Kissing Carrion

A couple days later, we do an anonymous 911 call to say she was missing. But nothing ever came of that, I know of.

And a week after that, we finally put in the tape and looked at it.

(Pause)

Well?

— . . . well, what?

—You wanna know what was on it. Right?

(No Answer)

Okay.

First, it’s just static. Not even the house, or the guy, or any of us. And then it kind of gives a jump, or a blip, or the light changes or something, and—

—Rosa, right there. But she isn’t there. I mean . . . she’s somewhere, right? But not the house. Not the way we saw it, anyway.

It’s like a—construction site, or whatever. Support beams, sky; it’s all kind of wet, like it’s been raining. Like the place is only half-built, except for the fact that’s just fuckin’ crazy.

And Rosa wanders around in there, in her haz-mat suit. Takes her breather off, puts it down someplace. And she looks all seriously freaked, which is . . . understandable.

And then she goes off-screen, and she comes back on, and there’s that static again. And then—

—she’s in a vacant lot, in the middle of nowhere. No house at all. And it’s winter. And she’s still wearing the suit, but it’s all ripped and dirty. And she’s—thinner.

More static.

And then it’s summer. And . . . she’s in a swamp. And most of the suit’s gone, ’cause those things—they ain’t exactly built to last, ‘specially when you get ’em wet.

And . . . she’s getting older.

Static, and static, and everything’s moving faster. Shit’s goin’ by like—I don’t even know. And Rosa’s all dirty and almost naked and her hair is all long, like down to her shoulders. And she looks kinda crazy, now. And she’s so thin.

Treeline in the background comin’ closer and closer, ’till it’s really dark ’cause the trees block off the sun. And she’s screaming and crying and goin’ back and forth, side to side, in those shadows right by the front of the trees. And then—

—something—

—reaches out from the trees, and it pulls her in. By her head.

And she’s gone.

(Long Pause)

Tape went on a while after that, like it kept goin’ ’till we finished up in the house, shut it down and took it home. But there’s no more static, and there’s no more Rosa.

Thing is, though . . .

Later, we figured out—when I was down in the basement? Standin’ in that—whatever the hell? When I was doin’ that, it must’ve been like was standin’ exactly where she would have been, at the same time. Right in the same damn spot.

Like I was inside her, or something.

(Pause)

There‘s a “psychic fragment” for ya.

(Very Long Pause)