I Had a Weird Friend in School - They Called Him 'Lizard Boy'

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:07]Marty was obsessed with lizards.

[00:00:11]No, not dinosaurs, not dragons, just those tiny four-legged slithering things.

[00:00:20]I don't know when or why it started.

[00:00:22]One day, out of nowhere, lizards were all he talked about.

[00:00:28]Marty was not kid, one who didn't seem to fit in.

[00:00:33]And he was always interested in the most random things.

[00:00:37]He was also big, tall, almost too tall for his age.

[00:00:42]But at the same time, however, he was a bit slow, shy, and reserved.

[00:00:48]You could have called him a gentle giant if he wouldn't have been a 14-year-old boy.

[00:00:53]I thought this whole lizard thing would be over soon enough.

[00:00:57]Marty was always quick to get excited about things.

[00:01:00]But after only a couple of weeks, he'd move on.

[00:01:03]This lizard thing was different.

[00:01:06]He didn't just like them, he grew obsessed with them.

[00:01:10]We'd have to do a presentation in class and could choose our own topic, lizards.

[00:01:15]We each had to put together our own little website during IT class, Marty's would be about lizards.

[00:01:22]Even on Halloween, he turned up in a life-size lizard costume.

[00:01:28]It was the worst during biology class.

[00:01:31]He'd constantly annoy our teacher, Mrs. Grandel, with questions about lizards and would likewise ooh and aw whenever they were mentioned.

[00:01:40]Growing up, Marty and I were pretty close.

[00:01:44]He lived down the street from me and we hung out a lot.

[00:01:47]I liked him well enough, but even when we were little, I could tell he was different.

[00:01:53]That might have been the reason why his parents got him anything he asked for.

[00:01:57]His family was very well-off and Marty's room was filled to the brim with all sorts of toys.

[00:02:04]He also owned a giant TV and pretty much any video game console you could think of.

[00:02:10]After the lizard thing started, though, his room was transformed into a bonafide lizard sanctuary.

[00:02:17]Gone were the posters of superheroes, now replaced by ones of lizards.

[00:02:23]His bookshelf, once filled with comic books, was now stacked with books on lizards.

[00:02:30]He even owned a giant terrarium populated by almost a dozen of them.

[00:02:35]The most annoying part was that he talked about nothing else anymore.

[00:02:40]I'd mention a cool new movie I'd seen and he'd tell me about some dumb lizard movie.

[00:02:45]If we talked about superheroes, he'd bring up some obscure lizard character I'd never heard about.

[00:02:52]I told him countless times to knock it off with the dumb lizard stuff, but he never did.

[00:02:59]Eventually, I stopped hanging out with him.

[00:03:02]Well, I don't remember how this obsession came to be, I remember when the bullying started.

[00:03:09]Until this point, Marty had been ignored by everyone.

[00:03:13]He just sat in the back of the class, quiet and busying himself with whatever he was currently interested in.

[00:03:20]He was pretty much invisible.

[00:03:23]This lizard thing, however, and his irritating behavior soon put him on everyone's radar.

[00:03:31]One day, he even brought one of his lizards to school.

[00:03:34]And when I saw it, I knew something was going to happen.

[00:03:39]He put the lizard in a tiny box, which he hid during class, but always brought out during breaks.

[00:03:46]There, in the back, he'd play with it and show it off to those few classmates who hadn't tired of his lizard stick yet.

[00:03:54]One of them was Stevie.

[00:03:56]Everyone knew he couldn't care less about lizards.

[00:04:00]As he stood there next to Marty, I could hear the sarcasm in his voice as he asked questions and said how cool Marty's lizard was.

[00:04:08]Stevie was making fun of him, but Marty was completely oblivious to it.

[00:04:14]During a later break, when Marty went to the bathroom, Stevie put his plan into motion.

[00:04:20]He snatched the lizard from Marty's bag and swiftly hid it in someone else's, a girl named Cindy.

[00:04:27]When Marty returned, he noticed his lizard was gone and began searching for it everywhere.

[00:04:34]No one said a word, of course, not even those who'd seen what Stevie had done.

[00:04:39]For a while, Marty darted around the room in a panic, trying desperately to find it.

[00:04:46]When the bell rang, our teacher entered the room and commanded Marty to return to his seat.

