6- The After Party

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[Radio Static]

THE REPORTER:

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Hello, Witherburn. I'll be honest. It's been a good week in our little town. There's still news, so don't worry, but Nothing too dramatic, which I feel like this town needed. I mean, I feel like we haven't had a week like this in months. With all the havoc that's been happening recently, it's just Nice to have a little breather.  You know? Anyways, on the agenda today is the Clark family and the land they're buying at the base of the mountain.

The rumors about Ivy Groder and the local celebrity that's coming back to town. All that and more coming up on-

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[Multiple phone notifications]

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Well shit.

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[Theme Music]

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Sorry about that, listeners, but the sophomore group chat just started blowing up with information about Scarlett's homecoming party. Now this is a developing story, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. But, apparently, there is evidence of Amelia being harassed by Hunter.

I'm reading that there is a video somewhere, and people are saying that Hunter was acting weird that night. To be fair, when is he not? We will obviously get back to this and report when we know more, but for now, let's get on with our first story. Notable figure, Colin Portman, has decided to return to Witherburn. Colin Portman of FBI Seattle fame is coming back to town to help take care of his elderly mother. How sweet. 

Now a lot of the younger people of Witherburn don't realize that Colin Portman is a Witherburn native. He left for Hollywood nearly twenty years ago and tries to keep his visits back to town very Hush-hush. He says that Witherburn will always be his safe place, and he tries not to ruin it with paparazzi.  Colin Portman says that while he's here, he's going to open an acting studio in Town Square.

He's also donating enough money to renovate the park, which desperately needs it. He claims that his reasoning is that he just wants to give back to the town that raised him. Though to be honest listeners, I don't know if I believe him. Maybe I just have a mistrust of rich white men, but every interview I've seen from him just seems disingenuous.  Also, his mother never talks about him, and she's one of the Newberry porch sitters.

In fact, I talked to Miss Portman earlier this week, and she seemed in perfect health, able to take care of herself. Then when I asked about her son coming back, she said that he just needed a bit of support right now. I didn't ask any more questions because despite what my critics say, I'm not here to expose someone going through a rough time. I'm just here to point out that this situation is strange. It doesn't matter what I think, though. I hope Colin Portman has a nice stay in Witherburn.   

It's time for monster of the week brought to you by mister Pickler. This week, mister Pickler was apparently hunting in the woods when he saw something darting behind the trees. According to him, he also felt like he was being watched his entire hunting trip. He also swore you could hear rustling in the branches, but when he turned around, there was nothing there.

It wasn't until the last day of his hunting trip that he saw it, a towering dark figure that had arms as thin as twigs. He looked like he was made of only skin and bones. He had claws that were long and sharp as knives, his eyes were sunken and shrunk.

 Then,  Actually,  I'll let mister Pickler tell you the rest.

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MR. PICKLER:

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Right when I went to look at it, it was gone. I immediately knew what it was and what I had to do. I downed my whole flask, and that thing didn't come around me no more.

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THE REPORTER:

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Now this was an interesting creature, listeners. I believe that the creature mister Pickler believes he saw was the hide behind. And warning, don't listen to this if you ever wanna go into the woods again. The hide behind legend was started by woodsmen of America, specifically the West Coast loggers of the eighteen hundreds. The creature, true to its name, was known to hide behind the trees and stalk its victims. It was credited with many disappearances of loggers that wouldn't return home. Whenever someone looked directly at it, it would use its long and thin limbs to hide behind the nearest tree.

It also apparently had superhuman speed that allowed it to stay hidden. It has thick and sharp clause that it uses to disembowel its victims. According to legend, the hide behind would watch you for days before making you its next meal. It would wait for the perfect moment and then would slice open your stomach. And according to some legends, you would still be alive while it dragged you to its nest and began to eat you.

The only way to prevent this creature from attacking you is to drink alcohol because it hates the taste and smell of liquor. Luckily for us, this is most likely an old tale told by forest men to come to terms with the dangerous business of logging. Often, in the olden days, lumberjacks wouldn't come home after logging accidents. It was a dangerous field with one in every hundred lumberjacks dying on the job. Whether it was a tree falling the wrong way or a mountain lion, it didn't matter because it still would have been a terrifying reality to live in for most lumberjacks.

