♪ Baa, baa, black sheep ♪
♪ Have you any wool? ♪
♪ Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full ♪
♪ One for the master, one for the dame ♪
♪ One for the little boy who lives down the lane ♪
♪ Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool? ♪
♪ Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full ♪
Oh, hello?
Hey.
Hello?
-Hello? -H-H-Hello?
Hello?
"Hello?" Okay, wait a sec.
Just a sec. Hold on. Sorry. Sorry. One sec.
Um, how's your mom?
Uh, same.
Yeah. She hasn't eaten in two days, and...
-I'm sorry, Evy. -Yeah.
How are you holding up?
Um...
I don't know. I kinda just, um,
want it to be over.
Is that bad to say?
No, no.
That's...
Yeah, I understand it. Yeah.
Just wanna get out of here, too, to be honest.
What about Darren?
Like, where is he at?
Is he helping out at all?
- Uh, no. Not really. - Okay.
What's his number? Like, can you text it to me?
'Cause I need to call this guy.
He needs to step up.
He can barely take care of himself. I don't even...
Well, at least drop off some food, you know?
If he answers his phone.
I should have listened to you a year ago. I know.
You know, I hate to say "I told you so,"
but... I told you so.
How's you and Deb?
Uh, good. Yeah.
We're good. We're thinking of
-getting a cat, actually. -Wow.
- Look at you. - Yeah.
Wait, I know what you need.
A lobotomy.
No.
A Waterloo
-meatball sub. -Oh, my God.
That's the seventh...
I think you've said that every day this week.
I guess I just miss it.
Then visit.
It's been, what, ten years?
Uh, five, first of all,
and you're out of town, remember?
You're going sicko mode in Punta Cana.
It's a wedding. Everyone drinks at a wedding.
I told you that.
Okay, well, you can visit too, you know.
Goes both ways.
I don't know.
I don't really have any interest in London.
I'd mostly be going to see you.
Yeah.
You know, I could take some time off.
Come help you out for a week.
No. No, no, no. Thank you.
Really?
-You sure? -No, I'm fine. I...
I don't mind, 'cause I could...
-Yeah, no, totally. - Okay.
-I'm fine. I really am. -Okay.
We could also skip this week if you want.
Are you kidding?
This is the only thing keeping me sane right now.
Okay, 'cause that is so funny.
I was actually thinking the exact opposite for me.
Like,
some of these stories, man,
frickin' crazy.
If they were true.
You believed in some. I could tell, okay?
-Like that one caller who... -This week...
Hold on. That one caller who was addicted
to playing Ouija board by herself.
That's because that was true. You saw the news clip.
A ghost didn't put her in that water tank.
The poor girl was depressed.
Who knows?
All right? Who knows?
So, what are we talking about this episode?
You're gonna love this. I got something juicy for you.
Ooh, do tell.
Uh, let's wait until we start recording.
'Cause I want to get your authentic reaction to this.
-Can't wait. -Okay.
Oh, by the way, there's, like, new intro and outro music.
I'm gonna use it for this episode.
Is that... That's cool? You wanna hear it?
-No, I'll hear it in the edit. -I'm gonna play it anyway.
Okay. Uh, I'm ready to start recording when you are.
Welcome to another episode of The Undertone podcast,
where we talk about all things creepy.
I'm your in-house skeptic, Evy Babic,
and I'm joined by my co-host
and Santa Claus believer, Justin Manuel.
New episodes every Friday,
anywhere you get your podcasts.
So, without further ado,
Justin says he has a real treat for us today.
Tell us what it is, kiddo.
Uh, yeah, sure, "kiddo."
And for the record,
I never believed in Santa Claus.
Not even when I was six-years-old, okay?
All my gifts said "Made in China."
Everyone outsources, even Santa.
Okay, well, my house didn't even have a chimney.
So how do you explain that?
Oh, that's easy.
He, um... He crawled in through your mom's window.
Wait a second.
That explains why I never saw Dad and Santa together
at those Christmas parties.
Okay. So, in our last episode,
we talked about the mysterious I Feel Wonderful blog video
that allegedly caused
92 of its viewers to kill themselves
after watching it,
but not before slicing off their ears
and mailing them to the blog website's headquarters
in Palo Alto.
Wait, stop.
Oh, my God. Evy.
-What? It's fake. It's been... -Stop.
Can you please just stop it, please?
No, Justin, it's been debunked.
-Please. -Okay, fine.
You're no fun.
Did you stop it? I'm plugging my ears.
