I'm a long time lurker of thus sub and I saw in the comments for a cold peefume from ages ago some recommendations for perfumes that smells like opening your fridge door or like standing in front of am air conditioner that just turned on. Not sure how to describe that scent other than what it is, like kind of dusty and cold I guess? Help! I can't find the original comments for the life of me. Thanks!!

“I’m going to hunt humans.” He said, as he walked out the front door with a shotgun.

Hi everyone, I recently purchased a new home that came with "standard" security. They included video doorbell, basic home alarm system, and door keypad. The sales person called me and tried to force me to pay 60 bucks a month + activation fee, without me giving much input, so I halted the transaction.
I was thinking about doing it myself, but not sure what I actually need. I know that I'll get the Ring video doorbell for the front door, 2 floodlight cameras one front and back, and the indoor alarm security.
But what about garage door opener (geo-location something), honeywell thermostat, smoke alarm/CO2 detector, and smart door keypad? Those are the 4 that the sales guy said will also come with the subscription. I don't think Ring offers those products. How do I look further into this if I want those to be automated too/what do you think about this setup idea? Thank you.
**the 60 bucks a month comes with monitoring/calling 911, which I don't really need

Hi :) I am not entirely sure if I am doing this correctly because I have never used reddit before. I have written a little under half of an adult fantasy novel, and I am looking for feedback. I will take any and all feedback, but I am mostly looking for unbiased parties to tell me if I have an potential at all with this story/as a writer. Honestly I am mainly looking for peers/friends. I am happy to read your work in return (though I am mostly only familiar with fiction/fantasy work)! If you are interested, comment below or chat me (IDK how that works but I shall figure it out hehe).
Content warnings: So far the story is not spicy but I do intend to take it there. I am 22 and the characters are around 20 so I am looking for older readers, not minors. I wouldn't be comfortable discussing that sort of things with younger readers though you are still ofc welcome to read it! There is very minor violence but nothing too grim. There is also some LGBTQ+ rep so bigots stay away!
Disclaimer the first chapter is only one of the main characters, but I do have to say, once they meet there is some wonderful witty banter so I swear it gets more intriguing.
First chapter:
Chapter 1: Bearnas The innate driving force of human nature is vengeance. This was a certitude I had come to realize from a young age, and it was a concept I relied on as I got older. Vengeance was the primary motivator for my people. It was our currency. The way we managed to survive. I didn’t stop to consider the morality of this outlook. I didn’t like to contemplate the state of my existence. Found that to be a waste of time. I focused on the here-and-now. The mutable present. It was simply the way the world was, so I had to deal with it like a man should. This was an ideal my father had instilled in me since the time of my birth. I was the son of a victorious warrior. Osgar Nieva was a well-respected war lieutenant during the Great Slaughtering. He never let me forget that I had a legacy to uphold. I knew my father hated me. I figured his disappointment began from the moment I received my name. In Dolag, tradition dictates that the father names their son. Names were believed to be prophetic. Osgar had a strong name-befitting of a warrior. His name meant “divine spear.” My grandfather claimed he could sense that Osgar would be a brave warrior from the moment he was born. So he was prophesied to be graced by the luck of God in battles. Typically, women were only allowed to name the baby if it was a girl. I was the exception. The process of my birth brought my Mother to her deathbed. The doctor was certain that she wouldn’t recover. As she lovingly admired the newborn baby boy in her arms, her attention was drawn by a bird pecking gently on the window. Tears streamed out of her eyes as it took off soundlessly into the winter dawn. “Wren.” She’d muttered softly, still gazing peacefully out the window. The room of family members and midwives stood in puzzled silence. The world seemed to pause in wait for her next words. She turned her head back to meet Osgar’s eyes. “He shall be named Wren. He will be gentle. Beautiful. Free.” She reached down to caress her baby’s face. “And he will be loved.” Despite my Father’s protests, the council voted to accept the name. The wishes of the dying outweighed naming traditions. Only my Mother never died. Doctors considered her survival a miracle. She returned back to full health only a few months later. She and I have paid for her decision every day since. Osgar refused to call me Wren. Anyone who referred to me as such, other than my Mother, was punished accordingly. To the rest of the world, I became known as Bearnas Nieva. Bearnas was the name Osgar would have chosen for his son if he had been given the opportunity. Bearnas. Meaning bringer of victory. My father did everything in his power to ensure that I would fulfill this destiny, whether it was the result of prophetic nomenclature or resolute determination. The story of my name was all I could think about as I prepared for my sendoff. I was tightening my last bootstring when a small hand clapped me on the back with a force intended to knock me off balance. “The famed Bear Nieva preparing for his grand expedition. What luck I must possess to witness you in all your glory.” I was grateful for El’s arrival, despite the copious amount of sarcasm she brought with her. My sister's presence was probably the only thing that could pull me out of my thoughts right now. “Using mockery as a mechanism to cover up your total despair about my departure, I assume.” I tried to keep my tone light, but in truth it was myself I was worried about. El held the chief role in keeping me sane throughout the later part of my life. She was my only tether to my true self. I worried about how I would stay grounded on my Hunt without her there to tease my worries away. El flopped on my bed with feigned anguish. “Yes, whatever will I do without my idiot older brother around to hog all the scrambled eggs at breakfast. Oh, how I will miss the putrid scent you plague the house with after training all day. Your constant nagging about my lack of tidiness will be missed most ardently.” I swatted her gently with my leather gloves. “Speaking of, get your disgusting outdoor shoes out of my clean bed immediately.” I shooed her out of my room, and chased her towards the door, nearly colliding with my father as a result. “This isn’t befitting behavior for a man about to begin his First Hunt” Osgar admonished. “Elowen, go to the kitchen and help your Mother tidy up before we head to town.” El skirted around our father into the hallway. Safely out of his eyeline, she directed one last mocking tongue in my direction before slinking away. “Are you ready to go?” He raked his disapproving gaze over my gear, searching for any flaw he could call attention to. “Yes, sir.” I responded. I did feel ready. This was the moment I had been preparing for my whole life. My body was honed by years of workouts and my skills were unquestioned. I had graduated top of my class in my training group. I was certainly ready to leave the house, as I wanted nothing more than independence. Besides my Mother and sister, I had nothing keeping me here. Not anymore. So I grabbed my bag and walked out the door. When my family was all ready, we began the walk to the edge of town where the sendoff was taking place. There we would eat, drink, dance and say our goodbyes. I spent my time standing on the outskirts of the group, hoping my stern face would signal everyone to leave me alone. I didn’t have any desire to get my ego fluffed by a bunch of people who just wanted to get in the good graces of my Father. I just wanted to leave. The one person I actually wished had come to bid me farewell had decided not to show up, not that I could blame him. Eleven other men would be sent off at the same time as me. We were all being sent in different directions, but we were all given the same instruction: go kill a witch. That is exactly what I intended to do. Success rates had been much lower over the past few years. After the Great Slaughter fifty years prior, there were only so many witches left to kill. In fact a witch hadn’t been successfully hunted in around 4 years. Most hunters came back many months after their departure unable to track any down. The people of Dolag figured the warriors of the Great Slaughter had ushered the witches into near extinction. The only evidence we had that they weren’t entirely eradicated were the cases of the men who never returned. Every once in a while, there was a man who was assumed to have met his demise at the hands of one of the remaining witches. So the Hunts continued on. After a few hours of festivities, it was time for us to set off. I was ready to say my goodbyes. I knelt down so El could wrap her arms around my neck. Her hot tears dampened the fabric covering my shoulders. “Promise me you will come back,” she said. I squeezed her a little tighter. “Don’t worry, you’ll get a few months of the stench free, scrambled-egg-filled, only-child experience and then I will be right back to boss you around.” El released me from her grip in order to look me in the eyes. “I’m not kidding around Bear.” Her piercing gaze mirrored the intensity of her voice. “Promise me.” Even though I knew it wasn’t something I could realistically guarantee, I hugged her once more and said “I promise, Elly.” After a moment, I stood up and ruffled my little sister’s hair. Then I turned to my Mother, who watched with watery eyes. The hair that had escaped from her tight bun was wisping around her face in the gentle breeze. The sun shining behind her produced an effect reminiscent of a halo. She embraced me with a level of care only a Mother could deliver. “I love you, Wren. You will always be my darling songbird,” she whispered into my ear. I released myself from the hug, and smiled one last time at my adoring Mother. I nodded once before forcing myself to turn to my Father. “Don’t disappoint me, son.” He stuck out his calloused hand and I shook it begrudgingly. It felt like cold leather in my grip. That was it. That was my final farewell from my Father. ‘Don’t disappoint’. No good luck, no I love you, nothing of the sort. Only a damn handshake. I knew I shouldn’t have expected anything different, but it still put me in a sour mood. What a great start to my expedition. I looked one last time at my sister and Mother in an effort to preserve some positive thoughts about my home. When I cemented this image in my mind, I omitted the withering glare of my Father beside them. I spun around and started down the path towards Deirtalamh. I marched towards witch country without so much as a glance over my shoulder. I was days into my trek when I came across the cabin. Being the son of Osgar Nieva gave me claim to the most promising Hunt. My journey was actually mapped to this location, whereas the rest of my group had to resort to aimless meandering. I heard the gentle melody of a person humming drifting out from within the house. How odd. My superiors swore it was a witch that lived here. A hunter from a few years prior reported catching a glimpse of a cabin before he was suddenly lost in the woods. Who could be humming so pleasantly within this peaceful home so deep into witch territory? I maneuvered my head to look through the open window and saw the source of the cheerful noise. She appeared like the sun incarnate. Her dark skin contrasted beautifully against the pale yellow of her clothes. Her hair curled unbound around her face. She stirred a pot of stew as she swayed softly to her own music, the fabric of her dress swishing mesmerizingly around her thighs. Beautiful suddenly seemed like an insufficient word to describe someone of her standing. I knew she was not the witch I had come to hunt. Of course I was no fool, I was aware that witches could glamor themselves to be beautiful. But their false beauty was always like that of a succubus, unnatural and deadly. No witch would have been able to conjure up the effortless and soft beauty of the woman in front of me. I was sure of it. Never mind the fact that if she were a witch, I would most certainly be dead. She would have sensed me coming from the moment I stepped foot onto her land, and she would have been ready to strike. If I had let myself get distracted for this long in the presence of a witch, I would have paid for my mistake in blood. I wondered how she had come to live in Deirtalamh. I’d heard tales of villagers who’d tried their luck here out of desperation, choosing to brave the dangers of witch territory rather than living in the impoverished slums of Dolag. I’d also heard of extreme cases where dangerous criminals were exiled here. This woman looked neither criminal in nature nor desperate to survive. She looked content. Regardless, I must get her to safety. I walked briskly over to the door and entered the cabin.

