Fleshgait | CreepCast

40:00Further away from home, safety. Towards midday, tensions had reached a critical point. Ian frequently mumbled things that would make a sailor blush while Jessica tried to hide the fact that she was close to crying. Oliver attempted to lighten the situation by telling everyone that we just had to follow the compass and we would get home safe and sound. Oliver's girlfriend didn't say much. She just stared quietly at her feet as she walked. I think she had the right idea since Lucas was constantly misplacing his footing and slipping. He looked like he had downed a fifth of vodka and was now trying to walk to home on a tightrope while being randomly shocked with a cattle prod.

40:36The realization twisted something deep down inside made me want to throw up. I stopped walking and began talking to Lucas. What's going on with you, man? Ian, still pissed at me, took this opportunity to vent a bit. Huh? What are you talking about now? Lucas is bumbling and twitching all over the place. Don't be a dick, man. You know he has a late stage multiple sclerosis. We told you before the hike started about we told you before we told you before the hike start. Oh my god! We told you about the... whatever. We got it. We told you before the hike started about his condition. Jesus fucking Christ.

41:13I hate myself. I'm such a fucking what? whatever's so funny like they'll get it i just fucking put me down god damn dude they've heard it enough times they'll know what it's worthless dog that's all i got god damn dude so no you're not i love you we love you it's okay um the it seems like the uh jerry last night for some reason evan thought that he was a part of the group maybe it tricked him into that maybe that's what means by I couldn't find the words at the time. Like when the quote unquote, Jerry walked up to him, it gave this, it like filled in his memories to be like, Oh yeah, Jerry, we know that guy long enough for him to get the map.

41:54But when he's gone, it's like, um, who was that? I can't figure out why I gave that guy the map, you know? Yeah. Well, I mean, that's what'd be fucking horrifying. First off. Yeah. The guy that is like, what are you talking about? That would, that'd be insane. I also liked that the story, which not to, I'm getting kind of sucked in, but the, I do like that the story is kind of taking this like Blair Witch stuck in the woods, you know, don't know how to get your way out kind of vibe. I always love that. Trapped in a maze that's a forest is just super fun. Also just so scary. It's so easy to do, you know?

42:29Yeah. This is also very goat man, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's kids in the woods, like some strange person. Like, you know who that guy is, right? You recognize him, right? Well, I do like the difference, at least with Goatman. It's like, it's kind of cabin in the woodsy, you know? Like, it kind of reminded me of like an evil dead kind of vibe of stuck in the woods, imposing force, trying to break its way in. But, you know, a story like this out in the open, you've already interacted with something you don't know. That kind of vibe. Yeah. I like the supernatural element a lot. Yeah. I do like the similarities of how the Goatman did that too.

43:05of like that was the kind of big reveal on the Go Man where it's like you know there was eight people here before but now there's only seven like that kind of those little fun twists are fun so I'm curious to see how it kind of develops here. As soon as he said it the events came rushing back to me clear as day I recalled Ian pulling me to the side and telling me about his friend's diagnosis and how this was likely going to be his last opportunity to undertake a long hike like this so he had to help him move slowly. I remembered watching him scramble up the trail and thinking about our own mom and her illness it brought back bittersweet memories of birthday wishes given to us from hospital beds infusions with disease modifying therapeutics alum tos i'm you know what someone smarter than me can read that they got it put it up flash up on screen alum to zoomib lemtrada and hearing her sob quietly to herself in the middle of the night when she thought we were asleep guilt flooded over me i stepped forward to apologize to lucas when it happened.

44:04Lucas growled at me the instant I took a step forward and he dropped to a hunched position on his hands and feet. It almost looked like his skin was bristling at a possible threat and I could see his broken and decaying teeth as he kissed at all of us before taking off at a hopping stride into the woods. He moved like one of those CGI monstrosities from the last Planet of the Eight movie. His shaky and unstable balance was replaced by a more natural and animalistic gait as he loped into the distance and disappeared amongst the trees last thing i saw was what i assumed were its clothes sloughing off of its body revealing that they weren't actually clothes but gray folds of skin oliver was the first to talk what the fuck as soon as oliver said those words it was like a switch had flipped that set everyone to panic mode we began to run along the trail as if it would do us any good the only thought in my head was to put as much distance as possible between me and that thing i think it took a good 15 minutes for us to run out of energy with our heavy packs and the disorienting nature of the woods as we try to catch our breaths i surveyed the area around us and came to a terrible realization in our panic we had run off the path and were now even deeper in the woods yeah shit we tried to make sense of what we saw i just remember ian mumbling the same phrase over and over what the What the hell was that?

45:30What the hell was that? The short answer is that it was Lucas. The long of it is this. There was no Lucas. Not really. Sorry for interrupting the story in the middle like this, but I think now is the best time to try and explain everything. I know how confusing this all seems with Jerry and Lucas. The truth is, I did that because I don't think I could have appropriately explained it to you without you first experiencing it from my eyes. I don't know what to call those things, but they do something to your mind. They insinuate themselves into your memories. They wrap themselves up in a wall of your recollections, and even though you know something is wrong, you can't quite put your finger on it.

46:08Your group of four friends could grow to five, and you wouldn't be any the wiser. Part of you will stupidly admonish you for ever wondering how many there were. You look at it, and you recognize the face. You remember events. You can recall getting drunk at a bar together. You have memories of them crying on your shoulder after a rough breakup. You can recollect everything that happened between you, but none of it's true. I don't know how it does it. It crawls into your head somehow and makes you see things in a way that benefits them. It can mold memories, but it can't mimic human movement. It walks on four claws, not two feet.

