Woodbine

Summary

Power is slippery. When you have it – if you have it – it can be wonderful, dangerous, deadly, intoxicating. But without it? Powerlessness is disorienting, brutal, painful, terrifying. What power lies within it, though? Bea is carrying more than she thinks in ways she doesn’t expect. If this gets her what she wants, will it all be ok again? Nothing comes without a price. Nothing comes without more questions. Nothing is as simple as it seems.

Content Warnings: violence, sex (mentioned), imprisonment

Transcript

[SFX: TV show, gentle audience applause, audio sounds like it’s coming from the TV speakers]

 

HOST: [TV] Tonight, on Midnight Blue-Chip Stock, we are speaking with Hollis Udell and Grace Hawthorne, the newly appointed CEO and COO of Emiel Holdings. Welcome.

GRACE: Thank you for having us.

HOLLIS: Yes, glad to be here.

HOST: There’s a lot to talk about, but let’s get to the crux of the matter, as this is affecting anyone within the vampiric business realm as of late: There has been a lot of buzz around recent personnel changes at Emiel and the expediency-

HOLLIS: Careful, Basil.

HOST: -at which it happened. Tell us about the direction you’re planning to take, post-Marlowe era.

HOLLIS: One of the main things we’re focusing on is continuing to modernize the company and create a space where change is fostered, not ignored.  

GRACE: Exactly. And I just want to start by saying that working with Hollis has been a dream. Not only are they going to provide strong leadership for the company, but one of the things they’ve given me is personal inspiration. They’re decisive, and have a clear vision for the future, one that speaks to a younger generation of vampires.

HOLLIS: One being built right now.

GRACE: [smile tight] Correct.

HOST: There have been rumblings about the fallout from Mr. Marlowe’s sudden departure-

GRACE: [SFX: gentle compel, so subtle] And we will continue to monitor things. Obviously, we are incredibly thankful for all that Lennox did for the company over his many years of service.

HOLLIS: For many of us within the company, it was time for things to change.

HOST: What was the discussion like behind the scenes? Lennox appears to have, excuse my casualness, dropped off the map since then.

GRACE: [pause, but never drops the smile] Lennox gave so many years to Emiel, but even though this was certainly a big change for him, I think he finally found some time to take a break. Of course, I’m sure somewhere down the line, he’d be welcomed back as a consultant, what with his endless experience and knowledge.

HOLLIS: I think he’s earned time away from it all.

GRACE: And, not to put words in your mouth, but we all know how much you’ve been relishing the chance to spread your wings, as it were.

HOLLIS: … Correct. [SFX: the TV turns off]

LENNOX: I was watching that.

BEA: I don’t need to ingest this… pablum.

LENNOX: Ah, I see you saw Grace’s hand go to Hollis’s knee as well.

BEA: Maybe they are fucking.

LENNOX: Grace is resourceful. 7 weeks in the brig? She’ll have come up with some sort of plan, and clearly this is a part of it. And Hollis is… honestly, probably hating everything right now, if I know them. [bitter smile] But they’ll never admit it to anyone. Except, maybe Grace. But they seem to be thriving. Maybe they deserve one another.

BEA: Well, it still feels wrong. I’m going back there.

LENNOX: Oh, is there a mail cart you could break this time? Maybe Grace is just moving on. Maybe you should too.

BEA: I’m not moving on until you’re off my couch at the very least.

LENNOX: My roof is still being repaired. And my windows. And my backyard. And all that blood you left on my hardwood.

BEA: That last one is entirely your fault. [sigh] Are you going to help me or not?

LENNOX: Are you going to try bum-rushing the building again?

BEA: Yes.

LENNOX: Then no. Give me back the remote.

BEA: Get a hotel. I’m not keeping you around if you’re just going to freeload.

LENNOX: Fine.

LENNOX_NARR: What Bea doesn’t understand is this: Love is fickle. Love is cruel. You can love something, someone, that cannot, will not love you back. You can give your whole life to something and have it mean nothing. [pause] I don’t want to be here, in a middling excuse for a 1-bedroom plus den, around someone who hates me but is allowing me to stay in hopes that she is able to extract some sort of use from the situation. But… I stay because… I am not sure. To be unwanted is to feel a blade that slides between your ribs and twists. Eventually, you learn how to ignore it, or at least very least use that pain as a motivating energy. And at least before I could define myself through work but… alas and alack, here we are. [sigh] Who am I outside of that world? I’m sure I will find footing again. I know it. But for the first time in many, many, many years, I do not feel like getting up from where I have fallen. I would like to rest. Maybe I have always needed rest. Maybe… I have just run my course here.

HOST: [SFX: TV turns back on] -Thank you both for your time. Coming up next on UnderCityTV News, a group that’s been described as a “death cult” has allegedly been tormenting residents on the west end. We will be speaking with an expert on whether you should be worried about blood-obsessed sects coming to your neighbourhood, right after this- [SFX: TV turned off]

 

[SFX: transition. Aurelius’s house, living room]

 

AURELIUS: 8 weeks and no word?

BEA: None.

AURELIUS: I’m sure she would’ve reached out if she could.

BEA: I know, but like… can I be insane for a moment?

AURELIUS: Maybe. What kind of insanity?

BEA: Just a theory that probably makes no sense.

AURELIUS: That’s fine. I was worried you were going to break a window.

BEA: What if she… truly reconnected with Hollis? And they’re… y’know.