They would often drink to deal with the passing of their friends, which is probably the birth of this legend. Lumberjacks trying to make sense of all the death and convincing themselves that alcohol would protect them. Knowing this background, I can confidently say that mister Pickler was probably drunk. He was seeing things while on that hunting trip, and we should be happy he didn't shoot his hand off on accident. Seriously, it wouldn't be the first time he hurt himself like that, though it makes sense, mister Pickler was probably using alcohol to pass the time, and that combined with the days he spent alone caused him to see a creature from his childhood. 

So don't be too terrified next time you go into the woods. It's probably just a squirrel you're hearing. Thanks again to mister Pickler for sponsoring Monster of the Week. Maybe next time, though, don't drink alone in the woods.

 Our next story is about Chris Breckenridge or Dyce as he prefers to be called.

Apparently, his Twitch streams have reached over 50,000 viewers at one point, and he was raided by the streamer Smash, which is a good thing. I'm like, 85% sure of that. Apparently, he is even thinking about dropping out of school to pursue his gaming career, which I am begging him not to do that. We all know Chris can do stupid things like that one time he agreed to eat dog feces for five dollars and then was in the hospital for two weeks. But genuinely, this is one of the stupidest ideas he's proposed, especially since his e-sports team is doing very well. No one is more shocked than me, I promise.

 Chris says it's due to the fact that he is, quote, "a goat at video games", but I'd be willing to bet that it also has something to do with his talented and less annoying teammates. They have one last game to win before they qualify for the district championship. That game is Tuesday in the gym if anyone wants to go watch it, it will also be live streamed. So finally, a socially acceptable way to support the school in your pajamas. Go turtles, and let's hope we can see our esports team at District.

Listeners, I have an update on Scarlett's party. Here's the story that we know so far.

Amelia was brought to the party by her friends and was the designated driver. Amelia has never been to a high school party before and was, quote, "only there to make observations" . She also jokingly called this whole thing a science experiment saying, I wanna see my fellow high schoolers in their natural habitat. Though she didn't really socialize much until about one AM when a large group of people decide to play truth or dare. One of the people playing was hunter.

This becomes important later. Amelia spends most of the game telling truths and giving generally boring answers. Sorry, guys, she had said, I'm just not that interesting. But when it was Hunter's turn, he chose Amelia who picked truth again.

He said something along the lines of stop being boring and encouraged her to choose dare, which she did. Once this happened, he dared Amelia to kiss him. She immediately told him she wasn't doing that and to pick something else, but Hunter kept pushing it. Soon enough, Scarlett stepped in and told Hunter to knock it off and that he was being a creep. Hunter then stormed off and wasn't seen for the rest of the game.

Amelia quietly thanked Scarlett, and they continued with their game. But that's not all that happened. Later on in the night around two AM, Amelia went to the bathroom to catch her breath and get a moment of quiet. Her friends have said she was starting to get tired and overwhelmed, so they were starting to get their stuff together so they could leave. Though Hunter apparently followed Amelia into the bathroom and tried to have conversation with her.

By the end of this conversation, Amelia was storming out of the bathroom looking pale as a ghost. She apparently told Hunter to never speak to her again and quickly left with her Friends. I am being told that someone was on a live stream during this time, and we are going to be looking for the video. It's said to have some of their conversation in it. All of my support goes to Amelia.

We all know Hunter can be a creep, but, god, this is on new level. I mean, following someone into the bathroom, Why would he ever think that's okay? Take a few days to get some rest, Amelia. We all know you deserve it. As long as we are discussing one member of the Clark family, we might as well discuss the others.

The Clark parents have bought some land at the bottom of the mountain. Apparently, they are using this land for “hunting purposes”, but The Clark's  are not the type to get their hands dirty like that. People nearby have reported seeing construction equipment being moved in and out during the night. So whatever they're doing there is something they don't want people to know about.

Neighbors have made noise complaints, and one even asked the mayor if they had a building permit, but the mayor simply said there wasn't any proof of construction on the site, which is just a load of BS. I mean, how hard would it even be for them to get a building permit? I swear it's literally impossible for that family to play by the rules. I wish I had more information for the story listeners, but I couldn't explore the grounds due to a barbed wire fence surrounding the property.  So much for being hunting grounds. Don't worry I will keep investigating this and will inform you all the moment I get new information.

Let's move on to some nicer segments, shall we? The library is starting a knitting circle in an effort to get younger people into the art of textiles. You don't even need to knit, crochet, needlework, or embroidery, all of it is welcomed at the library.

