Mukuneiu: Starlight by TSQ_Lilith

A literotic sexstories: Mukuneiu: Starlight by TSQ_Lilith ,
The chilling continuation, more to come.
[PART ONE]—–The gasp filled the dark hallway of the dimly lit house. Not a soul was inside other than the two which resided within the small bedroom at the end of the hallway. It was a quaint little house nested safely back in the woods, just inside the city limits of Hannisburg. The town wasn’t too small, and consisted of mostly larger houses and duplexes, so it was somewhat of an unusual location to place the Evans’ household. Not many people had even known that it was there, then again a town like Hannisburg, being back in the Bible-Belt, had an overwhelming number of superstitions flowing amongst the residents. It would be no wonder as to why people avoided those woods, especially after the ghost stories that had taken place there.

—–Karly Evans released another loud gasp as she tilted her head back. Her fingertips dug into the sheets of the queen-sized bed and ruffled them, pulling them tightly into her fingers. Her eyes rolled back slowly and she arched her back, pushing forth her hips in attempt to salvage the most of his tongue she could. Swaying gently in the air beneath her nude form was her thick, brunette hair, she shut her eyes tightly, bit her lip, and with a final moan unleashed her womanly passion forth. The sheets were slowly released, and her body relaxed. Softly she dropped back onto the thick, white mattress, panting with a satisfied smile upon her face.

—–The ceiling appeared as, perhaps, it was spinning. The fatigue and daze of the near perfect orgasm which she had just experienced gave her a lustrous chill through-out her body. She was in Heaven, but slowly, as time passed, she developed a restorative hunger for sex. Softly strumming her fingertips across her stomach to signal her love forth she parted her legs and braced herself, gazing down into his dark, lustful eyes. Releasing another gasp she reached up and gripped the headboard, adoring the feel of the massive object protruding deep within her womanly enterance. Beginning to slowly thrust forward she felt his powerful hips pushing back, felt the burning, yet amazing heat of his body against her bare chest, and felt her inner walls tighten firmly around the thick shaft within her body. The bed let out a soft creeking sound as they rocked back and forth in a blissful passion of desire, and suddenly she unleashed a final moan as he released himself within her, spilling out onto the white sheets with her own, second orgasm. Her breath short and heavy, she tightened her fingers once more on the covers and collapsed, completely spent. She smiled as she heard the padding of the dog’s claws leap from the bed and pad off down the hall. Life could not have been better.

~

—–Wide eyed Jeremy stared through the glass of the small, wooden house. Could what he just saw actually have happened, or had he just imagined it? Karly was never the most popular girl in school, by any means, she was considered a freak by nearly everyone. Karly was anorexic, had very pale skin, wore far too much make-up, lived in the very woods that most people in the town had feared, and now she was a dog lover. In a deeply troubling way, this was a very satisfactory discovery, but in the greatest of senses it was plain sickening. This had to be reported, but the police could do nothing without proof. No, he had to do something else. Something that would really get back at Karly for being the way she was, and possibly get her out of town for good. His friends would believe him, after all, he was Senior class President, and had it not been for his leg snapping, he would have become captain of the football team.

—–Slowly reaching into his pocket, trying to maintain balance on his crutches without putting too much pressure on the busted leg, he took out his cellphone, cycled through the pre-set numbers, and hit enter. Holding the phone to his ear he listened to the slowly passing rings until, finally, his best friend David answered. “Hey dude, you’re not gonna believe this!” he whispered into the phone. “What’dya mean? What happened?” He seemed tired, as if he had just woken up, but Jeremy was in no mood to let that go against his plan. “Just get down to Karly Evans’ place, now! Park on the street so she doesn’t see the car.” “Karly Evans? Isn’t that the girl that lives in the woods?” He tried to keep his face straight, but failed to restrain a small chuckle, “Dude, after this you won’t even remember that she lives in the woods. Trust me. Get down here, and bring the guys.” With those words, not waiting for a response, Jeremy ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket.

