Believe In The Devil

0:00The average cost of a D-Wine Virginia is $11,352.47, drinking and driving costs more than your drinks. Learn more at What'sTheDamage.org, brought to you by Virginia DMV. You're having a good time. You're out drinking with the boys. Now it's time to pay the tab. $11,352.47, wait, what? Well, there are court costs, attorney fees, higher insurance costs, damage to your car, do you why fines? Uff, not to mention the damage to your social life. Plan a sober ride or pay the price. Drinking and driving costs more than your drinks. It could cost a life. Learn more at What'sTheDamage.org, brought to you by Virginia DMV. The summer of 2023 marked a season of drastic change in the lives of three in men.

1:01Keith Warner and Jamiro sudden both graduated from different universities with different degrees in May. Adrian Darwin lost his father in a tragic case of medical negligence and he and his mother were awarded a grand sum in the malpractice suit. All three of these men moved a small apartment building into one to pursue various goals. None of them knew each other or had any idea what they were going to experience together. Keith moved in first. After graduating from Iowa State with a degree in graphic design, he was hired by small insurance company. The building had three units total. It was a split level with two units upstairs and one downstairs next to the shared laundry room. When Keith moved in, an elderly woman named Maisel lived in the other upstairs apartment and the basement was vacant. Maisel still lived in the building when Adrian moved into the basement a month later. Being slightly smaller than the other two, the basement unit cost less and that's all Adrian cared about. His goal was to stretch out his dad's malpractice suit money as long as he could so he wouldn't have to work. He had dropped out of college with no plans on returning and instead put his time into streaming video games.

2:01He hoped the money would last long enough to get him rolling in all night entertainment so he would never have to work a job again. Jami moved into the second upstairs apartment and the same day Maisel moved out to live in a retirement community. Jami were hailed all the way from Ohio, Keith learned for a brief conversation in the hallway that day. He had moved to demand to be a paralegal at a small law firm. Besides occasionally nodding to one another on the stairs, Keith, Jami and Adrian barely interacted with one another. Keith and Jami were usually exhausted by the end of the work day and Adrian tended to be a night owl. He normally slept while the others were gone and stayed up all night playing video games, live streaming to an invisible audience he hoped would someday materialize. Jami barely had a free moment during the week so he always did laundry on Sunday. Most of what he needed to wash was just the underclothes he wore beneath his suit and dress shirts so he just tossed everything into a single load each week. He would let the machine run at 45 minutes like a while he tidied his apartment then threw his clothes in the dryer while he made dinner. The other guys did laundry whenever the idea occurred to them but they respected Jami's schedule.

3:02Mam was as regular as a clock which made it easy to stay out of his way. On Sunday evening in early November, Jamier had started the washing machine and gunned back upstairs to deep clean his bathroom. He blasted music through his headphones while he scrubbed the cock around the shower. He paused between songs because he thought he heard someone knocking on his door. Judging by the attitude of each meaty blow, it wasn't the first time her ever was out there had knocked. No one ever knocked on that door except to deliver a package or a foo but Jamier had not ordered anything. Curious Jamier left the bathroom smelling like bleach to peer through the peephole. His basement neighbor Jamier had yet to learn agent's name was standing outside his door looking impatient and flustered. The guy looked like he had just rolled out of bed with his hair sticking up and smushed on one side. His eyes had that puffy, waxy looked that tense to linger after a night or day of poor sleep. Jamier hurriedly and locked and opened the door before his neighbor pounded again. I, what's up? He asked. I, your laundry is flooding, agent said with shy contempt. What? Jamier shook his head ever so slightly and asked, what?

4:04He had already pivoted to step around Adrian. The machine is like overflowing or something. I think he broke it Adrian said. Jamier did not appreciate the lazy accusation. As Jamier descended, Keith walked into the building with a bag of groceries. He paused when he saw Jamier coming down toward him. His eyebrows almost touched when he noticed Adrian at the top of the stairs. Is something wrong? He asked. Jamier flustered to answer it. Apparently I broke the washer. A man Keith said. Let me drop these upstairs and I'll come help. When Keith went to the laundry room, he found Adrian standing outside it while Jamier sloshed sobbing wet clothes into a basket on top of the machine. His feet were covered in fresh water. The whole room smelled foul like a landfill on fire. Thankfully, the uneven fork kept most of the water toward the back of the room near the drain. The drain gougled and bubbled in the corner as Jami removed the last of his soaking clothes. He gave the back of the machine a brief inspection, then turned to his neighbors. He said, guys, I don't think this is from the washer.

5:04He pointed to the knob on the front. It was an older machine, the type where you turn an knob to whichever cycle you want to run and it slowly turns back like an egg timer. Jamier said, it was almost finished and there was still a bunch of water inside it. Keith said, it's a right man, either way we'll just Jamier cut in as if he hadn't even heard him. Art this sex. I needed this stuff for a confident I'm supposed to fly to tomorrow. When do you leave? Maybe Chuck can still fix it tonight, Keith act. Chuck was there a landlord and seemed like a reasonable, helpful guy. I've got to be up at 4 in the morning and that if I can get everything ready to go tonight Jamier replied, I can't wait. I've got to go to a laundromat. He overhead, Keith said, I'll call Chuck. Jamier pushed down on his wet laundry and streams of water poured out of the basket. He dried his hands on his pants, then held the basket away from himself as he carried it to the door. He said, thanks man, I appreciate it and went upstairs. Adrian said he definitely broke it, right? No he didn't, Keith said. Look. He pointed to the girding drain while he pulled out his phone.

