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Speaker 1: M thirteen days of Halloween is from grim and mild

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Speaker 1: lumhouse and I heeart three D audio headphones recommended. Listener

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Speaker 1: discretion advised. Allow me to be the first one to

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Speaker 1: welcome you to die a brook. Mind your step. These

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Speaker 1: cobblestones have not been particularly well maintained. Plenty of tiny pitfalls.

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Speaker 1: That not a metaphor. Why are people staring? Honestly, we

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Speaker 1: don't get a lot of fresh faces here in town,

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Speaker 1: and when we do they don't tend to stick around

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Speaker 1: for very long. It's been said that our neighbors aren't

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Speaker 1: particularly friendly, but I think they just prefer to mind

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Speaker 1: their own business. Don't you worry, they're perfectly harmless for

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Speaker 1: the most part. Just don't wander off on your own. Why?

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Speaker 1: There are many tiny pitfalls, and that is a metaphor.

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Speaker 1: Who is this a statue of? That is Rupert Inverness,

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Speaker 1: the founder of Dire Brooks. He's sneering. Yes, Legend has

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Speaker 1: it that he was a cruel man. I suppose you

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Speaker 1: had to be to survive here. We were pilgrims, you see,

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Speaker 1: fleeing religious persecution and trusting ourselves to the strong arms

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Speaker 1: of the father in the sea. He carried US across

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Speaker 1: the dangerous waters of the North Atlantic and we praised

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Speaker 1: him for it. But he plopped us down here on

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Speaker 1: these rocky, unwelcoming shores, in a land where we did

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Speaker 1: not belong and which continuously tried to spit us out

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Speaker 1: rocky soil, dense forests, long cutting winters. Only by paying

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Speaker 1: homage to the father in the sea did we survive.

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Speaker 1: He is a shrewd bargainer, but always keeps his side

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Speaker 1: of the deal so long as you keep yours. And

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Speaker 1: so the ocean fed us when the land refused, and

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Speaker 1: so we built. Inverness was the most faithful among us

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Speaker 1: and the most exacting when it came to keeping our

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Speaker 1: covenant with the Father. The first permanent structure built here

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Speaker 1: was our church. As a matter of fact, in sixteen

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Speaker 1: thirty over the course of many, many months, the people

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Speaker 1: slept there while the rest of the permanent structures were built,

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Speaker 1: so that inverness to keep a close watch over them.

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Speaker 1: He dictated when they prayed and how, when they slept,

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Speaker 1: what they ate. He did not suffer apostates. What would

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Speaker 1: happened to them if you spoke against the father, the

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Speaker 1: church or inverness, if you transgressed. If you did not pray,

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Speaker 1: there would be a trial with inverness as the sole judge.

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Speaker 1: In all of our trials held, not one parishioner was

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Speaker 1: found innocent. Why didn't the town turn against him? What

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Speaker 1: could they do? He had the blessings of the father

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Speaker 1: in the sea. He had brought them across the ocean,

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Speaker 1: kept them fed and alive. There was a glow about him.

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Speaker 1: And what happened to those who were found guilty? They

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Speaker 1: were separated from the father in the sea. How we

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Speaker 1: bury are dead here? Their bones dissolve into the earth

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Speaker 1: and the water eventually carries them to the ocean. Everything

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Speaker 1: returns to the sea. Those found guilty of heresy, however,

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Speaker 1: would be burned alive on the PYRE, their ashes mixed

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Speaker 1: into the mortar that built the walls of this town.

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Speaker 1: So as long as these walls stand, they will never

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Speaker 1: return to the father. My God. Yes, yes, some who

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Speaker 1: live in work have claimed to hear them occasionally moaning

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Speaker 1: to be released. But speaking of invanessas well. Hello, Mr

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Speaker 1: Mayor Ah mother, what a pleasant surprise to see you

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Speaker 1: out and about. And who's this, my guest? Well, hello there,

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Speaker 1: I see you're enjoying a nice stroll around our dear town.

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Speaker 1: I hope you find it dear, liking staying out of trouble.

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Speaker 1: I hope these are my favorite kinds of mornings, when

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Speaker 1: the world is only beginning to stir and the streets

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Speaker 1: are empty except for a passer by or two. I'd

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Speaker 1: be careful if I were you walking around by yourself.

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Speaker 1: That's when the how shall I say it, when the

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Speaker 1: more wayward souls tend to go missing. One day, a

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Speaker 1: face that is all too familiar is simply gone, like

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Speaker 1: they were never here at all. I was seven the

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Speaker 1: first time someone close to me disappeared, the childhood friend.

