I have a child from a previous relationship and her mother can be to put it nicely, demanding and manipulative. I met my gf 6 months ago. She the greatest thing since my child was born. But over these 6months my child's mother has, continuously called (up to 350 times in 2 hours), treated my gf, threatened me, told me she'll text her to say I cheated on her and many many more. And today was too for her. She called me one and I answered to tell her about our child night since she slept over last night. And she proceeded to ask about breakfast I said she had a pancake at a diner and she didn't finish it so l put it in a box. I told her she left it in my car but l'll bring it over later. She then yelled at the top of her lungs how she can't eat it now and that l'm a horrible human being for suggesting that. I hang up I can see my gf getting mad. So I don't answer the following 7. After our outing to the science center she told me she was done. She said she though she was blocked and that she can't take this back and fourth any more. I told her that I'm sorry forever and that she is blocked but she called from a NO CALLER ID so I can't block that. She asked me to pull over in the raid and she'll walk home. I told her no let me bring you to the house. She opened the door while I was driving and after that I relented. I asked her to talk and she said no don't talk to me. She went inside right after me before I could talk her down, l've been In the most of rain for three hours now. I left and bought her flowers. And her favorite candy but she won't come to the door or even unblock me. I know it takes time and whatn I need to show her how sorry I am. Idk what to an. spinning out of control.
Edit: she broke up with me. Or at least for now my baby mama sent gay pictures to her acting like it was me. So that’s that. I’m sorry I wasted your time. And I’m sorry that I’m a horrible person who doesn’t understand love. Thank you

DO NOT COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS. I am NOT OP. Original post by u/OddDot5178 in AITAH
trigger warnings: possible transphobia, possible mental health issues, manipulation

NOTE: Because everyone will wonder, I am addressing this right now. While OOP's child identifies as non-binary, she uses "she/her" pronouns and presents as a female. This is why OOP refers to her as her daughter.

AITAH For Not Wanting To Raise My NB Daughter's Baby? - Feb 7, 2024
My daughter came to me at 16 and said she was non-binary, but only sometimes. Like, some days she would feel more male than female and some days she would feel like neither. She wanted me to ask her every day what day it was and then refer to her as that pronoun of the day.
I told her that wasn’t going to fly. Growing up, I spent a lot of time on LJ (Livejournal) during the ol’ ‘bun-self’ and ‘zen-self’ ‘zir-self’ days. People who think this is new to this generation are fooling themselves. I told her that I would call her the pronoun she wanted, and do my best to remember it day to day, but she was going to have to tell me what she wanted for that day. I wasn’t going to play a daily guessing game.
This went on for about a week or two until she finally seemed to grow tired or bored and just said I could call her ‘her’. Though she still identifies as non-binary. Fine. (At least when it was going on she wanted ‘she, he, or they’ — I’m sorry but I couldn’t have done fox-self/fox-them with a straight face).
So that’s the pronoun story and looking back where I think things started to go off the handle. Here’s my real question.
My daughter is now 18, pregnant, and seems to have lost her god damned mind. Or I’m an asshole. You choose.
This year has been a struggle. She wanted to take a break year before she goes to community college, but can’t keep a job. Apparently, retail situations are too phobic against her non-binary state. (My child looks/acts/dresses exactly as a young adult female btw. When I ask how people are being phobic against her, she gets as prickly as a cactus so I really don’t know the details.). She’s been through 4 or 5 jobs this year, quit all of them. She won’t consider call centers that aren’t face to face because she doesn’t like to talk on phones, and is apparently looking for a remote job without any luck.
She’s been unemployed since Thanksgiving (she quit her last job on Black Friday, in fact) and I was on the verge of laying down the law, telling her she either needs to go to school this upcoming semester full time or get a full time job or move out with her friends.
But now she’s come to me and she’s 5 months pregnant. She’s very angry at me, says it’s my fault because:

I didn’t put her on puberty-blocking hormones when she came to me 2 years ago.
She believes I am in fact trying to ‘feminize her’ by getting her birth control. (The pill.). She’s been throwing her prescription away.

This is where I might be the asshole. I called her a little idiot. We don’t use that sort of language in my house, and I never call people names — especially my own child — but at that moment I could just see red.
The hormone thing is a non-issue IMO because this is the first time I ever heard of her wanting hormones. What was I supposed to do? Go back in time?
As for the birth control! It’s also the first time I’m hearing anything about this! There are non-pill options that don’t have estrogen. If that was her want, all she had to do was ask and I would have driven her to the doctor myself! Or she could have taken the car she has and done it. She has her own medical card, even! Though to be fair, I don’t know how she would have managed the co-pay without a job. I know for a fact her old high school gave out free condoms like candy because her friends were always giggling over flavored sample packs and even blew a few of them up like balloons and left them around the house one time. She had all the birth control she could ever want and used none of it.
It gets worse.
We’re way past the date of abortion (again, I would have helped her if this had been her wish! We live in an abortion protected state and can afford it!). She’s known she was pregnant since about 2 months and has come to think of her baby like a sibling. She expects me to raise it like it was mine. That this is my duty, in fact, because she says it is my refusal to accept her non-binary state that led to her being pregnant. So she was going to get a brother or sister and I was going to have another child.
You can say my language grew … sterner to versions of ‘Get your head out of your ass’ and ‘Congratulations, mommy, you have some hard decisions to make’, and I said I would absolutely not raise her baby for her.
She also refused to say who the father was. Now that I’ve cooled down, I’m really hoping she has a secret boyfriend. She does have some friends who were born male, but now also don’t identify that way. We didn’t even get there as I lost my mind when she said she thinks of her own baby as a sibling and wants me to raise it like my own child.
She’s locked herself in her room loudly wailing, I feel like crap warmed over. She’s been in there for 12 hours, and as she has an attached bathroom, probably won’t be coming out until she gets hungry. Considering it’s been half a day I think she has snacks stored.
I also don’t know where to go from here. Being pregnant sucks and messes with your head, so I’d like to blame that and the fear she must be feeling, but … I have the bad feeling I either raised a spoiled brat or someone with an emerging personality disorder.
So I need to know from people who aren’t emotionally involved, and maybe some people who are more in tune with this whole nonbinary thing than I am.
What do I do to help while also making her responsible for her own child? How can I help my daughter accept she must do basically the most feminine thing you can do (give birth and possibly breast-feed) while being sensitive that she’s non-binary? Am I just a big asshole here?
Typing all this out it feels like my daughter is lost in crazy town. I'm still not raising her baby but at what point do I drag a legal adult to the hospital?
Edit: You might disagree with my choices or wording, but I'm reporting people who call this bait. It's not.
Edit2: It's the middle of the night and she has decided to pack some of her clothes and stay with one of her friends. (One who I suspect is the baby daddy). Before she left she told me that she already called the police and let them know that she was 'leaving of her own free will and was not in danger'. Like I was going to report an 18 year old adult as a runaway or something? It was insulting.
I told her she needs to work out details if she wants to adopt with the father, and she was welcome back home when she had a plan in place.
It was short because I heard her on the way out. I think she just meant to leave without saying anything.
Thank you for your kind comments and advice, Reddit. I'm going to sleep.
Commenters agreed that OOP's child wasn't thinking straight:
Comment 1:
NTA.
I hate to say this, but; I sincerely hope OP's daughter chooses to give up this baby for adoption, because she's a confused hot ass mess. I don't blame OP for not wanting to step on the crazy train and raise this baby.
Comment 2:
Let’s be honest: If OP says yes to raising this child as her own, it will be the first of several. Daughter won’t take BC, so she will continue to have unprotected sex and get pregnant. She decided a couple years ago that she’s NB, expected her mother to understand that and know everything about it, and is now rewriting history to blame her mom for her now being pregnant. My head is swimming, and she’s not my daughter! There will be more babies.
Comment 3:
NB here OP.
You are SO NTA. I feel sympathy for your kid because they sound like they are so confused, maybe have body dysphoria and are now facing a life altering situation with no way out. They must feel so trapped. So they turn on you. It's easier for them to yell at and blame you instead of accepting responsibility. They are looking for a way out. We all keep changing and growing and your kid is SO young they seem to not know who they are yet and now they have to face looking after a baby when they know deep down they can't even really take care of themselves.
But my GOD the thing they did that was really stupid was chucking BC away. That is actually wild. Your kid needs to learn the difference between gender enforced stereotypes and actual biology. With biology it unfortunately doesn't matter what gender you are, the biology doesn't care, it still works the same. They NEED to learn that and differentiate.
Like I said, NTA OP. What a shit situation. I hope it gets better. I really do.
Comment 4:
NTA, your child is in fact a little idiot, with behavior that would be an absolute nightmare had you not been their parent. Also birth control isn’t a form of feminization, it’s a form of responsibility when you’re born in a body with a uterus and want to have sex that can result in pregnancy.
OOP's response:
Ugh, I wish I had those words when she hit me with that one. I sort of sputtered for a few minutes.
Comment 5:
Oh man, this is a can of worms within itself.
I wish I had better advice but just...I feel for you and the position you are stuck in.
The ONLY thing I can think of is, referring to breast feeding as "chest feeding" might make your NB daughter accept it more.
But like...there's a whole other level of things you need to get through first.
First and foremost, therapy, ASAP for your kid. Because she needs to get her head sorted out. Assuming you will just take this kid and raise it for her is...problematic to say the least. And she's got a deadline coming obviously, so therapy ASAP.
Also appointment for pregnancy checkups asap!! Has she had any? An unmonitored pregnancy can lead to complications
You might also be able to get her a social worker to go through pregnancy checkups, birthing extra.
Your kid needs a big sit down conversation about accountability for your own actions. And about how she might feel like part of YOUR actions lead to this, there was also many many choices she could have made to prevent this, that she chose not too. And at the end of the day, it was HER choices that led to this, not you.
OOP's response:
Thanks for this tip. I've written it down. The reason I mentioned she was NB because using 'breast' instead of 'chest' is the exact type of thing to send her into a pissy-fit when she's in the wrong mood. I know this may sound like a little thing, but she's always been... well, dramatic.
Because it's the internet and things are anonymous I'll admit that I am absolutely dreading pregnancy and afterbirth mood swings. Especially since it will all involve very womanly things in every intimate way. On top of the sheer stress of a newborn? Yes, I'm not looking forward to it at all and am already preparing to endure the storms.
Our conversation wasn't productive (it was an argument and she's still not out of her room) but I don't think she has had any prenatal care. That will change if I have anything to do with it.
Thanks again.
OOP commented with some of her concerns:
Yes. My worry and regret have so many places to go and a big part of it is for the baby.
This has been a bad day. :(
Responding to a comment regarding her child's entitled attitude:
Oh believe you me I have been kicking myself up and down on top of everything else. I don't know how she got to this point, but she's there now.
I wish I did have that time travel machine she clearly expects me to have.
She also clarified her overall views on the matter:
I'm on the fence. If she acted at all like she didn't have a gender (I believe that's what NB is) then I could take it more seriously. But she dresses as a woman. She puts on makeup, wears dresses during the summer, enjoys feminine things? We watch horse videos on youtube and squeal over the new foal videos. She's never been a tom boy, even.
But I was like, okay this isn't hurting her. I'll let her have this and express herself. Maybe it'll turn into something, maybe it won't. And after the first few weeks, she even dropped changing pronouns every day.
Her mentioning being NB faded and then started up hard again when high school ended and she started working retail.
I try to be understanding. Retail is hell and I'd personally only work it again if I was at my last resort. But recently it does seem to be an excuse not to work. And now she has a baby on the way.
This may not be the place for it, but I'm just worried she's regressing to a more child-like state. I don't know if she's struggling with being NB or if she's using NB as an excuse to shield herself from the world. Ugh. I guess the internet won't know, but I'm just flat out worried.

AITAH has no consensus bot but the comments were largely NTA.

Update: My NB Daughter Wants Me To Raise Her Baby - Feb 17, 2024
Hi,
This is an update to this post (Long story short my 18 year old NB daughter wanted me to raise her baby, and she told me she thinks the baby as her sibling. We had a blow-out, she locked herself in her room for most of a day, and then took off with her friends/her lover)
So this happened a few days ago but I didn’t update because I needed to get my head around it. It still doesn’t make sense.
Daughter finally unblocked me. She and the person who got her pregnant wanted to talk to me at a public place. We chose iHop.
Although I suspected I knew who her lover was, I was disappointed to find out because they have been a part of my daughter’s friend group since high school and was the only one I ever had a problem with and kicked out of my house.
They are trans now but two years ago the friend group was watching a movie in the living room, and every time I’d pass by, he (he was a he then) would lock eyes with me and make really obnoxious, loud, orgasm sounds like that scene in Harry Met Sally. I told him to knock it off and grew sterner when he did it again.
Then when I was in the kitchen, he somehow snuck up behind me and was miming jack-off movements with his hand. I turned around and caught him at it. He was still fully clothed, but it was startling and freaky. I kicked him out.
So now I’ll just call them Sperm-donor because that’s what they are.
I’m still calling my daughter ‘my daughter’ and ‘she’ because I still haven’t been told not to by her otherwise. So get off my case on that.
Anyway, the iHop meeting was a shit-show. Sperm-donor sat with my daughter and went on the attack. Sperm-donor’s points were:

I was poisoning my daughter by “making” her take birth control. (I only helped her get the prescription and would have done everything I could if I knew she didn’t want to take the pill. There are other methods!)
It will take years to “fix” my daughter after all I did. (Not giving her hormones even though I had no idea that was what she wanted. She dropped even wanting to change her pronouns after a few weeks.)
Abortion is a sin and I am a monster for suggesting it. (It’s past the date anyway.)
I am further abusing her by not taking care of the baby while she fixes herself. (I guess they meant it as a temp situation which was also new to me.)

So apparently even though I’m an abusive monster, a bad mother, and so on, I’m even worse for not taking in their baby. At least no one suggested that I raise it like my daughter’s sister anymore. That might have been my daughter’s thought on it.
Sperm-donor did most of the talking while my daughter just sat and glared at me, nodding along.
It was kind of a whirlwind, Sperm-donor pounded the table a few times, and even the waiter knew not to bother us after drinks, lol. I’m surprised we weren’t asked to leave.
There was a lot said, mostly by the sperm-donor who really seemed to be steering the ship. I asked why sperm-donor couldn’t take care of the baby and sperm-donor said their parents were even worse than me. I guess my daughter and sperm-donor taking care of the child they created is out of the question.
I told them that I would not be raising their baby for them and that adoption is the best bet. They said that if I don’t agree to raise it, they’ll make sure I’ll never see the baby ever.
I won’t raise their child for them. So that’s that, I guess.
I feel so many flavors of worried and angry and then worried all over again. I’ve been around the block and it’s never a great sign when the person you’re with makes an enemy of your family. That’s what sperm-donor has done by painting me as an abuser and failed mother who also won’t take in their baby. Sounds like sperm-donor has cut themselves off from their own family too. So I’m worried my daughter is in a very controlling relationship with someone who convinced her to stop birth control because they think hormones are too feminizing somehow and that she needs to be “fixed”. But they still want me to raise their baby.
I’m angry that my daughter can just hear this crap and nod along like, yeah, that makes total sense. She is not stupid. I think she’s love blinded.
I’m sad and worried for the baby. A couple commenters suggested I wanted nothing to do with the baby because I wouldn’t agree to raise it as my own. No, in a perfect world, I would want a normal grandmotherly relationship. Or at least know that the child is safe and has been adopted into a loving family.
I don’t care what my daughter does with her gender, or her body as long as she doesn’t hurt herself. I want her to be in a happy relationship with someone who values her for who she is. Sperm-donor kept using the word ‘fix’ which I see as another terrible sign.
It’s bad all around. My house is empty. It feels like my adult daughter has run off to join up with some weird church/cult thing who tells her that up is down. That not using birth control and not getting an abortion and then expecting others to take care of the child is all a-okay. Oh and that she’s a problem and needs to be “fixed”.
I texted her and said I would be there for her, but sperm-donor was still not welcome in the house. I think I’m blocked again.
She’s a legal adult. I’m not sure what else I can do at this point? In my low points, part of me thinks maybe I should agree to take the baby and then immediately make sure it’s adopted into a loving home. But I get the feeling that sperm-donor won’t make that easy, and right now my daughter does what he says. Also I’m not sure if that plan is even possible. It sounds Hollywood.
I have an appointment to speak with a councilor, but the soonest I could get is April. Some of my friends think I should take the baby in either to get them away from the parents or because they think it’s my duty, or both.
The only silver lining in this was that they both seemed sober. I don’t think there’s drugs involved.
Am I reading this wrong? Am I the asshole here?
Commenters agreed that sperm donor's comments made no sense, and that OOP's child was probably stuck in an abusive relationship:
Comment 1:
For your safety, I would change the locks and put up camera, Sperm-donor seems unhinged. I’m a firm believer in better safe than sorry.
Comment 2:
This baby will be used as a pawn in his never ending psycho drama. If they do not and cannot raise their baby, the best solution is adoption. Otherwise, the father will make your life a living hell.
NTA
OOP's response:
I couldn't figure out a polite way of saying this, but yes. That is my suspicion if I take in their baby. Sperm-donor implied it would be temporary while earlier my daughter said it would be permanent. I think sperm-donor will refuse to sign over paperwork when the time comes or try to leverage it in some way.
Comment 3:
NTA also it sounds like your daughter is in an abusive relationship with this person. Sorry your daughter has been brain washed by this crazy person. I would definitely contact this sperm donors family and if they seem sane warn them about how crazy both of spoke to you.
OOP's response:
That is my fear, and not a bad idea to contact sperm-donor's parents. This has all happened so far, I feel like I'm in shock and I'm very worried.
Comment 4:
Pretty wild that a trans person is saying abortion is a sin. None of this is anything like what you're going to hear from any healthy LGBT community, who are quite careful to make sure not to support people in delusional or antisocial behavior. Definitely get therapy, sounds like your kid has some serious mental health problems if they're being influenced by whatever wackos put these ideas into their head. You're going to need support in coping with this madness. NTA by a country mile. You are in no way "abusing" your kid by refusing to take responsibility for their bad choices.
OOP's response:
Thank you and yes, I don't want to minimize my daughter's role in it but the hard anti-abortion thing surprised me too. A lot of what they said contradicted itself. It felt like I was sitting across from two people who were in their own wacko bubble.
I know it's not a LGBT thing. I wish someone from their community would knock some sense into them, if its even possible at this point.

OOP hasn't posted since the last update.
Reminder - I am not the original poster. DO NOT COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS.

As you all may know already, there has been quite a bit of "drama" in the sonny angel community lately, and its all due to these 4 girls, sonnyangelmama (Ana), kilo.flow, gabysfunkyvibes, and laurenindreamland. I know there are already a few Reddit threads about this but this is just an overall one to compile the majority of the story + I saw some people who were confused in the other threads about what happened. (The photos provided are related to the most recent updates, which I will address later on in the message, I know this is a long thread but just bear with me! This is just to cover the whole situation + some of my opinion on it and its late and I have free time LOL)
It all started when these 3 artists (the first 3 names mentioned) got emails from Dreams telling them to take down their Sonny Angel/Smiski related products due to copyright infringement. Ana and Kilo got emails whereas Gaby got a message on Etsy. At first, Gaby didn't believe it since it was a message on Etsy and seemed unprofessional, and her listings ended up getting taken down. These 3 artists then proceeded to post about it on their Instagrams, completely stunned that Dreams would threaten them for copyright infringement... (and lets be honest, I'm not sure why as their art is either traced or just an exact copy of sonny angels, and Kilo especially is using a direct mold of a sonny angel to create her product, which is all meant for sale and profit and not personal use, without the permission of the company) but, when they posted about it they said Dreams was a big business praying on the small businesses and that they were wrong to call for a cease and desist, which resulted in MANY people going straight to their Instagram page and harassing them in the comments and completely slandering them. Which I get this is how some of them make an income from this, but you can't really be surprised when you're using their models/designs and calling it sonny angels/smiskis. Like you wouldn't be able to create your own Hello Kitty sticker design with the base drawing of Hello Kitty and then call it "Hello Kitty ____ sticker" because of copyright... Anyways, on the side, Ana was DMing Dreams to get answers and they ended up responding to her later on, saying that they did not send those emails and that someone had been trying to report their accounts since February but didn't take any action.
After finding that out, Ana posted on her story that she had important information and to join her live, to which she said Dreams said it wasn't them, but instead trolls. Ana completely name dropped two girls, Nathalie and Lupe. Ana is quite known for being a bully, and in her live people were getting all riled up, saying to sue Nathalie, and everyone was saying to unfollow her and comment on her posts (but she had already limited comments) and people kept @'ing them in the live calling them out, and when people were asking how she knows it was them, Ana didn't really give any concrete evidence, other than saying that her and Nathalie had beef in the past so this is Nathalie's way of being a hater and trying to take her down. Which if you saw the live, Ana's behavior was quite worrisome knowing that she's a grown woman, and a mother. Encouraging bullying and harassment is just insane to me, and she just kept name dropping them with no basis. IIRC, Kilo's brother, Ridge, was also saying in the live that him and Kilo have the time and money, and would be pursuing legal action. Also while this was happening, Ridge dm'ed Lupe accusing her of sending the emails, and when Lupe asked for proof, he did not provide any and said that his lawyers said he can't disclose it, and that he shouldn't even be talking to her but he wanted to "giver her a chance." After the live ended, the 3 artists posted numerous photos, showing that Dreams did not do it but it was internet trolls. Some people asked for a name drop in the comments, and Ana said that they didn't have the evidence to find out the culprits (Which I heard she deleted her comment, I can't find the screenshot of what she said but it's in one of the other threads I believe) and Gaby said that they don't care to find the culprits because they have better things to do, but they said that after Ana literally name dropped these girl's names so confidently in the live? I also heard that Ana said they knew it was her because she got the IP address, but that is literally not how that works... One of the other names I mentioned in the beginning was Lauren, and here is how she plays a part in this. She was also fueling the fire with these 3 main girls, by also name dropping in the live and proceeding to post TONS of memes, dissing the girls, and even mentioning their names in one of them, but censoring it with asterisks, which is giving bully/mean girl behavior... and I'm sorry but these are all grown women who are 26 or around that age. Sort it out in the DMs, there does not need to be all this drama online. When I first started collecting, I was raving to my friends and family about how sweet the community is, and I was so excited because I made so many new friends and I was able to help with my social anxiety by going to meetups and meeting new people, but now I don't think I can even say the community is so sweet anymore... There's always drama every week, whether that be on the Discord server or other social media apps.
Now going onto the current situation, Kilo got a cease and desist letter in the mail from Dreams, asking her to take down her stuff due to copyright, and also provided proof of her products (which are quite literally molds of sonny angels) and her brand name was also "Partly Sonny Angel" You can not be surprised that you are getting this letter when Sonny Angel is in your brand name and its a direct copy of their molds. Kilo is also accusing Dreams of stealing her designs because they're dropping a clear fan, and in my opinion, clear figurines are not new + they have had prototypes of glow in the dark figurines which are somewhat translucent/clear, so I don't think clear things (such as the candy store series shorts) aren't a new concept. I'm not sure why the people in Kilo's comments are defending her, and they're even dragging someone who commented that legally, this is copyright and they were genuinely just curious about the situation, and people instantly started attacking that person and saying they're a hateop. Kilo also has been trying to make a point that Sonny Angels are based off of Kewpie babies, which is true, they are INSPIRED from them, but they are not an EXACT copy of them, Kilo's products are LITERALLY MADE FROM SONNY ANGEL MOLDS there is no mistake in that, her mold is from sonny angel and her brand was partly sonny angels. In a legal view, Dreams has all the evidence against her and I don't see how Kilo thinks she would win this case, as I see her in the comments of her post saying she's going to fight back and she won't give up. Now regarding to the images, the first image is the letter she received. The second one are some of her creations, including her brand name and its clear to see its an exact copy of the angels. Images 4-5 are her telling people that Sonny Angel stole the kewpie design, which is just not true at all....
Now regarding image 6, this is a screenshot of a DM with Ana (this is not my Dm with her, it was sent to me) The person was saying that Ana needs to apologize to the two accused girls publicly, as she has not said anything about the situation at all (as well as Kilo and Gaby, they have only talked about the C&D and items getting taken down on Etsy) but none of them have ever addressed how they wrongly accused these girls and haven't apologized. Ana says that she would love to talk to them if they contacted her or unblocked her, but why is that their responsibility? Why should they have to reach out to her for an apology that is rightly owed to them? If she really was sincere about her apology, then she would've found a way to reach out to them or just public apologized, 100% there would be people who forwarded it to them, which could then result in them unblocking and talking it out. She's just looking for excuses to not apologize, and I think a lot of people know Ana has always been a bully, and she hated on that girl with an army and also told people to shut up about Palestine. The only thing Ana has addressed is reposting Kilo's post, nothing else. Only Lauren has addressed the situation and public apologized to the girl, although it didn't seem like the most sincere apology, and she has continued to defend this 3 artists while they say nothing on the situation, kind of crazy to me that they would allow Lauren to get dragged while she tries to defend them. And if you're reading this Lauren, Ana, Kilo, or Gaby, then I hope you learn from this and apologize to those girls sincerely, and also realize that in the legal world you are also in the wrong here. (Also, if you did make It this far, thank you for reading! I know it's super long, I got carried away, but if I did miss out on anything then please add it in the comments!)

