Lot 094 : Conch

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Singing along with the ones that you love, Priceless.

Today's episode is sponsored by I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Get It Now on Digital.

When five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences.

A year later, their past comes back to haunt them, and they're forced to confront a horrifying truth.

Someone knows what they did last summer and is hell-bent on revenge.

As one by one, the friends are stalked by a killer.

They discover this happened before, so they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport massacre of 1997 for help.

Starring Madeline Klein, Chase Sue Wonders, Jonah Howard King with Freddie Prince Jr., and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

I know what you did last summer is a perfect summer slasher, says Jordan Crucciolo of NPR.

Your summer is not over yet.

Don't miss a killer movie night at home.

H equals W.

There you are, right on the tide.

Come in.

Mind the salt on the map.

I kept something aside I thought you'd want to see with your own eyes.

A conch shell, pale as bone china and thin as a teacup's lip.

It sits beneath a little bell jar on a mock gilt coin engraved with tiny symbols.

Don't touch the glass.

And whatever you do, don't shake it.

The jar doesn't seek to the base.

There's no ridge.

And the coin...

See the bow in it?

Is ever so slightly bent?

That

matters.

This came to us from a ring of stones at the waterline.

More shrine than sand castle.

Someone placed it.

Someone else took it.

And that was when the trouble began.

We call this one

Conch.

Before we begin, I want to point out some of the customers whose names have been etched in brass on this beautiful plaque I had made above the front desk.

These are some of the members of the inner circle of the antiquarium.

We go by the Obsidian Covenant.

Recent initiates include Becca Wood,

Alicia Wilder,

Draculina,

Christy Smith,

Amanda, Kristen Boza,

Michael Plunkett, Astro God,

and

Sarah P.

We are ever appreciative of your devotion to the Order.

Go to theObsidian Covenant.com to receive the sacrament.

Now,

where were we?

Oh, yes,

welcome to the antiquarium of sinister happenings

and odd goings-on.

Look what I found on the beach.

I held up a little glass bell jar with a purple conch inside, showing it to my partner.

Isn't it pretty?

Impressed, he carefully took it from me and observed both the conch and the base it was placed on.

Hmph.

Is that gold?

He gently turned the jar upside down, letting the shell slide to the bottom of the glass so he could inspect the base.

I think it's just copper or iron painted to look like gold.

I moved closer.

The metal was shaped like a huge coin and was six, maybe seven centimeters in diameter and about twice as thick as a Euro.

If it was gold, it had to be worth a pretty penny.

I mean, it's a lot more likely than it being actual gold.

No?

Yeah, I don't know, maybe.

He turned it over between his fingers, observing the many small symbols on it.

Where did you find it?

A pirate's treasure?

X marks the spot?

He grinned, and I shoved him in jest.

Ow!

Actually, somebody had made a little,

I don't know what to call it, a sand castle of rocks?

This was in the center.

I figured some kids just placed the prettiest shell they'd found inside a little shrine of sorts.

Till you came along and stole the fucking thing.

It was on the beach.

If they didn't want anyone to take it, surely they wouldn't have just left it there.

He placed the large coin back on the glass.

You know, if it was just a castle for a pretty shell,

why the coin?

And there's got fucking bell jars lying around.

I shrugged.

He was asking way too many questions to my liking and dampening my joy over my found treasure.

Don't know, don't care.

I took it from him and carefully turned it the right side up again so the conch was back on the coin.

Either way, the base and the jar don't seem to originally go together.

There's no rage for the glass to prevent it from sliding off.

You better be careful with it then.

He smirked, his eyes twinkling.

Did you check the conch?

No crab inside?

You know, before it walks off with the chart?

Ha ha.

I checked.

It's empty.

I even took a sniff and it smells clean.

Yeah, you're so daring.

He backed off before I could shove him again.

We both left.

I wouldn't want to bring a rotting slug into the house.

Oh, but a cursed coin and shell's all fine and dandy, huh?

More laughter as I chased him around the room, finally catching him and exchanging a kiss.

Anyway, I said, I'm going to find a spot to place this little cursed treasure.

Got any complaints about that, mister?

You do you, babe.

He gave me another kiss and went into the kitchen.

I quickly slipped upstairs into the bedroom.

I was still happy with my find, but

I had lied.

I had checked the conch.

And while it didn't smell of anything dead, and I couldn't see anything, I wasn't completely sure if it was empty.

