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4 Real Halloween Horror Stories to Chill Your Bones — Transcript

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0:03[Music]
0:18So, back in 1998, I was just 14 and
0:21living here in Leeds in the UK. I liked
0:24football. I like my mom's shepherd pie.
0:26And I like throwing sticks for our dog
0:28down at the park. Now, what I didn't
0:30like, like most people, was school. I
0:33couldn't stand it, in fact. But I had my
0:36best mate, Danny, to get me through the
0:38day there. Now, me and Danny used to get
0:40the bus together at the end of school.
0:42And no matter how much of a bad day I'd
0:44had, he'd always find a way to cheer me
0:46up. At least until one day when Dany was
0:50suddenly the one who needed cheering up.
0:53So, Danny was a good lad. He was never
0:55late for school. He did all of his
0:57homework on time and he generally kept
0:59himself out of trouble. And then one day
1:02while walking out of the boy's toilets,
1:05Dany accidentally bumped into a teacher
1:06named Mr. Carter, sending hot tea all
1:09over the front of Carter's nice white
1:11shirt.
1:12Dany apologized, but Mr. Carter was
1:15absolutely livid. Carter acted like he'd
1:19done it on purpose and then sent Dany
1:20straight to referral, which was even
1:22worse than being given straight
1:24detention. He then told the school's
1:26head teacher that Dany had deliberately
1:29spilled a scalding hot drink all over
1:31him. And this elevated the seriousness
1:34of the incident to a health and safety
1:35issue whereby somebody could have been
1:37really hurt. And as a result, the head
1:40teacher wanted Dany expelled.
1:43Dy's parents basically begged the head
1:45teacher not to expel him. And in the
1:47end, they managed to whittle down the
1:49punishment to 2 weeks of hourly after
1:52school detention, including 2 hours on
1:54Saturday mornings.
1:56Dany said they believed that he hadn't
1:58meant to hurt Mr. Carter. But being
2:01fully aware of how unfair life could be,
2:03they advised him to keep his mouth shut,
2:06take the punishment, and put it behind
2:07him. Danny's brother, on the other hand,
2:10wasn't quite so philosophical about it.
2:14Paul, who was almost a whole 3 years
2:16older than us, wanted revenge. Although
2:19he'd never been personally picked on by
2:21him, Paul had hated Mr. Carter during
2:24his own spell at school, and having his
2:26little brother treated so unfairly sent
2:28him right around the bend.
2:31But while he promised that we'd get
2:33Carter back, he told us revenge was a
2:36dish best served cold.
2:39At the time, I had no idea what he'd
2:41meant by that. So Paul explained
2:43himself. If we rode our bikes past Mr.
2:46Carter's house that very same day and
2:48pelted it with two dozen rotten eggs,
2:50he'd know who it was right away. But
2:53wait a couple of months and make him
2:55think that you're all good and sorry and
2:56all of that, and he'd have no bloody
2:59idea who it was.
3:01On top of that, Carter would have even
3:03less of an idea of who egged his house
3:05if we did something on a night of the
3:07year when all sorts of stuff like that
3:09is happening. That night being mischief.
3:14Now, for those that don't know, and to
3:16be fair, I didn't really know this
3:17myself till I Googled it. Mischief Night
3:20is a tradition that stretches back
3:22hundreds of years. Historically, it's
3:24taken place on different days of the
3:26year depending on which area of the
3:27world you're in, but the premise is
3:29always the same.
3:31The night before some sort of religious
3:33festival, kids take to the streets to
3:35perform acts of mischief. In the distant
3:38past, the mischief involved robbing
3:41cabbages from nearby farms. But more
3:44recently, in places like the United
3:46Kingdom and America, kids throw eggs or
3:48sometimes whole rolls of toilet paper
3:50over houses and trees till they're
3:52completely covered. It used to take
3:55place on the 30th of April. Then I know
3:58at one point in parts of England, it
4:00used to happen on the night before
4:01bonfire night, but these days on both
4:04sides of the Atlantic, the date seems to
4:06have settled on the 30th of October, the
4:09night before Halloween.
4:11And it's this night that Paul picked out
4:13for our revenge.
4:15Another reason Paul told us to be
4:16patient was so he could work out a way
4:18of really hurting Mr. Carter. Now, I
4:21don't mean physically hurt him. Paul was
4:23a good lad like his brother. So, the
4:25thought of actually harming the guy
4:27never seriously crossed his mind, but we
4:30needed a way of getting back at him for
4:31picking on Danny like he did, and that
4:34wasn't going to work with just a few
4:35eggs or some toilet paper.
4:38It was weeks before Paul came up with
4:40something. But then one afternoon, Paul
4:43shared his idea with us, and by gum did
4:46it seem like a good. Mr. Carter was into
4:49classic cars big time, too. So much so
4:52that he invested a hell of a lot of
4:54money into a first series Jaguar Eype
4:57that he kept locked into his garage.
5:00That car was his pride and joy, the
5:02thing that got him out of bed in the
5:03morning, and we were going to wreck it.
5:07It was early October when we started
5:09planning, but right from the beginning,
5:11we knew it'd be no easy task. We
5:14couldn't just break in during the small
5:15hours of the morning. Mr. Carter or a
5:18neighbor would wake up and call the
5:20police. So, we discussed some more
5:22silent options. We considered slashing
5:25the car's leather seats or spray
5:27painting Carter as a knob on the side of
5:29it, but that just wasn't going to cut it
5:31for Paul. He wanted Carter to suffer. I
5:35mean, really suffer. And a deeply
5:37embittered Dany signed off on whatever
5:39he came up with. So, we got creative.
5:43The first phase of the plan involved
5:45asking one of Paul's mates to do us a
5:47favor, or more like two dozen favors,
5:49actually. Almost every night for about 3
5:52weeks, Paul's mate, Marvin, would ride
5:54over to Mr. Carter's house, and then
5:56after knocking on his door really
5:58loudly, he'd hop back on his bike and
6:00ride off. He'd give us little reports on
6:03it, too, how Carter was getting angrier
6:05and angrier every time he did it. And by
6:07the time Mischief Night came round,
6:09Carter had taken to running down the
6:11street after a frantically pedalling
6:13Marvin, screaming that he'd give him a
6:15bloody good hiding once he got his hands
6:17on him. Now, everything was going
6:19according to plan, or at least according
6:22to Paul it was. All we had to do was
6:24wait until mischief night and we'd make
6:26Mr. Carter suffer big time. And on the
6:30morning of the 30th, I was buzzing with
6:32excitement. All the kids at school were
6:35asking each other what they were getting
6:36up to that night, and both me and Danny
6:38had to put on poker faces when we said,
6:41"Uh, not much. Just keeping out of
6:43trouble."
6:44Neither of us had any classes with Mr.