-No, it stopped. It stopped. -Okay, good.
Anyways, as I was saying, after the last episode,
I was checking our podcast emails
and got a weird one from an address I didn't recognize.
Their email was just a bunch of random letters.
The subject line was "LOL" in caps,
and get this, ten audio files attached.
What did the message say?
Okay, it was just descending letters
and an upside-down smiley face.
-Send it to me. -Uh, please?
-Please. -Okay.
Thanks. All right, here you go.
Sent.
"Atonement at tenet"?
What does that mean?
Yeah, that... Beats me.
Hmm, weird. Looks like a kid sent this.
I know, right?
Bet it's a virus.
Okay, that's what I thought, too,
but then I said, "Screw it,"
and I actually clicked the first file.
Brave.
What happened?
It was a phone recording from a young couple,
and I listened for a bit.
And then I decided, you know, save it for the podcast,
and we can play all ten of them together
-and listen live. -Done.
Yeah, save it for the pod.
But first, let me put on my logic and sanity hat.
Ooh, right. The one I got you?
All right.
So, from what I gather,
the girlfriend's name is Jessa,
and I haven't heard the boyfriend's name yet.
But let's have a listen to the whole file.
Okay? You ready?
-Ready. -File number one.
Here we go.
Um, so, Jessa
has been talking in her sleep...
pretty much every night.
Um, but she doesn't believe me.
So I'm going to record her.
I do not talk in my sleep.
You are talking right now...
...when you should be
going to sleep.
I... I can't sleep with that thing on.
There.
Let me see.
- It's still recording! - No, it's not.
You're such a liar.
Babe, come on. I have an early morning.
Let's...
Let's get some sleep.
- Good night, baba. - Good night, ba.
Can you just...
Can you tickle my head a little?
Sure.
You know, I see a little bump of sound
about four hours in.
Let's skip to that part.
♪ London Bridge is falling down ♪
♪ Falling down, falling down ♪
♪ London Bridge is falling down ♪
♪ My fair lady ♪
Well, I guess that proves it.
She's not only talking in her sleep,
but singing in it, too.
The file goes on for a couple more hours,
but there's no big bumps.
So let's play file number two.
So...
Jessa believes me now, and...
Babe, can you charge my phone?
Oh, sure.
- Good night. - Good night, baba.
Okay, I'm gonna skip to the bump
in the waveform again.
Jessa?
What are you doing?
Come back to bed.
That's it?
Sleepwalking?
Yeah. Sounds like it.
What was she listening to?
It sounded like London Bridge, but in reverse.
Yeah, I thought so, too.
Okay.
Hold on, I think I heard something else.
Let's play it back.
What are you doing?
Come back to bed.
Uh, I couldn't hear anything.
What did you hear?
Uh, "the killer is out..."
- What? - "Mike kill..."
♪ Mike kill all Mike kill all ♪
Listen, I'm gonna play it again.
Jessa.
- What are you doing? - ♪ Mike kill all ♪
♪ Mike kill all ♪
- Ah, fuck. Justin! - Jesus.
Sorry.
-It's fine. -Well, let's...
Let's get back into character.
Okay.
So, did you hear it?
Hear what?
"Mike kill all."
No. I didn't hear it.
Are you kidding? It's right there, Evy.
I don't doubt that you heard it,
but I would just chalk it up to audio apophenia.
Uh, small words, please, Evy.
You're creating meaning from random sounds.
Okay, I can clearly hear the words,
"Mike kill all."
It's a super-old song.
Are you implying there was hidden messages in it?
Oh, 'cause that's never happened before.
Let me just search something up really quick.
Hold on.
Okay. Yeah, see? Look, found something already.
Eleanor of Provence,
Queen Consort of England in the Middle Ages.
She financed the construction of the London Bridge,
and all nine of her children died in childhood.
She feared that the bridge would collapse
if she didn't sacrifice children to it.
So she ordered the builders to bury orphaned children
alive in the bridge's foundation.
You really believe that happened?
Well, she was the Queen Consort, Evy.
People would have to obey her
if they wanted to keep their heads.
Justin, any old children's song
can be interpreted in messed up ways.
Like "rock-a-bye baby on the treetop"?
The baby literally falls to its death in that song.
You know what?
Do me a favor and search up Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.
My mom used to sing that to me when I was a kid.
And found something.
Why am I not surprised?
Okay, so people have heard a hidden message here too.
So let's test this out ourselves,
see if we can hear it.