It felt a little heavy for being empty.

I flicked on the light but the single LED ceiling lamp didn't provide enough luminescence to properly investigate the conch.

I took out my phone, sat down on the bed, and gently turned the jar over.

I placed it between my legs, switched the torch app on, and removed the coin, placing it beside me.

I held the jar up in my free hand, shining the light on the purple shell inside.

It was so pretty.

I placed the jar between my legs again so I could fish out the conch.

Yeah, it definitely didn't feel empty.

I shone the light into the opening, but there was nothing to be seen.

Just smooth, clean, purple shell.

I placed it right in front of my phone's light, making it shine through the conch.

And now I could see that there was indeed something in the far end.

The shadow was small and round.

My eyes widened.

Could there be a pearl inside?

The thing didn't smell, so I was certain there wasn't anything rotting away in there, so it was either a small rock, some peculiar round sand,

or a pearl.

Did conches even form pearls?

Setting my phone beside me for a moment, I shook the shell a few times, then tapped it on the palm of my hand.

Not a single grain of sand came out.

I shook and tapped with more force, but nothing.

I huffed and picked up my phone again.

I placed the conch in front of the light to see if the shadow had dislodged at all and frowned.

Had it gotten bigger?

I tilted my head, confused, then almost dropped it as the shadow moved.

Fumbling with my phone in one hand and the conch in the other, I managed to slide the ladder back into the jar and quickly placed the coin back on top of it.

Not like it would do much, considering it lacked a ridge, let alone a locking mechanism.

I removed the bell jar from between my legs and held it shut with one hand.

With my other hand, I shone the light of my phone on it.

Had I imagined it?

Surely, if there was a little crab inside, it would have just hidden further away when feeling threatened.

And a slug would have dried out and died, being out of the water for I don't know how long?

I wrinkled my nose.

I at least knew for sure there was nothing dead in there, so no slug.

But what if there was a little crab inside and I had just given it whiplash?

I pursed my lips.

Oops, poor thing.

I turned the bell jar around, shining the light every which way to try and see the shadow of whatever was inside.

My breath hitched as I saw the shadow had moved.

Had grown even.

But how?

Then something began to slip out of the shell.

Something black and...

Ew!

I almost threw the thing away in disgust as a black tentacle began to come out of it.

Was that a leech?

It looked like a leech.

But are there leeches in the ocean?

I wasn't sure.

Maybe somewhere, but surely not here.

Not that I'd ever heard of anyway.

In horror, I watched as the black tendril slowly slithered out of the conch.

I had to get rid of this thing.

Sure, it would earn Ricky an I told you so moment, but I'd grant him that.

I could just throw the shell outside in the trash and keep the coin, even if fake gold.

Yeah,

that was a good idea.

I was about to move when I noticed another tendril emerge.

What the bloody fuck?

I moved the jar closer to my face, shining the light on it.

Two leeches?

No, a third, thinner tendril emerged.

Those weren't leeches.

Couldn't be.

A small octopus then, maybe?

I tilted my head, my curiosity overriding my disgust and fear.

The tendrils didn't have any visible suckers.

Even small octopi had suckers, right?

And even then, where was it coming from?

The shadow I'd initially seen had been smaller than a generic marble.

I swallowed, dread washing over me as more thin tendrils emerged from the conch, rising up the glass and towards the coin.

No way in hell could those have been hiding away in there.

It just made no sense.

Or had the initial shadow been a trick of the light?

Had the thing been bigger, but I'd only seen that one area where it had been denser.

Perhaps its brain?

A sudden pressure on the coin caused me to yelp.

The tentacles were pushing against it, trying to move it.

I kept it firmly in my grasp, but somehow, a small tendril managed to slip between the coin and the jar's edge, flicking against my skin.

I yelped again.

The thing had been cold, but not slimy.

Something I could have guessed by the lack of mucus on the inside of the glass.

What the fuck was this thing?

At any rate, I needed to get get rid of it.

Maybe Ricky was right.

It was cursed.

I dropped my phone on the bed and held the bell jar with both hands.

I did my best to get the tendrils to go back under the glass, but as more and more tried to spill out, and it took more effort to keep the coin properly on top of the jar,

I realized I ended up accidentally squishing some.

So the glass was getting stained with blood.

Well, at least it had red blood, if that meant anything.

