I Found A Letter From My Brother. The Problem Is I've Never Had A Brother

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1:03I've got no idea when this whole thing actually started. There's simply no way to tell how much of my life slipped away under my nose before I could ever even know. There's no telling what all has been taken from me. There's no telling how long it's been eating. Four nights ago. That's the first time that I noticed something missing. Less than a week in a lifetime of difference. I had a lot back then. A lot to be thankful for. I just landed a new IT job. My first actual job out of college. Me and Grace were finally able to move out of that ratty one bedroom place that we had into a real house in Cyprus. Why had got his own room after his first birthday? And you had to wait 15 years for that. Grace was able to quit her retail job and stay home with Wyatt, which is what she'd always wanted to do. Lord knows she deserved to be able to, after all she had done to help me finish my degree.

2:04You helped us move in that weekend. You, Anne, and the girls. I remember we sat down under the patio in the backyard, talking about all of y'all coming over in the fall and to grill and to watch football. Things looked so hopeful. Now that was a different world than the one that we're living in now. It was late Tuesday night, a little past nine. Grace had just retreated into our room, starting her nightly fight to rock the baby to sleep. While she was doing that, I was going to head back to the old apartment and grab the last few loads of belongings that needed to be moved. By Tuesday night, most of the boxes were residing in our living room, and I'd almost made five trips Monday after work. But there still remained about two car loads left. I remember looking at it all on Saturday after you and I had worked all day to move the big stuff, knowing all that was left and asking myself, how so much could fit in our little home the wall. I snuck out as quietly as I could to get my car into the garage, being careful not to make

3:06a sound and wake quiet. He's a really light sleeper, and I didn't want to make the already difficult task of getting him to sleep one more of a burden on Grace. I was able to get out of the house without much of a sound and started my car. It wasn't until I was about halfway down the street when I realized that I had forgotten the keys to our old place. I turned the car around, grateful to have only gone that far. The drive between our apartment and house was a solid 20 minutes, and I had already made the mistake of going all that way without a key once that weekend. I opened the garage door into the kitchen with just as much caution as I had left with. The house was completely dark, safe for my car's low beams shining through the open door into the kitchen. It was just enough to see where the key should have been. A little key ring pulled her right next to the pantry. I said, should, because it wasn't there. It was missing. In an annoyed sigh left my mouth. I left them on that key ring the night before just in case Grace needed to run and grab

4:08something urgent. God only knows where they'd travel to in those less than 24 hours. The whole reason we had only had one key between us in the first place was because of why it's excessive need to play with them. Even after we decided maybe the house keys weren't the best toy for an 11 a month old to be playing with and gotten some play baby keys, he'd only ever be satisfied by the jingle jangle of the real thing. I looked out at the sea of boxes crowding the living room, hoping that I wouldn't have to go searching through them. Flipping on my phone flashlight, I started carefully opening drawers in the kitchen, hoping Grace maybe had used them and just put them back in an odd spot. Our soft lullaby was still filling the silence of our house. It'd still be a good while before I could ask her. And I moved at a snail's pace, trying every drawer, trying to be as quiet as possible. I probably could have gone quicker, made a little more noise since we had a much larger buffer of space in the new house. But having lived in such a small apartment for so long and having woken the baby by even

5:11the slightest of movements had trained me to be overly hesitant. Every creek felt like a shout, no matter how careful I was. My search of the drawers proved Marin, and I started on the living room, trying my best to dodge around our scattered box belongings and scan the floor with my flashlight, keeping my eye peeled for a glint of anything shiny, and still nothing. I decided that it was probably going to be easiest to just wait until light was down and so that way I could go ask Grace if she had seen them. If not, I could at least flip the lights back on and actually see where I was looking. I turned back around to sneak back through the living room to turn off my still running car when I felt my foot catch against a stack of boxes and send me tumbling over. What followed was a crash that probably could have been heard three houses down. As I lay there, in the immediate aftermath, draped over now crushed boxes of plates and silverware, I clenched my eyes and thought, please don't wake up, please don't wake

6:15up! That tense silence didn't last more than a second though, and I started kicking myself as a shrill cry of my son rang out through the house. He was soon joined in concert by our dog, spot, howling and barking to no end. The next thing I heard was the twist of a doorknob and the flicker of a light switch. Grace's concern was visible on her face, though it shifted into irritation once she had seen what I'd done to her plates. She asked if I was okay and other than my pride, I was. I went ahead and took the opportunity to ask about the keys. She said that she hadn't seen them and that she needed to go back and get some stuff for Wyatt's room and couldn't find them earlier. Maybe I hadn't put them back. I knew that I had, but I wasn't about to try and blame her for losing them while she was shushing and crying a child that I just woken. I apologized a few times, gave her and Wyatt both a kiss and tried to make as graceful as an escape as I could back to the car. Flipping the lights on, I carried out a very half-hearted search through my floorboard