46:43It growls, hisses, and snarls. It doesn't talk. It infiltrates, observes, and waits. It was hunting us and trying to drive us deeper into the woods. It was succeeding. man that's so cool that is such a terrifying like i've seen the mimic concept you know like skim walker whatever sure done so many times but the idea that it implants itself into your memories is horrifying yeah it makes you think of the scp the cousin johnny one where it's like yeah yeah you just think it's like he's a member of your family but also i like how it's doing something super weird and it's like uh somehow putting itself into your memories to where it's like you know i told you this and that you know and it makes you think that you have seen them before but i love also the animalistic nature of like driving you off and like kind of like making it easier to pick you off one by one by driving you into the woods like i just like yeah that mix of like supernatural with like actual like predatory animal behavior is kind of sick yeah no that's awesome i like um like in the beginning it's like oh jerry we know jerry here's the map jerry and then now being like um uh this like the the person's been there walking all day and it's like oh you remember he had multiple sclerosis this was his last hike like all these fake memories but it's like countered by him walking like the way a dog when it's up on two legs tries to walk where it's leaning side to side and doesn't know what it's doing.

48:16That's such a freaky image. That's awesome. We never really reached much of a conclusion about what that thing was, but we did reach a consensus that we had to get out of here as soon as possible. I watched Ian as he looked around the forest and came to the same realization that I did. We were lost. He didn't tell the others. I think he realized that panicking would only get us in more trouble. Instead, he told us to follow him. With the shock of our encounter setting in, we could do nothing but follow his lead and hope it all worked out. As we walked, we could hear the sounds of distant animals yelling and calling out to each other.

48:46The terror of our situation deepened as the others whispered that those were the same noises they had heard the first night out in the woods. Whatever this thing was, it was following us and calling out to other things in the area. At the time, I couldn't stop thinking about one of them barreling out of the underbrush and sinking its black and rotting teeth into my neck before the rest of the group could react. i remember brushing the thought off and mentally reassuring myself that there were six of us here and we had only actually encountered one of those creatures if islands was needed we outnumbered them wait didn't he say there were five yeah he's the fifth wheel yeah i mentally reassured myself don't worry there's just six of us as the day pressed on and we seemingly wandered south in an attempt to pick up another trail that would lead us back to the parking lot, I couldn't help but shake a nagging feeling in the back of my mind.

49:38It felt like I had forgotten some important fact that I should have never forgotten about. It wasn't until Oliver mentioned his wish of being back in the car that Jessica stopped dead in her tracks. We all turned towards her, but knew what was coming the second she asked. We only took one car down, right? Ian snapped, more fearful than frustrated. Of course we did! Remember how cramped everyone was in that tiny-ass Prius with all our camping gear smashed in the trunk in on our laps. What about it? Jessica went white as if this were the first time that Ian had ever raised his voice to her. She paused for a moment before asking, How many of us are here right now and how many does your car seat?

50:18Ian's car sat four people comfortably, five uncomfortably. There were six of us out in the woods at that moment. Everything happened at once. Ian swore. Oliver's girlfriend gave a half shriek and a half gasp while I looked wide-eyed from person to person, trying to figure out which one of us didn't belong there. Sarah was the only one who managed to say something, and that was... She hadn't finished her words before her jaw popped open. I don't mean that it dropped open like she was astonished at something. It popped open as it dislocated from her face. The space between her lips was a massive sickly pink void of inflamed gums that was at least half a foot wide.

51:02She looked at us with dead and dull eyes as she slowly raised a twitching hand up to her jaw and tried to lock it back into a more human-esque appearance. She popped it back into place with a hollow-sounding squelch of meat and bones shifting as if nothing was wrong about what had just happened before she tried to speak again. I'm from me. Ian was the first to react. He stepped towards the failed facsimile of human and swung his walking stick at her face while bellowing, get out of here she hopped back from the attack in a sloppy motion landed on all fours her body shuddered as if an electrical jolt had passed through her as she slowly backed away from all of us while facing jessica the entire time she hissed at us one last time before retreating deeper into the woods with a convulsing lope it took a moment for all of us to regain our composure before we continued walking while trying to look in every direction at once i remember all of her rambling as we walked he kept asking although no one was responding to him Did you see how it moved?

52:00You ever see one of those documentaries about mad cow disease? That thing was twitching and moving like one of those infected cows. What the hell was that thing? Was it a person? What kind of person could do to their body? You're trying to talk to it. He rambled for hours before we had to stop. We had to tell him to shut up because we were worried about that thing hearing us, though that really wasn't the case. William stopped talking because it only served scares further. Besides stopping for the night, none of us actually slept. We sat around a campfire and listened to the sound of high-pitched whining and yelping coming from all around us.

52:32It seemed like any time I actually got close to falling asleep, the call would start up and jolt me awake. We spoke in hushed whispers and tried to figure out what they wanted with us, even though none of us really wanted the answer to that question. The hours dragged on almost endlessly, before dawn broke and we continued our hike. We spent Sunday hiking around and trying to find a familiar sight. Without any real sense of where we were and where we were going, our only hope was to stumble across another hiker or find an area with a high enough vantage point that we could survey the entire area fortunately any elevations we climbed didn't afford a good view of the area and it was extremely unlikely we could find another hiker due to the fact that the trail had been closed and wasn't cleared even if we did what were the chances that we would trust them and to be certain that it wasn't one of those things midday through the day ian whispered to me count the people wearing backpacks one of them is with us again

53:27I casually looked over my shoulder and noticed that one of our group was walking without any gear they trailed behind us but were still in our vicinity they moved slowly but didn't show any of the jerky movements of the previous two the thought that it was learning to mimic our movements unsettled me without really thinking I shucked off my backpack and approached the imposter before they knew what was happening I shoved them as hard as I could the instant my hands pressed into their shirt I felt something slick and warm give way like the outer layer falling off of a rotten mango. Their shirt slid off their body into my hands and I quickly realized it was their skin.