At least it wasn't an insect then, right?

I stared at the small tentacle conch monster in my hands.

A dozen tendrils or so thrashing against the glass and trying to find a way out.

I doubted all my knowledge about animals right now.

Insectoid, marine, you name it.

My eyes widened in shock and my knuckles turned white as I pressed the coin and jar even more firmly together.

Out of the conch now slipped something akin to a crab's leg.

Or a spider's?

Was nature playing a joke on me?

Was there perhaps a crab in there after all, and had it caught a leech?

Or ten?

Or some other weird parasite?

I giggled.

A mad and strange sound.

This couldn't be real.

No way in hell could all of this have been hidden away in that conch.

I checked it.

I checked it multiple times.

Unless there was some wormhole or dimensional gateway on the other side of that shell, it just made no sense.

Though, not like a wormhole or gateway made any sense either.

I laughed again.

Tears of fright rolling down my face as I stared at the obsidian leg tapping against the glass.

The coin kept shifting around, and it took all my effort to try and keep it in place and the tentacles from spilling out.

And then I realized why it was so damn hard.

The bloody coin was slightly bent.

If I pressed the left side firmly against the glass, the right opened up just a crack.

Now that might not seem like much.

But for this accursed creature, it was plenty of room to slip those slim tendrils through and brush them against my skin.

I stopped being careful and just moved the pressure back and forth, hurting the appendages that tried to spill out, causing more blood to stain the glass and my palms.

If it kept going like this, I wouldn't be able to look inside.

I hoped it might learn to stay away from the coin if I continued to hurt it, but no such luck.

Instead, it managed to get that spidery leg between the opening when I was focused on a thicker tendril flicking against my thumb.

I yelped and almost dropped the jar as it scratched my skin.

I pushed the glass and coin together on that side, but the chitin was too strong.

Tendril slid alongside it, spilling out and trying to push the coin away.

Panic.

I was hyper-ventilating by now.

I didn't know what to do.

Then the thing stabbed me with that leg.

Twice.

And I threw it all into the air.

I watched in horror as the coin in the jar separated and the conch, with all those black tentacles and the single spidery leg, landed on the bed, bounced, and disappeared somewhere between the bed and the window, out of sight.

I screamed.

I screamed in utter terror and flapped my hands and jumped on the spot,

staring at the ground for fear of it coming at me from underneath the bed.

I was still screaming when Ricky came running into the room, asking what had happened.

Crying, I gestured at the bed where the coin and the bloodied bell jar lay on the covers.

You, you were right.

It's cursed.

There was something inside.

I wanted to hug him, to be consoled, but I didn't dare look away from the floor.

What?

Was there a hermit?

No!

I had to blink away the tears, needing to keep my vision of the floor clear.

It was...

Fuck, I can't even explain it.

I thought maybe there were leeches.

It looked like leeches, but so many.

And...

I jumped and flapped some more, disgusted and afraid.

And I just didn't know what to do with myself.

Fuck, it was horrible.

My body shook, but I pushed Ricky away.

not wanting to lose sight of the floor.

It fell behind the bed.

It's somewhere on the floor.

It had one stabby thing and it caught me twice.

That's when I dropped it.

Oh my god.

Okay.

You know what?

Let's get the fuck out of here, close the door, and come back to look for it later after the shock has settled a bit, okay?

I considered this for a moment.

The bedroom was small, the window closed.

There were no vents or anything.

Nothing for the thing to escape with the door shut.

Okay.

I allowed Ricky to guide me out of the room backwards, so I could keep my eyes on the floor as we exited.

The door closed, and I sighed in relief, finally allowing myself to hug him tight and properly ball my eyes out.

Fuck, this was so messed up.

What had I been thinking?

Just taking a conch in a bell jar that was placed inside some shrine of small stones and sand?

Hell, a golden coin, painted or real, like that, fucking mattered.

With symbols or letters I couldn't understand?

Like, yeah, sure.

That's not cursed at all.

I rolled my eyes.

It's okay.

Come on.

Let's get your hands cleaned up.

It was only then that my attention went to my hands, and I was reminded that the weird thing had stabbed me.

My palms were bloodied, but that was its blood, not mine.

The hand that had been stabbed had little punctures on the top side, just below the thumb.

It didn't even seem to have bled.

There were just two small holes.

Was that good or bad?

Ricky led me into the bathroom and ran the tap.