[00:04:52]As he sat there, his face was one of misery and I could tell he was close to tears.

[00:05:00]Only a few minutes later, someone screamed.

[00:05:03]It was Cindy.

[00:05:05]And right there on her arm was Marty's lizard.

[00:05:09]"Larry!" Marty called out.

[00:05:12]Before he could do anything, Cindy brushed the lizard off her arm and in her disgust, trampled it.

[00:05:21]Marty lost it completely, rushed over and started laying into her for killing his friend.

[00:05:28]It took the combined might of our teacher and three classmates to drag Marty off of her.

[00:05:33]By then, Cindy was crying, had a bleeding nose, and a painfully swollen eye.

[00:05:41]Marty got in a lot of trouble for that.

[00:05:44]He was sent to the principal, got suspended for an entire week, and his parents had to come over for a serious talk.

[00:05:52]By this point, many of the teachers had already noticed Marty's weird obsession, and not a few of them had grown concerned over it.

[00:06:01]By the time Marty returned to school, everyone had heard about the incident, about lizard boy's freakout, as they referred to him.

[00:06:11]I knew it was Stevie who'd spread the story and came up with the name. And from this day onward, he made it a sport to tease Marty.

[00:06:20]What started out as name-calling and silly jokes soon turned into full-on bullying.

[00:06:26]People would dump dead lizards into Marty's backpack. He'd get beaten up after school.

[00:06:32]At one point, he was even forced to come to school in his stupid lizard costume and crawl through the hallways on all fours.

[00:06:39]It was nasty.

[00:06:41]Yet Marty never stopped talking about lizards.

[00:06:44]I just didn't get it.

[00:06:46]One day, on my way home, I walked up to him.

[00:06:51]"Why don't you just stop it with the lizard stuff already?" I asked.

[00:06:55]Marty turned around and for a few seconds, he just stared at me with wide eyes, as if I'd insulted him.

[00:07:03]Then he beamed at me.

[00:07:06]"No way, Andy. Lizards are just way too cool." he answered.

[00:07:11]"See? That's why everyone's making fun of you."

[00:07:14]"I don't really mind."

[00:07:16]"You don't mind getting bullied or beaten up?"

[00:07:20]For a second, I saw his smile waver.

[00:07:24]Then it returned and whatever thought had come to his mind vanished again.

[00:07:29]"Hey, Andy. You want [snorts] to see something super cool?"

[00:07:33]"What is it?"

[00:07:35]I was about to ask him if this was about lizards again, but before I could, he leaned in close, bringing his face right in front of mine.

[00:07:45]His expression was serious, conspiratorial [snorts] even.

[00:07:50]"If I show you, you got to promise me not to tell anyone."

[00:07:55]I said with a nodded.

[00:07:58]To be honest, I felt bad for him.

[00:08:01]"Yeah, sure, Marty." I mumbled.

[00:08:05]"All right. We got to go somewhere first."

[00:08:09]With that, Marty turned around and hurried to the nearby grocery store.

[00:08:14]Not knowing what else to do, I set out after him.

[00:08:18]Once I was inside, I saw Marty rush through the aisles, using his heavy frame to push other customers aside.

[00:08:27]Here and there, I heard curses or someone calling after him to watch it, but Marty was indifferent to it all.

[00:08:35]When I caught up to him, I found him standing in front of the meat aisle.

[00:08:40]For a few moments, he studied the various packages before he picked one and headed for the counter.

[00:08:46]"Why are you getting?" I started, but didn't get to finish the question.

[00:08:50]Marty stared at me with wide eyes and put a finger over his lips, as if whatever he was doing was a secret.

[00:08:59]Once we left the store, he didn't head home.

[00:09:03]Instead, he turned in a different direction.

[00:09:06]"Come on, Andy." he whispered to me.

[00:09:09]"Where are we even going?"

[00:09:12]Once more, he shushed me.

[00:09:14]As we walked on, he tried his best to hide his heavy frame, trying not to be seen.

[00:09:21]His eyes darted here and there, watching his surroundings until we'd made it to a building at the edge of town.

[00:09:27]When Marty saw no one was around, he dashed towards a path that led to the forest next to our town.

[00:09:34]"Hey, Marty, just tell me where we're going." "It's somewhere super cool."

[00:09:39]"Yeah, but what is it? Why'd you get all the meat?