7:18in between my seats and in my center console. I knew for a fact that I had put them back on the key ring the night before, and just as I expected, the search came back empty. The last load would have to wait until tomorrow. My phone buzzed in my pocket, a text from Grace. If you can't find them, just drive over there and see if Michael will let you in. He let me in last year when you were working nights and accidentally took the keys with you. Michael? The security guard. Worth a shot. I shut my car door and I backed my way out of the garage. 20 minutes later, I arrived at our old complex. I pulled up through the front gate and through the car into park. One security guard sat stationed in the guard shack. He was an older man, maybe late 50s, and definitely not cut out for night shifts anymore. His feet rested up on the desk in front of him, while his head slumped away from me and towards a propped-up iPhone blurring some schlocky old horror movie at max volume. I rolled down my car window and tried to catch his attention.

8:21When my voice didn't work, I tried knocking on the glass, gently at first, but that was also ignored. A couple of slams on my fist against the sliding window when he finally jolted awake, rushing his fallen hat off of his face. He slowly rolled his chair over to the window, wearing his displeasure very openly on his face. I'm going to help you. He cracked through the remnants of his sleep after sliding the glass open. I noticed the yellow nametag ironed into his shirt, Michael, a flicker of hope. I explained to the situation as politely as I could, hoping that it would help my chances. The look on his face didn't change. With a half, Michael rolled away from the window and poured an ancient relic of a computer sitting on the desk where his feet had been elevated moments earlier. President Barack Obama Virginia, we are counting on you. Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to raid the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years, but you can stop them. By voting yes, by April 21st, help put our elections back on a level playing field

9:28and let voters decide not politicians. Vote yes, by April 21st. Paid for by Virginians for fair elections. Sootopia 2 has come home to Disney Plus. Let's go! Get ready for a new case. We're the greatest partners of all time. New friends. Do it this night. And your last name? The snake. Cream team. Sootopia has a secret reptile population. You can watch the record breaking phenomenon at home. Sootopia 2 now available on Disney Plus rated PG. Here right now you can get Disney Plus and Hulu for just $4.99 a month for three months with a special limit to time offer ends March 24th. After three months playing auto renews at $12.99 a month, terms apply. Validating unit number, he said blankly, reaching his arm out towards me. I retrieved my wallet from my pocket and handed over my driver's license. 322, he clocked away on the keyboard for a moment while I waited in awkward silence. All of a sudden, the key stopped clicking and Michael's apathetic malaise turned to

10:29confusion. He brought the ID close to his face, moving his eyes from the humming screen to my ID and back again. You sure about that? 322? Fairly certain. I've only lived there for three years. Michael began shaking his head while scrolling down a list of apartments and names. Well I'm not seeing you listed here, Mr. Ward, so I'm afraid I can't help you. He flipped my driver's license back through the window and onto my lap. What do you mean I'm not listed? I asked, taken it back. I mean there's no Daniel Ward that lives at this complex and there's no one listed in 322. And it suddenly dawned on me and what must have happened. Look man, they probably already pulled us from the system because we just moved. We've got to be out by Friday. I've got like four or five boxes left in there. Just let me come get them and you can get back to your nap. Sorry, not without something to prove that you live in that apartment.

11:30What about my parking path? I turned to grab the parking pass that hung from the rear view mirror, but stopped mid-sentence when I realized that it wasn't there. I put my head in my palm out of frustration. I must have already thrown it away without thinking. Grace! I snapped my fingers. Grace Ward. She's my wife. About a year or so ago you let her and our son into 322 because she didn't have keys. Does any of that ring a bell? Buddy. I can't remember what I just had for lunch. Look. If you think there's been some kind of mix up, you're going to have to just come back when the admin is here. That's not my job. My job is keeping people who don't live here out of the gate and accordingly to the system. You don't live here. Now I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. Have a good night. I got the impression that he really wasn't all that sorry, but I saw that I wasn't going to get anywhere and waved him away. He slammed the window back shut and resumed the position that I'd found him in. Defeated.