As I scrubbed with soap, he rummaged through the cabinets for some disinfectant.

I rubbed the wounds.

At least it didn't hurt much, and no blood must mean it hadn't been deep either.

Right?

I sighed and moved forward to rest my head against the mirror.

But instead, I appeared to have smacked it.

A loud clang resounded and, confused, I looked up.

Had I really mistaken the distance to the mirror so badly?

But no.

I hadn't hit the mirror at all.

Bewildered, I turned to look at Ricky, but he appeared equally flabbergasted.

What just happened?

I...

I don't know.

I just did this.

I moved my head towards the mirror again and encountered something solid before I got even close to the glass.

What the?

Ricky placed his hand on the mirror, then moved it towards me, stroking a finger along my cheek.

I tried it again.

There's.

I swear there's something there, or I just suddenly became a really good mime.

I placed my hands on the invisible wall that, for some reason, only I felt.

To confirm just just that, Ricky tried to place his hand between mine, but went straight through like there was nothing there.

And well, there wasn't.

Or better yet, there shouldn't be.

What the hell was going on?

I turned around, wanting to walk away, and promptly collided with another wall so hard I was surprised I didn't break my damn nose.

I slumped to the ground and cried in pain and terror.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

Brime.

And listen.

Hear that faint ringing?

The jar's singing again.

The hygrometer's creeping.

The glass is starting to sweat.

If the coin slips,

we'll have more than a stain to mop.

Give me a moment to fetch the sealing wax and wait the base.

If anything taps the bell jar while I'm gone,

do not answer it.

I won't be long.

This week's episode is sponsored by Bleecker Street and LD Entertainment's new horror film, Bone Lake.

When two unsuspecting couples book a secluded lakeside estate, what begins as a romantic getaway quickly spirals into blood-soaked mayhem.

Deadly secrets, brutal betrayals, and fatal desires rise to the surface as the night plunges into a fever dream of gore, camp, and erotic terror.

In what Bloody Disgusting calls a goddamn blast from start to finish comes a film that rises above its genre conventions, twisting them on their heads in a deviously playful way.

Drenched in style, splattered in blood, and unapologetically unhinged, Bone Lake is the sexiest, scariest party of the year, and you're invited.

Experience Bone Lake exclusively in theaters October 3rd.

Tickets are on sale now.

Get closer to the music you love with MasterCard.

MasterCard cardholders have special access to pre-sale and preferred tickets at August Hall in San Francisco.

Get tickets early to see some of your favorite artists, like Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Avett Brothers, and Shibuzzi.

See all of what's coming now at priceless.com/slash music.

Singing along with the ones that you love?

Priceless.

Why, hello there.

You've reached the antiquarium.

If you wish to leave a message, please do so with the town and have a great day.

Hey, I was just calling.

I don't know.

I was in like maybe

a month ago.

And you sold me that leather tool bag.

You know, the one had all the wrenches and screwdrivers, the hammer, knives.

They all had that like weird

rust on them.

I think it was rust.

I really hope it was rust.

Yeah.

So

after getting those, you know, I get my hands on them.

And I'm a service technician by trade.

And boy, was I starting to get those problems solved real quick.

I was doing a whole lot better.

I was kind of becoming the go-to guy.

And I got a promotion, a raise.

So, you know, they did the trick.

But

yeah, recently, last couple of days, every time I pick up one of those tools,

just got it in the back of my head.

I'm hearing these voices and screaming, saying, You know, please, God, help, and no, no, stop.

And

yeah,

yesterday, I heard some creaking around my house, some of those screams again, and I woke up and I found a note on my coffee table,

and uh, it said,

I want them back.

So, maybe if you could give me some context on what that might mean, that'd be great.

I appreciate it, man.

Again, the tools are great.

I know, no refunds, no changes.

And you won't be held liable, but I just figured maybe you could answer some questions.

But yeah, just give me a call back.

End of messages.

All right.

The jar's reseated.

The bend in the coin is wedged, and the ringing's gone quiet.

For now.

The room always feels colder after we disturb this one, doesn't it?

Now, where was I?

The shell on the bedside.

The light held close.

The little shadow that refused to stay little.

Let's get back to it then.

Shall we?

Ricky sat down next to me, rubbing my back.

I don't know what's going on, but it's gonna be okay.

Please, please, can you go catch that thing and bring it back to the beach?

