Woodbine

Summary

… To die, to sleep,

To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there’s the rub,

For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,

What dreams will come, what dreams will I be found within,

What dreams may become real, for the dreams… wait,

What dream is this? What dream do I find myself within?

To sleep, perchance to wake, perchance to dream, to dream, to dream

To dream and to dream again, only to wake,

Once more, as always, in the dark.

Content Warnings: physical abuse, verbal abuse, body horror, blood, gore, death (implied)

Transcript

[SFX: noise, groaning, moaning, awful sounds]

 

GRACE_NARRATION: It feels like I’m trapped in a nightmare. Cocooned in this unending miasma of fear and judgement and the knowledge that I have now placed myself – and Bea – in a fate that we may never escape from. I’m trapped against a wall as the other vampires in the room come closer, surrounding me, eyes filled with venom, hunger unending, for power, for strength, for the chance to take what you want and face no repercussions. If you’ve taken something, doesn’t that just mean that the person you ripped it from was too weak to have it? Hands, reaching out, coming so close but never touching.

I don’t know where Bea is. I can’t see her anymore.

BEA: [panicked] Grace? GRACE? [SFX: it transitions out of the dream into real life, the way she’s saying “Grace” becomes less and less panicked] Grace? Hey- [SFX: she gets whacked in the nose by Grace moving too fast] Ahhhhh, my nose- [SFX: they’re back in bed, you can hear birds singing outside]

GRACE: [SFX: sitting up] Oh, oh Bea, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how much I was flailing-

BEA: Yeah, that’s why I was waking you up, ahhhh, I mean I know it’s not bleeding but that smarts.

GRACE: I’m so sorry.

BEA: It’s alright, I can regrow it. You have a baby nose and an adult nose, right?

GRACE: It’ll repair itself quickly.

BEA: Definitely a benefit right now. Alright, let’s try this again. [SFX: lies back] Still having nightmares, I assume?

GRACE: I just can’t stop thinking about the meeting.

BEA: I mean it’s only been a couple days. It’s ok, the house is locked, I’ve checked, no one’s coming in. Have you heard from Lennox since then?

GRACE: I… the look on his face. Just… I don’t know how to describe it. I stopped sending him the updates. So now I just have a phone full of impatient texts from him that grow in frustration.

BEA: Yeah, although he still hasn’t… shown up in my dreams over the last couple nights.

GRACE: [SFX: pulls Bea in] Bea, I’m too much trouble for you.

BEA: That’s fine. I’m very tough. Grr.

GRACE: Protect me.

BEA: Ok. Next time Lennox comes around, I’m going to bop him on the nose.

GRACE: Sounds good. Bop him once for me.

BEA: [yawns] I’ll get him good I will. [SFX: cuddles in] If I fall back asleep, promise me one thing, and that is to not flail around so much again?

GRACE: Yes. No bopping.

BEA: [snoozy] I was having the most wonderful dream. And you were there… and you were there…

GRACE: Shhh. Get some rest. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

BEA: Yeah, that’s the problem… [SFX: they both curl up in bed. The wind outside begins to pick up, causing the curtain to whip around…]

BEA_NARRATION: I have stopped having dreams about Lennox. I have stopped seeing him in them. This should be a comfort, but it feels… disconcerting. In them, he was…

LENNOX: [hazy] What do you want to know? Let me help.

BEA_NARRATION: He offered things. Knowledge, mostly.

LENNOX: [hazy] I can tell you have questions.

BEA_NARRATION: I do.

LENNOX: [hazy] I can tell you about Grace.

BEA_NARRATION: Oh, but that’s a violation of trust.

LENNOX: [hazy] You know where to find me.

BEA_NARRATION: At the back of my mind, waiting. Always waiting. I know that he is out there waiting. Because you can’t run. You can’t hide. You can’t escape. You can’t get him out of your head. The man leaves and the mark stays. 

 

[SFX: transition. Rhys is sitting in his desk, fussing with small tools]

 

RHYS: Are you sure?

AURELIUS: [phone] Yes, it’ll be safe, I swear.

RHYS: Alright… I’m going to press the button, and if I die then it’s on you.

AURELIUS: [phone] You’ll be fine. And if you die again, you’ll just come back-

RHYS: A super vampire?

AURELIUS: [phone] Maybe. Or a really friendly ghost.

RHYS: Ok, wish me luck.

AURELIUS: [phone] Just press it.

RHYS: [SFX: a small click and the sound of an airbrush] Oh! It works!

AURELIUS: [phone] Told you. It was just clogged.

RHYS: Stupid airbrush. Always breaking on me.

AURELIUS: [phone] I can give you a recommendation if you want a nicer set up.

RHYS: I might take you up on that.

AURELIUS: [phone] Then you can put a sick design across the side of my van.

RHYS: What are you thinking? Wolf howling at the moon?

AURELIUS: [phone] How dare you.

RHYS: Sorry.

AURELIUS: [phone] That’s fine. A common misconception. And it would be a dragon, thank you.

RHYS: Tight! Hey, have you heard from Grace much lately?

AURELIUS: [phone] I have not. You’re the one who works with her.

RHYS: I’ve seen her but… I think Lennox having a role in her life again is making things weird. Plus, I think it’s making Bea… tense.

AURELIUS: [phone] Hm. I’ll reach out to her again. I guess… call me if something is seriously off.

RHYS: Will do. For now, I have minis to paint. [SFX: airbrush psst psst] 

AURELIUS: [phone] Should I get into Warhammer?

RHYS: Can’t hurt.

AURELIUS: [phone] Oh Rhys, life always finds a way to hurt you. Even the simple things. Just wait and see.