6:07Adrian squinted at the drain as Keith dialed the landlord and stood stupidly with his hands and his pockets while Keith explained the situation over the phone. A minute later he hung up. Okay, he says don't flush any toilets or run any water down the drains. He's going to be here in 15 to take a look. What about the washer? Adrian asked. That's not the problem. He huts bubbling over there by the drain. I think the water's actually coming up. There must be some sort of blockage down in the pipes. Adrian wrinkled his nose. He said that explains why it stinks. I thought that other guy used some kind of weird soap. Keith laughed. He said, I'll hang out here in case Chuck needs a hand, but there's probably not much to do here. If you want to go, I'll make sure the water stays in here. Adrian grunted a sound which was probably meant to say thanks, then said, I'm going to go pick up some food. Chuck arrived promptly and shut off the water. Keith stood by as the landlord snaked the drain, handing him tools whenever he needed. Chuck confirmed Keith's suspicion that the washing machine was fine and said the water had come up from the drain, although he never found a blockage.

7:10The water had just started draining out eventually. When the water was gone, Keith helped Chuck set up a couple of fans to help dry the room. I've brought a squeegee in my truck, Chuck said. I'll grab that and try to get most of the water down the drain. Hope that helps with the smell. Oh, that's foul. Keith nodded in agreement. The smell had actually gotten worse since the water went away. Sounds good, he said. If you've got this under control, I think I'll head upstairs. I was about to make dinner before. Yeah, yeah sure. Go eat, said Chuck. Thanks for the help. If you're ever a couple days late on rent, I'll wave the late fee. Sound good? Keith laughed and went upstairs. Chuck returned with a squeegee and started pushing the remaining puddles toward the drain. The edge of the foam blade swept under the dryer and knocked a small object across the floor. It skittered to a stop next to the drain. Chuck paused to grab it. The object appeared to be appendent, though it did not have any holes. The object was a small face carved out of dark wood. It had two small dots for eyes, which were surrounded by ripping circles.

8:12The carved lines gave the face the appearance of a withered corpse. It had no nose and an oval shaped mouth that looked like it was gasping in shock. The mouth, like the eyes, was surrounded by more wrinkle lines. Chuck said it down on top of the dryer, while he finished up. Adrian came home before Chuck left. All good to go, Chuck shouted over his shoulder when he heard Adrian on the stairs. Cole Adrian said, oh, Chuck picked up the pendant and tossed it to his tenant that yours catching the wooden face Adrian said, no, I've never seen it well. It was stuck under the dryer, thought it probably belonged to one of you. Maybe show it to the others and see if it's there, sure. Adrian said, sounding disinterested. All right, well, have a good night and let me know if this drain gives you any more trouble. Chuck said. Adrian repeated, sure and went into his apartment. Keith thought he heard Jamie come home later that evening. He heard his neighbor's door unlock, open, then shut again. Pete was heading to bed, feeling oddly drained and craving rest. For Adrian, it was just about my day. He usually woke up around one in the afternoon and stayed up until four or five in the morning. He spent most of that time gaming online or occasionally live streaming.

9:14The midnight stream probably were not the best way to generate an audience, but Adrian told himself he was doing his best. Sometimes he blamed the loss of his father for the way he behaved now. Sometimes he blamed himself. The night of the flood, Adrian felt more tired than usual, but not enough to sleep. Rather than game, he decided to settle in for a movie. He grabbed a protein bar and a bottle of seltzer water and selected a movie from his blue ray collection. He turned on his TV, opened the blue ray tray and slid the disk in. When he turned his back, he heard his blue ray player purr, then worse it ejected the disk. Adrian rolled his eyes and pushed the tray back in. He stared at the player until it accepted the disk. Then his TV went dark. The blue ray player stayed on, but the TV shut off completely. Adrian inspected the power cords and verified that each was plugged in. He turned the TV back on, and the screen lit up, but the blue ray player turned off. Angry and ready to give up, Adrian turned off the TV. Standing behind him in the reflection on the now dark screen, Adrian saw the clear outline of a man. He did not jump or scream.

10:14He did what anyone would do and tried to make out what was really there. He squinted and leaned in close, but the harder he looked, the clearer the man became, and the more he looked like Adrian's late father. Adrian spun around to convince himself no one was there. He needed a reflection must be a trick of the light and sure enough, when he looked he didn't see anyone else. He turned back around. Where his own reflection should have been, he again saw his father's face escaping at him. Adrian caught his breath and stumbled back. Before he could scream, the face vanished. His oppressive tiredness put pressure behind Adrian's eyes. It almost felt like he was having an allergic reaction to something. He decided the appearance of his father's face in the reflection must have been an exhaustion induced to lose nation, although he still had no idea why he felt so tired. He considered going to bed and actually sleeping during the night, but when he tried to close his eyes, he kept seeing his father silently screaming more beneath his eyelids. If he couldn't sleep, he had other ways of managing energy. He took three steps into his small kitchen and went to the fridge for a can of diet coke. Just as he gripped the handle, he thought he heard a subtle knocking from somewhere in

11:16the apartment. He paused to listen. The soft sound repeated, precise in its rhythm. The laundry room was on the other side of the wall, behind the fridge, so Adrian wondered if perhaps Janere had some more last minute laundry to take care of. Ignoring the knocking sound, Adrian opened the refrigerator and reached inside blindly. He knew where his neat rows of cook were. While his head was right next to the freezer door, something knocked three times from inside. Adrian jumped back, watching the fridge door close slowly on its own, its yellow wedge of light shrinking. When the door closed, he felt behind himself for the nearby light switch and turned in the kitchen light. He watched the freezer with growing anticipation. The knocking had sold, if sounded like a nice maker, but Adrian's freezer did not have one. Adrian punched himself in the shoulder and stepped forward, telling himself brave lies. Before he could back out, he anchored open the freezer door, and at that very moment, both bulbs in the light fixture hanging from the ceiling popped him in dark. The average cost of a D wine Virginia is $11,352.47, drinking and driving costs more than