6:46Carter, but I saw him in the corridor at
6:48one point, and I swear that I felt the
6:50color drain from my face as we passed
6:52each other. I got it into my head that
6:55if he saw me looking shifty, he'd know
6:57that we were up to something. So, I was
6:59hugely relieved when 3:15 rolled around
7:02and it was time to go home. As me and
7:05Danny walked to the bus stop, we went
7:07over that evening's plan of action. Paul
7:09had everything organized and planned out
7:11meticulously. All I had to do was show
7:14up at their place at 7:00 p.m. When I
7:16told Danny I was nervous, he said he
7:18felt the same way. But he had also
7:20thanked me for helping out and told me
7:22that I was the best friend he'd ever
7:23had. Even if I had been harboring
7:26serious doubts, that last line would
7:28have obliterated them. And so, needless
7:31to say, there was no turning back then.
7:34A couple of hours later, all four of us
7:37were just around the corner from Mr.
7:38Carter's house. Riding in a group like
7:41that with the two older lads, all my
7:43nerves were left behind me, and I was
7:45keen as mustard to knock seven shades of
7:47crap out of Mr. Carter's old Jag.
7:51We hid our bikes down the street behind
7:52the car as Marvin snuck up Carter's
7:55path. And then after banging on the
7:57front door, Marvin ran back toward the
7:59street and climbed on his bike. But then
8:02instead of pedaling off right away, he
8:04waited until Carter had opened his front
8:06door. And then he shouted, "Catch me if
8:09you can, toss spot." And then started
8:10pedaling like mad. Carter went berserk.
8:16Marvin had told us how angry the knock a
8:19door dash was making him. But seeing it
8:21for himself was something else. He
8:23screamed something we couldn't make out
8:25and then ran for his car. Not the Jag,
8:27but his everyday car. And then after
8:29wildly backing out of his driveway, he
8:32sped off down the road in pursuit of
8:33Marvin. We were elated. The plan had
8:37worked perfectly, but we also knew that
8:39we only had about 15 minutes before
8:41Carter would return home. Marvin said it
8:44got to the point where he'd chase him in
8:45his car and then after easily escaping
8:47pursuit using the neighborhood's
8:49alleyways, Carter would drive up and
8:51down looking for him for a while, and we
8:54wasted no time in putting on our gloves
8:56and running up Carter's driveway and
8:58toward the garage. Paul then took out a
9:01towel from his bag, and after Danny held
9:03it up against the small side window, he
9:05punched it through so it broke nice and
9:07quietly.
9:09Paul knocked out the rest of the glass
9:11and then laid the towel over the bottom
9:13of the frame. And then we climbed inside
9:15before someone switched on the light.
9:17But when the light came on, there was no
9:20bloody car.
9:22We couldn't believe it. This was a big
9:25open space where the car used to be, but
9:27for whatever reason, it just wasn't
9:28there. Months of planning had amounted
9:31to nothing. And even if we manage to
9:33break a few windows or trample his
9:35flower beds, it wouldn't be as
9:36satisfying as smashing that jaguar.
9:40I remember suggesting that we just leave
9:42and maybe break one of Carter's front
9:44windows on the way out. Danny said that
9:46wasn't a bad idea, but Paul was having
9:48none of it. He said there had to be
9:51something in that garage that we could
9:52break or steal that' really get to Mr.
9:54Carter, and he wasn't leaving till we
9:56found it. Even Danny thought that it was
9:59a bit much and that we ended up getting
10:02caught if we stuck around too long. But
10:04Paul had already had something picked
10:07out. There seemed to be a foot locker,
10:09like the old military kind with a
10:11padlock, and as soon as Dany pointed it
10:14out, I knew what he was thinking. Inside
10:17would be Carter's old army and navy
10:19stuff, precious artifacts from his time
10:21in the forces. He'd be devastated if
10:24anything like that went missing. So
10:27that's what we were going to take. There
10:30were a pair of rusty old bolt cutters
10:32mounted on a tool rack nearby. And then
10:34after Paul took them down, he and Danny
10:37got to work clipping the padlock off the
10:38foot locker. I remember how loud the
10:41bolt cutters were when they finally cut
10:43through. And then Paul and Danny dropped
10:45down, flipped open the lid, and started
10:47rummaging through the foot locker's
10:49contents.
10:51Looking over the shoulders, all I could
10:52see were white envelopes. At first, I
10:55thought that they might have had money
10:56in them, seeing as they look stuffed,
10:58but all they contained were pages of
11:00handwritten letters. There were a few
11:03pieces of jewelry, and Danny stuffed
11:05those into his pockets. But then Paul
11:07pulled out a framed photograph of a
11:09young woman along with a small glass jar
11:11containing a lock of brown hair.
11:14I remember thinking the girl must have
11:16been Carter's niece or something because
11:18he didn't have a family as far as we
11:20knew.
11:22But then after looking at the photo for
11:23a few seconds, Paul dropped it back in
11:26the locker like it was radioactive.
11:29Danny asked him what the matter was and
11:31Paul told him to put the jewelry back
11:33immediately. Danny asked why, but Paul
11:36just walked over toward the broken
11:38window and told us we needed to leave.
11:41Danny started giving it loads about not
11:43leaving without getting Carter back, but
11:46Paul growled a reply of, "No, Danny," to
11:50let us know how serious he was. We
11:54hopped out of the window, grabbed the
11:55towel, and then ran out into the street
11:57and towards where we'd stashed our
11:59bikes. The last thing Paul said was,
12:02"Follow me, and don't stop until I do."
12:05And then we rode like hell till Paul
12:06finally slowed down.
12:09Now, we were all out of breath, legs
12:11burning from the wild pedaling that we
12:12just done. And me and Danny were still
12:14proper confused why Paul had suddenly
12:16reacted the way he did. We wanted to
12:19know what had scared him so much about a
12:21picture of a girl. But it wasn't the
12:23girl. It was what happened to her that
12:26scared him. Now, like I mentioned, Paul
12:29was a couple of years older than us, so
12:31there were a few things he remembered,
12:33odds and sods that were just before mine
12:35and Danny's time. And one of those
12:37things involved a young lady gone
12:39missing on Ilkley Moore. He told us that
12:42there was a big search for her and that
12:44her picture had been all over the local
12:46papers around the time she went missing.
12:48The girl in the photo frame that was in
12:50Carter's foot locker looked almost
12:52exactly like the girl had gone missing.
12:55Danny started arguing the toss, asking
12:57his brother if he was sure that it was
12:59the same girl, but Paul was positive. He
13:03told us how no one had ever found a
13:05body. She was only assumed to be dead,
13:07but he was absolutely positively 110%
13:11sure it was the same girl in the photo
13:13and that that lock of hair and those
13:14pieces of jewelry had almost certainly
13:17belonged to her.
