Hey, Come Here

[00:00:00] Welcome to Scary Story Podcast.

[00:00:03] In this episode, I share two stories, one of them being the experience of a young boy walking

[00:00:09] home and the other about a true phenomenon that happens to hundreds of people around the

[00:00:14] world, losing sense of reality.

[00:00:19] My name is Edwin.

[00:00:21] Here is a scary story.

[00:00:26] Hey, come here.

[00:00:27] It was late in the evening and little George was waiting for his mom to get off work,

[00:00:37] by the door of the bakery.

[00:00:39] He was asked by the manager not to stand too close to the door, because customers had often

[00:00:44] asked who the little boy by the window was, and the manager felt uncomfortable saying

[00:00:49] that he was the son of one of his employees.

[00:00:52] George remembered this and moved back to wait by one of the steps off to the side.

[00:00:57] Why the manager simply didn't let George wait inside was beyond me.

[00:01:02] But George had gotten invited inside a couple of times, often to the awkward smile of the

[00:01:07] patrons feeling sorry for him as he stepped toward the warm ovens, and he avoided Mr.

[00:01:12] Smith's glare along with the fake smile he would display after being forced to let

[00:01:16] him inside the shop.

[00:01:19] The wind usually picked up around this time, around the time that his mom clocked

[00:01:22] out, so the little boy would break the customer's heart by simply standing there,

[00:01:27] by the door, peeking inside and standing out in the wind.

[00:01:34] It was okay with George.

[00:01:37] Instead of watching for his mom to see if she picked up the basket by the cash register,

[00:01:40] he'd wait to be surprised.

[00:01:43] There was bread in there, and sometimes there were these croissants with the beef sausage inside.

[00:01:49] George figured that waiting for his mom to cross the door was just the same.

[00:01:54] She would look right at her and then down at her side.

[00:01:58] She usually had a bag, sometimes a small one.

[00:02:01] In other times it was a large paper bag stuffed to the top with bread.

[00:02:06] Still he couldn't help but walk across the door a few times to see if his mom was near

[00:02:10] that basket on the counter.

[00:02:12] It seemed to be about an extra hour, though it could have been only a few minutes later.

[00:02:18] George was greeted by surprise when his mom stepped out of the shop.

[00:02:22] George helped me out with this, will you?

[00:02:25] His mom said in her soft voice.

[00:02:28] His brown shoes crunched against that loose gravel on the sidewalk.

[00:02:32] He grabbed the bag.

[00:02:34] He could usually tell when mom was in a good mood and when she was tired, which I guess

[00:02:39] some would call a bad mood, though comparing the two didn't seem to match for some reason.

[00:02:45] Today he had no idea.

[00:02:48] You stepped in front of him crossing those dark paved streets.

[00:02:52] Usually their voices were the only ones that could be heard at that hour with the distant

[00:02:56] chatter of people coming from the windows with the flashing blue lights on the television,

[00:03:00] shining through the large windows of the living room.

[00:03:05] Once they got home though, their windows would be lit without warm orange light of

[00:03:09] the kitchen but never the blue lights.

[00:03:13] Television at night gives you nightmares, mom would say.

[00:03:17] And so George followed four or five steps behind his mother down the street before turning

[00:03:21] into the dark dirt road that would lead them straight home.

[00:03:25] The bread he hugged with his arms was getting heavier, so he decided to stop and adjust it,

[00:03:31] raising it higher toward his shoulders.

[00:03:35] Seven steps behind his mother now.

[00:03:37] He squished the bread with his left hand through the paper bag and put his right

[00:03:41] hand on the bottom of it but it took some fiddling around.

[00:03:45] It was about fifteen steps behind her now.

[00:03:48] His mom visible only because of her yellow and white uniform of Smith Bakery.

[00:03:55] He was trying to pick up the pace but his mother didn't get any closer.

[00:03:59] He wanted to call out for her but he remembered when he did that last time.

[00:04:04] The neighbors were sleeping, don't make too much noise, she said.

[00:04:08] So he focused on the sounds of those crickets by the pond they were about to pass on their left.

