The Condemned iPod

I'd like to start off by saying, never trust anything but the 100%, name-brand, official seller. I learned this lesson the hard way. A way that no one should ever have to endure.

Let me tell you my story.

It was a nice day; no rain or snow or anything of that nature. It was mid summer, and it was showing, with temperatures in the mid-90's. Being the 14-year-old kid that I was, I was into what everybody was referring to as the 'electronic age'. I had no cellphone, no 52" Plasma HD TV. The only thing I was lucky enough to eventually save up enough money for was a PS3. The only reason I chose the PS3 was because it provided a free online service. Money wasn't something I could be throwing away like it was nothing.

Another thing I should add is that I was incredibly tech-savvy. I was fluent in computer coding, building and restorations of computers and technology, such as iPods and iPhones, Nintendo DS', etc. I was always looking for new projects and I had even advertised myself before as a "technology repairman." It came to me as no surprise whenever I'd have friends come up to me with their broken cellphones or a 3DS, and ask me to fix them.

I was happy with what I did. It was how I saved money, and I liked my "job," so to speak. Like they say, "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." So, I continued on doing what I did. It wasn't until I came across the one object that scarred me for life that I never wanted to touch another piece of technology again. God have mercy on your soul, should you ever come into contact with what I did.

The only reason I found this item was because of what I was doing. I not only fixed things for other people; I fixed damaged things people were selling for pennies on the dollar and kept them for myself. A wise investment, which saved me literally hundreds, if I got the right deals. So, when I saw a 2G iPod Touch on eBay, claiming minor damage such as a broken LCD and needing a new battery, it wasn't anything new for me to pay the $20.00 they were asking for. It wasn't until I started tinkering with it that I knew just what I had gotten myself into.

I was an impatient kid. I hated waiting, and if I could find any way that I could get my hands on something quickly, I'd do it. So, I paid for express shipping, and, what do you know?. I got that son of a bitch in two days. I planned ahead and express ordered a new LCD screen and battery off of Amazon. The total project was about $50 with all new parts in it, so I didn't mind, because it saved me about $150.

First things first. I got out my tool kit, popped off the broken LCD, replaced it in a snap, put the new battery in, and in less than 20 minutes, I had myself an almost-brand-new iPod. Curious as all hell, I decided to see what the guy selling it on eBay had put on the iPod. Grave mistake.

The biggest pain in the ass is connecting the iPod to iTunes to turn the iPod back on. So, I dug through my cable box (doing numerous jobs can get you a nice little box of handy cables), and pulled out a 30-pin connector. I plugged the USB end into my computer, the other end into the iPod, and hooked it up. The guy had named it Jared. Nothing too skeptical; it was probably just the name of the guy who had sold the iPod.

I let iTunes do its thing, and it didn't take long before the iPod was fully functional again. I almost panicked when it hit the unlock screen, but for some reason, there was no passcode lock on it. Lucky for me. He had a black lock screen background, and a pentagram drawn in what looked like blood for the icon background. Creepy as fuck, right? That turned out to be the least of my worries. The iPod had been jailbroken, so it came as no surprise when I saw numerous apps that were... well, illegal.

He had put a specific code lock on one folder on the iPod. It had one app in it that I couldn't make out the picture to, with it being in the folder. The folder was titled "STOWAWAY". Puzzled and already creeped out by the unnerving background of the iPod, I decided to look through the documents he had stored on it before I completely wiped this thing's memory. He had that one app from Cydia that allowed you to delve into the iPod's hard drive and mess with the actual files in it. You know, iFile. I shoved it off until later and headed for his photos/videos.

There were approximately 12 photos and 2 videos. Every picture and both videos were of the exact same thing. It was a little girl, probably about 8 years old in age. The pictures were heartless, gut wrenching, and downright awful. The first picture, and all the way through to the last picture, showed her being dismembered, piece by piece. The first photo showed her fingers cut off, then her toes, feet, hands, arms, legs. The last photo was a picture of her head, various symbols cut into it that I couldn't even make out, even after studying for a good 5 minutes.