AURELIUS: Yes, this is an incredibly normal and healthy way for a relationship to be rekindled. I myself have considered kidnapping my ex-husband in an attempt to win him back over.

BEA: I’m guessing you and Alden are only speaking through lawyers right now.

AURELIUS: Yes. I believe he’s in Whitby at this point. With his paramour.

BEA: Did you agree to couples therapy?

AURELIUS: Absolutely not. Also, the therapist he suggested was a friend of his from university, I am not walking into that room to get told that it’s actually totally fine to have an affair, and I was simply too sensitive.

BEA: Ewwwwwww.

AURELIUS: “Ewwwww” indeed. So what’s your plan? Other than eating all my cured meats?

BEA: Rhys keeps eating anything interesting in my place. He’s been restocking the blood but not the chips.

AURELIUS: He’s still at yours?

BEA: On and off. The company is nice. Also he’s…

AURELIUS: Hm?

BEA: I don’t know. He’s trying to make himself useful, I think.

AURELIUS: He’s always felt a little flighty to me.

BEA: He’s not flighty, he’s just… Rhys.

AURELIUS: He was sleeping with Hollis, no?

BEA: Yes.

AURELIUS: And he still is?

BEA: Uhhh, not since everything went down, I know that. I think that would be a… real exercise in breaking my trust, at least. Like if you need sex that bad-

AURELIUS: He could always call me. What? I have needs.

BEA: I’ll let him know.

AURELIUS: Please don’t, I was joking.

BEA: Were you?

AURELIUS: Yes and no. But have you considered subterfuge?

BEA: I think Hollis will know that we’re trying to distract them with his big hands if we send him over holding roses and a bunch of chocolates filled with O negative.

AURELIUS: I’d be charmed.

BEA: You’d be charmed if he showed up holding a pack of cured meats.

AURELIUS: Only if it’s from Cumbrae’s.

BEA: Aurelius, I just want to get her back.

AURELIUS: I know. I do too.

 

[SFX: transition. A bedroom at night]

 

GRACE_NARR: Moonlight, finally visible. I’m out of the basement. Originally, this room was built for Lennox to stay in when he had to work long nights and getting home was either too much of a hassle or too perilous, in those early days, when things were so fresh. It’s a little out of date décor-wise, but it’s still lavishly appointed. Comfortable. All the amenities of a top of the line hotel room. There’s an en suite bathroom. A small fridge stocked with blood. A window I can open just enough to get fresh air but not enough to squeeze out of, not even as a bat. I can smell the outside, though. Somewhere, tens of floors below me are bodies, bodies that churn with the tides like fish in a river. I wonder if Bea is below me now, moving in the masses of flesh that crowd the sidewalks. She feels impossibly far away. [SFX: a gentle knock, door unlocks and opens]

STAFF: Miss? I have some mail here for you-

GRACE: [SFX: jangly compel, a little broken] Leave. Find a fire. Burn it-[SFX: a walkie talkie crackles to life]

HOLLIS: [walkie talkie] Ah ah ah, what were we just talking about? Be a good pet, or else you go back to the kennel. And that’s just where I’ll start. Chris, just drop the mail off and go. [SFX: clicks off]

GRACE: Don’t you trust me with the staff, Hollis? Have to keep a baby monitor on them now?

GRACE_NARR: I’ve had chances now, in my limited freedom, to reach out to Bea, but I haven’t risked it. Because what do I have to say? Sorry, I’m busy becoming indispensable to our enemy because… I want to make sure that they don’t hurt you? At what point does that no longer make sense? I’m starting to forget Bea’s scent. And soon I’ll start to forget the person I was with her. I have been here before. But maybe it’s for the best. What have I brought on those I love but pain and a violent death? Maybe it’s better that I stay here. Away from her. Smile for the cameras, scheme behind the scenes, and never forget to be useful. Grace the tool. Grace the knife.

I miss you, Bea. I miss you so, so much.

 

[SFX: transition. Sidewalk outside Emiel]

 

BEA_NARR: 8 weeks have gone by. Work continues and yet I want to yell at someone to have the world stop so I can just figure things out. And yet, it never does. Also, I’ve realized that my antidepressants no longer work. I guess I’d need a way larger dose because it metabolizes faster or something, but my doctor doesn’t do appointments at night. And I don’t think she’s used to treating vampires. So I guess I will just ride this out, Rhys by my side, as willing as he is willing to be.

BEA: What do you see?

RHYS: Uh… ghouls.

BEA: How many?

RHYS: 4? No, 2. No… 4. Wait! … 2.

BEA: Do you need glasses or something?

RHYS: No! There’s just a bunch of mirrors in the lobby!

BEA: Great. Hang on, they’re just milling around in the lobby?

RHYS: Well, they’re in the mezzanine today.

BEA: That’s careless.

RHYS: [looking] Looks like someone’s trying to shoo them away. Yeah, they’re trying to get them back in an elevator, aaaaaand they bit a guy. [SFX: puts the binoculars down] The ghouls are getting ridiculous.

BEA: Did they discuss this with you in the afterglow? You could’ve talked them down.

RHYS: No, we did not cuddle and talk shop.

BEA: Heh. [pause] So would you still hook up with them?

RHYS: Feels a bit weird to do so now, things are a little-

BEA: Horrible?

RHYS: Sure. Messy, also.

BEA: [sigh] Ok, time to go get punched in the face again.

RHYS: Bea, can I say something?

BEA: You may.