Anybody remembers this game?
Genre: 3D Game/Puzzle/Labyrinth/point-and-click
Estimated year of release: 1995 to Early 2000
Graphics/art style: 3D / Inside spaceshiplike area
Notable characters: Alien or other dimension character in the cd cover
Notable gameplay mechanics: You are trapped in a spaceship or other dimension area and there's a lot of puzzle to do so you can open the doors.
I remember color puzzle with sounds and you need to imitate the pattern of the lights.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Simon_Electronic_Game.jpg/1024px-Simon_Electronic_Game.jpg
I remember also like a turing machine puzzle thats moving. https://onemanandonecouch.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/the-imitation-game-2.png

TL;DR: I've attracted crows, but I need to lure them to the backyard instead of the front.
I've been working on getting crow visitors for about 2 months now. I slowly started adding feeders and baths to my backyard so I can watch right out my home office window. You can see my backyard setup below. Shepherd's hook with a tube feeder and platform feeder, window mounted feeder, and 2 bird baths. There's also a giant catalpa tree to the right. I replace the bird bath water every 1-2 days and have been testing out different waste free seed/nut/fruit mixes. I started out with just peanuts in the shell, and I still put them in the platform feeder or on the ground sometimes.
As you can see, the yard is wide but not very deep, so I know they're probably cautious about such an enclosed ground area.
https://preview.redd.it/r6uw6b95605b1.jpg?width=2952&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10e34c0cb7c3f592cbd32ab2dad6c165eac0c211
So I currently get several other birds (grackles, doves, blue jays, cardinals, finches, starlings, and more), squirrels, and rabbits. I enjoy those, but I want the crows.
I found the local crows a few weeks ago and have been walking by them every few days tossing peanuts as I go. On Monday, we heard them outside so I ran out into my front yard and saw them on top of a house nearby. I started tossing peanuts into the yard and then went inside. Shortly after he swooped down and started eating them. SCORE! He brought a few friends and we had 4 crows visit on Monday. They've actually visited every day this week, so I'm finally on their food route!
But there are a few problems... First off, as luck would have it, a bunny dropped a couple kits in a nest in our front flower garden on Monday. So she's been guarding our front yard and charging anything that gets near, including the crows.
Second problem... My new friends like to visit at around 6-6:30am. I get up for work around that time, so I don't mind it, I enjoy waking up to cawing outside before my alarm goes off. But the crows sit on the neighbor's house across the street when they caw. I don't want to upset the neighbors with my new friends. I'm really going to look like an asshole if they see me tossing peanuts to the crows that are waking them up every morning. They also sometimes sit on the houses behind me that can see into the backyard, but I haven't been able to get them to visit these feeders.
So, how do I lure my new friends into the backyard? I've tried leaving a trail of peanuts along the side of the house with the gate open leading into the back. I've also tried a couple of bowls of peanuts. The grackles and squirrels eat this up, the crows don't. I also tried lining the top of the fence with peanuts. I did that this morning while one of the crows was on top of the house behind me, but again the squirrels and grackles ate them all, the crows did not.
Sorry for the long post, but I'm very close to cementing the murder I've been seeking for the past couple of months and just need a little help.

I don't know what to classify this game as, but I was convinced it existed... somewhere, but a year later and I am pretty sure I dreamed the whole thing up. However I really want to play it.
It was a mixture of This War of Mine and 7 Days to Die. A 4 man co-op 2D side-scroll game, much like This War of Mine, but also a resource gather / defense strategy game.
You'd start the game in an underground bunker that you found. Nothing is in it except some bare essentials, looks like it's already been picked over. You need to go out and gather more supplies, make cooking stations, bedrolls, crafting tables, etc. You could unlock more areas in this bunker, either by digging them out or unblocking clogged doorways. Slowly going deeper and deeper.
You have to make this base survive a horde that comes every 7 days with a trap defense style of gaming. You build traps outside the entrance, or layer them inside the halls of you base. Your traps need to kill off as much of the horde as they can - if not all of it. Because if the horde gets to you, you're dead. There is no where to go, it's an underground bunker after all.
In my head you are fending off a horde of zombies, but honestly it could be anything. Demons, undead, robots, giant insects, etc. Just a force of havoc that exist outside your base. Having friends could make the game more fun, as your group of up to 4 survive this apocalypse together.
Going outside during the day is the safest bet to get supplies, but you have to come prepared as there are enemies hiding inside buildings. Whether its other survivors, or monsters. You can go out at night, but its much more dangerous. You can't see into the darkness without a light, and enemies are abound. A real horror feel during the night cycle that makes you want to hide inside your base, and never get caught out when the sun is setting.
Wandering hordes that come across your bunker could also be a possibility. If you make too much noise or leave open the front door, that horde could go right into your base - or calmly walk right over it and never know you were there. Something about "Horde Night" though makes them know exactly where you are, and they come to cleanse the rest of humanity from the world.
If this game does exist, then someone point me to it, but I am convinced I dreamed this game up and I have been itching to play it ever since I dreamed of it. So if you love the idea, take it, make the game, then make sure I know about it so I can play it into the ground with my husband.