12:17your drinks. Learn more at What'sTheDamage.org, brought to you by Virginia DMV. Upstairs, Keith had fallen into a restless sleep. Somehow he was still consciously aware of how hot he felt. He had kicked off his covers, so he was just laying on the mattress in his underwear. Yet still, he felt sticky and uncomfortable. It wasn't just hot in the room. He was strangely humid. And since it was late fallen central Iowa, the humidity fell entirely out of place. Keith wanted so badly to sleep. Was sleeping, in fact. Yet, he felt like real rest was far, far out of reach.

13:21He decided, in a sort of dream state, to get out of bed and bring in a small fan he usually kept under his desk for the rest of the year when it actually was humid. When he opened his bedroom door, a Richard Smell brought him to full awareness. It was smoky, but not like a campfire or even cigarette smoke. He had pungent talks kind of tones, melt in plastic, burning hair and rotten eggs. He had never experienced a ghastly perfume, wondered if this is what once smelled like. Is that why he felt so tired? Keith had long been terrified of dying quietly because of carbon monoxide or something similar. It scared him so much that he had installed his own seawater monitors in each room of his apartment. His eyes still had not adjusted to the darkness, but in his panic, he did not think to turn on the lights. After redressing, he stumbled through the apartment blindly with his hands outstretched, holding his breath as long as he could. He found his way through the kitchen and into the living room. Just a few feet from his door, he tripped on something and felt his hands and knees. On instinct, he looked back. Despite the thick darkness, he could clearly see the anguish face of a woman lying still on the floor behind him.

14:22Keith tried to stand, but his knees were too weak. He rolled and shuffled his way toward the wall, away from the prone figure on his living room floor. Her open jaw was slightly crooked. Her eyes had rolled up into her head. Her long, red hairlay tangled in a chaotic pool around her head. A small green light glowed at him from across the room. It was one of the seawater monitors, and the green light mendier was clean. He's reached up for the light switch. It was somewhere above him. He could have easily found it with his eyes, but he did not look away from the dead woman on the floor. His fingers finally found the little switch. He had to stretch them as far as they would go to push it. He noticed, just before the lights came on, a second body laying face done on the women's other side. It appeared to be a man. Then the switch clicked, the lights came on, and both bodies vanished. It was at this sudden disappearance, not the bodies themselves, that Keith finally screamed. Avery and Slam, the freezer door shot and ran to his front door. He truly hoped Jemmier was in the laundry room. He wanted to be around another person, a living person. He did not care who.

15:24The light in the laundry room was off. If someone had been in there, they had already left. But Adrian realized he hadn't heard anyone go upstairs, and he had been listening quite intently. He turned in the light and saw the washer and dry gaping at him with their open hatches, but otherwise the room was empty. Something thudded upstairs, and this time, Adrian was absolutely certain it had come from one of his neighbor's apartments. He went to the stairs to listen, and that's when he heard Keith's terrified voice shout, no. Keith and Adrian met in the stairwell, where they stared at each other for a few extended seconds. Keith knew Adrian had heard him yell, but Adrian's face showed not concern, but a grim acceptance. Keith hurried downstairs and stood by the front door. Are you, on your way out or in? He asked Adrian trying to act cool. Adrian followed him with his gaze, but did not respond. First traded in nervous, Keith asked, why are you looking at me like that? What? Outside Adrian said and gestured toward the door. He followed Keith into the cold. Neither of them had cooked on. They shoved their hands into their pockets and locked into perpetual shrugs.

16:26So what is it? Keith asked, is something weird going on in your apartment? Adrian asked, so out of, I guess. I was asleep, then I woke up because, well, maybe I was still just erosy and it was dark. I heard knocking earlier, Adrian said and erupting Keith before he wasted more time. Adrian was cold. He wanted to cut to the chase, and as all my dad, he's been dead for a year. Keith bit his lip, then quietly said, as all dead people too. After he spoke more confidently. There must be some kind of gas leak. My alarms didn't go off, but there's got to be something in there to make both of us hallucinate. Adrian said, yeah, maybe. Is the other guy back yet? I heard him come home before I went to bed, Keith groaned. We need to check on him. He grabbed the door handle. Don't go back in there, Adrian warned, but Keith didn't listen. If he moved quickly, he could check on Jamir and get back out before the gas had any effect. He went straight to Jamir's door and knocked hard, then listened. Nothing bumped inside.

17:28Jamir Keith showed it through the door. You need to get out of the building. There's something in another bump and a much louder thought cut him off. Keith knocked again. Try that, Adrian said. He had come up behind Keith without him noticing, and now he was pointing at Jamir's smart doorbell. Keith pressed it and heard a ring inside. No one came to the door or made a sound. Adrian pushed his way past Keith and pressed the doorbell again. This time, he held the button down. The lean and close to the camera and said, is there anybody in there? Then he stepped back to wait next to Keith. Should we call 911? Keith asked. A russling noise came through the doorbell speaker. Then Jamir's drossy voice asked, what's going on? Jamir, you need to get out of the building. We think there is a gas leak or something Keith explained. You gotta be kidding me, Jamir groaned. Guys, I'm not home. My friend who manages a hotel by the airport let me do my laundry here and set me up with a room. Keith and Adrian looked at each other. Do you have a cat or something? Adrian asked.