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Speaker 1: We would often run around in my backyard that overlooked

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Speaker 1: the sea, playing tag, digging for insects. Sometimes we would

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Speaker 1: race to see who could climb to the top of

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Speaker 1: this large tree the fastest. He normally won, but a

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Speaker 1: few times he didn't. He would pinch me. My father

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Speaker 1: was never too keen on him, but I didn't think

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Speaker 1: twice about it. To me, we were just children. Then

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Speaker 1: one day he was gone. At first I thought maybe

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Speaker 1: he had fallen into the sea, but nobody ever washed

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Speaker 1: ashore and, even more oddly, no one in the town

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Speaker 1: seemed to want to search. It was as if he

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Speaker 1: was never even there to begin with. As the years

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Speaker 1: went on, I noticed more and more townspeople went missing.

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Speaker 1: The high school quarterback, the town florist, an Oyster Mern.

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Speaker 1: Never more than a few people a year, but common enough.

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Speaker 1: It was never a major search for any of them, though.

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Speaker 1: It seemed the authorities weren't alerted, at least none that

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Speaker 1: seemed too concerned. The only real indication that they've ever

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Speaker 1: been here at all were the posters with pictures of

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Speaker 1: their lost faces, slowly aging and weathering. Pretty soon even

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Speaker 1: those would be forgotten debris the wind would occasionally blow

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Speaker 1: across your path and into the gutter. If anyone had

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Speaker 1: tears to cry, it was done behind closed doors. I

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Speaker 1: asked my father once about my favorite postman, who seemed

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Speaker 1: to be replaced overnight. All he said was he's contributing

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Speaker 1: to the town. I wouldn't learn what he meant until

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Speaker 1: a few years later. I had a brother once, you know, Anthony,

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Speaker 1: a couple of years older than me. He was the

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Speaker 1: one expected to keep up the family tradition. You see,

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Speaker 1: for as long as I can remember, the men in

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Speaker 1: my family have run this town. The mayorship passed down

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Speaker 1: from my great grandfather to my grandfather to my father,

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Speaker 1: all the way back. My brother was supposed to inherit

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Speaker 1: the authority, but our father was not an unkind man,

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Speaker 1: but he was strict on us, hard he expected us

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Speaker 1: to stay in line. My brother was older than me,

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Speaker 1: so you think he would have led by example. But no,

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Speaker 1: as Anthony got older he began to rebel. At first

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Speaker 1: it was typical teenage behavior, staying out all night, skipping classes,

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Speaker 1: but then he began to not attend town meetings and

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Speaker 1: went on wild tangents to anyone who would listen about

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Speaker 1: how sick the town was. It made people uncomfortable. My

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Speaker 1: father tried to keep my brother in line, but it

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Speaker 1: was to no avail, and father wouldn't have that. What

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Speaker 1: kind of message would it send if his own son

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Speaker 1: wasn't following the rules? One Night I was awoken by

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Speaker 1: a crash. My father and brother were screaming at each other.

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Speaker 1: I remember sneaking downstairs, but as I got closer to

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Speaker 1: the bottom, one of the steps groaned. My father turned

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Speaker 1: to see me. I was beckoned down. My father instructed

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Speaker 1: US put on your jackets, we're going for a drive.

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Speaker 1: As we were leaving, my father grabbed his cane, black

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Speaker 1: marble capped with a silver tip and silver handle. This

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Speaker 1: same cane I hold now in my hand. At the

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Speaker 1: time he never left the house without it. We came

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Speaker 1: here to this very spot, in front of this statue

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Speaker 1: of Rupert Inverness. It was so peaceful. The town was

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Speaker 1: still deep asleep in the early hours of the morning,

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Speaker 1: and it was here, under the oddly glowing street lamps,

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Speaker 1: that I learned our family secret. It before that night,

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Speaker 1: my father had been overly protective of his cane. No

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Speaker 1: one was allowed to touch it. It's always windy here,

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Speaker 1: you get used to it living by the sea, but

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Speaker 1: that night was still and calm. Not a leaf skittered

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Speaker 1: across the cobblestones. It was as if the moon itself

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Speaker 1: watched in silence. After we got out of the car,

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Speaker 1: my father handed me the cane and told me to

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Speaker 1: click a button at the top twice. I remember looking

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Speaker 1: up and locking eyes with Anthony, both of us paralyzed

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Speaker 1: for a brief moment. Then he blinked and the hesitation

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Speaker 1: was replaced by fear. He screamed and began to run

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Speaker 1: towards me, but it was too late. I watched as