13:19I couldn't believe it, as in I literally
13:21couldn't believe what I was hearing. I
13:23didn't think Paul was lying or making
13:25anything up, but it was also like my
13:27brain just couldn't process what I was
13:30hearing.
13:31I thought that there just had to be some
13:33kind of mistake. That maybe this missing
13:35girl was one of Carter's relatives in
13:37some capacity, and what we'd seen was
13:39nothing but just some keepsake. But Paul
13:42wasn't an idiot, and he wasn't a coward,
13:44either. He wouldn't have pulled us out
13:46of Carter's garbage unless he was deadly
13:48serious about something. I just couldn't
13:51bring myself to accept what he was
13:53suggesting.
13:54It only felt truly real once we arrived
13:57at a phone box outside of a row of shops
14:00and Paul went inside, called 999, and
14:02then anonymously reported Carter for
14:04what we'd found in his foot locker. He
14:07didn't say how he knew that jewelry and
14:09that lock of hair were in there, only
14:11that he'd seen them with his own eyes.
14:14Then, after giving Carter's address, he
14:16hung up and we rode off again. And
14:19that's when it properly sunk in what had
14:21happened that night. The police report
14:23made it real. And just like when Danny
14:25said I was his best friend, there was no
14:27turning back now. We thought there'd be
14:30a ton of police cars outside Carter's
14:32house within a few hours. Maybe a
14:34helicopter and a TV crew. But all that
14:37happened was a police constable knocking
14:39at his door. Took a look around his
14:41garbage and then just buggered off
14:42again, satisfied that there was nothing
14:44to concern himself with.
14:46It was only then we realized that what
14:49was intended as a deeply serious report
14:51had been mistaken for some mischief
14:53night shenanigans.
14:56Breaking into Carter's garage and then
14:58into his foot locker had also given him
15:00advanced warning that someone had
15:02discovered what was potentially his
15:04deepest, darkest secret. So by the time
15:06a policeman was having a mooch around
15:08his garbage, he'd probably scrub the
15:10place from top to bottom and rehidden
15:13that foot locker if he hadn't disposed
15:14of it completely.
15:16And in the weeks that followed, I
15:18thought Carter was going to be arrested
15:20at any moment. I couldn't bring myself
15:22to even look in his direction, as I
15:24feared that one look at my face and he'd
15:27know it was us who broke into his
15:28garage.
15:31Paul kept telling us to be patient
15:33again, that investigations took time and
15:35that Carter would be arrested
15:37eventually, but he wasn't. Nothing ever
15:40happened. Or rather, the only thing that
15:42happened is that Carter got away with
15:44it.
15:45And just after Christmas, once we were
15:47all back in school, there was an
15:49announcement in the school's assembly.
15:52Carter was leaving, not just at another
15:54school somewhere in England, but to
15:56teach at some international school in
15:58Hong Kong. The head teacher treated it
16:01like Carter was moving up in the world,
16:03going on some grand adventure to the
16:05Orient. Only me, Danny, and Paul, and
16:07Marvin knew the real reason Carter was
16:10moving. We talked about it once or twice
16:12and Danny mentioned something about
16:14extradition. He didn't know the word for
16:16it at the time. He just asked about the
16:19potential of Hong Kong handing Carter
16:21over once his crimes came to light. But
16:24then Paul shared his theory on why
16:26Carter had picked Hong Kong over just
16:28about anywhere else in the world. It
16:30might have been an ex-British colony and
16:32it might have still had plenty of
16:34English-speaking institutions, but Hong
16:36Kong had been handed over to China that
16:38previous year. If it was no longer
16:41British territory, and since the UK
16:42didn't have an extradition treaty with
16:44China, Carter wouldn't have to return
16:46home. Even if they found a smoking gun
16:49on his property, there was nothing the
16:51police or government could do to bring
16:52him to justice. And the worst part, it
16:56was all our fault. By breaking into that
17:00foot locker, all we'd done is give him
17:02advanced warning.
17:04He might have come across her at some
17:05point and if the police raided his
17:07house, they'd have found the same thing
17:09we did, but any chance of that happening
17:12were scuppered the moment that we
17:14decided to cut the padlock off. Smash
17:17his car and maybe the police find the
17:19foot locker while they're following up
17:20on a vandalism report. But by making an
17:23anonymous report on mischief night of
17:25all the bloody nights, all we'd really
17:28done was make sure Carter could escape
17:30justice.
17:31And to this day, I still feel this deep
17:34twinge of shame and regret. Paul had it
17:37the worst, what with it being his idea.
17:40He got mad and to booze as he got older
17:43and was an out of work alcoholic by the
17:45time he was 30. People thought he was
17:47just a loser, someone who couldn't deal
17:49with the everyday working world. But me
17:52and Danny no different because it's the
17:55same shame and guilt we only barely
17:56managed to fight off that ended up
17:59completely consuming him.
18:05[Music]
18:10I grew up in a place called Shallow
18:12Water, a little northwest Texas town
18:14about 10 mi outside of Leach. When I was
18:1819, I had a job at the XFAB plant, and I
18:21used to get a ride to work with a couple
18:22of co-workers. Every morning, we'd stop
18:25at this little coffee place called
18:27Hebrews to get some cups of go juice.
18:30And it's there that I met a girl named
18:32Rita. We got to talking about the donuts
18:35and which ones were our favorite. And
18:37then, after confirming she was single,
18:39we swapped phone numbers and started
18:41texting back and forth. We went on a
18:44couple of dates throughout October and
18:45then towards the end of the month. And
18:47with Halloween coming up, I asked Rita
18:49if she had any plans for it. And she
18:51said that she was headed to a Halloween
18:53party up towards the country club and
18:56that if I wanted to go, I could tag
18:58along with her and her friends. Now, I
19:00was wild about this girl at the time,
19:02and none of my friends had any plans
19:04outside of sitting at home probably
19:05playing PUBG. So, I figured, why the
19:08hell not? So, I put together a pretty
19:11basic Ghost Face costume, the same thing
19:13that I'd worn a couple of years before.
19:15And then I took the opportunity to show
19:17Rita that I actually had some social
19:19skills by winning over her friends. It
19:22made for a pretty fun night, at least
19:24until Rita went to the bathroom, then
19:26came back faster with this very worried
19:29look on her face. She said that her ex
19:31had showed up completely out of the
19:33blue, too. He was supposed to be away
19:36working on some oil rigs out in the
19:37Gulf, but apparently there had been a
19:39change of plan, and it meant that I
19:41needed to get out of there.
19:43In short, Rita's ex was an a-hole, and
19:46if I stuck around, there would 100% be a
19:49fight once he worked out who she was
19:51with. I didn't want to leave, but I also
19:54didn't want to fight that guy. So, I
19:56said goodbye to Rita and her friends,
19:58and then figured that I could slip out
20:00without any issues. But then, right as
20:02I'm walking down the driveway of this
20:04big old house, I hear someone yelling
20:06from behind me saying, "That's right.