18:28No. Jamir sighed. Listen, I'm going back to sleep. Please leave my apartment alone. Call the fire department if you think there's a problem. We've been in here too long, Keith said to Adrian. Adrian nodded and they went outside together. Shivering, Adrian said, you know a hotel doesn't sound so bad. You're just going to leave? Ask Keith. Adrian shrugged. What am I going to do about a gas leak? I just called Chuck in the morning if I were you. Let him deal with it. Adrian left Keith standing and staring at their empty apartment building. He kept envisioning that little green light in the sea at home on it. With no one inside to worry about, Keith couldn't bring himself to dial 911. He couldn't afford to spontaneously go to a hotel. So instead, he texted a few friends until he found someone who was awake. A couple of texts on a short Uber ride later, Keith was sleeping safely for the night. Following morning, Chuck inspected the building before Keith left for work. He was obviously hurt by the false alarm, but he believed Keith had truly believed there was a problem.

19:28Keith did not know Chuck well enough to divulge the visions he had experienced the previous night, but he did say he's had felt funny and that Adrian had heard weird noises. Chuck laughed after instructing Keith to call him if he noticed something wrong again. Keith wasn't quite sure how he felt about spending the night there yet, so he checked with his friend and confirmed he could spend another night on his carriage, just in case. Then he went to work. That evening, when Keith came home, he stayed alert for anything out of the ordinary. Every shadow that moved in the corner of his eye made him turn violently. Any creek or pop made him pause to listen. He had never realized how much noise the building made. Around 7, Adrian came back and knocked on Keith's door. I assume it's all clear Adrian said flatly. Yeah, sorry, I would have texted you, but I don't have your number, Keith replied. Here, Adrian passed his phone to Keith. The exchange numbers, then Adrian said, I'm staying at the hotel again. I know you said this place is okay, but well, I just came back to see how it is and grab a few things. I'll probably be back tomorrow. Sure, I'm not staying either, said Keith.

20:30They held each other's eyes for a moment, understanding what they refused to say aloud. They were scared. The things they had seen the previous night were haunting their memories. They had both been hoping for a tangible explanation for their visions. Hearing that the building was safe and sound actually bothered them more than if there had been a leak. They separated to collect their necessities. Adrian turned on every light in his apartment as he changed his clothes and packed his effort tomorrow. He felt hungry, but dared not go near the fridge. He also refused to look at the dark TV, no matter how hot he felt the gaze of something staring at him from the direction. Keith also changed and packed a new set of clothes. After packing his toothbrush, toothpaste, and skin cream, he was ready to go. He had also turned on most of his lights, so before he could leave, he had to walk through and shut them all off. In his bedroom, right after he turned off the light, he suddenly felt extremely uneasy. He took a deep breath, silently told himself the uneasy feeling was all in his head and exhaled softly. Behind him, his breath echoed. Keith whipped around, convinced someone was standing directly behind him.

21:31When he saw no one, he ran. Each of his footsteps was repeated as if someone were chasing him through the apartment, mimicking his gate. The pursuing, footsteps sounded like they were gaining on him when he reached the living room. At the front door, they caught up. Leave me alone, Keith shouted backward as he fumbled with his keys. His foreseck of faintly throughout the sparsely furnished living room then faded to silence. Keith was breathing hard. The sound of his breath rumbled in his ears and the two was echoed behind him. It felt like all the blood in his veins had congealed. His hands were cold and shook. His head felt faint. His legs threatened to buckle and keep beneath him. With the very last of his willpower, Keith unlocked the door and practically fell into the hallway. He hurriedly shoved his key into the lock and twisted it, not to keep anyone out of his apartment, but to keep whatever it followed him in. Behind him, Jameer's door rattled, but in the split second it took him to turn toward it, the door had settled. Adrian was already down on the landing, watching all of this with visible concern. He go'd. Keith asked projecting his own fear onto his neighbour.

22:32R.E.U., Adrian rightfully retorted. Keith tried to shirk, but just shivered instead. He said, let's go. Eleor that day, while Jameer was waiting to board his flight, he was attacked by a sudden migraine. He didn't have anything with him to battle the pain because he didn't normally get headaches of any sort. In time, the pain in his head escalated until it incapacitated him with nausea. Head spinning and splitting, Jameer ran into the airport bathroom. He was still stuck there when they announced his flight for boarding. And there he remained until after his plane departed without him. Strangely, the migraine lifted almost as soon as the flight took off. He explained the situation at the customer service desk, and they told him they could wait list him for a flight the next morning. Jameer asked them to do that, even though he would miss at least half of the conference. He called his friend to see if he could stay another night at the hotel, but his friend wasn't going to be working that night. While on the phone, Jameer's migraine returned. It wasn't as powerful as before, but still distractingly painful. He decided since he now had an open day to kill, to go to urgent care and get checked out.