For context, this was a 2year tenancy in a student HMO with 2 other tenants, the house was left in similar condition to when the tenancy started other than the garden being overgrown, I believe these charges must be outrageous and he has had problems with this letting agency harassing throughout the tenancy and I believe this is some-sort of revenge from the agency to get back at the tenants for not allowing some of their bullying measures in the past, such as inspections with less than 24h notice. The charges are (from their email) :
Cleaning - £75 x 3 = £225 , White goods: 4x 50 = £200
7 light bulbs: £70 , 4x rooms to be redecorate: £75 x 4 = £200
Kitchen plaster and painting: £150 plastering £100 redecoration = £250 total
Kitchen window handle: £75 , Light fitting kitchen: £35
Keys to be cut x 6 Keys = £60 , 4x Broken chairs - £100
Front door lock= £125 , Bedroom locks = £60x2 = £120
Furniture removal (Football table) - £100 , Bathroom sink plug = £12 , Toilet seat = £25
Garden: £300 , Fence:£175
The total to be paid in damages £2135.
A lot of these make no sense to me as all keys were left in the property, all but one lightbulbs were working, and the property was left in a high standard of cleanliness after the tenants parents had helped move out and clean. I truly don't understand some of the redecoration costs as the property is in a very similar condition to when the tenancy started. Any advice would be really helpful, thank you.
(This is in Cardiff, Wales by the way)
​
EDIT: The landlord/agency never took a deposit so they are threatening to go straight to small claims court.

my neighbors across the street HATE me, i’m assuming bc my ex of 10 yrs (childs fathers) is now re-married and wifey is good friends w my neighbors. My neighbors are in their 70’s and have been an issue since day 1. But they have a camera pointed at my front door and every time i have someone over, even my parents, they call my bd and his wife. I’m a very average person, i’ll admit i do t have much of a life but these neighbors of mine are causing so many problems by exaggerating things that go on over here. For instance….my 14 yr old has a little moped 🏍️ and i allow him to ride it just out in front on our home on the road and they told bd and his wife that my son was riding all over town. We live in a very small town. I can’t have my front door open bc they have a camera pointed right inside. IS THIS EVEN LEGAL!!??? What should i do about this situation, it’s a huge headache and they cause so much drama!!!

Sci-fi point-and-click game with futuristic settings. Every puzzle opens a door or portal.
Anybody remembers this game? There's a similar metal bridge that leads to the puzzles.
Platform(s): Windows PC
Genre: 3D Game/Puzzle/Labyrinth/point-and-click
Estimated year of release: 1995 to Early 2000
Graphics/art style: 3D / Inside spaceshiplike area
Notable characters: Alien or foggy other dimension character in the cd cover
Notable gameplay mechanics: You are trapped in a spaceship or other dimension area and there's a lot of puzzle to do so you can open the doors.
I remember color puzzle with sounds and you need to imitate the pattern of the lights.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Simon\_Electronic\_Game.jpg
I remember also like a turing machine puzzle thats moving.
https://onemanandonecouch.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/the-imitation-game-2.png
Most similar game that i found is RHEM: The Mysterious Land but with a more industrial feel to it.

As the title suggests I would greatly appreciate if someone could please look over my build to check if it has any problems. PCPartPicker link at the bottom. CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X GPU: SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX Vapor-X 24GB RAM: G.Skill DIMM 64 GB DDR5-5200 2x 32GB (EXPO version) Motherboard: GIGABYTE X670E AORUS MASTER Fans: Noctua A15 HS-PWM black 140 mm; 3 front, 1 back CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 black Thermal Paste: I was planning on using the Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut Extreme but since I keep having bad luck recently I am now too scared and will probably use the Noctua NT-H2 Power supply: be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER 11 Platinum 1000W Storage: Whatever 4TB M.2 SSD from a reputable brand I can find for boot. And some more storage depending on what else I can find. Case: Fractal Design Meshify 2 XL I am considering using Linux once support for Windows 10 ends but that isn't the reason I chose AMD. Is it likely that Linux will run well on this system? As far as I know I should just avoid NVIDIA for good compatibility. Also I have an IFixIt kit so I almost definitely have all the tools I need.
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2L7Mqm)

I had just finished an event and needed to cook dinner real quick irl so I went to my camp, went up to my bedroom, closed the door, and got in bed.
I walk through a few minutes later to see a player sitting in the chair by my bed. Walk through again and they are standing in front of my bed revving a chainsaw. When I came back they had left, but I notice they had turned off all of my bedroom lights and shut the doors so I could get some rest.
Whoever you were, I found it very amusing and got a good laugh out of it. Thanks! LOL

Balzleban was nothing if not cautious.
An ambassador called forth by the council of his people, he was personable, intelligent, and one of the few of his race that didn’t possess their natural naivete. Thanks to his gift of skepticism, in his years of service he had amassed a body of individuals charged with defense and support of him in difficult situations.
It was no weakness to acknowledge one’s shortcomings; instead of trying to bluff his way through interactions he knew nothing about, he listened to the words, warnings, and calculations of those with good track records and recommendations. He could not trust himself to make judgement calls- but he trusted others in judging of those who could.
That was why today, he left his ship with no less than eight xenos bodyguards, informants, and interpreters at his side. The interaction that would take place today would herald the end of a war that had lasted for over three hundred years.
The ship rested behind him on the dock, engines cooling. Before him the ambassador of the CoolNee waited patiently, as was ever their strength. Patience and subterfuge, countered by the brute power of his people. Every time they had bared their throats in a show of peace, the CoolNee had broken their pacts- but this time, it would be different.
Balzleban scanned his retinue for peace of mind. Two machine-beings incapable of rest constantly evaluated their surroundings. In front of them were his interpreter of language and cultural significance, his interpreter of situation and context, two bodyguard from his own people who both carried enough armaments to flatten a city, and a dangerous looking creature from the rancid prisons of a fringe world. It sniffed the air, continuously on the lookout for blood-hunger.
Alongside that creature was the newest addition to his retinue, a human woman with long black hair, a tall rifle of some sort, and several sidearms. She had come highly recommended as an expert in unseen threats; though the description was vague, Balzleban had erred on the side of caution and submitted a request of service.
She’d been on his payroll for two months now and, aside from the odd word here and there, had not truly contributed much that could not be done by the others. He was beginning to wonder if her services were redundant. They approached the CoolNee ambassador, who stood alone beside the entrance to the pact hall.
“Haio, Balzleban. A pleasure to see you again.”
“Let us hope it is the last time, Nogguran.” Balzleban responded. “Where are the rest of the ambassadors? Pellidan, Farati?”
Nogguran spoke smoothly to ease his anxieties. “They await below, Balzleban. No need for concern.”
Balzleban turned to his retinue. The machines flashed green, the specialists waved assent, the bodyguards stood ready, and the beast-thing grumbled with hunger. Only the human seemed put off, her eyes narrowed.
Odd. She was usually so reserved.
Balzleban addressed her. “Is there a concern, Lydia?”
She spoke quietly, eyes shifting side to side. “Something’s wrong.”
Nogguran was quick to assuage her misgivings. Maybe too quick- but Balzleban could never tell.
“Of course not- merely a small change in the traditional reception. No need to worry.”
Lydia dropped a hand to her belt and made some motion that Balzleban couldn’t decipher.
“I’m certain. Let’s proceed then.”
Balzleban followed Nogguran down the path into the pact hall. His mind, shackled as it was by his trusting nature, could not see what was hidden. Yet he knew that he was a blind child being led by those he’d been told could see.
They filed into the pact hall after Nogguran. Balzeban turned back to address his retinue and saw the human’s eyes widen as she stepped across the threshold.
“Lydia-”
The human female unslung her rifle and primed it. “We need to leave immediately. There’s a trap of some kind up ahead.”
Balzeban looked from her to the rest of his advisors. The machines showed no alert; his interpreters calm, bodyguards relaxed, and even the beast creature showed no sign of disturbance.
Was the human to be trusted? She had shown no affinity for independent reports of danger before.
“Balzeban. You need to get out of here, now!”
He was nothing if not cautious.
Balzeban shouted behind him as he ran back up the exit, followed closely by his bodyguards and the machines.
“Apologies Nogguran! One of my advisors suggests foul play, and I’m led to believe her. Another time, perhaps.”
Nogguran turned back towards them, hands spread. “Please, be-”
The human’s shot went clear through his head, revealing it to be a hologram. Nogguran shattered. The beast thing began to growl- unpleasant sounds reminiscent of soldiers began to echo about the chamber.
The doors leading back to the dock had been locked from the outside, of course. His bodyguards set to making short work of the blockade.
Balzeban turned back to the human, who stood at the bottom of the stairs alongside the beast thing.
Lydia activated some sort of device and a shield popped up before her, blocking the stairwell. Through the murky green haze of the shield Balzeban could see a mass of mercenary soldiers, perfect for an ambush had they ventured further in.
“Come, Lydia! The doors are open!”
They left the lair of the CoolNee to see enemy forces closing in on his ship. Had they waited any longer, their only means of egress would have most definitely fallen into enemy hands.
They rushed for the ship, machines and bodyguards on either side giving and receiving fire as they blocked Balzleban with their bodies. The human sprinted alongside them, long rifle coughing out bursts of light. The beast thing gnawed on something unpleasant while the interpreters ran tokeep up with them, clothing flapping.
They piled into the ship- the pilot immediately cycled the engines and took off.
Balzeban paused. It should have taken over a half hour for the engines to prepare for sub-orbital flight. Instead of fighting off a horde of mercenaries, they were already safe in the air and headed for the nearest Order outpost.
Balzleban composed himself and approached the human, who was performing maintenance on her weapon. She looked at him, dark eyes satisfied.
He gestured to the pilot.
“You knew? You warned of immediate evacuation?”
“Call it a hunch.”
“How did you know? The machines reported no threat, the-”
“Some things,” Lydia said as she popped out the power cartridge for cleaning, “Can’t be recognized. They have to be felt. It felt wrong, and it was.”
She clicked the cartridge back into place. “I learned long ago to always trust my gut.”
Balzleban returned to the bridge, mind humming along at the events that had taken place.He didn’t understand even in the slightest, but the human had obviously warned and saved them from what would have been a fairly unfavorable ambush.
Balzeban looked over his retinue, mostly unscathed, and decided that the human had already earned her pay up to that point, and would most likely do so in the future.
Even if it was just a ‘gut instinct’.
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You can find more of my HFY storie s here. More projects over on my Patreon.