—–Around five minutes later Jeremy heard footsteps. Stardled, as well as excited, he turned his head to see David Lahmweir, Michael Phillips, and David’s step brother, Matt. Matt was older than the rest of them, around twenty-four, and he served mostly as transportation as well as an alibi for where they had been when they actually went out drinking. “This better be good. We didn’t come all the way out here for nothing, right?” asked David, somewhat annoyed. Michael seemed to be confused, almost as if he hadn’t been told anything at all, but that was just Mike. He never really did get much of anything, one of the slow, follower types. “Trust me, man, you’re not going to want to miss this. I just saw Karly fuck her dog!” “What the hell?! What the fuck were you staring in there for in the first place?” Matt demanded, somewhat disgusted. “I couldn’t help it. I was walking through the woods and I heard a loud moaning noise, so I looked inside to see what it was and her dog was licking her snatch! No lie, go look!” The three guys sort of stared, and it was a long time before David broke the tension, “Sorry man, but I have NO desire to see Karly Evans get chewed out by a dog.” “Shit, if you won’t look I will.” Michael said immediately, sounding almost too eager. “You’d look at any naked girl given the chance.” David muttered, but was quickly countered by Jeremy. “At least I can count on him. But it’s not really seeing her that I called you down here for, I want to do something about this. She’s caused enough discomfort in school, and after this I don’t want that freak in my town.” This time, it was Matt who spoke up, “So what do you say we do, Jeremy? The cops aren’t going to listen to us. They might arrest us for invasion of privacy, but they aren’t going to do shit about Karly.” Jeremy spoke with a grin, “Who said anything about the cops? Nobody cares about Karly Evans, her own parents aren’t even home half the time, and nobody is going to suspect us of anything. I mean come on, we practically run this town.”

—–The other three, upon hearing his words, began to look wide-eyed, but Matt more than anyone seemed suspicious. “What exactly are you saying we do? Kill her?” Jeremy’s smile faded as he noticed Matt begin to chuckle at the idea, “And why not? Nobody’s going to miss her, Christ, we’d be doing this town a favor! Matt, you’re into God, and after hitting those girls last year I know you’re looking for a way to redeem yourself. She’s an abomin…” His words were cut off by Matt’s fury. “I told you to NEVER mention that fucking night again, God damn you! Do you hear me!?” “Look.” Jeremy responded calmly in a flat tone, “All I’m saying is the girl is an abomination to God, and if you’re really looking to make up for what happened, which we all know you are, this would be the perfect chance. You might not get another shot. “But KILL her? Come on man, there’s no way you can be serious.” But he was, and judging by the nervous tone in Matt’s voice, and the scared look on the other two boys’ faces, they all knew just how serious he was.

—–“Fine… we’ll do it, but nobody can EVER know about this, got it?” Jeremy smiled at Matt victoriously, he was somewhat suprised he had actually gotten him to go along with it. “Good, now how do we go about it?” “Well like you said, nobody is going to miss her, so as long as we get rid of the body who’s to say they’ll even search? They’ll probably assume she ran away.” Matt still seemed nervous, but he seemed to begin to like the idea. Jeremy was right, Karly was an abomination to God, and the Bible itself taught him that anyone who did such a terrible thing should be put to death. “Then all we’ve got to do is figure out how we’ll do it…”

~

—–The four of them went back out to the street and boarded the silent vehicle, it was there they began to come up with a plan. “Alright, so when she answers the door you’re going to throw a rock off into the woods to make it sound like somebody’s there. She’ll go to see what it is and that’s when me and David sneak in. Matt, you stay out here ready to start the engine and I’ll have Michael stand at the side of the house to make sure she doesn’t get away.” He seemed to have it all planned out, just as he always did, and with a slight nod they began to put the plan into action. The three younger boys got out of the vehicle while Matt crawled into the driver’s seat and placed the key into the ignition. He’d be ready, he’d better be, or else things could go really bad for all of them.

~

—–There was a rapping at the door as Karly was preparing for bed. She wore a thin, white night gown and a pair of thin cotton panties beneath. Pausing what she was doing she quickly hurried down the hall, and upon the third set of knocks turned the knob and opened the door. “Hello?” she said quietly, seeing nobody outside. “Hello…?” she repeated, but again, no response. Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes that drew her attention. Steadily, cautiously, she stepped down from the doorway onto the cold stone steps leading up to the house. “Who’s out there?” The break of nerves in her voice was obvious, but she pressed on. Gingerly she began to step down onto the moist grass and followed the slowly reaccuring sound. Finding nothing, she turned and quickly ran back to the house, her nerves having gotten the best of her. Slamming the door shut behind her she closed her eyes and stood still, allowing her heart to return to its normal pace. Suddenly something caught her eye, and as she turned to look she felt a massive pressure strike her jaw. Her vision went dead, and she fell back cold against the door.