[00:09:43]Is it for a cat or something?"

[00:09:44]I reasoned he may have befriended a stray or maybe a bunch of them and had gotten the meat for them.

[00:09:51]"No, it's for the lizards." he finally answered in almost giddy voice.

[00:09:57]I stopped and stared at him.

[00:10:00]Of course, this was about freaking lizards.

[00:10:04]You serious?

[00:10:06]He began nodding vehemently, his face full of enthusiasm.

[00:10:12]Yeah, don't you want to see them?

[00:10:14]They're like super cool. I found this nest out in the forest and they look awesome. Their colors change all the time and they're different from any other lizards.

[00:10:24]It It's new species or something.

[00:10:27]Come on, Andy. I bet they're hungry already and there's probably even more of them now.

[00:10:32]I wonder if there's even bigger ones, you know?

[00:10:35]That would be so freaking cool.

[00:10:37]I should have known this was about lizards again.

[00:10:40]Well, yeah, but they aren't just No, Marty, I don't care.

[00:10:45]I don't give a [ __ ] about your stupid lizards.

[00:10:48]With that, I turned around and stormed off.

[00:10:52]I couldn't believe it.

[00:10:54]But, to be honest, I shouldn't have expected anything else.

[00:10:59]After that day, I'd really had enough of Marty.

[00:11:04]And soon, I joined into the various jokes about him.

[00:11:08]Yeah, he's probably part lizard himself, I said to one of my friends, Tommy, as we stood in front of our lockers a few days later.

[00:11:16]I bet his parents are reptilians.

[00:11:18]That's why they got so much money, Tommy added.

[00:11:21]We both started laughing.

[00:11:24]You know what he told me the other day?

[00:11:26]He said he found this weird lizard nest in the forest and What's that about a lizard nest?

[00:11:31]It was Stevie with his friend Connor in tow.

[00:11:35]In an instant, they pushed Tommy aside and cornered me.

[00:11:40]Oh, uh Hey, Stevie. I mumbled.

[00:11:44]Lizard boy told me he found this nest out in the forest and went to feed them or something.

[00:11:49]Stevie's face distorted into a grin.

[00:11:52]You hear that? He asked, turning to Connor.

[00:11:56]I bet he isn't just feeding them, though, Connor brought out, laughing.

[00:12:00]He is a lizard lover, after all.

[00:12:03]I sighed.

[00:12:05]As much as I was sick of Marty's [ __ ] I couldn't stand the two of them.

[00:12:09]So, where is it?

[00:12:12]No clue.

[00:12:14]Somewhere in the forest, I guess.

[00:12:16]With that, I tried to push myself past them, but Stevie pulled me back instantly.

[00:12:23]Yeah, he showed it to you, right?

[00:12:26]No, I didn't want to see his stupid lizards.

[00:12:30]You sticking up for lizard boy? Connor barked at me.

[00:12:34]What? No, I Yeah, are you a lizard, too, Andy?

[00:12:39]Stevie laid into me.

[00:12:41][ __ ] off, I yelled at him, which promptly landed me in a headlock.

[00:12:46]You know, Andy, Stevie started.

[00:12:49]Ever since lizard boy's been skipping out on us, we've gotten really bored.

[00:12:54]Maybe we'll start hanging out with you instead.

[00:12:57]How about that?

[00:12:59]Fine, I'll show you where he went in the stupid forest, but I swear, I got no idea where the stupid nest is.

[00:13:05]I think he always goes there right after school, so if you wait for him, Oh, no, Andy, you're coming, too.

[00:13:13]In case you're lying to us.

[00:13:15]Yeah, make sure you aren't a lizard, Connor added, laughing.

[00:13:21]And so, once classes ended, I found the two of them outside already waiting for me.

[00:13:27]There he is.

[00:13:29]Are you excited about our little lizard hunt, Andy?

[00:13:32]Once more, I sighed, but gave them a nod, not wanting to end up in another headlock.

[00:13:39]Marty was already gone and had snuck out of the school via the back entrance, like he so often did these days.

[00:13:46]He was probably on his way to the store already.

[00:13:49]Instead of leading Stevie and Connor there, however, I showed them the path from which Marty entered the forest.

[00:13:56]For long minutes, we lay in wait, hiding between the bushes, but Marty was nowhere to be seen.