54:03The thing was actually naked but gave the appearance of clothes by altering the color of its almost translucent skin. I dropped the swath of tissue that had sloughed off it and impacted the ground with a wet slap. Creature toppled backwards and began yelping. I can only describe the sound like this. Imagine getting out of your bed in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. As you're feeling your way through the darkness to get out of your room, you step on your dog's tail. Imagine the startled yelp of pain and the shock that comes along with it. Now focus on that emotion you felt when you heard that noise, that sudden surprising guilt.

54:38In reality, the sound it made was nothing like a hurt dog. It just reminded me so much of a wounded pet that I can't differentiate the sounds. Here's the worst part. I shouldn't have felt bad. those things were stalking and tormenting us they were likely hunting us and I felt bad for harming it I shouldn't have felt bad about it but it wanted me to and so I did that's freaky yeah that's a weird that's like for a creature being able to put that mind fuck on you is crazy almost like it instantly gives you like a Stockholm Syndrome kind of thing well why did I do that you know that kind of like weird it's like you're already kind of loving almost loving to it like you care about it is so fucked.

55:21You're being attacked by a monster in the woods but you feel bad because the monster wants you to feel bad for it. Exactly. That's freaky. The thing rised on the ground on its back for a few seconds making a pitiful noise. It reached back with its arms and pushed itself upright on its hands and on the balls of its feet. Its joints popped wetly and its muscles and bones adjusted to fit this new position. It crab crawled away while shrieking the entire time as Ian pursued it with his walking stick hoping to catch up to it and cave its head in. It wasn't until the thing and Ian disappeared from sight that I realized that the shrieking wasn't coming from the monster, but from Jessica as well.

55:54It was trying to mimic her response. With Ian gone and Jessica's screams possibly drawing more of those things to us, I decided that I had to do something. I stepped forward and wrapped her up in my arms. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind. I stroked her hair and whispered that it was over. Well, this is a little too intimate. And whispered that it was over. She managed to choke out something about its face. All I could make out was that something was terribly wrong with its face. She calmed down as I told her that everything was going to be alright. I didn't believe that myself, but it was the only thing I could think of that might bring her comfort.

56:27Ian returned fuming that the monster escaped and I awkwardly broke off the hug. Ian didn't say anything, just started walking after, motioning us wordlessly to follow. We continued following him, hoping that he would find the way, but knowing that he probably wouldn't. Six hours later, we settled down for the night. It felt like we had been going in circles all day and made absolutely no progress. For all we knew, the thing could have been tinkering around with our memories and convincing us that familiar landmarks were new and lowering us deeper into the woods. I didn't tell the others, but I think I knew what those things wanted with us.

57:02They wanted to lead us deeper into the woods. They were trying to force us to exhaustion, and when we were too weak to defend ourselves, they would descend upon us and eat us. Oliver was right about that. if that thing is similar to us in any way then those twitching spasms were likely some sort of prion disorder that came from eating humans after eating some jerky since we decided against having to fire and drawing more of them to us we reached the conclusion that we would have to sleep in shifts I volunteered for the first watch because my insight into the monster's behavior had robbed me of any desire to sleep the others went off without so much as another word you always put two people on fire watch by the way in a situation like this you never have it be one guy that's a horrible idea they were exhausted and it wasn't until an hour into my watch that i realized that i was too even given the monster's grotesque appearance everyone needs to sleep

58:24Jessica joined me about two hours into my watch. here and I felt something twist deep down inside me that I had buried a long time ago when I first met her. The longer she stayed with me on watch, the more personal our conversation became. She confessed that she and Ian had been fighting a lot recently and that she was wondering if they were going to work it all out. At the start of their relationship, they were great together. He made her feel wonderful and comfortable, but now there was something that didn't feel right, like there was something missing. I listened to her talk about everything that was going on in her life and I knew I had to do something.

58:55I knew that if I didn't do it now, I would regret it. I had to tell her about the door. She listened quietly as I told her everything. It was the event that precipitated my breakdown at work and my social anxiety disorder diagnosis at the therapist's office. Everything started off simply enough one Friday at work. I was in the lunchroom eating my sandwich and reading a book as per my usual while co-workers talked about their plans for the weekend. One of them was having a housewarming party and they were inviting everyone at work. I figured that the invitation was only extended to the people he was talking to till he asked me if I'd be able to make it on Saturday.

59:31As it was the first time I'd been invited to hang out after work, I chose to go, planning what were interesting topics to bring up in case there was a lull in conversation and the bottle of wine I was planning to give as a housewarming gift. After sacking myself up, I left to go to the party with the bottle in hand and my spirits high. I convinced myself that I was going to be the life of the party and that maybe if I played my cars right I could finally find a friend at work that would make the time fly by instead of dragging on It wasn't until I reached the house that the false bravado began to crumble apart I stopped in front of the neighbor's house as everywhere else already had a car parked there It was then that I felt my heart beating like I had just run a mile I began heading up the driveway with the wine bottle slick in my hands from my palms sweating It wasn't until I reached the front door that I realized that something was terribly wrong.

1:00:21I was breathing faster. All that excitement that had been building up since Friday afternoon was now replaced with something else. Apprehension. All those topics I had thought up seemed boring and all the reassurances I had given myself seemed hollow. I didn't feel prepared for this at all. At this point, a small part of me whispered something that was stuck with me for this very day. The voice intimated that they never really wanted me to come out. They had only given that invitation as a courtesy and didn't actually expect me to come to their house. It said that if I knocked on the door that I would be making a fool out of myself.

1:00:57They told me that I wasn't even comfortable in my own skin, so how could I even dare to imagine that they would enjoy my company? They wanted to celebrate with their friends. They didn't want to listen to me fumble or something to talk about. All those fears flashed in front of me, taunting me, demanding that I knock on the door and make myself look like an idiot. that part of me told me that I was better off alone and I listened. I turned around without even knocking on the door and I left. No one had come in and the music was playing loudly, so I doubt that they would have heard me anyways. I shouldn't have been there in the first place.