RHYS: This approach… it’s not getting us anywhere. And at a certain point it’s self-destructive.

BEA: I’m aware.

RHYS: No, being aware and doing something about it are not the same thing.

BEA: What, are you and Aurelius going to the same therapist

RHYS: I’m more in touch with my darkness than you’d care to think. And I think you’re rebelling against Grace’s need to… protect you through her own self-destructive means.

BEA: [SFX: slumps back] Don’t you think I know that? Do you think this brings me joy?

RHYS: Maybe not joy but… release?

BEA: Ugh.

RHYS: I’m just saying that maybe you should reconsider your options.

BEA: What even are my other options? Lennox? I assume he’s still depression-watching The Property Brothers. Can you just… go over there and fuck them and distract them or something?

RHYS: They’d see right through that.

BEA: Yes, but maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe they would think that we wouldn’t be that stupid. Surprise! We are.

RHYS: I never thought I’d say this-

BEA: Then don’t.

RHYS: Maybe Grace can find a way out on her own. Like… this isn’t her first time dealing with someone of this… type of cruelty. Maybe you bashing your head against the boardroom glass isn’t the best path is all I’m saying. She might know what’s best for herself.

BEA: You’re saying just leave her to her own devices.

RHYS: I’m saying you two are really focused on saving each other at your own expense.

BEA_NARR: I whip around to snap back at this line of thought, and I stop. Rhys’s face is gentle. Worried. And I can feel how tired and sore and… dehydrated I am. I feel worn. I have been punched in the face by the security guards at this place so many times now that even they are starting to pull their punches out of sympathy. And I realize that his hand is on my knee [SFX: gentle shimmering magic]. He’s gripping it just a little, enough to feel the pressure from his fingertips and a soft, shimmering feeling that moves through my nerves. He is so, so easy to release these things to, which is… curious. He’s not trying to stop me, but he is trying to ground me from whatever I am considering.

BEA: I… [sigh] I know, Rhys. I just want to talk to Grace.

RHYS: Yeah. Is… is there any way to do that?

BEA: No, unless I can turn into Lennox and become a creepy dream walker.

RHYS: You could kill him and take his power.

BEA: I don’t think that would work. [thinking] But… I…

BEA_NARR: I have walked in memory before. I have held his hand and seen what lies within one’s mind. I have walked before. And I could again. Just maybe, just maybe.­

BEA: I have an idea.

RHYS: It’s not running in there again, is it?

BEA: No. For once.

RHYS: Ok, great. Then tell me, but, uh… let’s go somewhere else.

BEA: Are you worried about the ghouls?

RHYS: No, I don’t trust that you won’t run in there to get your nose broken again. [SFX: they get up and start walking away]

 

[SFX: transition, Emiel. Grace typing. Hollis enters, goes to say something, Grace stops them]

  

GRACE: [SFX: typing] Just a second… [SFX: email whoosh] Hello Hollis. 

HOLLIS: How’s it going?

GRACE: Wonderful. We just got a media request from a podcast called “They-Bossing Through the Glass Ceiling,” so I think we can call our campaign promoting women and non-binary staff… a success.

HOLLIS: I have to admit the good press has gotten at least a couple of people off my back. The lazier senior staff, bless their shrivelled hearts.

GRACE: That was the goal, right? Now maybe we can turn our attention to internal communications. I’m reading feedback that having the ghouls just wandering around parts of the building isn’t exactly… [deep breath] It’s… distracting people. I think we should have a meeting with the head of HR…

HOLLIS: [not feeling it] Right. Sure.

GRACE: … And… How are you doing?

HOLLIS: It’s been a rough day.

GRACE: Hm. That’s too bad.

HOLLIS: Yeah. How’s the suite?

GRACE: It’s been an appreciated change. … I’m not sure how open you’d be at this point to any others-

HOLLIS: Such as?

GRACE: Removing the requirement for a ghoul escort to accompany me to all of my meetings would be a hell of a start. But honestly, I’d just love to go out again, but I…

HOLLIS: Hm. You have been…  helpful.

GRACE: Yes, well, I feel it’s important that I remind you I am good for something besides… reproduction. [yuck]

HOLLIS: I’m sorry but no one you’ve turned aside from Bea-

GRACE: Please don’t bring her into this.

HOLLIS: -has been able to turn anyone, from what we’ve seen.

GRACE_NARR: I can feel sweat start to bead on my neck. What if they look towards Bea next? I want to see her so badly, but… If they’re not focused on me, then she’d be nothing more than their next prey.

HOLLIS: I’d love to hear if you have any thoughts.

GRACE: [extremely careful] Well… I would be more efficient if I didn’t need to spend so much time with my teeth in the throat of strangers – although I’d rather do that than be treated like an experiment again – … but otherwise it wouldn’t change much.

HOLLIS: You really want me to believe that?

GRACE: I don’t know what you mean.

HOLLIS: What if we got Bea to help you out?

GRACE: [SFX: gentle compel but it’s a little wonky] [the stress is creeping through] Don’t bring her into this. I’ve only been truthful to you.

HOLLIS: [sharp] Don’t even try. [shaking it off, realizing] Wow, I don’t know why I ever found you threatening. Maybe Bea is a succubus or something, she really pulled the life out of you. Anyway, I’ll think about it. Are you sure you don’t want me to see what Bea’s up to? Maybe she’d like to interview for a position again.

GRACE: No. … no.