12:31I turned off the car around and started the trek back to the new house. By the time that I got home, Grace and Wyatt were suddenly asleep in the bed. I went through my nightly routine and collapsed down next to them. I was still tired from the move, tired from work and tired from the night's ordeal. I was glad to join my wife and my son in sleep. But it didn't last long. I woke only a few hours later and turned to see Grace holding her pillow over her ears. Then it was spot. Something had him wound up and he was letting half of the neighborhood know about it. I heard her mutter something about, that's the dog from under her pillow and how she was going to be pissed if he woke up Wyatt. I sure heard that I would just go and settle him down and flip the covers off myself. Maybe a little redemption from earlier that night. I made my way out to the living room sliding last door to the backyard. He was all the way at the far end of the yard. His snout hugging up right against the fence, barking with all the fury in his body.

13:35I called his name twice and gave a whistle, but he didn't stop. He stayed tensely glued to the slated boards, flashing his teeth at whatever he saw behind them. I called again, this time scolding him, but he still didn't come. Something wasn't right. He was prone to barking fits, but they were never so aggressive and he usually always minded when I called him. I couldn't imagine at the time why he was so upset. My eyes looked down into the thick tangled mess of oak trees and wild brush that backed up to our property line. What did he see? I began to walk towards him, with every step the air around me seemed to grow colder. It was mid-August, but by the time that I reached the fence, I almost thought that I could see my breath. I scooped him up to carry him inside when he whipped his head around and bit me on the hand. I yelled out in pain and he immediately let go, running across the yard to the house. What the hell, you stupid dog?

14:35I brought my hand close to my eyes to try and see the damage in the darkness. It broke in the skin, but not by much. Mainly, it had just given me a jolt. He'd never much as growled at me before. I turned my attention back to the dog, now laying on the patio whimpering. At least he wasn't barking anymore. What could have got him so on edge? My eyes returned to the fence. A chill from the air, from the fear. I'm not sure which, slid its way down my nerves. I took a step towards the fence and my mind began to run wild. What was I about to see? I raised myself up and I cramed my neck over the fence to get a good look around. The answer caught my eye almost immediately, with its fluorescent yellow glow reflecting in the light of the moon. A tennis ball. One that had clearly been there a while almost covered over by vines and thorny brush. I laughed to myself and walked briskly back to the house, trying to warn myself along

15:39the way. Spot was still whining next to the door, evidently still upset at his biting me and me scolding him. I slid the back glass door open and let him in. It's okay, bud. He trotted quickly to his dog bed in the laundry room, folding himself up into a quiet and contentful problem solved. For quickly cleaning the small cut spotted given me, I marched back to my own bed and climbed back in next to grace. It had been a long night and I was more than exhausted. The clock beside our bed read one o'clock, just a few precious hours left to sleep. Not nearly enough. Sleep didn't come as easy the second time around. I spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, trying to warm myself back up. That chill was persistent, but eventually exhaustion took over and I fell asleep. I awoke to an empty bed and in the smell of frying bacon, wafting into the room.

16:40The smile chased away and soured tiredness from my face and I rolled out of bed to face the day. Grace was already seated at the table by the time that I got dressed and joined her in Wyatt. I gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head as I took my seat. When we spent the morning together eating breakfast, talking about how much we loved the new house, occasionally just looking with joy at our son playing in his little playpen that we had set up amongst all the cluttered boxes in the living room. It had been a stressful weekend with the move and all the troubles from the night before hadn't helped in that regard. But that morning felt like it put it all back into perspective. Life was good. We were young and love, blessed beyond measure with a beautiful son, a new job and a new home. It was the last time that I felt truly happy. She asked me if I was able to get the rest of our stuff last night. I explained that I wasn't able to find the keys and that Michael had been much less helpful than advertised. I had planned on going over there on my lunch break, but she offered to get it sorted out.

17:41I thanked her for being such a good wife. What was spark barking at over last night? She asked him between bites of toast. He was going nuts. At least tell me it was worth it. Hardly. A tennis ball. Ugh. I get little enough sleep with that one over there. If he wasn't so cute, I'd say that we should just get rid of the dog. Yeah. Especially since he bit me when I tried to bring him inside. I held up my hand for her to see. Seriously? She gasped, dropping her fork onto the serving plates from my fall. She grabbed my hand and inspected the small wound that he had inflicted. What's wrong with him? Do you think that we should take him in to see a trainer or something? No. He calmed down as soon as I've let him inside. Maybe a raccoon or something was out there too. I don't know. Maybe it spooked him. He had never done that before. Yeah, but he's around why at all the time. I saw her face change. Obviously, confusions swept over in an instant.