20:09You get the hell out of here before I
20:11kick your ass.
20:13Now, I looked over my shoulder to see
20:15some angryl looking dickwad being held
20:17back by his douchy looking buddies, and
20:19he just kept on yelling stuff at me as I
20:22turned out of the driveway and hit the
20:23road. I intended on walking back to
20:26shallow water, which would take a couple
20:28of hours, but I didn't mind. I was too
20:31obsessed to care about walking all that
20:33way, and thoughts of Rita kept me warm
20:35before my phone suddenly buzzed in my
20:37pocket. It was Rita and she said that
20:40her ex was pissed. After starting
20:43another fight, he and his buddies had
20:45been kicked out of the party. They were
20:46mad as hell and they intended on
20:48catching up with me so they could give
20:50me that little ass whooping. Now, I had
20:53this gut feeling of uh-oh. And as I
20:56realized that they were driving and I
20:58was on foot, it was only a matter of
21:00time before they caught up with me.
21:02I lost my ghost face mask at the party,
21:05but I was still wearing that raggedy
21:07kind of black gown thing as I started
21:09jogging down the side of the highway. It
21:11seems kind of dumb looking back on it,
21:13but at the time I couldn't think of
21:14anything else that would help. I needed
21:17to get home, or at least get out of the
21:18area so I could make it harder for
21:20Rita's ex and his boys to find me. And
21:23so there I am, jogging along the side of
21:25the highway in my Halloween costume. And
21:27every so often, I'm looking over my
21:29shoulder and approaching cars, thinking,
21:32"Please do not be a Rita's ex." And they
21:35all keep passing me one by one until one
21:37of them slows down right alongside me.
21:40And I think, "This is it." I turned to
21:43look at the car, expecting to see a car
21:45full of jerkoffs ready to kick the crap
21:47out of me. But it was a lone woman who
21:50rolled down her passenger side window
21:52and called out to me, asking if I needed
21:54a ride.
21:55She looked like your typical soccer mom
21:57in her SUV and purple sweater and
22:00followed up by saying that she figured
22:02if I was running alongside of the road
22:03that I most likely needed to ride
22:05someplace.
22:07And I told her that she was a godsend,
22:09that I'd never needed to ride so much in
22:11my entire life. And then after making
22:13sure that she was headed my way, I
22:15hopped in the passenger seat and we took
22:17off down the road. Now, she introduced
22:20herself as Deborah and asked why I've
22:22been running down the side of the road
22:23in the first place.
22:25I didn't know what else to tell her, so
22:27I just told her the truth. I told her
22:29all about Rita, how her ex had shown up
22:32at the Halloween party that we were at,
22:34and how I was running because she texted
22:36me saying he was out to kick my butt. I
22:39also tied that into why I was so
22:41grateful that she stopped for me. At
22:43which point, Deborah laughed and told me
22:45it was no problem. But she did say
22:47that's what I got for dipping my toes
22:49into the dating pool. Now, I could not
22:51have agreed more, but I didn't agree
22:54when she said that I should be finding a
22:56nice girl to settle down with. I mean, I
22:58agreed with the nice girl part, but
23:00settle down and get married at 19. That
23:03kind of sounded like a nightmare. Now, I
23:05only politely disagreed, and she laughed
23:07again like she knew I would. And then we
23:10just kept on driving while talking about
23:12this and that, and we'd already
23:14established that I was headed over to
23:16Shallow Water, and Deborah had said that
23:18she was going the same way. So when she
23:20turned off the highway and started
23:22heading straight east, I figured that
23:24there had been some confusion at first.
23:26So I reminded her of where I was headed,
23:28she said that she hadn't forgotten. She
23:31just had to make a stop at a friend's
23:32place on the way back. Since she was
23:35giving me a ride out of the kindness of
23:36her heart, I wasn't about to complain
23:38about the pit stop. So I just kept on
23:41with the small talk as we drove down
23:42this very dark, dirt road. But when she
23:46suddenly stopped the car, the mood
23:48shifted completely.
23:50I asked Deborah why she suddenly
23:52stopped, but she didn't reply. She just
23:55reached into the compartment of her
23:56door. Then the next thing I knew, I had
23:59a gun pointed at me.
24:03I just froze up at first, partially in
24:05fear, partially in complete disbelief.
24:09Deborah then tossed a small sack at me,
24:11one made of a black cloth, and she told
24:13me to put it over my head.
24:16I thought it was a joke. Just a really
24:19bad joke. So, I told her, "This has to
24:22be a joke."
24:23But Deborah wasn't joking. Not at all.
24:26And she said that I could either put the
24:28bag over my head, or she'd shoot me in
24:30the head, call 911, and tell the cops I
24:33tried to violate her.
24:36Again, I was just stunned. It was a
24:39waking nightmare. had to come out of
24:41nowhere. So, I just couldn't find the
24:43words till she says, "Are you deaf? Put
24:46the bag over your head before I shoot
24:48you dead."
24:50I asked where she was going to take me
24:52and what she was going to do with me.
24:54But more of an act of defiance, if
24:56anything. I knew she wasn't going to
24:58tell me. It was all just a way of
25:00delaying the inevitable.
25:03Then, when Deborah told me one more time
25:04to put the bag over my head, I did as I
25:07was told.
25:09Once my face was covered and I was
25:11almost completely blind, Deborah got us
25:13moving again. I kept asking where we
25:16were going and what she was going to do
25:18with me. But whenever she did speak,
25:20Deborah only said stuff like, "Shut up,
25:23demon. I ain't got ears for none of your
25:26lies."
25:27And she kept referring to me that way,
25:30as a demon. when we stopped the car and
25:32she ordered me out. I couldn't see where
25:35I was walking, but she kept the gun to
25:37my back until I recognized that we'd
25:39walked inside someplace.
25:42The next thing, she's told me to put my
25:44arms out, and she's tying my wrists
25:46around some sort of metal support that
25:48felt cold on my wrists.
25:51After that, she took the hood off, and I
25:54could see that I was in a barn.
25:56Deborah told me if I did anything funny,
25:59she'd kill me when she came back.
26:01Then she left the barn for what felt
26:03like forever before coming back with
26:04what looked to be her younger daughter
26:07or something.
26:09She still had that gun pointed at me as
26:11she told her kid how I was a demon. And
26:14if they both said a prayer, I'd reveal
26:16myself as the monster I was. The whole
26:19time I'm trying to reason with her,
26:21telling her I'm a good person, and then
26:23I say my prayers, too. Stuff like that.
26:26But Deborah keeps telling her daughter
26:28things like, "Now hear that? Those are
26:31the devil's lies. And we don't have ears
26:34for the devil's lies, do we, sweetie?"
26:38She had that kid trained pretty good.
