I have videos showing how everyone dies. I make people watch them while they’re still alive.

It’s kind of a weird job when I think about it. I didn’t film these, I don’t know where they come from. Hell, I don’t even bring the people in to watch them. My job is to show the tape and maybe bend their arm to get them to actually watch.

I know this job sounds insane, but most of my clients die in their sleep. They’re timid before I show the tape, but afterwards, they feel relieved. I can’t tell anyone what date it happens on because I’m not given that information; it’s above my pay grade. I had an unusual one come in last week for a 31 year old woman.

I walked into the modern office and sat in my black leather chair. I logged into my company’s website and checked the schedule. Mary Peters at 9:30 was my first client. I still had about 25 minutes until she came in, so I opened my window and smoked my morning cigarette. I was running late to work and nobody who works here comes into my office anyway. I watched people taking morning walks in the park across the street. There were a few dogs here and there, some happy couples enjoying life. If there’s one thing this job has done, it’s taken away any assurance and confidence I’ve had in living a long life. I’ve had people as young as 24 come in here, and they don’t have the “dying in your sleep” plans the elderly do. I noticed a reflection in the window as Mary walked into my office.

“Hi, I heard you know about death?” She asked.

“Well, I know enough.” I said as I tossed my cigarette butt into the parking lot.

“I have a history of heart disease in my family.” She said. “If that’s how I’m supposed to die, I want to go in and see if there’s some preventative action I can take now.”

“That’s not how it works, Mary.” I replied. “If I have it on tape, there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

“Tape?” She asked horrified.

“Well, we don’t use those anymore.” I said. “They’re just on my computer. I’m just used to saying tape since we used VHS tapes back when I started.”

“Nevermind, I can’t… I’m sorry.. This is just..” She stuttered trying to find the right words.

“Listen, you’re here, maybe it’ll give you some clearance.” I said.

She sat there, wrestling with her thoughts as she chewed on her fingernails. I know how harsh it is to do this, it’s probably the most shocking thing you could ever heard in your lifetime. After about 10 minutes of silence, she broke it.

“Alright, let’s just watch it.” She said.

“Okay.” I replied.

I was trying to be as heartfelt as I could, I knew what she was going through. I turned my monitor around so she could see as I pulled up the video. She was driving, the sun was just rising as she sipped her coffee. The windows were down as her Subaru SUV kicked up gravel behind her. She must’ve been up late the night before because she was struggling to keep her head up. She fell asleep at the wheel and swerved off the road. Her car hit a tree and split the hood in half. Her head bounced off the steering wheel and crashed against her seat. She was in the middle of nowhere. There were no bystanders to call the police, she was pinned down in her crumpled vehicle. The video went on for about 15 more minutes of her struggling with the seat belt as blood stung her eyes. She couldn’t reach her phone and one arm must’ve been broken in several places as she couldn’t do anything with it. She looked horrified, but didn’t know what to say.

“I’d recommend trying to get some quality time in with loved ones.” I said. “And don’t mention a thing about this place.”

She signed a non-disclosure agreement and headed out the door. I had one more appointment, but I needed another cigarette. These tragic ones get to you, and I still try my best to hope we get it wrong sometimes.

Eric walked into my office at 2:00 as I was sending off an email.

“Shut the door behind you.” I said as he crossed through the door frame.

He shut the door and turned back to face me. His styled black hair housed a pair of cheap sunglasses as he plopped into the worn down chair that sat across from me. His suit couldn’t hide the stain by the collar on his white shirt. I like to look for the little things that differentiate the people I see; anything to help me realize they’re still human beings.

“I hear you’re some kind of fortune teller who can tell me about death?” He asked.

“Well, I can show you yours.” I replied nonchalantly.

“Show?” He asked. “You trying to kill me?”

I laughed for a second as this was the first time anyone ever asked me that question.

“No, I can just show you how it will happen.” I said.

“Like, a movie?” He asked.

“It’s a video on my computer.” I said bluntly. “It’s four minutes long.”

“Nah man, I can’t do that.” He said.

“Alrighty then.” I replied. “The door behind you locked when you shut it.”

“Then open it.” He replied sharply.

“I can’t open it until you see this video.” I said. “But if you really don’t want to do this, I’ll write up some paperwork making up a story about you escaping. Emergency exit’s to your left.”

He stood up and looked at the door about two feet from my desk. I rose from my chair and escorted him to it and closed the door behind him. It wasn’t an emergency exit, it’s just a room to hold him until he changed his mind.

“What the fuck?!” He exclaimed. “Let me out.”

“Are you ready to watch?” I asked.

“No, I’m ready to kick your ass.” He replied.

“Okay, when you have a change of heart, I’ll make some popcorn and we can watch.” I said.

This wasn’t the first time I’d had people refuse to watch. I actually was lucky that Mary shut the door behind her while I was finishing my cigarette. I’ve had a few people get out of my office, but they never get out of the building.

I sat at my desk, signing files, writing memos, just normal office work. 4:30 hit and I checked on Eric to see how he was doing.

“Hey buddy, ready to watch?” I asked.

“You’re off at 5:00, right?” He asked.

“I do get off at 5:00.” I said. “They don’t pay me overtime, so I’ll just leave you here and come back in the morning if it comes to that.”

“You’re lying.” He said.

“Okay, see you in the morning.” I said. I walked over, hit the light switch, opened the door and closed it loud enough for him to hear.

“Wait!” He screamed. “I’ll watch.”

“Sounds like a plan to me buddy.” I replied.

I opened the door and he stood there with his tie un-done and his suit coat on the floor.

“I’m sorry about that Eric, I get into some deep shit with the boss if I don’t get this done.” I said.

He walked over to the chair and sat lifelessly as I pulled up the video on my monitor.

He was ice fishing, but it didn’t look like the right conditions for it. As he was walking to his hole, the ice cracked and he went underwater. He thrashed around but was so disoriented, he ended up swimming about 5 feet from the original opening. The ice was too thin, we could see him pounding his fists on the ice as he drifted into the dark water.

“I’m sorry about that Eric.” I said. “I know it’s difficult to see this.”

“How do you know?” He asked.

“Because I was in your shoes once.” I replied. “That was before I got a job here.”

“How do you die?” He asked.

I rolled up my sleeves and lit up my last cigarette. I didn’t enjoy thinking about it, but I remember the video clear as day.

“Burning alive.” I replied.

The Drowning Experiment Part 2.

I was struggling after the first run of trials. I’d see Eric’s dead body drifting into the abyss in my dreams. Every time I would shower, the water hitting me reminded me of Chloe’s screams in the pool. I saw online that Chloe passed away. The swimming under my feet wasn’t rescue divers, they were disposing of the bodies before the lights turned on. This wasn’t just for Eric and Chloe, this was for all of us. I reached out to the police in an effort to make sure this didn’t happen again.

I sat down at the police station in a rusted metal chair as I watched officers hustle people in and out of rooms. The occasional bail here, a distressed victim there. As I’ve witnessed, there is too much tragedy in life, and this was a hot spot for the brutal aftermath of it.

My name was called, and I sat down across from a detective at his desk.

“I witnessed people die due to the negligence of a company just an hour south of us.” I said. Everyone else died, but there was a lawsuit against them that won. Shouldn’t that be enough along with my testimony to prove something bad happened?”

“Sure thing.” He responded. “Tell me what happened.”

“I went to this place offering jobs to people who are good in water.” I said. “They’d get us connected with job opportunities after some test…”

“Aqua Hiring?” He interrupted.

“Yes, that’s the place.” I replied. “Do you know about them?”

“Yep.” He said. “We’ve launched investigations on them in the past. We never found anything out of the ordinary.”

“But people have died there.” I pleaded.

He leaned in close enough for me to smell the morning coffee and cigarettes he huffed down on his way to work.

“Listen, there’s nothing more we can do.” He said. “My wife went there three years ago. Never came back.”

His blue eyes trembled as he fought back tears. He had pictures of his wife on his desk, she was beautiful. The happiness he once displayed died along with her. I knew he cared, and he wanted to help. This was above him, and the whole local police force for that matter.