18:42Wait. You put him inside last night? My face probably mirrored hers at that point. Yeah. I let him come sleep on the bed in the laundry room. He was fine after that. Did you let him back outside this morning? And suddenly, on our soot, her reflexed look. I started scanning around the house from the table, wondering where the dog was. I hadn't had the chance to install the doggy doors yet, so the only way that he could get in or out was one of us. I assumed that you did. I croaked out. We both looked at each other with the same dumbfounded, unsure look and stood to our feet. But we began to call, searching the house. I went immediately to the laundry room, and what I found, I rather didn't find, had raised a hundred more questions. I called for grace and she came running. I pointed out the empty spot on the floor where his bed had been. Are you sure you unpacked it already?

19:44When you said that, I was wondering, I don't remember seeing it this morning. Grace, I'm telling you that it was right here last night. I saw him lay down in it. Maybe he dragged it off to wherever he's at. She stammered for an answer. And his food bag, I pointed to the empty spot next to the dryer where the almost 45 pound container of dog food was supposed to be. She had no response to that one, and it would be the first of many things to leave us speechless that morning. As we resumed our search of the house, we'd come to find that almost everything of spots was gone. His food bowl, his toys, his dog house in the backyard, all missing. Grace and I fell on the couch, too dumbstruck to speak. Our family dog had just vanished into the air without a trace, along with everything related to him. My mind raced to come up with some kind of rational explanation for it and failed miserably. I started trying to piece together some logical possibility, only for it to be rendered

20:45ridiculous a few steps down the line. None of them seemed very appealing. I kept coming back to the idea that there was someone in the house that someone had took him, but that didn't make any more sense than any other explanation. How and why would they steal all of spots things and leave the rest of us completely untouched? His belongings were scattered all over the house, and yet there wasn't a single one missing. They were all just gone. Spring styles are at Nordstrom Rack stores now, and there are up to 60 percent off. Stock up and save on Ragnbonne made well, Vince, All Saints, and more of your favorites. Join the Nordy Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite Rack store for free. Great brands, great prices, that's why you Rack. One. Oh my god, daddy!

21:46Grace gasped suddenly, looking at her phone. The first day that we'd moved in, we'd taken some pictures of all three of us with spawning them to post on social media. And they were gone. Raced like the rest of the evidence that we had ever owned a dog. She kept scrolling up through her camera roll. We had had him for two years. Our phones were full of pictures and videos with our dog, at least were until that morning. Just like everything else, they were gone. I pulled out my own phone to check. Same story. Daddy. What's going on? Grace asked me, her voice shaky, a pit formed in my stomach, an oppressive terror lowered itself into my shoulders. It was fear like I had never known up until that point. The worst part of it was that I couldn't say why. I didn't know what to be afraid of. Our dog was missing. It wasn't like someone was pointing a gun to my head. There was just this pervasive sense of wrongness.

22:49I thought about the night before, a cold it had been. Why did I suddenly feel so cold sitting on the couch next to Grace? Had it been that freezing all morning? I kept my eyes on my phone, scrolling hopelessly back and forth for something that I knew should be there. And about that time, why it started crying. And it somewhat brought us both back to the present moment. I checked the time as Grace rose uneasily from the couch to get him and realized that it was already 750. My shift began at 8 and I had a good 30 minute commute to work. I guess I still need to go to work. I said it like I was asking for permission. I felt guilty leaving Grace there, alone in that kind of uncertainty. I could see it in her face and she was just as scared, maybe more so, and while I got to run to work and distract myself, she had to stay there in the middle of it and try to wrap her head around whatever this was. Yeah. You better get going.

23:49We'll have to figure all this out later. She obliged to try to calm the baby and herself at the same time. I put my armor on her and gave her another kiss on the forehead. Hey, it's going to be alright. I realized even in that moment how stupid that sounded. What even was it anyway? But it was all I knew how to say. I started towards the door to the garage before I stopped and I turned back around. You think you can go to your mom's? I don't really want you to be here alone. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think I'll do that. I didn't play the radio or anything on the drive to work that morning. I probably narrowly avoided a couple of wrecks along the way too. My mind was far too preoccupied with the events of that morning. There had to be some explanation and I couldn't shake the deep chill of unease until I found it. I started to think maybe the problem was us. Had we ever even had a dog named Spot?