All the librarians ask is that you bring a project and some good conversation,  which sign me up. I have been needing an excuse to get back into crafting. It meets on Wednesday nights at seven in the group room of the library. Hope to see you all there.

Now we get to talk about what was supposed to be our main story today. Ivy Groder apparently wants to start a Wicca and Pagan club at school. There is significant interest in the club, not just from the three actual pagans at the school, but from a couple of people who are simply into astrology, crystals, and other forms of spirituality. Now I think any sane person can see that this is a harmless club, but sadly, Witherburn isn't filled with sane people. Some local churchgoers are saying that this club is satanic and can't be approved by the school. Others are starting to spread rumors that Ivy is actually practicing dark magic in the woods.

Ivy says that this is very offensive and that it's Very dehumanizing to see people treat her religion as evil and not safe for school, especially when the school currently has a bible club. But let's be honest, listeners these rumors are unsubstantiated and I think point to a bigger problem in Witherburn. We aren't accepting of different people. I mean, seriously, Ivy Groder is a straight A student and an active member of student council, yet People are acting like she's some cartoon villain.

It doesn't take a genius to realize this is giving I saw Goody Proctor at the devil's sacrament vibes. Did the satanic panic not end in the nineties?  Why are we looking at a perfectly fine young lady and acting like she's summoning Lucifer in her free time because, What? She's a goth pagan? I feel like this is an issue that needs to be talked about. 

Witherburn has been and always will be a small town that has a lot of diversity and thought, and we should be fostering that diversity, not stifling it. Paganism and spirituality are on the rise, and I hate to be the one to break it to those church ladies.  Oh, who am I kidding? I'm fine with making them mad, but stats show that over thirty 33% of Americans identify with the term spiritual over religious, and that number is rising. It was only a matter of time before this mindset came to Witherburn.

From what I can tell, these churchgoers have one of two options. They can either keep going down the path they're on and temporarily prevent change from happening, but go down in Witherburn history as bigots and Puritans,  or they could accept this club and recognize that other ideas should be allowed to flourish in town. I think we all know what they're going to choose though. Best of luck to the Pagan Club. I hope to see your posters in our halls very soon. 

Okay, everyone. I found the video of Hunter and Amelia at the party. Apparently, Chris was live streaming for his Twitch, and that's how we got this recording. Be warned, there is some mildly disturbing stuff on here, including what might be assault in what is definitely crossing a boundary, here is that video. 

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DYCE:

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Oh, ya, chat. I'm at the Homecoming after party hosted by the wonderful  Scarlett Johnson. Yeah. It's been pretty chill tonight, guys. Wait, wait. did  Hunter just go into the bathroom with Amelia?  Oh my god. These guys think they're sly. Seriously, though, why would they hook up in a bathroom?  The chat wants me to eavesdrop.  You know? Why not? Maybe I'll knock on the door and scare them after a few minutes. Teach them not to make out where people pee.  

HUNTER:

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No one would care about you, but one day you will slip. God, would that be nice.

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AMELIA:

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Hunter, please get off me. 

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HUNTER:

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I do what I want. 

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AMELIA:

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I said don't touch me. 

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DYCE:

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Woah, Amelia, are you okay?

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AMELIA:

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I'm fine, Hunter's just fucking drunk. 

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DYCE:

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Uhm I'm gonna end the stream here, guys. Dyce out.

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THE REPORTER:

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So that was intense. The group chat is still blowing up. Apparently, Amelia doesn't wanna talk about it, which is fair, and we should respect her wishes, but also Hunter has left the group chat.

Many people have reported this to the principal already, and one person has reported it to the police, but they're saying there's not enough evidence for an investigation.  To be frank listeners, I think we all know how this ends. If Hunter was harassing Amelia, there will be no repercussions for his actions.  He is always getting away with these things.  This is the Clark's town, and we are just living in it. 

I don't know how to end this episode, folks. I mean, I am angry as hell, but it's also just sad.  No one should have to deal with this.  I guess I can only say that if you have any more evidence against Hunter Clark, then please send it into the police.  Also, make sure Amelia knows that we stand behind her.

Don't press her for a story or for gossip, but Let her know that we are here and on her side. And  to Amelia,  I really, really hope you understand the love this community has for you.  That's all for today. Tune in next week to Witherburn After School News.

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I'm the reporter signing off.