23:33The doctor and nurses could find nothing wrong, but sent him home with some wild pinkalors and told him to go to the emergency room if things worsened. Jameer's next stop was at his firm to explain the situation to his bosses. They were understanding after seeing his doctor's note. They told him he should still try to make the flight the next day if he could. The conversation alleviated some of Jameer's anxiety about the situation, which helped him feel better. He stayed late to work on a few things before heading home to the apartment he felt no desire to attend to. There was just nowhere else for him to go. When he arrived home, the small parking lot was empty. Heath and Aderin were both gone. He wondered if they had ever come home after the previous night when they had visited his door. They had both looked so scared on camera. He would ever was going on. The landlord, Chuck, had texted him earlier that day to say the building was safe and there were no leaks to worry about, so he went inside. Opening the building door, he heard the familiar rattle of the washing machine when it hit the peak of its cycle. One of the machines' feet was slightly uneven and made the whole thing shake when it really got going. The rattle normally had a distinctive rhythm and always was accompanied by the sound of slosh in water and subs.

24:37Tonight, it rung hollowly with each tilt, sounding not unlike a rumbling predator down in the dark. Jameer hurried to his door. His rollercoaster of a day left him exhausted, but also wired. He hadn't had any caffeine, but his brain felt like he had just fed a 20-ounce mercono. He crafted a small snack out of the pantry, then sat down at his desk to play video games until he felt tired enough to try sleeping. His singing screeching creatures panned to whichever side they were virtually attacking from, filled him his headburns, but after an hour or so, he started to know the sense to his left which did not fit. They were soft, muted noises, but loud enough to cut through the cacophony of an interdimensional bloodbath. As the game loaded a new scene, Jameer lifted the left headphone off his ear. He held it away to listen. As the loading burned near 80%, he heard it. A muffle scratch coming from around the corner. This particular corner led to his bedroom. It was also directly above the washing machine downstairs. He glanced down, 89%. He removed his headphones in order to stand and glance around the corner. When he looked, he felt silly.

25:38The hallway was empty, but he felt vindicated when the tiny clawing sound eventually repeated. He wondered if a mouse or chipmunk had gotten stuck in the wall. He slipped his headburns back on just as a progress bar reached 99%. Jameer played lousy during his next round. The sounds from the wall were growing unnaturally loud inside his headphones. When he listened with his naked ear, it sounded soft and normal, but it was like the headphones piped the sound in whatever he put them on, and they were getting stronger. Not loud, but deeper and denser. No longer did they sound like a small rodents' calls. This started sounding like pouring hoofs. Then, just once, a heavy boot and print. Jameer quit the game, removed his headphones, and closed his laptop. He tried to close his eyes to listen better, but the first long slide of the wall made them spring back open. The half-inch of drywall between him and whatever was moving in the wall off of little comfort. The noises started moving. They had already risen to the ceiling, and now are skittering across it. Sometimes they sounded like rat claws, but in dispersed with booming thirds of something much, much larger.

26:39The sounds passed over Jameer's apartment door, and he heard them continue outside. For the first time, he wondered if the sounds were being made by a neighbor and were reflecting summer. He opened his door to listen. He'd store, directly across from him, was open. The skittering noises were now inside Kee's dark living room. Hey, are you home? Jameer hesitantly asked. The door slammed shut. Okay, you don't have to be a jerk about it. Jameer returned to his own apartment. He made himself a hot cup of chamomile tea and prepared for bed as he drank it. He set his alarm to give himself time to get back to the airport, but he was already pretty sure he was not going to make the flight. Tea had been enough to upset his stomach again, inducing him with more nausea, but fortunately, no headache this time. He set a quick prayer, then fell into a restful sleep. Hello, it is Ryan, and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin-slot games on chumbacacino.com. I looked over the person sitting next to me, and you know what they were doing? They were also playing chumbacacino. Everybody's loving having fun with it. Chumbacacino's home to hundreds of casino-style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere,

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28:46Just go to zippercruder.com slash zip to try Zippercruder for free. Don't forget that zippercruder.com slash zip. Finally, that zippercruder.com slash zip. Of all the things that might have woken Jamir in the shoddy apartment building, neighbor noises, the outdated furnace, the draft, which continues to bled into his bedroom, Jamir never would have expected the smell to be what disturbed his sleep. He woke because the noxious odor of melting plastic made him need to puke. He barely had time to stumble across his room to the small trash can in the floor. There, he dry heaved over and over with no result. The smell only seemed to get worse each time Jamir gagged. He realized after a minute on the floor that he probably needed to leave. He remembered the weird texts from Chuck about there not being a gas leak. Maybe the old guy had been wrong. Jamir wiped his mouth, even though nothing had come out of it and stood slowly to avoid passing out. On his feet, he noticed the edge of a dog figure standing in his open door. Jamir cried out and fell onto his bed. He always slept with the door shut. He hadn't opened it since going to bed, yet it was yawning wide open now.

29:48And yes, he could clearly see one side of a person. A woman standing there as if patiently waiting for him to come out. Who is that? Jamir demanded. He tried to make his voice sound deep and powerful, which may have been easy if he hadn't just been heaving over a trash can. He hurriedly picked up and turned and the flashlight he kept on his nice and incase of power outages. The figure vanished as soon as the white circle of light cut through the doorway. Jamir took a few steps at an angle, trying to find the figure he knew he had seen. He started to wonder if something else in the dark apartment had caused an illusion. He turned to the bed and shut the flashlight off. This time, he actually hoped he would see the figure so he could decide what was creating the distinctive shadow. But the figure did not return with the darkness. This is a reflex, Jamir switched the flashlight back on. Instead of lighting up the glass circle at the end of the flashlight shattered into a hundred shards and shot across the room. Jamir shouted and dropped the broken light. It rolled until it stopped against the trash can. Then, what appeared to be a giant spider crawled out of the shattered end.

