(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] I hadn't seen my friend Zach in a long time.
Back in high school, we were like brothers,
but after graduation, time fed a distance that
slowly chipped at our relationship.
But then one day, out of the blue,
he called me to ask if I would like to go camping.
(phone ringing)
Honestly, I was just happy he hadn't forgotten about me,
so I said yes, but out there in those woods,
I realized just how much someone can change.
(car starts up)
Zachary!
- What's going on old pal? - Hey, man.
Zach picked me up in his car and to my surprise,
he had a passenger with him.
His name was Ryan, and I wasn't expecting a third person
but I figured, the more the merrier.
But on the way to the forest, things weren't so merry.
I mean, the conversation in the car was casual at best,
not exactly the reunion I had expected.
Zach still had his charm, but, something was off about him.
Like something was missing.
Ryan said very little during the entire car ride over, but,
the uncomfortable presence of a stranger made it
hard for Zach and I to catch up properly.
We had been traveling for hours when I finally
spoke up from the back seat.
Hey, is it me, or have we been driving forever?
Zach, how much further is our campsite?
Before Zach could speak, Ryan answered.
- [Ryan] Be patient, my friend.
Zach and I found the perfect place to set up camp.
(laughing)
- [Narrator] Ryan gave me the creeps, but,
I didn't say anything else throughout the remainder
of the journey.
When we finally arrived at our campsite,
I realized Ryan was right.
It was perfect.
With tall trees and a majestic river that led up
to the top of a powerful waterfall.
The forest seemed empty apart from the wildlife
that inhabited it, and the sound of the wind
blowing through the trees.
It felt good.
It wasn't too hot, nor too cold.
It was Goldilocks: just right, and no bears.
(disembodied screaming) (tense music)
So, there we were.
Once best friends plus a stranger, armed to the teeth
with tents, poles, bags, and freedom,
trees in the breeze for a full weekend.
Ryan went to go for a walk while Zach and I set up camp.
It was the first time Zach and I had been alone
together since the trip began.
With Ryan gone, it was like a weight had been lifted
off of Zach's shoulders and he was the Zach I knew
from back in the day.
We even remembered our secret handshake.
It felt like old times, but something was eating
away at me, so I asked:
Hey Zach? - Yeah, buddy?
- [Narrator] How do you and Ryan know each other?
- [Zach] Oh, um...
[Narrator] Asking that question was like flipping a switch.
Zach stiffened up and suddenly the weight
was back on his shoulders.
- [Zach] Myself and Ryan are part of a group
that's dedicated to bringing out our true potentials.
- [Narrator] Zach said.
It was like he was reading from a manual.
It felt weird.
"What do you mean?
"Like some kind of self help group?" I asked,
trying to understand what Zach was saying.
But Zach wasn't the one who answered.
- [Ryan] A self help group's for the weak,
and we're far from weak.
- [Narrator] Ryan said sternly, returning from his walk.
He was carrying a large satchel.
The tension was back.
I was uncomfortable with how they were looking at me.
I apologized if I had meddled in something private, but,
they just stood there staring at me with this look
in their eyes.
It wasn't quite hate, but rather a look that
expressed hunger, like wolves staring down their prey.
The silence was broken was Ryan emptied the satchel he had.
In the satchel were two railroad spikes, a butcher's knife,
and a rope.
My heart skipped.
This was no longer a camping trip.
When I looked back up, Zach threw a chemical soaked rag
over my mouth and everything turned black.
- Hey, look. - Hey, everything okay?
- [Zach] I just wanted to say...
- [Narrator] Yeah?
- [Zach] I'm sorry I have to do this to you.
- [Narrator] What?
What are you talking-- - Come here!
- [Narrator] Zach, what the?
What are you-- - Don't fight it.
- [Ryan] You get him Zachary.
- [Zach] Hey, just go to sleep old pal.
- [Ryan] Take your sacrifice.
- [Zach] This will all be over soon.
(laughing) (dramatic music)
- [Narrator] There was a blur of green and blue, but,
then everything slowly came into focus and I was
looking up at the sky and the trees.
I was on the ground.
It was nighttime, and there was a fire.
I tried to sit up, but I couldn't.
And as much as I tried to move them,
my hands wouldn't budge.
- [Zach] Hey, he's finally awake.
- [Ryan] Good morning sleepy head.
(laughing)
- [Narrator] And that's when I realized what was happening.
My arms had been spread out and the railroad spikes
from Ryan's satchel had been driven clean
through my palms and into a wooden cross
on the ground below me.
I tried to scream, but I'd been gagged.
Zach and Ryan walked over to me with sinister smiles
fixed on their faces as they looked down on me.
- [Zach] I uh, hope you don't mind if our reunion
turns into a sacrifice.