[00:04:13] The orange light post up ahead was right where their house was and he could see it now.

[00:04:19] He was getting closer to his mother too.

[00:04:22] That's when he heard it.

[00:04:25] Hey, come here.

[00:04:28] Come here.

[00:04:29] He heard from behind him.

[00:04:31] He turned around trying not to stop completely in fear of losing his mother in the darkness.

[00:04:37] He may have seen something hiding behind the oak tree in front of one of the neighbors' homes

[00:04:41] but he wasn't too sure.

[00:04:44] He felt uneasy now.

[00:04:47] Hey, come here.

[00:04:50] George thought about running to catch up to his mother.

[00:04:53] Hey, come here.

[00:04:56] Come here you heard once again, closer this time.

[00:05:01] George didn't turn around.

[00:05:04] His daddy started running.

[00:05:06] Upon hearing his footsteps, George's mother turned around and let out a scream.

[00:05:11] And her son was a pudgy small man about the height of a large dog, a big hat on his head.

[00:05:19] George turned around to see the thing's huge nose on its wrinkled face about two steps away

[00:05:23] from him.

[00:05:25] It seemed just as scared and jumped toward the bushes on the side of the road.

[00:05:29] In the confusion, some of the bread had fallen off the bag and George's mother

[00:05:35] was running towards her son.

[00:05:39] So George remembered this scene for years, and the side of the bread falling off the

[00:05:44] bag.

[00:05:45] The croissant spilling over to the side.

[00:05:50] He stayed close to the door of the bakery from that point forward.

[00:05:55] He walked next to his mother on the way home.

[00:05:59] It's still on some dark nights.

[00:06:02] You can still hear the little man's voice from the side of the road.

[00:06:08] Hey, come here.

[00:06:24] The next story is called Cult of Burials, and it is coming up right after a quick word

[00:06:29] from sponsors that help make the show possible.

[00:06:35] Something getting in the way of your happiness or with achieving your goals?

[00:06:39] Better help can assess your needs and match you to your own licensed professional therapist

[00:06:43] to connect with in under 48 hours.

[00:06:46] It is safe, private, and convenient professional counseling, not self-help.

[00:06:51] You can send a message to your counselor at any time and get thoughtful responses.

[00:06:55] Plus, you can schedule weekly video or phone sessions.

[00:06:59] Forget having to sit in uncomfortable waiting rooms to get help.

[00:07:01] Now, you can talk with licensed professional counselors who are specialized in depression,

[00:07:06] stress, family conflicts, anxiety, and more topics right from your home.

[00:07:11] Anything you share is confidential, but please remember that this is not a crisis line.

[00:07:16] If you'd like, you can check out the testimonials posted daily on their website.

[00:07:21] So many people have been using BetterHelp that they are now recruiting additional counselors

[00:07:24] in all 50 states.

[00:07:27] I want you to start living a happier life today, and as a listener of Scary Story Podcast,

[00:07:31] you'll get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com slash scarystory.

[00:07:38] Join over 1 million people taking charge of their mental health.

[00:07:42] Again, that's better help, H-E-L-P dot com slash scarystory.

[00:07:52] Cult of Burials.

[00:08:00] In 2015, Diana had decided to take a trip down to South America and do something that

[00:08:06] she explained in many words.

[00:08:08] But to summarize it, it was basically a really long walk.

[00:08:12] People do this in the United States and all around the world.

[00:08:16] Long tracks across states or countries.

[00:08:19] All seeking something different.

[00:08:21] Some type of eye-opening experience, and some look for closure from it.

[00:08:26] While others grieve while walking.

[00:08:30] She made it seem like it was a safe thing to do, but I'm sure she didn't watch the

[00:08:33] same videos that I did on the trail.

[00:08:36] The crime.

[00:08:38] The Disappearances.

[00:08:41] I tend to get paranoid about this sort of thing, and even though I'm sure those

[00:08:45] are exceptions and a very slim percentage of what actually happens.

[00:08:50] The horrific stories themselves are what make me think twice about ever doing a walk

[00:08:54] like that.