I did nothing for the next couple days. Not exactly nothing; I contemplated. I sat like a prisoner in a cell, just wondering what I could possibly do. My walls weren’t holding me in, my conscious was. I couldn’t accept defeat, not this easily.

I looked around online to see what kind of technology I could use to spy on the facility. Unless I could attach a camera to a nearby streetlight or find a James Bond style device that would let me spy in on conversations through walls, I was out of luck. Then an idea dawned on me.

I had a buddy back in college who works for an online news source. I never read it, but he might know a thing or two about getting the truth and amplifying it more than any court case or social media post can. I gave him a call later that day.

“Spencer?” He asked, surprised to hear from me. “How the hell are ya?”

“Not great, Matty.” I replied. “If you were to find some kind of corruption, or write an article to expose something, how would you do it?”

“Well, that’s tricky.” He responded. “If I was trying to get the truth from someone without them knowing, I’d go in mic’d up.”

“That’s not an option.” I said. “They know me, and I doubt they want anything to do with me.”

“Then I’d either go in undercover or send in a buddy.” He replied.

“What if I went to a different location of theirs where they didn’t know me?” I asked.

“I suppose that could work.” He said. “Need a wire?”

“No, I need something waterproof.” I said.

He sent me a link for a waterproof watch with a built-in microphone. Nothing that could capture video proof, but theoretically, audio along with my testimony could be compelling.

I searched Aqua Hiring LLC and the second closest facility was 149 miles away. It would be a haul, but worth it if my plan actually worked. I called to see if I could get more information as to what kind of testing would be done, but it was the same bullshit I was told for my first experience. I determined if I was going to get proof, I’d have to suffer again.

I made the long haul three days later and went through the same procedure as last time. However, this time I used a fake name. In case they had Spencer Hicks on file, I’d go by Dillon Johnson. While I sat nervously in my seat, I looked around at everyone surrounding me. I felt somewhat responsible for what would happen to them as I had the information to save all of them. I wrestled with my thoughts for a while before determining this was the only way to save people in the future.

We were escorted by a young woman into another pristine room filled with sci-fi looking equipment. As my peers looked on with amazement, I saw nothing but devices built for the purpose of pushing a body past its limits. We walked towards another pool, same dimensions as the previous one. We waded out to the middle and assumed our positions. After treading for 10 minutes, the same machines as the prior ones began vibrating up and down. Gentle waves moved us around which forced nobody out of the pool. I was prepared for the lights to cut out when nearly the opposite happened.

“You must be able to remain calm even through the most disorienting events.” The woman said as bright lights of every color burst from the ceiling. At the same time the machines jerked sideways from opposite sides creating an undertow; this was new.

I couldn’t see my own hands as lights bombarded my eyes. The current was pulling everyone and myself under the water every few seconds. It felt like someone was pulling my feet violently as I struggled to resurface. Gasps of breath which only caused my lungs to burn were my only means of survival. After only four minutes of this, five of us remained.

“The ones who couldn’t pass this test have been escorted out.” The woman said. “You’ve earned a lunch before your next test.”

I didn’t make any friends during this. The last thing I needed was to make relationships with people who were walking tombstones in my eyes.

After a meal, I returned to see another beautiful boat sitting near the parking lot. I fought every urge in my body to run. Gut feelings can give you a lot of information, your brain telling you to run is another. I walked back into the main room and waited. The woman escorted us to the boat where we drove into the ocean.

“Our pool can only simulate the ocean so well.” She said. “This is a true test of your endurance. We’ll be monitoring you guys from a safe distance and will be back in one hour to retrieve you.”

We jumped out of the boat in a single file line but as the last girl was preparing to leave, I saw the woman give her a pat on the back. The girl winced in pain as she fell out and the boat drove off. After no more than two minutes in the water, we noticed streaks of red floating around us. I asked the girl to turn around and I noticed a small cut on her back.

“That bitch cut me.” She said.

Her wound was the least of my worries. We were in the middle of the ocean with blood in the water.

“Okay listen, we have to swim back as a unit.” I said. “There is safety in numbers, and we have to make sure she’s okay.”

“Hell no.” A guy chimed in. “She can swim back to the shore and you can be her bodyguard, I’m landing a job.”

“You don’t understand, they’re not coming back.” I yelled. But it didn’t matter, either I confessed everything to them, or I played along.

“At least, not for an hour.” I continued.

“It’s a small cut, I’ll be fine.” She said in an effort to calm down the situation. “Everyone just take a deep breath, we can pass the time with a few stories. Who wants to go first?”

Before anyone spoke up, a man behind me was pulled underwater. We turned around and saw his forearm barely connected to a hand float to the surface. Veins stuck out, fat and muscle clung to the shattered remains of the bones. Blood surrounded us as panic set in. She wasn’t cut on accident, this was the same test, just modified.

“Stop swimming and thrashing.” I yelled in an effort to save the others. “It only attracts more sharks.”

I spun around looking everywhere I could to watch for sharks incoming. One of the men in the water began crying. He told us he wanted to tell his wife he loved her one last time. Every passing second felt like minutes in my head. This wasn’t a test of endurance, we were playing Russian roulette with a chamber full of bullets, it all depended on who was under the gun next.

“I see one coming, please help…” the girl with a cut yelled as a shark jumped out of the water and grabbed her.

She continued to scream and pled to us as we watched it jerk her back and forth. Her outstretched hands reaching for hope only grasped the air she’d never breathe again. She was being thrown around like a rag doll, showing just how helpless we were in comparison to the predators swarming us. Within 10 seconds, she was cut in half. There were only three of us left.

“Fuck this, man, I’m going back to shore.” said the man who initially refused to leave.

He swam about 20 feet before he met the same death the others had. I looked around me. I was greeted by an arm, half a woman, and one other man who was terrified.

“If you swim back to shore on your back, you’ll be fine.” I said. “Just don’t paddle and move around so much that it draws attention to you.”

I knew it was a lie, and I knew he’d be found dead. This was necessary, I had to make sure I got out alive with the evidence to finally end this horrible company.

Before he began swimming, the boat returned and the woman, along with a few other workers, swiftly dragged us back into the boat.

“I’m so sorry that happened.” She said. “We came in as soon as we could.”

I knew she was lying through her teeth. I could’ve said something, but everything I had been through from that point on would’ve been for nothing. We returned to the facility where, to my surprise, the testing wasn’t over.

“We just have one last test before you’re all done.” She said happily. Three people were mauled to pieces, and she was acting as if nothing had happened.

“Hop into these tanks where we’re going to have you hold your breath.” She said. “Give us a wave when you can’t go any longer and we’ll open them for you. Also, Mr. Johnson, can you give me your watch?”

“Why, I like to have it on me?” I asked. “It monitors my heart rate, and I just feel naked without it on my wrist.”

“Our tanks receive signals from our computers and any kind of technology can interfere with it.” She said. “You’ll get it back along with your phone and wallet afterwards.”

I knew she didn’t mean it. Her brown bangs couldn’t hide the malice in her eyes. I reluctantly handed over my watch but left the microphone running just in case she held onto it during the testing.

These tanks were above ground with steel beams holding them up. They were about three feet off the ground and roughly seven feet tall. They were just wide enough to house a person in them. As I climbed a ladder on the side and descended into the tank, along with the guy who survived the ocean with me, the tops sealed shut. I felt the claustrophobia set in as the round glass entrapped me. I had a realization after being in there for only a few seconds, I couldn’t move my arms. How was I supposed to wave to them if I needed to be released?

I remained as still as I could as I watched the clock on the north wall. The seconds hand danced slowly as if mocking me. We were both trapped behind a wall of glass, but its battery would last longer than my lungs.

I looked over at the man in the second tank as he began flinching.

We had been holding our breath for over two minutes and he didn’t have much longer. His head jerked back and forth as his body slammed against the glass. He was pounding his fists against the walls but couldn’t break them as his arms were forced against his sides. His screams for help were imprisoned to the bubbles bursting from his mouth, swarming around his head. My own lungs were constricting, but I still had time. A fire burned in my chest as I watched him become motionless. The lid to my tank opened seconds later.