GRACE_NARR: That should’ve worked. But my mind fills with Bea and the smell of fire from years and years before and I… I don’t know. Maybe… maybe I am draining away.

HOLLIS: Suit yourself. Thought you’d at least like to find out how your girlfriend is holding up. Her and Rhys have been out and about, I’ve heard. I also saw Lennox. She was with him. She looked great.

GRACE: Good. Glad to hear. [SFX: Hollis’s phone buzzing, Hollis lets out a sigh] Ah, the board giveth problems and then the board giveth problems again. And again and again and again.

HOLLIS: You’re telling me.

GRACE: Do you want to talk about it?

HOLLIS: … You’ve been on your own for a long time, how was it at the start? Post-Lennox.

GRACE: Other than free? Terrified he’d come back and ruin everything. Concerned about money for a while. I had to… re-learn who I was.

HOLLIS: [sits there for a moment, thinking] Did you ever have doubts? Not… doubts that you didn’t want Lennox around anymore, but doubts that… you weren’t sure what you were getting yourself into once you were on your own?

GRACE: Yes. Of course I did. But… Here’s the thing: Lennox is so terrified of being alone that he will do almost anything to convince the people around him that they need him. Not that he’d admit that.

HOLLIS: What does that have to do with-

GRACE: No, no. Listen. I’ve had so many years to think about it. How many times did he manufacture crises for you that conveniently only he could solve? How many times did he subtly pick and prod at your insecurities until you were left doubting every decision you’ve ever made? How many times did he push you to your breaking point, just so he could step back, point, and call you the irrational one. [laughs] He has spent lifetimes manipulating us into thinking that we couldn’t survive without him. But the secret is out now. We know. We don’t need him. We never did. You don’t need anyone, Hollis, but I can be in this with you. If you want me to be. [There is a very charged pause, broken by-]

HOLLIS: [SFX: phone buzzes again] God, can these people handle anything on their own? [reads the text, sighs] I gotta go.

GRACE: So, I guess the heart to heart is over then?

HOLLIS: I’ve got a lot to think about. [SFX: the turn to walk out, phone buzzes again] OH MY GOD. [SFX: the door shuts.]

GRACE_NARR: Too much, too fast. Everything all at once. You want and you want and you want and when you get it… then what? Hollis is… sweating. They underestimated how tenacious and single-minded the board could be. I mean, you live this long and you have to be able to focus. Ivy on brick does not worry about what’s happening in the trees, it concerns itself with driving its roots deep into the brick, until it is one with the structure, inexorable.

I have to admit that Lennox deflected a lot of the worst parts of being in charge. Hollis had power. I had power. We weren’t mere employees; we had a lot of control over this place. But… we still always existed under Lennox. And the tradeoff was that he dealt with a lot of the worst of the bureaucratic nonsense that interested neither of us. It helped keep us both around for a long time, just getting to do the job we wanted, or at least thought we wanted. And now he’s gone and Hollis is learning that maybe he had practical utility.

Hollis is sweating, and I see… opportunity. [cold laugh] Maybe I learned more from the old man than I’d ever care to admit.

 

[SFX: transition. A fancy condo in the Shangri-La Building]

 

BEA_NARR: While I am unsurprised that Lennox has another place in the city, I’m pissed that I’m only finding this out after he spent several nights on my couch. God, he’s a dillweed. Either way, I am even less surprised that it’s a penthouse. I’m more surprised that he responded to my text at all, much less gave me an address. I don’t think he was too pleased that I kicked him out of my place. I was just tired of him doing nothing but binge-watching re-runs of Wings. [SFX: elevator opens, fancy apartment, Lennox is watching TV. A pause]

LENNOX: Enter.

BEA: [SFX: walking in] I’ve never understood the whole fancy penthouse thing where the elevator opens right into the apartment. Isn’t that a security risk?

LENNOX: It’s not something I’ve ever had to think about before.

BEA: Cute. What have you been up to?

LENNOX: This, mostly.

BEA: Ah, I see the renovation shows aren’t just limited to my cable package. Are you looking for home improvement tips?

LENNOX: Maybe. I could buy a place somewhere warm. Turn it into a monument of my failures.

BEA_NARR: He looks the same as ever. Although the main thing I notice is that he’s… barefoot. I find myself wondering if he sweats, if he has ever been nervous and clammy. He’s still in a supposedly casual outfit of soft black slacks and a deep, wine-red sweater that likely costs more than my rent, made of a wool that even from here looks so soft that I just want to run my hand along it. But he’s on the cold marble floors barefoot. I guess this is his home, although it feels more like an art gallery. Maybe I could kill him and take this place. Does he have a will? Probably. Probably like… 20 of them. All different names and different times, different countries. I can only imagine how many other houses he has.

LENNOX: I’m allowing myself to sink into a depression. I think that’s understandable given the circumstances, no?

BEA: Is this your first real loss?

LENNOX: I had a bit of a low point around the early 1800s, but not generally, no.

BEA: And how did you pull yourself out of that one?

LENNOX: I moved out of Paris, I think the city air was causing issues, although the Treaty of Fontainebleau helped.

BEA: Lennox.

LENNOX: Bea.

BEA: I… need a favour.

LENNOX: Don’t we all.

BEA: A while ago… You said I was able to manipulate… memories.

LENNOX: You’ve shown some mild abilities, yes.

BEA: Could I do that to dreams? They’re like a memory.

LENNOX: … I’d hazard a guess and say yes. Why? [SFX: walking towards her] Have you found something new awakening within you?