Greetings! So, I tried NewGame+ out for a little bit and for the most part, I really like the challenge. The infused bugs and infusing weapons to higher levels is a great way to extend Grounded and having tougher boss fights with randomized abilities is cool. For context I play on Whoa! with default settings, so I'm used to the challenge and difficulty in some areas. But, I can't deny that some serious balancing is in order for NG+, especially when it comes to the new effect procs on the infused creatures, which for my remixed yard... was explosive damage. Oof.
So, as we know, explosive damage is one of those 'unblockable' damage types, just like scream attacks from the Hedge Broodmother and the Orchid Mantis. While we do have the Fungal Charm to counteract this by a good margin, for NG+ it definitely feels like the resistance is not enough, especially with the ways the effects can proc.
Examples:
- Wasp drone scream causes explosions at your player position, and proc once for every scream. No way to block.
- Dust mite clouds cause explosions at your player position when standing in the cloud, but the explosions proc CONTINUALLY whilst standing in the dust cloud. The same happens for Bombardier Beetle acid puddles, Fire Ant acid puddles, Termite Soldier dust clouds, Stinkbug and Green Shield Bug gas clouds.
- Boss infusion effects trigger on unblockable scream attacks. If you got a Hedge Broodmother with Venom, every time she screams your player will get venom, with no way to block. If you got a Mantis with explosive damage, it will blow you up when it screams. Spicy and Sour spawn projectiles at the boss position, whereas fresh, shock, venom and explosive spawn the effect on you - fresh and shock actually can be perfect blocked.
Currently even with maxed molar investment into HP (all in NG and all in NG+, including Meat Shield) and wearing Level 9 Broodmother armor (Heavy armor so max DR), just sustaining one or two of the infusion effects is nigh impossible even with the Fungal Charm for explosive hits. It's almost as if the game hits a 'Delete Player' button and terminates you on the spot. It definitely doesn't feel like a skill issue but more like a luck issue, as in the non-remixed yard, I can perfect block and defeat bugs and bosses, including the IBM, very reliably. Not saying this to brag about my skill level, but more so as a reference point for what I'm suggesting for improvement, as I think Whoa mode should be difficult in NG+ but not a dice roll as to whether you can succeed, especially if you are skilled at the blocking mechanics. For reference, I've watched streamers such as Para and Dinky (both EXTREMELY skilled at the game) having to turn the difficulty down on NG+ just to get past some of the bosses, and they've said the same as me - if you get unfavourable infusions like venom, spicy, sour or explosive on a boss, just reroll because you're going to get one-shot by something out of the blue.
With all that said, here's how I think the NG+ experience could be improved to better balance the game overall.

Fresh, Spicy, Sour, Shock and Explosive damage sources need to be nerfed from NG+ creatures. The damage output is simply too high, and the Fungal Charm only helps with Explosive damage, Fresh Defense helps with Spicy, but the other sources have no countermeasure. Also needing to rely on the Fungal Charm stops you using your mutation slot for the randomized trinkets, and it definitely feels like the explosive resist on them are lower than that of the Fungal Charm. For that I have the following suggestions: MUTATIONS: Mutations could have a secret final phase that can be unlocked in NG+ and have the following benefits. - Fresh Defense mutation gives extra protection against Spicy damage. Unlocked by eating another 10 Mint Chunks in NG+. - Spicy Safety gives extra defense against Fresh damage. Unlocked by eating another 10 Spicy Shards in NG+ - Shocking Dismissal gives extra defense against Sour damage. Unlocked by defeating the Assistant Manager in NG+, - Sour Sensation gives extra defense against Shock damage. Unlocked by eating another 10 Sour Lumps in NG+. - Spore Lord and Truffle Tussle gives extra defense against explosive damage. Unlocked by defeating the Infected Ladybug and Infected Broodmother in NG+. TRINKETS: Trinkets like crinkles, waffles, cones and glowbasas could have the following extra effects that could show up when you get them: +Spicy Defense, +Sour Defense, +Shock Defense, +Fresh Defense.
Armor needs to be upgraded beyond level 9, just like weapons. Bulky could give +25% per level just like with weapons. Sleek could give +15% per level, but additionally unlock one extra piece effect. Examples: - Fire Ant: +Candy Damage Minor - Roly Poly: +Damage Resist - Ladybug: +Trickle Regen - Assassin: +Critical Hit Chance - Broodmother: +Venom Resist - Widow: +The Quickness - Antlion: +Bleed Resist - Moth: +Ranged Crit - Black Ox: +Attack Stamina - Koi: +Parry Heal - Wasp: +Ranged Venom - Spider: +Venom Coating - Bee: +Dust Guard - Matriarch: +Explosive Resist - Gas Mask: +Gas Heal - Aphid Slippers: -Exhaustion Recovery - Pupa Hat: +Mutation Potency - Wizard Hat: +Staff Quickcharge
Attacks that cause AOE effects should not cause infused effects to proc at the player's location. Example: Mantis scream should not inflict venom on the players or make them explode / spawn mint cloud at their location. Dust mite and stinkbug clouds should not continually proc explosive effects unless the player got directly hit with the projectile, in which case it would proc one effect, but no more if the player stands in the resulting AOE. These infused effects for ranged attacks that cause an AOE and in particular, projectile attacks, should have the infused effect be on the projectile, not the resulting AOE. So if you avoid the projectile, or perfect block it, you should be good.
Tier IV Infused Armor should be obtainable in NG+4 and beyond, just like with weapons. These will have the same stats across the board just like weapons, but they have their original armor effects plus one additional random effect that can be re-rolled.
Shields should be upgradeable to level 15. They give extra durability and will allow them to be repaired with repair glue just like everything else. They only have one upgrade path but at level 6 and 10 they unlock new abilities. They take Quartzite (1-5), Mighty Globs (6-7), Mighty Jewels (8-9), and Infusion Crystals (10+) to upgrade and durability increases follow that of weapons. - Weevil: 6: +Perfect Block. 10: +Parry Heal - Black Ant: 6: +Crit After Block. 10: +Parry Damage - Ladybird: 6: +Health After Block. 10: +Damage Resist - Fire Ant: 6: +Parry Acid. 10: +Blocking Strength - Infected: 6: +Parry Explosion. 10: +Explosive Damage

I think overall these changes, either full or in part, will help balance NG+ and bring the experience back to rewarding skilled combat instead of relying on luck to get through certain stages of the remixed backyards.

First of all, my apologies, I posted this before, everyone told me to leave and I didn't listen.
Here's the full story, with all the possible details
TL;DR: Have I really been a neglecting boyfriend after not organizing a birthday party?
At this moment I feel devastated and heartbroken and I’d like to write my story down. It's rather long and very detailed. I noticed that I tend to switch between past and present tense. I'm supposed to be fluent in English but it’s not my native language and I apologize for any inconsistencies. I also seem to be going back and forth with the timeline, my apologies for this. So about a year ago I met someone from South America, she spoke only Spanish, none of my native languages, which are Dutch and French so I tried my best to speak Spanish (I'm okay, just not fluent) and we went on a date. She talked about her native country, which is Peru, her daughter (8yo at the time), I talked about stuff in my life (I’m a biker, sports shooter and I go to the gym a few times a week), and my daughter (11yo at the time). By the way, all of this happens in my country, which is Belgium. The date went really well, however she started drinking rather heavily and we ended up in my place having sex, the day after everything went really friendly although she was rather embarrassed she went that far on a first date. I assured her that's not really my style either but we were both in a party mood and drunk and one thing led to another. In the upcoming weeks we continued seeing each other (just regular dates, nothing sexual) and we got along really fine, what I did notice was that she never offered to pay for anything. For the moment she's not a legal resident so she can't work legally and she only works as a babysitter at someone's house so I let that slide. I do make a lot more than she does and I drive a company car so money is less tight to me, however this doesn't mean my resources are limitless. I take care of my daughter financially, I try to save for her and myself, for my sports, traveling so although I make a lot, life is very expensive. Let’s say I usually find a balance between enjoying life with my money and being responsible. She making a lot less money doesn’t mean she has nothing either, although I remain chivalrous, in Belgium it’s very common for a woman to pay as well, it’s more about the act and not really about the money. (Of course it’s different when you live together.) Also men and women are equal here, yet at the same time I try to take into account and show respect for the fact that this might be completely different in her culture. She did show she doesn't easily trust men, calling all men liars, continuously saying she believes in actions and is very reluctant towards words, always expressing the fact she’s completely independent. I did find this contradictory with her attitude to let men pay for her, but okay, different culture and a language barrier. (She speaks incredibly fast and sometimes understanding her was a task). At one point she asked (in a message) if I wanted to get to know her sisters, since family is important to her I enthusiastically said yes (I thought she was introducing me to her family), she interpreted this as an attempt to date her sisters and immediately blocked me. At this moment I panicked, I called a friend of hers and tried to explain the misunderstanding. Luckily she unblocked me and we continued talking and dating. However to avoid this in the future, I did say to her that if I ever were to say anything offensive, to ask or notify me, I speak Spanish rather fairly but it’s not my native language, so with this language barrier mistakes are always possible. She once even reacted in anger because she thought I wrote too many messages that indicated I wanted her for sex only, I apologized, assured her that is not the case and I also showed this in my actions. One very positive point, I picked up my Spanish lessons from school again and I started studying again so my Spanish would improve and indeed, these types of misunderstandings did more or less go away. However, now that I’m looking back, her attempts to learn French were no more than some basic phrases and my warning for the mistakes wasn’t taken into account for. After some more weeks passed by, we did seem to like each other a lot and she seemed to let her guard down, she started talking about doing activities with our kids, some time later she really wanted a relationship with me. Her daughter was really nice, she almost immediately became friends with my daughter, my gf was so pleased, we really connected. Then I made a horrible mistake, I didn't delete a dating app on my phone and she found conversations from the first week of our official relationship. (We were a month along) In my defense, I also have friends (non sexual) I met on these apps and the conversations were nothing more than a hello. Still I understand her feeling reluctant, I didn't show respect there, however she said nothing, and that night when I was sleeping she wrote a long message on how I was a horrible cheater and blocked me again. The last I could see was a status update where she filmed herself adding text she doesn’t need a man. Same story, talked to her friend, unblocked and we continued. I delete the dating app, I apologize for the lack of respect and I show her I'm actually loyal. About two months passed and we're in a nice relationship, however her wallet stayed closed. She even went as far as asking me for money to tip the waiter. Note: Tipping isn’t that customary in my country, the waiter was really confused. One night when we were going out I had enough. I just told her I was out of cash. Suddenly she pulls out a 50 euro bill (to the readers from the USA, a Euro is slightly higher than a dollar), gives me the bill and tells me she can lend me money so I can continue buying drinks and pay back the money later. I was dumbfounded. I asked her why she just couldn't offer a drink but she didn't seem to go with that story. In the pub she continuously kept saying I was tired and I should go home, I wasn’t tired at all but after a while I was fed up and I said: “Okay, I’ll go home.” Then she surprised me again, she asked me to pay a few beers forward (with the money she lent me) so she can continue drinking while I go home. I thought: “You know what? Take it, I’ve had it for today.” I pay for the beers and I walk out. Then she follows me and stops me, asking me to stay. At this point she really started to irritate me, ask me to go or stay but make a decision. We went back to the pub, I took one of the prepaid beers, which she didn’t like because those were hers supposedly. Suddenly the police entered the pub, they received a complaint about the noise, nothing special, just a standard visit. However, the bartender (a good female friend of my gf), also foreign didn’t have any identification, apparently she was here illegally. Police, forced to do their job, arrests her, my gf starts lashing out at the police, I tried to stop her because she’s here illegally as well. Had a friendly chat with the police, they were even impressed that I could speak foreign languages, really nice guys. At some point I had to pee, unfortunately the police weren't allowed to let us back inside the pub so I went somewhere between houses. (Not my style either but the pressure was high) When I came back my gf was gone, she thought I bailed, asked no questions and was walking home. I explained here why I was gone and later on she asked me to drive to the police station to find her friend, I tried to talk her out of that idea, trying to explain she’s being held for questioning and she’ll probably just be released in a few hours. She wouldn’t listen and wanted to go to the police station, at that point another friend of hers joined us and I drove them to a closed police station. The night ends, I drop them off and I go home. Luckily not all of our dates went like that, mostly we went to pubs, then ended up at my place where she changed into one of my shirts, looked at latin music on YouTube and then ended up spending the night. We did go to a Peruvian restaurant once, I let her order for me, no tourist food, the real experience. She orders her food, eats a part, decides it wasn’t tasty and just orders something else. You guessed it, I paid the bill. One day she talks about her daughter's upcoming anniversary (in a message), I propose to buy her a gift, however I'd like to wait a few weeks till my funds are replenished. She bursts out in anger, again, still unable to write my name correctly (that’s a real frustration, from the very beginning she wrote my name wrong), telling me how I'm always talking about money (I don't, I calculate a lot but I rarely talk about this) and she blocks me again. I was fed up, I just came from another relationship with a narcissist (true story) and I realized I was still in a people please mode, I couldn’t handle another one of these situations. I didn't call her friend anymore, I picked up the pieces of my heart and I went on. I told my daughter she wouldn't be seeing her daughter anymore (they got along really well so she was sad), picked my life back up and started focusing on healing rather than being with someone. The narcissist I mentioned is not the person in this story, I’m referring to a previous relationship. A few days later she sent me a poorly translated text with her bank account, asking me to deposit the 50 euro she lent me, minus 3 euro for an iPhone cover I bought her online. I ignored the message and went on with my life. I don’t steal from people but this was compensation for me. A few months later she texted me again, telling me how she misses our daughters being together and she really wants to see me. I agree on the condition that it's her time to pay for a drink. Yes you are allowed to call me an idiot here. So we went on a friendly date, she did pay, more or less, scratching the change in her pocket and barely getting to pay the bill for a few beers. However she did make a move on me again, I just went with it without expecting anything. That weekend we went out, the wallet was closed again and the romance was shifted back to friends and nothing more, she even asked me to take her friends out in the future. Yet instead of telling her to sod off, I felt hurt, meaning I wasn't healed as much as I wanted, I did improve but I still had a long way to go. The day after I sent her a message that going out as friends was too much for me and I couldn't see her on these terms anymore. (You could say I should have been more direct or blunt but I felt bad enough as it was and I also wanted to break her stereotypical view that all men take advantage of women). She replies in a very long message on how she's independent, I reply with an apology in case I ever hurt her. I hide my own pain, and once again I move on. Thanks to therapy, self reflection and really good friends I find myself again, I even have a few sexual encounters (always lifts the spirit), I take care of my daughter and I take (and improve) life one day at a time. A few months later, you guessed it, she texts me again. She misses me and she wants to get back in touch. I admit she has a special place in my heart, but no matter how special that is, she's not coming in anymore with that "all men are liars" and "I don't pay anything" attitude. For once I'm putting my brain ahead of my heart. We go out for a drink, she picks up the pill, we end up at my place, she spends the night. The day after I drop her off and I decide to take things differently, I send sweet yet straightforward messages, ignoring her evasive words and she becomes really impressed. I sent her an email, talking about the heavy divorce I had with my daughter’s mom, how she tried to demand way too much money from me and how I had to rebuild enormously financially, explaining why I’m reluctant to let people in my life who demand I pay everything. I don’t mind her not being able to pay a lot, but be fair. I do tell her my daughter needs braces and since her mom doesn’t feel like contributing I’m taking the full bill, which will be between 3000 and 4000 euro, meaning I don’t mind paying but sometimes I’ll be unable. That was only a small part of the mail, I really hate these ridiculous financial conversations and I do not want to give the impression here that our relation completely revolved around who pays the bill in the pub. I talk mostly about what happened with my daughter’s mom and the narcissist and what I expect from a relationship. She reacted very lovely to my mail and she seemed to really want to be with me. I was very clear, she could come back, however she knew my boundaries. I did receive a sad message from her, saying she wants to be with me but she can’t contribute in a financial way the way I demand from her. I simply reply that’s not what I meant with my message and there’s more to contribute to a relationship than money. She starts making an effort, I start getting messages that are more and more romantic. She doesn't freak out anymore, she seems to be dropping this overly independent attitude, I stay vigilant but she seems to be taking a turn for the better. Note that at this point we're more than a year further since our initial date. The insecurity wasn’t gone, one night, as a reply to a romantic message from me, she asks why I’m being romantic. I can just ask for sex if I want, I don’t have to lie and pretend I love her. Instead of denying, I agreed, I said I did want sex with her, but for romantic reasons and not just physical. She replied that she really wants me but she’s just so afraid, I calmly replied I didn’t mind. I accepted her so I also accept her fears, I accept her with all her positive and negative traits, not just the parts I like. This seemed to have given her a sense of trust and security We go out, sometimes just the two of us, sometimes with our kids, she pays (a small part but again, it’s the act, not the money), she was really opening up and we were really getting fond of each other. There wasn't a single message that wasn’t followed with hearts and other romantic gestures. On my behalf, I show her that my words are followed with action, I'm not one of these men that give empty promises like she tends to believe. One day I surprised her with concert tickets for a sold out concert for Karol G. She reacts euphorically but suddenly asks if I have a ticket for her daughter as well. I told her I wasn't able to score a third ticket as this was from a reseller and I can only buy what they're offering. (Note: There were more available at that reseller but I was at my limit. I learned from the past, I already take her to her favorite singer for free.) She tells me she can't enjoy the concert without her daughter and starts looking for tickets at resellers (including sites I really don't trust), she even thought about VIP tickets because why not. (I was like: “ WTF, we’re sitting in a pub, I’m buying the beer, you ask me to buy you food, I agree because you have less and then you start looking for VIP tickets) I told her the VIP tickets are not sold out but insanely expensive (about 450 euro), she replied she didn’t mind when it’s for her daughter. In case you're wondering if I accept her daughter, I really do. She's a wonderful child, the concert is just really expensive and also not really a place where I'd take a 9yo. I thought: “Please no, not this financial crap again.” The day after she sends me reseller sites that I find untrustworthy, taking her daughter was the only thing she could put her mind on. In the upcoming weeks I continue having a relationship with her the way I do relations, I do a lot of activities, I show her I'm a man of my word. I make a list of all activities I want to do with her (or our kids), she reacts very lovely to that. And yes I start executing everything I planned, tropical pool for the four of us, private sauna for the two of us, etc. We’re having a double date! On one of our dates she asked me to pick up her sister and boyfriend to go to a restaurant. This adds about an hour to my driving time but I don’t mind, my investment into a slowly opening relationship. That night my daughter was with me but since she’s 13 now she can easily spend an evening by herself. In the restaurant, she still acts like a date and not my gf. The sister makes everything a bit more acceptable since she was the only one that spoke and understood French. Her boyfriend pays for the entire table (I genuinely thanked him) and my girlfriend asks to take all of us to my place for drinks. At my place (my daughter watching tv) I give them whisky cola and beers, she opens my fridge and sees about 12 beers, she immediately starts pushing me on how that’s not enough, we needed way more beer in the fridge. I drove her to the night shop (leaving the sis and her boyfriend alone in my apartment with my daughter, something I bet she’d never ever do if I were the one staying). We pick up more beers and Corona, then at my place she barely touches that beer, they just drink one Corona, why on earth did she make me drive to the night shop? There’s a party! She invited me to a party at her niece's place. I get Peruvian food and they charge 2 euro for a beer. The night begins great, I meet her friends and her father, great people. All of this is still in the concept of a friend, I’m not a boyfriend officially. Her daughter is playing in another room in the house, but she didn’t have any connection on her phone so I gave my phone as an access point. From time to time I ask my gf to give me my phone in case I receive a message or a call. Then I cross a line, I knock on the door of the room containing her daughter, just to check my phone, I notify her it’s me, my gf notices this, completely freaks out, yells at her daughter on how she can’t open for anyone including me. That actually hurt, we might not be dating that long but I’m no stranger either. Still I don't question her as a mother, yet she could have done this more friendly. The party continues, I get along with her dad and all her friends. She’s being nice, even holds my hand, yet to receive a kiss I had to be alone in another room with her. Every time I take a beer, I offer her one. She immediately asks to buy beers for other people, no worries, I agree. A fight breaks out between a few drunks, twice, with a bunch of drunk Peruvians piled up. After the fight one of her slutty friends (really that woman was a trainwreck) starts to twerk against me, I step back because I don’t do that with another woman. People start to cheer upon us, I give in for a few seconds, yet I make sure not to touch her, that's not a message I want to send to my gf, even if I’m just a friend in public. She gets angry again, thinking I’m a cheater and immediately starts to do the same dance with random men. I told her this wasn’t right, I’ve been playing the friend the entire evening, I never even touched that other woman, having this sort of petty revenge is below all means. She remains furious, yet we can talk in private, she turns around, kisses me and we make up. The party ends, I go home, she goes to sleep in that room with her daughter, peace is restored. One day (a few weeks ago) we're sitting in my car, she's all over me and tells me how I belong to her (completely love bombing me), suddenly she tells me how I have to tattoo her name on my manhood. I wanted to call her bluff, so I accepted her challenge if she tattooed my name on her body. Surprisingly she agreed, she even suggested my name on her boobs. A few days later I told her a manhood tattoo is a bit too insane (and also medically dangerous) so I accept her name on another part and my daughter's name on my arm. She agrees and sticks with the idea of my name on her boobs and adds a ring tattoo with our initials and those of our kids. She keeps talking about this for days like she really really wants my name. This was a bit odd, we were together for one month and she wanted our names tattooed, why did I call her bluff? What if she pushes this through? My daughter did react negatively, telling me I’ve been talking about her name for a long time but didn't do anything, yet for my gf’s name I immediately started planning. I told her she’s also in the planning but indeed, I only mentioned the gf and not my daughter, what was I doing? I wake up by this wake up call, I apologize and I prioritize the design of my daughter's name. Still, I’m a man of my words (although my priorities are sometimes overwhelmed by my emotions), so besides my daughter’s name, I also design our other names and the ring. My gf reacts very positively to the designs and appears to look forward to having my name on her body. Is this real? Suddenly, one day she starts doubting and she thinks tattooing a name is way too soon and she'd rather just go for a ring tattoo with my initials. I agree, it’s her body, the idea of my daughter's name remains unchanged. The day before the date for the tattoo, I sent her a message that my daughter picked the design for my tattoo and also hers, she reacted lovely to that. However when I asked what time I should pick her up, she replied with a long answer on how she thought the matter over and it's too soon to have initials tattooed because we don't know what the future brings. And most importantly, she already told me about this (she did not, she just went from name between boobs to initials on finger). I reacted calmly and said I'd still go through with my daughter's name, she's my daughter, I will not regret this. Yet this is just not done, backing down and making me ask before refusing. She didn’t even want to join me to the tattoo shop, but wrote positively that I could use the session for me. On the upside, I did get my daughter’s name tattooed and I’m absolutely thrilled about that. And in retrospect, by not tattooing our names she saved me from a very big mistake. Her daughter’s birthday! Me and my daughter pick them up and wo go to a nautical zoo, a fucking long drive but still an awesome daytrip. We buy a game for her Nintendo Switch packed in a box full of candy, chocolate and crisps and we head off to the zoo. In the zoo we have a blast, we even go through an obstacle course where I take her daughter with me. When the visit is over we visit the gift shop, my daughter chooses something sensibly she likes (she always does this), her daughter ravages the store. No worries, it’s her birthday, have a second gift, I take the bill. We drove off and she started talking about her upcoming birthday next month and she asked me if I could arrange a cabin at a river for about seven people. I told her I'd look. She immediately said she's only interested in that and she doesn't mind if I'm not able, yet I could sense discard in her voice. (I could be wrong here, she did mention her party somewhere that weekend) I tell her again my daughter needs braces, which I'm funding completely since her mom refuses to pay anything, so since braces are insanely expensive there will be moments where I'll be forced to decline activities that cost money, however I do what’s possible. I mentioned this several times since we started going out again and every time she reacted in a positive way, then why this type of reaction now? We go back to my place, she cooks (honestly she cooks amazing), we have some fun and we drive back to her place to deposit her daughter with her dad, my daughter stays at home. She tells me she wants to change clothes, meaning I can add 30 mins to my wait outside, always outside, I never enter her place apparently. Then we go to some friends of mine, I get to introduce her, we’re at their place just having fun and playing pool. My friends welcomed her immediately, trying to speak Spanish and making an effort to make her feel at home. When the night ends we go back to my place, to discover I’m out of coke for the whisky cola, she pushed me to go to the night shop but sadly they were all closed. She kept pushing me to drive back to her neighborhood to buy coke. I drove almost 400 km that day, I didn’t really want to but she kept pushing. Once entering her neighborhood she gets a call from her friend (that trainwreck), she asks me to visit her because she was crying and needed someone, she warned me not to give my number or any contact data because she’s very jealous (this wasn’t the first time she said that, really I don’t like that friend). Once arrived she had a drink with that drunk friend till my gf got sick about that herself, we dropped her off (she peed on the street) and went back to my place, with coke. At my place, she changes from her clothes to one of my shirts and we start watching South American videos on YouTube. Suddenly she shows me a video of a quinceanera party, apparently that’s a big party for when a girl turns 15, with horses, music and all the whatnot. My daughter rides horses as a sport, we know the people from the stables, looking at the video this doesn’t look that difficult to organize so I propose to her we can pull this off. Her mood changes, she reluctantly tells me I shouldn’t be pretending like she meant as much to me as my own daughter. (Yea of course my own daughter comes first to me, so does her to her, but that wasn’t the point. I have never disregarded her daughter, I mentioned many times that she's a fantastic child and I treat her with love. Also this wasn’t a situation where I had to choose, I only proposed that if she wants a party, we know the stables. She continues her rant going on and on, at one point she’s back in Peru and around 10yo and she starts crying because some men from her family touched her in inappropriate places. At that point I thought she was going mental but I still did the right thing, hugged her and calmed her down. Then she jumped up and started dancing. By that time we were around 08:00 and I said we had to turn the music down because we could wake up my daughter, she said we could continue in my room. (That made me happy, watching my gf dancing naked all night without being allowed to do anything but dance was a very strong foreplay) She goes to my room, I look for my phone, I enter my room and I find her dead asleep. I sleep beside her for a few hours, she wakes up, makes a move on me and we have sex. Later on, I drove her home (this is the last time I’ll ever see her) and we talked about her birthday party. When she asked me a few days back what I had planned for her birthday, my ideas weren’t good, she wanted me to rent a house for about 8 people. The house had to be in nature by a river. Driving her home, I admit I’m afraid I won’t be able to cater this on such a short notice, she replied she was prepared for the fact that I wouldn’t be able. Again, I’m a man of my word but I have almost nothing to work with here, I don’t even know how her friends or family are able to get there. One morning I sent her my attempts to find cabins but they’re all ridiculously expensive (I did jack up the price but with her there are always hidden costs), she didn't believe me and gave me an answer like if I'm not able we should just drop everything. I even asked her sister's number, asking if we could organize something together because she already mentioned she was also planning. She did give her contact but I can't help but feel her reluctance over this. The sister replied, making demands, immediately telling me what I have to pay (I did not mention anything about money, I only mentioned location, beers, friends, etc.) I agree, as long as I’m able, that’s all. A few days later the sister changes the house for 8 people to a single space for 12 people. Shortly after my gf aggressively sends me I should stop because I’m not doing anything anyway. Again, I work, meaning several hours of my day are committed to the company, I’m available, just not 24/7. I say I’d rather be involved but I respect her decision, I’m her boyfriend so I should be able to give her an experience for her birthday. She lashes out, telling me if I really was her boyfriend I’d organize her party and not try to make her sister pay. I did nothing of the sort, I wanted to organize with several people for a better organization, nothing more.
Later on she even thought the fact that I agreed to her pushing me out of the organization was horrible. The love in her messages made place for cold text. A few days later she compared our relation with her sister’s, telling me how that Cuban boyfriend makes sure she never has to pay for anything (Drinks, babysit, even parts of her rent) She went on about how I’m cold, never took care of her and only used her for sex. She told me she never had a boyfriend like me, she was absolutely struck by how poorly she was treated compared to how other men treat their woman. She even said I force her to share the gifts I give her. I started thinking back and indeed, a few months ago we weren’t officially together yet and she posted about how Valentine was about love and friendship, I gave her a big box of chocolates and I jokingly said this wasn’t for her alone, also for her daughter and other family members that wanted to try. I told her that’s the friendship part, she loved that idea, yet in silence that seemed to build resentment. I replied that here in Europe men and women are equal, paying everything would be an insult to a woman’s independence. (I didn’t reply on the other accusations) This was not an attempt to discard her culture so I added the fact that with great respect for her culture, she’s living in mine, this should result in a healthy mix and not one culture winning over the other. Yes since I was writing Spanish I accidentally used the word conquer instead of “winning over” so she aggressively reacted to that. I told her that’s not what I mean, that was the last we said, she didn’t reply anymore. Somewhere back in her rant I asked if she was dumping me over text, to which she replied: “Of course not.” Although that could have been sarcasm I was hurt, confused on how a situation with nothing but love and attachment could turn into this nightmare over communication about a party. A good (female) friend of mine told me she should pay for her own fucking party of she wants one, but I was too emotional to accept this. I did something I regret, I wrote on my Whatsapp status that if my daughter ever treats a man like she treated me, I’ve officially failed as a dad and a few other pics on healing from abuse, all in English. Yes it’s petty, I know, my emotions got the better of me. Yesterday (and today), her fb and Whatsapp status is packed with videos on how real men should treat real women. Is she punching back for my status, is she just using a coping mechanism, did she read my status at all? I don’t know but it felt like I was being kicked when I was down. She keeps on telling me how she hates people that waste her time but I'm afraid that's exactly what she did to me. Did I really invest in a person that doesn’t exist? Did I really come short? Was I really a cold boyfriend? If there’s one silver lining, I used the money for her party to buy a new firearm. The story has a lot more details than this, but it's been long enough already, by all means, ask me anything if I haven't been clear somewhere.