“We’ll have medical professionals tend to him.” She said to me. “He’ll be okay.”

I walked back into the waiting area to gather my belongings from the man behind the sheet of glass where he handed me my phone, wallet and watch.

“You have a great day now, Mr. Hicks.” He said.I froze; they knew me. Nobody came after me, nor did they attempt to stop me from leaving. I quickly walked out of the building back to my car. I looked through my phone; they didn’t touch it. I then inspected my watch. Hopelessness is the only word I can use to describe what came over me. Never in my life have I felt so defeated and filled with despair. They removed the memory card from my watch.

The Drowning Experiment.

It’s not on record as the drowning experiment, The official name is AQ521-G4, I’ve coined it for what it truly was. It was marketed as an opportunity for people with previous experience in aquatic settings to earn high positions for coastal work, aquamarine research, and other well paying jobs. The premise was simple, prove you can handle endurance tests in water, pass a physiological evaluation and some tests for intelligence, and the jobs will open up. As an unemployed 25 year old guy living with his parents, this seemed like a promising opportunity. I grew up along the coast, swimming, surfing, and scuba diving on occasion were pass times I’d learned to love. I called the number on the listing and set up my appointment.

The nearest facility was only 60 miles from my house, and an hour commute didn’t bother me. The area was nice enough that I would’ve been more than happy to find a place to rent and start working there. I parked my rusted Jeep in the parking lot and took in a breath of the fresh ocean air. It was bitter, but even winters in California are still warm enough for me. I scanned the cars in the parking lot as if to measure up the competition, several old vehicles on the brink of breaking down were parked around me. Along the west side of the building was a fleet of very nice looking SUV’s. I peeked inside of the nearest one, thinking I might get a company vehicle like that if I landed a nice enough job.

I walked into the front door and was greeted by metal detectors and a guard. I removed my cellphone and wallet and proceeded to a woman standing behind a rather sturdy sheet of glass, similar to what you’d see in a bank. She took my information and had me take a seat in the waiting area. I let my mind wander as I surveyed the group of people populating the area. People of all ages were waiting eagerly for the chance to make plenty of bank. I sat next to a 39 year old guy named Eric. He told me about his wife and his two children. His oldest daughter was going to college next year and he needed the money to put her through college. He was a great guy, he spoke elegantly about his love for both his wife and daughters. A young girl across from us named Chloe chimed in about how she was a sophomore in college about 20 minutes from the facility. She wanted to find a job during college so she wouldn’t end up unemployed after graduation. I wish I was as smart as her when I was that age.

A man walked in and escorted the group back into a pristine room filled with very expensive looking machinery. Polished stainless steel equipment occupied the spotless room. The group, maybe 13 total, all gave the same impressed look while they let their eyes dance from corner to corner.

“I’m glad to see such a nice turnout.” He said. “We’re going to start in our new ocean simulator we just had installed.”

We walked through a set of double doors to see a giant indoor pool. It must’ve been at least 50 feet wide and long. It was intimidating, but I’d adopted the false hope that I was in good hands.

“This is 20 feet deep.” The man said. “Nothing compared to the ocean just behind us, but it’s plenty deep for our first tests.”

It all started off mundane. We swam to the middle of the pool with the task to tread water for 15 minutes. Nobody wavered, but worse was to come. The man pointed towards the east side of the pool where a man standing behind a table full of equipment gave him a nod. Within a few seconds, two large pieces of equipment on opposite sides of the pool began vibrating up and down. Gentle waves began crashing into us as we continued to tread. Some of us were blown away by the engineering of the machinery, a few in the group stood out for their arrogance. They scoffed when the waves came in but we’d already been treading for 15 minutes. 10 minutes of waves hit us and two people gave up during this test. They struggled to swim to the edges of the pool but made it to safety.

“Is this all we’re going to do?” A man in the group yelled out.

The man who brought us in smiled and nodded towards the man at the table. He flipped a switch and the lights dimmed. We couldn’t see the edges of the pool anymore, and looked around to greet each other with the same scared expression.

“Let it rip.” The man said as machines whirred from all sides of the pool.

Waves hit us from all directions as we thrashed around. Only a few minutes passed as I heard people behind me screaming.

“Someone help me, I…” pierced my eardrums. I recognized that voice, it was Chloe.

I turned to see if I could help her but it was too dark to see more than a few feet away. I heard screams and cries in every direction, it was a battlefield with no gunfire. The relentless waves hitting us from every path were clearly winning this war. I felt something swimming below me and assumed they slipped a few people to help the weak.

The lights flipped on, the waves fell silent, and six of us remained. I looked around and locked eyes with Eric. I scanned the crowd but Chloe was gone. I looked at my watch, we were only in the chaos for seven minutes and it wiped out half the participants.

“The others have been escorted out of the building.” The man conducting the test said. “Congratulations on passing, dry off, we’ll run further experiments after lunch.”

We walked into the parking lot where Eric offered to give me a ride to a nearby restaurant.

“The fuck was that?” He asked as we sat down with our food.

“No clue.” I responded as I took a sip of my Diet Coke.

We didn’t speak much and didn’t eat too much food as we knew we’d be subjected to more punishment later that day. There was something somber, yet powerful about our meal together. I felt as if there was something special about us, in the fact we’d made it through the mayhem, but celebration wasn’t in order.

We arrived back at the facility and sat patiently in the waiting room again. The few of us that remained weren’t excited, we were worried. Like me, I knew they were slim on other options and hoped a little bit of tough work would pay off in the long run.

“Follow me, we’re going on a field trip.” The man said as he motioned us through the front doors. We followed towards a beautiful boat parked just past the parking lot. Loading in one by one, we rode along into the ocean.

“There may be some scenarios where you find yourself stuck at ocean.” He said. “Every job will know your general location, but it may take time for help to arrive. We’ve tested your ability to survive a storm, but endurance is also a necessity.”

We rode until the coastline was hardly visible. We were dumped into the ocean without life jackets and told to stay afloat. Whether it be paddling our feet, or lying on our backs, stay afloat.

“We will have you out here for one hour.” He said. “You’ve got food in your stomachs and we know where you are, we will monitor you from a distance to make sure you’re safe, and can handle the task.”

“Make it two.” said a familiar voice.

It was the same guy from the pool who wasn’t impressed with the gentle waves. The man conducting the tests looked at him from the boat with a look of dissatisfaction.

“If you would like a two hour test, go take the SAT.” he responded. “We’re sticking to one hour.”

The boat drove off and we were stuck in the ocean. You’d think there would be plenty of chatter to pass the time, but nobody was saying a word. Eric was lying on his back while a few of the others elected to stay vertical and paddle their feet. The sun beat down on us while we shivered. Just because it’s California, doesn’t mean the water is going to be warm.

I laid on my back and floated for what felt like an eternity. I imagined what I’d be doing after the testing was over. The thought of having a secure future brought me the hope I needed to continue on. I checked my watch, 34 minutes had passed. I looked around to see how the others were doing and I noticed someone was missing. I brought it up to everyone else and we scanned the waters around us to see if they’d floated off. We didn’t see anyone.

“Fuck this.” A woman said in the commotion. “I’m swimming back to shore, who’s coming with me?”

I looked at Eric, we were both considering it, but when he said he was staying there, I agreed to stay with him. A man in the group joined her as they set off for the coast. It was me, Eric, and the asshole who thought he was too good for the tests.

Eric and I talked to pass the time after the others left. We wondered if they’d be able to swim that far before they would succumb to fatigue. The thought of your body giving up with no escape for safety scared us. He also told me about how he’d been unemployed for about 6 months and needed this badly to support his family. I told him I just didn’t know what else I was going to do if this didn’t work out. I checked my watch, it had been an hour and 18 minutes since they dropped us off.

“Well, you got your wish for a two hour test.” I said to the guy stranded with us.

“Good.” He replied sharply. “Survival of the fittest.”

I’d known the guy for a couple hours and I hated him. I didn’t even know his name, but my gut feeling was to abandon him and swim to shore with Eric. We waited for a boat to come, but time was not on our side. We were dropped off at about 1:30. It was 2:50 and sunset was at 5:00. It dawned on me that they never asked for physicals from us. Nor did they ask if we had any prior health conditions. They just took whoever showed up and threw them into these tests.