 

[SFX: transition. Grace wakes up, but the room is cold and empty]

 

 GRACE: [SFX: she gets up] Bea? … Bea? [SFX: she gets out of bed and pads over to the door] Bea? [SFX: she opens the door a little more and it makes a dramatic, spooky squeak. She walks out into the hallway but it’s wrong] Wait a second…

GRACE_NARRATION: The room was mine, but the hallway is not. I am standing in a long, dark corridor with open doors lining the walls. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be anywhere near here.

GRACE: [quietly] Lennox, don’t do this. [SFX: a door slams down the hall] 

GRACE_NARRATION: I remember exactly where I am. The halls I once walked. The house we once lived in. Now abandoned. Horrible, empty, cold and dark.

GRACE: I don’t want to do this again. [SFX: nails dragging down a painted wall] [Grace gasps] Oh-

BEA: come heeeeeeeere, grace my sweet

GRACE: Shit! Shit shit shit–

BEA: [SFX: running] GRACE! HOLD ME! TOUCH ME! I WANT TO FEEL INSIDE OF YOU- [SFX: Grace takes off running]

GRACE_NARRATION: A shambling, nightmare version of Bea rounds a corner and starts speeding towards me. Her flesh hangs off of her like ruined leather, torn and caked in old blood. She is a ghoul pushed to their ultimate limit, a being made of nothing but hunger and spite, controlled by those two emotions as well. Her arms, I can see bone visible through the parts where the flesh has been pulled away. She reaches for me and it takes all of my strength to not retch. I run. That’s all I can do.

BEA: TOUCH ME TOUCH ME TOUCH ME!

GRACE: Fuck! LENNOX! ENOUGH! ENOUGH OF THIS!

LENNOX: [SFX: she runs into him and he grabs her arms] Hey, what’s the rush?

GRACE: Let go! And stop this–

LENNOX: It’s your dream.

GRACE: And you’re the one MESSING with it, STOP IT.

LENNOX: Remember this house?

GRACE: LET ME OUT!

LENNOX: [SFX: there’s a snapping noise, like a TV picture popping in and out, and Lennox lets out a pained noise and grips his head] Ahh!

 

[SFX: sharp transition. Bea’s bedroom. She wakes up, sits up]

 

BEA: Grace? … Grace? [SFX: she gets up and pads down the hallway] Grace? … the fuck?

BEA_NARRATION: I’m alone in my apartment. It’s… night. But I shouldn’t be here. It’s cold. It’s winter, which is wrong. It shouldn’t be winter. But outside it is icy and bitter. [SFX: there is a pounding at the door] I do not want to open that. [SFX: the pounding continues, angrier and angrier as the wood begins to splinter, Bea backs up and stumbles into a chair, sitting down heavily] I step backwards and collapse into a chair, threadbare and hard against my bare limbs. Fear freezes me in place.

LENNOX: [behind the door] Hey little bird. Little bird, little bird- [SFX: the noise like a TV show flickering out]

GRACE?: [behind the door] Little bird, little bird!

BEA: Monsters, monsters at the door. [SFX: the sound of taps turning on, liquid thickly gurgling out, dripping as blood starts to pour in from everywhere] I can’t get up, I… [SFX: she strains but is pulled back into the couch by hands, they grip and pull at her] Hands of leather and bone that pull me back and hold me here, my body no longer mine… Blood… blood… in this nightmare, this is a nightmare! It’s a nightmare, I have to wake up, come on, come on [SFX: she struggles]

BEA_NARRATION: [the noise of the world flickering in and out underneath] And in this nightmare the blood is everywhere, I can’t escape it, and I long for it but cannot hide the fact that I am disgusted, that I fear it, that I am still not one with who I have become, and I am alone, I am alone in this feeling and I am alone in the space and there are monsters at the door, and it’s too loud and too hard. Grace… Grace isn’t here, and I’m drowning in these fears and the blood that pours through the windows and the doors. It fills the room, and I can’t stand, I can’t get up, my legs are trapped here and I will drown, I will drown… [SFX: the blood is getting higher] I will drown here. Alone.

 

[SFX: sharp transition. Back in Grace’s old house]

 

LENNOX: [quietly, to himself] Careful, careful… don’t stretch yourself too thin. [a small laugh] Tell me, what do you see here, my darling?

GRACE_NARRATION: This house, we lived here, a mansion built of bone and held together by the violence I – we both – once perpetrated. Cold and empty by the time I left. I don’t miss it. Other than the conservatory, that was a special place. The rest of it though can go to hell. And now I’m back and I’m trapped between Lennox, as solid as the day I walked away, and a grotesque version of Bea, fetid rotting breath on the back of my neck.

BEA: Graaaaaace, [laughing] my love, come, I want to kiss you-

GRACE: No, Lennox, call her off!

LENNOX: I thought you’d like to see Bea?

GRACE: What did you do to her?

LENNOX: I didn’t do this, you did.

BEA: Babe, touch me, please. Let me feel you-

LENNOX: Isn’t she beautiful?

GRACE: Stop this!

LENNOX: Who says I did this?

BEA: [getting closer] Let me taste you-

GRACE: Stop, LENNOX MAKE THIS STOP!

LENNOX: You could get out of here anytime you want.

GRACE: [SFX: magic but it fizzles out] REMOVE ME FROM THIS NIGHTMARE.

LENNOX: That won’t work here, sorry.

GRACE: [quietly] Make this go away. I know you can. Please!

BEA: Come here… don’t leave me…

GRACE_NARRATION: I feel her arms wrap around me, soft with decay. Even in the dream I can smell rot, old blood, bile. Can you throw up in a dream and real life at the same time?