26:40She barely even looked at me. Just kept
26:42her eyes on her mama, nodding yes or no
26:45whenever she asked a question like, "And
26:47you know what we do with demons, don't
26:49you, sweetie?
26:51That's right. We destroy them.
26:56Then both of them together started
26:57praying. And no matter how much I begged
27:00them both to see some sense, they
27:02wouldn't listen. When I got louder, they
27:05got louder until we were all screaming
27:07so loud it seemed crazy that no one
27:10could hear us. But no one could hear us.
27:13And so no one showed up to help me.
27:16And when I was done screaming and
27:18Deborah was done praying, she told her
27:21daughter to look at me and see the demon
27:23that's been revealed.
27:26That kid saved my life because she took
27:28one look at me crying and begging for my
27:30life and sobs and said,
27:34"I don't see a demon, mommy."
27:37Now Deborah responds, "Of course you do,
27:40sweetie. Look harder."
27:43But her kid just shook her head and
27:44repeated herself.
27:46And I'll never forget the look on that
27:48woman's face when she gave me a kind of
27:51second look or like she looked at me for
27:53the first time all over again. She
27:56looked like she was studying me and then
27:59she looked very surprised and then
28:01finally she looked very sad. She turned
28:04to her kid and said something along the
28:06lines of,
28:08"Mommy
28:10made a mistake."
28:12And I joined in. Yes, a mistake. as if
28:16that's all that happened. Everyone makes
28:18mistakes.
28:20Please let me go. Please let me go.
28:24But again, Deborah didn't seem to
28:26listen. Her little girl's eyes were
28:29fixed on me, all wide and afraid, but
28:31glassy, like she was right on the verge
28:33of tears. But Deborah didn't look. Not
28:36at first. She just kept saying how sorry
28:39she was before offering to take her back
28:41inside.
28:43I had to wait another God knows how long
28:45before Deborah showed up again. Still
28:47holding that gun and with a black bag in
28:49her hand again. I felt this deep feeling
28:52of relief seeing the bag because I knew
28:55that it meant that she was going to
28:56drive me someplace again or maybe walk
28:59me someplace.
29:01Either way, she wasn't going to shoot
29:02me, but that didn't mean that she didn't
29:04threaten to.
29:06She gave me some big speech about how
29:08she was doing God's work out there and
29:10how sometimes she made mistakes in
29:12identifying demons or devil worshippers.
29:16She was very sorry that she put me
29:17through all that, but she also couldn't
29:19leave me alone unless I promised not to
29:21tell anyone about what she'd done.
29:25Right there, with either the gun or the
29:27black bag on offer, I'd have said just
29:29about anything she asked me to. So, I
29:32promised her I promised to God that I'd
29:34never breathe a word of what happened
29:36that night to another living soul.
29:39And then Deborah put the bag back on my
29:41head, untied my hands, and then directed
29:44me back towards her car. And the next
29:47time she took the bag off my head, we
29:49were on a dark stretch of highway that I
29:51couldn't identify.
29:53Deborah said it was roughly where she'd
29:55picked me up. And as much as I couldn't
29:57be sure, I was too relieved to be out of
29:59that barn and out of her car to give a
30:01good god damn where I was exactly.
30:04And before she drove off, she actually
30:06said, "God bless you." and explained how
30:10God would reward me in heaven if I kept
30:12my mouth shut.
30:15Well, I didn't keep my mouth shut. And
30:17after I walked all the way back to
30:18Shallow Water, I called the county
30:20sheriff and filed a report. I knew it
30:22wouldn't be an openandshot case
30:24obviously, but the cops got back to me
30:26and the prognosis was probably worse
30:29than I thought. Without any witnesses or
30:32anything like that, any kind of legal
30:34proceeding would be a sort of case of he
30:37said, she said, Deborah's version of
30:40events were obviously entirely different
30:42from mine. But it wasn't just they were
30:44different, they were varied wildly. She
30:48said that she did the Christian thing of
30:49giving me a ride home and I tried to
30:51take advantage after stopping at her
30:53home so she could give me a bite to eat.
30:56She said that I was drunk, which
30:58admittedly I was, and the fact that I've
31:00been partying beforehand would look real
31:02bad if it was just put in front of a
31:04judge.
31:05And then on the off chance that they did
31:07manage to pin a charge on her, it might
31:10not be anything big like kidnapping.
31:12Because if she convinced a court that
31:13she was in fear for her life, they might
31:15not even convict her for reckless
31:17endangerment and she might just walk.
31:20And in the end, the best advice the cops
31:23would give me was, "Don't get in the
31:25cars with any more strangers. And to
31:27save myself the stress, I just chose not
31:30to press charges."
31:32Needless to say, I had one hell of a
31:35story to tell Rita. and she thought that
31:37it was crazy not to press charges. At
31:40least until I explained how it might
31:42potentially have my name dragged through
31:44the mud. If I tried to get Deborah
31:46locked up, which wasn't even her real
31:48name, by the way, she could make the
31:50counter claim that I was just some drunk
31:52pervert who tried attacking her after
31:54showing me kindness. This was right on
31:57the cusp of stuff like MySpace getting
31:59big, too. So, the idea that people could
32:01look me up and assume that I was some
32:03kind of predator, that would be like a
32:05whole second nightmare I had the power
32:07to avoid.
32:09Sometimes I regret it, especially when I
32:11think about her doing the same thing to
32:13other people because I get a sick
32:15feeling in my stomach that some people
32:17didn't get to walk away.
32:23[Music]
32:28So, I'm an Italian American on both
32:30sides of my family, and my dad's side
32:32has lived in Brooklyn since the 1930s.
32:35My grandpa, Luca, came over on his ship
32:38when he was still in his 20s, and as
32:40long as I knew him, he was the most
32:42deeply Catholic man I'd ever known. He
32:45carried rosary beads around with him. He
32:47never missed a mass or confession. and
32:49he sprinkled holy water in his bedroom
32:51every night to protect against evil
32:53spirits while he slept. But there was
32:55one aspect of his faith that he didn't
32:57pay much mind to, and that was the
32:59obligation for pilgrimage.
33:02My maternal grandmother always prided
33:04herself on her visits to the sanctuary
33:06of the Madonna Dorito and the Mont
33:09Santangelo,
33:11but Grandpa Luca had absolutely no
33:13intention of returning to Italy for any
33:15reason whatsoever.
33:17During one of the many conversations I
33:19had with him, I asked him why that was,
33:21why a man so proud of his culture and
33:24cuisine could be so averse to seeing his
33:26homeland again. He replied that as much
33:29as there were things he disliked about
33:31America, it was a new place where the
33:34things of the old world couldn't follow
33:35him. I was never quite sure what he
33:38meant by that. if it was heartbreak or
33:41debt or the mafia that drove him to
33:43America. But one day when I was old
33:45enough, he saw it good to actually tell
33:48me a story. And I realized why he'd
33:51stayed so quiet about it in the past.
