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1:39

They said over and over and over

1:41

again, and we just ignored it. What

1:43

if a warning siren sounds...

1:45

From law fair and goat rodeo,

1:48

this is escalation, a podcast

1:50

about the United States and

1:52

Ukraine. We were all living

1:54

in a bureaucratic process, and

1:56

Putin's living in the world

1:59

of hard power. escalation. Everyone

2:01

just says it. This latest

2:03

escalation... I realize because of

2:05

nuclear escalation. And you know

2:07

what is interesting about the

2:10

war, when you don't want

2:12

to understand the war from

2:14

the distance, it comes closer

2:16

and closer. Escalation is out

2:18

now, wherever you get your

2:21

podcasts. Acast

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helps

2:29

creators

2:32

launch,

2:35

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2:37

their podcast everywhere.

2:39

Acast.com. We were

2:41

thinking about getting

2:43

married. I know

2:46

that all of

2:48

that was real.

2:50

John has to

2:52

be missing something.

2:54

Maybe there were

2:57

some typos and

2:59

that's why he

3:01

wasn't getting any

3:03

results. Yeah. That

3:05

has to be

3:08

it. Or maybe

3:10

he's just making

3:12

a really, really

3:14

bad joke and

3:16

just wants to

3:18

surprise me with

3:21

the real information

3:23

in person. There's

3:27

no way No person

3:29

would ever think a

3:31

joke like that would

3:34

go over well John

3:36

would never I haven't

3:38

been to the prison

3:40

jail precinct Whatever it's

3:43

called in a while

3:45

Since I've tried to

3:47

burn this fucking devil

3:50

house to the ground

3:52

that'll be That'll be

3:54

nice to get to

3:57

know John's colleagues, I

3:59

guess. Come

4:02

to think of it.

4:05

I don't even think

4:07

there was anybody else

4:10

working last time I

4:12

was there. Whatever. Whatever.

4:15

I'm overthinking it as

4:17

usual. God, I hate

4:20

this. Anyways, where was

4:22

I? Um, Egypt trip,

4:25

relic... Here it is.

4:30

The professor kept stressing how

4:33

important this strange relic was,

4:35

is, how everything hinges on

4:37

them finding it and completing

4:39

the exchange. He kept calling

4:41

it that, the exchange. He

4:44

didn't go into many details

4:46

about this exchange during those

4:48

classes, the bits and pieces

4:50

that I was able to

4:53

experience anyway. But regardless, most

4:55

of the students were all

4:57

excited at the prospect of

4:59

it. After

5:02

the mention of this exchange,

5:04

the dream seemed to stop.

5:06

Completely. I was so relieved.

5:08

I could go on and

5:10

just live my life as

5:13

normal. I'm sure my parents

5:15

were pleased to be free

5:17

from my seemingly delusional ramblings

5:19

about a religion class that

5:22

I'm not even enrolled in.

5:24

Why did his parents never

5:26

suggest that he go to

5:28

a therapist or something? Shortly

5:35

after that, they did end

5:37

up putting me in touch

5:40

with a therapist. Hmm. They

5:42

didn't understand why I couldn't

5:44

get all of these thoughts

5:46

out of my head. To

5:48

be fair, I didn't really

5:50

understand anything either. I still

5:52

don't. And to be honest,

5:55

the therapist didn't really help.

5:57

Not at all. I

6:00

went to her for about

6:02

a year and a half.

6:05

I don't know if this

6:07

therapist was recommended by my

6:09

doctor or my parents just

6:12

found her somewhere, but there

6:14

was something so off about

6:16

her. She always had this

6:19

aura of disinterest. I don't

6:21

know how to really put

6:23

it. It just seemed like

6:25

under the surface. Quite

6:28

frankly, she really didn't give

6:30

a shit about how I

6:32

was feeling. She only wanted

6:34

to know about what I

6:36

was seeing. I was there

6:38

for two sessions a week

6:40

after my classes on Tuesdays

6:42

and Thursdays. The first session

6:44

started off normal enough. Good

6:46

afternoon. How are you? She

6:48

mentioned how it took a

6:50

lot of strength to get

6:52

over my pride and to

6:54

choose to go to therapy.

6:59

I wouldn't exactly call it a

7:01

pride thing. I just wanted to

7:03

get help and I wanted these

7:05

dreams to stop. When she asked

7:07

what brought me to therapy, I

7:09

was completely honest. I told her

7:12

that every time I closed my

7:14

eyes, it was if I was

7:16

looking through somebody else's. Rather than

7:18

explaining to me that it was

7:20

some kind of delusion brought on

7:22

by past trauma or something like

7:24

that, she just asked me what

7:26

exactly it is that I saw.