LENNOX: Let’s go somewhere… simpler. [he comes in close] You will never be able to hide from me.

GRACE: [softly] I know.

LENNOX: Good. Come. [SFX: the dream dissolves. They’re now in a fancy hotel room, but like a big one from Pretty Woman] Ah, somewhere simple. You miss it here?

GRACE: This was your call.

LENNOX: No, this is your mind. We’re going where you take us, in the end. Interesting choice. We had a good time at The Palms.

GRACE_NARRATION: A hotel room. It’s many years ago. The place is large, lavish, outfitted in fabric and ornate details. Once upon a time, I was rich. Still am, but I was rich then too. Or at least I was festooned in what Lennox gave me. What I earned. What I stole, sometimes. And when we travelled it was… in style. I was a younger woman then.

LENNOX: Did you want to come back here for a reason?

GRACE: No. I don’t know why we’re here.

LENNOX: What do you remember about this place?

GRACE: That room service was mediocre.

LENNOX: Why were we here? [he touches her face]

GRACE: A job.

LENNOX: A fun one.

GRACE: You had me find a man.

LENNOX: Flavio. What a great name.

GRACE: He leased one of your properties-

LENNOX: Our properties.

GRACE: Haven’t been mine in a long time, I don’t want them.

LENNOX: Your loss. He owed me money. And blood.

GRACE: You were unscrupulous in those days.

LENNOX: It was a different time.

GRACE_NARRATION: Vampires have to be invited into a house that is not their own. But what if you’re a landlord? What if you own the house? You don’t live in it but it… it’s yours. Before there was a bustling marketplace, before online stores and delivery and blood bars and Facebook groups where willing donors would offer up their warmth, you had to find other ways to get sustenance. There’s always snatching someone off the street, that’s always been an option, but as cities got bigger and cameras became a thing, that got harder and harder. You had to find new ways to find people and sometimes that meant… loopholes. You may live here, but it’s my house. And what if I enter? What if I come in to feed in the dark? And the stories began to spread, the houses where vampires were real.

LENNOX_NARRATION: May I? Turns out that some people are into that.

GRACE_NARRATION: Oh come on.

LENNOX_NARRATION: I’m here, might as well join in. Some people like being a little snack. Not many, but some. And landlords are willing to exploit that. Flavio, well, he was a real piece of work. He told us he had willing donors but… ah, he just wanted money as the middleman. Skim off the top, middle, and bottom. And he gave us what we asked for – blood, bodies, warmth – but it was a bad look. And I don’t like a bad look or a bad reputation. Someone always has to pay.

LENNOX: You didn’t hesitate back then. [SFX: footsteps, heels] Ah, a younger you had no issues. [sweetly] Come here.

GRACE_NARRATION: The younger version of me walks over, sits close to him on the divan. She places a hand on his knee and he gives me a wink. I would be disgusted if I didn’t know exactly the feeling of the fabric beneath my hand. Once… it was a very different experience. I’m older now and I have learned, but the sensation is still as clear as the day I last did it. [SFX: younger Grace giggles a little]

GRACE: Ok, now you’re just messing with the dream. I would never have sat on your fucking lap.

LENNOX: I know, I thought it would be funny. Scoot. [SFX: he nudges her over] Hm. Not giving her a voice?

GRACE: What would she have to say that you haven’t already heard?

LENNOX: What have you talked about in therapy?

GRACE: You, mostly!

LENNOX: I wasn’t all bad.

GRACE: YOU WERE ALL BAD, and I want you GONE, I have been RUNNING FROM YOU for SO LONG AND YOU NEVER LEAVE ME ALONE. I JUST WANT PEACE!

LENNOX: You want freedom? You will only find it in death. What did you do to Flavio?

GRACE: I killed him. Who cares?

LENNOX: What did you DO?

GRACE: I DRAINED HIM. I KILLED HIM AND I DRAINED HIM AND GAVE YOU THE BLOOD, THERE. ARE YOU HAPPY?

LENNOX: No! Not till I get what I want.

GRACE: You’ll never be happy. You will never be happy because nothing will ever satiate you.

LENNOX: Maybe you don’t need me gone, maybe I need you gone.

GRACE: I can leave. You can just let me leave.

LENNOX: You’re always there though, staining my mind. [he’s so close at this point] Do you dream of sunlight?

GRACE: Never.

LENNOX: Liar! Liar. I’ve seen what you long for. Bea gives you the warmth you crave. I could give you the sun. [SFX: the dream changes] STAY. 

GRACE_NARRATION: Somehow, even in the dream, my body stills. I freeze.

LENNOX: Sit. Wait. You’ll get the warmth you want. [SFX: the sun begins to rise as morning starts, birds singing]

GRACE: No, no…

GRACE_NARRATION: A sunrise, bright and harsh, unfiltered and painful, begins and I can feel the pain start to rise on my skin. Like steel wool being dragged across me. It hurts. It burns.

LENNOX: Maybe I should just be done with you.

GRACE_NARRATION: I can’t move. I can’t speak as my throat freezes. I can only watch as my fingers start to ash, as if I was burning away like incense. All I can see is, out of the corner of my eyes, through tears, Bea. Whole again, standing beside me, eyes wet and soft. I only want to touch her again before I dissolve away in the harsh light.

LENNOX: Don’t worry. I’ll protect her.

GRACE_NARRATION: He throws his coat over her and, like a magician’s trick, she disappears. Bea, sweet Bea.

LENNOX: I’ll take what I can get.

GRACE_NARRATION: In the dream, I feel nothing, only the sensation of warmth for the briefest moment as I am reduced to nothing. I am alone. And nothing more.

