1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:03,920 Speaker 1: Twelve Ghosts is a production of I Heeart three D 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: audio and grimm and mild from Aaron Manky Headphones. Recommended 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: Listener discretion advised. M Hello, I don't understand. I don't understand. Hello. 4 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: Oh oh light light, Oh hello, light Hello. M hm 5 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: huh h Hello. I was expecting you later. What I 6 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: just what? I was expecting you hours from now? Oh, 7 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: no matter, you must be freezing. Well, don't just stand 8 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: there with your mouth wide open. You'll let the heat 9 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: out of my mouth. Come in the start of the 10 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: very longest night of the year, the dead center of midwinter. 11 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: We cannot be any further from summer sunlight. Here desolate. 12 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: It is from this vantage point the dream of June 13 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: feels almost cruel, doesn't it. Even the wolves stay in 14 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: on this night, respecting the heavy dark. And you know 15 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: how they love a winter forest drink. Where am I 16 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: in a place where drink is being offered? I've got 17 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: mulled wine. It's very good for knocking off the chill. Yes, good, 18 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: we'll hang your coat by the door. You won't be 19 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:44,639 Speaker 1: needing it. Where am I I was? I've been walking 20 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: in the woods for what seems like forever. It's a 21 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: very deep wood, and with no sun to mark the time. 22 00:02:52,960 --> 00:03:00,919 Speaker 1: It's endless, isn't it. Sit? You have an answered my question. 23 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: You're standing in front of a steaming cup of mulled 24 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: wine at a large wooden table in an inn, in 25 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: the deepest bit of a dark wood, in the middle 26 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: of the longest night of the year. Sit please, And 27 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 1: you are the owner of this establishment. Yes, but hold on? 28 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: Mm hmm. How unusual? What it's strange? How time passes. 29 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: I thought you came alone. I did well. It seems 30 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: as though you were mistaken. Come in. You're right on time. 31 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: M h I saw you a light. Yes, that is 32 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: why I keep it on, so that weary travelers have 33 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: something to move toward in the dark. Leave your coat 34 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: at the door and come sit. I've got a drink 35 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: to warm you. Are you all right? Yes? Good, you've 36 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: both traveled so far. Tonight there will be rest for 37 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: you now rest, yes, But before I send you off 38 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: to bed, tell me where have you come from? Where? 39 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: My name is lost to me now, as well as 40 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: my life before that night and all that has occurred 41 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: since until I found myself. No, no, not lost nor 42 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 1: forgotten mind you, but devoured by what you may ask, 43 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: by the dead thing inside me that much I am 44 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: allowed to recall. The dead thing, the creature, the ghost 45 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 1: that lives that resides within my skull. Whatever it is, 46 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:40,160 Speaker 1: it's ravenous, and the only thing it can eat is memory. 47 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: I think it was human once. Who knows, maybe it 48 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,679 Speaker 1: was even like me, a simple, weary traveler who paused 49 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: to converse with the wrong stranger on the wrong night. 50 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: Now we are inseparable, and have been since since a moment. Please, 51 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 1: what remains of my recollections are not easily gathered and 52 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: demand a courage available only to me through the grace 53 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 1: of the bottle. I don't know why it's allowed me 54 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: to recall our meeting. I have the theory, though, I 55 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: think perhaps that's where it's made its home, there in 56 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: the last memory my mind can hold. From there it 57 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: enters my other memories to wait, where was I the meeting? Yes? Yes, 58 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: how the dead thing that eats memories and I became one. 59 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,600 Speaker 1: I was a nocturnal traveler, alone in the land, as 60 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: far from where I came for as wherever this place. 61 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: Maybe now young, or at least a much younger man 62 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: than the one in my reflection and adrift in a 63 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: strange city shuddered in the last hours before Christmas morning. 64 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: I can still see a goblin moon peering over the 65 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: darkened rooftops to illuminate the last patches of snow clinging 66 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: to the corners of the street. I wandered that city, 67 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: lost in search of a drink that I didn't need, 68 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: and found only closed doors until I found him. Towards 69 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: the last hour of night. I approached him vagrant, an 70 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: old man, half lurched from the shadows of an alley way. 71 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: From his hand dangled a bottle of wine that sparked 72 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: with the promise of a sweet numb The old man 73 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: mumbled to himself in a tongue that I couldn't really 74 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: understand until I realized what I was hearing was a 75 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: mick sture of languages, muttered all at once and to 76 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: no one at all. I was almost upon him, and 77 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: still he