[00:14:04]I could tell Stevie was growing restless, angry, even.

[00:14:09]The hell is he?

[00:14:11]If you're lying to us, I'm going to beat the [ __ ] out of you, Andy.

[00:14:15]I don't know. Maybe he's still at the store.

[00:14:18]Or maybe he's not coming today.

[00:14:21]How the hell should I know?

[00:14:23]Right away, Connor slammed me across the back of the head.

[00:14:27]I cursed in pain and glared at him.

[00:14:31]What's that? You want to pick a fight?

[00:14:33]Shut up, idiots.

[00:14:35]There he is, Stevie suddenly whispered.

[00:14:39]He was right.

[00:14:40]Just like the day before, Marty hurried down the street, his eyes darting here and there, trying his best to stay hidden behind buildings.

[00:14:50]Then he made it to the dirt path and went on his way into the forest.

[00:14:54]As he walked past us, I saw how giddy with excitement he was.

[00:15:00]For a while longer, we sat there.

[00:15:03]Then we set out after him, careful not to be seen.

[00:15:08]We walked for what must have been half an hour before he stopped in front of a small rock formation.

[00:15:14]For long seconds, he just stood there, but then he found what he'd been looking for, a small gap between the rocks.

[00:15:23]We watched as he approached it, and then, grunting, pushed himself through.

[00:15:30]When we'd reached the gap as well, we saw how he approached some sort of crevice.

[00:15:35]He set down his backpack.

[00:15:38]He rummaged through it before he pulled out a pack of meat.

[00:15:41]Then he opened it and threw piece after piece down the crevice.

[00:15:45]Gotten really hungry, haven't you? Marty asked, giggling.

[00:15:50]Right away, Stevie pushed me forward, motioning for the gap.

[00:15:56]Once I was through, he and Connor followed.

[00:15:59]Well, what do we have here? Stevie brought out in a sing-song voice with a big grin on his face.

[00:16:07]If it isn't little lizard boy.

[00:16:09]Marty froze.

[00:16:12]Then, slowly, he turned around, his eyes wide with fear.

[00:16:19]He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again when he saw me standing behind Stevie and Connor.

[00:16:26]I could see the shock on his face at my betrayal.

[00:16:30]I instantly looked away and shuffled around as Stevie and Connor approached him.

[00:16:35]We've missed you, lizard boy.

[00:16:37]Why didn't you tell us about this place?

[00:16:39]I mean, we're friends, aren't we?

[00:16:43]What do you want, Stevie?

[00:16:45]Marty asked in a meek voice.

[00:16:48]What was that?

[00:16:49]Why don't you speak up, lizard boy?

[00:16:51]Stevie yelled at him.

[00:16:53]Yeah, speak up, you stupid lizard, Connor added.

[00:16:57]Stop screaming. You're scaring them, Marty suddenly brought out, in a voice much louder than anyone would have expected.

[00:17:06]This outburst landed him a punch from Stevie, and he went down.

[00:17:11]Now, let's have a look at these stupid lizards, Stevie said, pushing himself past Marty.

[00:17:18]When he reached the crevice, however, an expression of disgust came over his face.

[00:17:24]The hell are those? He spat.

[00:17:27]Leave them alone, Marty called out, trying to get up.

[00:17:32]By now, however, Connor had reached him and pushed him down again, restraining him.

[00:17:38]Stevie still hadn't moved, and driven by curiosity, I stepped up to the crevice as well.

[00:17:47]What I saw down there were lizards, all right, but they were much bigger than those I'd seen in Marty's terrarium.

[00:17:55]They were these strange whitish things, but I could see their scales shimmer in the light, their color slightly shifting as if they were cheap imitations of chameleons.

[00:18:06]Their heads, too, looked different.

[00:18:09]It was their eyes, I realized after a brief moment.

[00:18:13]They were in the wrong place, not at the sides, but at the front of their heads.

[00:18:19]The strangest thing about them, however, was the way they moved.

[00:18:23]They weren't so much sliding over the ground, but crawling.

[00:18:28]I watched in fascination as one of them reached a chunk of meat.

[00:18:32]Instead of biting into it, it tore at it with one of its clawed feet.

[00:18:38]Feet that almost resembled miniature hands.

[00:18:42]I shivered as I stared at the creatures down there.

[00:18:46]What the hell had Marty found out here?