30:49Jamir climbed up onto his bed, gauging how far he needed to jump to get past the black creature on the floor in order to escape. But the thing which crawled out of the flashlight was not a spider, he realized. The idea perceived the spindly legs were really claw-like-authored fingers and the rest of a hand trail behind them. Where a shoulder should have appeared, the arm just kept extending. It was covered in sagging, pale skin and dotted with moles of various size. The foul smell in the room grew more present than ever. Jamir had to get out. His mind raised for a solution. The reaching arm blocked him from the door. He could try to jump over it, but he had no idea how fast it could move. When its fingertips reached his bedsheets, they started to drag them off the bed, warding them up on the floor. This finally gave Jamir a viable idea. He took hold of his comforter, which the disembodied hand had yet to reach and toss it on top of the stretched arm. A deep growl rummled the whole room. Jamir leapt over the writhing comforter and sprinted through the doorway. They hind him, the comforter rose into the air. Whatever was beneath it nearly filled it. It was much larger than a single arm now.

31:51Jamir snatched his keys off his desk and left his apartment. He didn't stop running until he reached his car, got inside and locked it. He started the car for the heat, then sat in the driver's seat, staring up at the shadowy building. The parking lot was empty besides him and his car. Keith and Adrian had both stayed somewhere else. Jamir's supposed to now knew why. Keith pulled into the parking lot just before 6 so he could shower and change before heading right back out for work. He was shocked to see Jamir's car parked there, even before he had noticed the man asleep inside. The standably concerned, Keith wrapped lightly on Jamir's window. Also understandably, Jamir jumped off of his sleep like a startled rabbit. Well hey, it's just me, Keith, your neighbor. Jamir held a hand over his pounding heart. Oh man, what time is it? He asked. What? Keith replied loudly. Soar. Jamir rolled his window halfway down. I was just wondering. He looked at the clock on his dash. Well never mind. I thought you were flying out of town.

32:51I was supposed to, but I got sick at the airport so. Did you lose your key or something? Oh no, I just. Something weird's going on inside, right? I'm sure you noticed Adrian and I bounced out too. Yeah, where'd you guys go last night? I crashed on a friend's couch and Adrian slept in some hotel. Listen, we both had strange experiences a couple nights ago. You know when we ran your bail. Yeah, you guys seemed pretty freaked out. We were. Weed, oh, well, we both saw dead people. Did it happen to you too? Maybe. Jamir looked like he didn't believe he was actually having this conversation. I think I saw it like a person and then a hand. I saw a hand. They were silent until Jamir at, hey, did the building smell weird to you? Like burning plastic and rotten eggs? Yeah, then shut tested for a gas leak. That came by yesterday morning. All clear, but something's definitely going on. Oh, he is Adrian. Adrian rolled and looking like he hadn't slept at all. He'd guess that he probably hadn't

33:52considering the guy he usually didn't wake up before noon. He told Jamir to follow him and jogged over to Adrian's car before he shut it off. Adrian seemed perfectly content to sit in the warmth of his vehicle while Keith relayed what Jamir had said. Jamir added the details when he finally got out of his car to stand against the cold. Who do we call for something like this? A priest? Well, before we jump to that, have either of you noticed anything else different in the past few days? Jamir asked. I mean, obviously this place wasn't haunted a few days ago if that's what you want to call it. I don't believe in ghosts, Adrian stated. I thought Keith said he saw dead people. Didn't you tell me you saw your dad? Keith asked. I saw something that looked like my dad, sure, but that could have been anything. A trick of the light, a hallucination. I've got a picture of him in my head. It just got projected outwards. So you spent two nights in a hotel because of a trick of the light? Jamir asked. Adrian refused to answer. Okay, you know what? Jamir opened Adrian's car door and stood so he couldn't close it.

34:53We're growing in there all of us together. We'll go into each of our apartments as a group, see if anything's wrong, then we can all go back to our days like normal. If something still seems wrong tonight, we'll make check get a second opinion. Goat. Keith and Adrian still looked apprehensive and neither responded. Okay, any better ideas? Jamir asked. No, Keith finally answered. I have to go inside to change anyway. Let's do it. Jamir's confidence served the neighbors as they separated into their respective apartments, but their searches uncovered nothing. Adrian was left alone for the day when the others left for work. Normally he would sleep, but he didn't think he could. He decided if he was staying up, he should at least try to be productive. He could use this time with the building to himself to get a head on laundry while he vacuumed chores, he couldn't well, his neighbors were sleeping. Adrian gathered his list calls into a basket and carried it into the laundry room. A sinus burning smell kept hitting him as he loaded his clothes into the washer. He vaguely recognized it from the first night of the so-called haunting. At first, he assumed the smell had been trapped

35:54in his dirty clothes. He held his breath for each armful of laundry he shoved into the washer, but between shoving one armful and engraving another, his eyes found the floor drain. It made Adrian remember the flood and how the fell water had smelled. He wondered if Keith or Jamir had realized the smell was the same one that had accompanied the so-called hauntings. Could whatever is messing with our heads have come up from the drain. It is for Judas that Adrian pondered this particular question at the very moment he picked up the pants he had been wearing the morning of the flood. With a dry plink, the little object chuck had given him fell to the floor. He hadn't given it a very close look that day, just enough to tell if he recognized it. Then it had entirely slept his mind. Looking at it now, it did look familiar, but not because he had ever seen it before. The expression on the wooden carvings face was the exact expression he had seen on the reflection of his father in a TV. It was crazy to think this tiny wooden object was the source of their problems. Adrian was a fan of horror movies and had seen numerous films in which an object had some sort of curse or attachment, but those concepts had always been nothing but fiction to him. He didn't believe in ghosts or demons