1:01:31Maybe I saw them watching me from the window. Maybe I didn't. Maybe they were laughing at me as I drove away, flustered and embarrassed. Maybe they went back to the party and joked about the social recluse who had seemingly freaked out and run away from their house while I went home and cried in the shower. Maybe. Jessica listened as I told her the story. She smiled sadly as I started to cry into her shoulder. All those feelings I'd experienced outside of my co-worker's house came rushing back. All the fear, foolishness, and fatalistic failure smashed into me like waves on the shore. She whispered soothing words into my ear and waited for me to collect myself.

1:02:06Once I did, she pulled away and told me that it wasn't my fault. It was there under the moonlight with her face inches away from mine that I did the worst thing I have ever done in my life. I kissed her. It was slow, hesitant, perfect. I looked into her eyes and I saw her beautiful face. She pulled me towards her as she leaned back. Lost in the moment, I held her against me while telling her all the things I should have said when I first met her and realized that I loved her. I held her like that for a few moments. Pray that if I let her go, I would lose this perfect moment She was warm She smelled like wildflowers She smelled like happiness For the first time in what felt like a lifetime I felt comfortable And content I think he might be kissing a creature Might be kissing a creature At the very least, he's kissing his brother's girlfriend Which is a no-go, right?

1:02:59Well, of course, but I think Smells like wildflowers Made me think that, you know, the foresty kind of vibe But then also, too I think tongue punching an old creature, you know, they're getting good. I don't know. Also, he's a turtle man, so I think he's like, it was perfect, and it's like the she's like melting on the ground and stuff. You're beautiful. I think I love you. Her face is upside down, and he's like, wow. Yeah, exactly. She's like, you're so so beautiful. He's like, oh my god, thank you so much. I'm saying I love you. Did you do something with your hair? Yeah, your hair looks great.

1:03:34Her eyeballs are like popping out of her face and her teeth are falling out wow just like my first time i don't know when i drifted off but i do remember waking up in the love drunk excitement of the previous night i didn't think once about ian or the consequences of my decision i only thought about yes again the feelings that i had tried to keep buried for so long what i did last night was a beautiful mistake i convinced her to cheat on him with me i needed to tell him before the truth came out i needed him to understand how I felt. I needed to apologize. I got up from the ground and stretched.

1:04:09Issaqa was gone. I said, yep, you're so right. I assumed she had gone back to her sleeping role in the middle of the night. I walked over to Ian, who was just waking up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and asked me if I stayed up all night. The words bled out of me and once they started, I couldn't stop. I don't know what happened, man. We were just talking one moment and then the next. Jesus. I didn't mean for it to happen You know I love you man I wouldn't do anything to hurt you It just happened and Now I can't take it back Jessica's cry of surprise cut me off Before I could go any further Both me and Ian turned to the sound of her distress And we knew instantly what had happened The backpacks with our compass, food And water have been stolen Damn dude It knew

1:04:58Blinded by some monster pussies crazy and then the others like stole everything he's like rubbing her boob and it just like it's like cracks like an egg it's like falling off wow natural finally this is just like the movies I watch this is just like the turtle girls that mom told me about

1:05:27it knew don't you see it damn it it knew that we could identify it without a backpack and it couldn't shape its skin to take the appearance of one so it stole them away from us now the next time it wormed its way into our group we wouldn't be any the wiser jessica and i never talked that night jessica had never left my brother's side that night they had zipped their sleeping rolls together she didn't open up to me about her worries and i never actually kissed her i poured my heart out to a thing wearing Jessica's skin while it was in my arms as it implanted memories of conversations never shared into my mind.

1:06:04I confess my truest feelings to an airsats entity masquerading as a person. I felt sick. Do you think the monster was kind of like smooth talking a bit? Oh, for sure. 100%. It's trying to buy time, so it's going to say whatever it wants to hear. Is that a banana? Is that a banana in your pocket? or are you just happy to see me? I think turtles are cool, actually. Oh, yes, I can. I think I might just be happy to see you. Oh, that's awesome. That's so sick that you got a big old, you have a big old dong. And he's like, my turtle-y senses are tingling. I don't think it's weird that you're a turtle at all.

1:06:48As a matter of fact, I think it's cool. I think it's cool that you paint your bone her green. have I have I told the turtle story on this podcast before I don't know you're following this up after I just said you painted your bone of green just well that that's kind of relevant that's kind of relevant oh my god how the fuck isn't that relevant okay so my so my wife's a vet right wow so she of a vet that she worked with in a clinic for a while was working at a clinic in downtown new orleans right and she was sitting at the front desk you know just whatever slow day and as she's sitting there there is a giant window on the front of the storefront and at the right side is the door to come in and then from around the left side of the building, she sees, she sees a homeless man who is carrying a visibly dead turtle.

1:07:56Like, like it's like rotted, like the bones and stuff like that. And he's very slow, but he's holding it with both hands and he's walking like along the window. So that means there's a really long time before he gets to the door. So the whole time the woman's sitting there like, please don't come in. Please don't come in. And sure enough, when he gets to the right side, he opens the door and comes in and she's like, hi, can we help you? And he goes, he's like, I found this turtle. And then she's like, okay. And he's like, it's sick. And she looks at it and it's like, there's a little bit of bone in there, but it's just like a turtle shell.

1:08:36Yeah. And she was like, I don't think we can, I don't think we can do anything for it. And the whole time, by the way, she assumes he's wearing shorts because he's wearing like, um, he has like a long trench coat down to his knees. Isaiah, please don't tell me that this, this man is fucking the turtle. And then she's like, I don't, I don't think we can do anything for that. And then he goes, okay. And he turns around and he drops it. So he bends down to pick it up. And when he bends down, he is completely naked from the waist down. So when he bends over, it's everything on display and he picks up the turtle and he walks out.