33:54So born in 1911, Grandpa Luca was 11
33:58years old when Mussolini and his
33:59fascists came to power. He grew up in a
34:02very poor area of southern Italy, a
34:04place where the fascists had a lot of
34:06support. So when grandpa turned 17, he
34:09was proud to enlist in a very prominent
34:11paramilitary organization.
34:14I don't want to turn this into a whole
34:15history lesson, so I won't go into it
34:17too much in detail regarding which
34:19organization Grandpa joined, but let's
34:22just say it was a very brutal, very
34:24fanatical one that ran their own secret
34:26prisons on behalf of the state. And
34:29being a dictatorship, the government had
34:31to disappear a lot of people to keep
34:33hold of said power. But they also needed
34:36a place for these people to disappear,
34:38too. And that's how they ended up
34:39setting up their own secret prisons
34:41around the Italian countryside.
34:44My grandpa was young and keen to do his
34:46part for his country. And he never
34:48envisioned himself guarding the jail
34:50cells of artists or poets, but he never
34:53complained either. And then when he
34:55proved himself capable, he got moved to
34:57a place where more dangerous prisoners
34:59were kept. And these weren't just
35:02prisoners of conscience. And some of
35:04them were hardened partisans who'd taken
35:06up arms against the state. But there
35:08were other kinds of prisoners, too. You
35:11see, one of the ways the fascists kept
35:13their grip on power was by partnering
35:15with the Catholic Church. But this
35:17partnership had its conditions. The
35:20church had to tell everyone that
35:21Mussolini was a good guy. Then in
35:23return, the fascists would wield their
35:25power to crush the church's enemies. But
35:28who did the Catholic Church call its
35:30enemies? Well, to put it bluntly,
35:33religious cults. And when I heard cult,
35:37I thought of the branch devidians at
35:38Waco or Jim Jones and company drinking
35:41the Kool-Aid down in South America. But
35:44we only heard about the bad religious
35:46cults, and there happened to be some
35:47that aren't nearly so sinister.
35:51A religious cult might form around a
35:53particular saint, for example, or a
35:55group might practice mild forms of
35:57flagagillation. The latter is all well
35:59and good if it's sanctioned by the
36:01church. But if it's done without strict
36:03adherence to doctrine or without their
36:05explicit permission, it's considered a
36:07grave sin. And as much as they probably
36:10like to, the Catholic Church can't just
36:12go around arresting and detaining people
36:14for committing sins. But that's where
36:16the fascists came in. Thugs who would do
36:19things that would get their hands dirty.
36:22Instead of poets, artists, and
36:23resistance fighters, Grandpa found
36:25himself guarding the cells of sweet old
36:28priests or harmless hermits who posed a
36:31threat to the church's control.
36:33It seemed almost every day some harmless
36:36old fruitcake was dragged in, broken,
36:38and bleeding. And every single time, my
36:41grandpa would wonder why. But then came
36:44the day when they dragged a man in with
36:45no name. And Grandpa didn't wonder
36:47anymore.
36:49Even the most withered and isolated
36:51hermits gave a name when beaten hard
36:53enough. But this man, who was stick thin
36:56and with long black hair, only said, "I
36:59don't have a name." Even after a time in
37:02the prison's torture chamber, and since
37:05he headed up one of those more sinister
37:07cults I mentioned earlier, who practiced
37:09ritual slaughter on All Hallow's Eve, he
37:12was considered a very dangerous man. And
37:16so unlike most of the prisoners who were
37:18kept in large and communal containment
37:20areas, the man with no name was kept in
37:22constant solitary confinement. And for
37:26the first time, Grandpa Luca understood
37:28why. The man with no name had a dark,
37:32almost nauseating aura about him. And it
37:35was said that he'd done terrible things
37:37as the leader of his cult. So for the
37:39first time in a long time, Grandpa
37:41understood the need for such stringent
37:43security. and he was glad for it. The
37:47prison was a brutal, unforgiving place,
37:49but like any prison, the people in
37:51charge needed ways of keeping the
37:53inmates placid.
37:55They were allowed cigarettes. They were
37:57allowed to play soccer, and they were
37:59allowed to put on plays or shows so long
38:02as they weren't of a political nature.
38:05Aside from a handful of fascist approved
38:07titles, the prisoners weren't allowed
38:09any books, and they weren't allowed to
38:11have any writing materials either. But
38:13they were allowed things like chess
38:15sets, playing cards, and other such ways
38:17of entertaining themselves. The
38:20prisoners in solitary confinement were
38:22no different. They too needed mental
38:24stimulation to prevent restlessness, and
38:26this was how the guards ended up
38:28honoring an odd request from the man
38:30with no name.
38:32He didn't accept any of the books,
38:34cigarettes, or playing cards offered to
38:35him and seemed content to stare blankly
38:38at the wall of his cell all day.
38:41But this made the guards worry that he
38:43was going insane, so they asked if there
38:45was anything they could bring him to
38:46keep him occupied.
38:48Some prisoners asked for a ball to
38:50bounce, and others asked for a Bible.
38:53But in the case of the man with no name,
38:55he asked for a rock and a strip of
38:57sandpaper to shape it with. The request
39:00made it all the way up to the warden who
39:02decided that there was no harm in
39:03allowing the prisoner such objects so
39:05long as nothing sharp or bladed was
39:07given to him. And so that same day, a
39:10guard stopped by his cell and gave him a
39:12rock and some sandpaper.
39:14And over the next few weeks, the man
39:16with no name started shaping that rock.
39:19Guards would stop by his cell to check
39:21in on him every so often or to deliver
39:24his daily bread and water, and they'd
39:26see his progress. They'd see how that
39:29jagged piece of stone was smoothed off
39:31and then worn away in certain sections
39:33until it was smooth and shiny all over.
39:37And then right about the same time the
39:39rock started to get very smooth and
39:41oblong, like an almost oversized pill,
39:44the general prisoner population got more
39:46and more rowdy. They were making demands
39:49about exercise and food, saying they
39:52needed more of both, that they were
39:53going to riot. Guards beat unruly
39:56prisoners mercilessly if they attacked
39:58each other and denied food to those who
40:00attacked guards, but nothing seemed to
40:03calm their tempers, and the unrest got
40:05worse and worse.
40:08Every night, the prisoners would
40:09congregate in the courtyard where they
40:11normally played soccer, and they'd chant
40:13slogans about a free Italy. The guards
40:16had tried everything except shooting the
40:18prisoners to calm them down. And the
40:20warden still only had the mandate for a
40:22prison, not a death camp. So they
40:24couldn't just shoot anyone who refused
40:26orders. But nor could they carry on with
40:28the beating and starvation because those
40:31kinds of punishments only made the
40:32general population more violent.