The last few years has been a wild ride. I made some very dumb decisions and choices and those choices hurt my girlfriend Anna. During that time, she gave me an ultimatum: be a better person or she wouldn’t speak to me at all, ever again.
She followed through. For months. She wouldn’t speak to me and had blocked me EVERYWHERE. After about four months, she unblocked me and had asked to talk. She had seen my sister Jamie while she working and Jamie told her about how I had been going to therapy and working on being better. Anna was very shocked because she didn’t think I would ever get my shit together. Anna was very proud of me and we even went to counseling together. She laid her boundaries and I wholeheartedly agreed with her on the boundaries. For a long time, we were just coparents and friends. During that time, I could tell she was watching me to stick with my changes.
Fast forward to her birthday at the end of January, I give her flowers and she surprised me by kissing me and thanking me. I thought us having a relationship was done with and had just been working on being a better me for our son. But she said that she still loved me and I knew I still loved her.
Whenever she and I got back together, I told my family. At first, they all seemed happy for me. My mom started wanting to spend time around her and told me she loved Anna. Jamie and Anna are close friends. My older sister Scarlett would send us clothes and diapers and just random things. My other sister Jenny would ask for pictures of our son and Anna’s daughter from a previous relationship. My dad started to teach Anna to drive.
Recently, Anna’s apartment flooded and she needed somewhere to stay while her complex fixed the damage done. The apartment next to hers and a pipe burst and it leaked into her apartment. Upon finding that out, my mom immediately offered up our house for her to stay in while her apartment gets in order. Anna agreed. We kinda joked about how this was a trial run for us living together.
Anna was here for a week. Every single day, she would get up, make everyone breakfast, set it out, and then clean up everyone’s dishes. She would clean our room. She would do everyone’s laundry when she’d come home from work. She would fold it neatly. She made dinner.
My mom seemed to love it. But three nights ago, I overheard her talking bad about Anna in Spanish (because she thinks Anna doesn’t understand Spanish). She was calling Anna messy and lazy… lying to my sister Jenny. Jenny was bad mouthing her back and saying she was also ugly. They made fun of her weight and braids (Anna is half black and likes having her hair braided). They made fun of how pale she was compared to a lot of mixed people they had met. They even said that they didn’t think our son was really mine (he is). I was horrified.
I walked into the room, pissed, and defended Anna. I called my mother out for lying and I called Jenny out for her behavior as well. My sister Jamie and her husband happened to be over at the time and also got pissed at our mom and sister. A fight broke out and Anna arrived home from work during the fight.
She asked what was going on. Jenny, like a coward, hung up the phone. My mom stayed silent. I told her EVERYTHING. I will never forget the look on her face. I could tell her entire spirit was shattered. She loved my family. She stayed silent and just walked into our room and shut the door.
I immediately followed her and she was silently packing her things. I grabbed my suitcase and began packing my important things as well. During our packing, I could hear Jamie yelling at our mother. Anna finished packing and silently walked out of the house and waited by the car. I walked out of my room and heard my other sister Scarlett on the phone defending our mom. I walked out, told them that I will eventually return for my things but I wanted nothing to do with them after that, with the exception of Jamie.
It’s been three days and Jamie called me saying that I was being harsh for completely cutting them off. I don’t feel like I am but AITAH???
Update: So Anna ended up texting everyone in my family. She basically told them all that she was disappointed in them all because they all made them believe that she could trust them… but then she called every single person out. She called my mother a bad mom and a bad person. She told my mother it’s not surprising she’s a shitty person considering her first husband got his 16 year old stepdaughter pregnant and her second husband (my father) was a serial cheater who ended up stealing her savings and spending it on his affair partner. Anna told her that it was her karma for being a racist b*tch. She told Scarlet that it’s no wonder she’s on her fifth marriage and that it says more about her that four other men couldn’t stand her more than it does about those men. Anna said she won’t be surprised when she ends up on her sixth marriage. Anna called Jenny a miserable woman and racist cow and also called her out for always asking her for pictures of our son while also talking shit about her behind her back. She also called Jamie fake for saying that I was being harsh on my family after she herself knew the shit that they were saying behind my back and defended her, but then calls me three days later to say that I was being unreasonable. She also called Jamie out for being one of the people who excuses my mother’s behavior as “that’s just how she is.” She let every single one of them know that they wouldn’t be welcome around our son ever again. I’m honestly not mad at her for going off on everyone. In fact, I’m proud of her because she has a hard time standing up for herself.
To those wondering what I put in the Easter basket I mentioned in the comments: I got her favorite Lush bath bombs and lotions, her favorite candy (sour punch straws and almond joys), some makeup she had mentioned in passing, her favorite body sprays from Bath and Body Works, a new set of AirPods (hers have been acting wonky), and a few new pairs of her favorite black leggings. After the incident between my family and her occurred, I also added pre-rolled joints and blunts to the basket because I know she sometimes smokes when she’s incredibly stressed. She hasn’t smoked in awhile but I felt like she may need it so I learned how to roll from YouTube. She smoked one of the blunts and ate all the candy afterwards🤣

My (25F) boyfriend (30M) started hiding some silly (as most people would say) things from me. We are almost 1,5 years together.
In December, he hid the fact that he has a new colleague (23F) at work and he goes for a cigarette with her 5ish times a day. He always was chill about introducing me to other cigarette friends (I am a smoker also), regardless of their sex-so that was a bit weird. One day he came up to me (we work for same company) and said something about going out for a cig, I came up and said ‘I’ll go with you if I can, wanna smoke too’, we came to the elevator-and there was her, he pretended to be surprised and said something among the lines of ‘wow [colleague’s name] I see you’re going for a cigarette too! And at the same time, who would have thought!!’ even though their meeting was arranged? From that moment on, there was constant hell inside my head. Million questions and that painful uncertainty and fear of abandonment. I worked that through therapy and was okay with the subject of that colleague-I understood that she wasn’t a problem. He was, because of the way he tried to justify the fact of hiding it.
Fast forward to 2 weeks ago- I took his iPad to read a book (my brother who lives 200km from me borrowed mine). I have the access, the passcode and I can use it however I like- those are the rules, same goes with my electronics (if he wants to use them). I have a habit of leaving cute/funny photos of me on his iPad whenever I am using it - I did that this time also. Then, I started scrolling through our photos (as above, I have access to everything with his permission).
[to help you understand the situation]:
One of the ZOOs in Poland had a Valentine’s Day event called: ‘adopt a cockroach and give a meerkat an EXtra snack!’. Long story short: you buy a certificate that states that you own a cockroach named after your ex, the meerkat gets it as a snack, the money goes to the zoo. Overall, cool initiative.
[end]
As I was scrolling through the photos, I saw a cockroach certificate. With his ex’s name on it. The same ex that has destroyed him to his core (she has a bpd too), he was in therapy because of her. He was supposed to have her blocked (we agreed to put our toxic relationships/situationships behind us when we started being serious), as it turns out-he unblocked her during our first fight in December (the above situation) OUT OF CURIOSITY (when I heard it, I burst out laughing). He then kept in touch with her and sent her cockroach certificate as a Valentine’s Day present.
Our valentines this year looked like this:
I got him 2 types of flowers, cute socks and a bag of candy. He got me nothing, saying that ‘there were no flowers nearby’ (we live near the cemetery and a dozen of flower stands, yikes! This excuse was going on from 14th through 15/16th February).
How does she get a cockroach certificate and I, his girlfriend, get nothing?
I forgave him, however, the disgust remained. I keep asking myself-if he hid those ‘small’ things, what else could he be hiding? What should I do? I feel like I’m on edge.
TL;DR: boyfriend keeps hiding things from me. He gave his ex a ‘funny’ Valentine’s Day present and didn’t bother to get a single flower for me.

Hello everyone, it's been a while. I apologize for not updating sooner but tbh it's been a nightmare of a time and I simply was too depressed. I will try to write this fair, as I know a lot of AITAH posts have unreliable narrators to their stories. I don't want anyone to think I'm just an angel here because I know not all my choices were perfect either.
I genuinely tried to write a synopsis but I couldn't stop crying so my first post is here https://www.reddit.com/AITAH/comments/191tp91/aitah_for_secretly_visiting_my_mothe?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
My first update is here https://www.reddit.com/AITAH/comments/19670rt/update_aitah_for_secretly_visiting_my_mothe?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

My "Selene" (F28) brother "Kris" (M30) and sisters "Kara" (F32), "Wren" (F26) are all we really have, but now that our family is broken it's been a mess. Wren took it the hardest when Kris and Kara went on our annual family vacation (something we traditionally did together since we don't live in the same city) without Wren or I. After I sent the text from my last update, and saw Kris and Kara read it but didn't respond, I resigned myself to not hearing from them until Wren's birthday. I thought surely they wouldn't keep her frozen out on her birthday.

For context Wren has one best friend "Candy" F26, who is bubbly and outgoing and an actor etc. and for lack of a better way of putting it, she's a Hufflepuff. The Huffliest of Puffs. I am not joking, the woman is charisma incarnent...it's great and a little...annoying? I know that sounds mean, and I'm sorry. She's really great, just sometimes a lot, if that makes sense. All of this to say, Wren is the COMPLETE opposite. She's shy, often withdrawn, and a peacemaker. She will back down immediately if she senses a disagreement brewing. She doesn't want the spotlight except on her birthday. It is literally the ONE day she shows even a bit of a diva side and when I say "diva" I mean it in the lightest way. She has a sash and tiara Candy got her years ago and she loves them so much she wears them every year. We always set a day and time to celebrate one another's birthday. We plan them out in advance, take time off, make the travel arrangements etc. We do birthdays as a family.

Well, it a couple weeks after my last text that was the day we were scheduled to celebrate. Reservations had long been made for a table of 6 for myself, Kris, Kara, Wren, Candy, and Wren's boyfriend. They broke up, but it was one seat so we never changed the reservation. Wren tried to get Kris and Kara to confirm that they were still coming but was met with silence. She tried calling them both, and nothing. The night of the celebration, she was in tears begging me to try so I did. I texted and called stating this wasn't about me and them, but our baby sister who loves us and needs us and would be heartbroken if they didn't come and that it would be cruel. I got one text back from Kris: "She was warned."

I didn't want to tell Wren, but I really didn't have a choice, so I pulled Candy aside to tell her first so we could try to ease the blow together. Candy, who is normally a ray of freaking sunshine, was the maddest I've ever seen her. She had choice words about my family and older siblings, and all. but demanded I give her their number but I refused. We didn't have to tell Wren though, because she was on Facebook and saw a post and just started SOBBING. She didn't even want to go to dinner. When I picked up her phone to see what made her so hysterical, it was my brother Kris tagging Kara on a photo. They were out of the country, cheesing it up with some lame caption about a family vacation and how Kara is the "best sister" he could ask for etc.

I swear on my life, I have never been an angry or vengeful person but I saw red. OK, yeah, maybe I was wrong by not telling them I visited mom, and maybe I was wrong for still going to her grave and talking to her. Ok. Sue me. Block me. Hate me. But to punish a 26 year old, shy, kind, sweet woman for loving all of her family is a d*ck move. And worse, it's my baby sister. So I texted Kris and Kara both together: "I just want you both to know that our baby sister is crying her heart out because she is heartbroken that you two are so hateful that you cannot bring yourselves to celebrate the one day a year she allows herself to feel special on. Do you remember WHY we made the pact to always celebrate each other? Mom. You like to tell me I am like her, but the only manipulative, cruel, and hateful ones here are you two. You're more like mom was than I ever could be. I am incredibly disappointed in both of you with your passive-aggressive bullying behavior. This is not how you treat someone you love, this is how you treat enemies. I will never forgive you for this, but since you've decided I'm the devil, I would be surprised if you even care. So don't bother reaching out when you're ready. Don't reach out at all. Until you've apologized to Wren and make this right, you're right: I'm no sister of yours." and I blocked them on everything.

Candy and I decided "f*ck it" We're her family, we will make this birthday the best f*cking birthday that ever f*cking birthdayed in the history of birthdays. That was a Thursday night, we both called into our jobs for that Friday and coming Monday. Four day weekend. I pulled from my savings and Candy pulled from hers. We told Wren to pack for a long weekend and took her to the nearest large city in out state, booked a really nice hotel with an indoor heated pool, spa area, the works. Since Candy has some pull in the states theatre community she managed to score balcony last-minute tickets to a show we knew Wren would love, and I found really nice restaurants that had room for 3 at the last minute for Friday, Saturday (after the show), and Sunday nights. We blew a truly unbelievable amount of money (I mean seriously the bank froze my card for a minute and I had to call them, it was that much).

At first Wren was damn near determined to sulk but by Saturday morning, she was flying so high I think she almost forgot about all the troubles. She had a wonderful time and Candy made a point to take so many pictures of us at dinner, us at karaoke, us clubbing, us swimming, us at the spa etc captioning things like "chosen family" and "my sisters-in-love" etc on every social media platform she had. She made tiktoks every moment she could and would repost them to Facebook. We were like celebrities for a weekend. Our last night, we finished up with cheap wine in our luxurious hotel room snuggled together watching "The Marvels" on Disney Plus (Wren loves literally all 3 of the main characters) and my baby sister beamed at us and said "This was the best weekend of my life" - I couldn't be happier.

Wren had chosen to not look at her messages that weekend, and I had our siblings blocked, so Kara voice called Candy Monday to reach us. Apparently, she was trying to reach us all weekend long. From what I understand they had been out on their vacation for a week before Wren's birthday (on purpose). And returned Friday. That Friday night, they stayed at a mutual friend's to rest for that night, have dinner etc, but my brother - who said he hated booze for destroying our family - got drunk. Yes. Drunk. Then he got belligerent to the point that the friend kicked him out of the house, and Kara was too afraid of him to go after him, so Kris chose to drive himself to a hotel. Again, drunk. And he crashed into a tree.

Kara called us because while he was expected to recover, he managed to get some awful injuries and he thus was on pain meds and was babbling about wanting the doctor to "let me die". Kara asked us to please come there, to help, as she was scared and exhausted but trying to hold it together for the sake of our brother. She said that Kris did plan to skip Wren's birthday to "teach her a lesson" but he felt bad about it and they agreed to call her after they settled to speak with her and try to patch things up but that I made him think Wren hated them both, which made Kris depressed. She said he barely enjoyed the trip and when they got their friend's house and looked to see the first series of posts Candy made, he felt really guilty and started to drink.

I unblocked both of them and went immediately and asked Wren to stay behind in case we needed anyone to do logistics that can't be done at the hospital. It was a weak excuse, I know, and tbh, she stared at me like as if to say "that's such bullish*t" but she stayed. She's always been afraid of hospitals. In her mind that is where people go to die, like our mother. When I got to Kara she did look tired. And I did feel bad for her and my brother, but that didn't mean we were all good. And she didn't think so either. When she was telling me what happened, she made a roundabout way of blaming me for Kris's drinking. It somehow was my fault, for breaking his heart through my "lies about mom" and then taking advantage of the fact that I'm "Wren's favorite" and twisting her against them and then shaming them for missing her birthday. It was somehow my fault this made him feel bad and he started drinking on their vacation. She said he basically wan't sober for the whole time. He was either tipsy (which she thought was fine and fun) or drunk (which she said made him mean and hurtful). I didn't react to any of this well, basically because I didn't react at all. It made her so angry that she was hurling all this at me and I didn't have emotions about it. I would ignore any jab or blame and just ask "So what did the doc say" or "Okay, what's the next step" or "So what do we need right now?" etc. Very business. I was there to help because it was an emergency. But inside, I wanted to cry. I can't explain the look in her eyes. There was hate. True just bright red anger in her face. She didn't want me there. She wanted help - desperately - but if there was a train coming she would push me straight in front of it.

It's not logical, and I know that, but I somewhat believe her. All of this happened because I visited mom. That's how this allllll started, and now by an extension of that, my brother is what? A mean drunk who is in the hospital? IDK

When I walked into his room, he immediately said "No, get out.". I tried to speak to him and say say I was only here until he didn't need help and I will leave him alone but he started shouting GET OUT over and over again. The nurse told me I should leave and I could hear Kris saying "You did this" - he was screaming it at me. It just...broke me. I literally just dropped on the ground and just cried my eyes out. I left as quick as I could after. That was about a month ago. Since then I've been getting the most hateful messages from Kris and Kara both as they are now angry that I left them when "they needed me" instead of being understanding that Kris was scared and in pain.

But I'm in pain and I've been in pain and I needed them too. Where were they? Too busy hating me. Too busy taking it out on Wren. Too busy being spiteful.

I have a new job now but I hate it. And I hate myself. and I hate my own family. And I hate mom somehow which is stupid. It's been especially bad because I stupidly snapped at Wren when I returned. She was asking what happened, but I didn't answer my phone so she came over and I was just so overwhelmed that I did tell her what happened but when she suggested we try and speak to them I told her she was welcome to but I'm done with them which really hurt her. She's still in contact with me but I know she's hurting. I just don't know what to do anymore other than try and pick up the pieces and move forward on my own where I can't hurt the only family that still loves me and I can't be hurt by the family that hates me.

So that's it. Not much of an update in the respect of happy endings but there it is. Unless anything drastic changes, this is my final update. And for those who messages me with support - thank you. To those who messaged cruel and hurtful things or think this is all made up and needed to tell me that, I sincerely hope something like this never happens to you because if you ever felt this low, you would never send the messages you did.

