Twisted Cryptids Episode 61'115: The Astral Apparition
As the screen fades from darkness, a stage lights up, revealing a thick veil of haze that currently occupies the viewer's sight. Various pieces of horror-themed trinkets and paraphernalia nailed against the back wall of the set. A man raises from the fog and floor, black hair and beard, sharply dressed. "A cosmic spirit that wanders the Earth, lost from its home. A galactic poltergeist that now haunts our world." Our apparent host speaks. "Tonight on this edition of âTwisted Cryptidsâ, we cover the ethereal specter, the extraterrestrial phantom -- The Astral Apparition." With the intro out of way, and with the knowledge of the host's name "Ron Myke", the show finally begins. "Over the course of the last 3 days various reports of the Astral Apparition have been popping up all over the globe" Don commentates while a map of the world pops up and indicates the sightings of the said enigma, via red dots. The scene cuts away to a title card with a vivid, swirling background accompanying it, "First Sightings" it reads. The camera zooms in on one of the bright, crimson marks. With a blurred transition, our first location is revealed: A forest in Germany. A shot of the forest shows an impact site of what seems to be a meteorite: Mighty trees knocked back away from the crater and a once lively lake filled to brim was drained overnight. An interview is conducted with the two witnesses: A young German couple who were camping in the forest on the night when the incident took place. Nearly an hour-and-a-half's' worth of interview footage was edited down to 4 second clips sprinkled throughout the segment on the two teenager. The couple began telling their story, due to the language barrier, the couple are spoken over by more native actors. This fact becomes apparent due to what is seen, the lip movements of the couple, and what is heard, the dubbed over voices. âWe didnât want to wanna go anywhere near that⊠thing.â The tan crimson-haired boy answered. âThe closer and closer we got⊠The more chills ran down our spinesâ âIt⊠Stood- No, floated at the edge of the lakeâ The pale brunette chimed in. âIt was⊠Unreal. I thought I was having a nightmare⊠What came next made me wish that it was all in my headâ An illustration is shown, the drawing showed the two cowering behind trees near the impact, the couple observing the cryptid in question. The otherworldly ghost being represented by a black splotch, due to lack of a description. âAnd thenâŠâ The fiery-haired witness holds his head in his hands. âIt happenedâŠâ The Astral Apparition lifted up the water from the lake, in its entirety. Not only was the water affected, but the two fell towards the sky, only the branches of the arbors that surrounded them saved their lives from the fate of falling into the sky. Despite distance, despite language, the couple heard loud and clear what the enigma whispered... âNot hereâ The deity stared down at the empty lake and back up at the floating, formless mass of water. Within an instance, an entire lakeâs worth of water turned into vapor, steam. As the anomaly fades from sight, possibly existence, the deadly ascent of the two cease. The couple surveyed the area, taking in the horror that they just behold. Their segment ends with final words from the brunette. âI donât know whatâs out there⊠Iâm scaredâ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once again the same title card and the rotating background greets the viewers eyes, âIt Hungersâ, it reads this time. The next location is a fast-food restaurant located in the UK, âPorkyâs Burgers and Chipsâ. Another interview was conducted, this time with a minimum-wage employee working who was the night shaft. âIâŠâ The black-haired, lanky employee scratched his head, trying to surface memories of the event. â-Was alone, I was workin' the graveyard shift, just finished taking the garbage out back, and emptying the deep-frier. I just done with mopping the kitchen and was about to leave, then⊠I heard someone break in.â Security cameras had captured the some of the event in pristine, black and white, blurry, low-definition quality footage. ââThought it was some drunk who broke in. I had my phone on me, I was about to call 999. âHeaded to the kitchen⊠'Wasnât expecting what saw nextâŠâ The low-wage employee described the whole story within a matter of minutes. The teenager peeked through the door, the floor was covered with a thin sheet of ice, possibly from the water when he finished mopping up the kitchen. Even the chemical-infused water in the bucket had become nothing more than a block of ice. There it was, the beast of the week, eating a frozen patty. âA frozen one!â The worker bursts into laughter âThe damn thing was munchinâ away on a rock of a meat chuck!â His fit of laughing soon ended.âOh, boy⊠Beinâ honest, I think the creatureâs a bit on the dim sideâŠâ The segment closes on one final question: What did it look like? âWhat did it look like?â Once more the teen scratches his head. âUh⊠It was short and had long hair. âHad a weird glow around it, too. âCanât really describe that.