BEA: Can you take someone with you into another person’s dream?

LENNOX: I have to admit, that is not something that I have considered.

BEA: Can you or can you not? I need… assistance. If that’s possible.

LENNOX: And you want to manipulate it?

BEA: Dreams are unpredictable. You know it, I know it, so I’d need to… make things work in my favour, if need be.

LENNOX: That’s incredibly devious of you. I like that.

BEA: I thought you would.

LENNOX: [SFX: close to her] Whose dream would you like to walk in, little bird?

BEA: Grace’s.

LENNOX: A dangerous choice. But an unsurprising one. Not moving on then, I assume.

BEA: Well-trodden territory for you, I’m sure.

LENNOX: And why do you think I’ll take you there?

BEA: What do you want in return?

LENNOX: Everything has a price, but that’s not a question for now. And you’re smarter than you look.

BEA: You just want to be mean to me? Sure, ok, simple exchange then.

LENNOX: [SFX: puts his book down] I’ll think about what exactly I want. You’re asking for a lot. But for now, [SFX: gets up and walks over, stops in front of her] what I want is for you to ask nicely.

BEA: You want me to say please?

LENNOX: I want you to say it in a way I will enjoy.

BEA: You’re real gross, you know that?

LENNOX: Failed attempt one.

BEA: Can you just help me? You owe me.

LENNOX: Failed attempt two. One more. [very close] Use it wisely.

BEA: … [sweetly, playing his game] Lennox, I need your help, please. … More than anything.

LENNOX: [quietly, but with a smile] Thank you. Now, let’s try something new.

 

[SFX: transition. Grace’s office]

 

HOLLIS: I just need this place to fucking FUNCTION.

GRACE: Get the board under control and get a second assistant if you have to-

HOLLIS: The budget sheets aren’t balancing-

GRACE: Then hire better accountants!

HOLLIS: Oh, you want to run this place?

GRACE: I’m trying to help you!

HOLLIS: Fuck. [SFX: the sit down] Shit.

GRACE: How did you not expect this, Hollis?

HOLLIS: I did!

GRACE: No, you were blinded by the desire to get Lennox out. Believe me, I know.

HOLLIS: I need you to go in there and tell the board to leave me alone for a week or something while I get everything under control-

GRACE: And you think they’ll listen to me?

HOLLIS: Compel them! You’re stronger than any of us if you just try, you’re just afraid to use it!

GRACE: I…

HOLLIS: Have you just been spending all your time using it to compel Bea to make out with you? Get it together, Grace. Once upon a time you were powerful and now you’re too busy mooning like a lovesick teenager to do anything useful-

GRACE: Oh, and how well would your powers be faring if you spent months using all of your energy transforming an endless line of idiotic mortals while being locked in a room in a basement, Hollis? It’s a miracle I have any life left in me at all! So forgive me if I’m not at my fucking best right now, but I am giving you everything I have.

HOLLIS: I-… [long pause] I’m so tired.

GRACE: I know the feeling.

HOLLIS: I’m going to take a break. I… fuck, I just want to go out.

GRACE: Must be nice.

HOLLIS: If you’re good, maybe I’ll let you out for the evening, if you’d like to join.

GRACE: … as in… outside of this building?

HOLLIS: I mean, I’m going to be there as your chaperone, you’ll be on a short leash. But I’m sure you could use a change of scenery. Stretch your legs. There’s that goth club we used to go to that I’m considering checking out again.

GRACE: I… I guess.

HOLLIS: [teasingly] Why don’t you try to ask nicely?

GRACE: [SFX: sullen bingly bingly] Oh please, my dear keeper, let me out for a smidgen of time.

HOLLIS: Ah, there’s the power. Maybe you should just be mad when attempting now, seems to perk you up. [shakes it off] Put on something nice. I’ll pick you up at midnight tomorrow. [SFX: they leave, the door slams]

GRACE_NARR: Weeks continue to pass and I only gain the tiniest amount of freedom. I am chipping at a wall of stone, just hoping to see a crack of moonlight through it. Even those I turn seem sluggish and ill-made. It is just rote now, nothing more.

Once upon a time I was fearsome. Now I am… trapped in a castle. And for the first time I can see the door, but I don’t know if I can walk through it. Because there is a choice here, a sword that hangs over not just my head but Bea’s. And I don’t know if I can be saved anymore. But she can be. And that is worth everything.

 

[SFX: Transition. Office]

 

RHYS: Can I wake you up if something happens? Or if the client meeting is too confusing?

BEA: I don’t know who lined up the Ogopogo, Igopogo, and Manipogo one after each other-

RHYS: Technically me. I wasn’t thinking.

BEA: You’ll be fine. Just make sure nothing happens to us while we’re out cold. [SFX: fluffs a pillow] Lennox, does waking someone up mid-dream like… kill you or something?

LENNOX: No, it’s just very disorienting.

BEA: Great. Yes, wake me up but only do it if you really have to.

RHYS: Noted. [SFX: Lennox opens a small glass bottle]

LENNOX: This is for both of us, don’t worry. A sedative will help guide you into sleep.

BEA: [sniffs] Oleander? Vander’s tool of choice.

LENNOX: I am aware.

BEA: If I kill you in a dream, do you die in real life?