I've had this type of dream before, not for a long time, but last night I dreamt someone was trying to get in to my house so I opened the sage and selected a weapon, my edc, which isn't stowed there, anyway dude gets into the front door and I pull the trigger and click. Going through quick malfunction procedure. Nothing push dude out door shut and lock. Go back to safe grab the biden special, shotgun, semi auto goodness, select higher fps shell, fucking weird, tell wife to get her edc. Son wanta a gun but he's 6, say no and get behind mom and protect sis. Go back downstairs, I own a single level home, weird, duded busted out the big ass bay window we have line up the sight pull trigger nothing dude laughs, git round into chamber shouldered fire, no boom but a noise like an air cannon goes off, not a boom but a whoosh and his shirt gets stained with like grease or some shit, pissed, wake up and angry that my weapons don't fucking work in dreams. Yall ever have the trigger don't work dream? Tldr- had dream of self defense situation, neither weapon fired.

Long story short... my wife's parents have both died, and one of her brothers who never has had any contact with the family now all of a sudden is texting her and demanding information and documents.
My wife's brother (whom I'll call B1) has been the kind of person whom I've only seen or heard from three times since we got married over 20 years ago. One was at the wedding, the other two times were at each of the funerals for their parents. My mother-in-law used to cry over the fact that he never would call or visit her, ever... except for times when he needed money. His wife is also the kind of person who is manipulative and had him put in jail once, and my in-laws used most of their savings to bail him out. They even bought a car for them, and when it broke down, B1's wife wanted them to provide a replacement car. She also complained that when my wife's grandmother died, they weren't included in the will (but none of the grandchildren were, either). She has always been the type of person with a sense of entitlement.
As soon as my mother-in-law died last year, B1 started asking about how much money was left for them in the will, even before the funeral proceedings were over. My wife and her other brother (I'll call B2) explained to him that their remaining funds were necessary for my father-in-law to live on; he was in assisted living and required the help of memory care, which was quite expensive. After the funeral, B1 and his wife then went through my mother-in-law's belongings at her home, trashing the place as they took anything of value they could find, and left without even shutting the front door as they left town. Among the valuables they took were my father-in-law's military awards from the Vietnam War. B2 and my wife had previously told him that they wanted to display his medals at his funeral, when he would eventually die. Despite multiple attempts to contact B1 and have the medals returned, he never responded. Our assumption is that he sold them for money.
Recently, my father-in-law died, and when B1 was asked to come to the funeral and bring the medals, he claims that he looked everywhere but couldn't find them. At the funeral, he again asked about how much was left in the inheritance. Now, my wife had received power of attorney for her parents before they died, to make decisions regarding their medical care and assist with paying their bills, etc. Once her father died, she and B2 thought it would be wise to consult with a lawyer to handle the will.
B1 has been asking for documents about my father-in-law, including his social security number, some military documents, etc., so he can "learn more about his life". It turns out that B1 has the same name as his father, and our suspicion is that he wants to have his SSN so that he can try to obtain funds from the trust before it is properly distributed. Last night he sent my wife a text, saying that she must send him a copy of the trust, a copy of the power of attorney, and the lawyer's information, for him and his lawyer, within 12 hours. (At the time of this post, this means we have about half an hour remaining to do that, haha.) Of course, my wife is concerned that he might try to steal their father's identity and steal money from the account. I have suggested she ask the lawyer working on the trust what she is legally obligated to share with her brother. For what it's worth, she doesn't even have the trust right now, which she says is hundreds of pages long and the lawyer currently has it, so she couldn't provide that to B1 anyway.
What, if anything, are we legally obligated to give her brother at this time?

If you’re reading this I am begging you to believe me. Especially if you have children. My name is Leon and I have been investigating strange disappearances for four years. I am not an official investigator or a journalist. Before I started this whole thing I did not believe in ghosts or the paranormal. For me to believe in something I had to see it with my own two eyes! Everything had to be factual and everything had an explanation.
At least this is what I used to believe until my wife was murdered four years ago. They found her at work completely skinless. She was drained of blood and was missing all of her nails. They told me the precision required to accomplish this was not heard of yet. I waited months for answers and they never came, so I decided to go get them myself. I had no idea where to start or who to speak to so I went back to the store to try and dig up as much information as I could find.
Her manager eventually told me that she had gotten into a fight with a customer that day and that he assumed she went home on time. When her body was found in the employee break room he was shocked. He had no idea she was still in the building. He said he told me exactly what he told the police. I asked him if there was any footage of the man she was arguing with but he told me the security cameras were not working that day. I vividly remember wanting to punch this guy in his damn face. He was no help and I was determined to solve my wife's murder.
I ended up searching for the guy for months. I asked every one of her coworkers if they saw the argument and a couple of times I even had a run-in with the cops. They insisted that I should let them do their jobs and that they had everything handled. There was no chance I was going to listen to them. I had to take time off from my investigation to attend her funeral and make sure I got all of the preparations right. In hindsight, I was not growing properly and I really should've taken some time to reassess.
So fast forward another month and I finally get a lead. Something I assumed the cops didn't have, this meant I could finally get some answers before being stonewalled again. I ended up finding this guy, Will Brookes at a fucken motel off of the highway about three miles from where my wife worked. I waited for two days before I saw him leave his room to get ice. Once I knew what room to find him in I knocked until he opened the door. He was rightfully pissed but not as pissed as I was. It took every ounce of willpower in my body to not kill him on the spot.
“Why did you kill my wife?!” I snapped as I forced myself into the room and slammed the door behind me. He looked shocked.
“I did not kill her!” He screamed and tried to move around me. So I grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him into the wall next to the tv. This guy was not very heavy and not very strong. At that moment I was wondering how he could kill anyone.
“You were the last person to be seen with her alive!” I barked. I wanted to push his body through the wall. I wanted to crush him.
“I was bringing her the papers she requested for a job offer she accepted in a place called LittleBrooke!” The man said. He was shaking so I put him down and pushed him to the side. “Show me the papers,” I demanded. My wife had told me twice that she had gotten a new job offer. I was extremely excited! I work from home and would be happy to live wherever she wanted. All she had to do was say the word and we could’ve left as soon as possible. But she never made it home to tell me the news.
I watched as the shaking man handed me a stack of papers and even a suitcase. “Here, take it and please leave me alone!” He shouted. “Okay.” I left the motel room and went right to my car. I put everything on the passenger seat and went home. Once I got there I sobbed in the driveway for over an hour before finally getting out and heading inside. I never got to see her body and I never got to say goodbye. Being in this house felt like I was walking into a damn shallow grave of sorts.
I went right to the master bedroom and packed up as many clothes as I could. I even took some of her favorite items, I don’t know why. I took a couple of pillows and two blankets, and after that, I went around to search the rest of the house. Once I had finished in the master bedroom I went and grabbed all my items from the bathroom. After that, I went into the nursery. We were planning on trying to have a baby once she got her new job. I looked around the nursery and took some stuffed animals and blankets, nothing too crazy. I also made sure to grab our family photo album. Finally, I made sure to grab all of the savings from the jar we had plus anything I kept in the safe. I also made sure to grab our wedding video and once I had everything I thought I could need I left the house. On my way out I made sure to tell the building goodbye.
Once I got back into my car I decided to drive a bit. No way in hell was I going to the same motel as that guy so I drove until I hit a hotel far enough away from my house. I did not end up checking in though. Once I got close enough I backed up and just kept driving. I eventually hit a truck stop after a couple of hours and decided to rest my eyes for a while. I was exhausted and there were way too many questions rushing through my head. I knew if I kept driving in that state I would probably crash or something.
After sleeping for four hours I decided it was time to look through the papers and figure out what I was going to do next. I took the first paper from the stack and started to read it. For the sake of time here I will only tell you guys what I found that was interesting.
Paper One: You have been accepted to work as a store manager! Please review your employee packet for more information.
So as I am going over this first paper a couple of things stick out to me. Whoever wrote this was trying not to be specific. The whole paper was one big announcement for a new store opening up in a place called LittleBrooke. There was no state mentioned anywhere on this paper, I would later find out that this place was supposed to be in Washington D.C.
I decided to dig around and eventually found the employee packet. She accepted a job at a mega-store called BrightMarketZ. I thought it was a pretty weird name but what stood out to me was what they were offering to pay her. $22.00 an hour! I couldn't believe it. No wonder she said yes and didn’t bother to ask any questions.
Paper Twenty: To find LittleBrooke please enter [REDACTED] into your GPS device. You will be staying inside apartment 307. All rent for your first month in LittleBrooke is covered by your employer. Please note that all apartments are two-bedroom only. If you have a larger household please speak to Sydney May at Town Hall for bigger accommodations.
After reading this I decided to just go to LittleBrooke and get answers. I was assuming that I would find out what the hell happened if I just went. I wanted to know what my wife died for and I wanted to know why this was some big secret in the first place. I went back to bed and as soon as the sun came up I put the information into my GPS and headed for LittleBrooke.