â This time, a witness pops a question. âWhatâs the thing called? âAstral Apparitionâ? Know what? F**k that title. Iâm gonna call it a âSpace Gremlinâ. 'Cause that's what it is!â ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The program cuts to commercial break. âDCTV is sponsored by: Conduit Laboratories -- Conduits Laboratories, shaping the world of tomorrow for over 50 yearsâ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The final title card appears, âThe Untouchableâ. The third and final location is revealed: A roadside mini-mart and fueling station âGoody Goodsâ, Canada. Two witness are brought in for interviewing, a 30-something old trucker and a 20-something year old store clerk. The two begin to tell their stories. âOut the road at night carryinâ some cargo for a... âC. Labsâ from what I can remember⊠I was runninâ a bit low on fuel, so I took a pit-stop, naturally.â The trucker told his story. âHe was outside, he was refueling. Nothing out of the ordinary.â The clerk adds on. âThen⊠This thing⊠It looked like a kid, it was goinâ on its merry way, minding its own business. It look like it was walkinâ towards the front door of mart. But⊠Hereâs the thing⊠My truck was in the wayâŠâ The mustached man went on. âI expected the kid to crawl under it or⊠Something else than what it actually did⊠It went right through it." âI thought that maybe the child crawled under the truck. Either that or I had too much coffee that night. What I saw next was no mistake.â They both describe what the enigma of a child did. At first, the men both thought that their eyes deceived them. Once it happened again, it was clearly this was no illusion. The kid could walk through walls. âIt came into the store and spent a good 10 or 15 minutes looking around the store, saying âWhere is it, where is it?â. Then it just stood at the counter staring at me for almost an hour. I started asking questions: âAre you lost, where are your parentsâ, all that.â The clerk explains. âEventually, I got fed up with the whole apparent âsilent treatmentâ and I start yelling at the kid to leave. Then I tried to grab its hand and tugging âem out,  but⊠I actually touched it. I was half sure that hands would just go through it or something. 'Second I grabbed the kid, it threw me to the other side of the store, my landing made the stuff I sellin' fell off the shelves. I think I even broke a shelf or two. Understandably, I was mad, I was pissed. The storeâs a mess and I was bleeding. I pulled out my pistol and shot at it. The bullets didnât make contact, they hit the glass of the sliding doors behind the kid.â âThen I came in âcause of the gunshots.â The trucker verified âHe was right about everything, the mess, the blood, the bullets. All that. As soon I came in, the thing left. Not in a normal way either, if thatâs youâre wondering. It sank into the ground, no marks, no trace, no nothing.â Final thoughts are given by all five witnesses on the matter of the Astral Apparition, its impact, its potential, its danger. Ron Myke gave his two cents on this anomaly of a creature after the witnesses. âThe Astral Apparition a truly twisted cryptid indeed, ladies and gentlemen. Having the abilities to manipulate gravity, radiate a freezing aura, and phase through solid objects, it seems that this ghastly being cannot be taken down by regular means. If you have any and all information regarding the Astral Apparition, send your story the link: www.dctv/TwistedCryptids.net.â Our host gives his final words of the week: âThank you for watching this edition of 'Twisted Cryptids' on DCTV. Next week, we cover the subject of the 'IWTGH' Monster. Until next time, this Ron Myke signing out.â ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the broadcast ends and the credits begin to roll, a blackout hits. The entirety of the house is plunged into the dead of night. Minutes pass, darkness continues to occupy the house. With a hum, the lights of the home flicker to life. Strangely, the television hasn't turned back on. No broadcasting show, no assault of static, nothing. All the television set shows is a reflection of the room of its placement and a young adult, he stares into the mirror of a TV screen. At 5'10", the adolescent is clad in a white shirt and denim jeans. Short golden locks cascade down the pale skinned face of the boy, his blonde hair turning a shade of scarlet as grows longer. The teenager's reddish eyes tear away from his reflection, to hear loud, howling breeze coming from the room next to him, the same room with the front door. The soft wind ceases, the gentle hum of light bulb above is the sound that dominates the room. Suddenly, the house itself begins to quake, objects rattle, lights flicker. The shaking stops, and a dim purple light radiates in the hallway across from the boy. The source reveals itself, rolling into sight: A stone, glass-like, magenta. The crystalline rock hovers up and reminds for a minute or two, idle. The stone begins to crack; a violet light radiates through them. Once more the home rumbles, the most violent one yet. Everything that isn't bolted to the ground falls from their place, breaking as they make contact with the floor. The television being the first of the objects to drops and