 

[SFX: transition. Rhys’s bathroom. He’s shaving]

 

RHYS_NARRATION: [SFX: shaving sounds] I fell asleep at my desk. Not uncommon, but I find myself dreaming. A simple one. Boring. In the dream, I’m getting ready for work. I think I’m in the bathroom at my old house. It… looks kind of right. But the paint colour is wrong, it’s too light. There’s only one toothbrush in the holder. The lights around the mirror aren’t correct. I hear a sound and… Michelle, maybe? No. I haven’t dreamt about her in ages.

RHYS: Uh… Bea? Or, uh… [awkward] maybe Hollis? Hell, I’d even take Grace right now. [SFX: closes medicine cabinet, it’s a mirror scare even if you can’t see it happening]

LENNOX: [right behind him] Just me, dear.

RHYS: FUCK-

LENNOX: [SFX: gets very close from behind] Shh, careful. You don’t want to move too fast with that razor. Liable to cut your head off.

RHYS_NARRATION: From out of nowhere, Lennox is behind me, so close I can feel his breath on my skin. He moves his hand up towards my neck, never touching me, although I can feel the air at my side as it slides by only inches away. He stops, his hand hovering over mine.

RHYS: [quiet, nervous] You want to dance again?

LENNOX: Oh, no, I’m just here to get you cleaned up. The razor please. [SFX: he hands him the razor. He starts to gently shave with the straight razor] See, one of the nice things about being alive this long is that small motions like this become second nature. You want to know the last time I nicked myself shaving? [pause, Rhys is too nervous with a blade this close to his neck to say anything] Oh, probably 70 years ago. It was during an earthquake, mind you, but that’s a solid record. So I like to think that I have deft fingers.

RHYS: I don’t need help with this.

LENNOX: I’m not here to help. I’m just here to enjoy.

RHYS: Are you done?

LENNOX: Rhys, it’s not like I could kill you with this. It would take so much effort, I’d have to cut your head off with a straight razor, and where’s the fun in that? Now, getting a taste of you would be much different, but that’s not something I’m just going to take without asking-

RHYS: No thank you.

LENNOX: Ah well, perhaps another time.

RHYS_NARRATION: He moves the razor away from my face, but continues to hold my chin.

LENNOX: You hide a strong jawline under the beard, my friend.

RHYS: Maybe this is just how I picture myself in my dreams. Maybe I actually have no chin under there. A black hole where the jaw is.

LENNOX: I doubt it.

RHYS: Is there a hot towel service after this?

LENNOX: Where’s the towel going?

RHYS: Ok buddy, slow your roll.

LENNOX: You set me up, I had to take it.

RHYS: Go.

LENNOX: Hang on, you missed a spot-

RHYS: Stop! [SFX: Rhys pushes him away but cuts himself in the process on the razor] Ah! Fuck!

LENNOX: Oh, tsk tsk tsk, that cut…

RHYS: [he touches his face] What… what is that?

RHYS_NARRATION: There’s something… under the skin. Coarse, hard-

LENNOX_NARRATION: Leathery. Like a bat-

RHYS_NARRATION: No, this is not your story to tell-

LENNOX_NARRATION: Your skin is peeling away like a burst casing, underneath is nothing but ghastly, taught flesh, inhuman!

RHYS_NARRATION: [panicking] No, no, this is a dream, it’s a dream- [SFX: the picture breaks, the mirror cracks, Lennox lets out a pained noise]

LENNOX: Damnit! This is too hard… too much strain… [he pulls himself together] Oh Rhys, it is always a dream! But this is YOUR nightmare, I have only come to WATCH and ENJOY. [SFX: blood starts to pour in from the sink as it turns on] Blood, always blood.

BEA: [distant, drowning, coughing] Hello? Anyone? Anyone??

LENNOX: [SFX: sharp popping noise] Ah! Not yet, not YET! [SFX: turns to Rhys] You will become the monster you fear, the thing you are running from, a sick, twisted beast, this thing that rips out from beneath your skin! Unreal, gruesome, you are everything you never wanted to be- [SFX: Rhys makes a horrible noise as his flesh rips and shreds into something new] A monster. You’ve always been one in some way, haven’t you? You became something new hoping it would… absolve you of that, I assume? A new life. But here you are… [SFX: bends down to him on the floor] Poor Rhys. Always running. Now you’re trapped. Nowhere to run. No one to save you. A monster, finally alone. Can you even speak? No. You look… hmm. You are a ghast. Now your damage is on the outside as well. [SFX: he stands up] Poor boy. You were so beautiful once. But maybe that was nothing more than a glamour. A trick of the light. [SFX: the dream is falling apart, there’s sharp breaks in the noise, Lennox grabs his head] Ah!

RHYS_NARRATION: Lennox grabs at his head in pain. My body feels… abhorrent. Broken. I don’t want to get off the ground. I don’t want to see what it has become. Who I am…

LENNOX: [pulls himself together] I’m sure I’ll see you around. Hopefully… not like this. It’s… ever so sad. [SFX: he steps over him and the dream dissolves]

 

[SFX: sharp transition. Grace’s dream]

 

GRACE_NARRATION: To dust, to dust I have become. And yet… I awake again.

GRACE: [SFX: she awakes in her room again] Bea? [SFX: she runs down the hall and comes across Rhys’s monstrous form on the floor] Oh, god! What… [SFX: walking in, crouching down] no… Rhys?

RHYS: [uncomfortable] Make it stop.

GRACE: Was Lennox here?

RHYS: yes

GRACE: Did he do this?

RHYS: I… I don’t know.