Year One in LittleBrooke

It took me three weeks to reach LittleBrooke and I could tell that something was wrong the moment I found the town. If I wasn't so damn desperate for answers I would've turned around as soon as I saw the library. The building itself wasn't big but the two huge lions on either side of the staircase gave me the creeps.
After that I passed a mechanic, the whole place looked run down as hell. There wasn't a single car to be seen but the sign said open. The man standing outside of the building waved to me so I gave him a slow wave back. He looked weird. At the time I couldn’t place my finger on why but now I know it’s because he was not human.
The theater was kind of cool to look at in a vintage kind of way. They were not showing anything when I drove by and I made the decision early on to stay out of the theater altogether. After the theater, I saw a small building that said LittleBrooke Press. If anything else I figured I could write for the paper.
As I approached the apartment building a woman was standing outside. Her face was weird as hell. It looked like she had far too much plastic surgery like her face was threatening to pop at any moment. “Hi, can I help you?” she asked me. Her voice was shrill, it was gross to even hear her speak. It sounded like she was putting on a fake voice just to speak to me. “Hi, my wife accepted a job offer. Unfortunately, she has passed away. I would still like to claim the apartment left to us. I can work at any place that currently has an opening.” I offered.
“LittleBrooke Press has space for two more writers!” She smiled and handed me the keys to the apartment. She never asked my name and she knew exactly where I wanted to go. I thought it was weird but I didn’t argue. Instead, I took the keys and thanked her. I spent that whole day getting settled into the new apartment. A couple of things, the front door had four different locks on it. I thought that was pretty weird. I also did not see or hear any other people until my third night in the apartment. I called the LittleBrooke Press about a potential job and they told me to email my submissions. There was no need for me to come in person and honestly, I liked this deal a lot.
For the first few months, I spent my time writing about whatever came to my mind. After that, I would send it in and get my money back. The editor never told me what to do and they never requested anything. It was sweet. As December rolled around I could feel myself slipping into a seasonal depression. At that point, I had made no progress in any of my investigations. I did not know the town well enough and frankly, I felt like I was wasting my time. That night I decided to check out the local bar. It was pretty hidden, you had to drive further into LittleBrooke to find it. Once I got there I was shocked! The place was packed. I sat down at the bar and ordered a drink.
The bartender was hot as hell, too hot. She was so even looking so perfectly symmetrical that it made me extremely uncomfortable. There wasn’t a single hair out of place. “So are you new in town?” She asked me. “Yeah, I just got here a couple of months ago. My now-deceased wife accepted a job offer here.” I said bluntly and dryly. I wanted to finish my drink and go. It was like the bones in my body were screaming at me to leave. The woman looked shocked. “Tell me, does that happen often? Do people accept a job offer in LittleBrooke and turn up dead a couple of days later?” I hissed. It was a genuine question but she did not take it too kindly. She took my drink from my hands and told me to leave.
As I made my way back to my car I could hear someone coming up from behind me. I turned around as fast as possible and had to take three steps back. It was the bartender, but she did not look the same. Half of her face was weighed down like she had no bones at all. Her eyes were bulging out of her head. She gurgled at me. “You need to leave!” She finally snapped and swung her arm in my direction. I moved back before she could hit me. As her hand hit my car window it shattered like it was made of ice. I watched as her arm popped and clicked. I could see it slowly getting longer. Before I knew it her arm was dragging on the pavement! She lunged at me so I punched her in her stomach. She gurgled again and sunk her teeth into my jacket. I screamed for help as we hit the pavement. She was trying fucken eat me! I grabbed her by her hair and threw her backward as hard as I could. As I scrambled to my feet and looked at her I screamed again. Her skin was pulled back. Now hugging the bones on her face. Her eyes were completely exposed! I turned and dove into my car as fast as I could. I slammed the door behind me and sped out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.
The next morning I received a letter under my door. “Sorry, you had problems last night! Please accept our sincerest apologies.” -Mayor Brookes. There was $300 included with the letter. Now, I thought about leaving but decided I had to stay. Something was going on here and I had to find out what. I removed my jacket to see if the woman had injured me, she didn't but the experience was still terrifying. For the first time in a very long time, I was scared. But I also felt closer to the truth than I have ever been before.

Year Two in LittleBrooke

I spent all of January writing about the women who attacked me. I even contacted the police. I quickly learned that the police were going to be completely useless. My editor never sent the story back so I had assumed it was published.
At the end of the month, I left to shop for some supplies. Let me tell you, the grocery store in LittleBrooke is something else. They don’t have any brands you’ve ever heard of and at first, that drove me nuts. However, I quickly came to fall in love with the food here. It was comforting to have something to enjoy. Like always, I made sure to shop for two to three months at a time. Shopping was easy, I used the self-checkout to make sure I didn’t have to speak to anyone.
Once I got home I put everything away and decided to look around the apartment building. My whole floor started with 301 and went all the way to 310. The first floor was 501 to 509. There was a technical second floor but none of the doors were labeled. It looked like someone was renovating the place.
I got to see some of my neighbors too. An older woman, two men, and I were living next door to a lady the whole time. I had never seen or heard from these people before. It seemed like everyone wanted to keep to themselves too. I wanted to try and talk to someone but every time I approached them they turned and walked away. For what it's worth they looked completely normal.
So I left the apartment building and ventured around the property. There were no other apartments anywhere close to the one I was staying at, or so I thought until I found one about thirty minutes away. It was so out of the way you wouldn't find it unless you were looking. Against my better judgment, I opened the doors to the building and walked right inside. The place smelled like rust and soot.
I went to explore the first floor and was shocked to find blood trails on the floor and the ceiling. I followed the trail and made sure to look at the numbers on each door. This floor was numbered 1-10. Most of the doors were locked and I wasn’t going to try and knock anything down. I opened the door to apartment 10 and walked right inside. There was just enough light from the sun to illuminate the place. It looked like the whole place had been ransacked. I checked the tables and cabinets before heading into the bedroom. I searched the dresser and under the pillows before finally checking under the bed. When I looked under I spotted a black box. I grabbed it and that is when I got the feeling again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt something sharp dig into my shoulders.
I screamed as loudly as I could, my face slammed off of the carpet and I clenched the box with one hand. Before I could figure out what the hell was happening I was tossed backward. I went into the bedroom door and rolled a couple of times until I reached the torn-up couch. I slowly lifted my head and to my horror what I was looking at was way too far from human to be real.
It looked like a dog ape thing. It was mostly skinless aside from some skin on its torso and face. The creature had thick, long claws and was standing on its hind legs. It barked at me. Its fangs were huge! I quickly scrambled to my feet and rushed out of the door as fast as possible. I could feel the blood running down my back. Never once did I consider letting this box go.
“Help!” I screamed as I burst through the apartment complex doors and started to run back to the main road. My heart was pounding, I could feel my chest getting tighter with each step. I could hear the beast behind me, it was screeching. I thought I was going to die for sure, there was no way I could continue to outrun this beast. That’s when I heard a car and before I knew it I could see it! A woman was waving me over, she was just up ahead! I had to push a little harder. I had to be just a little stronger.
When I felt the embrace of the car door I ripped it open and dove inside. She sped away and I looked out of the window. The beast did not follow us any further. “Are you insane!” She snapped at me. That’s the last thing I remember before passing out.
When I woke up I was laying on my stomach on an extremely comfortable couch. I could smell someone making pasta with meat sauce. My stomach was going insane. Everything hurt though, especially my back and my left side. I figured I had hurt my side when I was tossed across the room.
At this point, I did not dive into the box yet. I could barely move. “Hi.” I heard a woman say from the kitchen. “Thank you,” I replied before trying to sit up. I was so concerned that this woman would be another monster. When I saw her though I knew she was normal. She didn't look so damn perfect and that was a breath of fresh air.
“What's your name?” She asked me as I watched her prepare two bowls of food.
“Leon,” I said before closing my eyes. “You heard me screaming?” I asked her seriously.
“I did. I’m pretty sure everyone in our building did. You got hurt pretty badly, I did my best to patch you up.” She paused and laughed. “My name is Ashley.”
So I ended up crashing at her place. During this time I tried to focus on recovering. Sleeping became hell, I was having constant nightmares. I also spent a lot of time working on articles. I ended up giving Ash the keys to my apartment so she could get my laptop. It was a big move to trust anyone here but I am glad I did.
​

