When my uncle passed away and his son reached out to me for help - I didn’t hesitate a moment. Because you do for the family. After a short flight and all the airport shenanigans - I was driving to his house in a rather comfy Hyundai hatchback.

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An hour later, as I parked the car in the house garage - we were sitting in the living room with Dan, discussing the work yet to be done. My uncle Ron, unfortunately, was quite a compulsive hoarder, so piles and piles of various junk were scattered all around the place.

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After finishing our coffee we grabbed the garbage bags and started our Operation Declutter. According to Dan - he had no plans for this house.

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“Appreciate you coming, Jack. I wouldn’t be able to clear this mess on my own. I’ll start from the master bedroom and you can take the closet. Pick anything that revives your memories of him or days spent here” - he said.

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The plan was to clean the place and toss the whole thing to a realtor, picking out the valuable things in the process. Easier said than done - the house was a complete waste dump. Loads and loads of spare parts to some machinery, stacks of outdated newspapers, gift wrappings, and empty plastic cups filled with screws and bolts. And that was just me opening the door. The junk spilled out and covered the floor beneath my feet.

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And you think we could roll up our sleeves and finish it within an hour or two, but no. For example - one of the cups, full of rusted nails contained uncle Ron’s engagement ring. And I found his birth certificate among the pages of an ancient TV magazine. So yeah it took time. By lunch, we barely scratched the surface and decided to take a break. Luckily there was an Indian restaurant down the road, so we ate up and why the hell not - grabbed ourselves some beer.

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Then the work continued. Junk, junk, dried leftover food stashed in an old washing machine, cobwebs, and mummified roaches. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to be there. I could almost see the back wall of the room, as I realized that I’d been doing this for 6 hours straight. My stomach confirmed that by producing some growling sounds. Time to eat!

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“Hey, Dan! I’ll get us some burgers, or something. Any wishes?” - I shouted across the floor.

“Nah. I’ll have the same as you. Thanks!” - he replied, struggling with something heavy in the bedroom.

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And so I went down to the garage, turned out the light, and noticed that the trunk was open. That was strange, but I didn’t give it a second thought. Maybe Dan was checking out the capacities, calculating how many trash bags can we put in or something. I didn’t close the car, because why would I? Also, I noticed that the insides of the trunk were scratched a bit as if the previous guy was transporting a roll of barbed wire here. And I guess they didn’t check it when he returned the car. I made a note to myself to make sure I won’t be charged for this and went out.

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45 minutes later I returned and grabbed the brown bag with the food from the car.

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“Hey, Daaaan. Dinner’s ready!” - I shouted.

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But there was no response. Just a sound of shuffling as if he was trying to move a wardrobe. So I put the food on the kitchen table and went up to check on him and repeat my announcement.

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“Dan! I say - the meal is ready. You need a hand, buddy?” - I said opening the door to the bedroom.

The dread feeling of terror kicked me in the guts, as I saw what was behind it. There, on scattered clothes and papers - Dan was lying, shaking in convulsions. The walls around, the floor, even the ceiling - was covered with numerous splatters of blood. The urge to rush forward emerged but died as quickly when I saw the full picture. Atop my cousin, a skinny figure was sitting. Its arms and legs were so thin, I didn’t notice it first in the dimmed lights of the bedroom.

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Its head was pushed towards Dan’s face, while its arms tore his chest digging down his flesh. And the sound, oh my god, that sound. The sound of that monster sucking out my cousin’s blood was accompanied by his muffled moans. Dan’s hands twitched, trying to grab something helplessly.

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I didn’t think twice. Just grabbed the first thing that was next to me, which luckily happened to be a piece of steel pipe, left by my compulsive uncle. The next couple of moments became an eternity. All I remember is just the pipe moving up and down, up and down again. Until the creature lost all features it could be recognized by. Just mince meat by the side of my dying cousin. I made sure that the horrible being doesn’t show any signs of life and rushed to Dan.

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“Man, look at me, look at me” - I said holding him. “It’s all gonna be alright, you hear me?”.

I chaotically tried to find the phone in my pockets with the other hand. “Shit, don’t you dare die on me”.

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His vision cleared for a moment. He looked me in the eyes as if he was trying to say something.

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“Hold up, Dan. Hold up!” - I said - “You’re gonna make it”. Though I realized that it’s not an option with wounds like these. And Dan… He still tried to say something.

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So I pushed my ear towards his lips to hear his last words. What he said turned my blood into ice.

With a shaking voice, gurgling on spitting each word out he said:

“There.. Are.. More.. Of.. Em…”.

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And at the very same moment, I heard rustling sounds around. As if something was hiding in the piles of junk in the neighboring rooms, watching me, waiting for me to turn my back on them.

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I didn’t think straight - maybe if I rushed out of the house I would have a chance. Maybe not - I don’t know what those freaks are capable of. So I smashed the door to the bedroom and barricaded it with furniture and heavier trash.

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I’m trapped: there are grates on the window, my phone is probably in the car or on the kitchen table and those abominations keep scratching on the door and walls.

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I found my uncle’s old laptop. It’s so old it won’t open most of the web pages. I sent an email to the local police station, ambulance, and firefighters. I hope they will see it before it’s too late. Luckily Reddit is loading too, so if you are reading this - I’m in Oakhurst, Williams Str. 33. Call the authorities. Please help me. I don’t have much time.