GRACE: I… we’re still in a dream. We’re… we’re in yours. Fuck, he’s doing this, he promised to NEVER do this again! We have to reset the dream. But… I think… maybe… he’s overextending himself… [deep breath] Rhys, dear Rhys, I’m going to have to do something to break out of this dream.

RHYS: ok

GRACE: I have to end it. And you have to die.

RHYS: are you Grace?

GRACE: I’m so many things, but in this moment… I can be that too. [SFX: she stands and extends a hand] Please, take my hand. Let’s go to the window. Morning light will… change things. [SFX: he stands, they walk through the broken glass, and the sound of a curtain opening and a scream from Rhys as he burns away]

 

[SFX: sharp transition. Lennox drops and grips his head in his office]

 

LENNOX: GRACE! Gah, [massaging his head, sigh] [quietly] Foolish of me to visit her first… should always start weak… [SFX: a sound like sand pouring through an hourglass]

 

[SFX: sharp transition. Bea’s dream, there is blood up to her neck, she’s barely above it]

  

BEA: [gasping]

BEA_NARRATION: Blood, unending. I can’t keep my head above it. Why not just… give in? [SFX: she takes one deep breath and disappears below. The sound becomes muted] No one is coming to save me. No one is going to help. In the nightmare there is no Grace and no Rhys and I will be completely swallowed by this world.

Is this what will become of me? [SFX: a pause, then a splash as a hand appears]

And a hand. I’ll take it. My lungs feel like they are burning, coming back around to being painless again. [SFX: she’s pulled up and breaks through, taking a huge gulp of air and starts coughing]

LENNOX: Sweet Bea. Hello, sweet Bea.

BEA: [sighs] Just put me back in the blood.

LENNOX: You’d rather drown?

BEA: Those are my options?

LENNOX: Come, let’s take you somewhere warmer. [SFX: the dream transitions around them into another room] The mall? Ok. That’s…

BEA: Back at the fountain at the Eaton Centre… dry and empty. [SFX: there’s a groan from somewhere far away] What’s that noise? [SFX: there’s a gurgling like water moving through old pipes, then blood shoots out of the fountain 20 feet into the air] Oh-

LENNOX: That’s a lot of blood. It seems to be truly on your mind.

BEA: I’m hungry.

LENNOX: Nothing will satiate you here. Do you want to stay?

BEA: No.

LENNOX: Then move us somewhere else. I’ve seen what you can do. Try. [SFX: the dream shifts and folds. They’re at Grace’s] Oh, cute. Grace’s. She finally bought that Morrisseau! It ties the room together nicely.

BEA: Get out.

LENNOX: Not your house.

BEA: Not your dream!

LENNOX: And you bring me to Grace’s… why? Not your own house, or your childhood home, or a forest on a sunny morning, or anything. Grace’s house. Why?

BEA: Maybe she’s here.

LENNOX: And you lead me to her. Curious.

BEA: [SFX: slaps the wall] Alright, you’re in my head. You’ve been in my head for WEEKS. What do you want?

LENNOX: You’ve been fun to be around. Much more willing to entertain me than Grace.

BEA: You just want to collect people, don’t you?

LENNOX: [close] I think we could be friends, if you’d let me in. [SFX: walking around her] What do you know about Grace and Hollis?

BEA: That they hate each other.

LENNOX: Oh, now, yes. But not always.

BEA: How is that surprising? I assumed they had some sort of connection at some point.

LENNOX: Boy did they.

BEA: Sorry, are you telling me that they used to date or something?

LENNOX: Are you sure you want that answer? Do you feel safe in your relationship?

BEA: Yes.

LENNOX: Then why the hesitation?

BEA: I don’t know, it’s weird!

LENNOX: I’m not trying to break you up, that’s… for teenagers. I haven’t been one of those in a very long time. But I think that Grace is someone who is… historically quite bad at being truthful about everything from her past and present. And I want you to know what you’re getting into.

BEA: If they used to date, I’m sure it was also fraught then as well.

LENNOX: I watched them grow close. I saw how they… imprinted on each other. Tooth to neck.

BEA: Hollis doesn’t strike me as the sentimental type.

LENNOX: They are complicated. Grace, though, soft as butter under warm fingertips. You’d know that.

BEA: Gross.

LENNOX: Do you make her melt?

BEA: More than you ever did.

LENNOX: Our relationship was more intricate than that.

BEA: Sure. Whatever.

LENNOX: You are a detective, sweet Bea. You want to know. You want to learn. Even your power, it speaks to your desire to understand as much as possible.

BEA: What are you going to show me?

LENNOX: Only enough so that you understand the past that Grace will never tell you.

BEA: How do I know it’s not some fabrication? That you’re just showing me lies to hurt me?

BEA_NARRATION: He stares at me for a moment, and then… his gaze softens, just a tiny bit. Almost imperceptible. He reaches up and pulls a small metal vial on a thin chain out from under his shirt, unclasping it and handing it to me. It is warm, the metal smooth from rubbing against skin for… years, the etching in it becoming lost to time.

LENNOX: In there is the last thing I carry from Grace. A small amount of her blood. It’s… a keepsake. Sentimental value.

BEA: Is this collateral?

LENNOX: I’m giving you something of importance, my dear. And I’m not lying to you. If I was, I would take you somewhere horrible. But I offer this as a declaration of truth. What are memories but dreams? Something I can see, that I can keep. I know more than Grace would ever care to tell me in a lifetime. Now, do you want to see?

BEA: Show me.