By 3:51 I’d about given up hope. We were tired, even though lying on my back was no exercise, the endless waves were beating we down. My fingers and toes were completely numb and I couldn’t see the shoreline at all at this point.

“I can’t do it anymore.” Eric said to me. He was white, his rosy cheeks lost all color. His eyes conveyed more information than any of his words could; they were empty. I wasn’t looking at Eric anymore, I saw a broken man. I saw what happens when you lose everything.

He started to sink when I swam over to him. I thrashed violently trying to get to him in time but I couldn’t save him. I dove below the surface to try and grab him, but he was too far down to save. I watched him sink until the water turned black.

“Shouldn’t have tried to get a job in the water.” The man said.

When he said that, I lost it. I swam over to him and wrapped my hands around his neck. His slight grin turned to panic as I held him under the water. His eyes open wide as his arms lashed through the surface.

“Maybe you shouldn’t either.” I screamed as I held him down.

I felt his heartbeat racing as my hands clasped around his neck tighter and tighter.

The fight was over. His eyes rolled back, his arms and legs draped below his lifeless body as I released him. He sank and I was alone.

Minutes later, the boat returned. The man administering the tests helped me into the boat and congratulated me on passing the test. It was 4:06, I was in the water a lot longer than the hour he promised.

“Why did you come back so late?” I asked.

“Boat issues.” He replied without even looking in my direction.

We arrived back at the facility where the woman behind the counter returned my phone and wallet to me.

“Hey, can you tell me what Eric’s last name is?” I asked.

“It’s Griffen.” She responded. “You can expect an email within the next few days, we have employers who are excited to interview our candidates.”

I thanked her and left the building. I looked on Facebook and found his page. I sent a message to his wife letting her know what happened.

The next day, the bodies of the two participants that tried to swim back to shore were found. They had injuries that didn’t match up with shark attacks. The causes of death were unknown.

I never got a single email offering me a job. Eric’s wife messaged me back a few weeks later telling me they settled on a lawsuit, she got 2 million dollars. It wasn’t worth it to her. She would’ve taken Eric back over the 2 million dollars in a heartbeat. Money doesn’t replace people, but people can be bought with a broken promise of hope.

I Have Information About you and Tens of Millions of Americans. It’s Been Leaked.

Hello there,

You’ve never seen my face, nor have you heard my voice. I’m not some seedy villainous character that sneaks around and spies on you, that would be too much work. Instead, I simple hear everything you say in the comfort of your own home. I’m sure you heard when Snowden leaked documents about the NSA listening to you. I don’t work for the NSA, but I can assure you that what he said is correct. While the government took a hit in reputation, my branch has been unaffected. We use your webcam, microphones, computers, cellphones even smartwatches to gather everything we can on you.

You see, this was initially for advertiser purposes only. Harmless search results for dog toys or clothing were available to anybody willing to pay us for a chance to see what you’re willing to pay for. Advertisers were making more money, and in turn we received more money as well. Then an executive came to my boss and asked if we could sell locations. This was met with some major push back from several of us. It passed through and while it was supposed to help local businesses get more traffic, it ended up being used for more than that. We found out the data was used for finding people’s homes (where they spent the most time), how they travel, where they travel and their preferred schedules for leaving the house. Just about anything that could be harvested using locations were taken, but it didn’t stop there.

Several of us at the company were already unhappy with how invasive things were getting, but then recordings came into play. Not just advertisers asked for audio/video recording, business executives and just regular people pitched the idea to a few of us. This, in my opinion, is spying and reaching over the line of what is acceptable. Video calling applications, chat based applications and picture applications jumped on this when they heard word. They wanted all the data they could have and spent whatever we charged. Just a disclaimer that we’re not the largest agency in terms of revenue, but we have just as much data on people as anyone else in the business. It’s a very niche, unheard of business as you’d think most platforms would directly sell to advertisers. We’re a middleman that can use artificial intelligence, location, age, whatever you could possible think of to weed out exactly what our clients want.

We have dozens of servers, over 40 buildings, and roughly 600 employees nationwide that work for this one company. There are thousands of terabytes of information stored, with over 500 gigabytes uploaded and deleted daily. Anything deleted gets archived and stored at any of our buildings depending on the location. We’ve had issues with some of the bosses being a bit seedy in how they conduct business. I heard a rumor that a boss in one of our Northeastern branches took $25,000 from a guy who needed everything he could get on his ex-wife. He found videos of her cheating on him and the guy killed her the next day. I don’t know what that boss was expecting, but anyone thinking about the realistic outcomes could see that guy only had malice on his mind.

I’ve been doing my best to try to get this into the right people’s hands that our information is too invasive. We should not be in people’s houses recording everything they say and do. I tried talking to my boss and he said there’s nothing he can do either. He’s apparently been feeling the same way I am. You might hear about us soon because recently our data leaked. Nobody just uploaded all our info to the internet for anyone to see, that would be ridiculous. Somebody, or some group, got into the network for 38 of our 40 buildings. They’ve downloaded just about everything we have. We’ve tried tracking based on IP, but the signal is muddy. We can tell it’s from the Middle Eastern region of the world.

This means information about your family, home, work, travel, everything is in the hands of some horrible people. Every photo and video you’ve taken is on there, your address, work, schedule, everything is in those files. They know your family, your friends, your dog for that matter. They’re manipulating our “lives” as well. I know they’re bad based on what’s happening to me, or what is about to happen to me, that is. I hopped onto my computer yesterday and my ads were about suicide awareness and prevention. I’m not trying to kill myself, nor have I thought about it, but according to my “data” I’m at risk of it. While you know this, if someone finds me dead, my data will suggest I did this to myself.

We never manipulated your data, only saved it. We knew if you were a fan of horror movies, or your favorite recipes. These people can actually change that; only by means of shopping and browsing history that is. Hypothetically, you could be a happy-go-lucky person just living your life. The next moment, the FBI could break down your door because your “search results” of how to make a bomb in a briefcase could incriminate you. This isn’t a what-if, this is already happening to me as well as several of my coworkers. Someone from the Midwest was recently arrested because his “data” suggested he was looking into making meth. He had pyrex and psuedophedrine that he didn’t buy shipped to his house as well as an anonymous call to the local police. We’re the last loose ends for them to tie up. Once we’re gone, there’s nothing but our accounts to take, and who knows if we’ll be believed over our “data”.

Please, before this starts happening to you, find where your data is being taken from and make sure you remove any permissions to collect your information, before it’s too late.

My Great Great Grandfather Performed Over 20 exorcisms. I Found His Journal.

A little backstory, my grandfather recently passed, and we decided it would be best if the whole family helped with clearing out his possessions. We figured the whole family working together could clear out a whole bunch of junk pretty quickly.

As I was looking through some of his boxes of old work supplies, I found a leather-bound journal that belonged to his grandfather. I couldn’t believe it, it had my great great grandfather’s name and the year 1916 on the front cover. He was born in 1892 and became an ordained priest in 1915. This looked like some sort of planner he had, but it turned out this was designated to document his accounts of exorcisms he performed. I took the journal to be looked at by historians, priests, and even a demonologist in my state; between the 14 of them, nobody could discredit these stories given the resources they have. This frightened me as there were a few historians who had records tracing back almost every family he helped. They also reached out to living descendants of those in the journal, and of the 8 they successfully contacted, 6 said they knew of these through stories passed down through the generations.

Quick disclaimer: I don’t care if you’re religious or not, I simply want to share what I’ve found. I myself never thought too much of demons before this, they were kind of an imaginary “Boogeyman” in the back of my mind that’s used a bit too often in horror movies. I will write what is written in the journal but leave out last names of the people in order to maintain privacy. I will be telling the ones where extraordinary events happened as most of them were as simple as him saying a prayer in the house and blessing it.