I was at the verge of puking and just throwing this thing away when I remembered the two videos. Seeing the pictures and the thumbnails, I had a pretty good feeling of what was in those two videos. Taking a deep breath, and after getting a glass of water, I started the video on a low volume. It began with the same girl as before, unharmed and looking pretty as a doll. Her face went from a slight smile to an unnerving glare, as she slowly began to sit down. She sat cross-legged, leaning her head back and stretching her arms out, saying the one thing I will never forget to this day in an almost staticy, growling voice.

"Gloria Satanas, et Belial et Spiritui maloso."

The video ended with her arms bleeding, razor-like cuts running down them and down her sides. I was terrified at this point; I had just witnessed a girl practically be taken over by Satan! I had to see the second video, though. I had to. Summoning my courage, I selected the second video with a grimace. The clip started with her body in a pentagram. There was a man in the video this time, and the point of view was overhead so that you could see everything happening. It finally came together in my head: this was a satanic sacrificing. I wasn't very familiar with satanic rituals, but I knew the gist of them.

The photos were basically stills of what happened during the 2nd video. He spoke softly in Latin, his voice peaking on certain tones when he'd say something as he worked. He cut her fingers off in a rather gruesome way, blood splattering onto the ground and on him, as he used a meat cleaver on the point where the finger and palm met. He did it to each and every one of her fingers, then to each of her toes. He cut off her hands and feet in the same manner. He then took it down a more gruesome path that I had a hard time watching and comprehending. I was also extremely surprised at how well the girl took it; she didn't squirm or anything.

He removed her arms and legs in a truly satanic way. He took a scalpel and tore down into the flesh, cutting all the way down until he hit the bone. Then, he would run the knife from the shoulder all the way down to the point where her hand was cut off, and give his best attempt at removing the flesh and muscle to leave just the bone. He did it to all four of her appendages, blood everywhere at this point. She was well beyond the point of death, and her body was nothing more than a sacrifice to Satan. He cut down her midsection, starting at her chest and ending at her crotch, peeling open the newly-formed flaps to reveal her innards. He removed the stomach, liver, intestines, and pancreas. Setting them aside in a pan, he continued on with his hellish work.

He took a black marker, drew a line running across her neck, and picked up a woodcutting axe. Tilting her head back to reveal her throat, he gave a few test swings grazing her throat, and then with a grunt, swung the axe down precisely on the line, decapitating her. The sound was indescribably horrifying and sickening. It was like the sound of an animal being run over; you can hear the sound of every bone crushing and the muscle tearing. It was a guttural sound, and it was nothing short of a literal bloodbath. She had lost most of the blood in her body from the muscle-tissue removal during the attack on her arms and legs, but she still managed to spurt a decent amount of blood from the stump where her head used to be. He tossed the lifeless midsection away and held up the decapitated head to the camera, shouting Lucifer's Prayer in Latin.

I was done at this point. I closed the video, deleted the 12 pictures and the 2 videos, went into iFile and deleted every trace of that shit from the iPod, and shuddered. It wasn't until I looked closer at the icon background that I noticed it was the girl being sacrificed. I attempted to change it. Believe me, I tried. I deleted every single God-forsaken file using iFile, loaded it onto iTunes and even factory restored it, but it was almost like the background had been physically glued to the screen. At this point, I said, "Fuck it." I didn't even bother with salvaging the parts, and got rid of that fucking thing.

I did the traditional way of getting rid of anything I needed to get rid of: I took it apart, piece by piece, and burned it. No, I didn't burn the battery, but I sure as hell didn't keep it, after knowing that it was in contact with whatever it was inside that iPod that was unholy as Lucifer himself. I burned what I could to ash and smithereens, disposing of the metal casing in the garbage. The battery was properly disposed of, but the memories still remained.

I thought I had gotten rid of the damned thing; I hoped that it was gone. I burned it and had it industrially crushed. But that didn't change the fact that I had connected the damn thing to my computer.

Guess what my PC background is now.