THE FOLLOWING IS COLLOQUIALLY REFERRED TO AS "THE BREAKING POINT" IN THE EARLY STAGES OF THE CASE. READER DISCRETION ADVISED. NAMES AND LOCATIONS ARE REDACTED WHERE DEEMED NECESSARY. THIS IS A TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO FOOTAGE DEPICTING ALL THAT TRANSPIRED AT THE [REDACTED] HOUSE.
READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
--File 005: Breaking Point--
10/03/XXXX
The video begins haphazardly and shakily. It is being recorded from a modern hand camera, the type with a view port window. It pans up to show Emma standing on a sidewalk, looking extremely nervous and uncomfortable. While the camera pans around, loud with the sounds of an unfamiliar user handling it, flashes of the surrounding neighborhood can be seen. It stabilizes for a moment, and the person filming- Blaine [REDACTED]- slowly pans across to show the whole neighborhood. All of the houses are in various states of dilapidation, with roofs that are missing many shingles and rusted chainlink fences with overgrown grass and weeds poking through. Any wooden fences have rotted through entirely with missing planks, and the cars parked on the streets are often sporting mismatched doors, rusted paint jobs, and a myriad of dents. Some trash cans pushed out to the street are overflowing- all but the house of Wynona [REDACTED] and her family, which has trash bags lined up against the wall, the fence, and the walkway.
Emma: "What are you doing? Why are you filming?"
Emma's voice is oddly hushed. There is a strange level of silence in the video, now that Blaine is no longer mishandling the camera.
Blaine: "You don't think this is really, really weird? The whole street is dead silent. No dogs barking, no cars driving- all the windows are either boarded up, or the blinds are drawn."
Emma: "Probably because two punk kids are standing out on a sidewalk, pointing a camera at everyone's houses! I'm not even sure that's legal. Why are we doing this?"
Blaine: "I've been here before, and so have you. You said so. It has never been this quiet. I know Wynona's mom. She keeps her house as spotless as she can. She'd never leave all this out, ever."
Emma looks uncomfortable as she looks up toward the door of the house. The camera pans to follow her gaze, and after a zoom in, it is clear that the door is slightly ajar.
Emma: "Maybe we should just call the cops, Blaine. We don't need to... to film... whatever is..."
Her voice shakes, and despite what she's saying, she takes a step toward the house.
Blaine: "The only reason I'm filming at all is because I want to make sure the cops know we had a good reason for our concerns, just in case some crazy neighbor thinks we're breaking and entering. If Wynona and her family are just sick, I don't want to embarrass them with the cops, and if there's something wrong... Something really wrong... Maybe we can get in there."
Emma: "I dunno, Blaine..."
Blaine: "I'm going, with or without you."
To prove his point, Blaine pushes open the rusted gate leading up the cracked walkway of Wynona's home. When he gets to the door, Blaine turns back, and Emma is seen jogging up behind him, looking incredibly nervous. She glances around the neighborhood again, but there isn't a soul in sight on the sidewalk, outide the homes, or anywhere.
Blaine: "I'll go first."
Blaine turns back to the door and pushes it open, though he remains on the doorstep. Instantly, the sound of extremely loud, persistent buzzing reaches the camera. Despite the door's being slightly ajar on approach, the sound had not breached the entrance of the home. Now, however, the opening of the door seems to release the sound- or aggravate whatever is causing it.
The hallway is incredibly dark, despite it being broad daylight. Blaine steps into the home, but is instantly bombarded by a physical cloud of flies. He says nothing, dropping low, but outside, Emma can be heard swearing loudly, presumably as the flies fly past Blaine.
The sound of hundreds of small creatures smashing into the camera can be heard, the buzzing so incessantly loud it nearly drowns out the tiny thumps and taps of aggressive bombardment. Blaine is muttering oaths that are also barely picked up audibly by the camera, the visual feed of which is nothing but a writhing mess of flies crawling all over and smashing into the lens.
At last, however, the flies give up and, as one, disappear. The room is notably brighter; both walls and ceiling appeared initially to be covered in shadow, but now, in the adjusted lighting from the lens, are revealed to be off-white.
Blaine: "Holy shit, Emma, are you all right?"
Blaine swings around to show Emma behind him, almost prone to the ground. She lifts her head up, eyes wide, and looks horrified.
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Emma: "Were those flies?!"
Blaine: "Yeah, I think so. I think..."
Blaine moves around somewhat, and the camera swings down toward the floor. It instantly reveals that the ground is completely covered in a mass of writhing, aggressive maggots; some have begun crawling up his shoes and his pants, and he quickly brushes them off. They are abnormally large.
Blaine: "There are maggots everywhere. I don't know if you want to come in here."
Emma: "I'm not staying out here now, what if Wynona's in there? This isn't fucking normal at all, now. I'm not leaving her in there with all of- of that!"
Blaine: "Okay, then can you take the camera? I'm leading, and I want both hands free."
Emma: "I can lead if you-"
Blaine: "I'll lead."
Emma makes a small face at his insistence, but doesn't fight it. She reaches forward, and Blaine passes her the camera. It turns and catches a full shot of him.