March 21st, 1916: “Josephine claimed there was a ghost haunting her house. Whether or not there were evil forces at work, I arrived at 10:00 AM to begin the exorcism. I read from Ephesians, Revelations and Psalms as the floor beneath my very feet began to shake. A chair fell over and splinters shot out with a force enough to pierce her leg. As I finished my prayer the house fell silent. She pulled the splinters from her leg and bandaged them up and thanked me for the help.”

He then had several exorcisms where nothing happened. There were claims of ghosts and demons, but there was nothing to indicate proof; but then an interesting one came along.

November 13th, 1922: “Mary claimed her husband Jonathon has been possessed. She said his attitude would change swiftly and cause her to feel unsafe at home. When I walked in, I noticed their house was abnormally warm. Their fireplace wasn’t running, and a window in the front room was broken. It was nearly 20 degrees [Fahrenheit] out and this caused concern for me. When I walked in, Jon immediately stared me down as I began speaking with Mary. She was scared to tell me what was happening in front of him, so I spoke with him privately. I asked him what was happening, and he said there was no cause for concern. His eyes seemed abnormally dilated and he was gritting his teeth as I talked. I looked him in the eyes and asked who was using him. He proceeded to say, ‘You’ll never find out’, stuck his tongue out and bit down with enough force to cut it in two. The tip of his tongue hit the floor as blood poured through his mouth. I yelled for Mary and held him down against the chair he was seated on. I began praying and reading from the Bible as he thrashed and screamed profanity at me. Mary wrapped her arms around him in an effort to restrain him, but he bit her wrist and drew blood. As I yelled for the demon to leave his body in the name of the Lord, his body was thrown off the chair with enough force to escape our grasps. He screamed in pain and had issues speaking within the following minutes, but he was taken to a hospital and is okay.

Several of the experts claimed that performing exorcisms is for certain individuals with special skills or permissions. My great great grandfather never stated in this journal or to anyone in the family if he was ever granted these privileges. I started wondering about the risks of performing these without the special permissions, but it only added to my curiosity.

July 9th, 1924: “Andrew told me there’s a spirit in his house that speaks to him at night. He says he can see it and is afraid of what it is saying to him. Apparently, it plants ideas of murder in his mind as well as suicide. I walked into his house and he begged me to join him in his bedroom where the spirit lives. I walked in and didn’t notice a thing out of place. He was shaking as he walked in and asked if I could see it, but I was unable to. He proceeded to take his thin white bed sheet, hold it up and walk forward. As he brought it up to where he said the spirit was standing, the outline of a face pressed against the sheet. Andrew looked back at me with concern and the head vanished. Within a second his dresser was thrown onto the floor. I pulled out the Bible and began reading scriptures when Andrew began crying. He said the spirit was telling him to kill me before the spirit killed him. I told him to remain calm as the Lord is with us. The dresser then was flipped on its side and a drawer was sent flying across the room in our direction. It exploded into pieces on impact with the wall as clothing spread over the floor around us. I continued reciting scripture as the shirt by my left foot caught on fire. The flames burned fiercely but I remained calm as I rebuked the spirit. I heard a foul scream, but I finished my prayer. The spirit began forcing Andrew against the wall and his arms were pinned against it. I began splashing holy water on him and blessing him in the name of the Lord. I then with my own eyes saw a shadow fly through the window as it shattered.

September 3rd, 1927: “Anna spoke with me about a demon that changes her. When I asked how, she told me she doesn’t know because she forgets what happens to her. She will forget hours of the day and end up in places where she doesn’t recall going. I went to her house and prepared for the worst. I began blessing her when she let out a scream as her whole body tensed up. She began coughing and reaching for her throat as she was struggling to breathe. I looked into her open mouth to see two eyes glaring at me from her throat. I was taken aback and fell over as she laughed at me in my terror. She began slamming her head on the floor next to me, her nose began splitting open and gashes opened her forehead. I tackled her and prayed over her, but she mustered the strength to throw me off of her. She kicked me while I was on the ground, but I stood up and began chanting a prayer specifically for exorcisms. She began yelling in Latin phrases I’d never heard before. After about 10 minutes of this bizarre behavior, her eyes grew wide. She began looking around and asked me what happened. I splashed her with holy water and blessed her, and her house to make sure the demon was gone.”

I wanted to say that last story scared me, but the fact he had been doing exorcisms for the past 11 years was a bigger shock to me than anything else. He had one last exorcism written down that happened exactly one year before he passed away.

January 25th, 1932: “Edward came to me in fear saying he knew for a fact the devil himself was calling him. I didn’t know if I believed this as there shouldn’t be a way for a human being to survive the force of Lucifer, but I was asked to perform an exorcism, and I told him I would. When I arrived at his house, he wouldn’t open the door. He yelled to me that he wasn’t allowed to and the handle was too hot for him to touch. I could tell this situation was dire and broke down the door myself. I didn’t go into this by praying, nor using holy water, I needed to find out what was haunting people. I calmly sat down across from him at his table and asked who he was. He assured me he was Edward, so I asked who was controlling Edward. ‘I am Raum’, he said. I recognized who Raum was, he is a demon that appears as a crow, he destroys cities, he knows the past, present and future, he’s powerful, and very well could’ve been too much for one man to handle. A lot of demons use wit, they try to promise gifts, only to torture and control the very person who believes they’ve been given a blessing. He began telling me how he could make me powerful in the afterlife, I could have my own legion of demons, but I retorted, how is that possible if he himself doesn’t have the power to rule Hell itself. He smiled as if to appreciate my response. I knew this was dangerous, but there was no talking to Edward anymore, this was between Raum and myself. I asked him what it would take for him to leave Edward, but he had no interest. I told him either he could leave Edward, or I’d use the Lord’s name to remove him myself.

He chuckled as he stood up and stuck Edward’s arms straight out on each side. ‘You don’t understand what I’m capable of’, he said as he reached over and began twisting his left arm with his right hand. His skin and bone didn’t return to its normal form but rather kept spinning with each twist. Bones snapped, skin tore, ligaments hung from the gashes around his elbow. Blood didn’t come out, but his arm was being destroyed in front of my eyes. ‘I hope you know he can feel all of this’, Raum said. Edward began screaming in pain staring at his dismantled arm and went calm again within the blink of an eye, Raum was back. He then opened his mouth and began pulling teeth one by one and swallowed them. I began praying in my head but Raum knew what I was doing. He snapped at me, reached his hand out, and bent his index finger completely backwards. I began chanting prayers which only infuriated Raum. I didn’t back down as I stared him in the eyes and recited scripture. I watched his head begin to split as another one departed, Raum’s human form was being separated from Edward. Once he was removed, he stood there, staring at me. ‘My work shall be finished when I return with you’ he said as he disappeared. Edward died; his wounds were substantial. Police investigated but believed what I said happened. They didn’t believe I was capable of doing to Edward what Raum did to him. This will be my last exorcism.” He wrote in his journal a few more times begging God to spare him and protect him from Raum and Satan himself. He passed away January 25th, 1933. His wife refused to tell the family any of these stories and told everyone he was suffering from Alzheimer’s. He wasn’t fully there the last year of his life and rambled on about exorcisms. I’m sure for his work that eventually took his life, God spared his soul.

I bought a new house last week; I finally broke into the basement.

I’ve rented apartments my whole life, but after much consideration, I bought a house. I figured as a 28-year-old, it was about time to settle down and start making house payments. The realtor was a nice woman, but she didn’t seem to know a lot about the house. For starters, she kept me near the bedrooms and the kitchen. I noticed there was a door she wouldn’t go near that had a lock on it, but she shrugged it off as an extra closet. I figured my bolt cutters would have no problem on the padlock and she didn’t want to mess with it. It’s a two bedroom with a very nice living area, I couldn’t say no considering it was about $40,000 less than houses nearby.

I didn’t notice anything strange about the house at first. My neighbors to the right stopped by and said hi to me yesterday and welcomed me to the neighborhood. I decided to break out the bolt cutters since I have a few days before I start my new job and went at the padlock. It was a bit bigger than the ones you see on bicycles, but I was able to get through it. However, the door didn’t open once the padlock was off. I could feel resistance when I pulled on it and it wouldn’t push open either. I shone my flashlight around the edges of the door but didn’t see anything that was blocking it. My mind immediately imagined those trap door entries you see in the movies and I spent the next 10 minutes knocking on the walls around it. After no success, I looked around the area but didn’t see anything that would indicate an alternate entry point.

I grabbed a screwdriver and decided to take the door off the hinges which ended up working easier than expected. I walked down the stairs to see the light was still on. I wasn’t sure why it was still on, but I suspected nobody was able to get in after the previous owner left. I didn’t see much down there other than a couch and a small side table. There were some weird looking bolts sticking out of the wall, but I assumed there was some piece of equipment that was anchored into the wall that they took out. There were a few doors that led to nothing but small closets, but there was a notebook sitting in one of them. It was tucked away in one of the shelves, but I managed to slide it out.

February 14th, 2016.

Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Hair: Brunette

Going to: Phoenix Arizona

I had no clue what this entry was, maybe it was a guy trying to keep track of the women he was going out with? I know there are some guys who date a lot of women and can’t keep track of them all, not a problem for me, but it was weird. I kept reading.

July 27th, 2016

Hometown: Dallas, Texas

Hair: Blonde

Going to: Tallahassee, Florida

Again, I had no clue what this was about. Maybe he was trying to keep track of where family members were going, but why would he note what color their hair was?

December 24th, 2016

Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Hair: Brunette

Going to: Pierre, North Dakota

April 11th, 2017

Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Hair: Redhead

Going to: Huntington, West Virginia

September 26th, 2017

Hometown: Dallas, Texas

Hair: Brunette

Going to: Tijuana, Mexico

I took the notebook upstairs to my office and started researching the previous owner of this house. I couldn’t find anything, so I called the realtor that sold it to me. She answered but said she couldn’t get any information on the most recent owner. All she knew was that he bought the house in January of 2016 and just moved out two weeks before I bought the house. She told me plenty about the family that owned it before him, but I wasn’t worried about them. The person that owned this house previously was most likely the owner of this notebook since they left the door locked and the lights on. I read more to see if there was more I could learn from it.

January 1st, 2018

Hometown: Knoxville, Tennessee

Hair: Blonde

Going to: Chicago, Illinois

August 19th, 2018

Hometown: Green Bay, Wisconsin

Hair: Blonde

Going to: Montreal, Canada

November 14th, 2018

Hometown: Billings, Montana

Hair: Brunette

Going to: St. Louis, Missouri

March 16th, 2019

Hometown: Austin, Texas

Hair: Blonde

Going to: Newark, New Jersey

July 20th, 2019

Hometown: Denver, Colorado

Hair: Brunette

Going to: With me

This entry was from the 20th which was just 10 days ago. The house I bought is in Denver, so I decided to google the 20th of July and see if there was anything that happened. I couldn’t believe what I saw on my computer screen; a 19-year-old girl was abducted on the 20th. She had brunette hair and is still missing. There are no suspects currently and the police are still asking for hints. I called the electrical companies in town along with the city to ask for the name of the previous owner who was making payments. They both said the owner was named John Smith and paid them with a prepaid debit card he got at a store in town.

I’ve done as much investigating as I could, but there’s nothing in the house that belonged to the previous owner besides this notebook and the couch. I called the police and gave them everything. They took samples from the couch leather and are looking for fingerprints on the notebook now. Maybe they can catch this guy, more importantly, I hope they can find that poor girl who was taken.

The Things Made of Spare Body Parts

It all started two months ago. A guy was walking his dog in the park when he saw a dead body in the bushes. He was startled but thought it may have been a botched robbery. The police were called, and it was going to be a regular investigation. The troubling evidence came during the autopsy. She was missing seven teeth, three ribs and her femur. At first, it seemed that the murderer was some sick bastard that took his prize from his victim, but there were no wounds on the woman’s body. She was missing ribs, but her torso was completely intact as well as her leg that had a femur taken from it. The missing teeth could have been due to previous bad hygiene, but it didn’t explain the other missing bones. There were no cuts or scars on her skin which would indicate surgeries or injuries at the scene. It was like they were plucked from her body without a trace.

I work as a news anchor in town and have close relations with public authorities, including the police; guys I’ve worked with for the past 12 years were too scared to tell me about the crime. It was agreed we’d do the story about a murder in the park but leave out the missing bones until an adequate explanation came up. Just three days later, another body surfaced. This time, it was a man in his shower. Initially authorities thought he slipped and died from a head injury, but there were no signs of trauma. Another autopsy was performed, and more chilling evidence was discovered. He was missing his jaw and all the bones in his right hand were gone. Again, no cuts, scars or signs of injury were evident. It was as if the same guy who killed that poor woman killed him as well. I did a deep dive on the two people using social media and any conversations the families would give me but there was no connection. She was married with a husband, he was a single guy who moved into town a few months ago. They didn’t work together, go to the same church or grocery store for that matter. Police were curious if the two were having a relation behind her husband’s back and he was getting revenge, but that theory was squashed almost immediately. The husband was out of town for a business trip during both deaths and had receipts and alibis to prove it. There was a killer on the loose, who took two victims with no ties to each other.

The next week, another man was killed. He was found in his bed without a trace of foul play. The autopsy revealed there were no traces of drugs or alcohol in his system that would’ve killed him, along with no signs of breaking into the home. He was missing his right radius (bone in your forearm), six vertebrae from his spine, his patella (knee cap) and his left ankle. For simplicity, I will stop using all the medical names for the bones in the body. We’re not all anatomy experts, I work on television for God’s sake. Again, there were no signs of injury that would give any indication on how the bones went missing. His coworker didn’t hear from him for three days and couldn’t get into his house. He called the cops and saw his dead body with the officers. I went down to the police station the next day to speak with the chief of police personally, but he was as clueless as I was. He said they’ve been doing everything they can to make a connection or place a person at the crime scenes, but it was getting difficult. They’ve spoken with over 20 people in the past week and gained nothing from it. As we were in the middle of our conversation, a call came in.

The next death was another man. He was found at his dining room table with his meal still on the plate. His lifeless body draped over the chair. There was no blood, no injuries; he looked asleep as far as I was concerned. His wife was questioned but ruled out as a suspect. She was out having dinner with her parents when it happened. Again, an autopsy was performed and revealed he was missing all the bones in four fingers, the bones in his left foot and his left shoulder. I rode along with the officer to the scene and saw the horror in his eyes filled with utter cluelessness.

I went home to investigate online and see if this was a cult tactic or an ancient practice. I was listening to music and reading conspiracy theory blogs when I heard a door in my house open. I assumed it was my wife and went back to reading as if nothing happened. Within seconds, I felt a cold arm around my neck. It squeezed as I flailed my arms around. I looked and reached for my neck but saw nothing more than a black mass. I put my foot against my desk and pushed which knocked me out of my chair. As soon as I hit the ground, the pressure around my neck disappeared and I heard every door from my office to the front door slam shut. My wife came running down to see what happened and I told her I had no clue. I called the police, but their investigation provided nothing. The front door was intact and locked when they arrived.

The following week, two officers were killed. One was sitting on his phone at the front desk and the other was taking his break. Neither showed any signs of trauma but the police cameras caught them thrashing for their lives as it looked like their souls were sucked from their bodies. The total count of missing bones was 16 spine vertebrae, 11 fingers, a right foot, nine ribs, a right shoulder, all three bones in a leg, and a skull. His face was untouched but lay lifeless like an uninflated balloon. The police issued an emergency broadcast the following day pleading people to stay indoors and avoid the areas where these crimes happened. I watched it from my office as I continued to study the crimes and I drew a conclusion. All these murders happened to people when they were most vulnerable. The woman was out alone in the park, the first guy was taking a shower, the other was sitting down to have dinner. I had headphones on when I was attacked, and the two officers were relaxing when they died. It wasn’t the greatest clue, but it was something. I went to the police department immediately. I told the police chief about my findings and he wasn’t thrilled about it. He knew if I was right that their emergency broadcast meant nothing. You could stay inside your house all day, but everyone must sleep, use the restroom, and can’t just have a buddy with them at all hours of the day.

I made another chilling discovery through all of this. There’s almost a full human body worth of bones missing from the victims. Granted, no brains, eyes, tendons, or muscles are missing, so it’s not as if a full functioning human body is going to appear from this, but it’s still horrifying to me.

The next day, another body was found. It was a woman who was grilling herself a meal in the backyard. I’ll save the details, every bone which makes a full body was taken from her; along with her skin. I had to cover the story, it’s a crime to hide this from people who only want to be safe. My story went live, and I got a call from the police department, a new transfer wanted to speak with me in private. I drove over to the station to speak with the new guy but there was something weird about him. His body was a weird shape as if he had a disorder which affected his growth. I also noticed his bones cracked a lot when he walked. It was weird to me, but not enough to mention anything, I didn’t want to offend the poor guy.

We sat down in an uncomfortably small room where he sipped his coffee, sunglasses still hugging his bumpy face.

“So, you’re really looking into these killings.” He said.

“Yeah, I’m a news anchor, this is my job, sir.” I replied.

“Well I’ll have you know I’ve been on the force for over 20 years, I recommend you let me handle this.” He said.

“Why?” I quickly asked.

“Because, I don’t need people like you getting in the way of my business.” He said.

I could tell there was a lot of hostility and tension in the room and the police were a pivotal role in my job.

“Sir, I’m only trying to help you. How could I be a bother?” I asked.

He pulled his sunglasses down to reveal dark holes where his eyes should be. His clenched teeth showed visible gaps as if he didn’t have nearly half a full mouth of teeth. He looked as if he could jump on me in an instant.

“Because, I’ve already tried to kill you once. Don’t make me try again.” He quickly replied.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.

“Because you’re oblivious. Thinking you’re safe in your own home is a lie that everyone falls for. You think that the human body is strong but there are countless possibilities where it can all fall apart. Bones can be broken, tendons torn, simple viruses can send your body into a shellshock causing you to hope some manmade medicine can magically fix you. If you want to live in the deception that you’re safe and nothing will happen to you, that’s where others will find their chance to take advantage. Nobody is safe and life isn’t a guarantee, I’ve proven this several times in the past few weeks.” He said. “I walked these same streets before you were born, and my life was ripped away from me. I’m getting it back, even if I have to do it piece by piece, and there are hundreds like me that are itching for their chance as well. I came up with this idea and gave it a shot. If you think you have a snowball’s chance in hell at stopping us, good luck. Leave me alone and forget about these little coincidences as well.”

“Are you a ghost?” I asked in wild curiosity and fear.

“Well, some people would call me a ghost. Others might say a demon, a poltergeist.” He said. “I don’t worry much about it.”

“How many people will you kill?” I asked.

“I’m done killing, this is my body now. As far as the others, who knows how many they will kill.” He replied, casting neither a worry nor concern. “Get away from here as soon as you can. I was the first one to do it. I risked it all while the others silently watched. Now that they know it’s possible, who knows how many will make their rounds through the next few weeks. Get out of here and take anyone you care about with you. This town belongs to us now.”

I created a pill that makes you immortal. The side effects are terrifying.

Let me begin with a little backstory.

I lost both parents when I was in high school. I was lonely and considered ending it all more often than I felt optimistic about living a life they’d be proud of. I was raised by my aunt and uncle who piqued my interest in medicine. My aunt is a doctor and my uncle always reads about new advancements in the medical field and loves to share all the things I could be doing with a degree. Fast forward to now, they paid for tutoring and helped me get into medical school.

For our first year, we were allowed to pick a subject of any choice and do deep investigation and run trials on it. Even if it was something wildly optimistic like curing Alzheimer’s or eliminating the need for sleep. I chose to find a way for humans to live longer. My college either found programs which would take students in for a semester-long internship or they would have students work with medical professionals through our University. This was mostly so students could get a glimpse into what it is like for medical professionals to look into a problem and attempt to find solutions. Luckily for me, there is a company (which I cannot name) that is looking for a way to extend the length of human life. They took me in and showed me the ropes.

The first day, I learned about all these chemicals, oils, extracts, everything they’ve been testing which has the possibility to extend or benefit the quality of life for people. A lot of the cures are for end of life patients that may want an additional year or so on earth to be with their families before passing. My team that I was added to was three months from testing a new chemical they’d spent the past year developing. I mostly sat in the back and watched the team discuss the positives and negatives of each chemical and the possibilities of them either combining or neutralizing each other when put into one treatment method.

Late one night, I read a lot about some remedies that have been recommended in India which have been used by people that lived late into their nineties and early hundreds. I brought it up to the team and they were skeptical at best. They heard about it before but it was still dangerous as there had been no clinical testing done on it. I told them perhaps we could do some tests of our own on it and see how it went; it was agreed we’d start on mice.

The drug was administered to a group of 20 mice and another 20 were given a blend of the medicine they’d created. These mice were pygmy mice, (which have a lifespan of two years), that had just turned two years old. Of my 20 mice, 18 lived for a full six months while only seven of theirs lasted the same amount of time. My internship was supposed to end just before we finished the testing but they all agreed it would be best for me to stick around and I was offered a part-time position at the company.

We noticed some small side effects in the mice which didn’t appear too bad at the time. My mice were very active at almost all times of the day and they needed half the food and water that a normal mouse needs. We assumed my approach gave some nourishment which kept the mice from overeating. The thing about testing on mice is that humans eat and drink a lot more, so this would be about the equivalent of a human skipping a meal, which isn’t uncommon already.

We found a man who was willing to try my remedy and we began administering the drug to him once a day for two weeks. He was not supposed to die anytime soon, rather we were just giving him small doses to make sure it was safe. All was well for the first four weeks, so we upped the dosage 50% for two weeks. He noticed that he was sleeping less after the increase which prompted us to lower the dosage again. He was on the medicine for three months with no side effects which we counted as a big win.

Our next patient was a guy who’s kidneys failed completely. He had stage-end renal disease and his body was rapidly declining. We offered the new drug to him which he was very optimistic to try. He was only 36 years old and I knew he wasn’t ready to die. I got to run the experiment as the lead.

We gave him the same low dosage that the other subject was given but it wasn’t enough for him. He was still in pain and didn’t notice any benefits from it so we upped the dosage. After that, he mentioned that he felt younger and had more energy but he was still having issues from the renal disease that were making life difficult. My team could tell the medicine was helping him and after much deliberation, we upped the dosage again. The man, on double the dosage we deemed safe, felt great. He said he would wake up early and do some light cardio to start his morning, have a coffee, which is bad since it’s a diuretic, and report to his dialysis. Everything was looking good which gave us a lot of hope.

This all took a turn when we found out his kidneys went from losing 80% of their functionality to 95%. The doctors couldn’t believe that his body was only 4-6 weeks from completely shutting down and he was living like there was nothing wrong with him at all. We reached out to them and told them about the remedy we had him on and they were shocked. They wanted to buy it off us right then and there for their own research but we declined. Then they tried to hire me, but I knew if the testing we’d been doing was a success, I wouldn’t need to work much longer. People who create medicine usually have life made once it’s commercially available.

Everything was great for my patient until he started taking more than our dosage recommendation. He came in for his weekly checkup and looked horrible. His eyes had deep bags around them and he had lost 9 pounds in a week. He said he could only sleep two hours a night at most and he could barely eat. On top of this he couldn’t feel pain the same. When asked if he was serious, he punched a metal door and looked me dead in the eyes saying he couldn’t feel it. We told him to only take what was recommended but he wouldn’t listen. He wanted to live, and my medicine made him feel better, but he needed more and more to keep the feeling. We started dropping off daily doses at his front door to make sure he wouldn’t overdose on it like he previously had instead of giving him a bottle with a week’s dosage. What he started doing was holding onto about 3-4 days worth of doses then taking them all at the same time. I wish I would’ve known this earlier and we would’ve started administering them in person daily.

This continued for three more weeks before we stopped hearing from him. We couldn’t reach him but his wife came in to talk to us. She begged for us to stop giving him the medicine and we agreed to, seeing there was a serious problem. After a week without us giving him medicine, he came back and agreed to stay in our clinic and allow us to monitor him for 24 hours a day.