"Why didn't they finish it?" I asked.
"I dunno," Gummy said, popping a namesake sour gummy worm into his mouth. "Maybe they ran out of money."
"No way," Jason said, "they won't let you build a house if you don't have enough money to pay for it."
"People run out of money all the time," I said. "Even people that buy houses."
"They didn't finish it because it's haunted," Caleb said, shining his flashlight up the driveway of the half-finished house on Apple Drive. "Eddie told me, and he never lies."
"Your brother told me he had sex with Miss Anderson," I said.
Gummy, his mouth full of candy, snorted and spit out bits of gummy worm. "Miss Anderson wouldn't ever touch his dick. She has standards."
"That's true," Jason said, chuckling. "Your brother's face looks like a pizza. No way she's getting turned on by him.
"Besides, she's saving herself for me," Gummy said.
"Shut the hell up, man," I said, laughing.
"If she's not getting over Eddie's acne-covered face, she's definitely not falling for your little Buddha belly, Gummy," Jason said, puffing out his stomach and tapping it for effect. It worked. We all laughed.
"Then she wouldn't know what she'd be missing," Gummy said.
"Okay, Eddie occasionally stretches some truths," Caleb said, "But he wouldn't lie about this."
"How does he know it's haunted?" I asked.
"He knew a kid who went inside and saw a ghost or a demon or something. He was so scared he left his bike in the backyard and ran down the hill screaming. They never found him, though. He just disappeared," Caleb said.
"What was the kid's name?" Jason asked.
"He didn't tell me but said he was a football player. A popular one, too."
We had all heard the rumors of a teen being kidnapped twenty or so years ago. Whether or not this football player was the same guy, we didn't know. Nobody really did. In the moment, though, it made sense.
"If a football player got caught in here, what chance do we have?" I asked. I wasn't suggesting we go home exactly, but I wasn't opposed to the idea. This place was creepier than I thought.
"You got two football players here," Jason said, slapping Caleb on the shoulder. "We can take him."
"JV players," Gummy added with a chuckle. Jason shot him a look, and Gummy offered a sour worm as a peace offering. Jason took it and nodded.
"We've come all this way," Caleb said, "Wouldn't hurt to take a peak, right?"
The wind blew, and I felt a chill run up my spine that I wasn't sure was only weather-related. Chilly fall weather had come early, and the nights were freezing by mid-October. None of us had jackets on because we had snuck out of Caleb's house after his parents had gone to bed. We had planned this secret trip to the unfinished house for a few weeks. It took a mighty effort for Caleb to get all three of us to stay the night at his house, but pleading kids had the same effect on parents as the tides had on rocks. Eventually, you were them down.
It helped that Caleb's mom liked red wine, and his dad could sleep through an atomic bomb blast.
The house was a local legend in our town. Years ago, someone had hired a crew to build a home at the top of Apple Hill. They'd nearly finished the job, but something happened that caused them to quit and never return. The legend goes that the first people to visit the site post-construction exodus found dozens of tools the crew left behind. Whatever had driven the crew out had done it in a hurry.
It was like the workers had disappeared into thin air.
Whoever bought the house and the surrounding land did nothing with the property. People supposedly looked into the records to try and find the owner but only found a PO Box address for something called "You're Home, Incorporated." Outside that PO box, though, there was nothing else on the books. The company had no other listings or holdings. There were no names associated with the company. Like the construction crew, the company just disappeared.
The Apple Hill house became victim to the inclement weather and bored teens. The crushed beer cans and fast food wrappers sprouted like a garbage garden and took away from the curb appeal. Sections of the roof sagged over time, but it still remained attached. I'm sure it wasn't safe to walk through without hard hats and safety gear, but we hadn't rode our bikes up that steep ass hill to not go into the house.
"If that story's true," Gummy said, "there'd probably be a bike in the yard. The one he left behind."
"Someone would take a free bike," Jason said. "Some bum or somebody isn't turning down a free ride."
"Maybe," I said, "you think someone lives in there?"
"It'd be cheap rent," Gummy said.
"Nobody from here would willingly stay in a haunted house," Caleb said, "regardless of how bad you needed a place to live."
"People have been here," Gummy said, kicking a rusted-out Budweiser can. "And they drink some pretty basic shit."
"Like you'd know," Jason said.
"Gonna tell a fat kid he doesn't understand taste?" Gummy asked. Jason had to agree.
We all had brought backpacks with the gear we thought we'd need. Truthfully, it was nothing more than flashlights, snacks, a bottle of water, and knives we had stolen from our houses. We all took our flashlights out and fired them up like a low-rent production of The Ghostbusters.
"Where should we go first?" Caleb asked.
"Let's just go in the front door," Jason said. "We can decide once we're inside."
That sounded good to all of us, but tellingly, none of us took that crucial first step forward. After a beat, I nodded and started toward the front door. Everyone followed behind me like baby ducks waddling behind their mom. Nobody said a word. Gummy even stopped chewing on his candy.
We all flashed our lights forward to give ourselves the most light possible. It still wasn't much. These flashlights were cheap emergency ones they sell at the drugstore for five bucks. They weren't as good as a Maglite or anything, and it showed. Even with our four streams of light crossing each other in front of us, it couldn't penetrate deep into the darkness in front of us.
I got to the front door, which was adorned with crude drawings of people screwing and the worst tagging this side of a middle school, and was about to push it open when Gummy grabbed my arm. I looked down at it and then at his face. He looked scared – I'm sure we all did – but he let go.
"What?" I asked.
"We should knock first," he said.
Jason laughed. "Why?"
"Seems, I dunno, proper or something. If someone is in there, maybe they'll tell us to leave, and we won't get stabbed by some drugged-up drifter."
"Come on, man. That's not going to be the case," Jason added.
"It's not a bad idea," Caleb said. "I mean, don't people on those ghost shows always say to treat the ghosts nice?"
Jason rolled his eyes, but his objections didn't go beyond that. I nodded at everyone and turned back to the closed door. I rapped on it, softly at first, but with each thwack of my hand, the knocks got louder. We waited to see if said knife-wielding drifter or ghoul spoke up. They didn't.
"Told you," Jason said.
"Better safe than sorry," Gummy said. "I can't die before I get my shot with Miss Anderson."
We all chuckled. Nerves more than the punchline. I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. It squealed on its hinges for a few inches before it suddenly snapped and sent the door dropping to the ground. We all ran back to the end of the driveway for a minute, expecting to see some demon come blazing out of the house, but relaxed when nothing happened. Old, rusted hinges sometimes break.
"That sucked shit," Gummy said with another nervous laugh.
"You can't go cheap on hinges," I said, "first rule of construction."
"Did you pick that up from one of the Property Brothers?" Jason asked.
"Common sense," I said with a smile.
Once our collective nerves returned, we returned to the now doorless entry. I was the first to cross through. As I did, I called out to anyone who might hear me, "We mean you no harm. We're just coming to check this place out."
"There's not a lot to do in this town," Gummy added as he followed behind me.
"And we want to brag to everyone at school about how amazing we are," Jason said.
"So, don't kill us, please. Gummy has to try to bone one of our teachers," Caleb added.
We all laughed and made our way into the living room. Like the door, it was decorated with gross art, marginal graffiti, and literal garbage. From this room, you could go one of three ways. There was a set of busted stairs that led to a darkened second floor, a doorway that led into the kitchen and dining room, and two closed doors that I assumed were bedrooms.
"Where should we go first?" I asked.
"Not upstairs," Gummy said. "Not first, at least."
"No arguments from me," Jason said.
"Let's check out these bedrooms. I don't think there are any stories about the bedrooms," Caleb said.
We moved toward the first room. I pushed open the door, and this one stayed on its hinges. There was nothing inside but more lousy art on the walls. Still, we walked in and looked around. There wasn't anything spooky in this room. We turned to leave when we heard a door slam from the kitchen. We all froze.
"Someone is in here," Gummy whispered.
Jason quietly unburdened his backpack and opened it up. He grabbed the knife he had stolen from his kitchen before switching off his flashlight. We all did the same. The room was now as dark as tar.
Jason and Caleb, the bigger two of us, stepped forward to take the lead. They held out the knives like they knew what they were doing. They didn't, but their confidence filled me with confidence, too.
"Open the door," I whispered.
Jason reached out with his free hand and slowly twisted the knob. You could hear the ancient mechanisms wheezing from sudden use after years of nothing. Jason opened the door and scanned the room in front of him. There wasn't anyone there, not that we could see anyway.
Jason and Caleb ventured back out into the living room, knives drawn. Gummy and I followed behind, scanning the room for any movement. Everything was as still as it had been. We waited a few seconds before breathing or speaking, but once it became clear nothing was happening, we all relaxed and dropped the knives to our sides.
"That was terrifying," I said.
The door from the second bedroom whipped open and slammed into the wall. We all jumped so high I thought we'd go through the ceiling. We turned around, expecting to see someone, but were greeted with another empty bedroom. Just as quickly as it swung up, it snapped shut. The echo of the slammed door bounced all around us.
Gummy ran into the kitchen, screaming like a banshee. I wanted to run, but my fight-or-flight nerve burned out, and I just stood in place like a tree in a meadow. Jason and Caleb, though, didn't hesitate. They ripped the door open, knives ready to stab into hobo flesh, and charged into the bedroom.
Seconds later, their bodies still pumping with adrenaline, they walked out.
"There's nobody in there!" Caleb said, his voice louder than he intended.
"They have to be hiding," Jason said, his eyes scanning the room, "How the hell did the door just open?"
"Where's Gummy?" Caleb asked.
"Gummy!" I yelled.
No response. I stumbled into the kitchen, fumbling to turn my flashlight back on, and called out for him again. I swung the beam around the dilapidated kitchen and didn't see him anywhere. I turned the beam into the attached dining room and found nothing there, save for a door leading into a basement.
"Did he go downstairs?" I heard Caleb ask over my shoulder.
"I don't know," I said, my brain trying to imagine why he'd do that. I stepped toward the door and felt my foot squish on something soft. Weirdly, it made a crinkling noise. I tilted the flashlight down and saw Gummy's bag of sour worms underfoot.
Jason ran to the basement doorway and yelled down to Gummy. Still, no response. Panic was starting to work its way into our bloodstream like a debilitating paralytic poison. This night wasn't supposed to go this way. This was supposed to be a lark that gave us a tiny thrill and an incredible story to tell kids at school on Monday.
"We should go down," I heard myself say. I was entirely outside my body at this point.
"Agreed," Caleb said. "He's either down there or upstairs."
"I saw him run into the kitchen," I said. "He's gotta be down there."
Jason yelled again, and there was no response. He turned, his face bearing the look of the poison in all of us. "Maybe he fell down the stairs and got knocked out?"
I pushed past both of them and peered down the stairs. If this floor was dark, then the basement was another kind of dark that only exists in the deepest reaches of space. I could barely make out the landing at the bottom of the steps. But I knew we'd have to go. Gummy would do it for us.
We all pointed our flashlights down at once to get a better view. The light reflected back at us. It was Gummy's knife. I felt my stomach flip.
Jason charged down the stairs, taking them two at a time until he was at the bottom. Caleb ran after, leaving me alone at the top of the stairs. "Do you see anything? I asked.
"Not yet," Caleb said, swinging the light around the different corners of the basement. I took the first few steps down when I heard something being dragged on the floor above me.
"Guys," I said in as loud of a whisper as I could without drawing unwanted attention.
Caleb turned to me and flashed his light up at me. I pointed up, and he craned his neck to hear. It was quiet, and then there was another dragging sound. His eyes went wide.
"Jay," he whispered. "Jay, I think he's upstairs."
"His backpack is down here," Jason said from beyond the darkness.
"Is he down there?" I whisper yelled again.
"No, but I found something weird," Jason said. "Come take a look."
I tried to make my way down the stairs quietly, but every step made the wood sigh and scream. I tried to be silent, but the house wouldn't let me. It was working against me, against us, and I was afraid of what more it might've had in store.
When my foot finally touched the blissfully silent concrete, I approached where Caleb and Jason were standing. They were in the far corner of the room, looking down at the ground. I didn't see it initially, but what had pulled their attention away from finding Gummy made sense when I got closer.
There was a door in the cement floor.
It looked like someone had placed a bedroom door into the concrete. I flashed my light down the side and saw hinges screwed into the ground. An old brass door handle stuck up like an alien plant. The handle had been dulled from years of use. Somebody used this door. All the time.
"Is that a root cellar or something?" Caleb asked.
"They don't build those anymore," Jason said.
"Storm shelter?" Caleb offered.
"In the basement?" Jason countered.
"They don't use regular doors for storm shelter doors," I added.
"Where the fuck does this thing lead?" Caleb said.
Above us, we heard something thumping down the second-floor stairs. Creak. Thump thump. Creak. Thump thump. Something was being dragged down those stairs to the first floor. We all shut off our flashlights and huddled in the corner away from the door.
We kept our slowly adjusting eyes on the stairs, waiting for something to appear. Thump thump. It had reached the last stair from the second floor. Seconds later, another loud thump, like something unwieldy yet heavy, had been dropped hard to the ground. My brain instantly conjured up the phrase "dead weight," and I swallowed hard.
Footsteps now, quickly walking through the kitchen above us. Each one caused a creak to shatter the stillness. Finally, someone reached the doorway to the basement stairs. I pulled my knife out. I held it so tight in my right hand that, had the handle been made of charcoal, it'd be a diamond when I next unfurled my fingers.
"Guys," a familiar voice called out from the top of the stairs. "Guys, are you down there?"
It was Gummy. Caleb started to speak, but I shot my free hand up and held it over his mouth. Something about Gummy's voice sounded off. It was him, but it wasn't him. Caleb looked stunned, but I just shook my head and removed my hand from his mouth. He stayed quiet.
"I know you're down there," Gummy said. "Where else would you be? Did you guys find the door?" We stayed as still as statues. Gummy took a step down the stairs. "Guys, did you hear me?"
Another step. Creak. Creak. Creak. They were halfway down now. In my heart, I knew whoever was on those stairs wasn't our friend. It was something pretending to be him. Their ability to mimic Gummy's voice was incredible. A gruesome mockingbird pecking away at our hearts.
"Whatever you do, guys, don't go into the door. Trust me, okay. Don't go in there."
Another step down. But this time, there was a slight noise that followed it. The twisting of a door handle. The three of us snapped our attention over to the floor and watched as something twisted the door handle open and softly pushed the door open.
It was Gummy.
His eyes were wild with fear, but it was actually him. He opened the door more and waved for us to come in there with him. Caleb and Jason looked at each other and then at me. I looked over at Gummy, and he nodded.
"Guys, you're staying away from the door, right?" Two steps this time. Whoever was on the stairs was nearly at the bottom. "There's nothing good in there. It's evil, I think. Nothing good."
We were paralyzed with fear. Who was the real Gummy? Where did the door in the floor lead to? Who the hell was on the stairway? I glanced at floor Gummy and then at the stairs. Floor Gummy kept waving at us to hurry, but no one moved. I knew we were all thinking the same thing. Which is which?
"I wanna fuck Miss Anderson," the floor Gummy said.
Holy shit, it was him. He swung the door open wide and ducked back down. Jason climbed down first with Caleb hot on his heels. Whatever was on the stairs had reached the basement. It was with us now.
My thumb felt the rubber nub of the flashlight's power button, and I decided I needed to see what the hell was down there. After all this time in the dark, the sudden reappearance of light hurt my eyes, but it was nothing compared to what I saw coming around the corner of the stairs.
Spindly legs held up a hunched-over mass of pulsating meat covered in ragged clothes. Narrow arms, no more than skin wrapped around bones, ended in hands with sharp, pointed fingers. Glowing ice-blue eyes sat on top of a long, razor-sharp beak that stuck out a good foot from its face. I wasn't sure if it was some kind of mutant bird or someone in a plague mask. Either way, I wasn't sticking around to find out.
"Let's go!" Gummy yelled.
The creature spoke with a hiss. "A piece of you will forever be trapped here." I dropped the flashlight, jumped into the opening near the door, and closed it behind me with a slam.
I fell out of another door and landed on a dusty, dirty floor. I was helped up by Caleb and Jason and saw that the door I had fallen through was on the attic wall. It...it shouldn't be here. We would've seen a door in the roof when we were in the driveway. There was a half-moon window, and when I glanced out, I saw our bikes.
"How the hell were we in the attic? What's going on, Gummy?"
"I dunno. After the door opened, I ran into the kitchen, tripped, and fell down the stairs. My knife nicked my gut," Gummy said, holding up his shirt and revealing a scarlet zig zag. "That thing came down after me, and I saw this door. I didn't know what else to do, so I went through it and ended up here."
"Did it follow you?" Jason asked.
"It did. I hid, and it…" Gummy didn't get to finish his thought because the door started to open again. Caleb and I grabbed the handle and held firm. We heard a scream both coming up from the basement and the area behind the door. It didn't make any sense. None of this did.
"Run!" Caleb yelled.
"Get to the bikes!" I added.
Jason and Gummy looked for a hatch leading down to the second floor but couldn't find one. Caleb and I were straining to hold the door close. Each time this creature yanked on the handle, the door would open a fraction of an inch further. We were losing.
"Where the fuck is the ladder out of here?" Jason yelled as he started ripping up the insulation around us. Gummy began to rip it up, too, and soon, the air was filled with dagger-like pink particulates that would Ginsu our lungs.
I breathed in some and immediately started hacking. I felt my grip losing on the handle. The door was getting wider. Caleb caught a breath with some of the fibers and coughed, too. The door was wide enough for the creature's claw-like hand to curl around it. Where its nails dug into the wood, it melted away like acid.
"Another door!" Gummy yelled. Buried beneath the insulation was another random door in the floor. He ripped it open, and we felt a strong breeze come through. It blew the fibers away from us. I could breathe easily again.
"Jump!" Jason yelled and did just that. Gummy followed. They were gone to some other place in the house.
Caleb looked at me and nodded at the door in the floor. "I can hold him for a second. Go."
But I wasn't going to do that. I plucked my knife off the ground and held it firm. "Let go!" I screamed.
He did, and the door instantly swung open. I was mere inches from this thing. I could smell the rot and death that wafted off its grotesque body. We locked eyes for a second.
It didn't see the knife in my hand.
I slammed the blade into one of its icy blue eyes all the way to the hilt. I used so much force that my hand slid off the handle and sliced my palm open. I didn't dwell on the pain because the scream this thing let out blasted my eardrums and broke the glass of the half-moon window.
I stumbled back, my ears throbbing and sound dampened. I felt a trickle of blood running out of both of my ears and knew I had probably done some real damage. Caleb grabbed my shoulder and pushed me towards the door in the floor. We both jumped in and fell through a dark tunnel.
Seconds later, we came falling out of the first bedroom's door and into the living room. Jason and Gummy were waiting for us. They pleaded with us to hurry, but the fall shook us. As we stumbled to our feet, I saw something lying at the edge of the second-floor landings.
It was a stained, dirt-covered canvas bag about the size of a full-grown man. It must've been what that thing was dragging down the stairs. "What's that?" I yelled as I had no idea how loud my voice was at that moment.
"Who gives a fuck," Jason screamed. I couldn't argue with that logic.
The creature in the basement/attic screamed again, and we heard it scrambling around in both places. It would either come barreling out of the bedroom like we just had or coming up the basement stairs. I didn't intend to stick around and find out.
"Let's get out of here," Gummy yelled as he turned towards the exit.
As he did, though, a horrific tearing sound filled the air around us. Caleb pointed at the bag, and we all turned to see several razor-sharp claws ripping the bag open from the inside. Was it the creature? That...that didn't make any sense. We knew it was either in the basement or the attic.
In a flash, it tore away the sack like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon and slowly stood up. As it did, its joints cracked like they were splintering. When it stood, it was taller and thinner than before. That's when I noticed what it was wearing.
It was a tattered football jersey. The legend had been true. The kidnapped kid hadn't disappeared – he had been transformed into this...thing.
What shitty luck.
We heard a loud thump from behind us and turned to see the bird creature with its one icy eye. The other still had the knife buried into its socket. A thick black ooze streamed from the open wound. We were surrounded on both sides, and the football creature blocked our only exit.
Fuck. I had wanted to leave, too.
As my brain scrambled for a way out, something snapped inside Gummy. Summoning all the courage his little, round body had, he screamed so loud I could hear it clear as day, even with my popped ear drums.
"For Miss Anderson!" he yelled, kicking the bag creature so hard in its bony leg that it snapped in half.
It collapsed to the floor, and we took that as our cue to get the hell out of dodge. We all sprinted out of the unblocked door and onto our waiting bikes. We hopped on, never looking back, and kicked them forward, letting the momentum of Apple Hill drag us away from those nightmares.
As we reached the bottom, we peddled so hard I thought my lungs would explode. But we didn't stop pumping until we saw the safety of Caleb's front lawn. We ditched our bikes in the yard, letting them ghost ride into the bushes, and ran into the house, not caring if we woke up his parents. Thankfully, they didn't stir.
We collapsed into his room and sucked in air like a vacuum. Once we finally caught our breath, Caled turned to Gummy and said, "For Miss Anderson?"
"Damn straight," Gummy said with a grin that eventually gave way to peels of laughter. Soon, we all laughed so hard that I was afraid the house would shake. It was the cathartic moment we needed, a sense of normalcy after a supremely abnormal night.
Once we caught our breaths again, Jason patted Gummy on the shoulder. "I hope you get your shot, little man." They pounded fists.
We stayed up for a few hours, our bodies still racing with adrenaline, and talked about what the hell had just happened. Were the doors time tunnels? Who built them? How and why? Theories were bandied around that we had stumbled into a mad scientists lair or some kind of creature from another dimension. Demons were brought up. Top secret government project? Gummy even thought magic because we were just tossing shit at the wall. None of it made sense and we were never going to know for sure.
The incessant ringing in my ears eventually faded, and though dulled, I could hear a little better. There was permanent damage, I knew that, but I was so glad I had gotten out of there alive that I didn't care.
The creature had said part of me would always be there, and they weren't wrong. My perfect hearing lay in ruins like a dilapidated house. Whatever. Hearing aids were super small, anyway.
Eventually, the adrenaline left our systems, and we crashed. The following day, we agreed to keep what happened to us a secret. If we told anyone what actually happened, they'd think we were nuts. Gummy and I were already low on the social totem pole and couldn't afford to take the hit.
Even though it's been a few months since it happened, I've started having weird dreams about the encounter. The fact that I'm having dreams about my trauma isn't the strange part. I expected that. The dreams themselves are what's unsettling me. They're so vivid I feel like I'm back in that house.
In them, I'm trapped in a canvas sack. I can't move or speak, but I can hear. I hear the hissing whispers of the blue-eyed creature. It's talking to someone else in the house, but I have no idea who it is. I assume it's the football player, but I don't know. The words are difficult to make out, but I've started writing down what I remember. I've heard "blood," "new," "return," and "rebirth."
The other thing I hear is what it said to me the first time I saw it: "A piece of you will forever be trapped here."
I don't know what it means, but the scar along my palm aches when I wake up, and I struggle to catch my breath. I've told Gummy, and he's had similar dreams. Jason and Caleb haven't, and I find that strange.
Gummy thinks we should talk to a professional about it. I don't want to admit what we saw, but he might be right. More than anything, I want to find an out-of-state college and leave all this shit behind me.
This town can keep Apple Hill – I'd rather have peace of mind.