—–“Punching her? Was that really the best way to handle it?” David asked, somewhat suprised. “Under the circumstances of just what is about to happen I think that’s the last thing that you’ve got to worry about.” Determined to be as quick as possible Jeremy lifted Karly up from the floor and heaved her over his shoulder. “She’s not that heavy, to be honest, she weighs practically nothing.” Jeremy snickered looking over to David who only laughed. As David opened the door the two boys stepped out of the small house and, upon hearing Michael creeping to the front, headed off for the car.

~

—–Seeing the others heading towards him Matt popped the trunk of the car. He watched as they loaded the incapacited girl into the storage space and shut it, followed by loading themselves into the vehicle. The ignition was started, the engine turned over, and they drove off into the night. “Jesus, what’d you do to her?” Matt exclaimed, trying to keep his eyes on the road as he spoke. “I did what I had to do…” “He punched her in the fucking face is what he did!” David burst out with, receiving only a cold glare from his friend. Matt rolled his eyes and, licking his lips nervously, spoke, “So, where do you want to take her?” “We’ll take her out to the lake, that way we can get rid of the body more easily.” Jeremy had somewhat of a sinister edge to his voice, nearly acidic. Matt noticed, but said nothing; it was Michael who spoke up, “So what, are we gonna drown her or something?” The eyes of their leader gazed back to Michael and glared coldly, “Drown her? That’s not nearly epic enough. Besides, they’ll find the body that way. Don’t you worry… I’ve got a plan.”

—–They drove on for only a few miles before seeing the large, crystallic body of water shimmering in the eminating light of the moon and stars. “Pull up next to the dock.” Matt heard Jeremy order him, and as he complied he brought the car to a hault, turned off the ignition, and sat back taking a deep breath. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this… it just seems so extreme to me.” The fury in Jeremy’s eyes then began to burn, and as he glared he began to shout, “You got a better idea!? I seriously doubt you do, now pop the damn trunk!” And almost immediately after hearing the click of the car door, which Jeremy seemed to have no concern of closing, Matt did as he was told.

—–As he saw the trunk lift open and heard the removal of the unconscious girl’s body Matt began to have a deep sinking feeling in his stomach. If this was truly God’s intent then why did he feel so disgusted with himself? Still, he had already gone too far and there was no turning back. As he took in another deep breath and attempted to calm his nerves, he failed to see Karly Evans being dragged out along the dock by his younger friend. Michael and David simply sat and stared at the events taking place, wanting to stay as far away from the events as possible.

~

—–Out on the edge of the dock lie Karly’s stunned body, as well as the maliciously evil gaze of Jeremy Matthews staring down at her with a smirk. Slowly he dropped to his knees beside her on the hard wooden planks and lifted the bottom of her gown. There was a vaguely moist spot in the center of the underwear she wore, and he seemed to enjoy the sight. “Even out cold you’re still a slut… well I’ll show you what we do to sluts around here.” Jeremy laughed softly to himself and reached into his pocket for his switchblade. Flipping out the silvery edge he slid it carefully up the girl’s exposed left thigh, softly hooked it under the panties, and proceeded to slice them from her body. He tore the remaints away, and as he did he heard the strange sound of whimpering. His eyes motioned quickly upward to see Karly Evans staring at him in shock. “What are you doing!?” she shouted, attempting to crawl back. Her eyes watered as she heard the acid in the attacker’s voice speak to her. “Shut the hell up, dog fucker.” It wasn’t just the words he used, even though those all together didn’t sit well with her. He said it so calmly, so peacefully, as if it was in his nature to be so cruel.

—–Karly screamed as she felt the jock’s hand slowly creep up her thigh and rest on her moistened slit, softly rubbing into her. “If you’d fuck a dog you’ll sure as hell have no problem fucking me.” With that he softly slid his finger into her pussy, laughing victoriously as he heard a faint moan from her. She was a slut, of that he was certain, but hopefully he could inflict some kind of fear within her as well. Slowly sliding his fingertips into her and then withdrawing them in pattern, he could feel himself begin to stiffen. The girl cried out for help, and when none came she begged for mercy, but that as well was bereft to her. She felt her eyes grow heavy with tears, and as the swelling moisture built and overflowed into streams down the side of her face, she felt the large shaft thrust up inside of her.

