flares, which illuminated this large chamber. It was the real thing. Since there were no stairs, we dropped down ropes. Bill left me and Linda to climb down. First thing we saw was a busted metal detector. It was out of place, recently brought there. We faced a big reinforced door, covered in multiple dents and holes, one of which barely big enough for a human to fit. One after another, we squeezed through.

Now on the other side, we could see claw marks on the door. As if something had been trying to escape...

We found ourselves in a long corridor with doors on each side. Water drops leaked from busted pipes, which ran along the ceiling. The entire floor was slippery and wet.

Even though we had flashlights mounted on our foreheads, it was hard to see in the dark. Linda set up a motion-detecting camera. The place was trashed. A file cabinet was bent into a wall, as if it flew out of one of the rooms. Tranquilizing rifle in hand, we entered the room. Complete mess. Furniture slammed all over the place. File cabinets, desks, and they were metal. No human could have lifted them.”

“Hmm, I’ve got to give it to you Rose, you sure sound brave. This... secret government base sounds scary.”

“Oh it was, but I’m conditioned. I’ve been to worse places. So I’m in the destroyed room, and Linda points out something. Under a pile of metal cabinets, we could see a human arm. It wasn’t normal... it was sickly pale, and had blades protruding from its fingers. Metal blades! We tried to pull off all of the furniture, but it was just too heavy. We didn’t get an answer when we asked whoever was there if he was alright, so...”

“Since you found a corpse, I presume you called the police.”

“We tried, but for some reason, our phones didn’t work. We called the cops later; I’ll get there. We took pictures of the arm, and kept on looking. All of the folders on the floor were in some strange language. There were a few scattered pictures, and they were really creepy. Detailed pictures of bodies. They weren’t entirely human. Some had out-of-proportion limbs, others were unnaturally muscular or skinny. We kept some pictures and folders, and checked the other rooms. More and more useless cabinets. In the end of the corridor, there was a large double door. Of course, it was locked. So we climbed back up the ropes, got in the van, and left. We called the police, and they just told us to stay out of the desert. We came back and the square tunnel was full with sand. Lots and lots of sand. When we returned with some heavy machinery the next day, cops had blocked off the road. There is definitely something down there, and we have proof.”

“A picture of a Halloween costume hand?”

“I’m being serious!”

“Thanks for being on, dear,” Mark cut the line. “Next caller. I’ll keep this number secret. Number you-know-who, care to share a story?”

“Everyone here is a liar. You know it, I know it, they know it.” A man stated.

“You don’t believe in the supernatural?”

“Not at all, Mark. Stories are all cool to listen, but pretending this is reality is complete and utter bullshit.”

“There is no way of knowing.”

“Yeah there is. No proof, therefore not real. Rosie from the last call, you’re a liar, go get a real job. Cryptid hunter, pff, what a joke. Boat guy with the pale girl, get a girlfriend; maybe you’ll stop seeing imaginary people. Mark, listening to you is fun, but all of these peeps talking they’ve seen real ghosts and goblins is pissing me off.”

“Everyone has an opinion,” Mark replied in a friendly tone. “Real or not, taking a break from reality for a second hasn’t hurt anyone.”

“I get where you’re coming from. Love your show, but tonight’s topic is lame. Peace out.” The line cut.

“Next caller. Caller thirty-seven, lighten the mood a bit, will you?”

“George here, and I’m with the last guy. Supernatural life doesn’t exist, but hear me out before you cut me off. Everything has an explanation. Wendigos? If they exist, they aren’t magical, they are probably some animal. Ghosts? In time, science will explain them.”

“Mystery carries its charm; logical explanations, answers, we always search for them, but maybe we should leave some things be unknown.”

“I’ve got a story.”

“Go on, friend.”

“I’m a biologist, and there have been certain sightings in a certain swamp. I can’t mention its name, cryptid hunters might come, and disturb what is potentially a living fossil.”

“A living fossil?”

“Alligators have always been intriguing. They can grow a lot, but the one we’ve found... judging by shedded scales, and prints... it might be as big as a bus.”

“A bus sized alligator? Wouldn’t that be hard to miss?”

“There have been sightings-”

“Caller forty-two wants to rejoin,” Mark interrupted. “Why don’t you two have a discussion?”