- [Narrator] Zach said as he nodded his head
towards a fourth person laying next to me.
- [Zach] I'm sorry, pal.
But, uh, no hard feelings.
None of this is personal.
- [Narrator] The other guy just looked like
a hiker or something.
He had been crucified to wooden beams on the ground
just like me.
His muffled screams echoed throughout the woods.
Through his smile, Zach said:
- [Zach] You see, our group is a family.
- [Ryan] You tell him Zach.
- [Zach] Dedicated to the prophecies of the tome,
bringing out our inner monsters.
- [Ryan] That's right, boy.
- [Zach] I don't suppose either one of you gentlemen
have ever fed a mordeo? (laughing)
- [Narrator] I had no idea what the hell Zach
was talking about, but the pain in my hands
was unbearable.
Ryan finally broke Zach's rambling and pointed
to the hiker.
- [Ryan] You see him right there?
He's gonna be our dinner, and once we evolve,
you will be our dessert. (laughing)
- [Narrator] Then Ryan walked over to the other
wooden cross and slit the hiker's throat.
(muffled yelling) (laughing)
The muffled gargling screams trailed off
into silence and the sound of dripping blood.
Zach pulled out a rusted butcher's knife and began hacking
into the hiker's stomach.
- [Ryan] Yeah, you get him Zach.
(grunting) (laughing)
It's supper time boy.
(laughing)
- [Narrator] Zach and Ryan pulled at the opening
of the hiker's abdomen until an assorted mash
of pink flesh and red intestines spilled out.
(squelching) (laughing)
Then they both looked at each other excitedly
and started to devour fists full of the hiker's flesh.
Zach looked right at me as he tried to chew down
a piece of intestine and said:
- [Zach] You know, you really are doing us a great service.
- [Ryan] You can say that again.
- [Zach] You're a true friend.
(laughing)
- [Narrator] Then Zach and Ryan started coughing
as if they were choking on the bloody human remains.
Suddenly their coughs turned violent as they
keeled over onto the ground and started
to convulse uncontrollably.
Through horrifying screams, Zach and Ryan both
clawed at their faces until spiky boned antlers
jutted out of their foreheads.
Their jaws elongated right out of their faces
until they no longer looked human.
Their hands turned blood red as their
fingernails transformed into long claws.
Their final form was monstrous.
This was the evolving that they were talking about.
I knew then that I was looking at a mordeo,
two of them.
Suddenly a third mordeo emerged from the thick trees
and roared a primal scream.
(tense music)
Zach and Ryan, or, what was left of them,
joined in on the howl before turning their
attention on me.
It was time for their dessert.
With my fear induced strength, I closed my eyes tight
and screamed in agony as the bones in my hands
broke over the heads of the spikes.
I finally looked down and saw that both of my hands
were just hunks of bloody flesh attached to an arm,
each with a large hole in the center
where the spikes had punctured.
But I didn't have time to dwell.
The two mordeos that were once Zach and Ryan
were headed right towards me, and they were salivating.
I bolted through the woods.
I could hear howls and the thud of footsteps as
the mordeos gained on me.
(heavy breathing) (soft growling)
I ran as if there were battery acid pumping
through my veins, but it was no use.
The mordeos were just too quick for me.
When I had reached the end of the trail,
I was standing at the top of the waterfall.
It must have been at least 100 feet straight down
into the jagged, sharp rocks protruding through
the rapids below.
I was stuck.
The three mordeos emerged, pushing my back to the
edge of the cliff.
I could tell which one of the beasts was Zach
because he still had on part of his green hoodie.
I had to make a decision.
Jump, or face the evil creatures before me.
Life choices.
Zach stepped forward and reached out his hand
as if he wanted to do our secret handshake.
I thought maybe there was a fraction of humanity
left in him, so I decided to take a leap of faith
and I extended my arm, but I was completely wrong.
(growling) (squelching)
He grabbed my arm and chewed at my mangled hand.
The other mordeos moved in to take a bite of me
but as Zach violently chewed at my hand,
the skin loosened near my wrist and I was able to
break away by severing my arm from my hand.
Zach, let me go!
(squelching) (grunting)
(yelling) (water flowing)
(splashing)
And then I fell down the waterfall.
(water bubbling)
But I didn't die.
(coughing)
(heavy breathing) (grunting)
I drifted for miles hanging onto drift wood.
I fell in and out of consciousness due to
severe blood loss.
I don't know how I didn't drown.
Eventually I washed up on the banks of
a nearby local canoe rental house.
They took me in and cleaned me up.
At first, they thought I must have escaped
a bear attack and fallen into the waterfall or something.
But when they saw the injuries to my arms,
they knew that it wasn't a bear that had attacked me.
They knew the wounds were deliberate,
but I knew these wounds were caused by mordeos.