I'm downloading the song right now,
and I'm gonna play it in reverse.
Ready?
Come on. You're telling me you didn't hear that?
Not at all.
All right. Well...
Look, I found an article on this song.
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.
Okay. Spill it.
So it's apparently about a sheep farmer
whose sheep all turned out black,
but black wool was useless at the time
because it couldn't be dyed other colors.
So this farmer had nothing to sell come winter,
and him and his family starved to death,
until the villagers found his sheep
eating their bodies.
So all children's songs are about children dying,
and fucked up things happening to kids?
Not even that. I think it's about kids
suffering for the things adults do.
But what's the point of it all?
Maybe to warn kids that adults do messed up things
and, uh, they should beware of them.
They're cautionary tales, right?
I don't know.
Okay, agree to disagree there.
Let's listen to the next one. All right?
File number three.
Mike?
Do you... Do you hear that?
Did you leave the water on?
His name is Mike!
Uh, Evy.
"Mike kill all."
Um... Yeah, can we take a break?
What? Yeah, sure. I mean... yeah, no.
What time is it? Should we call it a night?
Um, continue tomorrow?
-Are you good? -Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
Oh, wait. Actually, I can't do tomorrow.
Uh, what about Tuesday?
Yeah. Yeah, that works.
Um, I'm sorry, can you, uh...
Can you send me the Baa, Baa, Black Sheep song?
Sure, yeah. You really didn't hear anything?
No, no. I didn't.
Weird. All right, I'm gonna email it to you.
You should try slowing it down,
and you'll hear it, I'm sure.
Yeah, okay. We'll see.
-Okay. Night, Justin. -Good night.
Hi, Mama.
Good night, Mama.
Hi, Evy. It's your mama.
Just calling to say hi.
I'm wondering if you're coming to mass tomorrow.
I haven't seen you in a while.
Anyway, um, I'm just calling you to remind you
you're mama's little girl.
I'm praying for you.
Um...
Okay. Talk soon.
Hi, this is Evangeline Babic.
I'd like...
No. No, she's fine.
Um, thanks for asking.
No, I'd like to, um,
make an appointment for myself, actually.
Pregnancy test.
Yeah.
Yeah, I can come in tomorrow morning.
Thank you.
Has she eaten or drank anything today?
Yeah.
I mean, no.
Um, no, she...
she hasn't eaten for a few days now.
So as I explained before,
she was at a 50 for a month,
then at a 40 for weeks, then at a 30 for days.
She's at a 20 now.
That's typically a sign that it should be any day now.
Um...
So how will I know...
when it's time?
You will hear a rattling in her breath.
Death rattle?
Yes.
I don't like to call it that, but...
that's the term.
Can she hear me?
In this state?
No one can know for sure.
Because there's no way to ask them.
But...
I like to believe they can.
- Hey. - Hey.
Babe, uh... uh, yeah.
I'm having a party at our place,
and I really think you should be there.
Why?
You've been stuck in that house for weeks.
Your mom's not going anywhere. She'll be fine.
She... She's just gonna sleep all night.
That's not it.
I'm just trying to do something for you,
and I don't really know where we're at right now,
-but... -All right.
Oh. Oh, okay. Great.
-Can you be here at 8:30? -Sure.
Okay. Awesome.
Well, don't worry about anything.
I've got everything covered.
Mm-hmm.
Okay. Great. Well, I'll see you soon.
-I love you. -Okay.
Bye.
Yes.
Well, tell them they can wait for me.
I waited for them.
I don't give a shit.
I'm a 40-minute drive away.
Fuck.
I'll call you back.
God!
Mama.
I'm going out for a few hours.
I won't be long, okay?
Jesus.
I'll be back, Mama.
Real quick.
Mama?
Mama.
Come on.
You scared me.
Sorry, Mama.
Hello?
Oh, Evangeline, it's Doctor Ram.
Um, sorry for the hour. I was gonna leave a voicemail.
Uh, no, it's okay. I'm up.
Well, the results are in.
They've come back positive.
You're about six weeks.
I... I see.
I can refer you to an OBGYN if you like.
No, um... I'd like to...
I'd like some time to think about my options.
Sure.
Yes, I understand. Take your time.
Call the office whenever you're ready.
Thank you.
Mama?
Hi, Evy. It's your mama.
Just calling to say hi.
I'm wondering if you're coming to mass tomorrow.
I haven't seen you in a while.
Anyway, um, I'm just calling you to remind you
you're mama's little girl.
I'm praying for you.