40:35Instead, the warden tried to make a deal
40:37with them. On all Hallow's Eve, the
40:40night before Halloween, the warden
40:43gathered the prisoners to make an
40:44announcement. If they stopped
40:46demonstrating, he would arrange a
40:48delivery of fresh bread to the prison
40:50along with several cases of good wine so
40:52each prisoner could have a whole cupful
40:54to themselves. I guess they considered
40:57that the nuclear option, the thing that
41:00had put the demonstrations to bed. But
41:02to the warden's surprise, the offer did
41:05nothing to quell the unrest. I guess the
41:09warden got mad that the prisoners
41:10rejected his offer. So he went right
41:12back to offering beatings and starvation
41:15only double as much. But this not only
41:18caused another demonstration, but it
41:20escalated into a fullcale prison riot.
41:24Grandpa said that he'd never seen
41:25violence like it before or since. He
41:28said it was like the prisoners were in a
41:30rapid frenzy, that they weren't just
41:32attacking prison guards and trying to
41:33tear the prison itself apart, but they
41:35were killing each other, too.
41:37Prisoners who had once been friendly
41:39with each other were now literally at
41:41each other's throats, ripping each other
41:43apart with their bare hands. It was
41:46chaos. Pure blood soaked chaos. And the
41:50prison guards had no choice but to
41:51withdraw, surround the prison, and kill
41:54anyone who broke out and tried to
41:56escape.
41:58All night long, the riot lasted from
42:00dusk until dawn. But only a single
42:03prisoner breached the outer wall to be
42:05shot by the waiting guards.
42:07The next morning, the guards walked back
42:09into the prison and were greeted by a
42:12scene from a nightmare. There were dead
42:14bodies lying all over the prison's
42:16courtyard, and there was so much blood
42:18that had formed big puddles on parts of
42:20the yard. Most of the prisoners were
42:23back in their cells, either completely
42:24exhausted, frightened out of their
42:26minds, or nursing some severe wounds.
42:29Most were accounted for in one way or
42:31another. But once they completed their
42:33body count, the guards realized someone
42:36was missing, but there was no time
42:38wasted in figuring out who because only
42:41one of the cells was empty. The cell
42:44belonging to the man with no name.
42:47Grandpa corrected himself after saying
42:49the cell was empty because that wasn't
42:51strictly true. It just didn't have
42:53anyone living inside of it. Lying on the
42:57floor of the cell in a pool of his own
42:59blood was a prisoner. One who had no
43:02apparent connection between himself and
43:04the man with no name. His heart had been
43:06torn out, ripped clean out of his chest,
43:09and the man with no name was nowhere to
43:11be found. The guards searched the prison
43:13from top to bottom, certain that the man
43:16had to be hiding somewhere, but they
43:18couldn't find him. And in the end, they
43:20do accept that somehow the man with no
43:22name had escaped.
43:25Grandpa said a big investigation
43:27followed because the warden was
43:28convinced that he couldn't have escaped
43:30without the assistance of a guard.
43:32He said one of them was either a member
43:34of the man with no names cult or he'd
43:37been bribed or threatened into helping
43:39him escape by the man's acolytes.
43:42Grandpa said all of them were dragged
43:44into interview rooms and then threatened
43:45with imprisonment or worse if they
43:47didn't confess. But not a single guard
43:50showed any hint of being involved, and
43:52the warden was forced to come to an
43:54alternative conclusion to save his skin.
43:57The official report stated that to the
43:59best of the warden's knowledge, the man
44:01with no name had died during the riot
44:03and that his remains were too mutilated
44:05to properly identify. And this was way
44:08more acceptable to the warden superiors
44:10because he wouldn't exactly go around
44:12saying the man had disappeared. But
44:15disappeared is exactly what the guards
44:17thought happened. They just had to keep
44:19their mouth shut about it. And that
44:21wasn't the only thing that they were
44:23ordered to keep quiet about. Some of the
44:25guards started saying that the unrest
44:27only started happening when the man with
44:29no name took to shaping that stone of
44:31his and how it got worse and worse as
44:33the stone got smooth and then started to
44:36take shape. One of the guards added that
44:39on the morning of October 31st, the man
44:41finally completed his little project.
44:45He turned that jagged rock into a small
44:47but perfectly formed figure of a man.
44:51And hours later the demonstrations
44:53turned nasty. The warden had his offer
44:56rejected and that terrible slaughter had
44:59started. And such things were not
45:01allowed to be discussed and nor were the
45:03guards permitted to leave or transfer
45:05their posts lest somebody suspect that
45:08the warden's version of events be
45:10anything less than truthful.
45:12Grandpa realized that if he was going to
45:15escape his life as a prison guard, he'd
45:17have to escape the entire country. And
45:20so that's what he did. He went awall,
45:23smuggled himself into France, and then
45:26was on a ship headed for New York by his
45:28first week of December. He spent his
45:30first Christmas in New York alone and
45:33not being able to speak English. But he
45:35didn't mind because America was a place
45:37where the things of the old world
45:40couldn't follow him.
45:45[Music]
45:51I could get in a lot of trouble for
45:53posting this, so I'd like to remain as
45:55anonymous and nondescript as possible.
45:57Now, I'm sorry if this gets annoying
45:59while reading this, but I'm confident
46:00you'll understand my reasoning once you
46:02reach the end. So, I work as a teacher
46:05in an English-speaking country teaching
46:077 to 11 year olds. And let's just say
46:10that I've got a few years experience
46:12under my belt. I have no regrets. I love
46:15my profession and I'd do it all again in
46:17a heartbeat given the chance. But while
46:20the highs have been high, the lows have
46:22been lows in ways that I'm not sure
46:24other people can imagine. You see, when
46:26you work with kids, you get to be part
46:28of some pretty incredible things
46:30sometimes. But there's a dark side of
46:32it, too. And sometimes you end up privy
46:35to things that quite literally haunt
46:37you.
46:38One day, right at the start of our term,
46:41we had a kid that I'll just call Arive
46:43in my class.
46:45A was from a non-English-speaking
46:47country, and although they struggled
46:49with communication at first, extra
46:51English lessons really helped him out.