7:30

And I told her. I

7:32

told her everything. I told

7:34

her about the couple that

7:37

was murdered when I was

7:39

a child, the weird building

7:41

in the woods, the religion

7:44

class, and the upcoming trip

7:46

to Egypt. She believed every

7:49

word. She didn't think I

7:51

was crazy. In fact, she

7:53

seemed absolute. fascinated by everything

7:56

that I said. When I

7:58

explained to her that I

8:00

don't want this anymore, I

8:03

don't want to see this

8:05

every time I close my

8:07

eyes, she just looked at

8:10

me and said, but what

8:12

if this is something that

8:14

you need to see? I

8:17

have to say I was

8:19

a little intrigued by this

8:21

prospect. I asked her to

8:24

elaborate. She asked me if

8:26

I believe in a higher

8:28

power. Honestly,

8:31

at the time I

8:33

was pretty agnostic. We'll

8:35

say there is a

8:37

higher power. They chose

8:39

you to see all

8:41

of this. Consider the

8:43

Book of Revelation. Jesus

8:45

shows John visions of

8:47

the end of times.

8:50

The Seven Seals, Trumpets,

8:52

and Bowles. A New

8:54

World Order. I

8:59

don't really understand why this

9:01

therapist would even suggest that

9:04

this person seeing visions of

9:06

my grandparents being murdered is

9:08

even remotely similar to some

9:11

story from the Bible. How

9:13

could a double homicide lead

9:15

to anything someone could even

9:18

slightly consider positive? What the

9:20

fuck? I never really considered

9:22

this before. Obviously. These dreams

9:25

didn't really feel like visions.

9:27

I didn't consider the possibility

9:30

that they were being sent

9:32

by someone for something. She

9:34

told me that I must

9:37

be special. I must be

9:39

important. She convinced me that

9:41

these dreams are a gift

9:44

and it would be foolish

9:46

to try and stop them.

9:48

There is no way that

9:51

this is going to end

9:53

well. She

9:56

suggested I write everything down.

9:58

No matter how mundane it

10:01

may seem. She wanted me

10:03

to be as detailed and

10:05

specific as I could about

10:07

everything that I see. I

10:09

wish that I noticed at

10:11

that point how quickly those

10:13

therapy sessions derailed from trying

10:15

to help me, to actively

10:17

trying to hurt me. I

10:20

just didn't know. How could

10:22

I have known? Each week

10:24

she would have me discuss

10:26

everything new that I saw.

10:31

It was all mundane

10:33

for the most part.

10:35

Visits to the woods

10:38

in the middle of

10:40

the night. That building.

10:42

Religion class. Discussions about

10:45

that trip. Only a

10:47

matter of time now,

10:49

she said. Your purpose

10:52

will become clear

10:54

soon. Your purpose will

10:56

become clear soon. His

10:58

purpose is to... see

11:00

everything my dad did?

11:02

Why is that important?

11:05

He did what he

11:07

did. What is the

11:09

purpose of some random

11:11

person retelling it? I

11:14

don't get it. A

11:16

few weeks later I

11:18

ended up getting pretty

11:20

sick. I wasn't exactly

11:23

sure what it was,

11:25

but I felt like

11:27

it was something similar

11:29

to that. Whatever

11:32

it was, it put me out

11:34

of commission for a few days.

11:36

I've always had a slight aversion

11:39

to going to the doctors when

11:41

I'm sick, so my parents just

11:43

went to the drugstore and stocked

11:45

up on NyQuil and musinx. Anything

11:47

that might be able to make

11:49

me feel a little bit more

11:51

normal. But it essentially ended up

11:53

putting me in and out of consciousness

11:55

for a couple of days. And when

11:57

my eyes are closed, when I'm asleep...

11:59

I can't control the visions.

12:01

Coincidentally, when I was home

12:04

sick, that perfectly lined up

12:06

with the religion class's trip

12:08

to Egypt. When I passed

12:10

out shortly after taking the

12:13

first round of medicine, the

12:15

class was already there. They

12:17

were all walking through what

12:20

looked like the middle of

12:22

nowhere. Nothing but sand and

12:24

rocks as far as I

12:26

could see. Looking

12:30

around, it was all familiar

12:32

faces from class. But there

12:34

was another man there. He

12:36

looked to be in his

12:39

early to mid-30s. He definitely

12:41

wasn't from our class. But

12:43

there was something about him.

12:46

He seemed so familiar. I

12:48

know that I've seen him

12:50

somewhere before. I just couldn't

12:53

place it. The

12:57

class kept walking as the

12:59

sun began to set. I

13:01

noticed that nobody around seemed

13:04

prepared to be out this

13:06

late. Seemingly lost. Nobody had

13:08

bags or supplies of any

13:10

kind other than the professor

13:12

and the man I couldn't

13:15

quite remember. A few hours

13:17

later, the group came across

13:19

this large crevice in the

13:21

ground. It appeared to be

13:24

a staircase. It

13:26

looked as if it were

13:28

carved into the earth. As

13:31

we made our way down

13:33

the stairs, it began to

13:35

get silent. Not just quiet.