Year Three and Four in LittleBrooke

During my recovery, I spent most of my time writing. I wanted to write about everything I have seen and experienced. I had a lot of questions and way too much time with my thoughts. Ash and I got to know each other too.
I told her about how my wife had died mysteriously. I eventually opened up about her being skinned and drained of her blood. Ash told me she had come to LittleBrooke with her older sister. Her sister went to work one day and never came back. She was working at the theater. Ash had told me that she was stuck here, she didn’t feel right leaving with her sister still missing. Every time she would try the cops would meet her at the town line.
It was during this time that we both shared that we had never seen a police station. We talked about the monsters too. Her first run-in with one was at the grocery store. I told her about what happened to me at the bar. She told me that she heard rumors of the beast living beyond the apartments. The first time she saw it was when it was attacking me.
As I started to recover more we discussed a couple of things. First, the neighbors here suck. She could hear me screaming and came to help but no one else did. Second, neither of us has seen any families since we moved here. It was at this point I decided I wanted to leave and I offered to take her with me. We could both get out come hell or high water. She agreed but there was something I had to do first.
I showed her the box I had taken from the apartment.
“You almost died for a box?” Ash asked me. “Yes,” I said seriously.
I opened it and blinked. I found a picture of a girl with black hair and bright green eyes. It read, Stephanie. I found a missing persons report too. This girl had been missing a year before I got here. I decided that my last article would be about her. I had written about a couple of missing people before this. For example, the old lady in our building vanished and her apartment was rented out two days later.
I also found a badge inside the box. It read F.O.P.P. and there was a name! Jack Bridges. We tried to look up the organization's name but we came up empty-handed. I ended up writing the story about Stephanie and the next day Ash and I got packing. We decided to take my car since the cops know what hers looks like. I packed up the essentials all over again and we piled into the car. “We should check the other direction. Before we leave.” I suggested. Ash knew about the bar already but neither of us knew what was beyond that point: This suggested changed the course of our lives forever.
So we started driving in the other direction. We passed the bar where the woman had tried to eat me, we passed a convenience store I didn’t know this town had and we just kept driving. Eventually, I could hear Ash speaking to me, “Holy shit! The police station.” she pointed out. I couldn’t believe it either. I did not stop driving though but I wish I did.
Eventually, we saw a sign that read, LittleBrooke High. Go Bears!
I started to slow down a bit until the school was in view. The place looked run down as hell. There were holes in the walls and leaves growing up the side of the building. The parking lot was massive and full of buses. I pulled the car into the parking lot and told Ash to get into the driver's seat.
“You’re not serious?” She asked me. I could tell she wanted to go but I said, “This is it! This is the last place of note in this fucken town. Just take the wheel and I will be right back.” I said as I jumped out of the car and went to look around.
As I approached one of the buses I grabbed the doors, they were already open a crack. I pulled them open and was hit with a horrible stench. I had to step back and puke and no I am not going to describe what I saw in that fucken bus. At that point, I decided I had seen enough and it was time to fucken go.
“Help!” I heard someone cry from a couple of buses over. “Please!” I heard again. I wanted to slap myself because I knew better. I had already decided it was time to leave but I went to investigate anyway. I went to the bus and pulled the doors open. It smelled like stale piss and blood. “Back here!” A girl screamed out to me. I made my way to the back of the bus, stepping on school jackets and over backpacks. That is where I found them. Two teenagers are tied to the leg of a bus seat. They looked horrible, caking in blood and sweat. They were both injured. “Stephanie?!” I exclaimed as I bent over to free them. I recognized her face the moment I saw it.
“Can you move? I asked the blonde girl.” As I started to let her go. “Everything hurts.” She told me. I opened the emergency exit and called for Ash to pull the car over. It took her a second to hear me but she came as fast as possible. “I am going to get you guys in the car and we are going to get out of here, okay?” I told them. I wanted to tell them everything was going to be okay, but I couldn't. It felt like that would be a huge lie.
Ash stepped out of the car and helped get the girls into the backseat. As I stopped to look around I could feel the bus shift in weight. I turned around and inhaled sharply. Standing before me was a creature wearing a jacket that said COACH on it. He looked sickly, and pale, and his veins were protruding from his face and hands. As he ran at me I jumped out of the emergency exit door just in time to feel something slam off of the back of my head. I looked down to see a barbed football. I could feel blood trickling down my neck, I stumbled forward and felt a hand grab my arm. Ash was shoving me into the car. She slid over me, closed the passenger door, and backed the car up. I thought she was moving like lightning.
At this point, everyone was screaming. My heart was threatening to jump out of my fucken chest. I was so sure we were all going to die here, just like everyone else I had seen on the buses. But no, Ash sped out of the parking lot. The coach chased us to the school limits but for some reason, he did not follow us anymore.
I know we should've stopped to see if the kids could find their parents but we didn't. Instead, Ash just kept driving. Eventually, we could hear the cops behind us but that did not stop her. It took us six hours to finally see the You Are New Leaving LittleBrooke sign! I couldn’t believe it. This place was not that big at all.
So listen, if you’re invited to take a job in LittleBrooke. Don’t take it. It’s not worth your life.