Maybe if this is an actual fucking curse, it'll stop once it's back.

He didn't even question me.

Instead, he rose and went towards the bedroom, then reconsidered.

I'm gonna go grab something downstairs to help catch it, okay?

I just nodded and watched him go.

I hugged my knees close and cried softly as I waited for him to return.

Fuck, my nose hurt.

After a long while, Ricky came running back up the stairs.

I couldn't help but give him a crooked smile as he showed me what he was holding.

A large crock pot and the fishnet we used for the aquarium.

Yeah,

that would hold the little fucker.

And with the crockpot's handles, it should be unable to escape.

I just hoped he'd be able to catch it in the little net.

I love you.

Please be careful.

He placed the crock pot on the floor right next to the bedroom before coming over to shower me with kisses.

I'll get this thing.

Don't worry.

I love you.

He walked back and placed the lid next to the pot.

With the net in one hand and his phone with the flashlight turned on in the other, he slowly opened the door.

I wanted to stand up, to see how he'd do.

If that thing came close, I planned to just kick it.

But the moment I tried to rise, my head hit something.

An invisible wall was now above me, too.

Shit.

I began to panic again and, like an actual bloody mime, felt around for the walls that confined me.

I was stuck in a small cube alright.

I couldn't stand.

Couldn't even stretch my legs.

How the hell was this possible?

Having been distracted by my prison, I had lost sight of Ricky.

I turned to look at the bedroom.

Ricky, any sign of that thing yet?

No.

He answered almost instantly.

Gods, that was such a relief.

Him answering, that is.

Check between the bed and the window, that's where I saw it go.

I'm on the bed right now.

I got the jar and the coin here.

There's blood on it.

Is that yours?

Nope.

I hurt some of the tendrils as I tried to stop it from crawling out.

He didn't say anything back.

After several seconds of silence, I got anxious.

I didn't mean to hurt it.

Not at first, anyway, some of those tentacles got stuck in the glass.

Again, no reply.

Ricky?

Ricky, you're scaring me.

Please say something.

I tried to get up.

But my invisible prison still held strong.

Something small moved near the door, and my heart skipped a beat.

In that brief moment, it didn't beat.

It felt like my soul was leaving my body.

But then it started beating again, and hard, and I gasped for breath.

The conch had appeared in the doorway.

Dozens of black tendrils oozed out of the purple shell, dragging it over the carpet, and, of course,

my fucking way.

That thing was coming my way.

I rose and bumped my head hard against the invisible ceiling.

Shit.

Fuck, shit, fuck.

Ricky!

My voice was shrill and trembling.

For fuck's sake, Ricky!

The conch creature was still making its way towards me.

Perhaps I could close the bathroom door?

I tried to reach for it, but my hand collided with the unseen wall before I got even close.

Shit.

It was halfway down the hall now.

Fricky!

With shaky hands, I took off a shoe and threw it at the thing.

I was happily surprised to find out the shoe was not confined to the cell like I was.

But that happiness faded the moment the little monster rolled.

Fucking rolled, to the left to evade it with ease.

I didn't know if this was happening because I took something from a shrine, if the coin was cursed, if I had upset the creature by shaking the shell, or if injuring it had been what got me to enrage it.

Either way, I was fucked.

I was certain of that.

Ricky!

I yelled again.

Him not replying was a bad sign.

What happened?

I hadn't heard him yell or anything.

And clearly this thing wasn't venomous or else I'd...

Wait.

Fuck.

Was that the reason why I was stuck in an invisible cell?

But even then, why wasn't Ricky...

The thing was almost at the threshold now.

I took off my other shoe and held it in my hand.

It was the closest thing I had to a weapon.

You little fucking monster.

The conch closed in, carried by over a dozen little black tentacles.

The shell was so pretty.

It was such a stark contrast to the horror that was writhing underneath it.

The moment the creature came within the bounds of my cell, I slammed down the shoe as fast and hard as I could.

The crunch of the shell mixed with the sickening squelch of the tentacles.

For good measure, I applied my weight onto the shoe and turned it left and right.

Gods, the sound!

Blood was was seeping from underneath and I swallowed back some vial.

Babe.

My gaze darted up.

Ricky stood in the hallway, fishnet still in hand, face ashen.

What did you do?

I lowered my eyes to the mess in front of me.

The spidery leg twitched and, with a distressed yelp, I tried to squash the thing some more.