24:51My memories told me emphatically and correctly yes, but the whole rest of the world this morning shouted no. Maybe Grace and I had both just dreamt this up somehow. Maybe we had just completely lost it. I got to work about half an hour late that morning. My new boss naturally wanted some reason for this, but I wasn't about to sit there and tell them all about our disappearing dog and that my best guess for what happened was that Grace and I were insane. I just said that my alarm didn't go off and said that it wouldn't happen again. I got a disapproving look, but I couldn't bring myself to care after the morning that I just had. The rest of the workday didn't go much better. I couldn't bring myself to focus on anything pertaining to work. Instead I spent the morning texting back and forth with Grace. I was still worried about her, even though I didn't know exactly what I was worried about. A few hours into my shift, I got a call from her and excused myself to the break room. She sounded hysterical. Danny, she doesn't remember her.

25:53Her voice came through frantically as soon as I answered the call. What? Who? My mom. She doesn't remember spot. And I felt my stomach drop. We had gotten that dog from Grace's mom. He'd been a stray that showed up to her house a few years ago. She'd come to our place more than a few times than I could count and spot had been that there every single one. There's no way that she couldn't remember him and yet Grace assured me that she couldn't. And when she told Arya he'd gone missing, she started asking when we had gotten a dog. Absolutely no recollection. But there was more. Grace had gone to our apartment complex to speak with the admin. She'd become good friends in our time living there with a girl named Lindsay who worked up front. Well, when she approached Lindsay to ask about getting led into 322, she acted like she'd never met Grace in her life. She gave the same reaction Michael had given me the night before. 322 was vacant and had been for a long time.

26:56Danny, what's going on? She was crying now. This was the million dollar question, the only question that I had rolling around in my head. I tried to reassure her as best I could, but I needed reassuring myself. She begged for me to come home and be with her and I promised that I would. After we hung up, I remembered what had happened with spots pictures. I opened up my phone and my fears were confirmed. I didn't know how I had noticed it before, but it wasn't just the pictures of spot missing. It was everything that we'd ever taken at our old place, all gone. And all at once I felt sick. That oppressive cloud of fear turned to iron on my shoulders. I immediately called in sick and I went straight home. The whole time keeping a picture of Grace and Wyatt on my phone, I spent probably 90% of the drive looking at it instead of the road. I was terrified now. Spot wasn't an isolated event. He wasn't even the first.

27:56My life was being wiped away, expunged from history, and I had no idea how or why or how to stop it. It's a fear that I can't begin to describe. I made it home to Grace and sprinted to throw my arms around her and our son. I've only cried in front of her a handful of times, but this time it felt more than warranted. The rest of the day felt both like a blur and endless. We sat at home paralyzed by horrified and racing minds. Occasionally one of us would speak up to the other, but the conversation was always short. A thousand questions rolled through my head. What was next? Could it take people? What if there were things that it already took that we can't remember now? I looked at Wyatt playing innocently on the floor, blissfully unaware of the strange hell that had befallen his parents. Did we have another child? How could we even ever know?

28:59Neither of us could manage to eat. Neither of us wanted to sleep. We didn't know what we would wake up to or what we would wake up without. I remember just holding Grace in our bed that night. My hands running themselves through her hair. Wyatt asleep on her chest. Both of our eyes were fixed on the ceiling. Neither of us said a word for ours. At some point, Sleep must have taken me unwillingly in the night, because of the next thing that I remember as being woken up about 2am or so, my body covered in a cold sweat. Grace and the baby were still snuggled up closely to me, a relief. Even more of a relief was the sound that had woken me, barking, spot. I whispered out hopefully under my breath. I flipped to the covers off of my body and I hid a dead sprint out of our room, a bad dream. I thought to myself, it had just been one long, wild, bad dream. It had to be. And sure enough, I rounded the corner into living room and there he was facing me.

30:02My beautiful, cally spot, barking his loud obnoxious bark that sounded like the world's sweetest music. I almost fell to my knees in elation. I felt myself start to laugh as I flew to the door and I flung it open. Spot, spot, come here boy. I patted my thighs for him to come, holding my arms out to meet him with embrace. But he didn't come. Instead he stayed glued to the center of the backyard, barking away like I wasn't even there. I called again less enthusiastically and nothing. His bark seemed off. More specifically it seemed unchanged like it was on some kind of loop. Bark, bark, over and over. The same exact sound. I started to wonder why he wasn't moving, not just why he wasn't coming to me, why he wasn't moving at all.