1:09:17So me being terrible. Sorry if you saw my, sorry if you saw my dick and balls, I just, they're in the wash. Well, okay. Me, me being terrible, right? because this is clearly a mentally ill man who you know doesn't it was trying probably in his mind trying to help a turtle but I took this story when it was first told to me as he was just trying to find a way to expose himself to like the women in the vet clinic so I just started coming up with bits in my head we're like okay well the next time I tell the story it's about it like he's painted green oh I see just to it right and then the next time i tell it he's not walking to the door he's crawling on all fours yeah the turtles on his back it is yeah the turtles on his back it eventually got to the point where i told this story to someone and he was completely naked with a cardboard box around him painted like a turtle and he just walks in and he's like I'm very sick like rolls over on his back just completely naked yeah that's the whole thing yeah well I didn't know that me saying that would trigger such a visceral also weird weird that you manipulate the story in such a way I hope the people that you've told all these different versions of the story to her like or like wait what that was a lie or like you know what i mean like they're like wait what do you mean he said he said it so sincerely hopefully you said it so sincerely that it doesn't read like a joke either yeah i don't know i'm really afraid i think everyone i told it to was a close friend who like i told the actual truth later but maybe i didn't maybe someone out there has the wrong version of the turtle story it's just all it's just all intimate intimate members of your family you told one to your dad your mom and all kinds of stuff the original one's completely true about the him being naked bending over stuff like that yeah yeah but me making him into a turtle where the bit is he is the sick turtle so that women at vet clinics touch him that was me adding that to it so yes that's sick you're disgusting man i know i know i'm terrible anyway the story the others woke up quickly after hearing jessica screaming we quickly searched around the area, hoping to find some scrap of food or some indication of where our stuff had been taken to.

1:11:47We found nothing. It was long gone. We had no food, no water, and no hope. We had no way of telling when one of those things was hijacking our heads and pretending to be part of our group so it could distract us. With our compass gone, we had no means of following a set direction and hoping to pick the trail back up. In short, we were screwed with a capital S. Oliver demanded to know what I was doing last night He wanted to know how I could be so careless as to fall asleep when I should have been watching over them in our gear I lied and told him that someone had come around in the middle of the night to relieve me from my shift I didn't mention that it was one of those things impersonating Jessica I couldn't bear to look either my brother or his girlfriend in the eyes at that point Oliver started to yell but stopped when he saw I was on the verge of tears I don't know if it was mercy or disgust that caused him to stop At this point, it doesn't matter.

1:12:40Gathered up the only thing that they had taken in the night, our sleeping rolls, and continued walking. The hike without water or the prospect of food was unbearable. We were already exhausted in the realization that we were soon going to be starving and dehydration only served to sap more of our energy. Within a few hours of our march, my mouth felt gummy and dry. While we were still under the canopy of leaves, the temperature was still in the high 80s and low 90s. It didn't take long for dehydration to set in. I kept licking my lips in an attempt to keep them moist, but I could feel them beginning to crack as my saliva began to dry up.

1:13:13As we walked, Oliver picked up his pace and caught up with me. I looked over at him and knew, without him saying anything, that another one of those things had joined our group. He whispered, Don't look directly at it. Just keep in the corner of your eyes. I think that messes with your mind. It would explain why you remembered that guy that night, but the rest of us can't. you saw him but the rest of us didn't don't get close just keep it in the corner of your eyes it's been trailing us for about half an hour now I think it just wants to watch and follow us I pretended to be cracking my neck and looked at the tack along in my peripheral vision trailed behind us by about a dozen feet in its resting state its facial features appeared staticky I could make out eyes and a nose but it was constantly shifting and rippling like bubbling plastic At this point, we were too tired to even bother chasing it off.

1:14:07We just kept walking and hoped that it wouldn't try to join the group. It seemed content to keep its distance and keep us in its line of sight. It followed us for about two miles before it broke off towards the trees with a shambling, awkward gait. We were too tired to even try and set up a shift system. We just huddled together in an attempt to convince ourselves that we were safer when we were closer together. but every time one of us got comfortable enough to drift off those things would start making noise the noises started off as a high-pitched yips whose sounds seemed to travel for miles as the night drew on they grew more aggressive i remember one time as i was drifting off hearing the grating rasp of my name things weren't just following us they were learning they were perfecting their mimicry the thought disturbed me more than the idea of them out there watching us in the darkness.

1:14:59How long would it take them to become more human than human? What would they do once they were capable of walking amongst people again? I drifted off to sleep with that thought beating around in my head like a man trapped in a wall. We got up Wednesday morning and left without a word. A small part of my brain nagged at me and told me that it should actually be Tuesday morning, but I knew it was Wednesday. Why didn't I have any memories of the day before? at this point there was nothing left to say i don't think anyone wanted to theorize on the missing day from all our recollection some of us had been awake all night without any food or water the constant stress had completely worn us down it was just that nothing else we continued hiking in the same direction we had been going in with the false hope that we would come across someone in the end our hike looked more like a death march my feet were covered in blisters that had ruptured and plastered the soles of my feet to my socks.

1:15:53Every step felt like I was tearing open the sores a bit more. In an attempt to take my mind off the discomfort, I focused on my brother who was walking in front of me. He wasn't as much walking as he was limping forward. Stopped using his walking stick and was dragging it behind him like it was a broken limb. I watched as he stepped over a rock and the walking stick slipped out of his hands. He kept dragging himself forward as if nothing had happened. He didn't even register it falling out of his hands. It was at that point that I knew something was wrong. I knew that my brother wasn't my brother anymore.