LENNOX: If only we were to be so lucky. [SFX: pours it, hands her the wine glass] To sweet dreams. [SFX: cheers] See you soon, Bea. [SFX: bingly bingly transition into dreams]

BEA_NARR: The first thing I notice is the cool sensation of condensation on my skin. I can see shadows on the horizon, rapidly taking shape, charcoal grey transitioning to blue and then pink. It’s sunrise. No, that’s not right. It’s the sunrise on my tenth birthday, and I’m in our minivan. It’s a family road trip and we are passing by the hoodoos. But that’s not my dad driving.

LENNOX: A nice place to start, the badlands are quite pretty, I’ll give you that. But if you want to find your way to Grace, you have to change things.

BEA: Can’t you?

LENNOX: You wanted to do this, so you’ll have to learn. And what better way than the deep end? [SFX: he swings the car off the road. Bea screams, suddenly an electrical crackles, the landscape changes]

BEA_NARR: As Lennox swings us towards a rock wall, I panic and grab his arm, trying to will the wall away. The dream, in response, changes violently, yanking us with it. The image of sunrise cracks and breaks, and we are once again in darkness, fog stretching out endlessly everywhere I look.

LENNOX: That was a promising start. If we’re going to reach Grace, we can try from here. The first step is to find your way into… a more neutral space. A subconscious highway, if that mental image helps. There is a road that connects us all in the dark. Most people just don’t know how to find it. You have to create your own map.

BEA: How?

LENNOX: Listen. [leaning in, almost a whisper] Trust me Bea, and I can give you a little push. 

BEA_NARR: I can feel his words on my neck. As I close my eyes, he puts his hand on my shoulder and I can suddenly feel the subconscious world open up to me, spreading through my body like electricity. Grace. Grace where are you? I am searching for anywhere where the space feels… different, as if the texture in the air, beneath my feet, has changed. Marking it invisibly in my mind. When I open them again, there is a gravel road beneath my feet, filled with tiny sparkling rocks.

LENNOX: [delighted] That’s very good.

BEA: You can transfer powers this way?

LENNOX: It’s not transferring, it’s just… amplifying. If you didn’t have any proclivity for it, this would be useless. Now, which direction is she in? Listen. There are many, many paths to follow, many of them to nowhere.

BEA_NARR: I can’t see through the fog, but I can hear… whispers. Whispers of dreamers layered upon each other, until it sounds like I am enveloped in wind. But cutting through them… I hear one I know. The one I want to hear. And it’s Grace. So soft, barely understandable, but I can hear her. And before I can do anything, we… we’ve reached the end of the road, and there is only a chasm. Somewhere, in the darkness below, I can hear waves… the ocean. And somehow, I know. I just know that she is on the other side.

GRACE: [soft] I miss you, Bea, I miss you.

BEA: Can she hear me?

LENNOX: Hm. Can you build a bridge to get across?

BEA: I… [SFX: static, crumbling] No.

GRACE: [echoing] You can’t come here.

BEA: Grace, please, let me- [SFX: the cliff starts to crumble, her and Lennox step back]

GRACE: It’s too dangerous for you. I can’t protect you.

BEA: I don’t need you to protect me, I need to bring you home- [SFX: crumbles more] This would be a lot easier if the ground was stable.

LENNOX: Grace, pull yourself together!

GRACE: LENNOX, DON’T YOU DARE COME NEAR HER, DON’T YOU DARE COME NEAR ME-[SFX: crumbling]

BEA: Grace! [SFX: the dream collapses, they are in the room at Emiel]

BEA_NARR: The world falls away as my control slips and we are suddenly in a white walled room, empty except for a small desk and a bed, smeared with blood. The floor as well, small puddles around the chair.

LENNOX: Ah. We’re in her mind, at least.

BEA: Where are we?

LENNOX: Where she’s been spending a lot of time. The basement room at Emiel. Cold and stark, as it always was. [SFX: it breaks again, they are in the office] Her old office, [SFX: walks over] bars on the window, oh Hollis. Always ready to cage… [SFX: the dream breaks again, crumbling and crumbling and crumbling] Things are unstable, she is stressed and not able to settle.

BEA: Can I settle it?

LENNOX: That’s beyond your control. You’re here as a guest, after all. [SFX: the room falls away, house music starts to play] Huh. That’s…

BEA: Shh. This place is… familiar. I came here when I was younger.

LENNOX: Never took you for a club kid. [SFX: running hand along a bare wall] It’s not a memory, it truly is a dream. One of freedom.

GRACE: I want one night, one night free, just to feel like myself again. Just for a moment. I wish you could be there-

BEA: Grace, you are so strong, please fight. I can’t do this alone and neither can you, but I will be ok, please-

GRACE: I have one night of freedom and all I want is to spend it with you. I wish you were real-

BEA: It’s me, Grace. It’s really me.

GRACE: You’ve said that before. Someday, I hope it will be true.

LENNOX: She thinks you are a projection, no more than a trick of the light.

GRACE: Dance with me, one last night, without I-

BEA_NARR: The world dissolves and we are on the dance floor surrounded by shadows, a tiny space to ourselves. But we never came here-

BEA: This isn’t a memory. It’s…

GRACE: [sad] I can’t be with you, even when I’m here-

BEA: Is this where you’ll be? Are you… are you going out? Tonight?
GRACE: One night, maybe more someday. At least I can dream of you-

BEA: Grace, Grace, listen to me, I’m coming, ok?

GRACE: [SFX: fading out] I wish you could, but you can’t, you can’t-

LENNOX: [softly] Oh, Grace. She’s fading, Bea. Whatever she’s been doing, it’s killing her. Her subconscious is flickering like the last of a candle’s wick.