hadn't noticed my approach. The moonlight revealed a 78 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: gaunt face twisted in concentration, as if conducting a great 79 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: series of calculations whose some eluded his best efforts. None 80 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: of them mattered. All that did was the bottle that 81 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: dangled from his hand gently at a respectable distance, I 82 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 1: intruded on his mumblings and informed him that for the 83 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: remaining coins in my pocket, I would gladly purchase the 84 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: last drops of wine from his bottle. Startled, the old 85 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: man looked up and down the street furtively, as if 86 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: we weren't the only two souls there in that hour 87 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: before dawn. His eyes, previously lost in some private toil, 88 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: now bulged with amused confusion. In my presence, I reached 89 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: into my pocket, jangled a few coins in my palm, 90 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:04,839 Speaker 1: and gazed as keenly at his bottle as he at 91 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: my face. The old man looked at the bottle as 92 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: if only just then realizing what it was that I wanted, 93 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: then with a grin of broken tombstones, and inquired how 94 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 1: it was. I could see him. Thrown off by the question, 95 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,439 Speaker 1: I found myself bereft of an answer. The old man 96 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: looked down at my feet and then back up at 97 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: my eyes, shudered, dragging at the heels of your feet, 98 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 1: does me you don't belong here? One? Where are you from? 99 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: How did you get here? He took a swig off 100 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:50,079 Speaker 1: the bottle and then passed it to me, returning the 101 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: coins to my pocket. I accepted the bottle. The wine 102 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: tasted of iron and dust, but it was strong enough 103 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: to loosen the tongue. After another pull on the bottle, 104 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: I confessed I wasn't sure where here was anymore. I 105 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: explained that I came across the sea in search of 106 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,720 Speaker 1: fortune or to escape my fate, one or the other, 107 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 1: or maybe both. I've further explained how, after many long months, 108 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: I finally received a letter from my one true love, 109 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: a Christmas gift from home that arrived a day early, 110 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: or so I thought. I learned that what my love 111 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: and I had shared was no more than a bonfire 112 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: in a blizzard. Bright, fierce and defiant, but ultimately doomed 113 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: to be extinguished before the night is through. The old 114 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: Man's bottle was almost empty, and I realized I had 115 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: been crying. He seemed unconcerned to my state and simply 116 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: asked if I wanted my love back. No, I replied 117 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:55,560 Speaker 1: with a sudden rage, not just at my love's betrayal, 118 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: but the tears I shed for her. Before a stranger, 119 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: I explained to the universe as well as the old man, 120 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: that all I wanted was to forget my love had 121 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:13,199 Speaker 1: ever existed. All of it, the good and the bad. 122 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 1: For without my love in my life, the good we 123 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: shared was a pain unbearable to remember, while the bad 124 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 1: we suffered and survived was simply a lesson loss to 125 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: me now forever, I would forget it all if I could. 126 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:35,960 Speaker 1: And there was a long silence, just long enough for 127 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:40,199 Speaker 1: me to recant my words, before the old man cast 128 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: a sad crack of his cemetery grin and reached out 129 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: his hand. He said, take my hand, and all that 130 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: haunts you shall be no more. Every wound, every loss, 131 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:58,080 Speaker 1: all of the injuries that even the bottle count reach, 132 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,320 Speaker 1: they will become my and no longer burden your time 133 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: on this earth. Dried my eyes and laughed at the 134 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: absurdity of it all. But the longer the old Man's 135 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: hand hung there, the more eager I became to believe 136 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 1: his offer. Why not, after all, what harm can there 137 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: be in the casting of a simple wish? All of it, 138 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: I demanded, realizing now how desperate I was for his 139 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: words to be true, all of it. With that, I 140 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: emptied the bottle in a single pool and took his hand. 141 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: The grip was stronger than an expected. I felt his 142 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: nails dated deep into the palm of my hand, and 143 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: with a cry of pain, looked down to discover that 144 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: blood had been drawn. Then the pain receded under a 145 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:57,560 Speaker 1: terrible numb. A strange chill ran up my hand, and 146 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,199 Speaker 1: I watched with mute horror as its flesh turned lou 147 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: within his grasp. I pried my attention from the chill 148 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: flowing into my body to plead with the old man 149 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 1: to rescind my wish. But the old man was gone, 150 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: and in his place stood a corpse. His corpse to 151 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: be more accurate, hollow eyes and shriveled, rotted flesh pulled 152 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: taut across the outline of a skull. I tried to scream, 153 