1:16:26The evidence of the entire missing memories of the day, the fact that we were going deeper into the woods, and his awkward gait was enough to tell me that. I just knew he wasn't my brother. Not anymore, my brain told me. I quietly picked up his stick as I passed it. Amy went to call out to him to ask if he was alright, but I shushed her. I was so sure that One of those things had replaced him and was now leading us deeper into the woods. I realized that I'd only have one chance of this. If the incident knew what we knew, it would try and run away. All it would take was one good swing to the back of its head, and we would be able to take one of those things.

1:17:01The sturdy stick had a bit of weight to it, about five or six pounds, enough to crack open a skull if it was swung hard enough. I began walking faster while trying to avoid the underbrush that might give away my approach. thing where my brother's skin continued leaping forward as I drew closer. I waited until I was within swinging distance before raising the walking stick above my head. My heart was beating in my chest and my palms were so sweaty that it felt like the stick would slide right out of my hands. I kept on moving forwards, completely unaware of what I was about to do to it. I whispered, I'm sorry, just before I swung the walking stick down with all my strength.

1:17:39Ian turned to face me as he mumbled groggily, Sorry for what? My muscles locked and I stopped mid-swing and the stick stopped just inches away from his face. He blinked in surprise before muttering. Evan, what's wrong? His voice sounded distant and empty, like he was in between awake and sleep state. It was then that I knew the extent of his condition. He was pale and looked like the slightest breeze would blow him over. He wasn't one of those things. He was delirious from dehydration, sleep deprivation, and starvation. The walking stick fell out of my hands and bounced on the ground next to us Dragged my tongue across my lips and I felt I was licking sandpaper I whimpered Jesus Ian, I thought you were one of those things, I almost Oh god, I'm so sorry He didn't react to my apology, he just turned around Continued walking in the direction we were going Amy just watched everything unfold numbly before she started following him Amy's a new character, right?

1:18:37100 % I think Amy's just a made-up name. Yeah, because there should just be three of them now, right? No, because I still have the other two. I thought it was Evan, Oliver, or Evan, Ian, and Sarah. Or Jessica. No, Jessica. Sarah was one of the monsters. And then there's Oliver and his girl. Okay. But I don't know if her name's Amy. I can't remember her name is anyway. Oliver shook his head sadly, but he didn't look any better. His eyes were glazed and his lips were cracked and red from rubbing at them. I watched my brother shambling for it and it reminded me of one of those old voodoo movies where someone is put in a trance and forced to walk until they die from exhaustion.

1:19:21His mouth hung open and he moved like he was being dragged along on puppet strings. I picked up the walking stick and began to follow them. I wondered how long he had left in him and what any of us could do if he just fell over and stopped walking. I wondered how much longer any of us had. I don't know how long we walked. Everything melted together in a muddled malaise at the time. I remember the sun setting and rising, but I can't recall how many times, even though I tried. I remembered a muddled melange of sleepless nights and wakeless days. I remember losing my footing and tripping a few times, but I barely felt it.

1:19:56The third time, I didn't even realize I was laying on the ground until Jessica stepped on me as she was passing by. There was no apology. She was too far gone to recognize what she had stepped on. I dragged myself to my feet and felt lightheaded but continued putting one foot in front of the other Fifth time I fell, I wondered if it would have been better to just lay down and wait to die An excited yawp behind me from one of those sinks drove me to my feet It was until we bumped into the sign for Little Bear Canyon that I realized how close we were to salvation The post for Little Bear Canyon also had a branching sign that pointed in the direction for TJ Corral which was only a few miles from where we started at the gillicliff's dwellings if we walked along route 15.

1:20:39Ian was heading in the right direction and we were almost home free. My excitement I began calling to the others to let them know that the inn was near. I looked around me and shouted. Jessica, Ian, Oliver, Heather, Amy. I know where we need to. The words died on my lips as I counted the names and realized it wasn't over yet. The others kept moving as if they hadn't heard me talking the imposters shuffled alongside us for once it was easy to identify them i don't know whether or not they had let down their guard after seeing our conditions but this one was obvious she moved slowly but her movements didn't convey her exhaustion everyone else was sweating and looked like the walking dead but she was fine i waited for her to get close enough to follow the trail the others were going down before i raised ian's walking stick and growled turn around right fucking now i can see you she turned around slowly i felt my heart skip a beat she looked almost exactly like yessica except for a brown tinge to her hair she could have been her twin i knew what i was planning before it even opened its mouth and asked what are you doing evan don't call me that what are you rambling about please move out the way We're almost safe from those things I know what you are Heather turned wide at the realization She began speaking quickly I'm not one of those things Please Evan, you have to remember There were six of us Those things want us to think that there was only five So they can take one of us without the others caring Those things don't want us all They only want the weakest one, please Let's go before they can Shut up!

1:22:11I raised the walking stick in my hand and brandished it at her Think about it Evan Do I move like one of those things? Do I speak like them? That should be enough to prove I'm human No He's my brother Jessica's his girlfriend I'm your girlfriend I sat on your lap in the car ride Please don't kill me Evan I love you Don't you remember? Evan I love you I love you I lowered the stick that was in my hand as memories bombarded me I had met her one night when my brother forced me to go to a club with him Heather had been sitting at the bar all night drinking after a particularly bad week It wasn't until she tried to stand up and fell into my arms that we actually talked.

1:22:51I remembered lazy Sundays in bed watching cheesy B sci-fi movies. I remembered holding her close to me after making love and hearing her whisper sweet nothings into my ear. I remembered our life together. I rasped. Heather, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. She cooed. Evan, it's not your fault. She went to touch me and I sprang back like I'd been bitten by a snake. the instant i heard those words i knocked the stick caught her unaware in the side of her face okay there we go yeah started swinging man that's so scary that it just like floods your mind like you don't know anything man i felt her jaw give way under the sudden force of my attack she burbled through broken teeth the second strike dented her temple as the temporal bone shattered.