expire. The glass-like stone bursts, pieces of it embed themselves into the walls and floor with an audible "THUNK!" What's left among the glittery, glassy debris is a vortex, a wormhole. The adolescent stares deeply into swirling, violet, chaotic images of the portal, hellish sounds and whispers accompany the vivid, nonsensical visuals. A white flash comes from the odd gateway, like the flash of a camera. The colors of the vortex becomes darker, and a banshee shriek exits from it. The boy hides in his sheets on the mocha carpet that he used as a bed before all this. Within his mind something clicked. A wave of deja vu hits the teenâs brain, the weird rock, its glittery mess of debris that it left. One more action is needed to ensure this deja vu. Through the portal a humanoid figure, a girl, crawls forth. The vortex begin to shine its normally abnormal colors. With a gasp and a cough, the dimension hopper gets up on her two feet and promptly levitates. The portal's light continues to radiate on, obscuring any specific details on the extraterrestrial deity and projecting only its silhouette. A clap of thunder sounds off, the otherworldly gateway seemingly vanishes from existence. With the ethereal glow gone, details of the girl are revealed: Long black, ruffled hair, brown skin, scuffs marks on her face, a light purple dress with design of a star on the chest, dirt stains riddle the a section of the skirt, and most her defining feature: Her height, very short. Even through all the dirt and scuff, the young adult immediately recognizes the girl. The ghastly being floats towards the boy. At last, what's in her hands is revealed: A rose, pink. The girl hovers ever so closer to the teen, her head shifting left and right, observing the room. The speaks to herself as she stares down at the rose and back to the boy "Do I just shove it into his face? That seems too forceful. I canât hurt that face.â The boy with the golden locks pull back the sheets covering him. The enigma of a girl freezes in place, the teenâs blank, unknowing gaze locking her now terrified glance, he begins to mutter. âShooting Star,â The boy questions âIs that you?â âOh, my God, heâs backâ Shooting Starâs words flow fearfully out of her mouth âHmm?â He mumbles âHow long was I out for?â âUh⊠âGood 3 days, Roseâ The short girl quivers in her non-existence boots âWha?â Roseâs oblivious state gives way to panic in a fraction of a second and springs from his sheets. â3 days?! WHAT?! Oh, no!â As Shooting Star fears and worries wan via chuckle, Rose grabs both her shoulders. âWhat did you do for 3 days? Shooting Star, what the sweet antimatter-â âI looked for your flowerâ The sweet little girl replies Her words strike Rose ears, he cringes, back away from Shooting Star, his face twitching, and feeling his heart sink down into the pit of his stomach. As of recently, never before has fear gripped him this fiercely. Shooting Star tilts her head in confusing while holding the flower as Rose goes through his own mini-crisis. âWait⊠I thought I put it in a place where no one can get to it⊠And she still found it.â He internally panics. The otherworldly girl gives the pink rose to the now reassessed blonde Rose, he places it over his right eye. Briars extrude from the flower in all directions and latch onto the male Goldilocksâ head, practically snapping on. The roseâs vines begin to shift and move around Roseâs face, nearly all of them hiding themselves in his hair, completely out of sight. All but one vine shelters within the boyâs locks, it resides on his left cheek, with a smaller, second rose blooming. âHuh, so you donât need you flower to functionâ Shooting Star notices, as Rose usually needs his rose in order to be a normal, operating Light Being: A semi-mechanical organism. âI donât, but it helps with my energy levels.â He lays down. âMy facial insignia shows up when Iâm stable⊠Ish, or if I feel like displaying itâ âOh, yeah!â The short enigma jumps up and runs towards the front door. âHmm?â Roseâs curiosity peaks Shooting Star is seen again with a cardboard box, held together by twine and cluttered with stamps. The girl tears into packaging, she throws its content at the flower boy, another cardboard box. In an instant, Rose gets excited at what the packageâs package reads: â100%, All-Natural, Fat-Free Granola Barsâ, his favorite. â120 bars inside!â Immediately, the hungry teenager starts to claw his way through the box, consuming around 3 bars in about a minute. âYou know, you should branch out your diet, Rose. Literary, all you eat is granola barsâ Shooting Star states. With his mouth full âOh, yeah, do you want some, Star?â âNah,â She declines. âI already had something while searching for your little flower thingyâ A memory the broadcast quickly went to Roseâs mind as he swallows his mouthful of granola âThat âsomethingâ wouldnât happen to be a burger? A frozen oneâ With a confused expression and a brow raised she says âWait, how did you know?â âWell⊠Iâll tell you later.â
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
âBeen meaning to post this over here for a while, now.Â
Story done as a gift for @shiolily64, Merry Belated as Sh*t Birthmas