"Why didn't they finish it?" I asked.
"I dunno," Gummy said, popping a namesake sour gummy worm into his mouth. "Maybe they ran out of money."
"No way," Jason said, "they won't let you build a house if you don't have enough money to pay for it."
"People run out of money all the time," I said. "Even people that buy houses."
"They didn't finish it because it's haunted," Caleb said, shining his flashlight up the driveway of the half-finished house on Apple Drive. "Eddie told me, and he never lies."
"Your brother told me he had sex with Miss Anderson," I said.
Gummy, his mouth full of candy, snorted and spit out bits of gummy worm. "Miss Anderson wouldn't ever touch his dick. She has standards."
"That's true," Jason said, chuckling. "Your brother's face looks like a pizza. No way she's getting turned on by him.
"Besides, she's saving herself for me," Gummy said.
"Shut the hell up, man," I said, laughing.
"If she's not getting over Eddie's acne-covered face, she's definitely not falling for your little Buddha belly, Gummy," Jason said, puffing out his stomach and tapping it for effect. It worked. We all laughed.
"Then she wouldn't know what she'd be missing," Gummy said.
"Okay, Eddie occasionally stretches some truths," Caleb said, "But he wouldn't lie about this."
"How does he know it's haunted?" I asked.
"He knew a kid who went inside and saw a ghost or a demon or something. He was so scared he left his bike in the backyard and ran down the hill screaming. They never found him, though. He just disappeared," Caleb said.
"What was the kid's name?" Jason asked.
"He didn't tell me but said he was a football player. A popular one, too."
We had all heard the rumors of a teen being kidnapped twenty or so years ago. Whether or not this football player was the same guy, we didn't know. Nobody really did. In the moment, though, it made sense.
"If a football player got caught in here, what chance do we have?" I asked. I wasn't suggesting we go home exactly, but I wasn't opposed to the idea. This place was creepier than I thought.
"You got two football players here," Jason said, slapping Caleb on the shoulder. "We can take him."
"JV players," Gummy added with a chuckle. Jason shot him a look, and Gummy offered a sour worm as a peace offering. Jason took it and nodded.
"We've come all this way," Caleb said, "Wouldn't hurt to take a peak, right?"
The wind blew, and I felt a chill run up my spine that I wasn't sure was only weather-related. Chilly fall weather had come early, and the nights were freezing by mid-October. None of us had jackets on because we had snuck out of Caleb's house after his parents had gone to bed. We had planned this secret trip to the unfinished house for a few weeks. It took a mighty effort for Caleb to get all three of us to stay the night at his house, but pleading kids had the same effect on parents as the tides had on rocks. Eventually, you were them down.
It helped that Caleb's mom liked red wine, and his dad could sleep through an atomic bomb blast.
The house was a local legend in our town. Years ago, someone had hired a crew to build a home at the top of Apple Hill. They'd nearly finished the job, but something happened that caused them to quit and never return. The legend goes that the first people to visit the site post-construction exodus found dozens of tools the crew left behind. Whatever had driven the crew out had done it in a hurry.
It was like the workers had disappeared into thin air.
Whoever bought the house and the surrounding land did nothing with the property. People supposedly looked into the records to try and find the owner but only found a PO Box address for something called "You're Home, Incorporated." Outside that PO box, though, there was nothing else on the books. The company had no other listings or holdings. There were no names associated with the company. Like the construction crew, the company just disappeared.
The Apple Hill house became victim to the inclement weather and bored teens. The crushed beer cans and fast food wrappers sprouted like a garbage garden and took away from the curb appeal. Sections of the roof sagged over time, but it still remained attached. I'm sure it wasn't safe to walk through without hard hats and safety gear, but we hadn't rode our bikes up that steep ass hill to not go into the house.
"If that story's true," Gummy said, "there'd probably be a bike in the yard. The one he left behind."
"Someone would take a free bike," Jason said. "Some bum or somebody isn't turning down a free ride."
"Maybe," I said, "you think someone lives in there?"
"It'd be cheap rent," Gummy said.
"Nobody from here would willingly stay in a haunted house," Caleb said, "regardless of how bad you needed a place to live."
"People have been here," Gummy said, kicking a rusted-out Budweiser can. "And they drink some pretty basic shit."
"Like you'd know," Jason said.
"Gonna tell a fat kid he doesn't understand taste?" Gummy asked. Jason had to agree.
We all had brought backpacks with the gear we thought we'd need. Truthfully, it was nothing more than flashlights, snacks, a bottle of water, and knives we had stolen from our houses. We all took our flashlights out and fired them up like a low-rent production of The Ghostbusters.
"Where should we go first?" Caleb asked.
"Let's just go in the front door," Jason said. "We can decide once we're inside."
That sounded good to all of us, but tellingly, none of us took that crucial first step forward. After a beat, I nodded and started toward the front door. Everyone followed behind me like baby ducks waddling behind their mom. Nobody said a word. Gummy even stopped chewing on his candy.
We all flashed our lights forward to give ourselves the most light possible. It still wasn't much. These flashlights were cheap emergency ones they sell at the drugstore for five bucks. They weren't as good as a Maglite or anything, and it showed. Even with our four streams of light crossing each other in front of us, it couldn't penetrate deep into the darkness in front of us.
I got to the front door, which was adorned with crude drawings of people screwing and the worst tagging this side of a middle school, and was about to push it open when Gummy grabbed my arm. I looked down at it and then at his face. He looked scared – I'm sure we all did – but he let go.
"What?" I asked.
"We should knock first," he said.
Jason laughed. "Why?"
"Seems, I dunno, proper or something. If someone is in there, maybe they'll tell us to leave, and we won't get stabbed by some drugged-up drifter."
"Come on, man. That's not going to be the case," Jason added.
"It's not a bad idea," Caleb said. "I mean, don't people on those ghost shows always say to treat the ghosts nice?"
Jason rolled his eyes, but his objections didn't go beyond that. I nodded at everyone and turned back to the closed door. I rapped on it, softly at first, but with each thwack of my hand, the knocks got louder. We waited to see if said knife-wielding drifter or ghoul spoke up. They didn't.
"Told you," Jason said.
"Better safe than sorry," Gummy said. "I can't die before I get my shot with Miss Anderson."
We all chuckled. Nerves more than the punchline. I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. It squealed on its hinges for a few inches before it suddenly snapped and sent the door dropping to the ground. We all ran back to the end of the driveway for a minute, expecting to see some demon come blazing out of the house, but relaxed when nothing happened. Old, rusted hinges sometimes break.
"That sucked shit," Gummy said with another nervous laugh.
"You can't go cheap on hinges," I said, "first rule of construction."
"Did you pick that up from one of the Property Brothers?" Jason asked.
"Common sense," I said with a smile.
Once our collective nerves returned, we returned to the now doorless entry. I was the first to cross through. As I did, I called out to anyone who might hear me, "We mean you no harm. We're just coming to check this place out."
"There's not a lot to do in this town," Gummy added as he followed behind me.
"And we want to brag to everyone at school about how amazing we are," Jason said.
"So, don't kill us, please. Gummy has to try to bone one of our teachers," Caleb added.
We all laughed and made our way into the living room. Like the door, it was decorated with gross art, marginal graffiti, and literal garbage. From this room, you could go one of three ways. There was a set of busted stairs that led to a darkened second floor, a doorway that led into the kitchen and dining room, and two closed doors that I assumed were bedrooms.
"Where should we go first?" I asked.
"Not upstairs," Gummy said. "Not first, at least."
"No arguments from me," Jason said.
"Let's check out these bedrooms. I don't think there are any stories about the bedrooms," Caleb said.
We moved toward the first room. I pushed open the door, and this one stayed on its hinges. There was nothing inside but more lousy art on the walls. Still, we walked in and looked around. There wasn't anything spooky in this room. We turned to leave when we heard a door slam from the kitchen. We all froze.
"Someone is in here," Gummy whispered.
Jason quietly unburdened his backpack and opened it up. He grabbed the knife he had stolen from his kitchen before switching off his flashlight. We all did the same. The room was now as dark as tar.
Jason and Caleb, the bigger two of us, stepped forward to take the lead. They held out the knives like they knew what they were doing. They didn't, but their confidence filled me with confidence, too.
"Open the door," I whispered.
Jason reached out with his free hand and slowly twisted the knob. You could hear the ancient mechanisms wheezing from sudden use after years of nothing. Jason opened the door and scanned the room in front of him. There wasn't anyone there, not that we could see anyway.
Jason and Caleb ventured back out into the living room, knives drawn. Gummy and I followed behind, scanning the room for any movement. Everything was as still as it had been. We waited a few seconds before breathing or speaking, but once it became clear nothing was happening, we all relaxed and dropped the knives to our sides.
"That was terrifying," I said.
The door from the second bedroom whipped open and slammed into the wall. We all jumped so high I thought we'd go through the ceiling. We turned around, expecting to see someone, but were greeted with another empty bedroom. Just as quickly as it swung up, it snapped shut. The echo of the slammed door bounced all around us.
Gummy ran into the kitchen, screaming like a banshee. I wanted to run, but my fight-or-flight nerve burned out, and I just stood in place like a tree in a meadow. Jason and Caleb, though, didn't hesitate. They ripped the door open, knives ready to stab into hobo flesh, and charged into the bedroom.
Seconds later, their bodies still pumping with adrenaline, they walked out.
"There's nobody in there!" Caleb said, his voice louder than he intended.
"They have to be hiding," Jason said, his eyes scanning the room, "How the hell did the door just open?"
"Where's Gummy?" Caleb asked.
"Gummy!" I yelled.
No response. I stumbled into the kitchen, fumbling to turn my flashlight back on, and called out for him again. I swung the beam around the dilapidated kitchen and didn't see him anywhere. I turned the beam into the attached dining room and found nothing there, save for a door leading into a basement.
"Did he go downstairs?" I heard Caleb ask over my shoulder.
"I don't know," I said, my brain trying to imagine why he'd do that. I stepped toward the door and felt my foot squish on something soft. Weirdly, it made a crinkling noise. I tilted the flashlight down and saw Gummy's bag of sour worms underfoot.
Jason ran to the basement doorway and yelled down to Gummy. Still, no response. Panic was starting to work its way into our bloodstream like a debilitating paralytic poison. This night wasn't supposed to go this way. This was supposed to be a lark that gave us a tiny thrill and an incredible story to tell kids at school on Monday.
"We should go down," I heard myself say. I was entirely outside my body at this point.
"Agreed," Caleb said. "He's either down there or upstairs."
"I saw him run into the kitchen," I said. "He's gotta be down there."
Jason yelled again, and there was no response. He turned, his face bearing the look of the poison in all of us. "Maybe he fell down the stairs and got knocked out?"
I pushed past both of them and peered down the stairs. If this floor was dark, then the basement was another kind of dark that only exists in the deepest reaches of space. I could barely make out the landing at the bottom of the steps. But I knew we'd have to go. Gummy would do it for us.
We all pointed our flashlights down at once to get a better view. The light reflected back at us. It was Gummy's knife. I felt my stomach flip.
Jason charged down the stairs, taking them two at a time until he was at the bottom. Caleb ran after, leaving me alone at the top of the stairs. "Do you see anything? I asked.
"Not yet," Caleb said, swinging the light around the different corners of the basement. I took the first few steps down when I heard something being dragged on the floor above me.
"Guys," I said in as loud of a whisper as I could without drawing unwanted attention.
Caleb turned to me and flashed his light up at me. I pointed up, and he craned his neck to hear. It was quiet, and then there was another dragging sound. His eyes went wide.
"Jay," he whispered. "Jay, I think he's upstairs."
"His backpack is down here," Jason said from beyond the darkness.
"Is he down there?" I whisper yelled again.
"No, but I found something weird," Jason said. "Come take a look."
I tried to make my way down the stairs quietly, but every step made the wood sigh and scream. I tried to be silent, but the house wouldn't let me. It was working against me, against us, and I was afraid of what more it might've had in store.
When my foot finally touched the blissfully silent concrete, I approached where Caleb and Jason were standing. They were in the far corner of the room, looking down at the ground. I didn't see it initially, but what had pulled their attention away from finding Gummy made sense when I got closer.
There was a door in the cement floor.
It looked like someone had placed a bedroom door into the concrete. I flashed my light down the side and saw hinges screwed into the ground. An old brass door handle stuck up like an alien plant. The handle had been dulled from years of use. Somebody used this door. All the time.
"Is that a root cellar or something?" Caleb asked.
"They don't build those anymore," Jason said.
"Storm shelter?" Caleb offered.
"In the basement?" Jason countered.
"They don't use regular doors for storm shelter doors," I added.
"Where the fuck does this thing lead?" Caleb said.
Above us, we heard something thumping down the second-floor stairs. Creak. Thump thump. Creak. Thump thump. Something was being dragged down those stairs to the first floor. We all shut off our flashlights and huddled in the corner away from the door.
We kept our slowly adjusting eyes on the stairs, waiting for something to appear. Thump thump. It had reached the last stair from the second floor. Seconds later, another loud thump, like something unwieldy yet heavy, had been dropped hard to the ground. My brain instantly conjured up the phrase "dead weight," and I swallowed hard.
Footsteps now, quickly walking through the kitchen above us. Each one caused a creak to shatter the stillness. Finally, someone reached the doorway to the basement stairs. I pulled my knife out. I held it so tight in my right hand that, had the handle been made of charcoal, it'd be a diamond when I next unfurled my fingers.
"Guys," a familiar voice called out from the top of the stairs. "Guys, are you down there?"
It was Gummy. Caleb started to speak, but I shot my free hand up and held it over his mouth. Something about Gummy's voice sounded off. It was him, but it wasn't him. Caleb looked stunned, but I just shook my head and removed my hand from his mouth. He stayed quiet.
"I know you're down there," Gummy said. "Where else would you be? Did you guys find the door?" We stayed as still as statues. Gummy took a step down the stairs. "Guys, did you hear me?"
Another step. Creak. Creak. Creak. They were halfway down now. In my heart, I knew whoever was on those stairs wasn't our friend. It was something pretending to be him. Their ability to mimic Gummy's voice was incredible. A gruesome mockingbird pecking away at our hearts.
"Whatever you do, guys, don't go into the door. Trust me, okay. Don't go in there."
Another step down. But this time, there was a slight noise that followed it. The twisting of a door handle. The three of us snapped our attention over to the floor and watched as something twisted the door handle open and softly pushed the door open.
It was Gummy.
His eyes were wild with fear, but it was actually him. He opened the door more and waved for us to come in there with him. Caleb and Jason looked at each other and then at me. I looked over at Gummy, and he nodded.
"Guys, you're staying away from the door, right?" Two steps this time. Whoever was on the stairs was nearly at the bottom. "There's nothing good in there. It's evil, I think. Nothing good."
We were paralyzed with fear. Who was the real Gummy? Where did the door in the floor lead to? Who the hell was on the stairway? I glanced at floor Gummy and then at the stairs. Floor Gummy kept waving at us to hurry, but no one moved. I knew we were all thinking the same thing. Which is which?
"I wanna fuck Miss Anderson," the floor Gummy said.
Holy shit, it was him. He swung the door open wide and ducked back down. Jason climbed down first with Caleb hot on his heels. Whatever was on the stairs had reached the basement. It was with us now.
My thumb felt the rubber nub of the flashlight's power button, and I decided I needed to see what the hell was down there. After all this time in the dark, the sudden reappearance of light hurt my eyes, but it was nothing compared to what I saw coming around the corner of the stairs.
Spindly legs held up a hunched-over mass of pulsating meat covered in ragged clothes. Narrow arms, no more than skin wrapped around bones, ended in hands with sharp, pointed fingers. Glowing ice-blue eyes sat on top of a long, razor-sharp beak that stuck out a good foot from its face. I wasn't sure if it was some kind of mutant bird or someone in a plague mask. Either way, I wasn't sticking around to find out.
"Let's go!" Gummy yelled.
The creature spoke with a hiss. "A piece of you will forever be trapped here." I dropped the flashlight, jumped into the opening near the door, and closed it behind me with a slam.
I fell out of another door and landed on a dusty, dirty floor. I was helped up by Caleb and Jason and saw that the door I had fallen through was on the attic wall. It...it shouldn't be here. We would've seen a door in the roof when we were in the driveway. There was a half-moon window, and when I glanced out, I saw our bikes.
"How the hell were we in the attic? What's going on, Gummy?"
"I dunno. After the door opened, I ran into the kitchen, tripped, and fell down the stairs. My knife nicked my gut," Gummy said, holding up his shirt and revealing a scarlet zig zag. "That thing came down after me, and I saw this door. I didn't know what else to do, so I went through it and ended up here."
"Did it follow you?" Jason asked.
"It did. I hid, and it…" Gummy didn't get to finish his thought because the door started to open again. Caleb and I grabbed the handle and held firm. We heard a scream both coming up from the basement and the area behind the door. It didn't make any sense. None of this did.
"Run!" Caleb yelled.
"Get to the bikes!" I added.
Jason and Gummy looked for a hatch leading down to the second floor but couldn't find one. Caleb and I were straining to hold the door close. Each time this creature yanked on the handle, the door would open a fraction of an inch further. We were losing.
"Where the fuck is the ladder out of here?" Jason yelled as he started ripping up the insulation around us. Gummy began to rip it up, too, and soon, the air was filled with dagger-like pink particulates that would Ginsu our lungs.
I breathed in some and immediately started hacking. I felt my grip losing on the handle. The door was getting wider. Caleb caught a breath with some of the fibers and coughed, too. The door was wide enough for the creature's claw-like hand to curl around it. Where its nails dug into the wood, it melted away like acid.
"Another door!" Gummy yelled. Buried beneath the insulation was another random door in the floor. He ripped it open, and we felt a strong breeze come through. It blew the fibers away from us. I could breathe easily again.
"Jump!" Jason yelled and did just that. Gummy followed. They were gone to some other place in the house.
Caleb looked at me and nodded at the door in the floor. "I can hold him for a second. Go."
But I wasn't going to do that. I plucked my knife off the ground and held it firm. "Let go!" I screamed.
He did, and the door instantly swung open. I was mere inches from this thing. I could smell the rot and death that wafted off its grotesque body. We locked eyes for a second.
It didn't see the knife in my hand.
I slammed the blade into one of its icy blue eyes all the way to the hilt. I used so much force that my hand slid off the handle and sliced my palm open. I didn't dwell on the pain because the scream this thing let out blasted my eardrums and broke the glass of the half-moon window.
I stumbled back, my ears throbbing and sound dampened. I felt a trickle of blood running out of both of my ears and knew I had probably done some real damage. Caleb grabbed my shoulder and pushed me towards the door in the floor. We both jumped in and fell through a dark tunnel.
Seconds later, we came falling out of the first bedroom's door and into the living room. Jason and Gummy were waiting for us. They pleaded with us to hurry, but the fall shook us. As we stumbled to our feet, I saw something lying at the edge of the second-floor landings.
It was a stained, dirt-covered canvas bag about the size of a full-grown man. It must've been what that thing was dragging down the stairs. "What's that?" I yelled as I had no idea how loud my voice was at that moment.
"Who gives a fuck," Jason screamed. I couldn't argue with that logic.
The creature in the basement/attic screamed again, and we heard it scrambling around in both places. It would either come barreling out of the bedroom like we just had or coming up the basement stairs. I didn't intend to stick around and find out.
"Let's get out of here," Gummy yelled as he turned towards the exit.
As he did, though, a horrific tearing sound filled the air around us. Caleb pointed at the bag, and we all turned to see several razor-sharp claws ripping the bag open from the inside. Was it the creature? That...that didn't make any sense. We knew it was either in the basement or the attic.
In a flash, it tore away the sack like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon and slowly stood up. As it did, its joints cracked like they were splintering. When it stood, it was taller and thinner than before. That's when I noticed what it was wearing.
It was a tattered football jersey. The legend had been true. The kidnapped kid hadn't disappeared – he had been transformed into this...thing.
What shitty luck.
We heard a loud thump from behind us and turned to see the bird creature with its one icy eye. The other still had the knife buried into its socket. A thick black ooze streamed from the open wound. We were surrounded on both sides, and the football creature blocked our only exit.
Fuck. I had wanted to leave, too.
As my brain scrambled for a way out, something snapped inside Gummy. Summoning all the courage his little, round body had, he screamed so loud I could hear it clear as day, even with my popped ear drums.
"For Miss Anderson!" he yelled, kicking the bag creature so hard in its bony leg that it snapped in half.
It collapsed to the floor, and we took that as our cue to get the hell out of dodge. We all sprinted out of the unblocked door and onto our waiting bikes. We hopped on, never looking back, and kicked them forward, letting the momentum of Apple Hill drag us away from those nightmares.
As we reached the bottom, we peddled so hard I thought my lungs would explode. But we didn't stop pumping until we saw the safety of Caleb's front lawn. We ditched our bikes in the yard, letting them ghost ride into the bushes, and ran into the house, not caring if we woke up his parents. Thankfully, they didn't stir.
We collapsed into his room and sucked in air like a vacuum. Once we finally caught our breath, Caled turned to Gummy and said, "For Miss Anderson?"
"Damn straight," Gummy said with a grin that eventually gave way to peels of laughter. Soon, we all laughed so hard that I was afraid the house would shake. It was the cathartic moment we needed, a sense of normalcy after a supremely abnormal night.
Once we caught our breaths again, Jason patted Gummy on the shoulder. "I hope you get your shot, little man." They pounded fists.
We stayed up for a few hours, our bodies still racing with adrenaline, and talked about what the hell had just happened. Were the doors time tunnels? Who built them? How and why? Theories were bandied around that we had stumbled into a mad scientists lair or some kind of creature from another dimension. Demons were brought up. Top secret government project? Gummy even thought magic because we were just tossing shit at the wall. None of it made sense and we were never going to know for sure.
The incessant ringing in my ears eventually faded, and though dulled, I could hear a little better. There was permanent damage, I knew that, but I was so glad I had gotten out of there alive that I didn't care.
The creature had said part of me would always be there, and they weren't wrong. My perfect hearing lay in ruins like a dilapidated house. Whatever. Hearing aids were super small, anyway.
Eventually, the adrenaline left our systems, and we crashed. The following day, we agreed to keep what happened to us a secret. If we told anyone what actually happened, they'd think we were nuts. Gummy and I were already low on the social totem pole and couldn't afford to take the hit.
Even though it's been a few months since it happened, I've started having weird dreams about the encounter. The fact that I'm having dreams about my trauma isn't the strange part. I expected that. The dreams themselves are what's unsettling me. They're so vivid I feel like I'm back in that house.
In them, I'm trapped in a canvas sack. I can't move or speak, but I can hear. I hear the hissing whispers of the blue-eyed creature. It's talking to someone else in the house, but I have no idea who it is. I assume it's the football player, but I don't know. The words are difficult to make out, but I've started writing down what I remember. I've heard "blood," "new," "return," and "rebirth."
The other thing I hear is what it said to me the first time I saw it: "A piece of you will forever be trapped here."
I don't know what it means, but the scar along my palm aches when I wake up, and I struggle to catch my breath. I've told Gummy, and he's had similar dreams. Jason and Caleb haven't, and I find that strange.
Gummy thinks we should talk to a professional about it. I don't want to admit what we saw, but he might be right. More than anything, I want to find an out-of-state college and leave all this shit behind me.
This town can keep Apple Hill – I'd rather have peace of mind.