13:38

It was the same kind

13:40

of silence as that building

13:42

in the woods. So I

13:45

guess I'm just going to

13:47

hear the story again. Greg's

13:49

story. I suppose it'd be

13:52

good to know if there's

13:54

something he missed or... for

13:56

God. The staircase led us

13:59

to a sort of cave

14:01

system. It was dark, but

14:03

I could catch glimpses of

14:06

the other students' faces as

14:08

we were making our way

14:10

through the stone corridors. They

14:13

were all stoic and emotionless.

14:15

Except for one of the

14:17

students towards the back of

14:20

the group. He must be

14:22

talking about Greg. Thinking back

14:24

that one student always seemed

14:27

a little off. Off might

14:29

not be the right word.

14:31

They just didn't seem nearly

14:34

as enthralled by the professor's

14:36

words as everyone else. As

14:38

the class made its way

14:41

through the caves, I began

14:43

to notice this strange feeling.

14:45

And it is doubly strange

14:48

because as far as I

14:50

can remember, this is the

14:52

first time that I've ever

14:55

felt anything during these visions

14:57

before. It

15:00

kind of felt like when

15:02

you're at a concert and

15:04

you're close to the speakers.

15:06

You can feel the music

15:08

reverberate throughout your body. It

15:11

was just like that, but

15:13

there was no sound. Just

15:15

a constant humming in my

15:17

chest. Wait. Didn't the last

15:19

letter describe something similar? They

15:21

mentioned a buzzing in their

15:24

chest and a loud hum.

15:30

The feeling got more and

15:32

more intense the further we

15:34

went. After we walked for

15:36

what seemed like another hour,

15:38

we reached what I assumed

15:40

to be the center of

15:43

the cave system. It was

15:45

a large circular room with

15:47

walls lined with torches. I

15:49

don't know who lit them.

15:51

Were they just always there?

15:53

Who knows? The buzzing in

15:55

my chest seemed to have

15:57

reached a fever pitch. It

16:01

was so intense, I'm surprised

16:04

that the feeling didn't wake

16:06

me. I blamed the drug

16:08

cocktail my parents gave me.

16:10

I remember looking down and

16:12

noticing that there were these

16:15

odd grooves etched into the

16:17

floor. These grooves were all

16:19

leading directly towards a small

16:21

pit in the center of

16:24

the room. By my best

16:26

guess, it looked to be

16:28

about two to three feet

16:30

wide. When I looked up...

16:33

I noticed that all of

16:35

the students in the class,

16:37

all of them except that

16:39

one were standing along the

16:42

wall of the room in

16:44

front of the hanging torches,

16:46

facing the pit. Oh, fuck.

16:48

I remember what happens next.

16:51

One by one, I saw

16:53

them pull out a large

16:55

knife, seemingly from out of

16:57

nowhere. They

17:00

each lifted it up and

17:02

then, one after another, plunged

17:04

it deep into their chest.

17:06

As they began to fall

17:08

to the ground, I could

17:10

see the blood pool onto

17:12

the floor, seeping into the

17:14

grooves and flowing towards that

17:16

center pit. I could see

17:18

the blood rise higher and

17:20

higher. It seemed to be

17:22

lifting something up with it.

17:27

Something large that must have

17:29

been laying dormant at the

17:31

bottom. I looked around and

17:33

could see that one student.

17:35

He seemed to be screaming

17:38

as hard as he could,

17:40

but I couldn't hear a

17:42

thing. He suddenly fell over

17:44

and hid the ground hard.

17:46

He must have passed out

17:48

from the shock. The

17:54

professor slowly walked over to the pit to retrieve

17:56

the object that was now at the top. It

18:00

looked like a large jet

18:02

black egg or seed. It

18:04

looked like it was made

18:07

of obsidian or something. But

18:09

that wouldn't make sense. As

18:11

far as I know that

18:13

wouldn't be able to float.

18:15

He reached into the blood

18:18

and pulled it out. The

18:20

second he grabbed the thing,

18:22

my eyes shot open. I

18:24

was back in my bed.

18:26

I was back in my

18:29

bed. But I

18:31

could still feel that

18:33

rumble, that pounding in

18:36

my chest. And then

18:38

I heard him. I

18:40

know that I was

18:42

fully awake, but I

18:45

could hear the professor's

18:47

voice in my head.

18:49

I know you can

18:52

feel them. They are

18:54

coming. We must prepare

18:56

for a longer. Oh

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we recommend. Hey

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guys, welcome to Giggly Squad! A

19:42

place where we make fun of

19:44

everything, but most importantly, ourselves. I'm

19:46

Paige DeSorbo. I'm Hannah Burner. Welcome

19:48

to the squad! Giggly Squad started

19:50

on summer house when we were

19:53

giggling during an inappropriate time. But

19:55

of course, we can't be managed.

19:57

So we decided to start this

19:59

podcast to continue giggling. We will

20:01

make fun of pop culture. culture

20:03

news. We're watching, fashion trends, heptocks

20:05

where we give advice, mental health

20:07

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20:11

wherever you get your podcasts. A-cast

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