Um...
Okay. Talk soon.
I'm praying for you.
I'm pray...
I'm praying for you.
I'm pray...
- Hello? - Hello?
-Hey. -Hey.
Uh, how's your mom?
Same.
I'm so sorry, Evy.
It's okay.
Is it?
I don't know. I'm not, um...
not really sleeping, so...
You're not drinking again, are you?
No.
Evy.
I'm not.
Okay, good.
Good, 'cause...
I don't want you going backwards, you know?
-Yeah. Well, I'm not, so... -Okay.
Um, what are your plans after?
Are you back to Darren's?
Thinking of getting my own place, actually.
-Oh, really? -Yeah.
What about the house?
Can we just start?
-Let's start. -Sure. Yeah, we can start.
Okay, let's do it.
So, where did we leave off, the third recording?
Yes, and we heard the sink filling up with water.
Right. Yeah.
How did it end?
Um, Mike cut it short, the boyfriend.
What do you think happened there?
Let's just... Let's save that for the episode.
All right, all right, all right.
Well, I'm recording on my end.
Record.
Jesus. The faucet turned on by itself.
It's just an old house with plumbing issues.
Could be. But let's keep an open mind, Evy,
if that is possible for you.
Hey, I am open-minded.
I'm open to logic. I'm open to reason.
Okay. Easy, easy. All right.
Let's play the next file, maybe, uh, get some answers?
File number four.
Four of ten.
-Let's do it. -Here we go.
Listen.
Do you hear something?
What are you doing?
I like it here in the dark.
Put that back in the baby room.
Why?
I know something you don't.
- Oh! - What?
I just... I don't know
how you could sleep with that thing.
It's a Baby Sleep-time doll.
We all had one growing up.
Put it back.
No. She's sleeping with us tonight.
No. Fuck that. I...
Listen, if she's in here,
I'm gonna throw her out when you're not looking.
Is everyone else asleep?
Okay. Okay. Let's go to sleep.
Okay, can you pass that bag?
This plastic bag?
- No... - Hold on. Pause it.
Hmm? What's that?
I just emailed you something.
Oh, okay.
Play it.
Oh, my God. What?
That's the doll?
I like it here in the dark.
I know, right?
-Oh, my God. -What kind of demented child
wants to sleep with that thing in their bed?
Yeah, I am shaking my head right now.
Anyway, they mentioned a baby room.
But there's no baby.
Yeah, I'm guessing they're expecting.
And, uh... I mean, you think the baby's room
is where Jessa sleepwalks to?
That's my guess.
Yeah. Hmm.
Let's keep listening.
It keeps moisture out
so Baby Sleep-time stays nice and new.
Isn't that right, Baby Sleep-time?
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
Good night, baba.
Skipping to the bump.
Mike.
Do you hear that?
What is that?
That's the end of the file.
He stops it there.
-That explains it. -That explains what?
The banging.
The water running?
It's faulty plumbing. It's an old house.
There's probably a blockage in the pipes or something.
Hold on. Hold on. Just before the banging, you...
did you hear something? 'Cause I heard something.
-What? -It... It was pretty faint.
It's like a voice.
I didn't hear anything.
Let me play it back louder.
Yeah, there. Did you... Did you hear that?
I did.
-What was that? -I don't know.
I'm gonna play it louder.
Oh, my... You... You heard that, right?
Tell me you heard that.
- Yes. - Good.
What's it saying?
Yeah, I can't really make it out.
I mean, it could be an artifact,
an overlap of a previous recording.
Hmm.
I don't know.
I wonder if they noticed it when they played it back.
Play the next one. Let's find out.
Right. Okay. Here we go.
Jessa?
Uozyba-ni-emoc.
- Jessa? - Uozyba-ni-emoc!
Jessa?
- Uozyba-ni-emoc! - Jessa, what's wrong?
Uozyba-ni-emoc!
Jessa.
- Jessa! Jessa! - Uozyba...
Babe, are you all right?
Why are you looking at me like that?
What is happening?
Evy?
-Um... -Hello?
I... I think I need sleep.
I'm getting kinda loopy.
Oh, yeah. What time is it there?
Oh, shoot. I gotta go to work anyway.
Yeah, let's, uh... let's record in a couple of days
like last time?
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, sounds good.
-Are you good? -Mm-hmm.
What? What are you thinking?
Um... the artifact.
I'm gonna try and figure it out.
Okay. Um...
Yeah, all right. Well, uh, rest up.