"Why didn't they finish it?" I asked.
"I dunno," Gummy said, popping a namesake sour gummy worm into his mouth. "Maybe they ran out of money."
"No way," Jason said, "they won't let you build a house if you don't have enough money to pay for it."
"People run out of money all the time," I said. "Even people that buy houses."
"They didn't finish it because it's haunted," Caleb said, shining his flashlight up the driveway of the half-finished house on Apple Drive. "Eddie told me, and he never lies."
"Your brother told me he had sex with Miss Anderson," I said.
Gummy, his mouth full of candy, snorted and spit out bits of gummy worm. "Miss Anderson wouldn't ever touch his dick. She has standards."
"That's true," Jason said, chuckling. "Your brother's face looks like a pizza. No way she's getting turned on by him.
"Besides, she's saving herself for me," Gummy said.
"Shut the hell up, man," I said, laughing.
"If she's not getting over Eddie's acne-covered face, she's definitely not falling for your little Buddha belly, Gummy," Jason said, puffing out his stomach and tapping it for effect. It worked. We all laughed.
"Then she wouldn't know what she'd be missing," Gummy said.
"Okay, Eddie occasionally stretches some truths," Caleb said, "But he wouldn't lie about this."
"How does he know it's haunted?" I asked.
"He knew a kid who went inside and saw a ghost or a demon or something. He was so scared he left his bike in the backyard and ran down the hill screaming. They never found him, though. He just disappeared," Caleb said.
"What was the kid's name?" Jason asked.
"He didn't tell me but said he was a football player. A popular one, too."
We had all heard the rumors of a teen being kidnapped twenty or so years ago. Whether or not this football player was the same guy, we didn't know. Nobody really did. In the moment, though, it made sense.
"If a football player got caught in here, what chance do we have?" I asked. I wasn't suggesting we go home exactly, but I wasn't opposed to the idea. This place was creepier than I thought.
"You got two football players here," Jason said, slapping Caleb on the shoulder. "We can take him."
"JV players," Gummy added with a chuckle. Jason shot him a look, and Gummy offered a sour worm as a peace offering. Jason took it and nodded.
"We've come all this way," Caleb said, "Wouldn't hurt to take a peak, right?"
The wind blew, and I felt a chill run up my spine that I wasn't sure was only weather-related. Chilly fall weather had come early, and the nights were freezing by mid-October. None of us had jackets on because we had snuck out of Caleb's house after his parents had gone to bed. We had planned this secret trip to the unfinished house for a few weeks. It took a mighty effort for Caleb to get all three of us to stay the night at his house, but pleading kids had the same effect on parents as the tides had on rocks. Eventually, you were them down.
It helped that Caleb's mom liked red wine, and his dad could sleep through an atomic bomb blast.
The house was a local legend in our town. Years ago, someone had hired a crew to build a home at the top of Apple Hill. They'd nearly finished the job, but something happened that caused them to quit and never return. The legend goes that the first people to visit the site post-construction exodus found dozens of tools the crew left behind. Whatever had driven the crew out had done it in a hurry.
It was like the workers had disappeared into thin air.
Whoever bought the house and the surrounding land did nothing with the property. People supposedly looked into the records to try and find the owner but only found a PO Box address for something called "You're Home, Incorporated." Outside that PO box, though, there was nothing else on the books. The company had no other listings or holdings. There were no names associated with the company. Like the construction crew, the company just disappeared.
The Apple Hill house became victim to the inclement weather and bored teens. The crushed beer cans and fast food wrappers sprouted like a garbage garden and took away from the curb appeal. Sections of the roof sagged over time, but it still remained attached. I'm sure it wasn't safe to walk through without hard hats and safety gear, but we hadn't rode our bikes up that steep ass hill to not go into the house.
"If that story's true," Gummy said, "there'd probably be a bike in the yard. The one he left behind."
"Someone would take a free bike," Jason said. "Some bum or somebody isn't turning down a free ride."
"Maybe," I said, "you think someone lives in there?"
"It'd be cheap rent," Gummy said.
"Nobody from here would willingly stay in a haunted house," Caleb said, "regardless of how bad you needed a place to live."
"People have been here," Gummy said, kicking a rusted-out Budweiser can. "And they drink some pretty basic shit."
"Like you'd know," Jason said.
"Gonna tell a fat kid he doesn't understand taste?" Gummy asked. Jason had to agree.
We all had brought backpacks with the gear we thought we'd need. Truthfully, it was nothing more than flashlights, snacks, a bottle of water, and knives we had stolen from our houses. We all took our flashlights out and fired them up like a low-rent production of The Ghostbusters.
"Where should we go first?" Caleb asked.
"Let's just go in the front door," Jason said. "We can decide once we're inside."
That sounded good to all of us, but tellingly, none of us took that crucial first step forward. After a beat, I nodded and started toward the front door. Everyone followed behind me like baby ducks waddling behind their mom. Nobody said a word. Gummy even stopped chewing on his candy.
We all flashed our lights forward to give ourselves the most light possible. It still wasn't much. These flashlights were cheap emergency ones they sell at the drugstore for five bucks. They weren't as good as a Maglite or anything, and it showed. Even with our four streams of light crossing each other in front of us, it couldn't penetrate deep into the darkness in front of us.
I got to the front door, which was adorned with crude drawings of people screwing and the worst tagging this side of a middle school, and was about to push it open when Gummy grabbed my arm. I looked down at it and then at his face. He looked scared – I'm sure we all did – but he let go.
"What?" I asked.
"We should knock first," he said.
Jason laughed. "Why?"
"Seems, I dunno, proper or something. If someone is in there, maybe they'll tell us to leave, and we won't get stabbed by some drugged-up drifter."
"Come on, man. That's not going to be the case," Jason added.
"It's not a bad idea," Caleb said. "I mean, don't people on those ghost shows always say to treat the ghosts nice?"
Jason rolled his eyes, but his objections didn't go beyond that. I nodded at everyone and turned back to the closed door. I rapped on it, softly at first, but with each thwack of my hand, the knocks got louder. We waited to see if said knife-wielding drifter or ghoul spoke up. They didn't.
"Told you," Jason said.
"Better safe than sorry," Gummy said. "I can't die before I get my shot with Miss Anderson."
We all chuckled. Nerves more than the punchline. I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. It squealed on its hinges for a few inches before it suddenly snapped and sent the door dropping to the ground. We all ran back to the end of the driveway for a minute, expecting to see some demon come blazing out of the house, but relaxed when nothing happened. Old, rusted hinges sometimes break.
"That sucked shit," Gummy said with another nervous laugh.
"You can't go cheap on hinges," I said, "first rule of construction."
"Did you pick that up from one of the Property Brothers?" Jason asked.
"Common sense," I said with a smile.
Once our collective nerves returned, we returned to the now doorless entry. I was the first to cross through. As I did, I called out to anyone who might hear me, "We mean you no harm. We're just coming to check this place out."
"There's not a lot to do in this town," Gummy added as he followed behind me.
"And we want to brag to everyone at school about how amazing we are," Jason said.
"So, don't kill us, please. Gummy has to try to bone one of our teachers," Caleb added.
We all laughed and made our way into the living room. Like the door, it was decorated with gross art, marginal graffiti, and literal garbage. From this room, you could go one of three ways. There was a set of busted stairs that led to a darkened second floor, a doorway that led into the kitchen and dining room, and two closed doors that I assumed were bedrooms.
"Where should we go first?" I asked.
"Not upstairs," Gummy said. "Not first, at least."
"No arguments from me," Jason said.
"Let's check out these bedrooms. I don't think there are any stories about the bedrooms," Caleb said.
We moved toward the first room. I pushed open the door, and this one stayed on its hinges. There was nothing inside but more lousy art on the walls. Still, we walked in and looked around. There wasn't anything spooky in this room. We turned to leave when we heard a door slam from the kitchen. We all froze.
"Someone is in here," Gummy whispered.
Jason quietly unburdened his backpack and opened it up. He grabbed the knife he had stolen from his kitchen before switching off his flashlight. We all did the same. The room was now as dark as tar.
Jason and Caleb, the bigger two of us, stepped forward to take the lead. They held out the knives like they knew what they were doing. They didn't, but their confidence filled me with confidence, too.
"Open the door," I whispered.
Jason reached out with his free hand and slowly twisted the knob. You could hear the ancient mechanisms wheezing from sudden use after years of nothing. Jason opened the door and scanned the room in front of him. There wasn't anyone there, not that we could see anyway.
Jason and Caleb ventured back out into the living room, knives drawn. Gummy and I followed behind, scanning the room for any movement. Everything was as still as it had been. We waited a few seconds before breathing or speaking, but once it became clear nothing was happening, we all relaxed and dropped the knives to our sides.
"That was terrifying," I said.
The door from the second bedroom whipped open and slammed into the wall. We all jumped so high I thought we'd go through the ceiling. We turned around, expecting to see someone, but were greeted with another empty bedroom. Just as quickly as it swung up, it snapped shut. The echo of the slammed door bounced all around us.
Gummy ran into the kitchen, screaming like a banshee. I wanted to run, but my fight-or-flight nerve burned out, and I just stood in place like a tree in a meadow. Jason and Caleb, though, didn't hesitate. They ripped the door open, knives ready to stab into hobo flesh, and charged into the bedroom.
Seconds later, their bodies still pumping with adrenaline, they walked out.
"There's nobody in there!" Caleb said, his voice louder than he intended.
"They have to be hiding," Jason said, his eyes scanning the room, "How the hell did the door just open?"
"Where's Gummy?" Caleb asked.
"Gummy!" I yelled.
No response. I stumbled into the kitchen, fumbling to turn my flashlight back on, and called out for him again. I swung the beam around the dilapidated kitchen and didn't see him anywhere. I turned the beam into the attached dining room and found nothing there, save for a door leading into a basement.
"Did he go downstairs?" I heard Caleb ask over my shoulder.
"I don't know," I said, my brain trying to imagine why he'd do that. I stepped toward the door and felt my foot squish on something soft. Weirdly, it made a crinkling noise. I tilted the flashlight down and saw Gummy's bag of sour worms underfoot.
Jason ran to the basement doorway and yelled down to Gummy. Still, no response. Panic was starting to work its way into our bloodstream like a debilitating paralytic poison. This night wasn't supposed to go this way. This was supposed to be a lark that gave us a tiny thrill and an incredible story to tell kids at school on Monday.
"We should go down," I heard myself say. I was entirely outside my body at this point.
"Agreed," Caleb said. "He's either down there or upstairs."
"I saw him run into the kitchen," I said. "He's gotta be down there."
Jason yelled again, and there was no response. He turned, his face bearing the look of the poison in all of us. "Maybe he fell down the stairs and got knocked out?"
I pushed past both of them and peered down the stairs. If this floor was dark, then the basement was another kind of dark that only exists in the deepest reaches of space. I could barely make out the landing at the bottom of the steps. But I knew we'd have to go. Gummy would do it for us.
We all pointed our flashlights down at once to get a better view. The light reflected back at us. It was Gummy's knife. I felt my stomach flip.
Jason charged down the stairs, taking them two at a time until he was at the bottom. Caleb ran after, leaving me alone at the top of the stairs. "Do you see anything? I asked.
"Not yet," Caleb said, swinging the light around the different corners of the basement. I took the first few steps down when I heard something being dragged on the floor above me.
"Guys," I said in as loud of a whisper as I could without drawing unwanted attention.
Caleb turned to me and flashed his light up at me. I pointed up, and he craned his neck to hear. It was quiet, and then there was another dragging sound. His eyes went wide.
"Jay," he whispered. "Jay, I think he's upstairs."
"His backpack is down here," Jason said from beyond the darkness.
"Is he down there?" I whisper yelled again.
"No, but I found something weird," Jason said. "Come take a look."
I tried to make my way down the stairs quietly, but every step made the wood sigh and scream. I tried to be silent, but the house wouldn't let me. It was working against me, against us, and I was afraid of what more it might've had in store.
When my foot finally touched the blissfully silent concrete, I approached where Caleb and Jason were standing. They were in the far corner of the room, looking down at the ground. I didn't see it initially, but what had pulled their attention away from finding Gummy made sense when I got closer.
There was a door in the cement floor.
It looked like someone had placed a bedroom door into the concrete. I flashed my light down the side and saw hinges screwed into the ground. An old brass door handle stuck up like an alien plant. The handle had been dulled from years of use. Somebody used this door. All the time.
"Is that a root cellar or something?" Caleb asked.
"They don't build those anymore," Jason said.
"Storm shelter?" Caleb offered.
"In the basement?" Jason countered.
"They don't use regular doors for storm shelter doors," I added.
"Where the fuck does this thing lead?" Caleb said.
Above us, we heard something thumping down the second-floor stairs. Creak. Thump thump. Creak. Thump thump. Something was being dragged down those stairs to the first floor. We all shut off our flashlights and huddled in the corner away from the door.
We kept our slowly adjusting eyes on the stairs, waiting for something to appear. Thump thump. It had reached the last stair from the second floor. Seconds later, another loud thump, like something unwieldy yet heavy, had been dropped hard to the ground. My brain instantly conjured up the phrase "dead weight," and I swallowed hard.
Footsteps now, quickly walking through the kitchen above us. Each one caused a creak to shatter the stillness. Finally, someone reached the doorway to the basement stairs. I pulled my knife out. I held it so tight in my right hand that, had the handle been made of charcoal, it'd be a diamond when I next unfurled my fingers.
"Guys," a familiar voice called out from the top of the stairs. "Guys, are you down there?"
It was Gummy. Caleb started to speak, but I shot my free hand up and held it over his mouth. Something about Gummy's voice sounded off. It was him, but it wasn't him. Caleb looked stunned, but I just shook my head and removed my hand from his mouth. He stayed quiet.
"I know you're down there," Gummy said. "Where else would you be? Did you guys find the door?" We stayed as still as statues. Gummy took a step down the stairs. "Guys, did you hear me?"
Another step. Creak. Creak. Creak. They were halfway down now. In my heart, I knew whoever was on those stairs wasn't our friend. It was something pretending to be him. Their ability to mimic Gummy's voice was incredible. A gruesome mockingbird pecking away at our hearts.
"Whatever you do, guys, don't go into the door. Trust me, okay. Don't go in there."
Another step down. But this time, there was a slight noise that followed it. The twisting of a door handle. The three of us snapped our attention over to the floor and watched as something twisted the door handle open and softly pushed the door open.
It was Gummy.
His eyes were wild with fear, but it was actually him. He opened the door more and waved for us to come in there with him. Caleb and Jason looked at each other and then at me. I looked over at Gummy, and he nodded.
"Guys, you're staying away from the door, right?" Two steps this time. Whoever was on the stairs was nearly at the bottom. "There's nothing good in there. It's evil, I think. Nothing good."
We were paralyzed with fear. Who was the real Gummy? Where did the door in the floor lead to? Who the hell was on the stairway? I glanced at floor Gummy and then at the stairs. Floor Gummy kept waving at us to hurry, but no one moved. I knew we were all thinking the same thing. Which is which?
"I wanna fuck Miss Anderson," the floor Gummy said.
Holy shit, it was him. He swung the door open wide and ducked back down. Jason climbed down first with Caleb hot on his heels. Whatever was on the stairs had reached the basement. It was with us now.
My thumb felt the rubber nub of the flashlight's power button, and I decided I needed to see what the hell was down there. After all this time in the dark, the sudden reappearance of light hurt my eyes, but it was nothing compared to what I saw coming around the corner of the stairs.
Spindly legs held up a hunched-over mass of pulsating meat covered in ragged clothes. Narrow arms, no more than skin wrapped around bones, ended in hands with sharp, pointed fingers. Glowing ice-blue eyes sat on top of a long, razor-sharp beak that stuck out a good foot from its face. I wasn't sure if it was some kind of mutant bird or someone in a plague mask. Either way, I wasn't sticking around to find out.
"Let's go!" Gummy yelled.
The creature spoke with a hiss. "A piece of you will forever be trapped here." I dropped the flashlight, jumped into the opening near the door, and closed it behind me with a slam.
I fell out of another door and landed on a dusty, dirty floor. I was helped up by Caleb and Jason and saw that the door I had fallen through was on the attic wall. It...it shouldn't be here. We would've seen a door in the roof when we were in the driveway. There was a half-moon window, and when I glanced out, I saw our bikes.
"How the hell were we in the attic? What's going on, Gummy?"
"I dunno. After the door opened, I ran into the kitchen, tripped, and fell down the stairs. My knife nicked my gut," Gummy said, holding up his shirt and revealing a scarlet zig zag. "That thing came down after me, and I saw this door. I didn't know what else to do, so I went through it and ended up here."
"Did it follow you?" Jason asked.
"It did. I hid, and it…" Gummy didn't get to finish his thought because the door started to open again. Caleb and I grabbed the handle and held firm. We heard a scream both coming up from the basement and the area behind the door. It didn't make any sense. None of this did.
"Run!" Caleb yelled.
"Get to the bikes!" I added.
Jason and Gummy looked for a hatch leading down to the second floor but couldn't find one. Caleb and I were straining to hold the door close. Each time this creature yanked on the handle, the door would open a fraction of an inch further. We were losing.
"Where the fuck is the ladder out of here?" Jason yelled as he started ripping up the insulation around us. Gummy began to rip it up, too, and soon, the air was filled with dagger-like pink particulates that would Ginsu our lungs.
I breathed in some and immediately started hacking. I felt my grip losing on the handle. The door was getting wider. Caleb caught a breath with some of the fibers and coughed, too. The door was wide enough for the creature's claw-like hand to curl around it. Where its nails dug into the wood, it melted away like acid.
"Another door!" Gummy yelled. Buried beneath the insulation was another random door in the floor. He ripped it open, and we felt a strong breeze come through. It blew the fibers away from us. I could breathe easily again.
"Jump!" Jason yelled and did just that. Gummy followed. They were gone to some other place in the house.
Caleb looked at me and nodded at the door in the floor. "I can hold him for a second. Go."
But I wasn't going to do that. I plucked my knife off the ground and held it firm. "Let go!" I screamed.
He did, and the door instantly swung open. I was mere inches from this thing. I could smell the rot and death that wafted off its grotesque body. We locked eyes for a second.
It didn't see the knife in my hand.
I slammed the blade into one of its icy blue eyes all the way to the hilt. I used so much force that my hand slid off the handle and sliced my palm open. I didn't dwell on the pain because the scream this thing let out blasted my eardrums and broke the glass of the half-moon window.
I stumbled back, my ears throbbing and sound dampened. I felt a trickle of blood running out of both of my ears and knew I had probably done some real damage. Caleb grabbed my shoulder and pushed me towards the door in the floor. We both jumped in and fell through a dark tunnel.
Seconds later, we came falling out of the first bedroom's door and into the living room. Jason and Gummy were waiting for us. They pleaded with us to hurry, but the fall shook us. As we stumbled to our feet, I saw something lying at the edge of the second-floor landings.
It was a stained, dirt-covered canvas bag about the size of a full-grown man. It must've been what that thing was dragging down the stairs. "What's that?" I yelled as I had no idea how loud my voice was at that moment.
"Who gives a fuck," Jason screamed. I couldn't argue with that logic.
The creature in the basement/attic screamed again, and we heard it scrambling around in both places. It would either come barreling out of the bedroom like we just had or coming up the basement stairs. I didn't intend to stick around and find out.
"Let's get out of here," Gummy yelled as he turned towards the exit.
As he did, though, a horrific tearing sound filled the air around us. Caleb pointed at the bag, and we all turned to see several razor-sharp claws ripping the bag open from the inside. Was it the creature? That...that didn't make any sense. We knew it was either in the basement or the attic.
In a flash, it tore away the sack like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon and slowly stood up. As it did, its joints cracked like they were splintering. When it stood, it was taller and thinner than before. That's when I noticed what it was wearing.
It was a tattered football jersey. The legend had been true. The kidnapped kid hadn't disappeared – he had been transformed into this...thing.
What shitty luck.
We heard a loud thump from behind us and turned to see the bird creature with its one icy eye. The other still had the knife buried into its socket. A thick black ooze streamed from the open wound. We were surrounded on both sides, and the football creature blocked our only exit.
Fuck. I had wanted to leave, too.
As my brain scrambled for a way out, something snapped inside Gummy. Summoning all the courage his little, round body had, he screamed so loud I could hear it clear as day, even with my popped ear drums.
"For Miss Anderson!" he yelled, kicking the bag creature so hard in its bony leg that it snapped in half.
It collapsed to the floor, and we took that as our cue to get the hell out of dodge. We all sprinted out of the unblocked door and onto our waiting bikes. We hopped on, never looking back, and kicked them forward, letting the momentum of Apple Hill drag us away from those nightmares.
As we reached the bottom, we peddled so hard I thought my lungs would explode. But we didn't stop pumping until we saw the safety of Caleb's front lawn. We ditched our bikes in the yard, letting them ghost ride into the bushes, and ran into the house, not caring if we woke up his parents. Thankfully, they didn't stir.
We collapsed into his room and sucked in air like a vacuum. Once we finally caught our breath, Caled turned to Gummy and said, "For Miss Anderson?"
"Damn straight," Gummy said with a grin that eventually gave way to peels of laughter. Soon, we all laughed so hard that I was afraid the house would shake. It was the cathartic moment we needed, a sense of normalcy after a supremely abnormal night.
Once we caught our breaths again, Jason patted Gummy on the shoulder. "I hope you get your shot, little man." They pounded fists.
We stayed up for a few hours, our bodies still racing with adrenaline, and talked about what the hell had just happened. Were the doors time tunnels? Who built them? How and why? Theories were bandied around that we had stumbled into a mad scientists lair or some kind of creature from another dimension. Demons were brought up. Top secret government project? Gummy even thought magic because we were just tossing shit at the wall. None of it made sense and we were never going to know for sure.
The incessant ringing in my ears eventually faded, and though dulled, I could hear a little better. There was permanent damage, I knew that, but I was so glad I had gotten out of there alive that I didn't care.
The creature had said part of me would always be there, and they weren't wrong. My perfect hearing lay in ruins like a dilapidated house. Whatever. Hearing aids were super small, anyway.
Eventually, the adrenaline left our systems, and we crashed. The following day, we agreed to keep what happened to us a secret. If we told anyone what actually happened, they'd think we were nuts. Gummy and I were already low on the social totem pole and couldn't afford to take the hit.
Even though it's been a few months since it happened, I've started having weird dreams about the encounter. The fact that I'm having dreams about my trauma isn't the strange part. I expected that. The dreams themselves are what's unsettling me. They're so vivid I feel like I'm back in that house.
In them, I'm trapped in a canvas sack. I can't move or speak, but I can hear. I hear the hissing whispers of the blue-eyed creature. It's talking to someone else in the house, but I have no idea who it is. I assume it's the football player, but I don't know. The words are difficult to make out, but I've started writing down what I remember. I've heard "blood," "new," "return," and "rebirth."
The other thing I hear is what it said to me the first time I saw it: "A piece of you will forever be trapped here."
I don't know what it means, but the scar along my palm aches when I wake up, and I struggle to catch my breath. I've told Gummy, and he's had similar dreams. Jason and Caleb haven't, and I find that strange.
Gummy thinks we should talk to a professional about it. I don't want to admit what we saw, but he might be right. More than anything, I want to find an out-of-state college and leave all this shit behind me.
This town can keep Apple Hill – I'd rather have peace of mind.