—–From the car the three males stared as the girl they had so cruely schemed against was violated by their close friend. The way his hips bucked forward, slamming the vile instrument of dark passion into her intruded slit, pumping the overflowing juices out onto the dry wood of the dock, faintly aroused Matt, and this more than anything frightened him. While he knew it was wrong he somehow enjoyed it. His fists clutched tightly, whitening the knuckles, and his teeth grinded together. The worst of everything was that he could not force himself to look away.

—–Karly screamed with horror as the cock pounded violently into her pussy, no longer enjoying any part of it. Why would he do this? She had never done anything very wrong, she had never even slept with a person until now. Nobody would have her. She felt the night gown e torn away from her nude body and saw as it was thrown back into the water of the lake. She was now entirely stripped. The moisture of her sweat caused her to feel an overwhelming cool breeze, and as her slit was stretched widely around the cock within her she cried out loudly, blood seeping steadily from the ripped tissue.

—–As the object was removed slowly, she felt her body fall back onto the hard wood, but could not relax. Tears streamed down her face, and the chilling air and mist from the lake was too horrible to describe. That’s when everything changed for the final time. A cold, steel feeling shot deep within her bowels. How can something so cold burn so much? With all her might she forced her head up and looked down to her gaping canal to see the switch-blade thrusting quickly up inside her, specks of blood darting off in the opposite direction with each motion. There was a dizzy feeling overwhelming her, and steadily she felt the hands of slumber take her in.

~

—–Matt and the two younger boys stared off from behind the glass of the windshield. Eyes wide, completely silent. The rising embers of the flame seemed to paralyze them with each new flicker of light. All though it was not certain how the two in the back were feeling, Matt did not much care. Everything that was happening was too much for him, and as if in a trance he reached slowly under his shirt, grasped the object which he hid on his belt, and raised it with a click. As horrible as all of what they had just seen on the dock was, time seemed to stand still for David and Michael in the next few moments. The loud blast and the horrible shattering sent a horrible chill through their minds, and as the gun dropped to the floor of the car, everything slowly came into reality.

—–Karly Evans was dead, they had played a part in her rape and murder… and now, Matt too had left their lives.

[PART TWO]

—–Hannisburg Asylum, the place that proves above all else that Hannisburg was not the average place. To see a town as small and quaint as it possessing a mental institution is a bit much to bare, but surely enough, there it sat at the top of the highest hill in the town. It had stood there since the birth of the town some one-hundred years ago, and remained it habital conditions. All though the reason for its construction is not entirely certain, for all of the town’s record books up until thirty years ago were missing. In a way, the past of Hannisburg was entirely forgotten. Rumours had spread that the Asylum was built after a homosexual couple was condemned for loving one another and set out to slaughter those who hated them so. They were said to have been captured in the very place they took the bodies of their victims, the Hannisburg forest, which surrounded the small town. These rumours, however, were never confirmed.

—–The Asylum stood three floors above the ground and one beneath, and as much as the society surrounding it liked to deny it did claim new residents. David Lahmweir, a local boy of seventeen years of age, was recently admitted to the institution after witnessing a murder and the suicide of his step brother three months ago. The one who commited the atrocity, eighteen year-old Jeremy Matthews, was arrested the day after. He has not yet been tried. The other boy, Michael Phillips, was also taken into custody as an accessory but was quickly released for being too young and having confessed.

—–David sat quietly in his room staring straight ahead as he did every day. His eyes were blank and glassy, as if he had no soul, and he never spoke a word to anyone. They would serve him food twice a day in his room because he refused to eat in the cafeteria, and even then it took him over an hour to so much as touch each meal. There was no doubt that something had died inside him; something that would never return.

—–That night David stared up at the dark ceiling. Like many nights insomnia had gotten the best of him, and those few nights he could sleep he was awoken horribly by dreams. Nothing seemed to make sense to him anymore, and many people began to wonder if he even thought anymore. A shell, his mother had said. Nothing but an empty shell. The rain pressed against the barred window of the room, and as lightning struck viciously from the sky something emerged in his corner vision; a face. At first the boy had done nothing, possibly thinking it had only been an illusion, but as the lightning continued to course through the air it grew more certain that it was not going to disappear. Bothered, he twisted his body onto his side in his bed and curled up close to himself, trying the best he could to ignore the strange figure with the eerie grin. But as best he tried each bolt of thunder crashing through the sky reanimated the image within his mind, and finally he snapped.