BEA_NARRATION: The dream around me dissolves into a fine mist. As the fog clears, we are standing in the middle of a living room, bedecked in middling art and an avocado-coloured rug. Grace is sitting there on the couch, she looks… different. Maybe not younger, but her hair is different, she’s in clothes I could never picture her in now. She’s sitting there, soft and golden, with another woman. I don’t recognize her. She looks to be my age, though, long blonde hair and sad, sad eyes. She’s been crying.

WOMAN: Are you serious?

GRACE: Yes.

WOMAN: Who the fuck is it? That friend of yours who’s been hanging around? [pause] It is, isn’t it?

GRACE: I don’t think this is working.

WOMAN: And this is how you tell me? We could’ve talked, Grace!

GRACE: I don’t know what that would’ve accomplished.

WOMAN: You… Grace- [SFX: the door opens, Hollis walks in] 

HOLLIS: Oh good, you’re still here.

WOMAN: I knew it, I knew it. You-

GRACE: Just go. I have no interest in drawing this out.

BEA: Oh my god.

WOMAN: You bitch, fuck you!

HOLLIS: You heard the lady. Vamoose.

WOMAN: I can’t believe you’d choose Hollis over… over me!

GRACE: I mean, who wouldn’t?

LENNOX: Oof, that’s cold.

HOLLIS: Grace, still on for dinner?

WOMAN: It’s our anniversary-

HOLLIS: Clearly, it isn’t anymore. Can I speak to you outside?

WOMAN: Fine! Fine. [SFX: the leave, she slams the door] What the fuck do you want you fucking skank?

HOLLIS: Who, don’t embarrass yourself.

WOMAN: You’re the embarrassment! You and Grace deserve each other! Both of you, terrible.

HOLLIS: Wow, ok, that’s mean.

WOMAN: [SFX: slaps Hollis across the face] Fuck you.

HOLLIS: [deep breath] You know, I promised Grace I’d wait until later, but… ah, what the hell. [SFX: they advance on her]

WOMAN: What- no, stop!

HOLLIS: It’s ok, I’ll see if Grace wants to partake.

WOMAN: No! No- [SFX: BIG OL’ NECK BITE]

BEA: Feeding your ex to Hollis, that’s… [sigh]

LENNOX: There is a brutality I need you to understand. That she has cast people aside before.

BEA: You’re trying to drive a spike between us.

LENNOX: I’m only looking out for you. The world will know her secret. She will have to come home. She will need to constantly be on guard until things have evened out for our kind. And if you are with her, then… your safety can never be guaranteed. You are soft, so young in the grand scheme of things. Anyone would be tempted to tear into you. But they don’t know about you yet. You could run.

BEA: I’m not abandoning Grace to the wolves.

LENNOX: Then you will be devoured alongside her. [sincere] I’m sorry, Bea.

BEA_NARRATION: The woman breathes her last as Grace walks out. She says nothing, only walking over to Hollis and taking their hand. Grace and Hollis embrace, faces touching, a deep kiss that feels like a wound being cauterized the whole way down. The nameless woman dies on the floor beside me.

BEA: Take me away from here.

LENNOX: Ok. [SFX: the dream dissolves around them. They’re standing in an open field, soft sunlight and birds and bugs] I hope this is to your liking. Bea, may I say something?

BEA: What?

LENNOX: I… [sigh] Being with Grace is… hard-

BEA: Are you going to show me you and her frolicking through this field now? Jesus christ.

LENNOX: No. Our relationship was always-

BEA: For fuck’s sake.

LENNOX: Complicated. And I have no interest in inflicting that knowledge on you at this time.

BEA: Great.

LENNOX: Listen to me.

BEA: [exasperated] Why?

LENNOX: Because who else is going to understand what you’re going through at this moment?

BEA: Just say it. Say whatever it is you want to say.

LENNOX: Grace is… she is a garden of delights. A beam of sunlight bursting forth through the clouds. But she can be fickle, difficult. Withholding. And while her love burns hot, the sun on a summer day can fry you if you’re not careful. I don’t doubt that she loves you, Bea. I’m sure she would lose her mind if she saw you here talking to me, because she would never want what happened to her to happen to you.

BEA: Then why are you here?

LENNOX: I don’t know. Pity feels like the wrong emotion. But I understand how you’re feeling. I’ve been here before. It is… difficult.

BEA: I know exactly what you’re doing, I know it in my heart and yet it still feels bad, Lennox. Everything, everything you’re showing me, every time you storm into my dreams, every time you push, it all burns.

LENNOX: The sun, ah. Another mistake.

BEA_NARRATION: The sun, warm on my skin for the first time in what feels like forever. I am ashing away and I don’t care, in my mind, my mind in the dream in my mind, a nesting doll of emotions I don’t want to keep exploring. The last thing I feel is tears on my face as I burn away into nothingness. Lennox watches, unaffected. Unaffected in spirit, but his eyes are soft. I don’t trust him. But I don’t know what to do now. I am alone here. I am alone. I am-

 

[SFX: sharp transition. Bea wakes up in Grace’s bed]

 

BEA: [SFX: waking up with a start, gasping] Oh my god-

GRACE: [SFX: wakes up as well, breathing fast] Bea?

BEA: Am I awake? Please say I’m awake, please say I’m awake–

GRACE: I think… we are-

RHYS: [SFX: waking up with a start from the floor] AHHH!

BEA: [SFX: yelling in terror, Bea punches him in the nose]

RHYS: [holding nose] AHH, FUCKING HELL BEA!

BEA: What are you DOING here?

RHYS: I could ask the same thing, why AM I HERE?

BEA: Are you sure we’re awake?

GRACE: No, no we have to be, we have to be, [SFX: getting up] come ON, [SFX: opens curtains] oh, no.

BEA: Do I even dare ask what’s out there?