31:02His body was stiff, unnaturally so. Every muscle tensed at once. Only his mouth opened and shut but even the only sl- but even that only slightly and not completely in time with the sound of the house. On top of it all was the unbearable ungodly chill that smacked me in the face as he opened. Ungodly chill that smacked me in the face as I had opened the door. Come here, now. I said forcefully. The same barking loop again, over and over. Even while I spoke, even when I said his name, my stomach began to twist and not. Spot here, now. Score more with the college branded Venmo debit card and earn up to 5% cash back with Venmo stash. Got paid back? With the Venmo debit card you can instantly access your balance and spend on what you want, like game day snacks, gear, tickets, and more. The more you do, the more cash back you can earn, plus there's no monthly fear minimum

32:03balance. Sign up now at Venmo.com slash college card. The Venmo master card is issued by the bank court bank NA, select schools available, Venmo stash terms and exclusions apply at Venmo.me slash stash terms, max $100 cash back per month. My voice raised to a shout, still no change, no movement. I took a step towards him, yelling his name again, the grass crunched beneath me, frozen. My breath quickly grew short, I took two more, my breath turned to a vapor in front of my eyes. Spot remained emotionless. Two more steps, my body shook from frost and from fear. I was close enough to reach out to touch him and I almost did, but I was also close enough to see him. What the hell is this? I gasped out, recoiling away from the abomination in front of me so hard that I fell to the ground. The night had been so dark I'd only been able to make out a little more than a figure from the back door. Now only a few feet from him and my eyes were adjusted to the darkness.

33:07I could clearly see this was not my dog. He was a horrid mismatch of hair and flesh and teeth. All mixed and morphed together back into the crude shape of a dog. But with all parts misplaced, limbs, ears, eyes, all jutting out from random points contorted and broken to fit their mold and stitched together with a lace of thick thorny tendrils weaving their way across almost every inch of his body. They were black, black as the night. Like someone had dipped barbed wire into motor oil and likewise they seemed to dig into his skin whenever their thorns were present. At various points they drove into him or erupted out of him like they had grown and twisted together with his internals. The snaking vines trailed off behind him beyond the fence line and into the forest. I tried to follow them with my eyes to the source but lost them in the darkness and the

34:08brush. And the barking loop was still loud, but now I could tell that it wasn't this dreadful crochet of dog parts making it. No, that was just the puppet. The sound was actually emanating from off in the woods, from wherever these tendrils led off to. Part of me wanted to continue on, wanted to confront this monstrosity hiding behind the imitation spot and get some kind of answer even if it killed me. That part was small, loud but small. The vast, vast majority of my mind and body were petrified from what I was seeing and pleading with my nerves to get me the hell out of there. Just as I began scrambling to my feet to run back inside I heard a whimper. It was the puppet, whimpering softly in pain. I watched as the only eye on its face rolled around in its head until the pupil could be seen.

35:09Was it still him? I hoped to God that it wasn't. I felt a sudden urge, a strong and violent draw to the creature. Maybe to help it, but more just to touch it. Before I could even think almost by reflex, I had laid my hand on one of those dark vines and instantly knew that I had made a terrible mistake. Spots I rolled back in as head lurched towards my hand at one squisted fangs that had been plugged half-hazardly into the mouth, bare to sink into my skin. I pulled away just in time, narrowly dodging the strike. Instantly I began to run faster than I ever had back towards the house. The puppet spot suddenly became animated, convulsing and pulling against his restraints, trying to break free with intent to mall me. The barbs dug sharply into his skin as he lurched back and forth against the tangled mesh. I slammed the door shut and didn't stop running, as stormed into the bedroom and into the closet waking both Grace and Wyatt, Grace begged to know what was happening, but

36:11my adrenaline wouldn't allow me to answer. I had emerged with my 30-06 and charged back to the yard ready to meet the beast, instead there was nothing. Only our empty yard, lit clearly by the moon and stars. Can you what's going on? Grace came around the corner, on the verge of tears. Just go back to bed. I whispered, my eyes not leaving the barren plot of grass for a second. What? You've got to tell me. Just go back to bed, Grace. Go to bed. You don't want to know. I'm not going to do that. I can't leave you right now. I took a long breath and sat down on the couch, leaving a seat open for her. She took a seat and we sat there for a while without a word while she rocked Wyatt back to sleep. Then I started to explain what I'd seen, about spots, about the thing in the woods, about

37:15how the puppet had tried to bite me. I showed her my hand where it had grabbed me. I showed my hand where I had grabbed one of the tendrils. A large red blister had formed across my palm, burning like hell. Frostbite. We had stayed up the rest of the night, keeping watch from the couch. Every light in the house was switched on. I wrapped my hand and I kept it on the gun. This wasn't just some strange happening. There was something out there, something malevolent, something that was feeding on our life and taking it from us. In a weird way, it brought me a little fleeting comfort, finally knowing something. I just wished that that something hadn't been so terrifying. Later that morning, a couple hours after the sun came up, I made a phone call to you.