Both Rose and George were on the line.

“I’m a cryptid hunter as well, would you like my assistance?” She asked.

George let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m a scientist. I don’t go on wild goose chases. The creature I am studying is not a supernatural... cryptid as you put it... it is an undocumented species.”

“That’s what a cryptid is!”

“With all due respect, you keep filming people in Halloween costumes, I have research to do.” George cut the line.

“Research? Is that what you-“

Mark cut her off as well.

“Enough with the productive debates. Caller number... number thirteen. You’ve been waiting for a while.”

“Thought my turn would never come, chief.” A man answered.

“Lucky you, it did come. Name and story?”

“Ezra. I don’t want to sound insane, but in a way, my story is a warning.”

“Ok Ezra, warn us.”

“I’ll just give a quick explanation how I got into my predicament. Basically, law enforcement thought I did a few very illegal things, which I didn’t do, and they sent their guys after me. Late at night, by accident, they stormed into my neighbor’s apartment. I heard screaming and bashing, and got a head start. I’ll skip the part where I climbed a few roofs, had a chase through alley ways, and stole a motorbike.”

“You stole a bike?”

“I panicked. They know I’m innocent about the other thing now, but I’m going to court next week for the theft.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Thanks. So that was the intro. I’m on the bike, speeding through a suburban neighborhood, while three cruisers and a helicopter are on me. Out of nowhere, the brakes stop working. I crash into a pile of trash and bushes, and thank the people in the neighborhood for littering. I get the bike up, and its engine just doesn’t want to turn back on. The three speeding cruisers behind me also have that problem. Their headlights and sirens turn off, and they crash into each other. The helicopter can’t be heard anymore as well. My confusion is quickly replaced with fear when I see the officers exit. One of them has my biggest fear... a police dog.

This part of the neighborhood has houses packed really close to one another. I begin to climb over fences, run through backyards, duck in trash and bushes. I hear them shouting and releasing the dog. All of the sounds suddenly disappear. I burst out of some bushes, and find myself around more houses, but they are different. There are absolutely no lights inside. The street lights are also really dim. I can’t hear a sound...

At this point, I’m both happy I escaped in a way, but I’m also freaked the fuck out. I start to check the doors and windows, but they are all locked. Not normally locked, felt like they were superglued. Then one of the street lights in the end of the street flickers. I take a step closer to see better. It slightly wiggles like a string. That freaks me out even more. Then two long protrusions slowly emerge from its sides. Its bottom half splits into two, forming legs. The street light takes a super, sluggish step towards me, and transforms back into a normal light. I glance back for a moment, and see the distance between street lights is uneven. They’ve been moving closer as well, as if they are gathering around me. I run back at the fences and trash. The creatures jump out of their lamp form and sprint after me. Just as they were about to catch me, all of the houses lit up, the sirens come back, and I feel the dog’s teeth sink into my leg. It tackles me to the floor, and in a second three officers are around me. I was happy a dog caught me, and not the street lamps.”

“What a... intriguing story.” Mark couldn’t find the right words.

“Thanks for having me, chief.” The man cut the line.

“Well, that was weird. I think there is time for one last caller. Number one hundred and one, you’re up.”

The beep sounded.

“Happy Halloween!” A boy yelled.

“Someone likes Halloween, why are you up so late, young sir?”

“My uncle brought me my costume!”

“Your costume?”

“Yeah. Arrived twenty minutes ago. He got me this glow-in-the-dark skeleton suit. It’s awesome. Uncle, say hello to Mark!”

“Apologies,” I heard my voice. “My nephew loves your show.”

Mark chuckled. “And Everyone here loves him, am I right listeners?”

I could hear my nephew laugh.

“Made his Halloween even better, thanks for answering. Good night everyone.” I heard my voice for the last time before the caller hung up.”

I looked back at the glow-in-the-dark skeleton costume on the backseat. I was nowhere near the city as well.

“So many people with so much to say,” Mark spoke. “Who knows what stories will be left untold... but hey, we have time. This one is for all the little moments we let ourselves forget reality, and dive into the unknown. Happy Halloween, listeners.”

Submitted October 20, 2019 at 06:46PM by Crone_Johnson https://ift.tt/35QIF3K