[00:18:49]Those things are disgusting, Stevie finally said.

[00:18:53]I didn't like him.

[00:18:55]Hell, I hated him for dragging me out here, but he had a point.

[00:19:03]They're not disgusting, they're awesome, Marty blurted out.

[00:19:08]Stevie turned around, now grinning again.

[00:19:12]Oh, think so, lizard boy?

[00:19:15]Then why don't you go down there and play with them?

[00:19:17]I can't. They'll get scared and run away and never come back.

[00:19:23]Is that so? Stevie asked, grabbing hold of Marty's backpack.

[00:19:28]Well, that's too bad.

[00:19:31]I guess you can't get this back, then.

[00:19:33]With that, he threw Marty's backpack down into the crevice.

[00:19:38]The lizards scattered and fled back to a cave at the end of the crevice, watching the backpack warily.

[00:19:45]Then they slowly approached it.

[00:19:48]No, why did you do that? Marty called out.

[00:19:52]If they smell humans, they might hide and never come out again.

[00:19:56]What are you going to do about it, lizard boy?

[00:19:59]In an onset of anger, Marty freed himself from Connor, pushed him aside, and rushed at Stevie.

[00:20:06]Before Stevie could react, Marty threw himself at him.

[00:20:11]And with surprising strength, he pushed him away from the crevice and the lizards below.

[00:20:16]Stevie stumbled back a few steps before he tripped and crashed to the floor.

[00:20:21]I could hear him curse in pain.

[00:20:24]You shouldn't have done that, lizard boy.

[00:20:27]He spat as he pushed himself back up.

[00:20:30]Stevie was furious now. And I could see the mad grin on his face.

[00:20:36]In an instant, he was back in front of Marty and began laying into him.

[00:20:41]Marty raised his hands to protect himself from Stevie's onslaught, but I saw him backing away.

[00:20:48]He took one step, then another, and finally tripped over a rock.

[00:20:54]Marty tumbled backward, lost his footing, and a moment later, he was gone.

[00:21:02]Everything was quiet.

[00:21:04]The only audible sound was that of the lizards below us.

[00:21:09]Then I heard a thump as Marty landed right between them.

[00:21:13]The strangest of sounds reached my ears.

[00:21:16]It was almost like a dull ugh, but also entirely different.

[00:21:21]With weak, shaking legs, all three of us stepped forward.

[00:21:27]Marty lay on the ground down in the crevice, not moving.

[00:21:32]Suddenly, his eyes fluttered open.

[00:21:36]And he stared up at us with a pleading expression, which was quickly replaced by rage.

[00:21:43]He moved, was about to push himself up, but then he fell back down again.

[00:21:49]His eyes fell shut.

[00:21:51]His face went limp.

[00:21:53]And I watched as a small trickle of blood ran from his mouth.

[00:21:57][ __ ] Stevie brought out.

[00:22:00]Then he and Connor turned around, dashed towards the gap, and were gone a second later.

[00:22:08]Marty? I called out.

[00:22:11]No answer.

[00:22:13]His eyes didn't flutter open.

[00:22:15]He didn't move.

[00:22:17]All I saw were those strange lizards, which began circling him.

[00:22:23]As I stared at him down there, panic washed over me.

[00:22:28]Oh god.

[00:22:29]He was dead.

[00:22:31]Marty was dead.

[00:22:33]He'd fallen and now, not knowing what else to do, I ran.

[00:22:40]I was scared and confused, but most of all, I felt guilty.

[00:22:47]I thought about telling someone, calling for help, but I was the one who brought Stevie there.

[00:22:54]I was the one responsible.

[00:22:56]It was my fault.

[00:22:58]It was all my fault.

[00:23:01]The moment I made it home, I locked myself in my room.

[00:23:05]I was out of it, shaking, couldn't sit still.

[00:23:10]I tried to tell myself that Marty was all right.

[00:23:14]It wasn't that big a fall.

[00:23:16]Sure, he probably gotten hurt, but it wasn't like he died from something like that.

[00:23:22]When my parents called me down for dinner, I just sat there at the table, not moving.

[00:23:28]I ate nothing.

[00:23:30]I couldn't.

[00:23:32]After only a few minutes, I got up and went back to my room, ignoring my parents as they called after me.

[00:23:40]I didn't sleep that night.

