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ARCHIVIST
Statement of Shelby Berry regarding the town of Oakhurst. Original statement given April 1st, 2006. Statement begins.
ARCHIVIST (STATEMENT)
I've always been a little too curious.
Everyone's always said so. Little Shelby, nose always in a book, asking too many questions and not agreeing with the answers.
I never really… got other people. They never really got me either. Dad got me to have a diagnosis, but I can't remember what it was. Autism, maybe? ADHD? They put me on some medication, but it didn't make people like me any better, and I still didn't understand them.
When I got older, after dad- well- after dad left me behind for I don't know what, I got really into cryptids. Bigfoot, mostly. Went to all the conventions. And someone there gave me a tipoff about a potential sighting in Oakhurst. I'd heard of Oakhurst before. Small town. A few friends had visited before and said it was pretty creepy. But I like creepy. So I sent my roommate a heads up text, packed some bags, and booked a motel for the night.
It went fine at first. I mean, I know I should have seen the signs, but what do I know? The woods seemed nice. And there was a good river and beach. Not a vacation spot, but not awful.
But honestly, I think I noticed something was off from the moment I went into town. For one thing, there were spiderwebs everywhere. The town seemed otherwise in good shape, but no matter where I looked, just web after web. I've never been a big spider person. They seem okay, they're just not my thing.
Also, nobody was really… doing anything. I saw people walk into shops, but not buy anything. Go to restaurants just to stare at the food. But sometimes, we're all in a slump! I didn't really think that much about it until I met the one guy who was different.
He came right up to me, and- excuse me a minute. I can't remember what he looked like. But he was really pretty. I know that. He just sort of started talking, and I just remember myself hanging on to every word, even though I can't remember any of it now. He said his name was Scott. No last name. Then asked me who I was. I told him my name was Shelby, because why would I not tell him? He seemed nice. Charismatic. Good looking. Everyone around us stared at him too.
He took me on a tour of town, and asked me why I had come by. I told him the truth, and he laughed and said I didn't need to stay at some motel, there was a spare room in his house. And I mean, I wanted to say no. I had just met him! But I found myself getting situated in a large, very fancy bedroom.
Scott's house is massive. Paintings that must have been worth a lot, a lot of chandeliers, easily the nicest place in town. But the whole house was covered in more spiderwebs. Scott didn't seem to mind, though. So I didn't say anything. I slept really well, actually. Well. Um. Until the webs started choking me.
I don't know how they got there, but I think they just started wrapping around me while I had been sleeping? But I panicked. And when I panic, I tend to start laughing. Look, I don't know why, it just happens! But it actually sort of worked? It broke a lot of the webs, and my Swiss army knife fell out of my pocket. I'm a little jumpy so I just keep it on me whenever I can. So I cut through the webs and I ran.
I made it out of the house okay, but that's when I noticed that in the gaps in the path I was running on, there were more spiderwebs. I went into town, and I would have screamed if I could, but I was so out of breath. I was still in my pajamas. That's when I noticed everyone standing by the doors of their house. All of them watching me. This lady called out to me, asked if I was lost, and called me by my name.
She smiled, and her mouth was infested with spiders. The other people in the street smiled too, the exact same smile. I couldn't help but notice the threads hanging from their elbows, their knees, their head. Like they were some person's puppets.
I don't remember much after that. I know I realized town wasn't safe, so I ran to the forest. It was really foggy out, and I tripped a few times. There were webs in the forest too, and I'm pretty sure I saw Scott, too. He was calling out for me. But every time he said my name, it felt less like my own. I felt like I was going to die in those woods, with nothing but the spiders for company. I couldn't see the stars, and I swear I ran into the same tree three times.
But eventually, I remembered something. Webs don't like water, right? There was a beach, so I ran in the direction I swore it was in. I've never run so fast in my life. I could hear Scott right behind me, but he was just walking. It felt like the woods were bending around us. Making him go faster and me go slow.
And then, finally I reached the beach. And thank goodness the tide was high, otherwise I never would have made it in time. I dived in and swam out to sea. For a second, I got worried there would be spiders in the water. That the ocean would be made out of webs. But I just stayed there. For hours. I didn't know where shore was, or if Scott was still there. Waiting for me.
I can't remember how I got to shore. I think I nearly drowned, because I know my arms started to give out once the next day started. But I woke up in the hospital with some doctors telling me I'd nearly died. I asked if I was in Oakhurst and they said no. I've never felt happier in my life.
I keep my room clean now. No spiders in sight. I'm not dealing with them again.
ARCHIVIST
Statement ends.
This statement intrigued me when I first saw it. Despite their significant involvement in communities having to do with the supernatural and unusual, Shelby Berry doesn't tend to do statements. From what I understand, they do a lot of their own work listening to other people's tales over in America.
From all my research, I believe I found Oakhurst. It's considered abandoned, though, and none of the former residents corroborated Mx. Berry's statement. The ones that agreed to talk to us, at least. In addition, no man by the name of Scott seems to appear on census records since the town's history. Not a single one.
However, I have a routine of disregarding any statements made on April Fools. Therefore, I will not be researching into this statement any further.
Recording ends.
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