38:17I couldn't understand why Grace and I were the only ones who could remember spot or our apartment. Someone out there had to remember us. You had been with us all weekend. You were the last person to talk to us, really, before all of this had started. If there was anyone besides us, it would be you. I didn't go into it all on the phone, just said that I needed you and that it was urgent. You came over right away and when you got to the house, I sat you down on the couch and just went straight into it. Do you remember helping us move this weekend? Yeah, why? A little glimmer of hope lit up in my eyes. You did? So you remember the apartment at Chidi Oaks. You remember that I lived there. Do you remember our dog spot? I must have sounded frantic. You were the first sign of optimism that I had in such a long time. It was short lived though. I saw it in your face, just like I had seen in Michaels.

39:19I saw it in your face like I had just seen in Michaels, like I'm sure Grace had seen in her mother and in Lindsay. You didn't remember. You couldn't remember. You sounded so frustrated that you couldn't remember where we'd moved all our stuff from only a few days ago. You said you didn't know about my dog. You hadn't even been over to my place since Grace and I moved to Houston. You've been there hundreds of times. I collapsed next to you on the couch. It was a gut punch, knowing that we were really alone. At least you knew there was something wrong, even though you had no clue to what extent. You knew that we had moved a bunch of stuff from somewhere. You knew that you should definitely be able to tell from where but couldn't. I don't know why I can't tell you, but I can't. Is that why you called me over here? You think I got dementia or something? It's just a blank. No, no, you're not alone in this. Nobody can remember it.

40:21That's the thing. It's just me and Grace. I started to tell you everything. All the stuff missing, the people at the apartment complex, even the hideous creature that I had seen a few hours earlier. I didn't care if it sounded crazy. I'd spent the last couple of hours hoping and praying that I was. And when I finished, you sat there and stunned silence, mouthed gap. I guess I couldn't have expected anything more. The whole house rang quiet, say for the sound of why it's quiet, cuing, coming from his room and Grace opening the dryer. I mean, Danny, buddy, I don't know what you want me to say. Is this some kind of out of season April Fool's joke you had finally scoffed? I know what it sounds like. I just had to tell someone, man, I'm losing it. I'd say that you're already there, bro. I mean, did you hear yourself? And while you were speaking, I thought that I heard the sound of meadow clicking somewhere

41:23from near the baby's room. Like, keys. You know there's something up. Why can't you remember Saturday? We spent all day moving back and forth, why can you only remember half the trips? Look at my hand. I reached it out to show you the palm, a numb black stripe cutting across the skin. Where do you think I got frostbite in Texas in the middle of August? Yeah, it's weird. It's strange. I'll give you that. I definitely heard keys and I heard why it's cuing, turning into a giggle. God, why didn't I just shut up? Why didn't I go check? I was so wound up that maybe I could convince you, but why couldn't I go check? But it's going to take a little more for me to jump from that to the devil dogs in your backyard and ice vying monsters stealing your car keys. Then you were the only person I know to ask. We just need help, man.

42:24Just pretend for a second it's true. What could you think to do? I mean, I'm worried sick right now about grace and why it. Protein is now at Starbucks and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein, cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks. And I saw your face change. That look, that damned dreaded look came back and my stomach turned so violently I almost hit the ground. Time slammed to a halt and I begged and I prayed you wouldn't say what I knew was about to come. Who's why it? Grace's scream ripped through the house and through my soul. I sprinted over to her on the floor in front of the bedroom door. My eyes confirmed my worst fear.

43:24The crib was gone, its toys were gone, our boy was gone. Tears rushed to fill my eyes, blurring my vision of the empty blank room that had once and never been my sons. What kind of words could I string together to give you even the tiniest glimpse of that sorrow? I don't think they exist in any language known to man. And if they did, I don't have the composure to write them here. Just know that it is more crushing, more eviscerating than you could ever possibly imagine. That was the beginning of the end. There was nothing more to do after that. I just slipped out at some point and I don't blame you. After all I had just said to you and then to just sit and watch as we melt into heuristics

44:28over a vacant room in our house. I'd probably leave too. I wish I could have. I wish I could have been anywhere but in that house in that moment. I don't know if I've ever been able to leave it. I think most of me is still back there. Grace remained in shock, a husk of a woman. For the second day in a row we didn't eat, we didn't drink, we didn't talk. I barricaded us in our bedroom. I knew what would be coming when the sun set. It started around eleven or so. He'll can't be much worse than what we experienced that night, listening to the distorted attract of our sun's cries and laughs echo through the house, just on the other side of the door. I'd seen the horrible things that it made of spot. I couldn't imagine or bear let alone see what it had done tonight.