36:55or that people could curse on him objects. He wasn't even religious. But the resemblance between the two faces, one carved in wood and the other reflected in pale light was undeniable. Then it struck him. The expression must have been subconsciously buried in his mind so that when he started hallucinating, it conjured their particular expression. And the terrible smell must have been some chemical that came up in the flood. Maybe some of it did get on his clothes and it's why he smelled it later in his apartment. And it would make perfect sense that some sewer chemical was causing him to see things. And if all of this was true, the load of laundry, he was about to do should solve all the problems. He would recommend the others wash the clothes too. Adrian spent the rest of the day cleaning his apartment, washing or getting rid of anything that he might have touched when wearing the tainted clothes. He set the carving by his computer to research it later, just out of curiosity. Heath and Chandler came home at similar times. Adrian had texted both of them about his theory so they took turns doing laundry at evening. Taking some action made them feel better and since nothing happened throughout the evening, they both managed to go to sleep before 10.

37:56Adrian stayed up as usual, although he did not expect to stay awake the whole night. He knew his brain only had a couple more eyes left before it shut off. He sat down at his computer, not sure where he was going to let it take him. Then he noticed the carving next to his hand and remembered he was going to search for it online. He wanted to find out if it was some random gift, store, trinket or something with any real meaning behind it. He woke up his computer and logged in. Instead of his desktop background, he was met with a picture of his father taking shortly to for his death. He looked gone and pale laying in a hospital bed. The Roman Ford trip at the edge of the photo was supposed to be injecting life-saving medicine, but it was known to anyone. It was actually killing him. Adrian didn't have any particularly strong affinity for his father. He had never truly loved the man, but even he recalled that the injustice captured in this photo. He tried clicking off of it, confused how it had even showed up in the first place. But the photo would not go away. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 Racing. Victory Lane? Yeah, it's even better with Chamba by my side. Race to ChambaCasino.com, let's Chamba.

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39:58Don't forget that zippercruder.com slash zip. Finally, that zippercruder.com slash zip. Adrian could not even tell what program had been used to open it. It looked like the photo was just hovering on screen all on his own. Then his father's off-close, digitalized open and flicked toward him. Adrian gasped and rolled his chair backwards. He knew this image well. It was not a video. After he stopped, his chair lurched forward again and rolled until the arms round against the edge of the desk with enough force to slam Adrian into the desk too. From the computer, Adrian's father's voice set believed son. What? What's happening? Adrian shivered. His father reached out a trembling hand, the one with the Roman four inserted at the elbow. When he found he could not reach far enough, he ripped the Roman four out of his arm and stretch so close to the screen that Adrian feared his father's hand might actually come out of the computer. But the dead man's fingertips stopped just on the other side of the glass. Believe son, he repeated. But this time he hadn't believed in the devil. All of the keys on Adrian's keyboard exploded into his face.

40:58The tour of tiny cuts all over his cheeks, forehead and forearms when he tried to shield himself. His mouth struck him in the temple, and his spun sideways in his chair. He felt the mechanism below his seat and lock, aligned the chair to tilt backwards. It leaned all the way back under his weight, then shot straight up again on its own, nearly spilling Adrian onto the floor. He yelled as it tilted back a second time with violence beat, then shot him forward once more. This time he did fall, slamming against the remains of his keyboard and landing hard on his hands and knees. He called away as the chair continued to rock up and down. The noises below were keyed, who shot out of bed in a panic. The smell was back, even more powerful than before. Its ranked toxicity made Keith Nalsus. He ran into his bathroom, lifted the toilet lid and was blasted with water as brackish as we had come up the laundry room drain. It also bore the foul stench. The taste of it ripped off the back of his tongue and ran down his throat. Keith landed hard against a wall and turned only just in time to avoid vomiting all over himself. His explosion mixed with the murky water on his bathroom floor.

41:59He ran to his front door. Someone or something was hammering it frantically. But the two bodies he had seen on that first night were standing in his way. They were manifestations of his biggest fear. He had been terrified of dying in a ghastly quever since he was a child and some neighbors down the road. Ah, Keith screamed. He now recognized the two faces in the ghosts. He had known them decades ago as a little boy. He ran back into his room and shut the door. It boomed as what sounded like a full human body was thrown against it. Then the grating sound of fingernails biting into the wood scratched from the top of the door all the way down to the bottom. When the sound stopped, the tips of five fingers slid under the door. Heath cowed behind his bed, searching for anything he could use as a weapon. All he could think of in the moment was a hardcover Bible his parents had given him when he moved out. He hadn't so much as cracked the cover, but now as the heaviest object near him, the Bible came to mind. It was laying under a layer of dust beneath his bed. Keith stood, picked it up, and dove at the hideous fingers creeping under his door. He brought the Bibles thick spined on

43:00in the knalled knuckles and felt a brief snap for the fingers vanished with a hiss. Keith, Keith, you in there. Shamir's voice barely resonated through all the walls and doors. Clutching the Bible out in front of himself, Keith flipped on the light and carefully opened his bedroom door. No one was waiting on the other side. Hang on, he shouted back to Shamir. He hurried across his now empty apartment and peered through the people. When he was sure his neighbor was actually on the other side, he opened the door too. He expected Shamir to ask what was going on to say he had heard sounds coming from Keith's apartment. But instead, Shamir turned, pointed back at his own apartment, a nass who the hell is that? Keith could see the outline of a hunched woman faintly trace by the bleeding light from the hallway. Only her eyes were truly illuminated appearing to glow white in the darkness. Please tell me you see or two. Tell me I'm not crazy, mate Demir. I see her, Keith said. And then he began to realize the woman seemed familiar. Maisel is that you? The woman helped, this is my home. And Shamir is door slam shot.