-Night, Justin. -Yeah. Night, Evy.
Good night, Mama.
Drink, Mama.
Uozyba-ni-emoc.
Come in, Abyzou.
Uozyba-ni-emoc.
Jessa?
Uozyba-ni-emoc.
Uozyba-ni-emoc!
- Jessa? - Uozyba-ni-emoc!
- Jessa, what's wrong?
Uozyba-ni-emoc!
- Jessa. Jessa! Jessa! - Uozyba...
Why are you looking at me like that?
Did you hear it?
No.
Are you serious? It says...
"Come in, Abyzou" in reverse.
-Abyzou? -The taker of children.
Excuse me?
I looked up the name "Abyzou."
It's the name of a demon
from Middle Eastern and European folklore.
She even appears in Christian text
from the first century AD in The Testament of Solomon.
Abyzou suffered from infertility,
making her envious of women who could bear children.
She would sneak into the homes of mothers
and kill their newborn babies, strangling them to death.
King Solomon had her hung
in front of the Temple of Jerusalem
as punishment.
But her envy survived into the afterlife,
twisting her into a demon who wandered the world
and caused miscarriages and stillborn babies.
The most recent thing I could find on Abyzou
came from the locals of Siquijor
who believe that Abyzou entered a statue
of Saint Rita of Cascia,
the patron saint of cursed mothers.
Locals claimed that a woman who worshiped the statue
killed her husband for cheating,
and then killed their baby,
and placed the baby's skull
with an inverted crucifix in the statue's hands
where they still are today.
-According to tourists... -Okay, okay. That's enough.
Let's just play the next one.
Are you okay, Evy?
Yeah. I'm fine.
Just play it.
- You sure? - Yes.
This is good stuff. Let's get back into character.
"Come in, Abyzou."
I heard it. All of you listening heard it.
Now let's get some answers.
Playing the sixth file now.
Um...
I just woke up and Jessa's still sleeping.
Good morning.
How'd you sleep?
Slept like a baby.
Did you dream anything?
Nope.
Why?
You woke up from a nightmare.
I don't remember.
You were yelling in your sleep.
Really?
What... What was I saying?
I don't know. Nonsense.
Nonsense?
Yeah, I...
I have it all recorded.
Let me hear it.
That's it.
Wow. So she doesn't remember anything at all.
Interesting.
Speaking in reverse, not remembering it,
that's eerily consistent with--
Before you say it, let me guess.
Demonic possession.
Okay. It's not a joke, Evy.
There are church documented cases of possessions
dating back centuries.
Not just in Roman Catholic doctrines,
-but in Islam, Judaism... -Yeah... Yeah, of course.
They were documented centuries ago.
This is before people knew about mental illnesses
like psychosis, schizophrenia.
So you think psychosis
can cause someone to speak in reverse?
-Unconsciously, yeah. -Okay, that's a stretch.
Something she read before stuck in her subconscious.
-Wait. Oh, my God. What? -What?
Okay, I'm just looking at this waveform on the file.
When she's saying it, there's, like, a parallel pattern.
What are you talking about?
There's like two different voices overlapping
- when she's saying it. - Oh, come on.
No, it's right in front of me, graphically, I can see it.
Well, I'm no engineer, and neither are you.
Okay, well, let's just keep listening
and get some answers.
Playing the file now.
Okay, so it's 9:02 p.m.
Mike, did you see my bags for my dolls?
No. Why?
Baby is out of her bag. I don't know where the bag is.
She'll survive one night.
Good night, baba.
Good night, ba.
Okay, I'm skipping to the bump.
Jessa?
What the fuck?
Jessa!
Jessa? What? What is it?
In the sink.
What is it? There's nothing in here.
There was a baby.
What?
A baby crying?
The neighbor's baby.
All right, I promised myself I wasn't gonna email this guy.
You're replying to the email?
Yeah, I just did.
What'd you say?
Uh, I just asked, "Who are you?"
-And, um...
-What happened? -Oh, no, it...
It just bounced back.
"Mail delivery subsystem. Address not found."
Deleted his account, I guess.
Wait, hold on a sec.
-What? -The... The e-mail address,
the random letters, they're, um...
It's actually...
It's "come in, Abyzou" spelled backwards.
Clever.
Snap out of it, Justin. There's just three files left.
Play the next one.
-Come on, let's hear it. -Jesus. Yeah.
We're almost at the end.
Okay.
-Okay. -Yeah. Okay. All right. Um...
This is audio file number eight.