Babe, answer me, please.

I looked up towards Ricky again.

It came for me, so I defended myself.

He walked over, frowning.

Can you say that again?

I didn't hear you.

I defended myself.

Babe,

I can see your lips moving,

but you're not making any sound.

I blinked in confusion.

I screamed for you earlier.

You mean you didn't hear that?

My voice shook like mad, but I was being loud and clear.

Babe.

He crouched before me, the flattened creature between us.

I can't hear you.

He knocked on the floor.

I can hear that, so I know it's not my fucking ears.

I didn't dare remove my weight from the shoe, but I did free one hand and knocked on the tiles, too.

I could hear it just fine.

But the way Ricky's eyes widened?

He did not.

What

the fuck?

He rose and made to sit directly beside me, but his knees bounced off the invisible cell and he fell on his ass.

Well, that couldn't be good.

Now he too could feel the walls of my prison.

On top of that, it was soundproof.

I was thoroughly fucked, and I didn't know how to unfuck it.

I turned my gaze back to the creature.

There was more blood than there could have been inside the conch.

It made no sense.

None.

Slowly I lifted the shoe to see if it was dead.

I was ready to whack it into oblivion if it so much as twitched.

Small slivers of purple shell lay in a pool of blood and squished black tendrils.

The mass of tendrils congealed in the place where the conch had been.

It seemed to be bigger than the conch, though.

Or maybe that was just because I had flattened it.

I looked at Ricky.

I think I.

A second spidery appendage had emerged from the squished mass and had shot straight into my knee.

The shoe came down fast and hard, sending droplets of blood flying.

They actually splashed against the invisible walls, making it clear just how tiny my prison was.

A third appendage of the cursed black chitten pierced the bottom of the shoe, only just missing my hand, and I fell against the back wall.

Fuck.

Fuck!

Fuck, fuck!

Shit!

I pissed myself.

I saw how more obsidian legs punctured the shoe like it was some sort of eldritch pincushion.

And I just...

pissed myself.

I was trapped in an invisible cage with this thing that I'd surely angered even more than I'd already had.

And it had just gone from tentacle monster to

spidery knives for legs monster.

I could see Ricky banging his hands against the blood-splattered wall, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.

Apparently, the soundproofing worked both ways now.

I was going to die.

I was certain of it.

I swallowed, tears streaming down my face.

To say I was terrified was an understatement.

All I could really do right now was hope it was going to be quick.

The shoe was pushed off the appendages and thrown out of the cell.

However the walls of this prison worked, it wasn't a straightforward thing.

I was trembling like mad, pressed up against the back, the stench of urine thick in the air.

The spidery appendages clicked against the tiles.

I counted ten before my mind got distracted by the flattened and bloodied mass of tentacles twitching and writhing as they began to re-engorge and swell.

New tendrils sprouted forth from that central black mass, and they began to

caress the shards of shell.

The tips felt around the broken edges.

Some even appeared to wince before gathering them all together in a pile.

The purple pieces were drenched in blood.

My mind reeled, and I was ready to pass out.

My heart was beating so fast, so hard, I was certain that even if I were to survive, this whole encounter had shaved a decade off of my lifespan, if not more.

Please just go away.

Please just leave.

Please, please, please.

I tried to move, make myself even smaller, but the walls had closed in further, or considering I could still see the floating specks of blood in front of me, new walls had been added.

I was hyperventilating, my vision darkening.

There was a new wall right in front of my face.

My arms were encased too, as I was barely able to move them.

I whimpered in terror.

Trapped.

I was trapped with this absolute horror.

I suddenly noticed Ricky running towards me with a broom.

I hadn't even seen him leave.

He swung it, aiming at the monster, but instead broke it on the invisible wall, splinters flying everywhere but inside the cage.

Thanks for trying, hun.

I wept.

I wanted to pass out.

To not be conscious for what was about to happen.

But as the mass of tentacles and spidery appendages moved towards me, I realized I had no such luck.

I didn't want to scream,

afraid it would get inside my mouth.

But I couldn't help myself.

I howled in fright as the thing lunged.

It attached itself to my bare knee.

I could feel the cold tentacles going over my skin, and I tried to flatten it against the top of the mini prison that encased me.

But But while my leg hit the solid yet invisible wall,

the monster was unbothered.