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Speaker 1: his body dropped to the ground two FT from me, lifeless,

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Speaker 1: his jaw slack, Eyes Open and horror. My father made

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Speaker 1: me watch as the body slowly turned into ash and

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Speaker 1: disappeared without a soul. There was nothing left to hold

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Speaker 1: it together. I stood there motionless, unsure myself what had

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Speaker 1: just happened. As my father told me to click the

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Speaker 1: button once more, I felt cold wet drops on my

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Speaker 1: hand as I did as he instructed. With a strange hum,

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Speaker 1: the street lamps got brighter. It was only then I

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Speaker 1: noticed my face was wet with tears. You See, what

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Speaker 1: my brother and father had been arguing about was from

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Speaker 1: my rather to take over the family business, but he

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Speaker 1: had refused. We must all pull our weight, and Anthony

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Speaker 1: wasn't willing to. So my father made sure he would

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Speaker 1: pull his weight in another way. After all, we all

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Speaker 1: have to pitch in to keep this town prosperous. My

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Speaker 1: ancestors knew this, you see. As time went on, people

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Speaker 1: began to slip from the old ways, choosing to make

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Speaker 1: more unsavory choices. My family, who stuck close to great

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Speaker 1: grandfather rupert inverness's ways, remained forever true at Inverness's grave,

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Speaker 1: we made a blood pact that we would forever lead

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Speaker 1: this town, keeping our people in line. It is in

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Speaker 1: shadow that people are led astray. It is our job

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Speaker 1: to make sure that they forever see the light. That's

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Speaker 1: why I keep them in check. I do my part

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Speaker 1: by cutting off the miscreants. Speaking of you just missed

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Speaker 1: a miscreant yourself. Pity really. As the years have gone on,

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Speaker 1: I've found delights in the entire process. While unfortunate souls

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Speaker 1: not following the rules can be found anywhere, I must

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Speaker 1: always come back here, to the statue of Rupert Inverness

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Speaker 1: to deliver them. Even to this day, he is our conduit.

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Speaker 1: That's better, isn't it? A little light to brighten this

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Speaker 1: foggy morning? Enjoy your stay and be sure not to

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Speaker 1: break any rules. Yes, or at least be careful. I

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Speaker 1: don't catch you, or you won't be going anywhere for

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Speaker 1: a long, long time. Will I be seeing you with

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Speaker 1: the gathering this evening? I will be there and you're guess. Well,

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Speaker 1: that is most likely, as we do not know where

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Speaker 1: she is from or who is missing her. AH, lovely well,

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Speaker 1: may the father bless you. Everything returns to him. It

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Speaker 1: surely does. Ladies. Yes, you do best to avoid him

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Speaker 1: while you're here. Like all of his ancestors, his zeal

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Speaker 1: can be occasionally deadly. You sure right. Did he frighten

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Speaker 1: you that much? No, well, yes, but also no. I'm

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Speaker 1: still cold. Go Dear. Why don't we stop by the

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Speaker 1: dinner to get you a coffee? They carry a special blend.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. That would be nice. This way, I remember,

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Speaker 1: watch your step. A trip on this ground could be perilous. Yeah, tomorrow,

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Speaker 1: on thirteen days of Halloween, the diner, of course. I

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Speaker 1: tried to leave. I tried walking, driving, hitchhiking. Nothing worked.

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Speaker 1: I'd get close to the town limits in blackout, poof

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Speaker 1: then I'd wake up in another area of direbrook. Some

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Speaker 1: hearts are worth in others, and after a while I

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Speaker 1: quit trying. This place. It's not nor moll there are

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Speaker 1: lots of telephone lines, but they don't work. As you've noticed,

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Speaker 1: there's no cellphone reception either and no Internet. Mail never

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Speaker 1: leaves the post office and nothing comes in. I've given

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Speaker 1: notes to people passing through and the hopes I'll be rescued,

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Speaker 1: but nothing comes of it. I think people forget the

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Speaker 1: moment they leave town. Thirteen days of Halloween the Town Square,

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Speaker 1: starring Kathy to Jimmy, Bethany and Lynne and Brian truxall

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Speaker 1: written by Miranda Hawkins, with additional material by Nicholas Dakowski.

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Speaker 1: Sound Design and mixing by Miranda Hawkins, engineering by violent Ferton,

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Speaker 1: DUBWAY STUDIOS NEW YORK. Casting by Jessica Losa. Created by

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Speaker 1: Matt Frederick and Alex Williams, with executive producer Aaron mackey.

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Speaker 1: A production of I heart radio, Hman mild and Blumhouse

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Speaker 1: Television