Mike?
Stay here.
Mike. Mike. No, don't leave me here.
- ♪ Baa, baa, black sheep - Have you any wool? ♪
♪ Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full ♪
♪ One for my master, one for the dame ♪
♪ One for the little boy who lives down the lane ♪
♪ Baa, baa, black sheep Have you any wool? ♪
♪ Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full ♪
♪ Baa, baa, black sheep Have you any wool? ♪
♪ Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full ♪
♪ One for my master and one for my dame ♪
♪ One for the little boy who-- ♪
Fuck.
Where the fuck is that coming from?
Jessa!
Jessa! Jessa!
Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey.
I saw her!
Who? Who?
- Evy? - I saw...
Evy?
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep?
It was a coincidence.
Evy, it was the same version.
Coincidences happen. I mean...
they're rare, but that's why
we get so surprised when they happen.
I just feel... This feels different to me.
Hold on.
What?
I'm searching
"come in, Abyzou" spelled backwards.
Why?
Justin?
Yeah, I'm still here.
-Jesus. -What?
There's a study...
a psychologist treated two separate patients
who were fixated on
"come in, Abyzou" spelled backwards.
One spent days texting it to random numbers
before drowning her nine-month-old daughter
in the kitchen sink.
What the...
The other was a ceramic artist.
She was admitted to the hospital
after making hundreds of figurines of dead children,
giving them away to young women
around her neighborhood
before committing suicide in the hospital.
She was five months pregnant.
You there?
Yeah.
What do we do? I... I think we should stop listening.
Just trash this episode.
-What? -Skip this week.
Why would we trash it? We're onto something good.
I just feel like we're playing with fire or...
We have to keep listening.
No, people are gonna eat this shit up.
It's really good.
We just, um...
stop it here,
make this episode two parts,
publish on Friday, record part two next week.
Okay.
Okay, yeah.
Okay.
Let's record the outro.
Okay.
Ready?
Yeah. Let's, uh, get back into character.
Join us next week where we continue listening
to the last two audio files.
Jessa speaking backwards in her sleep,
faucets turning on by themselves,
loud banging, baby crying.
Can all of this be explained
or is there something more sinister underneath it all?
You'd love that, wouldn't you?
So join us next Friday.
A conclusion to the mystery...
Or just more questions.
Uh, no. Every story has an ending.
This is it. I feel it.
It ends next episode.
Uh, if anyone out there listening
has any idea what's going on
or might have some idea who Mike and Jessa might be,
please call us during our live recording
this Monday from 2:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
Until then, this is Justin.
And this is Evy.
And remember, don't be afraid of the dark.
Be afraid of the silence.
Mama.
Can you hear me?
Your little girl's pregnant.
I wanted to name her Mary.
Remember how you used to pray those Hail Marys
for me every night?
Mama...
Only...
I don't think I'm fit to be a mama, Mama.
Welcome to this guided sleep meditation.
I'd like you to imagine
that you're standing at the edge of a quiet lake.
The moonlight glitters on its surface.
Barefoot, you step into the shallow water.
The water feels warm on your skin.
Looking down, you see something
floating up from the water's depths.
A little tiny thing, bloated and pale,
rising to the surface.
What is it?
The bobbling twirl and the stain.
Whirling toddlers down the spin.
Tickle there, girl.
Wretched wheezing.
The choking children.
Dancing penance.
Weeping here.
Bleeding whore.
Wobble out.
Cupboard the muck.
A gentle breeze pushes more ripples
across the still water.
And rustles the leaves around you.
So peaceful.
So...
Holy Mary, Mother of God...
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Mama?
What did you say?
Mama, I know you said something.
I know you were talking.
Mama, answer me.
Why won't you answer me?
I'm sorry, Mama.
I'm sorry.
Hi, this is Evangeline Babic calling.
Um, if you can give me a call back, please?
I was hoping to get a referral to the women's clinic,
if you can.
Um...
Thank you. Please give me a call back.
Welcome to another episode
of The Undertone podcast.
I'm your host, Evy Babic,
and I'm joined by my co-host, Justin Manuel.
New episodes every Friday,
anywhere you get your podcasts.
And if you missed our last episode,
you should really go back and have a listen.
All right, so we have heard eight out of ten of these
mysterious audio recordings from an anonymous email.
There's only two left, and before we dive in,
I just wanna give a heads-up.
Since we started this journey,
we've heard some deeply unsettling stuff.
There have been voices, babies crying,
even what sounds like a real demonic possession.