[00:23:43]I just lay in bed as Marty's fall replayed in front of my eyes.

[00:23:47]Once more, I saw him staring up at us, saw his pleading expression, his anger, and then the blood trickling from his mouth.

[00:23:59]Still, I told myself, he was probably all right.

[00:24:04]He had to be.

[00:24:06]All those thoughts were crushed when Marty's seat remained empty the next day.

[00:24:11]After school, I found myself cornered by Stevie and Connor.

[00:24:16]They, too, were out of it.

[00:24:19]But then, Stevie threatened me.

[00:24:23]Keep your mouth shut, Andy, or I swear.

[00:24:26]I saw him reach into his pocket, saw the switchblade he was hiding there.

[00:24:32]I promise, Stevie, I won't say anything.

[00:24:35]Good.

[00:24:36]And either way, we just tell everyone it was you pushed him.

[00:24:41]With that, the two of them left me behind, more scared than ever.

[00:24:48]The day after, Marty didn't show up, either.

[00:24:53]By the third day, our teacher told us that Marty had gone missing.

[00:24:58]She appealed to us to come forward if we knew where he might have gone or what might have happened to him.

[00:25:04]When I heard this, I looked up, but noticed Stevie staring me down.

[00:25:10]And so, I didn't say a thing.

[00:25:14]Never did.

[00:25:16]A few days later, Stevie approached me again and pushed me against my locker.

[00:25:22]He was angry, but I also noticed how tired and restless he looked.

[00:25:27]Was it you?

[00:25:29]No, I swear I I didn't say a thing.

[00:25:31]Why would you think What?

[00:25:33]No, not that.

[00:25:35]Talking about last night.

[00:25:37]You were at my window, weren't you?

[00:25:40]Making those weird sounds, scratching the glass, acting like some freaking lizard?

[00:25:46]Before I could say anything, he pushed me against the locker once more.

[00:25:51]This time, harder.

[00:25:54]Admit it, Andy.

[00:25:55]Tell me it was you, for [ __ ] sake.

[00:25:58]No, why would I What the hell are you even talking about?

[00:26:02]For a few more seconds, he seemed to probe me, but then let me go and stormed off.

[00:26:09]As he did, I could hear him curse under his breath.

[00:26:14]I just stared after him.

[00:26:17]What the hell was he talking about?

[00:26:20]Then I thought about Marty, about his hateful expression.

[00:26:26]What if he'd been okay after all, but hadn't gone home?

[00:26:30]What if he'd stayed there in the forest with those weird lizards, and was now coming after Stevie?

[00:26:37]No.

[00:26:39]Coming after all three of us.

[00:26:42]I told myself I was being stupid.

[00:26:44]If he'd been okay, he would have just walked home.

[00:26:47]It was freaking Marty we were talking about.

[00:26:51]But then, about a week after Marty's fall, Stevie didn't show up to school.

[00:26:58]It was Connor who told me what had happened.

[00:27:01]The night before, Stevie had sent him a message, telling him that someone had been stalking his house for the past few days.

[00:27:09]Eventually, when he saw a figure standing at his window, he'd had enough.

[00:27:16]He wrote he was going to finish off lizard boy once and for all.

[00:27:20]It was the last thing anyone ever heard from him.

[00:27:23]What if it really is freaking lizard boy?

[00:27:27]Connor asked.

[00:27:29]What if he's really come back and We're talking about Marty here. I countered.

[00:27:34]Yeah, but who else could it be?

[00:27:37]Why'd they come after Stevie?

[00:27:39]No one else knows what we did.

[00:27:42]I just stared at him, not sure what to say.

[00:27:46][ __ ] hell! Connor spat at me and hurried away.

[00:27:51]Three days later, Connor was gone, too.

[00:27:55]His story, however, was different.

[00:27:59]He hadn't just vanished.

[00:28:01]Apparently, someone had broken into his room in the middle of the night.

[00:28:06]When his parents were woken by the noise, they stormed into his room.

[00:28:11]They found the window destroyed, the room in a state of utter chaos.

[00:28:17]Yet, no hint of Connor or the intruder remained.

[00:28:22]At this point, the disappearances caused an uproar in town.

[00:28:26]Three kids had gone missing, and had presumably been kidnapped.

[00:28:32]The school was canceled. A state of emergency was declared, and curfews were enacted.