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,320 Speaker 1: I tried to kick free, and tried to strike at 154 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: the corpse with my other hand, but found myself frozen 155 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: in raw terror. I watched helplessly as his rutted skin 156 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: began to bubble, as lumps formed and moved beneath the 157 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: surface of his face. As the jaw of the corpse 158 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:45,839 Speaker 1: unhinged itself like some great snake from the Amazon, there 159 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 1: was a gurgling as it struggled to speak, but it 160 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: wasn't words that were freeing itself from its jaw. The 161 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:57,439 Speaker 1: corpse began to vomit up, and a swarm of insects, 162 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: not any kind I had ever seen, for they resembled beetles, 163 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: only with tiny human faces painted on the front of 164 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: their onyx carapaces and mandibles that clicked an alien communication 165 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: with each other. They cascaded into thousands from the jaws 166 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: of the old man's corpse, flowing down the neck, that shoulder, 167 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: the arm that connected us now in this unholy union. 168 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: The insects swarmed over my hand, scurried beneath the sleeve 169 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: of my coat, and even through the numb of the skin, 170 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: I felt them enveloped my body in their thousands. Then 171 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: they began to burrow deep beneath the flesh, even through 172 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: the numb of the corpse'script. The pain was not something 173 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: you forget. Apparently. The last thing I saw was the 174 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: old man's corpse disintegrate, flaking off into chunks of dust 175 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: that drifted into the dying moonlight as the last of 176 00:14:53,680 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: the human faced bugs drained from its screen. Then, mercifully 177 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: I blacked out. I woke up in the alleyway, still alive. 178 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: A Christmas miracle. It had all been a terrible dream 179 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: brought on by the bottle. I staggered into the street. 180 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: I was groggy, still unshore of my location, hungover as 181 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: I was drunk, and then immediately recalled why I had 182 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: been drinking so furiously the night before. The smile of 183 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: my love's face flashed across my mind's eye. Instantly I 184 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: found myself in a familiar bed. Maybe there's maybe mine. 185 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: A lone candle illuminated the longing and exhilaration of my 186 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: love's gaze upon my body. Rain pattered against the window 187 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: and crackled across the roof. Enraptured, I was on the 188 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: verge of whispering my love's name when everything rose. The 189 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 1: light of the candle no longer flickered, the rains cadence 190 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: had stilled itself, and my love was still as a painting, 191 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: with neither a breath nor a blink revealed. Then, slowly 192 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: a shadow formed and rose from behind my love, displayed 193 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: naked across the bed. The shadow began to shimmer and 194 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: melt away into the leering visage of the old man's corpse, 195 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: the dead thing inside me. It ran a talented finger 196 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: through my love's hair and studied me with empty sockets 197 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: and a rich scrin of broken tombstones. It wanted me 198 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,480 Speaker 1: to know that it could see me. It wanted me 199 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: to know that it took great satisfaction in my helplessness. 200 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: It pressed its face against that of my loves. It 201 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 1: whispered into their ear, and it sniffed along the curve 202 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: of their neck with the rotted remains of its nose, 203 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: before leaning back, with odding satisfaction, fixed its eyeless gaze 204 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: upon me, and threw back its head as if to 205 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:12,439 Speaker 1: mock me in sinister delight. Only it wasn't laughter that 206 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:17,439 Speaker 1: erupted from the old man's corpse. Phantom swarm of human 207 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: faced beetles burst through the jaws of the old man's 208 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 1: corpse as it elongated unnaturally to provide them gateway into 209 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: my memory. Crawling in their allegiance, they cascaded down the 210 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:31,119 Speaker 1: jaws of the old man's corpse and scattered themselves across 211 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: my love. They spread across their skin, forming a chittering 212 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: shadow over my lover, as their mandibles devoured every detail 213 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,200 Speaker 1: of what I could remember from my love's body. And 214 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 1: still they swarmed from the muted scream of the old 215 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: man's corps, spreading themselves relentlessly across the bed, the floor, 216 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,479 Speaker 1: the walls of my memory, until their swarming masses had 217 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: obliterated all I could recall of that night into nothingness. 