He has olive skin, black hair that is cut short but in need of a haircut, as it's starting to grow out. He's got the hint of a beard coming in, and there's some shadows under his dark eyes, akin to the ones Emma wears, presumably due to college stress. He is dressed in a simple T-shirt, a pair of baggy jeans, black boots, and is wearing a backpack, presumably containing either more filming equipment.
Blaine turns to lead the way into the house, and Emma quickly follows in after him. She sucks in her breath audibly and whimpers when she steps onto the wood, and Blaine swears a few times as he steps forward across the maggot-covered floor.
Emma: "I don't think I ever hated anything before- maybe spiders- but this? This isn't normal. This is fucking horrific."
Emma takes a moment to pan around the very small entrance, which is a tight hallway. There are black trashbags oozing more maggots up against the walls.
Emma: "Wynona's mom would never."
Blaine: "Come on. The living room's through here."
Blaine pushes through a door, and buzzing once again reaches the camera, the aggression of which amplifies as Blaine steps into the next room.
He immediately drops without a word, and Emma, catching on, drops as well. Not a moment later, another cloud of flies bombards them, massive and just as aggressive as the first. A few unclear shots depict some details on the flies, which, while large, can be identified as flesh flies, family sarcophagidae. They are abnormally loud and large, however, and abnormally aggressive, and seem to potentially possess characteristics of other flies, though they move too quickly to be able to tell.
As before, after a short period of time, the flies as one collect and flee the area. Emma stands up immediately, and the camera swings down to show that her jeans are nearly covered in maggots; she stamps her feet aggressively and with great emotion, swearing, and the maggots slowly tumble off. Blaine appears a moment later to swipe at her legs, obviously to help, as she's loathe to touch them. Both of them sound shaky and out of breath when they speak, and Blaine looks uneasy, if not frightened.
Emma: "Jesus, how can you touch them so easily? They're fucking horrific."
Blaine: "Better that, then to leave them there. You okay?"
Emma: "No. Keep going, before I chicken out, and these things start climbing me again."
Blaine: "Good idea."
Blaine leads the way into the next room. This is the living room, which is the largest room in the house and doubles as a dining room. The kitchen is a very small space attached to this one, and all windows leading into this room aren't just blocked by blinds and curtains, but they appear to be haphazardly boarded up with cardboard, taped to the walls with silver duct tape, all done very messily. There are still flies crawling along the ceiling, and the floors are still covered in maggots; Blaine and Emma continue to stamp their feet to dissuade them from crawling up their legs.
There is a very small TV old enough to possess a VHS tape slot sitting on a coffee table against one wall. Soft static is coming from it, but the screen is covered in flies, which are buzzing as they crawl unceasingly over the screen. Trash bags line the walls again, and the kitchen is piled high with dirty dishes, take out boxes, and rotting food. There are more flies in the kitchen, seemingly uninterested and uncaring about the presence of either Blaine or Emma. Maggots are falling off of the food in piles. There is a single light on in the kitchen, the illumination of which is interrupted by the passing of flies over it, causing an eerie, irregular flickering.
It is important to note that there is far more trash and refuse here, in the house, and in the kitchen alone, than there should be for- at most- four days of accumulation.
It takes a moment for Emma to focus on something just in front of the TV, on a faded green couch. The couch is facing the TV, and at first appearance, seems to have less maggots and flies on it than anything else. There is a dark shape apparently seated on the couch.
Emma: "Blaine. What is that?"
Blaine: "Oh, shit, I didn't even see that."
Blaine leads the way toward the couch, and Emma keeps close to him, aiming the camera directly at the shape. As they turn around the arm, it is briefly lit up by the TV's white static, and Blaine jumps back slightly; the mass is moving.
Blaine: "Hold up, I'm going to use my flashlight."
Blaine pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and fiddles for a moment before casting a beam on the shape. It is covered in a mass of flesh flies, all crawling over each other to get at whatever is beneath. This is illuminated only briefly as the light lands on them; a moment later, the flies all scatter in some alarm and mostly irritation, flying at Blaine and Emma before dispersing. The camera wavers slightly, but refocuses almost at once on the shape that has now been revealed. Neither Emma nor Blaine say anything, and neither of them move, apparently too stunned and horrified to react. When Emma speaks, her voice cracks.
Emma: "That... is that..."
Blaine: "It's not Wynona. It's Wynona's mom- see her hair? It's blonde. It's Mrs. [BEEP]."
Emma: "Oh... oh, my God..."
Mrs. [REDACTED] is in very poor shape. Her blonde hair is coming off of what's left of her scalp in ragged patches; parts of her skull are visible through her flesh, and her eyes are entirely gone. From out of the sockets drop a few maggots. She has been almost entirely consumed by the flies and the maggots. There is a TV remote control in her hand, as if this happened very suddenly, while watching TV. Trash is piled up on either side of her on the couch, where more maggots can be found.
Emma suddenly makes a noise that could be sick, and though Blaine turns quickly, he is unable to keep her from dropping the camera, which lands with a thud and ends this particular file.
--END TRANSMISSION--