[00:08:56] Hands being severed and placed on the windshields of cars.

[00:09:00] People breaking into tents and stabbing sleepers for no reason.

[00:09:04] Yeah, no thanks.

[00:09:07] But Diana was my best friend, and I think aside from me imagining her horrible death,

[00:09:11] I was mainly worried about her finding her new favorite place and forgetting about me.

[00:09:17] Selfish, I know.

[00:09:19] But she did invite me and I said no.

[00:09:22] It was a type of guilt I felt in knowing that something could happen to her because

[00:09:25] she was traveling alone.

[00:09:29] She kept me updated throughout the whole trip whenever she found free Wi-Fi.

[00:09:33] I really didn't think I would lose her.

[00:09:36] At least not in the way that I did.

[00:09:40] It was gross, but she sent me a photo of her blistered feet at one point.

[00:09:45] And I remembered thinking about how strange it would be if that were to be the last

[00:09:48] photo she ever sent me.

[00:09:50] Memorialized forever as a last message.

[00:09:54] Thankfully she sent me other messages soon after that.

[00:09:58] She sounded like she was having fun, making friends and enjoying herself.

[00:10:04] Exhausted but day turned around after that cold apple juice from a lonely shop before

[00:10:09] entering one of the previous small towns with the views of the rolling hills.

[00:10:14] She sounded like a poet.

[00:10:16] And that she actually was.

[00:10:18] That was how we met actually, and there were lots of things we talked about that

[00:10:22] she suddenly added color to.

[00:10:24] Extra words and sometimes.

[00:10:27] Many sometimes she would start crying at the sentences she formed.

[00:10:32] She would then take out that ugly brown notebook, shake her pen and trap the sentence in the

[00:10:38] yellow paper next to the other paragraphs that she had come up with.

[00:10:43] Sometimes with little sketches.

[00:10:44] But the messages eventually slowed down and honestly I was starting to grow envious

[00:10:50] of the amazing days she was having.

[00:10:53] The lack of text wasn't as concerning as I thought it would be.

[00:10:57] She was woken up by roosters and rays of sunshine while I had my old trusty iPhone yelling at

[00:11:03] me every morning to hop in the shower.

[00:11:06] Otherwise I'd miss a 6am train down to my cubicle.

[00:11:10] And it was there, on my cube, right under the office lights that weren't working,

[00:11:17] where my heart dropped to my stomach on a Thursday afternoon.

[00:11:21] The latest message she had sent me just as I was about to leave for the day.

[00:11:26] Something happened, she said.

[00:11:29] I clicked through the screen to find the rest of the messages, where she explained that

[00:11:34] I thought she would think that she was crazy for what she was about to tell me.

[00:11:38] But then she was approached by two men while out on the trail.

[00:11:44] My finger was shaking in front of the blue text bubbles so I moved it to the

[00:11:47] side as I gripped the phone with both hands.

[00:11:50] I could feel the phone slipping through the sweat between my palms and the see-through

[00:11:54] plastic case that Diana and I bought together.

[00:11:59] The one we said we would fill with stickers but never did.

[00:12:05] She was at a hostel now, she said.

[00:12:07] She was going to do some readings and asked if she could call me once she was done.

[00:12:11] That it would be 9pm, my time.

[00:12:16] Of course that was okay, but I decided to call her anyway.

[00:12:19] Only to get the message that the phone number could not be reached.

[00:12:23] She had gotten a new data plan and phone number while traveling so...

[00:12:27] That made sense.

[00:12:30] It seemed like forever, but 9 o'clock came and as punctual as ever,

[00:12:34] the unfamiliar FaceTime audio ringtone came on.

[00:12:38] Hey, so the wifi slows down in about 10 minutes but basically a couple of guys

[00:12:43] gave me a folded piece of paper.

[00:12:46] I know this sounds crazy, but there's an information seminar not too far from here

[00:12:50] that talks about just what I was looking for.

[00:12:54] It's about the truth and I'll send you a picture of it.

[00:12:58] Wait, hold on.