—–Many patients had screamed loud into the night with their internal torments, but never had the orderlies heard such a frightful sound. A deep bellow of agony wrecked through the halls and down the corridors, digging at the minds of patients throughout the wing and causing a chain of disorderly howls. The door to David’s room was quickly thrust open, an orderly holding a sedative in a ready-to-use position while the other was prepared to restrain the screaming boy. The syringe slowly fell to the floor, its glass edge fracturing as it struck the marble tile, and slowly the liquid seeped free. The workers, dressed in their white uniforms in the most professional of appearances, could not match it with their actions. Staring with widened eyes, white below and above the irises, they looked out into the twilight bordered in what, all though should have been a wall, was only a pile of rubble. The gape to the outside world seemed strangely designed, as if destructive by intention and not accidental, and within the broken frames stood a dark figure outlined in the moon’s eminating glow. While it was far too dark to recognize any detailed features on the being, the reflective light of the stars and midnight sky glistened off of a pair of dark eyes and rimmed the edge of a pair of grinning lips. The shadows made it appear as if the face were deformed and twisted, yet sadistically gleeful.

—–A soft moan could be heard, and as the orderlies’ attention was drawn downward towards the heap of sheets upon the floor the dark figure vanished from its post. Where they had looked, shrouded in the darkness of the night, with only a faint trail of an outlining light, lie David Lahmweir, choking on his own blood.

—–Even though they were suprised the pair of workers were functional, and as the one nearest to the door turned to run for help, the other’s hand stretched out and clasped him around the throat. Tossing his partner back to the floor he grinned grimmly, just as the figure had, and while keeping his evil gaze upon the floored orderly, reached down to the floor for his syringe. He approached his target, the same eerie smirk radiating from his young form, straddled down around his legs, and plunged the thick needle deep within his victim’s throat. There was a gargling sound, and as he pushed downward, forcing bits of the breaking glass tube into the pierced flesh of the neck, he could see a trickle of blood flow slowly down the corner of his ex-partner’s lips. Satisfied, he stood and strolled mindlessly over to the half-dead teenager near the bed.

—–Reaching slowly down he clasped the rim of the patient’s lower outfit and tugged them off, exposing a pair of tight underwear which had been partially tugged down with his first section, exposing the top section of pubic hair. Kneeling down softly on the pile of sheets he slide the underwear down the boy’s thighs and softly began to stroke the warm organ which was now revealed. The orderly’s eyes were empty and cold, yet the grin remained as he lifted the boy’s head by his hair, causing blood to flow from his sweet, chilling lips. The smiling man reached down and licked along the rim of the blood-stained lips, lapping in the red nectar and swallowing it, grasping the now hardened cock firmly in his palm.

—–Glancing down he noticed that the boy must still be alive, at least technically, for the organ he had been stroking was in fact erect and beginning to excreet a thin trail of pre-cum which his glazed over the head with his thumb. The boy was not dead, but soon would be. Moving down slowly he lowered his head and closed his mouth around the seven inches of the half-dead teenager and began to gently suck along the shaft, groping the sack which lie attached just below it and squeezing the objects within. There was a faint wince in the boy’s blood filled throat, and with that he softly fell to the padded floor and died. Blood slowly oozed from the victim’s nose, and the smiling orderly had known what happened.

—–Undoing his jeans he slid them off and threw them onto his dead ex-partner, followed by his loose, silk boxers. He positioned himself carefully over the newly dead young man and with a steady motion plunged the hard object deep up within himself, gasping out loudly, partially of pleasure, but mostly of pain. As he began to slide up and down on the hard instrument he felt the pain increase, as well as a tear, but only motioned more quickly. The motion continued, and while it did he gripped his own shaft and began to stroke along its length steadily, moaning out within a number of minutes. The white seed streamed forth and collapsed upon the top of the boy’s uniform, and as the dick inside him began to grow limp he removed it from himself, crashing to the floor with a deep feel of relaxation. The night grew silent, and he felt himself steadily drift into sleep.