GRACE: Nothing. Just a graveyard.

GRACE_NARRATION: The one he left me in to crawl my way out of-

BEA_NARRATION: Blood, pouring out of the sink into the room, down the hall, soaking into the rug-

RHYS_NARRATION: My skin itches, I can feel it starting to shred under my nails, peel away like old paper-

BEA: LENNOX, SHOW YOURSELF.

GRACE: He can’t hold us all in the same dream for too long. It’ll be too hard.

RHYS: Can’t we just wake up?

BEA: I hate that he can do this.

GRACE: He’s busting out tricks he hasn’t used in a long time. Scary.

RHYS: Why is he doing this?

GRACE: I stopped texting him. He thinks I’m going to flee into the night. Leave him stuck with no solution to his problems.

RHYS: Oh, ok, super normal reaction. [SFX: he keeps scratching at his arm, Bea grabs his hand]

BEA: Stop scratching yourself, you’re going to go clean through your arm at this rate.

RHYS: Already did.

GRACE: Blood in the air…

BEA: The ground outside is shifting- [SFX: there’s a crack in the ground outside, rain begins, heavy and oily]

LENNOX: I WILL ALWAYS FIND MY WAY BACK.

GRACE_NARRATION: A rotting version of Lennox pulls himself from the ground. Three dreamers, pushed together, islands in the sea dragged to the same place and resisting at every turn, he cannot hold them and himself together. Black blood pours from every orifice, his skin rots and he drags himself towards us on skeletal legs, flesh sloughing off behind him.

BEA: What do you WANT?

LENNOX: [SFX: slamming into the window, bones on the glass] I want my eye on you. And you. … You’re fine where you are.

RHYS: I don’t know whether to be offended or relieved.

BEA_NARRATION: A damp hand, slick with gore on the window, a bloody streak, fat and tendons and muscle and sinew all visible. His eyes, hard, bloodshot. Wet and soft, like pounded meat.

LENNOX: You know what I want.

GRACE: You want me back under your thumb.

LENNOX: Come back. You’re needed.

GRACE: I won’t.

LENNOX: You’ll be safe.

GRACE: What kind of safety is that?

LENNOX: What about her?

BEA: I’ll be fine.

LENNOX: You’d do it for her, wouldn’t you?

GRACE: … I would.

BEA: Grace-

GRACE: But you have overplayed your HAND, LENNOX. GO.

LENNOX: [SFX: a sickly, wet laugh] Call me, if you need me.

BEA_NARRATION: He doesn’t look at Grace as he says that. He looks at me with a sickly gaze.

LENNOX: Remember what I said, Bea.

RHYS: The sun is coming up.

GRACE: Go. Feel the warmth on your flesh.

BEA_NARRATION: The sun rises one last time in the shared dream, over the graveyard filled with empty, hand-dug graves, blood pooling in them, monsters crawling out, trying to pull themselves from the slurry. The corpse of Lennox collapses into a pile of mush and bone, unable to hold itself up anymore, the stress of the dream finally overtaking him, and as the light touches it, he turns into nothing more than a grey dust, blowing away in the morning breeze that comes our way, here, and in the real world, just outside the dream.

RHYS: I want to wake up.

 

[SFX: transition. Lennox’s office. He reels back in the chair, head in hands, in pain]

  

LENNOX: Ah! Idiot, foolish, foolish, stupid choice! Gah! [deep breath, steadying himself] This is a younger man’s game. But… sometimes you just have to take the risk. [sniffles] Ah, wonderful, my nose is bleeding. And my eyes. Very good, very good. [SFX: gets up, walks away] Hollis! Hollis, do you have any kleenex?

 

[SFX: transition, Grace’s bedroom]

  

BEA: [SFX: sitting up] I think this is real.

GRACE: [SFX: sitting up, pulling her close, smells her shoulder] Yeah. It is. [SFX: Bea sighs] Bea? Are you ok?

BEA: Yeah. I’m… fine.

GRACE: What did you see? What did he do?

BEA: It was a… nightmare. Just blood everywhere. And… ok… sorry, I’m just going to ask this now, but… did you used to date Hollis?

GRACE: What?

BEA: Did you and Hollis used to have a thing? Sorry, I know this isn’t the best time to ask but it’s at the forefront right now-

GRACE: I mean, ages ago-

BEA: Ok, but… I thought you would’ve told me that.

GRACE: I don’t know, I didn’t think it was pertinent-

BEA: You could’ve mentioned it, I thought you had more of a… estranged sibling vibe.

GRACE: I don’t want you to be involved-

BEA: Why? You keep dancing around this.

GRACE: We’re just trying to figure out what to do with Lennox.

BEA: Ok, but let me help-

GRACE: No, Bea-

BEA: Why don’t you trust me?

GRACE: I do! Of course I do-

BEA: Then let me help-

GRACE: No! [SFX: she gets up out of bed] God, ok, you know what? I’m exhausted. I have had my subconscious kicked around too much tonight, and I’m absolutely ready to be DONE with this. [SFX: putting on clothes] I’m going over there.

BEA: Oh my god, Grace, no, DON’T!

GRACE: Yes! I want to yell in his FUCKING FACE.

BEA: No, just… don’t! Just stay here! [SFX: the phone rings] Who the fuck-

GRACE: [SFX: answers] WHAT? … NO, YOU KNOW WHAT? … HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!

BEA: Grace, Grace, please-

GRACE: You absolute-… [SFX: hangs up] I’m going.

BEA: No!

GRACE: Yes!

BEA: Ooooook. I… can I do anything to stop you?