All of it leading back to one name...
Abyzou.
So if you're still listening,
maybe think twice,
because there might not be any turning back
after this week's episode.
What?
No turning back?
Yeah. I mean, that last recording...
-Justin, please. -... we heard,
-what the hell was that? -Are you serious?
Uh...
Were we not listening to the same thing?
Uh, yeah, we were.
There was obviously only one explanation.
Which is?
It was a hoax.
What?
"A hoax"?
-They're attention seekers. - Huh, yeah.
They obviously staged the whole thing
and then sent it to us.
They probably changed their names.
There's no way this is fake.
No way. No way.
Whatever.
Last episode, I invited listeners
to call us with any information
they might have on Mike and Jessa.
So some calls might be coming in live during this recording.
Are you ready, Evy?
I've been ready all week.
Same. So, file number nine.
After this, there's only one file left.
Here we go.
I don't feel good.
What's wrong?
I remember last night...
I woke up, I couldn't move.
You weren't beside me, it was someone else.
A shadow.
And so I prayed...
Hail Mary.
But then the shadow...
The shadow started praying too.
It was mine.
Okay. Okay.
Sorry about that, folks.
That... That wasn't a playback error.
The, uh, audio file is corrupted,
so it just ends there.
That was short.
Wait, what's... what is going on?
What?
The time on my laptop,
it's showing 20 to 3:00, but it should be 20 to 9:00.
A glitch in the matrix?
Oh, we got our first caller, ladies and gents.
Um, oh, the caller's from your area code, Evy.
Hello, this is The Undertone podcast.
You're being recorded live.
Hello? Hello?
Oh. Yeah. Hey.
- Is this The Undertone? - Yes.
Uh, where are you calling from?
Oh, I'm calling from Westerland.
Ooh. Do you know an Evy?
Yeah, Justin, everyone from Westerland knows each other.
So what do you got for us, caller?
Mike and Jessa. They were my neighbors.
They lived just down the street from me.
You... You know them?
Not well. But I recognize their voices
and their names, and it makes sense now
what happened to them.
"What happened to them"?
They died.
The police found them at the bottom of the stairs
with plastic bags on their heads.
Had dead babies drawn all over the walls.
And you're... And you're sure
this is the same Mike and Jessa
- we're talking about? - Yeah. It's them.
Jessa, she was five months pregnant.
Hey, what street did you live on?
Wait, hello?
- Hello? - You're cutting out.
Wait, wait, wait. Hello?
They died.
That's awful.
Hi. Sorry. You cut out.
You were... You were saying?
- What? - Oh, nothing.
This is Undertone, right?
Uh, yes. Yes. Where are you calling from?
San Diego.
Okay. And do you have any information
about Mike and Jessa?
No, not them, but a lady...
crazy lady that used to rent our basement.
Okay. Go on.
She would play music every night, in reverse.
- In... In reverse? - Yes.
Really? What... What song?
I don't know.
Sounded like kids singing backwards.
And what, uh... what happened to the...
to the lady?
She was arrested.
Last I heard, she was in prison.
It was fucked up.
Arrested for... for what?
Killing her baby.
We all heard this loud, hollow banging coming from the vents
over and over.
And my dad, he went down to check,
and the lady, she was swinging a garbage bag
against the furnace.
My daddy stopped her, and he looked inside the bag,
and then at the bottom, it was her baby.
That's awful.
What... What was... What was the woman's name?
I don't remember.
I was just a kid when it happened.
It's messed up. I'm sorry.
I hope it helps.
No. No, this is, um...
this is good info. Yeah.
No, definitely. Thank you.
Will I be in the next episode?
Absolutely.
- Yeah. Thanks for calling. - Thank you, man.
Um...
What are you laughing at?
You believe that?
Yeah. Why... Why wouldn't I?
People love hearing the sound of their own voice,
especially on a podcast.
-Okay, but the email... -What about the email?
I don't know. What if it...
What if tenet...
-means... -What?
Ten... The tenth file. I don't know...
What if it was a warning?
Well, then let's play it.
There's only one way to find out.
I don't... I don't want to.
Justin, it's too late.
Play it.
All right. Okay. Yeah.
You know what? I'm just gonna...
I'm gonna click play before I change my mind.
Good.
File number ten. Here we go.
- She's listening. - Hmm?
Baba?
She's listening.
Jessa,
you're burning up.
- She's listening. - Hey.
Hey, get up, I'm gonna have to take you to a hospital.
