"This Furniture Store Has an Odd Secret, and I Know About It" by InertNightStand | CLANCYPASTA

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Let me start by saying I really don't want to be writing this, but I feel that it is necessary

[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_00]: for my safety to figure out what's going on.

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Last week my friend Daniel, not his real name, and me, John, again not my real name, decided

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: we were going to try to hide out overnight in the nearby furniture store.

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_00]: In retrospect it sounds dumb, but we'd seen videos of people doing this on YouTube, and

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd just gotten out of university for the summer and didn't have enough money to do

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_00]: anything more exciting.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, this furniture store was huge.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Think of an IKEA if you've ever been in one.

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: It was the size of a huge warehouse and had three stories.

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Our plan was to stow away under a bed or something until all the employees had left,

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_00]: then just screw around until morning.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: The store closed at 8pm and we got there at 6pm, so we had ample time to find hiding places

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: while there were still enough customers that we wouldn't attract attention from the staff.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We went up to the third floor where there were mostly displays showing all of the

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: furniture laid out in fake rooms.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: There was all sorts of rooms laid out, but in the center of all of the displays there was a

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: dining room with four chairs.

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: One of the chairs had a normal place setting, but the other three chairs had plastic plates

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: with cartoon characters on them.

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_00]: When Daniel and I saw this, we took a quick glance at each other,

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: before both running to sit in the adult seat before the other.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Daniel ran track, so I don't feel too bad to say he beat me.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Sit down, Sonny.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Daniel said, sitting in the adult chair with a grin on his face.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, haha, I said.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: This probably isn't even meant to be a children's seat.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_00]: These were probably all adult chairs and they just replaced the ceramic plates with

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: plastics as they broke.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, because there's only one parent and three children?

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Stop complaining, Son.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Daniel said in a deep voice.

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, shut up, I said, laughing.

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: We got up and continued walking around until 7pm.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: We decided we should probably find our hiding spot.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Daniel found a kid's room with a race car bed.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Hell yeah, he yelled out at a volume much too loud for a 20-year-old seeing a race car bed.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Cover me while I hide.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: He bent down pretending to look at the price tag while I stood covering him,

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: pretending to take pictures.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Once he was under, I began trying to find a place of my own.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: After looking around, I figured that hiding under a bed was probably my best bed.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I picked out a king-size bed that, when I was under, if I looked straight,

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I could see the dining room in the center and pass that the race car bed.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: For a little while, me and Daniel played rock, paper, scissors.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Before I got bored and just decided to turn the brightness down on my phone

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and doom scroll until the store was empty, I was startled when all of a sudden,

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I heard a sharp screech ring through the air.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I looked at the time on my phone and it read 8pm.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought it was odd that a store had an alarm that went off at closing time,

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: but it only got stranger.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: All of the staff began to usher people out.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Me and Daniel began exchanging frantic texts before assuring ourselves that it was

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: probably some store policy so they didn't have to pay their employees overtime.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: By 8.05pm, it was dead quiet and, from what I could see, there was nobody left on the third floor.

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I texted Daniel one last time to tell him that we needed to wait until they turned the

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_00]: lights out before we came out of our hiding spot.

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: My phone then died, a victim of my TikTok addiction.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I waited for what felt like 10-15 minutes when all of a sudden,

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: the metal double doors that led to what I believe was a storage room

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: burst open and a dozen women dressed in formal attire marched out in a single file line.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: At this, me and Daniel exchanged puzzled glances.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Upon further inspection, I noticed each of the women were carrying things.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: In order, the women were carrying a glass bottle of water, a bottle of wine,

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: a basket of napkins and silverware, a candle, some sort of metal figurine that I

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: couldn't make out any details on, a large covered platter, a green folded blanket,

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: a red folded blanket, a blue folded blanket, a three foot tall doll of a girl with red hair,

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: a three foot doll of a boy with short blonde hair, and a three foot tall doll of a boy with

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: brown hair. The women set the table with the food and drinks and placed a doll in each of the

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: children's seats. The woman worked mechanically, making sure everything was exactly neat.

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: They placed the metal figurine in front of the adult place setting,

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and the three women with the blankets began walking away from the central dining table

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and moved towards the outer parts of the showroom. The one with a green blanket moved towards a

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: kids room display to my left, and the one with a red blanket went to a display to my right.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: The one with the blue blanket walked straight away from me, right towards Daniel.

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: She placed the blanket on the race car bed, and I met eyes with Daniel as she did.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: His face dropped. The bewilderment on his face was replaced by fear.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Almost as quickly as they had appeared, the woman retreated back through the double doors

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: as orderly as they came. I was at a complete loss as to what had occurred.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: It was closing time. What are they setting up for, and what the hell are the dolls for?