GRACE: No. He always finds you. So I’m done running. [SFX: Bea’s phone starts ringing, Grace continues to get dressed in the background] 

BEA: I-… oh, I… hang on, it’s Rhys. {SFX: she answers] Hey, what’s up? … yeah… yeah, the dream stuff sucks big time. … I’m sorry, man. … I mean… yeah, if you want to. Hang on [SFX: she turns to Grace], Rhys is very worked up and is wondering if he could come over. He says he’ll just hang out on the couch if we’re busy.

GRACE: Uh, ok, yeah, tell him to come over.

BEA: Yeah, come on over. No, no we were just in bed. … Do you think I’d answer the phone if I was doing that?-… no, you know what, never mind. Just come over. There are some extra vials in the fridge. I’ll go grab a couple for you.

GRACE: Rough time for everyone. [SFX: she walks out]

BEA: Grace?

GRACE: [SFX: she stops] What?

BEA: What can I say to stop you?

GRACE: Nothing. Not right now.

BEA: Please be careful.

GRACE: [softening] I will. I promise. I’ll see you soon. [they embrace] Take care of Rhys, ok? Then I can take care of you when I get back.

BEA: Ok. [SFX: she leaves. There’s a moment, then Bea gets up and the necklace from the dream falls to the ground] Oh, uh…

BEA_NARRATION: Lennox’s necklace from the dream falls to the floor. It’s real, cool and smooth in my hands. I don’t want to know how it got here. But I slip it into my pocket for safe keeping. I know collateral when I see it.

 

[SFX: transition. The door to Lennox’s office slams open, Grace storms in]

 

GRACE: What do you want? What more could you possibly WANT?

LENNOX: Here without an appointment? Shocking. Ignore the blood, had a bit of a nosebleed earlier.

GRACE: I’m here! I’m here! Now what? Want to rip my throat out? Destroy me? Throw me to the board as some sort of sacrifice to your petty desires?

LENNOX: I think it’s obvious that I would never want to do that!

GRACE: Then why are you torturing me?

LENNOX: Because you hurt me so badly! You run when I need you the most, and I just… I lash out! I’m sorry. It was… a bit much of me tonight.

GRACE: I want to be free of this. Just… please. Please!

LENNOX: [touching her face gently] Grace, my dear Grace, I’m so sorry. You can’t be. The board knows now. Only I can keep you safe from them.

GRACE: You want to keep me imprisoned.

LENNOX: It’s not a prison, it’s a space where they will not touch you, as long as I’m around. You just have to be willing to play ball. I can’t help you out there! [close to her] They would’ve found out eventually. You and I both know that. It just… happened sooner than either of us would’ve liked.

GRACE: No… no! What am I supposed to DO, Lennox?

LENNOX: I’ve already said it.

GRACE: This isn’t safety.

LENNOX: Is it safe out there? If you run, they will follow!

GRACE: You don’t know that!

LENNOX: You do!

GRACE: So I’m trapped here?

LENNOX: You’re not trapped. You can go home. And I’ll make sure you’re safe. [touches her face] And sweet Bea too.

GRACE: No… please don’t make her come here.

LENNOX: She’ll be next if you’re not careful. Don’t worry. I can protect her too. I’ll even make sure she doesn’t have to… do any of the harder work, if you like.

GRACE: Get out of her head, get away from her, get away from ME.

LENNOX: I’m only trying to help!

GRACE: You don’t care about anyone but yourself!

LENNOX: Maybe I could if you’d let me. You always shut me out.

GRACE: I need to go find Bea. Don’t you dare–

LENNOX: At least I talk to her, sounds like. [SFX: Grace slaps him, hard]

GRACE: [oh no] You… you…

LENNOX: [SFX: he grabs her wrists and pulls her close] You answer me right now if you want any sort of protection, or else you will never know peace!

GRACE: Lennox-

LENNOX: NOW.

GRACE: [quietly] … ok.

LENNOX: A little louder, please?

GRACE: Ok! Ok. I’ll-

LENNOX: We’ll. I get Bea as well.

GRACE: … We’ll be here.

LENNOX: I’m glad. [SFX: he pushes her away] I’ll get Hollis to send you the paperwork. Oh, don’t look so despondent. We always knew you’d be back. You’ll never survive out there on your own.

 

[SFX: transition. Hollis’s office]

  

HOLLIS: If enough people vote, he’s out.

MICHAEL: Yeah, I watched the explainer video you sent me. Then what?

HOLLIS: Did you not finish it?

MICHAEL: I did, I’m inquiring about your plans for the future.

HOLLIS: I have some plans for expansion using existing properties.

MICHAEL: And Grace?

HOLLIS: She’s just Grace. And that’s all she needs to be. No more, no less.

MICHAEL: Should I get more kleenex?

HOLLIS: Yes, please. I’m tired of Lennox taking all my things. I just want peace.

MICHAEL: And power.

HOLLIS: And power-… just do as you’re told.

MICHAEL: On it. [SFX: he walks out, Hollis sighs, leans back in their chair]. 

[end]

Credits

Featuring the voices of:

Emily Kellogg as Grace
Alex Nursall as Bea
Ian Boddy as Rhys
Rob Deobald as Lennox
J Strautman as Hollis
Taylor Davis as Aurelius
Bridget Cann as Grace’s Ex
and Shaun Oldfield as Michael

Woodbine is an original podcast created, written, and produced by Alex Nursall and Emily
This episode was written and directed by Alex Nursall
Production and promotion by Emily Kellogg
Engineering and sound design by Ian Boddy
Theme by Phil Wright
Music by Phil Wright and Ian Boddy
Recorded at Pirate Sound
Artwork by Andy Kelly
Distributed by Realm