If you’re reading this I am begging you to believe me. Especially if you have children. My name is Leon and I have been investigating strange disappearances for four years. I am not an official investigator or a journalist. Before I started this whole thing I did not believe in ghosts or the paranormal. For me to believe in something I had to see it with my own two eyes! Everything had to be factual and everything had an explanation.
At least this is what I used to believe until my wife was murdered four years ago. They found her at work completely skinless. She was drained of blood and was missing all of her nails. They told me the precision required to accomplish this was not heard of yet. I waited months for answers and they never came, so I decided to go get them myself. I had no idea where to start or who to speak to so I went back to the store to try and dig up as much information as I could find.
Her manager eventually told me that she had gotten into a fight with a customer that day and that he assumed she went home on time. When her body was found in the employee break room he was shocked. He had no idea she was still in the building. He said he told me exactly what he told the police. I asked him if there was any footage of the man she was arguing with but he told me the security cameras were not working that day. I vividly remember wanting to punch this guy in his damn face. He was no help and I was determined to solve my wife's murder.
I ended up searching for the guy for months. I asked every one of her coworkers if they saw the argument and a couple of times I even had a run-in with the cops. They insisted that I should let them do their jobs and that they had everything handled. There was no chance I was going to listen to them. I had to take time off from my investigation to attend her funeral and make sure I got all of the preparations right. In hindsight, I was not growing properly and I really should've taken some time to reassess.
So fast forward another month and I finally get a lead. Something I assumed the cops didn't have, this meant I could finally get some answers before being stonewalled again. I ended up finding this guy, Will Brookes at a fucken motel off of the highway about three miles from where my wife worked. I waited for two days before I saw him leave his room to get ice. Once I knew what room to find him in I knocked until he opened the door. He was rightfully pissed but not as pissed as I was. It took every ounce of willpower in my body to not kill him on the spot.
“Why did you kill my wife?!” I snapped as I forced myself into the room and slammed the door behind me. He looked shocked.
“I did not kill her!” He screamed and tried to move around me. So I grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him into the wall next to the tv. This guy was not very heavy and not very strong. At that moment I was wondering how he could kill anyone.
“You were the last person to be seen with her alive!” I barked. I wanted to push his body through the wall. I wanted to crush him.
“I was bringing her the papers she requested for a job offer she accepted in a place called LittleBrooke!” The man said. He was shaking so I put him down and pushed him to the side. “Show me the papers,” I demanded. My wife had told me twice that she had gotten a new job offer. I was extremely excited! I work from home and would be happy to live wherever she wanted. All she had to do was say the word and we could’ve left as soon as possible. But she never made it home to tell me the news.
I watched as the shaking man handed me a stack of papers and even a suitcase. “Here, take it and please leave me alone!” He shouted. “Okay.” I left the motel room and went right to my car. I put everything on the passenger seat and went home. Once I got there I sobbed in the driveway for over an hour before finally getting out and heading inside. I never got to see her body and I never got to say goodbye. Being in this house felt like I was walking into a damn shallow grave of sorts.
I went right to the master bedroom and packed up as many clothes as I could. I even took some of her favorite items, I don’t know why. I took a couple of pillows and two blankets, and after that, I went around to search the rest of the house. Once I had finished in the master bedroom I went and grabbed all my items from the bathroom. After that, I went into the nursery. We were planning on trying to have a baby once she got her new job. I looked around the nursery and took some stuffed animals and blankets, nothing too crazy. I also made sure to grab our family photo album. Finally, I made sure to grab all of the savings from the jar we had plus anything I kept in the safe. I also made sure to grab our wedding video and once I had everything I thought I could need I left the house. On my way out I made sure to tell the building goodbye.
Once I got back into my car I decided to drive a bit. No way in hell was I going to the same motel as that guy so I drove until I hit a hotel far enough away from my house. I did not end up checking in though. Once I got close enough I backed up and just kept driving. I eventually hit a truck stop after a couple of hours and decided to rest my eyes for a while. I was exhausted and there were way too many questions rushing through my head. I knew if I kept driving in that state I would probably crash or something. After sleeping for four hours I decided it was time to look through the papers and figure out what I was going to do next. I took the first paper from the stack and started to read it. For the sake of time here I will only tell you guys what I found that was interesting.
Paper One: You have been accepted to work as a store manager! Please review your employee packet for more information.
So as I am going over this first paper a couple of things stick out to me. Whoever wrote this was trying not to be specific. The whole paper was one big announcement for a new store opening up in a place called LittleBrooke. There was no state mentioned anywhere on this paper, I would later find out that this place was supposed to be in Washington D.C.
I decided to dig around and eventually found the employee packet. She accepted a job at a mega-store called BrightMarketZ. I thought it was a pretty weird name but what stood out to me was what they were offering to pay her. $22.00 an hour! I couldn't believe it. No wonder she said yes and didn’t bother to ask any questions.
Paper Twenty: To find LittleBrooke please enter [REDACTED] into your GPS device. You will be staying inside apartment 307. All rent for your first month in LittleBrooke is covered by your employer. Please note that all apartments are two-bedroom only. If you have a larger household please speak to Sydney May at Town Hall for bigger accommodations. After reading this I decided to just go to LittleBrooke and get answers. I was assuming that I would find out what the hell happened if I just went. I wanted to know what my wife died for and I wanted to know why this was some big secret in the first place. I went back to bed and as soon as the sun came up I put the information into my GPS and headed for LittleBrooke.

Year One in LittleBrooke

It took me three weeks to reach LittleBrooke and I could tell that something was wrong the moment I found the town. If I wasn't so damn desperate for answers I would've turned around as soon as I saw the library. The building itself wasn't big but the two huge lions on either side of the staircase gave me the creeps.
After that I passed a mechanic, the whole place looked run down as hell. There wasn't a single car to be seen but the sign said open. The man standing outside of the building waved to me so I gave him a slow wave back. He looked weird. At the time I couldn’t place my finger on why but now I know it’s because he was not human.
The theater was kind of cool to look at in a vintage kind of way. They were not showing anything when I drove by and I made the decision early on to stay out of the theater altogether. After the theater, I saw a small building that said LittleBrooke Press. If anything else I figured I could write for the paper.
As I approached the apartment building a woman was standing outside. Her face was weird as hell. It looked like she had far too much plastic surgery like her face was threatening to pop at any moment. “Hi, can I help you?” she asked me. Her voice was shrill, it was gross to even hear her speak. It sounded like she was putting on a fake voice just to speak to me. “Hi, my wife accepted a job offer. Unfortunately, she has passed away. I would still like to claim the apartment left to us. I can work at any place that currently has an opening.” I offered.
“LittleBrooke Press has space for two more writers!” She smiled and handed me the keys to the apartment. She never asked my name and she knew exactly where I wanted to go. I thought it was weird but I didn’t argue. Instead, I took the keys and thanked her. I spent that whole day getting settled into the new apartment. A couple of things, the front door had four different locks on it. I thought that was pretty weird. I also did not see or hear any other people until my third night in the apartment. I called the LittleBrooke Press about a potential job and they told me to email my submissions. There was no need for me to come in person and honestly, I liked this deal a lot.
For the first few months, I spent my time writing about whatever came to my mind. After that, I would send it in and get my money back. The editor never told me what to do and they never requested anything. It was sweet. As December rolled around I could feel myself slipping into a seasonal depression. At that point, I had made no progress in any of my investigations. I did not know the town well enough and frankly, I felt like I was wasting my time. That night I decided to check out the local bar. It was pretty hidden, you had to drive further into LittleBrooke to find it. Once I got there I was shocked! The place was packed. I sat down at the bar and ordered a drink.
The bartender was hot as hell, too hot. She was so even looking so perfectly symmetrical that it made me extremely uncomfortable. There wasn’t a single hair out of place. “So are you new in town?” She asked me. “Yeah, I just got here a couple of months ago. My now-deceased wife accepted a job offer here.” I said bluntly and dryly. I wanted to finish my drink and go. It was like the bones in my body were screaming at me to leave. The woman looked shocked. “Tell me, does that happen often? Do people accept a job offer in LittleBrooke and turn up dead a couple of days later?” I hissed. It was a genuine question but she did not take it too kindly. She took my drink from my hands and told me to leave.
As I made my way back to my car I could hear someone coming up from behind me. I turned around as fast as possible and had to take three steps back. It was the bartender, but she did not look the same. Half of her face was weighed down like she had no bones at all. Her eyes were bulging out of her head. She gurgled at me. “You need to leave!” She finally snapped and swung her arm in my direction. I moved back before she could hit me. As her hand hit my car window it shattered like it was made of ice. I watched as her arm popped and clicked. I could see it slowly getting longer. Before I knew it her arm was dragging on the pavement! She lunged at me so I punched her in her stomach. She gurgled again and sunk her teeth into my jacket. I screamed for help as we hit the pavement. She was trying fucken eat me! I grabbed her by her hair and threw her backward as hard as I could. As I scrambled to my feet and looked at her I screamed again. Her skin was pulled back. Now hugging the bones on her face. Her eyes were completely exposed! I turned and dove into my car as fast as I could. I slammed the door behind me and sped out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.
The next morning I received a letter under my door. “Sorry, you had problems last night! Please accept our sincerest apologies.” -Mayor Brookes. There was $300 included with the letter. Now, I thought about leaving but decided I had to stay. Something was going on here and I had to find out what. I removed my jacket to see if the woman had injured me, she didn't but the experience was still terrifying. For the first time in a very long time, I was scared. But I also felt closer to the truth than I have ever been before.