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Unfortunately, my questions were answered in quick time.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: A hefty man in a dark red suit emerged from the same doors the women had come from just

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: a moment ago. He walked over to the remaining chair and placed a hand on it.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, children. He said coldly, his words reverberating in the now empty floor.

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_00]: The way he said this sent a shiver down my spine, and I instinctually reached for my

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: phone to record the situation. As I fumbled from my phone, I remembered it had died earlier.

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I looked over to Daniel and waved my phone towards him. He understood my gesture

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and began recording with his phone. When I looked back over to the dining room,

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I saw the man had sat down and began dining with the dolls. He was pouring them water

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_00]: and seemed to be talking to them. Something about this just disgusted me to my core.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I retreated further back under the bed until I was pressed up against the wall the headboard

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: was up against. I wanted to get as far away from this man as possible.

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_00]: My decision to hide under a king bed gave me this liberty, but Daniel being under the children's

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_00]: bed had no such luxury. I hid, partially curled up against the wall for what felt like at least

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: an hour. Listening to the whispered conversation the man was having with himself.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: From where I was, I couldn't really see the table anymore, but I knew this dinner

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_00]: had concluded when I heard a lone chair squeak as it was pushed back.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_00]: At this, I moved slightly forward so that I once again could see the man.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Time for bed, my lovelies. He said in a soft but disturbing voice.

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_00]: With this, he picked up the blonde hair doll as if it was a real child and began

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00]: walking directly away from me. I realized he was walking towards the race car bed

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_00]: and was filled with anxiety that Daniel would be discovered.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: By the look on Daniel's face, I could tell this anxiety was shared.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_00]: The man placed the doll on the bed and covered it with the blanket on the bed.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_00]: He gave the doll an over-exaggerated kiss on the cheek.

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I love you. The words made me sick.

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I watched as Daniel, now shaking, grabbed his phone and as soon as the man began walking away,

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Daniel crawled out from under the bed and began a full sprint towards the stairs and towards

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_00]: the exit. As he left, he gave me a quick glance conveying both the sorrow he felt

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and the utter fear. The man in the suit froze and began glaring at Daniel with pure hatred.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Without any noise or motion from the man, two of the women from earlier hurried out.

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_00]: One had a revolver and the other a shotgun, and they each offered their gun to the man.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_00]: The man took the revolver and let off one crack shot in the direction of Daniel.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The bullet missed and Daniel ran down the stairs. The man handed the revolver back

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_00]: to the woman he had taken it from. The woman then returned to the back room.

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_00]: The man continued to tuck in the other dolls, giving them both kisses and saying he loved them.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_00]: The man walked over to the table and grabbed the metal figurine. He began walking towards

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_00]: the door. However, he stopped a few feet short.

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_00]: It's rude to stare, you know, he said loudly. How the hell had he seen me?

[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I knew I had to run. He didn't have the guns with him and the distance between me and him

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_00]: was greater than it had been with him and Daniel. I crawled out from under the bed

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and ran as fast as I could, as fast as I ever had.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I think I'll be seeing you for dinner soon, he called out.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And your friend as well. I kept running, expecting a gunshot to ring out but

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_00]: nothing came. I ran down the stairs and through the front doors.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Once I was outside, I didn't stop running. We'd taken a Uber here and I wasn't familiar with

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_00]: the area so I just kept running down random streets. I eventually got to the local mall

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and spent the remainder of the night in the food court, charging my phone.

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_00]: As soon as my phone had any charge, I tried to call Daniel but he didn't pick up.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I texted him but was left on delivered. I called my parents and they came to get me

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_00]: in the morning. I didn't tell them anything that had happened. I told them I'd been at

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_00]: the mall shopping and gotten a headache and just decided to stay the night there.

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I've been staying at their place for a few days now. I've texted Daniel and tried to message him

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_00]: on social media but it looks like he deleted all of his accounts. I thought he probably just

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_00]: was embarrassed by the fact he had abandoned me there until this morning. I woke up and upon

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER_00]: checking my phone, I saw a single message from an unknown number. The message contained no text

[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and two emojis. The fork and plate. I don't feel safe anymore. If they got my number,

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_00]: they somehow know who I am or they have gotten to Daniel. Both horrific options.

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I could go to the police but without the video that Daniel has, my testimony would probably

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_00]: lead to nothing but referrals to a psych ward. Now I'm left with a few questions.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Did Daniel escape? If he did, how do they have my number? And most importantly, who the hell is

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_00]: the guy? If it was just him, I could dismiss it as some freak but his posse of female servant

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_00]: takes this to a whole other level. Has anyone ever heard of some sort of cult acting like this?

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Any help navigating this situation would be greatly appreciated.