1:23:41She kept trying to talk, but it was too late. Too much damage had been done. That door was shut to me now. I kept swinging the walking stick down her head until it splintered and snapped. I looked up from her twitching body and saw my brother watching me in horror. Heather, oh my god. I spoke through gritted teeth and regarded him with red-rimmed eyes. Come on, we have to go. He went to keep talking, but I walked past him. I didn't want to explain it to him. He eventually ran ahead, invigorated with the prospect to find a rescue on the road. I looked behind me one last time. Last thing I saw was one of those things dragging away Heather's corpse.

1:24:18It looked emaciated and half mad with starvation. That very moment, I wasn't afraid of the thing. I just felt pity. Whether or not it forced that emotion on me, I'll never know. I turned away and caught up with the others on Route 15. We were on the road for 15 minutes before we managed to flag down a car and an ambulance was called for us. The doctor said that our prolonged exposure to the elements combined with our starvation and dehydration triggered the auditory and visual hallucinations we experienced. It's a typical response should be given after hearing our half-dead ramblings about creatures warping their flesh and our memories to drive us to the brink of death so they could prey on us when we were at our weakest.

1:24:54We spent almost a week there while receiving treatments, recounting our horrific experiences, and then subsequent psych evaluations before we were released. At our discharge, the doctors told us how lucky we'd been. Most people don't spend almost 10 days lost in the woods and live to tell the tale. I wanted to talk to the others about it. I know for a fact that I can only recall about seven of those 10 days. Why do I have these massive gaps in my memory? Why do I sometimes remember things that never happened, could never have happened? Why do I remember smelling wildflowers in my muddled memories?

1:25:29I try to broach the topic with the others. Ian and Jessica refused to talk with me about it. they insist that this was all a byproduct of the trauma malnourishment and sleep deprivation it's not i don't really know oliver or amy so that's off the table too you just want to forget i refuse to forget here's the thing i still remember nadia asking me to help oh oh i still remember nadia asking me to help her find her lighter i recall staying up late and talking with her by the campfire while she smoked like a chimney. I can recite Jerry's terrible puns that he'd make about almost everything and Lucas's determination at hiking this trail while slowly succumbing to the effects of his multiple sclerosis.

1:26:14I can recall whispering sweet nothings to Jessica under the glow of the full moon. I can still envision that moment clear as day, even months later. I note the conversation we had word for word. I can remember the feeling of her skin against mine and the smell of her hair as I pressed myself against her when I reached that one true moment of connectivity. I remember Heather pleading and begging me not to kill her, despite writing this all months later. I can see all of those things clearly. Sometimes, late at night, I can even remember driving up to Gilla National Park with Heather sitting in my lap, playfully grinding against me and telling me how fun our hike was going to be.

1:26:54sometimes I think about that memory more than I should since I can't talk to my brother or Yeska about this I had to find some other outlet I guess I'm writing all this for that one reason catharsis in the end I keep wondering if what I did was right did I make the right choice I want you to read this and tell me that I had no other option that the risk of one of them escaping into the city forced my hand I know that's not the case I could have walked away or tried to scare her off, but I didn't What kind of person can look into someone's eyes, remember all the things they did and the life they had and do what I did?

1:27:33Who can have all those memories and still beat someone to death? It doesn't matter if none of it was real, because in that moment, it was to me Who can look at someone and feel such love for them before you kill them? The answer to that question is simple, now that I ask myself aloud I just don't like the answer what a nice ending it's interesting uh that was fun that was the end of uh flesh gate a classic that was fun it's interesting how similar it was to the goat man like earlier when you were talking about uh you know people making diagrams to differentiate these stories and stuff if you read all these at the same time it would be easy to be like to mix them because there was even you know even in the goat man i don't know if they they were probably all playing on each other you know the same way that like you know all the jeff the killer stuff how all those have similar tropes and stuff so it's interesting to think that in one part of time there was like weird you know cheesy serial killer stuff but then there was also this weird like new age cryptid the rake kind of skinwalker uh trend that was going on as well and that's you know i i wonder do you think that that kind of do you think that kind of monster is just like dated to this point or do you think that something like this could be made to and effect this day because I feel like right now the hot thing is like like uncanny kind of like uncanny valley you know kind of thing versus like monster skinwalker thing I wonder if someone can write a new age skinwalker story that would be as effective or be as alluring as it was back in the day I think you could and I kind of got the idea for how you would do that while reading this one you would just make it you would make the interactions non-consequential on first read.

1:29:22So you would have, like, the most effective part of the story to me was Jerry walked up to me and I handed him the map. And then later, it's like, there was no Jerry. Like, the level of casualness he delivered that Jerry part with made you feel so comfortable with it that it kind of robs you of what you expected going in. It makes you second take even if you're on reading. The effectiveness of this is that when you're reading, you're like, oh shit, Was there, you know, was there a Heather or, you know, this kind of thing? Like it kind of makes you focus on that. I'd be curious to see one, two that wasn't based in the woods or something.

1:29:57Like if there was any other setting that you could put them in where, you know, does a skinwalker move in to like a house next door? Is there something like in an apartment complex? Like something where there's a large group of people, but then also like a large group of people that you probably have never met. Like I was thinking about that too while we were reading this. Like if you had a skinwalker that lived in an apartment complex, you probably don't know everybody in your apartment building. You know what I mean? So that'd be a fun, effective way of like, can you trust the people that are around you that go in and out of your building every day?