"Why didn't they finish it?" I asked.
"I dunno," Gummy said, popping a namesake sour gummy worm into his mouth. "Maybe they ran out of money."
"No way," Jason said, "they won't let you build a house if you don't have enough money to pay for it."
"People run out of money all the time," I said. "Even people that buy houses."
"They didn't finish it because it's haunted," Caleb said, shining his flashlight up the driveway of the half-finished house on Apple Drive. "Eddie told me, and he never lies."
"Your brother told me he had sex with Miss Anderson," I said.
Gummy, his mouth full of candy, snorted and spit out bits of gummy worm. "Miss Anderson wouldn't ever touch his dick. She has standards."
"That's true," Jason said, chuckling. "Your brother's face looks like a pizza. No way she's getting turned on by him.
"Besides, she's saving herself for me," Gummy said.
"Shut the hell up, man," I said, laughing.
"If she's not getting over Eddie's acne-covered face, she's definitely not falling for your little Buddha belly, Gummy," Jason said, puffing out his stomach and tapping it for effect. It worked. We all laughed.
"Then she wouldn't know what she'd be missing," Gummy said.
"Okay, Eddie occasionally stretches some truths," Caleb said, "But he wouldn't lie about this."
"How does he know it's haunted?" I asked.
"He knew a kid who went inside and saw a ghost or a demon or something. He was so scared he left his bike in the backyard and ran down the hill screaming. They never found him, though. He just disappeared," Caleb said.
"What was the kid's name?" Jason asked.
"He didn't tell me but said he was a football player. A popular one, too."
We had all heard the rumors of a teen being kidnapped twenty or so years ago. Whether or not this football player was the same guy, we didn't know. Nobody really did. In the moment, though, it made sense.
"If a football player got caught in here, what chance do we have?" I asked. I wasn't suggesting we go home exactly, but I wasn't opposed to the idea. This place was creepier than I thought.
"You got two football players here," Jason said, slapping Caleb on the shoulder. "We can take him."
"JV players," Gummy added with a chuckle. Jason shot him a look, and Gummy offered a sour worm as a peace offering. Jason took it and nodded.
"We've come all this way," Caleb said, "Wouldn't hurt to take a peak, right?"
The wind blew, and I felt a chill run up my spine that I wasn't sure was only weather-related. Chilly fall weather had come early, and the nights were freezing by mid-October. None of us had jackets on because we had snuck out of Caleb's house after his parents had gone to bed. We had planned this secret trip to the unfinished house for a few weeks. It took a mighty effort for Caleb to get all three of us to stay the night at his house, but pleading kids had the same effect on parents as the tides had on rocks. Eventually, you were them down.
It helped that Caleb's mom liked red wine, and his dad could sleep through an atomic bomb blast.
The house was a local legend in our town. Years ago, someone had hired a crew to build a home at the top of Apple Hill. They'd nearly finished the job, but something happened that caused them to quit and never return. The legend goes that the first people to visit the site post-construction exodus found dozens of tools the crew left behind. Whatever had driven the crew out had done it in a hurry.
It was like the workers had disappeared into thin air.
Whoever bought the house and the surrounding land did nothing with the property. People supposedly looked into the records to try and find the owner but only found a PO Box address for something called "You're Home, Incorporated." Outside that PO box, though, there was nothing else on the books. The company had no other listings or holdings. There were no names associated with the company. Like the construction crew, the company just disappeared.
The Apple Hill house became victim to the inclement weather and bored teens. The crushed beer cans and fast food wrappers sprouted like a garbage garden and took away from the curb appeal. Sections of the roof sagged over time, but it still remained attached. I'm sure it wasn't safe to walk through without hard hats and safety gear, but we hadn't rode our bikes up that steep ass hill to not go into the house.
"If that story's true," Gummy said, "there'd probably be a bike in the yard. The one he left behind."
"Someone would take a free bike," Jason said. "Some bum or somebody isn't turning down a free ride."
"Maybe," I said, "you think someone lives in there?"
"It'd be cheap rent," Gummy said.
"Nobody from here would willingly stay in a haunted house," Caleb said, "regardless of how bad you needed a place to live."
"People have been here," Gummy said, kicking a rusted-out Budweiser can. "And they drink some pretty basic shit."
"Like you'd know," Jason said.
"Gonna tell a fat kid he doesn't understand taste?" Gummy asked. Jason had to agree.
We all had brought backpacks with the gear we thought we'd need. Truthfully, it was nothing more than flashlights, snacks, a bottle of water, and knives we had stolen from our houses. We all took our flashlights out and fired them up like a low-rent production of The Ghostbusters.
"Where should we go first?" Caleb asked.
"Let's just go in the front door," Jason said. "We can decide once we're inside."
That sounded good to all of us, but tellingly, none of us took that crucial first step forward. After a beat, I nodded and started toward the front door. Everyone followed behind me like baby ducks waddling behind their mom. Nobody said a word. Gummy even stopped chewing on his candy.
We all flashed our lights forward to give ourselves the most light possible. It still wasn't much. These flashlights were cheap emergency ones they sell at the drugstore for five bucks. They weren't as good as a Maglite or anything, and it showed. Even with our four streams of light crossing each other in front of us, it couldn't penetrate deep into the darkness in front of us.
I got to the front door, which was adorned with crude drawings of people screwing and the worst tagging this side of a middle school, and was about to push it open when Gummy grabbed my arm. I looked down at it and then at his face. He looked scared – I'm sure we all did – but he let go.
"What?" I asked.
"We should knock first," he said.
Jason laughed. "Why?"
"Seems, I dunno, proper or something. If someone is in there, maybe they'll tell us to leave, and we won't get stabbed by some drugged-up drifter."
"Come on, man. That's not going to be the case," Jason added.
"It's not a bad idea," Caleb said. "I mean, don't people on those ghost shows always say to treat the ghosts nice?"
Jason rolled his eyes, but his objections didn't go beyond that. I nodded at everyone and turned back to the closed door. I rapped on it, softly at first, but with each thwack of my hand, the knocks got louder. We waited to see if said knife-wielding drifter or ghoul spoke up. They didn't.
"Told you," Jason said.
"Better safe than sorry," Gummy said. "I can't die before I get my shot with Miss Anderson."
We all chuckled. Nerves more than the punchline. I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. It squealed on its hinges for a few inches before it suddenly snapped and sent the door dropping to the ground. We all ran back to the end of the driveway for a minute, expecting to see some demon come blazing out of the house, but relaxed when nothing happened. Old, rusted hinges sometimes break.
"That sucked shit," Gummy said with another nervous laugh.
"You can't go cheap on hinges," I said, "first rule of construction."
"Did you pick that up from one of the Property Brothers?" Jason asked.
"Common sense," I said with a smile.
Once our collective nerves returned, we returned to the now doorless entry. I was the first to cross through. As I did, I called out to anyone who might hear me, "We mean you no harm. We're just coming to check this place out."
"There's not a lot to do in this town," Gummy added as he followed behind me.
"And we want to brag to everyone at school about how amazing we are," Jason said.
"So, don't kill us, please. Gummy has to try to bone one of our teachers," Caleb added.
We all laughed and made our way into the living room. Like the door, it was decorated with gross art, marginal graffiti, and literal garbage. From this room, you could go one of three ways. There was a set of busted stairs that led to a darkened second floor, a doorway that led into the kitchen and dining room, and two closed doors that I assumed were bedrooms.
"Where should we go first?" I asked.
"Not upstairs," Gummy said. "Not first, at least."
"No arguments from me," Jason said.
"Let's check out these bedrooms. I don't think there are any stories about the bedrooms," Caleb said.
We moved toward the first room. I pushed open the door, and this one stayed on its hinges. There was nothing inside but more lousy art on the walls. Still, we walked in and looked around. There wasn't anything spooky in this room. We turned to leave when we heard a door slam from the kitchen. We all froze.
"Someone is in here," Gummy whispered.
Jason quietly unburdened his backpack and opened it up. He grabbed the knife he had stolen from his kitchen before switching off his flashlight. We all did the same. The room was now as dark as tar.
Jason and Caleb, the bigger two of us, stepped forward to take the lead. They held out the knives like they knew what they were doing. They didn't, but their confidence filled me with confidence, too.
"Open the door," I whispered.
Jason reached out with his free hand and slowly twisted the knob. You could hear the ancient mechanisms wheezing from sudden use after years of nothing. Jason opened the door and scanned the room in front of him. There wasn't anyone there, not that we could see anyway.
Jason and Caleb ventured back out into the living room, knives drawn. Gummy and I followed behind, scanning the room for any movement. Everything was as still as it had been. We waited a few seconds before breathing or speaking, but once it became clear nothing was happening, we all relaxed and dropped the knives to our sides.
"That was terrifying," I said.
The door from the second bedroom whipped open and slammed into the wall. We all jumped so high I thought we'd go through the ceiling. We turned around, expecting to see someone, but were greeted with another empty bedroom. Just as quickly as it swung up, it snapped shut. The echo of the slammed door bounced all around us.
Gummy ran into the kitchen, screaming like a banshee. I wanted to run, but my fight-or-flight nerve burned out, and I just stood in place like a tree in a meadow. Jason and Caleb, though, didn't hesitate. They ripped the door open, knives ready to stab into hobo flesh, and charged into the bedroom.
Seconds later, their bodies still pumping with adrenaline, they walked out.
"There's nobody in there!" Caleb said, his voice louder than he intended.
"They have to be hiding," Jason said, his eyes scanning the room, "How the hell did the door just open?"
"Where's Gummy?" Caleb asked.
"Gummy!" I yelled.
No response. I stumbled into the kitchen, fumbling to turn my flashlight back on, and called out for him again. I swung the beam around the dilapidated kitchen and didn't see him anywhere. I turned the beam into the attached dining room and found nothing there, save for a door leading into a basement.
"Did he go downstairs?" I heard Caleb ask over my shoulder.
"I don't know," I said, my brain trying to imagine why he'd do that. I stepped toward the door and felt my foot squish on something soft. Weirdly, it made a crinkling noise. I tilted the flashlight down and saw Gummy's bag of sour worms underfoot.
Jason ran to the basement doorway and yelled down to Gummy. Still, no response. Panic was starting to work its way into our bloodstream like a debilitating paralytic poison. This night wasn't supposed to go this way. This was supposed to be a lark that gave us a tiny thrill and an incredible story to tell kids at school on Monday.
"We should go down," I heard myself say. I was entirely outside my body at this point.
"Agreed," Caleb said. "He's either down there or upstairs."
"I saw him run into the kitchen," I said. "He's gotta be down there."
Jason yelled again, and there was no response. He turned, his face bearing the look of the poison in all of us. "Maybe he fell down the stairs and got knocked out?"
I pushed past both of them and peered down the stairs. If this floor was dark, then the basement was another kind of dark that only exists in the deepest reaches of space. I could barely make out the landing at the bottom of the steps. But I knew we'd have to go. Gummy would do it for us.
We all pointed our flashlights down at once to get a better view. The light reflected back at us. It was Gummy's knife. I felt my stomach flip.
Jason charged down the stairs, taking them two at a time until he was at the bottom. Caleb ran after, leaving me alone at the top of the stairs. "Do you see anything? I asked.
"Not yet," Caleb said, swinging the light around the different corners of the basement. I took the first few steps down when I heard something being dragged on the floor above me.
"Guys," I said in as loud of a whisper as I could without drawing unwanted attention.
Caleb turned to me and flashed his light up at me. I pointed up, and he craned his neck to hear. It was quiet, and then there was another dragging sound. His eyes went wide.
"Jay," he whispered. "Jay, I think he's upstairs."
"His backpack is down here," Jason said from beyond the darkness.
"Is he down there?" I whisper yelled again.
"No, but I found something weird," Jason said. "Come take a look."
I tried to make my way down the stairs quietly, but every step made the wood sigh and scream. I tried to be silent, but the house wouldn't let me. It was working against me, against us, and I was afraid of what more it might've had in store.
When my foot finally touched the blissfully silent concrete, I approached where Caleb and Jason were standing. They were in the far corner of the room, looking down at the ground. I didn't see it initially, but what had pulled their attention away from finding Gummy made sense when I got closer.
There was a door in the cement floor.
It looked like someone had placed a bedroom door into the concrete. I flashed my light down the side and saw hinges screwed into the ground. An old brass door handle stuck up like an alien plant. The handle had been dulled from years of use. Somebody used this door. All the time.
"Is that a root cellar or something?" Caleb asked.
"They don't build those anymore," Jason said.
"Storm shelter?" Caleb offered.
"In the basement?" Jason countered.
"They don't use regular doors for storm shelter doors," I added.
"Where the fuck does this thing lead?" Caleb said.
Above us, we heard something thumping down the second-floor stairs. Creak. Thump thump. Creak. Thump thump. Something was being dragged down those stairs to the first floor. We all shut off our flashlights and huddled in the corner away from the door.
We kept our slowly adjusting eyes on the stairs, waiting for something to appear. Thump thump. It had reached the last stair from the second floor. Seconds later, another loud thump, like something unwieldy yet heavy, had been dropped hard to the ground. My brain instantly conjured up the phrase "dead weight," and I swallowed hard.
Footsteps now, quickly walking through the kitchen above us. Each one caused a creak to shatter the stillness. Finally, someone reached the doorway to the basement stairs. I pulled my knife out. I held it so tight in my right hand that, had the handle been made of charcoal, it'd be a diamond when I next unfurled my fingers.
"Guys," a familiar voice called out from the top of the stairs. "Guys, are you down there?"
It was Gummy. Caleb started to speak, but I shot my free hand up and held it over his mouth. Something about Gummy's voice sounded off. It was him, but it wasn't him. Caleb looked stunned, but I just shook my head and removed my hand from his mouth. He stayed quiet.
"I know you're down there," Gummy said. "Where else would you be? Did you guys find the door?" We stayed as still as statues. Gummy took a step down the stairs. "Guys, did you hear me?"
Another step. Creak. Creak. Creak. They were halfway down now. In my heart, I knew whoever was on those stairs wasn't our friend. It was something pretending to be him. Their ability to mimic Gummy's voice was incredible. A gruesome mockingbird pecking away at our hearts.
"Whatever you do, guys, don't go into the door. Trust me, okay. Don't go in there."
Another step down. But this time, there was a slight noise that followed it. The twisting of a door handle. The three of us snapped our attention over to the floor and watched as something twisted the door handle open and softly pushed the door open.
It was Gummy.
His eyes were wild with fear, but it was actually him. He opened the door more and waved for us to come in there with him. Caleb and Jason looked at each other and then at me. I looked over at Gummy, and he nodded.
"Guys, you're staying away from the door, right?" Two steps this time. Whoever was on the stairs was nearly at the bottom. "There's nothing good in there. It's evil, I think. Nothing good."
We were paralyzed with fear. Who was the real Gummy? Where did the door in the floor lead to? Who the hell was on the stairway? I glanced at floor Gummy and then at the stairs. Floor Gummy kept waving at us to hurry, but no one moved. I knew we were all thinking the same thing. Which is which?
"I wanna fuck Miss Anderson," the floor Gummy said.
Holy shit, it was him. He swung the door open wide and ducked back down. Jason climbed down first with Caleb hot on his heels. Whatever was on the stairs had reached the basement. It was with us now.
My thumb felt the rubber nub of the flashlight's power button, and I decided I needed to see what the hell was down there. After all this time in the dark, the sudden reappearance of light hurt my eyes, but it was nothing compared to what I saw coming around the corner of the stairs.
Spindly legs held up a hunched-over mass of pulsating meat covered in ragged clothes. Narrow arms, no more than skin wrapped around bones, ended in hands with sharp, pointed fingers. Glowing ice-blue eyes sat on top of a long, razor-sharp beak that stuck out a good foot from its face. I wasn't sure if it was some kind of mutant bird or someone in a plague mask. Either way, I wasn't sticking around to find out.
"Let's go!" Gummy yelled.
The creature spoke with a hiss. "A piece of you will forever be trapped here." I dropped the flashlight, jumped into the opening near the door, and closed it behind me with a slam.
I fell out of another door and landed on a dusty, dirty floor. I was helped up by Caleb and Jason and saw that the door I had fallen through was on the attic wall. It...it shouldn't be here. We would've seen a door in the roof when we were in the driveway. There was a half-moon window, and when I glanced out, I saw our bikes.
"How the hell were we in the attic? What's going on, Gummy?"
"I dunno. After the door opened, I ran into the kitchen, tripped, and fell down the stairs. My knife nicked my gut," Gummy said, holding up his shirt and revealing a scarlet zig zag. "That thing came down after me, and I saw this door. I didn't know what else to do, so I went through it and ended up here."
"Did it follow you?" Jason asked.
"It did. I hid, and it…" Gummy didn't get to finish his thought because the door started to open again. Caleb and I grabbed the handle and held firm. We heard a scream both coming up from the basement and the area behind the door. It didn't make any sense. None of this did.
"Run!" Caleb yelled.
"Get to the bikes!" I added.
Jason and Gummy looked for a hatch leading down to the second floor but couldn't find one. Caleb and I were straining to hold the door close. Each time this creature yanked on the handle, the door would open a fraction of an inch further. We were losing.
"Where the fuck is the ladder out of here?" Jason yelled as he started ripping up the insulation around us. Gummy began to rip it up, too, and soon, the air was filled with dagger-like pink particulates that would Ginsu our lungs.
I breathed in some and immediately started hacking. I felt my grip losing on the handle. The door was getting wider. Caleb caught a breath with some of the fibers and coughed, too. The door was wide enough for the creature's claw-like hand to curl around it. Where its nails dug into the wood, it melted away like acid.
"Another door!" Gummy yelled. Buried beneath the insulation was another random door in the floor. He ripped it open, and we felt a strong breeze come through. It blew the fibers away from us. I could breathe easily again.
"Jump!" Jason yelled and did just that. Gummy followed. They were gone to some other place in the house.
Caleb looked at me and nodded at the door in the floor. "I can hold him for a second. Go."
But I wasn't going to do that. I plucked my knife off the ground and held it firm. "Let go!" I screamed.
He did, and the door instantly swung open. I was mere inches from this thing. I could smell the rot and death that wafted off its grotesque body. We locked eyes for a second.
It didn't see the knife in my hand.
I slammed the blade into one of its icy blue eyes all the way to the hilt. I used so much force that my hand slid off the handle and sliced my palm open. I didn't dwell on the pain because the scream this thing let out blasted my eardrums and broke the glass of the half-moon window.
I stumbled back, my ears throbbing and sound dampened. I felt a trickle of blood running out of both of my ears and knew I had probably done some real damage. Caleb grabbed my shoulder and pushed me towards the door in the floor. We both jumped in and fell through a dark tunnel.
Seconds later, we came falling out of the first bedroom's door and into the living room. Jason and Gummy were waiting for us. They pleaded with us to hurry, but the fall shook us. As we stumbled to our feet, I saw something lying at the edge of the second-floor landings.
It was a stained, dirt-covered canvas bag about the size of a full-grown man. It must've been what that thing was dragging down the stairs. "What's that?" I yelled as I had no idea how loud my voice was at that moment.
"Who gives a fuck," Jason screamed. I couldn't argue with that logic.
The creature in the basement/attic screamed again, and we heard it scrambling around in both places. It would either come barreling out of the bedroom like we just had or coming up the basement stairs. I didn't intend to stick around and find out.
"Let's get out of here," Gummy yelled as he turned towards the exit.
As he did, though, a horrific tearing sound filled the air around us. Caleb pointed at the bag, and we all turned to see several razor-sharp claws ripping the bag open from the inside. Was it the creature? That...that didn't make any sense. We knew it was either in the basement or the attic.
In a flash, it tore away the sack like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon and slowly stood up. As it did, its joints cracked like they were splintering. When it stood, it was taller and thinner than before. That's when I noticed what it was wearing.
It was a tattered football jersey. The legend had been true. The kidnapped kid hadn't disappeared – he had been transformed into this...thing.
What shitty luck.
We heard a loud thump from behind us and turned to see the bird creature with its one icy eye. The other still had the knife buried into its socket. A thick black ooze streamed from the open wound. We were surrounded on both sides, and the football creature blocked our only exit.
Fuck. I had wanted to leave, too.
As my brain scrambled for a way out, something snapped inside Gummy. Summoning all the courage his little, round body had, he screamed so loud I could hear it clear as day, even with my popped ear drums.
"For Miss Anderson!" he yelled, kicking the bag creature so hard in its bony leg that it snapped in half.
It collapsed to the floor, and we took that as our cue to get the hell out of dodge. We all sprinted out of the unblocked door and onto our waiting bikes. We hopped on, never looking back, and kicked them forward, letting the momentum of Apple Hill drag us away from those nightmares.
As we reached the bottom, we peddled so hard I thought my lungs would explode. But we didn't stop pumping until we saw the safety of Caleb's front lawn. We ditched our bikes in the yard, letting them ghost ride into the bushes, and ran into the house, not caring if we woke up his parents. Thankfully, they didn't stir.
We collapsed into his room and sucked in air like a vacuum. Once we finally caught our breath, Caled turned to Gummy and said, "For Miss Anderson?"
"Damn straight," Gummy said with a grin that eventually gave way to peels of laughter. Soon, we all laughed so hard that I was afraid the house would shake. It was the cathartic moment we needed, a sense of normalcy after a supremely abnormal night.
Once we caught our breaths again, Jason patted Gummy on the shoulder. "I hope you get your shot, little man." They pounded fists.
We stayed up for a few hours, our bodies still racing with adrenaline, and talked about what the hell had just happened. Were the doors time tunnels? Who built them? How and why? Theories were bandied around that we had stumbled into a mad scientists lair or some kind of creature from another dimension. Demons were brought up. Top secret government project? Gummy even thought magic because we were just tossing shit at the wall. None of it made sense and we were never going to know for sure.
The incessant ringing in my ears eventually faded, and though dulled, I could hear a little better. There was permanent damage, I knew that, but I was so glad I had gotten out of there alive that I didn't care.
The creature had said part of me would always be there, and they weren't wrong. My perfect hearing lay in ruins like a dilapidated house. Whatever. Hearing aids were super small, anyway.
Eventually, the adrenaline left our systems, and we crashed. The following day, we agreed to keep what happened to us a secret. If we told anyone what actually happened, they'd think we were nuts. Gummy and I were already low on the social totem pole and couldn't afford to take the hit.
Even though it's been a few months since it happened, I've started having weird dreams about the encounter. The fact that I'm having dreams about my trauma isn't the strange part. I expected that. The dreams themselves are what's unsettling me. They're so vivid I feel like I'm back in that house.
In them, I'm trapped in a canvas sack. I can't move or speak, but I can hear. I hear the hissing whispers of the blue-eyed creature. It's talking to someone else in the house, but I have no idea who it is. I assume it's the football player, but I don't know. The words are difficult to make out, but I've started writing down what I remember. I've heard "blood," "new," "return," and "rebirth."
The other thing I hear is what it said to me the first time I saw it: "A piece of you will forever be trapped here."
I don't know what it means, but the scar along my palm aches when I wake up, and I struggle to catch my breath. I've told Gummy, and he's had similar dreams. Jason and Caleb haven't, and I find that strange.
Gummy thinks we should talk to a professional about it. I don't want to admit what we saw, but he might be right. More than anything, I want to find an out-of-state college and leave all this shit behind me.
This town can keep Apple Hill – I'd rather have peace of mind.

(Everyone involved is in mid 30s if it matters)
I met my now ex by chance. We happened to end up being in the same group and hit it off. Even thought she wasn't "my type" I was drawn to her. We would talk in passing leading to exchanging numbers, talking as friends for over a year before I couldn't stand it anymore and asked her out. She literally responded with What took you so long.
While dating I know you try to be a more idealized version of yourself so I knew I might be getting a candy coated version of her. The first problem that came up (this comes into play later) was she brought up the issue of body count and seeing if we had any deal breakers in our past. I was loved this because I like total honesty. I you'd her the truth which a few things she wasn't a fan of but said she could deal. She told me her body count was 11, what she had and hadn't done, that she only cheated once in her past, I'm a pretty open minded guy do this was fine.
Problem number two was her "just a friend" I'll call James. She said "Don't worry, there's nothing there. Never has been, never will be".
Fast forward 3 years she asked me to get in her phone to grab something. The second I did a message popped up from James. It said "Hey baby I'm in town and horny, meet me at my hotel and let me get my D wet". Needless to say I hit the roof!
A LONG heated conversation later she tells me "the truth" or as close to it as I'll ever get. Body Count? 42 because she "only counts guys she was actually in a relationship with". Her "best friend" is actually her first boyfriend who she "didn't want me to worry about so she lied". He is actually her first love, he got her pregnant at 16, threw her money and told her to "get rid of it and I won't talk to you again until you do", put her in a cab alone to do so, then the second she returned he broke up with her (nice huh?). Since then he told her he could never see himself with her again but "the kitty is too good to pass on" so he would screw her whenever he was bored or after he moved away whenever he came to town.
She begged me to read their chat that proves she hadn't touched him since she met me. It was true. Their chat was literally all just let me screw you and remember that time I screwed you. But I read back before I met her too. She had cheated on literally every single guy she dated before me with James. Keep in mind she never once actually told him NO while we were together. She'd giggle, or say she was busy, or a whole host of excuses but never once NO. She put ALOT of focus on the fact she never met up with him alone or screwed him while we were together and called this "progress" for her through tons of tears.
Here's were I'd love to tell you that I kicked her out in the streets but sadly "I was in Love". I told her no contact, literally zero. Him blocked everywhere, one single message and we're done because she had lied through her teeth but hadn't screwed him yet.
Fast forward to our 3 year Anniversary. Literally that day. I took her out for an evening of fine dining and celebrating. She looked amazing and was dressed to kill. We had an amazing night. Got home, were just unwinding and she was sitting on the end of the far end couch typing away on her phone. I asked what she was doing and she told me she was "Bragging on me to (her girlfriends name)". She then goes into the bathroom for like 10 minutes. She comes out and she looked disheveled. Then back to the far side of the couch and back to typing. I walked over and demanded her phone telling her if she hit anything it was over. She started crying and begged me not to look.
She handed it to me, yep James. Unblocked, and in town. First he talks about how his wife sucks and how mad he was at (my girlfriend) for not just coming to his hotel room so he could screw her. Here's The conversation:
James: You still seeing that guy or can I screw you again yet?
Her: We're still together
James: Ugh, doesn't this pathetic town have a "massage parlor" yet?
Her: No
James: Well go get naked and send me something To Jerk Off Too. It's the least you can do
Her: (6 pictured of her in various states of undress and touching herself)
James: Thanks for nothing, let me know when you break up with him.
She's balling saying she's still not seen him or done anything with him. I told her I gave her a second chance and told her no so much as "Hi". She was literally on her knees begging me. All I said was "6 nudes so that pig can jerk off on our Anniversary?" She soaked through the leg of my pants begging me for a second chance but something inside me was just broken. I told her this was her second chance. She offered me anything I wanted in the bedroom (even things she called" degrading to women". Part of me wanted to ask if James got those degrading things but I just didn't care anymore). She offered a one sided open relationship, said I could bring other girls to bed with us if that would make me forgive her, God at the end even said I could hit her if it'd help.
She cried until morning when she called her sister to come get her and packed up. I told her to go wait in the car and had a heart to heart with the sister and told her EVERYTHING. Come to find out the sister didn't even know about the abortion! I told her sister to get her into counseling and make sure James can't get to her. I've received no less than 100 calls and just as many texts since. I stopped reading/listening to them. I'm just numb and staring at an empty apartment and 3 wasted years. Sorry for the length I just needed to get this out of my head.
TLDR: My now exs "best friend" was anything but and my life is ruined

(All people mid 30s if it matters) I met my now ex by chance. We happened to end up being in the same group and hit it off. Even thought she wasn't "my type" I was drawn to her. We would talk in passing leading to exchanging numbers, talking as friends for over a year before I couldn't stand it anymore and asked her out. She literally responded with What took you so long.
While dating I know you try to be a more idealized version of yourself so I knew I might be getting a candy coated version of her. The first problem that came up (this comes into play later) was she brought up the issue of body count and seeing if we had any deal breakers in our past. I was loved this because I like total honesty. I you'd her the truth which a few things she wasn't a fan of but said she could deal. She told me her body count was 11, what she had and hadn't done, that she only cheated once in her past, I'm a pretty open minded guy do this was fine.
Problem number two was her "best friend" I'll call James. She said "Don't worry, there's nothing there. Never has been, never will be".
Fast forward 3 years she asked me to get in her phone to grab something. The second I did a message popped up from James. It said "Hey baby I'm in town and horny, meet me at my hotel and let me get my D wet". Needless to say I hit the roof!
A LONG heated conversation later she tells me "the truth" or as close to it as I'll ever get. Body Count? 42 because she "only counts guys she was actually in a relationship with". Her "best friend" is actually her first boyfriend who she "didn't want me to worry about so she lied". He is actually her first love, he got her pregnant at 16, threw her money and told her to "get rid of it and I won't talk to you again until you do", put her in a cab alone to do so, then the second she returned he broke up with her (nice huh?). Since then he told her he could never see himself with her again but "the kitty is too good to pass on" so he would screw her whenever he was bored or after he moved away whenever he came to town.
She begged me to read their chat that proves she hadn't touched him since she met me. It was true. Their chat was literally all just let me screw you and remember that time I screwed you. But I read back before I met her too. She had cheated on literally every single guy she dated before me with James. Keep in mind she never once actually told him NO while we were together. She'd giggle, or say she was busy, or a whole host of excuses but never once NO. She put ALOT of focus on the fact she never met up with him alone or screwed him while we were together and called this "progress" for her through tons of tears.
Here's were I'd love to tell you that I kicked her out in the streets but sadly "I was in Love". I told her no contact, literally zero. Him blocked everywhere, one single message and we're done because she had lied through her teeth but hadn't screwed him yet.
Fast forward to our 3 year Anniversary. Literally that day. I took her out for an evening of fine dining and celebrating. She looked amazing and was dressed to kill. We had an amazing night. Got home, were just unwinding and she was sitting on the end of the far end couch typing away on her phone. I asked what she was doing and she told me she was "Bragging on me to (her girlfriends name)". She then goes into the bathroom for like 10 minutes. She comes out and she looked disheveled. Then back to the far side of the couch and back to typing. I walked over and demanded her phone telling her if she hit anything it was over. She started crying and begged me not to look.
She handed it to me, yep James. Unblocked, and in town. First he talks about how his wife sucks and how mad he was at (my girlfriend) for not just coming to his hotel room so he could screw her. Here's The conversation:
James: You still seeing that guy or can I screw you again yet?
Her: We're still together
James: Ugh, doesn't this pathetic town have a "massage parlor" yet?
Her: No
James: Well go get naked and send me something To Jerk Off Too. It's the least you can do
Her: (6 pictured of her in various states of undress and touching herself)
James: Thanks for nothing, let me know when you break up with him.
She's balling saying she's still not seen him or done anything with him. I told her I gave her a second chance and told her no so much as "Hi". She was literally on her knees begging me. All I said was "6 nudes so that pig can jerk off on our Anniversary?" She soaked through the leg of my pants begging me for a second chance but something inside me was just broken. I told her this was her second chance. She offered me anything I wanted in the bedroom (even things she called" degrading to women". Part of me wanted to ask if James got those degrading things but I just didn't care anymore). She offered a one sided open relationship, said I could bring other girls to bed with us if that would make me forgive her, God at the end even said I could hit her if it'd help.
She cried until morning when she called her sister to come get her and packed up. I told her to go wait in the car and had a heart to heart with the sister and told her EVERYTHING. Come to find out the sister didn't even know about the abortion! I told her sister to get her into counseling and make sure James can't get to her. I've received no less than 100 calls and just as many texts since. I stopped reading/listening to them. I'm just numb and staring at an empty apartment and 3 wasted years. Sorry for the length I just needed to get this out of my head.
TLDR: My now exs "best friend" was anything but and my life is ruined

https://preview.redd.it/o47bhkwvc5hc1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=83850153c610c8663d7a903c51ddf54bbcff90bf

Four years after Patrick Mahomes pedaled backwards and hit Tyreek Hill on “2-3 Jet Chip Wasp” to convert a third-and-15 and start their comeback over the 49ers, these two sides are set to face off again on the biggest stage. This time around, Kansas City is looking to cement itself as a dynasty, with their third championship in five years, while San Francisco is going for their sixth title in franchise history, but the first one in 29 years, after knocking on the door with four NFC championship game appearances in those last five seasons.
The Niners looked dominant throughout the regular season en route to the NFC’s number one seed, before having to battle until the end against the Packers and Lions, coming back from a 17-point deficit in that conference title game. Meanwhile, it wasn’t nearly as smooth a ride for the Chiefs, trying to defend their championship, finishing with an 11-6 record and having to go on the road in the playoffs for the first two teams in the Mahomes era.
Based on the current active rosters, the 49ers are slated to return nine players and the Chiefs seven who were also part of those Super Bowl 54 teams. Both Kyle Shanahan and Andy Reid return as head coaches, while Steve Spagnuolo on defense and Dave Toub on special teams for the Chiefs are the only two of six total coordinators still around. They also have the benefit of a quarterback starting his fourth Super Bowl in five years, but the Niners have their best signal-caller under Shanahan in the Bay Area.
I want to look at both sides of the ball, break down in detail how the offensive and defensive units function respectively, along with how I believe they’ll match up, before presenting a couple of X-factors for each group and ultimately give you my prediction for the final score.
Let’s dive in:

49ers offense vs. Chiefs defense:

NINERS O:

https://preview.redd.it/opg032v8d5hc1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=43e9b3ce5c29f85ecd2a6a597ebeaf28cd009755

Going through the history of head coach Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco, they’ve been a very efficient offense every year without a difference-maker at quarterback, considering their track records once they moved on. However, with a full season of Brock Purdy running the show, they’ve taken things to the next level. Looking at the regular season numbers, the 49ers easily the number one offense in expected points added per play (0.179) and success rate (51.6%), with the top marks on both dropbacks and run plays, along with being tops in Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (31.8%). In fact, the difference between them and number two in DVOA is the same as the gap between second and eighth. Their passing EPA is down a little bit – in large part due to Purdy struggling in the rain until the final drive of the Divisional Round game against the Packers – but they’ve actually been even more effective on the ground by quite a margin (0.1 EPA better). They also led the league with 75 explosive passes (20+ yards) and overall in terms of yards per play (6.6 YPP). Once again, due to the weather conditions versus Green Bay and Deebo Samuel getting banged up early on, that number was a little bit down, but they still logged four such explosives in that contest and then eight more in the NFC title against Detroit.