BEA: What do you mean?

LENNOX: I don’t know how much fight she has left in her. At least mentally.

BEA: Oh no, not after how many times I’ve been punched in the face. [calling] Grace!

GRACE: [faint] Bea?

BEA: You’re fading, and I’m not going to let that happen. I’m going to keep fighting for you. I have fought my way to your door many times-

GRACE: … you have?

BEA: And I will again if I have to, but it’s time we try something different. I’m going, ok? I love you.

GRACE: I love you too. But this isn’t you. Leave. [SFX: the dream ends suddenly and we’re back in the office. Bea sits up]

RHYS: [SFX: mopping] Hey, how was it? You ok? Ignore the water, the Ogopogo tracked a lot in-

BEA: Lennox [SFX: shoving him], get up. [SFX: getting up] Rhys, come on. We’re going out tonight.

 

[SFX: transition. Bea and Rhys are walking towards a club. You can hear house music thumping somewhere behind a closed door]

 

BEA: [passing the bouncer] Augustus. [SFX: she holds up a $20] For me and him.

AUGUSTUS: S’fine. You got on the guest list tonight.

BEA: From who?

AUGUSTUS: Big guy.

BEA: Oh for-… Thank you, Auggie. [SFX: they enter, the music gets louder] I shouldn’t call him that. I don’t know him that well.

RHYS: I told you he’d meddle.

BEA: Even a depressed Lennox needs a hobby.

RHYS: Smells like blood in here.

BEA: Yeah. Gotta admit… It’s kind of nice.

RHYS: Yeah… Are you ready?

BEA: Am I ever?

RHYS: No. But you good?

BEA: Yep. Shall we dance?

RHYS: Let’s do it. [SFX: door to the dance floor opens and they walk in, there are people dancing everywhere. It’s loud, so after this almost every line is spoken like you’re speaking over loud music. They walk around for a bit] There. She’s over there.

BEA: [deep breath] Ok. I’m going to go talk to her, you run interference with Hollis if you have to.

RHYS: I don’t see them, but if I do, I’ll get in their way. Good luck!

BEA: Can’t believe I need good luck to talk to my own girlfriend. [SFX: she walks over] Hey, you look nice, can I buy you a drink?

GRACE: [surprised] Bea? [hushed] What the hell are you doing here?

BEA: I had a dream that you might be here. I’m here to bring you home.

GRACE: Bea, no, stop, you can’t be near me-

BEA: No, let me talk. Grace, I’m not here to pick a fight. I don’t want to fight Hollis; I mean, I do but that’s beside the point. I’m not here to bust out a sword and go nuts, I’m here to tell you that it’s ok, you can just leave. Come with me.

GRACE: What are you talking about?

BEA: You can leave! You can walk away! You are out in public, at a club, getting led around on a leash by Hollis, but you can unclip it!

GRACE: I can’t.

BEA: Why not?

GRACE: Because they’ll hurt you! They will hurt you Bea. You have no idea what they could do to you.

BEA: Let them come.

GRACE: … What? Bea-

BEA: No. Grace, I love you. You are doing this for such a sweet, selfless reason. You want to keep me safe. How could I not love you for that kindness? How could I turn my back on you? But also, I need you to do this for you. Not for me! Trust me. Not just to love you, but to take care of myself.

GRACE: There are ghouls, there’s Lennox-

BEA: Fuck ‘em!

GRACE: The board-

BEA: If they come for you then we face them together.

GRACE: You… it wasn’t just Lennox in my dream, it was you-

BEA: Yes.

GRACE: You’ve been talking to Lennox? Working with him?

BEA: He’s a massive pain in the ass, but you take all the help you can get in times like these.

GRACE: I don’t want you around him!

BEA: Yeah, same, but also-

GRACE: Bea-

BEA: Grace! Please! Listen! What’s Hollis going to do, kill you right here in this club?

GRACE: They’ll hurt you, ok?

BEA: … I don’t want to sound callous but… so what?

GRACE: So what?!

BEA: Yes! Grace, please, I-… I know and I love and I appreciate how much you care and how much you want me to be safe, I do, I truly truly do, but what I need from you now is… is trust. I need trust, ok? Trust in the fact that I can also take care of myself, that I can stand up for myself, and that I can help take care of you as well. That’s… that’s it. But what I really need from you is for you to do that for yourself. Not for me, for you. You can’t be living for me and only me. You made it so far before I ever came into the picture. Not just a blade that sliced through the world but… a sword. Wielded expertly, by you and only you.

GRACE: I…

BEA: It was me in your dream, and I saw you and how you are fading. Grace, if we are going to face this danger then we face it together. The board, Hollis, whatever. If you’re going to do anything for me, then fight for us both.

HOLLIS: [SFX: grabs Bea from behind] Oh hi, looking for work?

RHYS: Hey, sorry, the distraction did not work, I think I made it worse-

HOLLIS: Why else would you be sniffing around? [SFX: pulls Bea over] You know, maybe this is a good thing.

GRACE: Hollis, please. I didn’t know she was going to be here. I-

HOLLIS: It’s fine. I actually think it might boost morale to have her in the cage next to yours.

BEA: Maybe, but I wouldn’t appreciate that.

RHYS: Ok, break it up you two-

HOLLIS: Careful there, big boy-

BEA: You didn’t bring your fancy magic staff with you? Not going to sic ghouls on the entire club?