No. No, I need to warn her.
What... What are you saying?
She's listening.
- Jessa, we have to go... - I have to warn her!
No. Jessa, wait.
Jessa, where are you going?
Jessa!
Jessa?
Look and lick all the blood off now.
Wait, there should be more. Did you touch something?
No. No, no, no.
It... It stopped. It stopped by itself.
I'm pressing play. It won't play.
We should stop listening.
Justin!
I didn't touch anything. I didn't.
Jessa?
Jessa!
Jessa. Jessa.
Jessa.
- ♪ Baa, baa, black sheep - Have you any wool? ♪
♪ Yes, sir... ♪
Something's wrong.
Justin, I'm so cold.
Where the fuck is that coming from?
She said my name.
She said Justin.
It was you.
No. Evy, no. What?
You're behind this, aren't you?
I wouldn't do that. Evy...
Is this funny to you?
Wait. Hello?
I'd like to speak with Mary.
There's no Mary here. I--
I'd like to speak with Mary.
I...
I'd like to speak with Mary.
Who is this?
I'd like to speak with Mary.
Who is this?
I'd like to speak with Mary.
- I'd like to speak with Mary. - Evy...
I'd like to speak with Mary.
-I'd like to speak with Mary. -Justin, hang up.
I'd like to speak with Mary.
Oh, no. I feel...
The Undertone?
Yes.
You shouldn't have called out to her.
Who? Who?
Abyzou.
She waits in the tenth file,
at the witching hour.
You shouldn't have listened to all of them.
Listened... Listened to...
What were you thinking?
Wait.
Wait. Wait.
She-- to-- lick
all the blood off her fingers.
She's gone. She's gone.
Evy...
Hello... Hello?
I don't know what to do.
Okay...
- I'm no good. - What...
I don't know what I'm doing.
What are you... What are you doing?
- Can you help me? - Yeah...
Okay. Evy... Evy, I don't...
He won't stop crying.
My poor baby.
Who... Who am I speaking with?
Abby.
Can you help me?
Of course we can... we can help you.
Right? Right, Evy?
How do I stop him from crying?
- Abby... - Don't worry, baby.
Where are you calling us from?
I'll make it stop.
What are you doing, Abby?
It'll all be better soon, my little one.
- Abby, stop! - Abby... Abby.
- She's safe now. - Abby, call...
Everything's gonna be okay.
Call 911 right now.
Abby, hang up and call 911 right now.
No, no, no. Abby, we can help you.
- Evy! - What's your address?
Can you tell me your address?
I'm no good.
I'm saving her...
Abby?
I'm no good.
You are good, Abby.
You're good.
Do you hear me?
Abby...
Talk to me.
I killed my mother.
My mommy.
What?
When I was young, she used to...
pray by my bedside every night.
Every single night.
And when she got really sick,
she asked me to pray with her every single night.
And I said I couldn't because I was too busy.
Tired.
But it wasn't true.
She stopped eating
and she stopped talking.
It was too late.
I killed my mother.
You are good, Abby.
You're good.
How do you know?
Because I believe it.
I believe it, Abby.
Abby?
It's too late.
Oh, my fucking God!
Trace the call, Justin!
Oh, my fucking God! Oh, my God!
Where's my phone? Where's...
I don't... I...
Jesus Christ!
Evy, I... Hello?
Evy, can you hear me?
Evy? Hello?
Wait, Evy, I can't... I...
I can't hear you. I can't... Hello?
Hello?
Evy, where are you?
Oh, my God!
Evy!
I wanna listen to Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.
Get out of the house.
- I killed my mother. - Get out of the house.
I'd like to speak with Mary.
- Get out of the house. - I killed my mother.
I'd like to speak with Mary.
I killed my mother.
I'm praying for you.
My mommy.
It was mocking me.
Listen... Do you hear something?
Your little girl is pregnant.
I wanted to name her Mary.
Remember how you used to pray those Hail Marys
for me every night?
Only I don't think I'm fit to be a mama...
Justin!
Evy, Evy! I'm here. I'm here.
What is this?
Uozyba-ni-emoc.
-Uozyba-ni-emoc. -What the fuck is this?
I'm gonna help.
I'm gonna go... I'm gonna go help.
No, no, no! Don't leave me!
I don't know what to do. I can't help.
Uozyba-ni-emoc!
Mama!
No! No! No!
Mama!
Justin!
Something's wrong, Justin.
I'm so cold.
Uozyba-ni-emoc.
Come in, Abyzou.