Run game:

The “Shanahan offense” and in particular its run are terms that are often vaguely thrown around. The base run concept of wide zone that Kyle father’s Mike Shanahan popularized towards the end of the millennium has become a core component of many offensive systems across the NFL, but as you follow its trails and look at how Kyle himself has continued to evolve during his tenure in San Francisco, you realize that it would be a disservice to categorize what they do in such a simplistic manner. While they haven’t swung so far towards a more vertical orientation, such as one of his disciples Sean McVay with the Rams, where now their primary run concept is duo, they’ve certainly become more diverse in their approach. They still major in the inside and outside zone, but while they started to only enhance that horizontal stretch of the defense by tossing the ball to the back a couple of years ago, now it’s more about having additional blockers on the move at the snap already along with different sift elements to kick out the backside man at the end of the line of scrimmage, such as with a tight-end or fullback. So while the idea remains to make their opponents flow play-side, in part because they have a running back more suited to make quick decisions and translate information to his feet, they end up hitting inside a lot more than they would’ve in prior iterations. Along with that, pulling the backside guard plus a TE/FB on power and counter plays is a lot more frequent.

https://reddit.com/link/1al2apq/video/jc2etakbd5hc1/player
Where Shanahan is truly special though, is the way he can identify how you’ll defend certain looks and dress up the same plays differently. More than any other team in the league, the Niners use shifts and motion at the snap to create numbers advantages against static defenses. Yet, if opponents do react to it and try to overload that way, they’ll happily hit weak-side (inside zone) runs. Additionally, when they do want to get the ball out to the perimeter, they love to run toss out of more condensed sets along with flipping the ball to receivers on end-arounds/reverses, frequently off counter action, where they pull what ends up the play-side guard the opposite way, as a false key presented to linebackers. In particular, they love to use Kittle as a kick-out element basically to their toss plays, while having receivers in condensed splits pin down edge-defenders, in order to get their tackles out to the perimeter as well. Separate from the scheme itself, Christian McCaffrey has turned himself into an elite decision-maker and operator in condensed space, where he truly understands how body language can affect second-level defenders, how to press creases, get guys moving to one side of blocks and cutting the opposite way at the last moment. For the regular season, he finished second in average rushing yards over expected (1.32) to only Miami’s Devon Achane, who just set a new NFL record in yards per attempt on a much smaller sample size. And he did so rushing against the highest rate of 8+ defenders in the box (36%) among RBs with 90+ carries, according to Next Gen Stats. I wouldn’t say San Francisco has maulers on the O-line outside of left tackle Trent Williams and the one blemish you can put on them is that they’ll happily keep running into unfavorable looks, particularly on early downs.

Pass game:

So, fundamentally you’d think an offense so expertly constructed in the run game would heavily rely on moving the launch point of the quarterback with bootlegs and building plays off punish the flow of the defense with misdirection throws. And don’t get me wrong – they still have plenty of that on the menu. However, they have gone from the most play-action-heavy offense over the last couple of years to being in the middle of the pack this season. Part of that is modern NFL defenses adjusting to the influence Shanahan’s coaching tree and its offsprings have had on the landscape of football, but also having a quarterback, who is more comfortable and a cleaner, quicker decision-maker from the pocket. There are a lot more new-school West Coast elements I would call it, where the route distributions are very similar to what you may find in even the old Bill Walsh playbooks from the late 80s and early 90s, but they do it with a lot more movement before and at the snap, where Shanahan understands extremely well how to create issues for how match-coverages operate. Where Kyle separates himself from the rest of the league though is his ability to isolate defenders and if there’s a weakness across that unit, keep picking on it relentlessly. We saw that came to full effect in their week 13 win at Philadelphia, when they put those linebackers in hell for four quarters by the way their heads were spinning. I actually put together an extensive All-22 analysis on the way San Francisco threw all kinds of misdirection at them, putting those guys in a bind with high-lows and changing up who they were responsible for matching multiple times.

https://reddit.com/link/1al2apq/video/5ls0li3ed5hc1/player
One of the big differences for San Francisco’s more traditional dropback game is how insanely good Brandon Aiyuk has become – in particular as that isolated X receiver on the backside of the formation. He finished the regular season third among all pass-catchers in yards per route run (3.01) and has absolutely feasted when left one-on-one. We’ve seen Shanahan play around with that a lot, where they’d work that backside matchup when calling four-strong concepts the other way, before taking advantage of the space it creates as defenses adjust and now another pass-catcher would have a lot of room to run on a crosser towards where the receiver was originally lined up, as that guy ends up being bracketed. An element to watch that they've incorporated is a swing route with a designated lead-blocker, almost like an option to throw a screen pass within a typical pure-progression read. Being able to use that type of route-running expert like Aiyuk requires a guy not only willing to hit him on in-breakers and setting up YAC opportunities – like previous quarterbacks would do as well – but also capable of testing defenses outside the numbers. That’s where Purdy has added another layer to the aerial attack, as you see him hit out routes from the opposite hash and push the ball vertically, especially working against aggressive isolated defenders on the backside, who you can occasionally punish with double-moves. Also taking into account what Brock brings to the table with extending plays with his slithery-ness, those are the components that have furthered what already made San Francisco a nightmare to prepare for with their position-agnostic personnel, where they can freely swap alignments and have five dangerous eligibles out there when they’re in a traditional run-play 21 grouping (two backs, one tight-end). The one concern to keep in mind is that outside of left tackle, this O-line has issues at providing clean pockets beyond the typical “play-clock”, which has become an issue at times when defenses have changed up the picture for the QB and made him hold onto the ball, which is why the other four starters have received PFF grades between 50 and 65.

CHIEFS D:

https://preview.redd.it/qwf5l21gd5hc1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=1664a34cb34fa033a33a05b8e7a079d5acb32f73

On the other side, this is the best unit defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has coached in Kansas City and maybe the best overall since he put together a masterful gameplan to stymie the Patriots in Super Bowl 42, to ruin their undefeated season in 2008. The Chiefs defense finished the regular season sixth in EPA per play (-0.076) and fourth in success rate allowed (39.8%), along with second in the two more traditional statistics – yards (289.8 YPG) and points allowed (17.3 PPG). That’s because even though they rank 28th in rush EPA, they’re top-three in both categories against the pass. They’re actually the only team in the NFL that has a better per-dropback success rate allowed (40%) than rushing success rate allowed (41.4%). Even beyond the statistics, the attitude they’ve brought to the table and how they’ve picked up the slack at times when the offense hasn’t been lighting up scoreboards, has been highly impressive. Looking at their three-game sample size during these playoffs, they’d rank dead-last in both EPA and success rate against the run, although in large part facing highly mobile QBs in Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson affected that. What has mattered is that they dominated the Dolphins up front in one of the coldest games in NFL history, making it feel like those guys didn’t want to be out there anymore during their seven-point outing, even in by far their worst showing at Buffalo, they were able to create a key stop at the end to force what ultimately turned into a missed field goal attempt, and then they just held the likely MVP Lamar Jackson to just ten points in the AFC title game, with an aggressive gameplan and timely takeaways.

Run game:

The Chiefs like to start out games in a lot of two-high looks and generally want to operate out of those, because of the options it gives them against the pass. However, a big key to them being able to live in that world is how their safeties run the alley and involve themselves in the run fit, when they’re not actually accounted for. So structurally, they’re willing to concede box count advantages to their opponents when they push explosive passing opponents into more run-heavy scripts, while trusting their ability to rally and limit that effectiveness. Where this is interesting though is looking at the AFC title game and seeing that they are equally capable of making certain opponents check out of run calls, because they have the personnel flexibility to put bigger bodies out there, using base personnel and making a safety threaten to drop down as the quarterback is about to get into his cadence. That’s how the Ravens ended up with an insanely low six(!) carries by their RBs against them, after leading the league in rushing. At a time when many teams across the NFL have continued to get smaller, the Chiefs have zagged the other way. The six defensive linemen who have played more than 35% of snaps for them (nobody else is above 20%) have an average weight of 284.5 pounds. That’s because they ask that group to play a lot of gap-control instead of shooting up the field, in order to occupy the O-line, while the second level can aggressively shoot through open lanes. Meanwhile, they’re one of only two teams in the NFL to use both base (three linebackers) and dime personnel (six defensive backs) on over 23% of snaps. They may have Leo Chenal at 250+ pounds basically functioning as another D-lineman for a five-man surface on first down, but on third-and-long play cover-zero, where they double/bracket two pass-catchers on third-and-long.

https://reddit.com/link/1al2apq/video/hh433p2jd5hc1/player
Where they’ve struggled as a unit is not only when offenses have called their bluff of the illusion of disadvantageous box counts to run the ball against on one hand, but then from a more schematic perspective, when opponents were able to use angles up front and create new gaps with pulling linemen. Because the Chiefs want their D-line to hold its ground, blocking down against them and just keeping them there becomes easier than trying to run right at them, as it’s more about walling off bodies whilst the displacement offenses intend to create is with those bigger bodies on the move. KC has bigger defensive ends to attack pullers on designated kick-outs, but you put pressure on those linebackers to box in what would be referred to as a lead-blocker wrapping around from the backside. While Spags helped push Baltimore away from the run game, two of their seven designed carries were back-to-back FG power (fullback kick-out, guard wrap-around) calls for 21 and 15 yards respectively. As cool as watching that unit match the aggressiveness of their coordinator is, that can also be taken advantage of with counter plays – in particular in short-yardage – and flipping the ball to one of your receivers on reverse action. The one other factor to look at is the availability/health of Derrick Nnadi. He’s their primary (shade) nose-tackle and while the sample size is limited, if you extrapolated their two playoff games without him in the lineup for a full season, they’d rank dead-last in both EPA per rush (0.090) and rushing success rate (57.1%).

Pass game:

Transitioning to how Spags approaches the pass game, it’s very different on early downs and to some degree early in games compared to more defined dropback situations. For the regular season, they ran cover-two at the third-highest rate (16.7%). That’s what they want to do when offenses can either run or pass, because of what I just explained about having that heavier front-seven along with keeping routes in front of them. At the same time, they used either cover-one or cover-zero on a combined 30% of dropbacks, along with straight quarters on another 21.2%. That speaks to the confidence they have in their guys in coverage for 2-3 seconds at least, to where it allows them to send additional rushers. They posted the eight-highest blitz rate across the NFL (31.2%), while using stunts fewer than any other team (11.4%). When they get to those longer downs, it’s not about sitting back and hoping that gives the front enough time to get home. They want to be the aggressors, either challenging receivers off the line to throw off the timing or because of how well-taught those DBs are, being able to read routes playing off and driving on them, since they know quarterbacks won’t have the time to hold onto the ball for double-moves typically. Through week 18, they had posted the second-highest pressure rate league-wide (27.8%) according to pro-football-reference.com, and nobody created more unblocked pressures (73), meaning defenders putting heat on the QB without being accounted for by the protection. You just don’t ever really see them line up one safety deep and play straight zone, as indicated by the lowest rate of cover-three league-wide (17.2%).

https://reddit.com/link/1al2apq/video/svymr3gnd5hc1/player
Arguably no team in the NFL has a more physical group of cover-guys, which is why they trust that group to be one-on-one on such a regular basis, in combination with their safeties and their smarts to use leverage and route anticipation to their advantage. Trent McDuffie was a first-team All-Pro selection in the slot this year and I believe you can make a strong case that L’Jarius Sneed on the outside could’ve joined him there. Across 16 regular season games, Sneed was targeted 100 times, yet allowed just under 30 yards per contest, with zero touchdowns compared to his two interceptions (slightly worse in the playoffs). How tight the refs call things in this game will be huge however, since he was penalized 11 total times throughout the year. With all that being said though, going back to the tape from the AFC Championship game, as well as the Chiefs did for the most part at plastering receivers while heating up Lamar, there were opportunities to hit a couple of big plays down the field. He was about to launch the ball for a potential 64 touchdown to Rashod Bateman on a deep post route, but Charles Omenihu was able to beat the left tackle around the edge and strip the QB. That’s along with a couple of deep balls down the sideline in the Divisional Round not being hauled in by Bills receivers for a good 100 yards, despite them having a step on their defenders. When the Chiefs don’t bring extra pressure, I’d still say the areas you want to attack are their linebackers when isolated – particularly if Willie Gay Jr. at least isn’t 100% – and to some degree that second outside corner, when McDuffie is in the slot. They also suffered a significant loss in terms of their pass-rush when Omenihu tore his ACL in that conference title game.

HOW THEY MATCH UP:

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While the Chiefs ended up winning 44-23 when they traveled to San Francisco in week seven last season, early on it looked like Niners were going to bludgeon the visitors. They ran the ball on four of the first six plays for a combined 38 yards. That was actually Christian McCaffrey’s debut performance with his current team and he only touched the ball ten times – fewest in any game he’s finished with San Fran. They had plenty of other runs pop, but some ticky-tack holding calls took them off the board. Re-watching the tape from that game, only strengthened my belief/memory of a lot of the negative plays being a product of quarterback play. Jimmy Garoppolo made several costly mistakes, holding onto the ball, missing open receivers and running himself into sacks with questionable pocket movement. What made me smirk at the end of the All-22 was that we got to see Brock Purdy for the first time as a rookie, outside of a kneel-down, and he actually had a couple of nice throws on deep in-breakers before getting picked off at the goal-line when he slightly overthrew another one of those.
In terms of the run game, the advanced metrics would strongly signal the Niners should continue to have success calling inside and outside zone, as it presents the biggest advantage in terms of success rate differential (both +11.2% above average). With that being said, as I already explained, counter as the “counter-punch” to take advantage of the second level defensively starts opening their shoulders prematurely as they work laterally could result in a couple of explosive gains and I’d think a healthy Deebo will be a focal point of the gameplan, where the get him involved quick-hitting end-arounds and sweep plays out of reduced splits. Once KC starts reacting to it and guys away from the point of attack have to freeze instead of chase, you’ll see McCaffrey cut up runs between the guards with success. While being able to stay on/ahead of schedule will be key for San Francisco of course, the facet of the game that will be the biggest tell for its outcome is the Niners’ top-ranked passing game against a top-three defense against in EPA and dropback success rate.

https://reddit.com/link/1al2apq/video/6fbtk8wqd5hc1/player
As tremendous as the Chiefs may be at plastering receivers in man-coverage, to give the rush a chance to get home, this is a different animal. No collection of skill-position players is more capable of killing man-coverage, because of their ability to break that one tackle and put the rest of the defense into scramble mode basically, as they transition from having their eyes locked on their responsibility to locate the “free runner” and trying to corral him. One metric that supports that idea is the fact that Deebo, Kittle and Aiyuk all finished the regular season in the top-15 in terms of average YAC above expectation, according to Next Gen Stats. Going back to when these two sides last met, it was a big George Kittle day, as Shanahan designed a lot of misdirection plays off play-action for him. Yet, when they do get to designated passing situations, the matchup I’ll be watching closest is Brandon Aiyuk versus L’Jarius Sneed. KC has bullied several opponents along the way with their aggressive pressure packages. Throwing hot and alerting to screens against it has rarely been a good answer, in large part due to the excellent tackling by their DBs. As a unit, they only missed 76 tackles throughout the regular season despite that style of play (sixth-fewest in the league). I can remember that early in the season, the Vikings had success disrupting the pass game with a blitz-heavy approach, but otherwise Shanahan has found solutions schematically. Including the postseason, Purdy has posted a league-best passer rating (119.4) and yards per attempt (9.9) against the blitz, and one more crazy stat on him – his 7.94 yards per attempt under pressure would rank fifth(!) among quarterbacks on ALL plays. So could we maybe see them deploy resources into coverage a little more and use simulated pressures, since on plays where they don’t blitz opposing passers hold onto the ball for 3.02 seconds (fourth-longest in the NFL)?
One position the Chiefs should have an advantage against is right tackle Colton McKivitz. He has allowed easily a team-high nine sacks and he’s the biggest question mark, trying to hold up in defined dropback situations. George Karlaftis will regularly match up with him, having racked up 34 combined sacks and QB hits through 19 games. Yet, I would also expect Spags to move Chris Jones out there on critical downs, where his power advantage will help close in those walls for Purdy. I’ll also be very interested in Shanahan’s usage of wide receivers, in two areas. One of those is how much the Niners like to put those guys into condensed splits and involve them closer to the action in the run game. That has largely played into Spags’ hands however during his time in Kansas City, because he takes that as an invitation to blitz his DBs, who now have a shorter towards the ball. The second part of this is general personnel groupings, because while San Francisco has built their own “death lineup” – whose name was inspired by another Bay Area team in the Golden State Warriors – when they are in 21 (meaning McCaffrey, Juszczyk, Kittle, Aiyuk and Deebo), as we already discussed, the Chiefs like to counter with base, at least on early downs. In part, that’s because the one position they don’t have a ton of confidence in is that second outside corner, which is why they move McDuffie out there with three linebackers on the field and a third guy at that spot has only logged a cumulative 63% of snaps, if you take out week 18, when both definitive starters sat out. I’d still very much expect Shanahan to ride with the crew that got them here, but could we maybe see some more Jauan Jennings in 11 personnel sets and force KC to match with traditional nickel – or take advantage if they get a receiver matched up against a safety? One huge advantage this would present – the Niners are number one in rushing success rate with three receivers on the field, while the Chiefs rank 31st defending it.

Chiefs offense vs. 49ers defense:

CHIEFS O:

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For Kansas City’s offense, it truly is remarkable how they’ve been able to go from an offense that was marked with mistakes, leading the league with 39 team drops in particular, and that has struggled to create chunk plays, to all of a sudden looking like they can get that key first down or score whenever they really need it. The Chiefs during the regular season ranked just outside the top-ten in both offensive EPA per play (0.021) and success rate (43.8%), along with scoring more than a touchdown less on average (21.8 PPG) than what they’ve done since 2018 (first season under Mahomes). And while the latter of those two numbers is only slightly higher, they’d be pretty much right there with the 49ers as the number one unit in terms of dropback EPA (0.294) looking at their three playoff contests. A massive reason for that is of course is Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce getting back to creating magic on third downs, but also the ability to create explosive plays. For the regular season, they were tied for 15th in 20+ yard gains (62). During these playoffs, they logged seven each against the Dolphins and Bills – in inclement weather – and then a couple against the Ravens, when they had built a ten-point lead and it was more about ball control, being in possessing for 37:30 minutes. After rotating receivers at a high rate throughout the year, they’ve settled in on Rashee Rice as their designated yards-after-catch threat (finished second to only Deebo Samuel with 8.3 YAC/reception), MVS as their primary deep threat (108 yards on just five catches during the postseason) and of course Kelce as the high-volume target, as he’s had a little more juice after being able to sit out week 18, leading all pass-catchers in the playoffs in targets (27), receptions (23) and yards (262). Yet, while positive game-script has played a huge role, with inconsistencies that plagued them throughout the regular season, they’ve gone from the seventh-most pass-happy unit (60.2% of plays) to a very balanced attack (53.3% pass rate – would rank fifth-lowest), with the violent Isiah Pacheco handling the majority of the work.

Run game:

As I just mentioned, it took Kansas City a while to transition to this ground-oriented approach, which not only mitigates some of their issues in pass-protection on the edges and wide receiver consistency. Focusing on this postseason run, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an Andy Reid-coached team become this patient with the run game. A big reason they should’ve probably swayed that way earlier is the number of advantageous looks they’ve been presented to run against. Isiah Pacheco, who has handled a massive 79.8% of RB carries when available, faced defenses with 8+ defenders in the box on just 12.2% of his carries (41st among 49 RBs with 90+ carries) – that’s basically a third as much as McCaffrey, which I mentioned earlier for the 49ers. Even with the issues this group has had for most of the year at threatening their opponents through the air, because they’ve gone away from the multi-tight-end sets that were a big factor in their run at the Lombardi trophy last year, opponents have chosen to make Big Red lean into a facet he’s refused to at times in his past. That’s a big reason they were able to finish top-ten in yards per attempt on inside zone, power, counter and pin-and-pull – so four of the six big run play categories in terms of how they’re typically categories.

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With that being said, there’s a clear path for how they should be trying to attack the edges of the defense on the ground. They’ve been very effective when condensing the formation and getting the back out on the perimeter with toss plays. And presenting that threat is of course, because it forces the entire unit on the other side to flow that way and open up lanes on the inside. Where they’ve gone wrong to some degree is insisting on running outside zone from the shotgun, in order to support the RPO game, which messes with the blocking angles, and then the occasional sweep plays with their receivers, in particular when they get a little too fancy, trying to catch the defense off guard in short-yardage situations. Getting back to what they generally do well, you want to see Pacheco be able to hit the hole at full speed and not have to read plays behind the line of scrimmage. As fun as he is to watch, running the ball as if he has rabis it seems, he’s not advanced in his ability to set up run plays conceptually and adjust his pacing on the fly. What he does typically is run towards open space, which can close in a hurry if you tell the second level to meet him there, being able to take a direct angle. So there may be more of a focus coming into this matchup with how KC can affect the defensive backfield with eye-candy, in order to not allow them to fly to the ball.

Pass game:

Moving on to the pass game now – when Andy Reid first unleashed Patrick Mahomes onto the scene in 2018, it took all of three games for me to acknowledge that he would be taking the NFL by storm and he ended up winning his first MVP award, as they were running a style of offense unlike what we had quite seen before. While the ideas weren’t completely new, some of the deep-developing concepts they used and how they allowed the speed of someone like Tyreek Hill to shine was stressing defenses in ways they weren’t used to. Since then, as defenses across the league have transitioned into playing a lot more top-down, basing off their coverages in two-high safety looks and being less static on the back-end, so have the Chiefs made their adjustments. We saw that in 2022 – after trading Tyreek to Miami – when they had just one ace left in Travis Kelce, along with role-players around him. They went from the most explosive aerial attacks to a well-oiled machine, which had Pat getting rid of the ball quicker, with a lower depth of target and attacking the middle of the field repeatedly. This season, that trend has gone even further, but the difference in their quarterback winning a second MVP trophy and being part of the 12th-ranked passing attack in EPA has been a decline in Kelce’s play, highly inconsistent ancillary pass-catchers and a struggling duo of offensive tackles – at least until they reached the tournament.

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Taking a look at Mahomes’ playoff statistics is truly insane. He has now basically played a full season when you just look at his 17 postseason appearances and despite facing the toughest competition across those, who have designed ultra-specific gameplans against him/them, the Chiefs with #15 under center have posted a 14-3 record and Pat himself has put up numbers that would rival, if not outdo his best MVP campaign, accounting for 5360 yards and 44 touchdowns compared to only seven picks. In his last six playoff games, he has a sack rate of just 2% and he hasn’t thrown a single interception. So there are virtually no negative plays – which are the biggest indicators for drive success rate. This postseason, 50% of Mahomes’ throws have come out of his hand in less than 2.5 seconds (would rank ninth league-wide during the regular season) and he’s only averaging 6.7 intended air yards per attempt – which is actually just a tad higher than his regular season numbers (30th in the NFL). KC runs four-strong concepts more than any other offense in the league and they’ve taken it up a notch during their playoff run. The idea behind that is to flood zone coverages and put defenders into a bind with multiple routes in their vicinity. What that also does however is limit the space they can attack and asks a lot from their quarterback and primarily Kelce as the designated target to find openings as a tandem. Yet, when they used such concepts in the past, they’d have #87 on the backside to take advantage when singled up or the coverage would bump over towards the passing strength. NFL defenses have been more willing all season to play a little further off and make KC navigate through the limited space, in part also because of the lack of threats after the catch outside of Rashee Rice. That simply hasn’t been the case during the playoffs, where they’ve scored on 14 of 22 drives through the first three quarters and found more explosives, with a couple of them coming on long Mahomes scrambles. And of course, you always have the possibility of insane play-extension by the quarterback, who is as comfortable and creative out of structure/in the midst of chaos as anybody in history.

NINERS D:

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Comparing where they’ve finished across multiple categories since these two sides last met, the 49ers defense has taken a step backwards from where they’ve stood over the last five years, if you take out an injury-riddled 2020 season – where they still fielded a more than respectable unit. As I already explained in the prior paragraph, playing alongside a more explosive offense has led to gamescripts that have lent themselves to more easy yardage surrendered. Yet, the switch at defensive coordinator from DeMeco Ryans to Steve Wilks has also necessitated a certain adjustment period. Altogether, San Francisco’s D finished the regular season 10th in EPA per play (-0.052), but even worse – only 26th against the run. During their two-game playoff run, they’ve been even worse, allowing a success rate vs. the run of a massive 51.7% (which would be dead-last for the regular season). We’ll get to their issues in that regard momentarily, but they’ve been able to step up in the biggest moments, holding the Packers and Lions to a combined 1-of-4 on fourth downs, including when they were able to flush Jared Goff to force an incompletion which set up their game-winning touchdown drive, plus an interception to seal that win in the Divisional Round on an ill-advised throw across his body by Jordan Love. And looking at schedule-adjusted DVOA, they were up there for fourth league-wide (-9.6%), because of how well they’ve performed against the pass.

Click here for the rest of the analysis, including X-factors and my score prediction!

HOW THEY MATCH UP:

https://preview.redd.it/iczupe9ee5hc1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=d862ddf223c90a87e7baa7c56ad5a20e4f02ef1f

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49ers offense vs. Chiefs defense:

NINERS O:

Run game:

Pass game:

CHIEFS D:

Run game:

Pass game:

HOW THEY MATCH UP:

Chiefs offense vs. 49ers defense:

CHIEFS O:

Run game:

Pass game:

NINERS D:

Click here for the rest of the analysis, including X-factors and my score prediction!

HOW THEY MATCH UP: