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  • - [Narrator] It was a final stride to produce a spark

  • in the hope that that spark would ignite a dying flame.

  • But after the accident four years ago,

  • the tension in the atmosphere between myself and Karen

  • was simply frozen, I mean our relationship was

  • beyond on thin ice, it had fully melted

  • into a river of mindless blame and guilty regret.

  • And she wanted a divorce.

  • I mean, I didn't but I guess I knew deep down

  • that it was inevitable.

  • In the winter 2014 Karen and I had been together

  • for six years, we've been married for three

  • and I have to say, our connection was on another level.

  • Beyond comprehension, like we were on fire

  • with electrically charged passion

  • until our emotions met face to face

  • with spontaneous combustion.

  • February frost layered the midnight road

  • as the full moon reflected glistening flickers of diamond

  • surrounding the yellow cat eyes guiding our car home.

  • We were coming back from Karen's brother's birthday party.

  • We were only like three miles from the house.

  • It was a Tuesday night, the road was completely void

  • of any other signs of life, empty, vacant and inanimate.

  • Until it suddenly lit up.

  • I was driving, Karen was way too drunk to drive

  • and I shouldn't have been behind the wheel

  • of that car either and I knew that but no one else

  • at the party seemed sober enough to understand that.

  • So I was admittedly way beyond my limit.

  • And I take full responsibility for that.

  • But I felt so pressured!

  • My wife, her brother, even his wife, they,

  • they all kept pushing me to drive.

  • They kept saying thing like,

  • it's not that far, you'll be the only one

  • on the road, don't be a wimp.

  • You know?

  • It was hard, we should have just walked.

  • But we didn't.

  • I got behind the wheel of that car

  • and within one mile from our house I destroyed everything

  • that Karen and I ever had.

  • But the darker side of the story would stain

  • our entire lives forever, til death do us part.

  • Karen wanted to hear some music

  • but she was too drunk to work the car stereo.

  • She was in full on blacked-out party mode at this stage.

  • I was trying to find a station for her,

  • when I noticed that she was taking off her clothes.

  • She was looking at me licking her lips.

  • I remember looking into her beautiful blue eyes

  • and thinking how hot she looked and bam!

  • We hit a young woman walking home

  • from her next door neighbor's house.

  • She died instantly, she was seven months pregnant.

  • It took the ambulance a full hour to get to our location.

  • It took the cops two.

  • When the blues finally arrived

  • and finished taking our statements,

  • they breathalyzed me but of course I was no longer

  • over the legal limit at that stage.

  • So the accident was attributed to frost.

  • A frost that chilled both Karen and I down to cracked shells

  • of our formed selves, worn out insoles of our souls.

  • If that.

  • We never forgave ourselves or each other for that matter

  • and we were never the same again.

  • Why would we be?

  • We were the worst kind of murderers.

  • And we got away with it.

  • We slept in our own beds that very night

  • while the dead woman's husband identified the baldy broken

  • pregnant body of his wife.

  • Come to think of it, we didn't do much sleeping.

  • And I sill don't.

  • Four hard, long years later

  • Karen served me with divorce papers.

  • She had nothing left, I knew it.

  • She told me that she was empty inside

  • and that the only way we could possibly move on

  • was to not be together.

  • I didn't want her to go, pack her stuff and move out

  • but she was doing the right thing.

  • So she started putting her stuff into boxes.

  • Her brother Stephen caught wind of this

  • and he wasn't happy, apparently Karen told his wife Alison

  • about the divorce papers and Alison had tried to talk Karen

  • out of it but Karen told Alison her mind was set.

  • Stephen came straight over to the house

  • with Alison and they begged us not to give up hope.

  • Stephen broke down and told us how responsible he felt

  • for everything that had happened that night in 2014.

  • I tried to tell him that he was only prolonging our pain

  • by trying to convince us to stay together.

  • Karen agreed, then Alison started crying

  • and mumbling that it was all her fault.

  • I told everyone very firmly

  • that it was my fault and mine alone.

  • I could have chosen not to drive that night but I did.

  • And that's that.

  • When I said that, everyone stopped talking.

  • There was an awkward silence echoing of the walls

  • in the room for several moments while everyone realized

  • the inevitable truth, it was over.

  • Then a single heartbeat spoke.

  • It was Stephen, he made us promise to go

  • on one more camping trip before we part ways for good.

  • We used to go camping with them five or six times a year.

  • You know, two couples, open air, beer,

  • blazing fire, tents, all that kind of stuff.

  • To be honest, it was something I hadn't realized

  • that I was going to miss or something

  • that I was already missing.

  • I glanced across the room at Karen,

  • she was already looking at me.

  • I could see an ever so slight raise in her high cheekbones.

  • The thought of a final camping trip pleased her.

  • It was a spark.

  • Two days later we packed our bags

  • and headed for the Freetown State Forest.

  • Stephen drove, I hadn't driven a car since the accident.

  • I set up front in the passenger's seat

  • and you know what, the drive over to Massachusets

  • was unexpectedly alive and energetic.

  • I mean, it was like magic.

  • Karen's mood was in a state I hadn't seen it in since,

  • since I could last remember.

  • Her and Alison buzzed in the back set

  • while I controlled the music.

  • For the first time in four years I could touch a car stereo

  • without flashbacks from the accident.

  • And there was this playfulness between Karen and I.

  • Not quite a fire but a definite hope.

  • It felt good.

  • Karen had decided to bring one of our old photo albums

  • along for the trip, neither of us had looked at pictures

  • in a long long time, hell we hadn't taken a single picture

  • together in four years.

  • The day before we left Karen told me

  • that if there was a chance for us,

  • even a single shred of light, she figured we'd find it

  • in that photo album or in those woods.

  • We arrived at Freetown State Forest at about 3:30 p.m.

  • On the way in, just past the forest sign

  • something ran across the road, inches away from the car,

  • causing Stephen to swerve and come to full stop

  • in the middle of the road.

  • Now, I admittedly didn't get a good look

  • at whatever it was but I thought I saw an animal.

  • Like a deer or something, but I don't know,

  • it was too fast and Karen and Alison didn't see anything.

  • Stephen swore it wasn't a deer.

  • He said it had antlers but he swears it was wearing a cloak

  • and had a skull for a head or something.

  • I assured him that it was just a deer

  • and eventually he agreed and shrugged it off.

  • I mean, it gave us all the shakes for a few minutes

  • but we all calmed down surprisingly quick considering,

  • well you know, 2014.

  • Anyway, we parked the car and walked for about a mile

  • to set up camp somewhere far away from other campers.

  • When we got to our site, the ladies made a fire pit

  • while Stephen and I set up the tents.

  • And again, the mood was as sunny and bright

  • as the September weather that surrounded the woods.

  • For a moment I thought the trip might actually be working.

  • Three hours later we had music from a wind-up radio.

  • A campfire blazing and the sun was setting beautifully

  • under the tops of the trees surrounding our site.

  • The four of us sat around the fire and conjured up memories

  • that I had forgotten about.

  • We laughed through the years of our past

  • and fought of the tears of a future

  • that we all silently feared would have

  • a drastic effect on, well, all of us.

  • As Stephen recalled a camping trip

  • from years ago when we all encountered a bear

  • that was fond of marshmallows, I looked over at Karen

  • only to find her gaze was already consuming my direction.

  • She smiled under her brother's voice

  • and continued to gaze at me through the dancing flame

  • burning between us, igniting the spark

  • that I was looking for.

  • We still had a chance.

  • After hours of reminiscing, several adult beverages

  • and a bit of admittedly tone-deaf singing,

  • Stephen and Alison said goodnight to Karen and I

  • before disappearing through

  • the unzipped hatch in their tent.

  • I winded up the radio to give it another charge

  • and threw some more logs on the fire

  • while Karen disappeared into our tent to get something.

  • Moments later Karen returned and silently sat down

  • right next to me, in front of the fire,

  • holding a massive black leather photo album.

  • I knew this album very well.

  • It had pictures in it from as far back as the first year

  • Karen and I started dating, all the way up to our wedding

  • and honeymoon, I could feel it.

  • This was our redemption, or at least it was supposed to be.

  • Karen smiled into my eyes, leaned toward me,

  • lightly pressed her warm lips against mine

  • and kissed me for the first time

  • in four heartbreaking years.

  • It felt so good.

  • It felt so.

  • But it was the last time

  • that Karen would ever kiss me again.

  • Karen placed the photo album in our laps

  • and slowly opened it to the first page of photographs.

  • So many memories came flooding back to me.

  • Karen immediately began to tear up.

  • We held each other for an hour

  • and talked about every single photo in that album.

  • One by one until we got to the last photo.

  • As Karen turned the final page in the album,

  • there was one last full page photograph of us on the left.

  • We were in a car, driving somewhere,

  • like a road trip or something, I don't remember,

  • but what I do remember is that both of our faces

  • were completely scratched off the photo.

  • It took me a minute to realize it was us.

  • To be honest I, I recognized the car first.

  • It was that car, our murder weapon.

  • Then our attention was drawn to the inside

  • of the back cover of the album.

  • The right side.

  • Across from the haunting photo of Karen and I,

  • there was something written in red, fresh red liquid.

  • I read it out loud, if you yourself cannot release,

  • then it will come to take a piece.

  • I asked Karen if she did this,

  • if she destroyed the photo and wrote the message

  • but she swore that she didn't.

  • I told her that it wasn't very funny

  • and that I felt very hurt by this

  • but again, she promised me that she had nothing to do

  • with what was in that album.

  • She was about to say something else

  • when a horrifying sound rang out

  • through the midnight forest.

  • (distant wailing)

  • We dropped the photo album as we sprang up to our feet

  • like stray cats caught off-guard.

  • We could hear a ticking sound coming

  • from somewhere around us, like a clock or something.

  • Karen shrieked in terror and grabbed onto me tightly.

  • She was trembling, I quickly shut off the radio sitting

  • to my left so I could listen.

  • The ticking had stopped, but it was that first noise

  • that had me shook up, I never heard

  • anything like it in real life.

  • It was monstrous and instantly hair-raising.

  • Karen and I stood frozen in front of the fire

  • with our eyes dancing all around the thick darkness

  • that engulfed the forest.

  • After a few moments of silence

  • and no further creepy sounds, I told Karen

  • that it was more than likely just an animal

  • and that we probably shouldn't worry

  • as most animals wouldn't come very close to an open fire.

  • She was about to reply when we both saw it.

  • A sight that will haunt me forever.

  • Standing on the other side of the fire,

  • sneering at us through the flames was a terror

  • that we could never have imagined.

  • The first thing I've noticed was teeth.

  • The bottom half of the creature's disfigured face

  • was mostly made up of sharp pointed teeth

  • that lined the inside of its black rotten corroded gums

  • or lips, I'm not sure which.

  • And its face was void of any facial expressions

  • other than ghastly scars that covered its entire head.

  • It had no eyes, no nose, no ears, no hair,

  • just, just old dirty skin with raw open wounds

  • that appeared to be in bad need of stitches.

  • And that creepy thing was wearing a gray suit

  • with a white button up shirt.

  • It just stood there, silently smiling at us.

  • We didn't know what to say or do, we were shocked.

  • We didn't even scream.

  • I remember that the thing was wearing read cloth

  • fingerless gloves, at the end of each finger

  • was a long black claw.

  • I started to ask what it wanted,

  • but the second I opened my mouth it started

  • rounding the fire and walking toward Karen and I.

  • We bolted towards Stephan and Alison's tent

  • in full on sprint.

  • As we got closer, Karen began screaming Stephen's name

  • and begging him to wake up.

  • Neither him nor Alison answered.

  • We got to the tent and Karen fumbled with the zippers

  • still crying out for her brother to wake up.

  • I looked behind us, the creature was gone

  • and the forest was silent.

  • And then I heard the tent unzip

  • and Karen scream in sheer anguish.

  • (dramatic music)

  • I will never forget how long that scream echoed

  • in the blackness of that dark forest.

  • I snapped my head back towards Stephen and Alison's tent

  • and saw what my wife saw, Stephen and Alison,

  • or what was left of them.

  • My brother-in-law and his wife were both missing

  • one of their legs from the hip down.

  • It also appeared that the leg bones

  • that made up the limbs that they were missing

  • had been used to impale their torsos.

  • One of Alison's severed feet was crammed

  • so far down Stephen's throat,

  • that his jaw had become unhinged.

  • Alison suffered the same fate with one of Stephen's feet.

  • They both appeared to have been folded in half

  • backwards at the waist.

  • And they were disemboweled.

  • There was blood everywhere!

  • Karen was screaming and delirious.

  • When suddenly that hideous sound rang out

  • through the woods again, this time

  • it was much closer than before.

  • (distant wailing)

  • Karen and I were still facing Stephen and Alison's tent,

  • too horrified to turn around.

  • I looked at Karen, I was about to tell her to run

  • when two red gloved fingerless black clawed hands

  • grabbed both sides of her face and dragged her away

  • into the darkness of the woods so fast

  • that it was as if she was never there.

  • (sobbing)

  • I spun around and shouted her name

  • but it was met with nothing other

  • than echoes of my own voice.

  • I stumbled toward the dying camp fire

  • and called out for my wife again.

  • No response.

  • I was about six feet away from the fire pit

  • when the beheaded body of Karen fell

  • from somewhere up above me and landed in the fire.

  • I instinctively turned around to make a run for it

  • and ran directly into the creature.

  • It had been standing behind me, quietly smiling.

  • I fell on my back, on the ground,

  • at the feet of the suited monster.

  • As I shuffled away on the ground,

  • I accidentally kicked our photo album halfway into the fire.

  • When I did this, the creature before me hissed

  • as though it was in pain, it fell to its knees

  • and then began crawling toward me on all fours,

  • snapping at my feet as it got closer.

  • I kicked the photo album further into the camp fire,

  • enraging the creature into a frenzy of fury.

  • It jumped up on its bent knees

  • with its fist on the ground and prepared to pounce

  • like a cat, it all happened so quick.

  • But I recall it in haunting slow motion.

  • I remember the creature's body leaving the ground

  • and launching toward me with an open mouth intent

  • on doing damage to my flesh.

  • I remember thinking, this is my final moment.

  • Then out of nowhere, accompanied by that dreadful sound

  • we'd heard earlier something clashed

  • with the suited creature mid air and took it to the ground.

  • The two things landed hard on the forest floor

  • with a heavy thud as they tumbled over each other.

  • I climbed up to my feet and ran as fast as I could

  • through the forest and away from the campsite.

  • I stumbled through the dark forest

  • for what seemed like hours.

  • I had no shoes, no water and adrenaline had consumed

  • most of my energy, there were thorns

  • and other things all over my body

  • but I could only feel one thing, exhausted.

  • I finally found a black top road

  • and collapsed the second I got on top of it.

  • Then everything went black.

  • I woke up in a hospital, handcuffed to my bed.

  • The police came into my room and questioned me.

  • And I told them everything, the entire uncut truth.

  • And they didn't believe me.

  • I could tell straight away, they asked me to describe

  • the other thing that saved me

  • but all I could remember was that it had antlers like a deer

  • and it made a terrible sound.

  • I was arrested that night and later on I was convicted

  • of the first degree murder of my wife, Stephen and Alison.

  • I was sentenced to death by a jury of my peers.

  • And now I'm just waiting.

  • But something tells me that I may not make it that far.

  • That my time is up.

  • My time is up.

  • - [Woman] Help me!

  • - [Narrator] Watch new scary bits every

  • Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

  • (electronic music)

- [Narrator] It was a final stride to produce a spark

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