HOLLIS: I’m not a monster.

GRACE: Bea, just-

BEA: Oh no, do not say “just go.” We’re not doing that. Grace, I know you can get out of here. [SFX: bingle] Let me help.

GRACE_NARR: She steps behind me, and I can feel her hands slide around my waist as a warmth spreads through me. Is it the psychosomatic tingle of love? Whatever it is, it feels glorious, like I am in the sunlight again for the first time in ages. Something swells in my chest.

HOLLIS: [SFX: compel] Leave-

GRACE: [SFX: big compel] SILENCE. [SFX: the sounds drops out, the music stops, gentle sparkling] I am leaving now. And you’re not going to do anything about it.

BEA: That’s it.

GRACE_NARR: And power crashes through me in a way it hasn’t in years, Bea’s hand in mine, and-

BEA_NARR: Without thinking, acting as one-

 GRACE/BEA: [SFX: big compel] We are leaving. From this moment, you are bound. We bind your eyes so that you may not see us. We bind your legs so that you may not walk towards us. We bind your hands so that you may not strike us. You are bound. You are bound. You are bound.

GRACE: And I am leaving. For good.

GRACE_NARR: The whole room stops. The music drops away as if the needle had been pulled from a non-existent record, and Hollis blinks, their eyes unseeing. They open their mouth to speak, but no sound emerges, their voice silenced. I take a step away and they do not follow. They cannot follow. There’s nothing they can do. The room shimmers with power and I feel alive. Bea still holds on tight at my waist, her head on my shoulder.

GRACE: Hollis, I quit. [SFX: they take each other’s hand and begin to make their way out quickly]

BEA: Rhys! Come on! [SFX: they run as the music starts up again. We hear a door close on an office and the sound of someone sitting down, Lennox lets out a chuckle]

 

LENNOX_NARR: Love is fickle. Love is cruel. You can love something that cannot, will not love you back. You can give your whole life to something and have it mean nothing. But there can be kindness. I watch from the owner’s suite above as the crowd begins to churn and gyrate again, the music sliding back under them as if nothing had happened. Grace’s spell dissipates into the air like perfume, only a whiff of it left. But she runs towards the door, towards a cab parked by the entrance. Even from here, I can see how tightly they hold each other’s hands. Infatuation can be mistaken for love, but what are those first, glorious years but infatuation you can’t resist? Everything in full bloom, hearts open wide.

And Hollis stands there, still on the dance floor, face slack, an empty circle around them. They could’ve killed Grace, or Bea, or even Rhys, just because. But what would that solve? It only creates more problems, and they already have enough. Somewhere, deep within, I think maybe I would still help them, if they asked. But they won’t, and so I won’t. Power is like love: You cannot try to grab it all at once, you have to earn it, build it over years, maintain it, guard it. You can’t have everything, all of it, all of the time. You overextend. And you lose trust. Hollis… will have to learn that. We always do.

 

[SFX: transition. Cab]

 

GRACE: [to the driver] Hey, you can stop here.

BEA: Don’t you want to go home?

GRACE: I do, but also I don’t. I don’t feel like waiting.

BEA: Four Seasons? Bit chi-chi.

GRACE: I am a lot of things right now. [SFX: the car stops] Thank you. Bea? [SFX: she gets out]

BEA: Yeah, yeah. Thanks. [SFX: she gets out, closes the car door, car drives away. They head inside and head towards the elevator] Don’t you need to get a room?

GRACE: I have a penthouse here.

BEA: You were going to tell me this when?

GRACE: It was a “gift” from Lennox many years ago. I barely use it because… I mean, why would I?

BEA: Except for tonight. [SFX: they enter the elevator]

GRACE: Except for tonight. And also a few days scattered throughout the year. I keep it serviced. I lend it to friends who are visiting. The fridge is empty, mind you.

BEA: We can order in.

GRACE: We can. [SFX: door opens]

BEA: Can I get this in the divorce? I think I’d make an amazing divorcée swanning around in a caftan, looking out over the city.

GRACE: You want to marry me?

BEA: Depends, do I have to take your last name? [SFX: pins her to the wall]

GRACE: [close] That’s not what I want you taking tonight.

GRACE_NARR: I have no interest in holding back tonight. I pin her to the wall with my hands and mouth like I’m starving, and I am, every part of me is ravenous, filled with blood and longing for it like I have never tasted something so intoxicating. She is sweet and salty and returns the same kind of esurience against my tongue. For every button I rip off, I make the smallest of mental notes to have new shirts sent up. Ah, the joys of a concierge. They do not ask questions. They just bring you a freshly pressed blouse. Hers is in tatters on the floor. I don’t care, I don’t care about anything else right now, I am starving and she is perfect, there is not a single part of her that I am not searching for with my mouth.

BEA: I missed you too.

GRACE: How badly?

BEA: Very much so.

GRACE: Show me. [SFX: creative rustling, a small laugh] Good girl.

 

Credits

Emily Kellogg as Grace
Alex Nursall as Bea
Ian Boddy as Rhys
J Strautman as Hollis
Rob Deobald as Lennox
Kat Letwin as Wilhelmina
Taylor Davis as Aurelius
Michael Hogan as Silas
Alan Nursall as Basil
and Mariella Lopez as the staffer

Woodbine is an original podcast created, written, and produced by Emily Kellogg and Alex Nursall
Showrunning and direction 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