~

—–The faint glowing of the rising sun began to break into the night sky, and as the clatter of footprints struck quickly through the cold, dew covered grass two figures rushed through the twilight. It was around four or five in the morning, and while some residents of the small town were beginning to wake the town nearly seemed deserted. If they had been found the night would have grown into a state of hysteria, or at least Adra liked to say so for the dramatic effect. As her pale hand grasped onto the wrist of her long-term boyfriend Erika, who was trying his best to keep up with her strong legs, she could feel her heart begin to pound rapidly within her burning chest. Her figure sprinted through the backlots of the small town in a way that appeared effortless, and her chin-length black hair, which had a reddish blonde set of roots beginning to emerge, swayed behind her in the rush of wind sweeping by. Erika was somewhat husky, only a little taller than Adra’s 5’0″ height, and he had been a smoker in his past, and even though he had not done so in several months, he could not easily keep pace with his loving girlfriend.

—–As the door to Adra’s house burst open, her knowing nobody was home at the time, she began to relax, which became a heavy relief to Erika. Panting softly she slide her black sweat-shirt from her body and tossed it onto the couch of the living room, exposing a form which Erika had always found magnificent, as well as a pair of large breasts, no less than 36DD. Many had ridiculed him and judged him for having a girl with such a ‘gift’, but he had always loved the dark, yet passionate mind of Adra far more than anything physical. She wore a tight, black tank-top with a low cut rim that exposed a large portion of cleavage, as well as a nearly hot pink set of bra-straps, and hugging to her beautiful hips was a pair of black and grey camo-pants supported by a metal-plated belt. While the pants were reasonably loose, they made a fine fixture to her toned ass. She did this specifically because she knew it aroused Erika, and when he was aroused she usually was as well; even if she didn’t admit to it.

—–Dragging him to her bedroom Adra flung the door open and, gripping his long and wavy auburn hair firmly, pulled him to her and whispered into his ear “Let’s play”. Pulling her into his arms he attempted to push her back onto her bed, but she only grinned and slipped away, and upon catching him in a blind spot shoved him onto the bed. “No peeking.” she announced over her shoulder, walking off into the added on bathroom, swaying her hips in a motion that drove Erika mad. He could feel himself grow hard, and anticipated what would soon happen.

—–In the small bathroom Adra looked into the mirror, examining herself with admiring eyes, but deep down somewhat disappointed with her appearance. Erika had always loved everything about her, spiritually and physically, but she never felt as though she was attractive enough for him. She was only glad that when he was near her he comforted her. Reaching her hands back beneath her tank-top she undid the strap to her bra, sliding the straps down from her shoulders and slipping it out from within her top. Her breasts bounced something with this newly found freedom, and her erect nipples shown plainly through the thin shirt. She slowly removed her camo-pants, belt first, from her tight hips and dropped them to the floor, revealing a cute, purple thong and a neatly trimmed bikini-line. Smiling gleefully she slowly opened the door into the bedroom and, with a soft, cute voice spoke to Erika, “Close your eyes and no peeking.” As she waited a moment, assuring herself that he had heard and obeyed her, she slowly moved from the sanctuary of the add-on room and moved to the side of the bed where Erika sat, softly sitting next to him.

—–Gently she grasped his wrist and raised his hand to her chest, pressing his palm flat to her left breast. His eyes strained to remain shut, but this was nearly unbearable, and as the words of his beloved slowly slipped into his ear he could not help but open them. “You can do whatever you would like.”

~

—–The sun rose majestically over the horizon in an array of colours, and as Erika held his loving Adra close to his chest beneath the thick covers of the bed he gently kissed her lips, softly whispering, “I love you.” Had they looked out the window into the beautiful sunrise a moment longer, far beyond its rays, they would have seen a most frightful of sites. Upon a hill top several yards away, in the poison of beautiful light, was a tall, thin figure. A few strands of blue hair flowing out with the wind, and a soft panting emerged from within a set of icy lips. Two dead eyes gazed down coldly at the large, blood-stained sack gripped firmly in his hand, and as his ears perked with an unpleasant sound he bent over and untied it. Cautiously spreading the bounds of the thick bag he looked down into the teary, horrified eyes within, and with a dead smile released a final sound, “Shhh.”