Year Two in LittleBrooke

I spent all of January writing about the women who attacked me. I even contacted the police. I quickly learned that the police were going to be completely useless. My editor never sent the story back so I had assumed it was published.
At the end of the month, I left to shop for some supplies. Let me tell you, the grocery store in LittleBrooke is something else. They don’t have any brands you’ve ever heard of and at first, that drove me nuts. However, I quickly came to fall in love with the food here. It was comforting to have something to enjoy. Like always, I made sure to shop for two to three months at a time. Shopping was easy, I used the self-checkout to make sure I didn’t have to speak to anyone.
Once I got home I put everything away and decided to look around the apartment building. My whole floor started with 301 and went all the way to 310. The first floor was 501 to 509. There was a technical second floor but none of the doors were labeled. It looked like someone was renovating the place.
I got to see some of my neighbors too. An older woman, two men, and I were living next door to a lady the whole time. I had never seen or heard from these people before. It seemed like everyone wanted to keep to themselves too. I wanted to try and talk to someone but every time I approached them they turned and walked away. For what it's worth they looked completely normal.
So I left the apartment building and ventured around the property. There were no other apartments anywhere close to the one I was staying at, or so I thought until I found one about thirty minutes away. It was so out of the way you wouldn't find it unless you were looking. Against my better judgment, I opened the doors to the building and walked right inside. The place smelled like rust and soot.
I went to explore the first floor and was shocked to find blood trails on the floor and the ceiling. I followed the trail and made sure to look at the numbers on each door. This floor was numbered 1-10. Most of the doors were locked and I wasn’t going to try and knock anything down. I opened the door to apartment 10 and walked right inside. There was just enough light from the sun to illuminate the place. It looked like the whole place had been ransacked. I checked the tables and cabinets before heading into the bedroom. I searched the dresser and under the pillows before finally checking under the bed. When I looked under I spotted a black box. I grabbed it and that is when I got the feeling again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt something sharp dig into my shoulders.
I screamed as loudly as I could, my face slammed off of the carpet and I clenched the box with one hand. Before I could figure out what the hell was happening I was tossed backward. I went into the bedroom door and rolled a couple of times until I reached the torn-up couch. I slowly lifted my head and to my horror what I was looking at was way too far from human to be real.
It looked like a dog ape thing. It was mostly skinless aside from some skin on its torso and face. The creature had thick, long claws and was standing on its hind legs. It barked at me. Its fangs were huge! I quickly scrambled to my feet and rushed out of the door as fast as possible. I could feel the blood running down my back. Never once did I consider letting this box go.
“Help!” I screamed as I burst through the apartment complex doors and started to run back to the main road. My heart was pounding, I could feel my chest getting tighter with each step. I could hear the beast behind me, it was screeching. I thought I was going to die for sure, there was no way I could continue to outrun this beast. That’s when I heard a car and before I knew it I could see it! A woman was waving me over, she was just up ahead! I had to push a little harder. I had to be just a little stronger.
When I felt the embrace of the car door I ripped it open and dove inside. She sped away and I looked out of the window. The beast did not follow us any further. “Are you insane!” She snapped at me. That’s the last thing I remember before passing out.
When I woke up I was laying on my stomach on an extremely comfortable couch. I could smell someone making pasta with meat sauce. My stomach was going insane. Everything hurt though, especially my back and my left side. I figured I had hurt my side when I was tossed across the room.
At this point, I did not dive into the box yet. I could barely move. “Hi.” I heard a woman say from the kitchen. “Thank you,” I replied before trying to sit up. I was so concerned that this woman would be another monster. When I saw her though I knew she was normal. She didn't look so damn perfect and that was a breath of fresh air.
“What's your name?” She asked me as I watched her prepare two bowls of food.
“Leon,” I said before closing my eyes. “You heard me screaming?” I asked her seriously.
“I did. I’m pretty sure everyone in our building did. You got hurt pretty badly, I did my best to patch you up.” She paused and laughed. “My name is Ashley.”
So I ended up crashing at her place. During this time I tried to focus on recovering. Sleeping became hell, I was having constant nightmares. I also spent a lot of time working on articles. I ended up giving Ash the keys to my apartment so she could get my laptop. It was a big move to trust anyone here but I am glad I did.

Year Three and Four in LittleBrooke

During my recovery, I spent most of my time writing. I wanted to write about everything I have seen and experienced. I had a lot of questions and way too much time with my thoughts. Ash and I got to know each other too.
I told her about how my wife had died mysteriously. I eventually opened up about her being skinned and drained of her blood. Ash told me she had come to LittleBrooke with her older sister. Her sister went to work one day and never came back. She was working at the theater. Ash had told me that she was stuck here, she didn’t feel right leaving with her sister still missing. Every time she would try the cops would meet her at the town line.
It was during this time that we both shared that we had never seen a police station. We talked about the monsters too. Her first run-in with one was at the grocery store. I told her about what happened to me at the bar. She told me that she heard rumors of the beast living beyond the apartments. The first time she saw it was when it was attacking me.
As I started to recover more we discussed a couple of things. First, the neighbors here suck. She could hear me screaming and came to help but no one else did. Second, neither of us has seen any families since we moved here. It was at this point I decided I wanted to leave and I offered to take her with me. We could both get out come hell or high water. She agreed but there was something I had to do first.
I showed her the box I had taken from the apartment.
“You almost died for a box?” Ash asked me. “Yes,” I said seriously.
I opened it and blinked. I found a picture of a girl with black hair and bright green eyes. It read, Stephanie. I found a missing persons report too. This girl had been missing a year before I got here. I decided that my last article would be about her. I had written about a couple of missing people before this. For example, the old lady in our building vanished and her apartment was rented out two days later.
I also found a badge inside the box. It read F.O.P.P. and there was a name! Jack Bridges. We tried to look up the organization's name but we came up empty-handed. I ended up writing the story about Stephanie and the next day Ash and I got packing. We decided to take my car since the cops know what hers looks like. I packed up the essentials all over again and we piled into the car.
“We should check the other direction. Before we leave.” I suggested. Ash knew about the bar already but neither of us knew what was beyond that point: This suggested changed the course of our lives forever.
So we started driving in the other direction. We passed the bar where the woman had tried to eat me, we passed a convenience store I didn’t know this town had and we just kept driving. Eventually, I could hear Ash speaking to me, “Holy shit! The police station.” she pointed out. I couldn’t believe it either. I did not stop driving though but I wish I did.
Eventually, we saw a sign that read, LittleBrooke High. Go Bears!
I started to slow down a bit until the school was in view. The place looked run down as hell. There were holes in the walls and leaves growing up the side of the building. The parking lot was massive and full of buses. I pulled the car into the parking lot and told Ash to get into the driver's seat.
“You’re not serious?” She asked me. I could tell she wanted to go but I said, “This is it! This is the last place of note in this fucken town. Just take the wheel and I will be right back.” I said as I jumped out of the car and went to look around.
As I approached one of the buses I grabbed the doors, they were already open a crack. I pulled them open and was hit with a horrible stench. I had to step back and puke and no I am not going to describe what I saw in that fucken bus. At that point, I decided I had seen enough and it was time to fucken go.
“Help!” I heard someone cry from a couple of buses over. “Please!” I heard again. I wanted to slap myself because I knew better. I had already decided it was time to leave but I went to investigate anyway. I went to the bus and pulled the doors open. It smelled like stale piss and blood. “Back here!” A girl screamed out to me. I made my way to the back of the bus, stepping on school jackets and over backpacks. That is where I found them. Two teenagers are tied to the leg of a bus seat. They looked horrible, caking in blood and sweat. They were both injured. “Stephanie?!” I exclaimed as I bent over to free them. I recognized her face the moment I saw it.
“Can you move? I asked the blonde girl.” As I started to let her go. “Everything hurts.” She told me. I opened the emergency exit and called for Ash to pull the car over. It took her a second to hear me but she came as fast as possible. “I am going to get you guys in the car and we are going to get out of here, okay?” I told them. I wanted to tell them everything was going to be okay, but I couldn't. It felt like that would be a huge lie.
Ash stepped out of the car and helped get the girls into the backseat. As I stopped to look around I could feel the bus shift in weight. I turned around and inhaled sharply. Standing before me was a creature wearing a jacket that said COACH on it. He looked sickly, and pale, and his veins were protruding from his face and hands. As he ran at me I jumped out of the emergency exit door just in time to feel something slam off of the back of my head. I looked down to see a barbed football. I could feel blood trickling down my neck, I stumbled forward and felt a hand grab my arm. Ash was shoving me into the car. She slid over me, closed the passenger door, and backed the car up. I thought she was moving like lightning.
At this point, everyone was screaming. My heart was threatening to jump out of my fucken chest. I was so sure we were all going to die here, just like everyone else I had seen on the buses. But no, Ash sped out of the parking lot. The coach chased us to the school limits but for some reason, he did not follow us anymore.
I know we should've stopped to see if the kids could find their parents but we didn't. Instead, Ash just kept driving. Eventually, we could hear the cops behind us but that did not stop her. It took us six hours to finally see the You Are New Leaving LittleBrooke sign! I couldn’t believe it. This place was not that big at all.
So listen, if you’re invited to take a job in LittleBrooke. Don’t take it. It’s not worth your life.