We administered the correct amount every morning and allowed him to eat, sleep, exercise and browse the internet from our clinic. If he needed to go anywhere, one of us would go with him. Everything was going well until one night when I was watching him. He slept for a half hour before waking up and clawing at his eyes. He cut deep gashes into his cheeks and screamed that he was scared. I tried to restrain him but he was too big for me to hold down. He ran to our lab area and found our sterile scissors and began cutting himself. I called my coworkers and they rushed down to the lab. By the time everyone was there, he’d cut into his wrists so many times we could see bone. It was the most horrific sight I’d ever seen but he couldn’t feel it. His screams were from the terror of not feeling it instead of pain. He began questioning if this was real life or if he was in hell. We finally restrained him but we were sure he was as good as dead. We bandaged him up but he lost a scary amount of blood. He somehow lived through it and went back to sleep. We all agreed to stay there for the night and my coworkers slept in the bunk area. He woke up an hour later and told me the voices in his head wouldn’t let him sleep.

I asked what the voices were saying but I couldn’t believe what he said.

“You’re supposed to be dead.” and “Let me take you already.” were what he heard. Over and over he heard this.

We agreed to stop giving him the treatment. Clearly whatever we were giving him wasn’t safe for humans. We kept him for screening even after we stopped but it got worse. He tried to hold his breath until he passed out just so he could sleep. He wouldn’t eat anything for days at a time. He heard voices every day and would beg for us to put him under just so he could rest.

Last night, he broke out of the restraints and attacked my coworker. He grabbed a butter knife out of our break room and sawed at his throat until he cut through his windpipe. We were called and rushed to the clinic to see him sitting down in the kitchen. He had his throat cut for nearly 10 minutes by the time we got there and he was still alive. It wasn’t a clean cut, but this would’ve killed a normal person by then. I asked him why he did it and he claimed the voices told him if he didn’t die soon they’d be there to take him themselves. We called paramedics but he died in the ambulance ride to the hospital.

I quit my job. The gashes, screams and bloodstains on the floor were too much for me. They weren’t looking into my remedy anymore and were certain it was stupid to let a college student lead an experiment of this capacity. I hope that chemical never sees the light of day again.

I know how Everyone Dies.. Including You

Hello there,

I won’t tell you how you die because while it is intriguing in theory, you’ll never get over the fear that it could happen tomorrow. I’ve never seen them change, nor do I know the date. I close my eyes and I see it etched into the details of my thoughts. If you’re lucky enough to die of old age, then you’re in no danger. It’s the horrific ones that keep me up at night; drowning, car accident, even choking on food have been ones I’ve seen before. Everyone I’ve met in the past 30 years of my life is nothing more than a ticking time bomb to me, and I always know how it ends.

For this very reason, I’ve been keeping to myself for the past 10 or so years. I have a wife and a one year old daughter named Jess and she’s my world. My wife knows about this curse, and she knows that I know how they’ll die one day, I tried keeping it away from her but I eventually told her. I’m going to die of old age, she and Jess are supposed to die in a car accident.

For that reason, I’ve always been adamant about riding in the car with them, I figure if I’m not supposed to die in the car with them, maybe it’s not their day. This isn’t foolproof, they could die and I scrape by with injuries, but at least I’d be with them if it is their day.

You might be wondering why I’ve waited until now to post my story, well now I have nothing to lose; the day came.

Earlier this morning, my wife (Andrea was her name by the way) took Jess to go shopping and decided to let me sleep in since I don’t go into work until 10:00 AM. I woke up and was shocked when they were both gone. I called Andrea and asked where they were and she replied they were in the grocery store. I wasn’t happy that she drove without me, but she’s free to do what she wants. I asked her to give me a call before they left to make sure she would remember to grab a few things for me and she said it would be no problem.

An hour later, she still hadn’t called me back. I called her but there was no answer. I called several times before finally hopping in my car and rushing down the normal route to our grocery store. Halfway there I saw her car with a destroyed front end. The vehicle was easily totaled as was the car she ran into. By that time, paramedics were arriving at the scene as well as police officers. I parked across the street and walked over to see my beautiful wife and daughter laying in pools of glass infested blood.

The paramedics looked them over a few times before zipping up the body bags and sending them off. When I asked how it might have happened, the lead paramedic told me there was a lot of bruising on her left side, indicating she was leaning over towards the passenger side, most likely reaching for her cell phone. She probably banged into the front console area when she collided with the fellow driver. I walked back over and looked through the broken window to see her phone sitting on the floor in front of the passenger seat.

I thanked them for their help and drove home solemnly. I always knew this would happen, but I also thought I could stop it. I closed my eyes to check again how I’d die, but I already knew it changed.

I tried to cheat death once, there was no fighting it anymore. It would be a gun shot to the chin, and I always keep my revolver loaded.

You know how they say the government puts chemicals in your water? I’m the guy who puts them in.

Hi there,

I don’t want to scare anyone too much, nor confirm a lot of the “government is putting chemicals in your water for mind control”. Those conspiracy theories are all bullshit, but like most, they stem from a shred of truth. I’m sure you’ve heard about fluoride in the water and how it’s so dangerous for you; it’s there to help prevent tooth decay. Another big one is chloride which kills off a lot of bacteria which can thrive in water plants and storage. There are some others: trihalomethanes, nitrates, some salts from arsenic, radium, aluminium and other metals. I could go on for hours about what their causes are and if some of us that work higher up all agree on their benefits, but something bad is about to happen.

You see, I do work for the government, but I’m under a confidentiality agreement so I cannot tell you the agency I work for, nor the exact specifics of my next assignment. What I can tell you is that 97% of the work we do is good. We want the public to thrive and have resources like clean water. I was promoted because I was willing to do the 3% of work that nobody else wanted to.

I’m sure you’ve heard about Flint, their water supply is tainted. We were originally planning on moving the water supply from Huron and it was going to be a breeze until my boss called me into his office. The 3% of dirty work is essentially using people as guinea pigs. He wants to see what kind of contaminants the human body can survive, the cheapest ways to provide water, and occasionally population thinning. Flint was supposed to be a contaminant test but it turned into borderline population thinning. After my boss saw how things were elevating in 2016, he said there could be no interference with our tests. Funds went flooding into the city from non-profits and even regular people, but the federal government has infinite power over a state government. They were instructed to act as if they were trying to fix the problem at hand while letting us continue the testing. I really felt bad about it, and I still do, but money changes things and we all need it. You’ve heard about the “lead leeching from pipes” stories online and it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. You ever notice how that’s a standard go-to for most of these? I made sure that VERY dangerous levels of lead were pumped into every water supply after the changes and now that we have enough data, we’re fixing it. I promise, we’re trying to do what’s right.

One that is less known is the cryptosporidiosis outbreak that happened in Milwaukee back in the 90’s. This was an interesting one. I had it put into their water purification plant and even the people that handled it in a controlled environment got sick. I knew it was nasty, but we needed to do testing. We did get some significant data on people who were immunocompromised. A lot of elderly people died as a result, but science is subjective and numbers are numbers.

Now, these were supposed to be tests for contaminants but after Flint, we were instructed to do population thinning. It’s pretty self explanatory, there are cities in the US that need a reduction in population. If anyone is going to do it, I suppose I’m the right guy to be burdened with the task. Again, I’m under a confidentiality agreement so I can’t disclose when or where it’s going to happen, but it’s going to be large scale. I’ve moved my family as we live about 40 minutes from where this will take place but even that might not be enough. By my estimates, thousands if not tens of thousands of people have to die before we get all the numbers we need.

Please, drink bottled water, use a water purifier with carbon filters, boil your water. I don’t know how long this will last before we get the data we need, I don’t even know if bottled water will be safe for that matter, every company has its price. We’ve been in talks with a few of them that are big in that market area. Activated carbon filters are the safest way to go, but we haven’t used this chemical before and I don’t know if it can be filtered out by anything. We’re flirting with the line between contamination and genocide.

I might move out of the country soon. I don’t trust this operation, my boss, nor my agency anymore. Please, be safe.

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