[00:28:39]They questioned all of us.

[00:28:41]Yet, somehow, I didn't come clean.

[00:28:45]I couldn't.

[00:28:47]I was too scared to say anything.

[00:28:49]To admit what we'd done.

[00:28:51]I felt guilty.

[00:28:53]If only I'd said something earlier.

[00:28:56]But now?

[00:28:58]Before long, a search was started.

[00:29:01]First by the police, but soon many of the townspeople joined in.

[00:29:06]They found nothing.

[00:29:09]I grew detached during these days, reclusive, and retreated to my room.

[00:29:15]I was riddled with guilt, but more so, I was afraid.

[00:29:22]What if it really was Marty?

[00:29:24]What if he'd really come for them and was now coming for me, as well?

[00:29:29]By this point, my fear had grown irrational, and I transformed him into some sort of lizard hybrid.

[00:29:37]In my mind, he was a slithering, scaly monstrosity, just waiting for me to be alone so he could come and drag me away.

[00:29:47]Before long, more people went missing.

[00:29:51]Two more kids were snatched from their homes, as they referred to it.

[00:29:57]Two kids who, like me, had taken part in tormenting Marty.

[00:30:02]Then, it was our biology teacher, Mrs. Grantel.

[00:30:06]Eventually, even the search parties weren't safe from Marty's wrath.

[00:30:11]One day, 11 men set out in search of the forest.

[00:30:16]Amongst them, the fathers of Stevie and Connor.

[00:30:20]Come evening, only seven of them returned.

[00:30:24]The rest would stay missing.

[00:30:27]Tonight, as so many times before, I lay in bed, unable to sleep.

[00:30:34]It was long past midnight when I heard something from outside.

[00:30:39]I told myself it was just the wind.

[00:30:41]Repeated it over and over again.

[00:30:45]Yet, the lie didn't work.

[00:30:49]The sounds were too loud.

[00:30:51]Almost like footsteps echoing from below my second-story window.

[00:30:56]Oh god, I thought. It was Marty.

[00:31:00]He'd finally come for me.

[00:31:03]At first, I wanted to hide.

[00:31:07]But then, I went up to the window.

[00:31:10]Maybe, just maybe, I could reconcile with him.

[00:31:15]Apologize and tell him to stop this crazy revenge of his.

[00:31:20]Marty, I'm sorry. I didn't I called out, half crying.

[00:31:26]Then, my voice trailed off.

[00:31:29]In the dim light of the room, I could see a figure below my window.

[00:31:35]It stared up at me with cold, reptilian eyes.

[00:31:40]Yet, whoever or whatever this figure was, it was much too big even for Marty.

[00:31:47]Much too scaly.

[00:31:50]Its skin was strangely white.

[00:31:53]But then, it seemed to change.

[00:31:57]To adapt to the dim light from my window.

[00:32:01]I saw clawed, scaly hands and a long, reptilian head.

[00:32:07]The creature opened its mouth, releasing a screech before it began scaling the wall.

[00:32:14]I screamed and scrambled back from the window.

[00:32:18]At that moment, lights went on all over the house.

[00:32:22]I heard the creature hiss.

[00:32:24]Heard it let go of the wall and watched as it slithered away into the darkness of the night.

[00:32:30]I just sat there on the floor, staring out the window in sheer and utter horror.

[00:32:38]When my parents came into the room, asking me what was wrong, what had happened, I wasn't able to say anything.

[00:32:48]Marty's words, as he spoke to the strange lizards in the forest, >> [music] >> reverberated inside my mind.

[00:32:56]You've gotten so hungry, haven't you?

[00:32:59]And then, another thing he'd said came to mind.

[00:33:03]I wonder if there's even bigger ones, you know?

[00:33:06]That would be so freaking cool.

[00:33:09]Oh god, I realized.

[00:33:11]I had it all wrong.

[00:33:14]It wasn't Marty.

[00:33:16]It never had been.

[00:33:18]I don't know what Marty discovered out there.

[00:33:21]I don't know what those things are.

[00:33:24]But I know they aren't just lizards.

[00:33:28]After Marty fell, after he died, they'd gotten their first taste.

[00:33:35]And they must have realized there's more of us.

[00:33:40]And now, they're coming for us.

[00:33:44]For all of us.