But of course, darkness was encroaching my vision, and I was lightheaded, about to blissfully pass out when a sharp pain called me back to reality.

The thing was digging into my flesh with those appendages.

I screamed and tried to shake it off, unable to smack it away.

But it remained where it was, using multiple spidery legs to cut into my flesh.

Gods, the pain.

It was burrowing into me and feeding the little bits of flesh back into the center mass.

And it grew.

It was growing in front of my eyes as it was slowly picking me apart and consuming me.

This wasn't happening.

It couldn't be.

It was just a pretty conch.

I'd found it on the beach where I always walked.

This eldritch nightmare couldn't be real.

But as I howled in pain, unable to move much, unable to stop it, the thing had already reached my kneecap and was cutting it away from me.

Every drop of blood that rolled down my skin was lapped up by a tentacle and seemingly ingested on the spot.

I

was

in

hell.

This had to be hell.

I watched in horror as my kneecap got passed from the spidery appendages down to the tentacles and they

started to bend it,

shape it.

A contorted laugh escaped my throat as insanity warped my brain.

It was making a new conch out of my kneecap.

The laughter morphed into a scream again as agony pulsed through me.

The appendages had continued their digging, this time going for my fucking femur.

They'd scraped away the flesh and were now scratching off bits of bone, passing it along so the tentacles could add it to the kneecap of conch to be.

Gods.

Just kill me already.

The monster worked fast though.

soon adding my lower leg to its working area as it grew steadily in size as it gorged on my flesh and blood, the new conch growing along with it.

How much blood did a human body have again?

How long before I bled out and this torture would end?

I lay against my invisible prison walls, trembling only slightly, silently crying and panting.

My mind was broken.

I

was broken.

In my periphery, I could still see Ricky trying to get in.

The floor scattered with various objects, lots of them damaged or broken to pieces.

By the time my leg was gone all the way to the hip, the thing switched to the other one.

I was impressed at how I didn't bleed.

Not anymore, at least.

I couldn't see the details, but the lack of blood spreading beneath me, even with all the tentacles having switched to my other leg, said enough.

The monster was a real monster now,

about the size of a decent dog.

The conch being formed from my bones was a pretty light pink, and the main mass of the thing had already migrated inside it.

With a shudder, I realized I could feel it writhe inside of the conch.

Inside of my bones.

I could still feel my bones.

I giggled.

This was insane.

Yet here I was, trapped in an invisible prison with no room to move, being slowly torn apart by a tentacle conch monster that was making a new home for itself out of my bones while gorging itself on my flesh and blood.

And I could feel

my stolen bones.

It finished my other leg so much faster.

My left arm went even quicker.

And now, it was my right arm's turn.

How I was still conscious was beyond me.

Yet it also felt like I was slowly shifting.

I was almost as much in my own body as I was in the new conch.

Still growing.

Expanding.

And gods, the writhing of that black mass inside of me.

I turned to look at Ricky.

who sat on the floor close to me, unmoving.

At first, I thought he had given up.

But then I noticed how the hand that rested limply against the wall had tiny puncture wounds.

Wounds that didn't bleed.

D-T-Y-R-Q-Z-C-F-D-Z-N-P-L-Y-Z-Q-M-W-Z-Z-O.

Thank you for your patronage.

Hope you enjoyed your new relic as much as I've enjoyed passing along its sordid history.

It does come with our usual warning, however.

Absolutely no refunds, no exchanges, and we won't be held liable for anything that may or may not occur while the object is in your possession.

If you've got an artifact with mysterious properties, Perhaps it's accompanied by a history of bizarre and disturbing circumstances.

Maybe you'd be interested in dropping it and its story by the shop to share with other customers.

Please reach out to antiquariumshop at gmail.com.

A member of our team will be in touch.

Till next time, we'll be waiting for you whenever you close your eyes.

in the space between sleep and dream.

During regular business hours, of course, or by appointment, only for you,

our

best customer.

You have a good night now.

The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings.

Lot 094.

Conch.

Written by L.B.

Shimira, starring Nicole Goodnight and Trevor Shand.

Featuring Stephen Knowles as the antique dealer.

Production and sound design by Tiffany Dimack.

Theme music by the Newton Brothers.

Additional music by COAG and Vivek Abishak.

The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings is created and curated by Trevor and Lauren Shand.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at Antiquarium Pod.

Call the Antiquarium at 646-481-7197.

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