1:30:27Who knows stuff like that? I think would be, it's also what I really like about the story. I do have to say out of like the goat man, stuff like that. This is pro this is much better written. Yeah. Just like with the actual language issues and stuff like that, way better and way better than a lot of the early like rake stories and stuff like that i think yeah no definitely i mean the ending is yeah he's great he's a great author the ending is great because i was questioning myself at the end it's like well how do we know he went with his brother ian and like how do we know because if it's all memories implanted and he's describing it how do we know that oliver and amy were the ones it also plants a realistic uh it plant it does a couple things effective for me it plants the idea too that was all of this just sleep deprivation like starvation dehydration all that kind of stuff it does plant that realistic thing where your mind is so fragile that it could have played these tricks on you but then also i like the idea of um almost like if something doesn't happen but it's so real to you is it actually not real or you know is it is it a reality like there's just something interesting about like uh i experienced all these things that felt real and i don't think you move on from that i think that it's like sticks with you and to me that's really really powerful too of like something could have never happened but because it you know happened in your version of reality that truth is going to stay with you more than probably the actual reality of what happened and to me that's like the biggest mind fucked that's like the scariest thing awesome memories being formed that never happened and you have to like almost come to terms with that like it's fake but it's like the it's the horrible truth that you don't want to accept to me that psychologically is the scariest part of the story for sure yeah yeah i like the uh it's like i regardless if it was real or not that was my girlfriend for every sense of you know my mind that was my girlfriend and i beat her to death on the side of the trail so what does that say about me like even if that was the technically correct move to do because that was a mimic we think that was a mimic that he had to stop um it's like i still had those memories and i still did that so what's that do to me uh it play it like makes you it takes like the uh the kind of mimicry monster angle and makes you ask questions about yourself like well would i have the capability even if i knew something was fake to do that to it yeah could i kill if i believe do i really trust myself enough and that's another thing too is self-trust uh do i trust myself enough to make the decision to hit my what i think is not my brother uh and kill him you know do i trust myself enough do i like there's a lot of uh there's a lot of just i don't know uh what's introspective kind of ideas in the story which really it's it's kind of interesting because this is clearly the best written one of these like skinwalker stories and then i would say goat man and then the rake but you could tell that the rake had just such a simple premise that like allowed so many other people to kind of like run with this and have fun and i like that you know you get stuff like the goat man uh which feels more like a cryptid it's definitely a skinwalker but i would say it feels more of like that kind of you know mothman cryptid kind of feeling versus this does feel like an actual if someone's like read the original rake and they're like i want more this would be that story that I would show them.

1:33:58This is the thing I'd be like, this is a more realized, fun thing. And even this was a pretty short story. Like you could, you could have gone way more, you know, you could have gone deeper and deeper. Usually whenever stories in them this way, where it's like, you know, we did find the road and yeah, the doctors say this. I almost usually read that as the author's just kind of like, and it's done. Like, I just don't know what to, we're just ending it like this, you know, but I, it doesn't feel unsatisfying to me. It's still, you still get that nice question of him at the end like Evan basically asking you know are these things I experienced you know are they real or you know even if they're not real I remember it as clear as day and that's like something that I'm going to have to live with it's such a fun and haunting ending to that character's story just the psyche I feel like this character is definitely just broken by the end you know oh yeah yeah he's I mean he was already like the whole thing about the door he already had like social anxiety and now it's like on top of that i can't trust anyone ever for anything and i have distinct memories of beating my girlfriend to death so yeah yeah and that's the and i think that it did it does a good job in terms of full circle moments at the beginning of the story i'm awkward i really don't want to go on this deal but i'm just going to go to get out of my comfort zone and by the end it's just a full thing of i'm awkward i don't even know who i am anymore i don't know the memories i have it's kind of like you establish a nice relationship to find out that it's totally not real and that these like almost that these you know conceptions that you had about yourself at the beginning are true it's like a vicious cycle of just kind of rinse and repeat you know like i feel like this is going to be that guy's fucking story forever he's going to go out he's not he's going to feel like he makes an establishing connection with someone even if there's not like a fucking weird paranormal aspect to it it'd be like oh i met this person let's just say a girl about this girl but then he gets too in his head about it and then he's just like she'll never be able to like me the way that i like her rent to repeat you know what i mean it's just kind of like it's just a vicious cycle so yeah i don't know anytime you get into those weird things of a character being introspective it's always just a another layer to a character that's just a lot of fun you know versus like the goat the goat man thing it's just like yeah i don't know the shit was kind of spooky up there in the woods so hope me and my friends can get it doesn't it just doesn't You don't get a feel for the characters in the same way.

1:36:24Not to discredit Goatman, because I like that one too. But yeah, it was a fun story. I would recommend Imperial as always. He's a home run hitter here on the podcast. Always happy to read his stuff. Thank you guys for whoever was listening to this on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, all that jazz. And thank you for our Patreon supporters. Thank you so much. Of course. Be sure to sign up if you want extra stories, extra content. You know, we've been planning a lot of fun stuff there. So be sure to check it out. Other than that, I hope you guys have a great rest of your day. Don't get lost in the woods and, you know, bring plenty of water or just don't go camping.

1:36:59Don't go hiking. You know, stay in your apartment. Play video games. They won't hurt you. I swear. You'll be fine. Trust me. It'll be OK. No, thank you guys so much for the support. Again, check out Travis Imperial Incentive. Oh, I keep saying incentive. I think it's invective, but I'm going to keep saying incentive because I'm wrong. Travis at the link in the description. All this stuff's awesome. If you enjoyed this, he's got a ton of good stuff. This is also one of his earlier stories. So, uh, the guy, the guy's insane. So check him out. Thank you to everyone on the Patreon. Thank you for the support.

1:37:29It means the world. Uh, and we hope you guys enjoyed. Thank you. Don't you say we will see you in the next one now? Okay. Already stopped recording. Uh, hold on. I can do a Hunter impression. We will, uh, see you in the next one. and then I go and then I go I make some quip about the episode don't beat your girlfriend to death haha and then I say bye so bye

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