44:00Hey, hey. Shamir ran forward pounding at his door after he found it locked. He spun toward Keith demanding who's Maisel? Dear, Keith's eyes were wide and aimless. He looked totally lost. She's the lady who lived there before you. Shamir banged on the door again while asking, was she seen all or something? Adrian's door slam shot and his pounding footsteps rose toward them. Shamir didn't seem to notice as he tried fruitlessly to re-enter his apartment. It's thus Adrian yelled. In his open hand, he held up something for the other two to see. I think it's all coming from this thing. Keith reached for the item, then held his hand back. He didn't know what might happen if he touched it. Instead, he leaned into observe the object in Adrian's palm. It had the same loose, open mouth as the dead people in his living room. Shamir, Keith said, forcing urgency into his voice. We need to leave right now. We gotta go. I'm not leaving this crazy woman alone in my apartment, Shamir retorted. Dude, she's not real, Adrian explained.

45:02None of it is, I mean, it's real, but it's not really what it. Just come on. He led the charge down to the door. Followed by Keith and a resentful Jemir. In a parking lot, he explained how Chuck had given him the little item, which he continually revered to as the toadum after the lone drew room flat. I don't think there was anything wrong with the pipes, he said. I think some would he toss this toadum down a drain or something and it ended up under our building. I think he brought itself up here and now we have to get rid of it. Jemir had his phone out and was dialing 911. Absolutely, he said, okay, cool, so throw it out. I gotta get rid of this crazy lady. The police won't do anything. Keith said pointing to the numbers entered on Jemir's phone. Shamir looked at him like he was crazy but he did not press the call button. Not even he could explain why he hesitated. Keith continued, no one that we've seen is really there. Adrian saw his dead. I saw people I haven't even thought about in years and you saw but that's not right. Measel isn't dead. I don't think that matters, Adrian said. Look how he's reacting.

46:02It looked like her to do this to him. It figured out the best way to mess with each one of us. For some reason, it really wants us to stay out of our building. Okay, fine. So again, just throw the thing out already. Jemir said, referring to the toadum. We can't just throw it out, Adrian said. That's probably how we ended up with it in the first place. Somebody else just asked it away. We need to put it somewhere it won't ever get out. Jemir recommended a burn it and Adrian showed them his other palm. It bore a bliss of red spiral. He told them he had picked the toadum on his stove to try ending the curse and as soon as he turned in the heat, he was burned. The toadum was a mocked. That was when he had run out of his apartment to find him. You know what? Thine. We'll do your thing. And if that lady still up there when we get back I'm calling the cops. Get back. Keith asked. Wait, where are we going? Who's got keys? Jemir asked. Adrian reached and drew his pocket and shuffled around. His car's amber lights blinked, indicating it was now unlocked.

47:04Jemir said great. Tick us up the roadaways. They were fixing a sidewalk when I drove past earlier. There might be new cement. Keith said that's perfect as he let himself into Adrian's car. They drove together about quarter mile up the road. Jemir held the toadum through his odyssey so Adrian could drive with his one good hand. They found orange cones indicating where the new concrete had been poured. Man, they got that and just under the limit Jemir remarked. It's going to be too cold and like a week. Lucky us, Adrian said. They all got out and walked over to the new sidewalk. Just press it in, Jemir asked. I don't know, this was your idea, said Adrian. Jemir shrugged and gently nudged the toadum into the freshman. It had already begun to harden but probably thanks to the low temperature, it had not fully set. The toadum sunk in, first just creating a dent then finally filling in over the top. Jemir barely pulled his hoodie away in time to avoid getting any cement on himself. His action left a blemish in the otherwise smooth surface but he didn't think the damage would be bad enough to warrant the crew ripping out the panel

48:05and starting over. They waited for a few minutes to see if anything would happen then left the cursed totem behind. Everything had returned to normal back at the apartment building. The only thing that was not exactly how they'd left it was actually a blessing. Jemir's door was unlocked. As if nothing had transpired between them, the members of each other could night and went to their respective apartments. Then, each of them slept soundly for the first time in three days. The next morning, things were still wonderfully ordinary. Jemir left for work before either of the others woke up. He felt he needed to make up for missing his confidence to show his bosses he was still committed to the firm. On the way there, he intentionally drove past the sidewalk where they had buried the totem. There were the orange cones scattered all across the road. A city truck had already arrived and a man in a bright orange vest was scratching it as beanie while talking loudly on his cell phone. In front of him, a single square of concrete had been obliterated. It looked like it had exploded, sending rocky chunks of concrete all over the area, even ruining some of the rest of the brand new sidewalk. Jemir considered stopping, but decided not to incriminate himself.

49:07What could he do to help anyway? If the totem was laying somewhere over there, it's not like he would be willing to take it back. Hopefully it landed somewhere it would never be noticed by a pass-by. Hopefully the winter snow would come soon and bury it. And when the snow melted, it would carry the totem down the drain. Jemir shivered. He reminded himself that he was free of the curse. And that it wasn't even his fault, it had become their problem in the first place. He prayed that whoever found it next or whoever found next would know how to get rid of it, really destroy it for good. Tallahradic here from 2311 Racing, victory lane? Yeah, it's even better with Jemir by my side. Race to chumpacaceno.com, let's Jemir. No purchase necessary, VTW Group, VoidwaproHitter.com, we'll see you in the next video.

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