[00:13:01] And with that she hung up, sent a photo of a bright green flyer in English

[00:13:06] and called back.

[00:13:08] Diana explained at a thousand words per minute that this group knew about

[00:13:11] the existence of aliens and that they live among us.

[00:13:15] That there was a man who could answer all these questions it would serve as a bridge

[00:13:19] between the superior beings and the listeners.

[00:13:22] She would have to be there to believe it.

[00:13:26] I laughed, I imagined a man with a tin foil hat

[00:13:29] ready to receive signals from outer space and communicate the messages

[00:13:33] all for three easy payments of $1,000 each.

[00:13:37] Her tone changed immediately.

[00:13:39] First to anger and then to cries.

[00:13:43] All I could hear were sniffles and her distorted voice as she complained to me

[00:13:46] that nobody ever took her seriously.

[00:13:50] That she's no longer the same person that she used to be.

[00:13:53] That she wished for people to be able to see that.

[00:13:57] I had heard that speech before.

[00:14:00] And suddenly the worries that I had for her went away and all I could think about

[00:14:03] was that she was always coming off as an entitled brat that made everything about her.

[00:14:09] The deposits her dad made to her account stopped her from ever holding onto a real job.

[00:14:14] With the exception of a food delivery gig she took up with a vegan shop from our town.

[00:14:20] It was part of their motto that deliveries were to be made on bicycle or on foot.

[00:14:25] And again, I laughed when she first told me about it.

[00:14:30] But I held back yelling at her and telling her exactly what I thought about her at that moment

[00:14:35] just like I always did.

[00:14:38] I felt shocked.

[00:14:39] Then I let the logic come back to me as I thought of reasons why her actions didn't surprise me at all.

[00:14:46] And with that, she got lost.

[00:14:50] She stopped replying to my messages.

[00:14:53] First for a couple of months.

[00:14:56] But I would get phone calls from her parents every day.

[00:14:59] Two to three times.

[00:15:02] Asking if I had heard anything from her.

[00:15:05] And that turned into a couple of years.

[00:15:09] Apparently she had been sending her parents messages from anonymous numbers saying that she was alright.

[00:15:15] That there was nothing to worry about.

[00:15:17] And that she needed money.

[00:15:20] She wouldn't say where she was but some savvy friends of hers were able to trace her down

[00:15:24] thanks to the internet connection she used.

[00:15:27] The area was a small town in the country of Chile.

[00:15:31] Then she moved up north to Peru.

[00:15:34] Later on ended up in Nicaragua.

[00:15:38] It was still tough for me to believe that in 2017 her photo showed up on an internet article.

[00:15:44] One of my friends had set up an image recognition bot to scan websites with conspiracies and

[00:15:49] for known cults that matched the name of the flyer that she sent me.

[00:15:53] Burials.

[00:15:55] Dismiss what you know.

[00:15:58] They are waiting for us.

[00:15:59] It read.

[00:16:01] She was sitting in a circle of people.

[00:16:03] Her blonde hair had grown significantly.

[00:16:06] And she wore clothes that looked like brags of the color that matched palm leaves.

[00:16:13] The group she belongs to believes in creating a separate society where everything is shared.

[00:16:19] Where beings from other planets are able to cohabit with them.

[00:16:23] That they will learn the powers of our ancestors whatever those are.

[00:16:28] She sends messages every once in a while.

[00:16:32] But I rarely hear from her now.

[00:16:35] Though her parents and I know that she is alive.

[00:16:38] We still have to accept that the Diana we once knew was dead.

[00:16:44] Just like her story.

[00:16:46] There are thousands of them out there.

[00:16:49] People who get lost.

[00:16:51] Fooled by others.

[00:16:54] And their own minds.

[00:17:09] Scary Story Podcast is produced by me Edwin Cobarruñas.

[00:17:14] To stay up to date with the podcast you can sign up for notifications by heading over to

[00:17:17] scarystorypodcast.com

[00:17:21] Or you can also click follow right now on your podcast player.

[00:17:26] Until next time.

[00:17:28] Thank you very much for listening.