45:32Grace was hysterical. She needed to go to him. To whatever was pretending to be him, I had to hold her down physically to keep her from leaping out that door. She wouldn't stop screaming, stop clawing at me. It took all my strength to keep her pinned strength that couldn't hold for the whole night. And at some point she hit me over the head with something. I don't know what. I just remember waking up on the bedroom floor to sunlight and silence alone. So completely alone. The wound that she must have given me was gone. As were all of the pictures off the walls, her dresser, her clothes, everything. I sat there and wept for a long time, hours, maybe the whole day. I knew I couldn't stay there any longer.

46:34I couldn't be there at nightfall. I had no strength left to fight the pole that it would have over me. I left just before sunset with whatever cash that I could find. I wouldn't be back. I found a motel outside of town. I didn't expect to sleep, but I knew I'd at least be safe for a night. I'd at least be spared those awful tears. That was an assumption that I had. I don't know why. Because it all started when we first moved into the new house. I just assumed if I left, it wouldn't follow me. That assumption lasted all of three hours. Can I please let me in? It's so cold out. I could hear her voice through the heavy iron motel door. It sounded like she was gargling water and trying to speak at the same time. Loud, piercing scratches would come in between her speaking like it was trying to claw through

47:37the door. I threw my pillow over my head, trying to drown out the noise, but it didn't work. I fought like hell not to open the door. Each time her voice came through, it came through clear and clear. It was learning, getting better, becoming more like her. I knew I wouldn't last. I made it through the first night, but it would be back again and I would not last. I called you earlier tonight. I was holding onto some small, resilient, delusional last gasp of hope that you hadn't forgotten her, that you couldn't have forgotten her. All the days you and Anne have spent with us all the times that she's watched the girls, you were the best man in our wedding for Christ's sake. She couldn't just be gone like that. Our lives had been too intertwined. You may have forgotten everything else, but not grace. You couldn't forget grace.

48:39You had to remember. But when you picked up a phone you asked who was calling in the last gasp of his trample. It's a Danny, I had answered and you said, Danny. Your voice was heavy with disbelief and excitement. You said, we'll see you. I stayed quiet on the other end of the line. You hadn't talked to me in years, you said. I finally came to terms with the reality at that moment. I realized that all the fight that I'd put in the last two nights had been for nothing. The man that I'd been, the person that I was, the things that I loved, all of that was gone. All that remained was a tearful, woeful stranger. A man I did not and could not recognize and one that had no place in this strange world I'd never lived in. I was already dead. You asked how I'd been, what I'd been up to.

49:40And so I told you, I told you about this amazing girl named Grace that I'd met at school, how she was the most beautiful woman that I'd ever laid eyes on. I told you about how we'd gotten married, how we had a one-year-old little boy named Wyatt who was the spitting image of his dad. I told you about my new job and the new house that we bought and how Grace was so excited to host and how you should bring the family over some time. It was all a lie. It was all true and it was all beautiful. You asked me at the end of the call why I was crying and I couldn't give you an answer. I just said that I love you and that we'd see you soon and hung up. I've been thinking a lot about stories since our phone call. For a minute, well I got to tell you about them. Grace and Wyatt were real again. They were alive again. That's when I knew that I was going to write this email to you, Ben.

50:44Tonight, I'm going to join my family. I don't know what waits for me after that. I don't know what's not existence looks like. But I know that if you'll do me a favor, if you'll write this down in your own hand writing, I will go on living. Before I left the house, I found a few love letters that had written to Grace while we were dating still intact. Of course, the girl they were too wasn't real. She didn't exist. But I had still written them and they were still here. That gives me some hope. If you please do this for me, Ben, I'll go on living. I'll be as a character in a fiction, but I'll go on living. I love you so much, man. I'm sorry you can't remember all the good times that we had. If you're reading this back however long from now, thank you.

51:45Maybe someday I'll see you again one day. If not, I hope you enjoyed this story. Love you forever. Your little brother, Danny. I found this crawled down in an old notebook while I was doing some spring cleaning. I'm not really a writer and I definitely don't remember writing this. I don't know what to make of it. I have never had a brother. I don't know anyone named Danny. I've read it probably five times the last two days. I keep looking at those names and in the girls. I don't recognize them. This house feels so much more empty than it did before I read this. Empty and cold.

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