46:53And it only took a couple of weeks
46:55before his personality started to shine
46:57through. A was also from a country that
47:00didn't celebrate Halloween, at least not
47:03nearly in the same way that we do in the
47:05West nowadays. So as September rolled
47:08into October and the Halloween
47:09decoration started going up, the level
47:12of enthusiasm with which we celebrated
47:14it came as quite a surprise. You see, A
47:17came from a very conservative culture,
47:20one that took things like ghosts and
47:21ghouls and witches very seriously. So he
47:24found the whole thing quite scary at
47:26first. Then once it was explained to him
47:29that it was all just a bit of fun and we
47:31were taking things that scare us and
47:33making them not so scary anymore, he
47:36started to see the fun side. The kids in
47:38my class made me so proud of them that
47:40term because they welcomed A into the
47:43fold with open arms. They asked a lot of
47:45very awkward questions about his accent
47:47and his background and stuff, but only
47:49in the way that kids are prone to do. So
47:51there was nothing that I'd have labeled
47:53bullying. But then once they got to know
47:56him a little bit more, A was quite a
47:58popular young man. And around Halloween,
48:01some of them took it upon themselves to
48:02teach him all about it. They taught him
48:05about vampires, about zombies and
48:07werewolves. But the creature A found
48:10particularly enchanting was that of
48:12Dracula. I asked him why, and he said he
48:15liked the idea of staying up all night
48:17and being able to turn into something
48:18that could fly, i.e. a bat. It was
48:22adorable. Seeing him bonding with his
48:24peers and conquering his fears all at
48:26once. And having him really enthusiastic
48:29about a new thing was great for his
48:31English. Slightly odd that some of his
48:33first advanced English words were things
48:35like undead and trans, but whatever it
48:39takes, I suppose. Halloween that year
48:41was on a Friday, and after lunchtime, me
48:44and my class played dress up. We put on
48:47masks and makeup and scary costumes and
48:49had a pretty good laugh about having an
48:51impromptu Halloween party. A wore a pair
48:55of plastic fangs that I bought and a
48:57torn bin liner as a cape. And then he
49:00spent the whole time creeping around and
49:01hissing at the other kids from behind
49:03his shiny black plastic cape. They
49:06thought it was a riot and once again a
49:09was a joy to watch. Then at the end of
49:11the day, he insisted on going home still
49:13wearing his cape and fangs. I told my
49:16boyfriend about it that weekend and
49:18agreed that A sounded like a really nice
49:19kid. And then come Monday morning, I was
49:23excited to find out his little vampire
49:25routine had survived the weekend. But A
49:28wasn't in class that morning.
49:31We had to have the headmaster call his
49:33family at home to find out where he was.
49:35And it was only then we found out that
49:37he was sick. The headmaster asked his
49:40parents to make sure they informed us of
49:42illness in the future. And they said,
49:44"Sure, fine. No problem. And then that
49:47was that. The next morning, A still
49:50hadn't returned to school, so his
49:51headmaster called his family again to
49:53ask for an update. Their English wasn't
49:56fantastic, but they could speak enough
49:58to get across that A still needed bed
50:00rest and would return to school as soon
50:02as he was able. Again, this was no
50:05problem. But then, after not showing up
50:07all week and not showing up the first
50:10two days of the next week, we started to
50:12worry. The headmaster placed a third
50:14call to A's family. But after he got the
50:17same response of he's sick and needs bed
50:20rest, the headmaster asked if they had
50:22taken A to a doctor. His parents said
50:25no. They hadn't taken him to a doctor.
50:28But the reasons for not taking him were
50:30lost in translation. And that was the
50:32first time that the words social
50:34services cropped up into the
50:36conversation and things escalated from
50:38there. A full 2 weeks after A was absent
50:42from school, a social worker knocked on
50:44the door of his family home. The same
50:47conversation played out again with the
50:48social worker being told that A was sick
50:51and the social worker asked if she could
50:53come inside to see him, but A's parents
50:55refused.
50:57The social worker said that she had the
50:58power to come back with a police officer
51:00and they'd be arrested if they barred
51:02her access to A, but either they didn't
51:04understand what she was saying or they
51:06didn't care. In an ideal world, the
51:10police should have gone over to the
51:11house immediately to perform a wellness
51:13check. But red tape meant the social
51:15worker couldn't get a specially trained
51:17member of the community outreach team
51:19until a full 3 weeks after a's initial
51:22absence. And then, and only then, could
51:25they access A's family home, and what
51:28they found inside must have shaken them
51:30to their very foundations.
51:33A was lying in his bed, nothing more
51:36than skin and bones.
51:38There was evidence his family were
51:40trying to take care of him, but he was
51:41still dangerously ill. So after an
51:43ambulance was summoned, A was rushed to
51:46the hospital. And upon his arrival,
51:48there was a mad dash to find out what
51:50was wrong with him because he really was
51:53on death's door with him being so
51:55skinny. But doctors soon worked out why
51:58he was so ill. A hadn't eaten in nearly
52:01three whole weeks and had only been
52:03given the bare minimum of water to keep
52:05him alive.
52:07Once they realized it was a case of
52:09starvation, A was nursed back to health
52:11and the police moved to arrest his
52:13parents.
52:14But from what I heard, A's parents
52:17behaved unlike any the police officers
52:19had dealt with before, at least when it
52:22came to child neglect cases anyway.
52:25They seemed like good, hardworking,
52:26honest to god people. And they were
52:28absolutely devastated that their son was
52:30so ill. But when the police asked why A
52:34was so malnourished, his parents
52:36couldn't understand what the issue was.
52:38In their view, they' done the exact
52:40thing a local holy man had advised them
52:42to do, which was feed A as little as
52:45possible in order to starve the demonic
52:48spirit that had possessed his body.
52:50And I can only imagine how stunned the
52:52people were when they heard A's parents
52:54say that. But say it, they did. They
52:57were absolutely steadfast in their
52:59belief that their son was possessed by a
53:01demonic entity. And the first clue that
53:03they gotten was his sudden and intense
53:06interest in the macob.
53:09They went to that local holy man that I
53:11mentioned and he gave them their
53:13assessment and then they did what they
53:15thought was best for their son. But in
53:18reality, it almost killed him. During
53:22the third week when A was really
53:23starting to waste away, his parents
53:26arranged for the holy man to come over
53:28so he could give a an exorcism.
53:31I don't think it was the kind from the
53:32film, you know, with holy water being
53:34flung all over the show and the power of
53:37Christ compels you being yelled in
53:38tandem. But they did something, some
53:41kind of ritual designed to expel demonic
53:44forces from A's little body. But I guess
53:47from their perspective, it didn't work.
53:48So, the starvation diet only continued.
53:52Hearing all that was easily the most
53:54frighteningly shocking thing I'd heard
53:56in my career, and nothing's stopped it
53:59since. The thought of that poor little
54:01boy lying in that bed wasting away, and
54:04all while believing that there was some
54:05demon inside of him. It breaks my heart
54:08just as much as it sends a shiver down
54:10my spine. A's parents ended up going to
54:12prison. Not for long, but I know they
54:15got custodial sentences while A went to
54:18live with a foster family in another
54:19part of the country.
54:21I'd so look forward to seeing him that
54:23Monday morning to see if he was still
54:25obsessed with Dracula. I had no idea
54:28that I was never going to see little A
54:31ever again.
54:37Hey friends, thanks for listening. Click
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55:14check out the Let's Read podcast where
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55:26Thanks so much, friends. And remember,
55:29>> yeah, that's about it. See you.

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