218 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: It was then that I recognized the faces painted onto 219 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: the beatles. It was that of my love, where the 220 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 1: eyes locked and agony be pleading with me to do something, anything, 221 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,719 Speaker 1: But I was frozen, unable to escape out of memory 222 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: into consciousness, nor shift to a different recollection. As the 223 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: body of my love was devoured with their smiling eyes 224 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,400 Speaker 1: the last to go. I could feel everything we shared 225 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:30,920 Speaker 1: vanishing from the mind, the little jokes between us, a 226 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: place where we met, the moments we shared, and then 227 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:43,439 Speaker 1: even their name. We're gone forever still the old man's 228 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:49,399 Speaker 1: corpse feasted with eyeless gaze still locked on mine. It 229 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: wanted me to remember this moment for as long as 230 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: I lived. It wanted me to know that this was 231 00:18:56,359 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: going to happen to everything, every person, every moment I 232 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,879 Speaker 1: had experienced. It wanted me to know the horror, and 233 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,920 Speaker 1: it wanted me to know the perverse joy it would 234 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:14,719 Speaker 1: take in devouring my memories. It wanted me to know 235 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: that every time I woke up, a scene like this 236 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: would play again before being wiped away forever. Eventually there 237 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:28,360 Speaker 1: was nothing left of the memory save the dead thing 238 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: inside me, the undulating tide of insects, and the candle light, 239 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:41,360 Speaker 1: until that was enveloped too, And then my sole remembrance 240 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:46,240 Speaker 1: comes to an end. After that, my story is no 241 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 1: longer mine to tell. Written over the years, possibly the decades, 242 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:54,120 Speaker 1: and higher glyphs of scars and wounds, my body remembers 243 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:57,399 Speaker 1: more than I can. But chiefly what it remembers is 244 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: that I need a drink to function. Mind you, That 245 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: is not to say that there haven't been scraps of recurrence. 246 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: I've been allowed to nibble on crumbs of memory that 247 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: have fallen off the chin of the old man's corpse. 248 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:20,120 Speaker 1: A few moments from a prison here, a few seconds 249 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: spent in a sanitarium. There, the face of a priest 250 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 1: as they called upon our Savior to rescue my wretched 251 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,640 Speaker 1: soul from the phantom. Within a flash of lightning over 252 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:35,480 Speaker 1: a burning ship, a dead man in my feet, and 253 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 1: lurch in my stomach at the bloody knife in my hand, 254 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: brief sparks of a desperate life that I when I 255 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,440 Speaker 1: try to follow lead me back to the night when 256 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 1: I met the dead thing inside me there in the 257 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 1: land of hungry ghosts. So now I just traveled around 258 00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: in search of new experiences, new cities, new tales to 259 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:05,679 Speaker 1: feed the dead thing inside me, all the while biding 260 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,240 Speaker 1: my time for the right story to come along that 261 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: will satiate its eternal hunger. A story or a memory, 262 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: as if the two weren't the same, but a tale 263 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:22,679 Speaker 1: so terrible that its teller would do almost anything to 264 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: forget it ever existed. Who knows. Perhaps in that moment 265 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,199 Speaker 1: they'll even reach their hand out to take mine, and 266 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,200 Speaker 1: the dead thing inside me will at last have found 267 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: a new home. But then I forget myself. My God, 268 00:21:53,320 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: are you tired? Marcus? Marcus? Yeah? Us Marcus, that was 269 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:11,680 Speaker 1: my name once it is again. Do you wish to rest? Yes? 270 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: Take this key, Marcus. Up the stairs you will see 271 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:22,400 Speaker 1: a series of doors. Yours is the very first on 272 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:28,199 Speaker 1: the left. Inside is a bed. There you will find, 273 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: for the first time in a very long time. I 274 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: imagine a long dreamless slumber. Your hungry ghost will trouble 275 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:55,400 Speaker 1: you no more. That sounds nice. Please excuse me, you 276 00:22:55,480 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: are excused to bed with you? Hm. And Flights of Angels, 277 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: et cetera. Who are You? I'm the Innkeeper, now annabel 278 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:38,199 Speaker 1: Who are You? Twelve Ghosts starring Malcolm McDowell as the 279 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: Innkeeper and Gina Rikiki as Annabelle. Episode one, The Land 280 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: of Hungry Ghosts written by Rob Mosca with additional writing 281 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:51,120 Speaker 1: by Nicholas Takowski, editing by Chris Childs and Stephen Perez, 282 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:56,879 Speaker 1: featuring Robin Bloodworth as Marcus. Directed by Nicholas Takowski. Original 283 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 1: score and sound design by Chris Child's. Executive producers Aaron Mankey, 284 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick, Alexander Williams and Nicholas Takowski. Supervising producer Josh Same. 285 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:13,359 Speaker 1: Producers Chris Child's and Stephen Perez. Casting by Sunday Bowling 286 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: c s A and Meg Mormon c s A. Production 287 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:21,200 Speaker 1: coordinator Wayna Calderon. Recorded at Lantern Audio in Atlanta, Georgia, 288 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: engineered by Chris Gardner, Aeros Sound and Recording in Ojai, California, 289 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: engineered by Ken Arrows. Twelve Ghosts was created by Nicholas Takowski. 290 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:34,800 Speaker 1: Then is a production of I Heeart three D Audio 291 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,879 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Learn more about 292 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 1: the show at grim and Mild dot com, and find 293 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,879 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio by visiting the I 294 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 295 00:24:46,320 --> 00:25:05,959 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.