Unwell Season 5/Episode 7 - The Chasm
by Bilal Dardai
Back at the beginning
I’ve always been like this
Sing of joy and sing of grace
Content Advisories for this episode can be found here.
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TThis episode features: Clarisa Cherie Rios as Lily, Mark Soloff as Silas, Pat King as Chester, Marsha Harman as Dot, Michael Turrentine as Wes, Krista D’Agostino as Hazel, Sebastian Orr as $2Fjds#, Ele Matelan as *232#4jkgd..
Written by Bilal Dardai, sound design by Eli Hamada McIlveen, directed by Jeffrey Nils Gardner, assistant director Lauren Grace Thompson, theme music composed by Stephen Poon, recording engineer Mel Ruder, associate producer Ani Enghdahl, Theme performed by Stephen Poon, Lauren Kelly, Gunnar Jebsen, Travis Elfers, Mel Ruder, and Betsey Palmer, produced by haydée r. souffrant, Unwell lead sound designer Eli Hamada McIlveen, Executive Producers Eleanor Hyde and Jeffrey Nils Gardner, by HartLife NFP.
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A CASSETTE TAPE RECORDING OF
HAZEL’S VOICE.
HAZEL: Audio recording by Hazel Gibbons, head of the
Delphic Order of Mt. Absalom, Ohio. I make this
statement of sound mind and free will, and I
swear upon every sacred principle of the Order
that the words are mine alone. (BEAT) Hello,
Chester. This message is for you and only you.
Please don’t share it with the rest of the Order.
I’ll speak with them separately. (BEAT) I need to
apologize to you, Chester.
THE SOUND OF STEADY, HEAVY RAIN ON
THE ROOF ABOVE THE FENWOOD PORCH.
THE WIND BLOWS THE SWING BACK AND
FORTH. FROM A DISTANCE, HEAVY
BREATHS AND RUNNING FOOTSTEPS IN
GRAVEL AND PUDDLES OF WATER COMING
CLOSER, THEN LEAPING UP THE STEPS
TWO AT A TIME.
HAZEL: Actually, I need to make two apologies.
CHESTER POUNDS FRANTICALLY AT THE
FRONT DOOR.
CHESTER: Hello? Hello! Lily! Dot! Anyone! Hello!
FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE, DOT
SHUFFLES EXCITEDLY TO THE DOOR TO
OPEN IT.
DOT: Tee-hee-hee, I know who that is! (OPENING THE
DOOR WITH A FLOURISH) Welcome home, Lilybelle!
Give your mom a big...Lilybelle? Oh. You’re not.
CHESTER: It’s me, Dot. It’s Chester.
DOT: Chester. Of course you are. But have you seen my
daughter? Lily? She was supposed to come visit
me. Should be here any minute.
A BARELY AUDIBLE PHONE ALARM IS
GOING OFF SOMEWHERE IN THE HOUSE.
CHESTER: Dot, I...I haven’t seen her yet, but...I’m sure
she’s on her way?
DOT: Come on in, come on in. Fuck, Chester, you look
like you just went over the falls in a barrel.
CHESTER: My umbrella broke.
DOT: Which is what you get for buying cheap umbrellas.
I’m sure we can find you another one. Guests keep
leaving them behind and we keep collecting ’em,
you know how it is. Jesus shit, look at that
storm. I hope Lily isn’t lost. Say, you didn’t
happen to bring a casserole with you?
CHESTER: No, I didn’t...Dot, is there anyone else here?
DOT: Slow down, stud. At least buy me dinner first.
CHESTER: What? That’s not what I--!
WES: (APPEARS) Dot! Here you are.
CHESTER: (YELPS) Aah!
DOT: Wes! I was wondering where you went. Is
everything ready for Lily?
WES: Ready?
CHESTER: Because, um, Lily’s coming to visit today?
WES: Oh. All right. Give me a second. (DISAPPEARS)
DOT: Have you met Wes before?
CHESTER: Yes.
DOT: That...whooshing thing of his? He does that
sometimes. It’s very useful.
WES: (APPEARS) Found her.
CHESTER: (YELPS) Aah!
WES: She’s coming down.
LILY: (FROM FAR OFF IN THE HOUSE) Mom?
DOT: Ope, I hear her! Out of the way, Chester, I need
to hug my little girl hello.
LILY: (COMING DOWN THE STAIRS) Mom, I was upstairs.
Sorry I didn’t hear you, I was on the phone with
dad.
DOT: What? You were already...ohhh, very clever,
Lilybelle, sneaking in the back like that. That’s
my girl. Give your mother a hug now. I’m so glad
you’ve finally come to visit.
LILY: Mom...Mom, I’ve been here.
DOT: (UNSURE) You have?
LILY: Yes, Mom. I’ve been here with you for months.
Remember?
DOT: Oh. Oh, that’s right. Yes, that’s right. I knew
that. (DEEP BREATH) When I hurt my leg. (BEAT) Is
everybody else hearing that sound or is it just
my broken brain that’s hearing it?
WES: It’s your alarm, Dot. From your phone.
DOT: Alarm? What the fuck time is it?
LILY: It’s after eight.
DOT: Why’d I want to wake up after eight?
LILY: Eight at night, Mom.
DOT: Why’d I want to wake up after eight at night?
WES: It’s not a wakeup alarm.
LILY: It’s for your meds, Mom.
DOT: Right. My meds. Where...did I put that bottle.
WES: They’re in a case in your room, Dot. Come on,
I’ll show you.
DOT: Thank you, Wes. Sorry about the confusion,
everyone. Some days are better than others. You
understand. No, you don’t understand, why would
you. Ignore me. Lily, I think Chester needs
something.
WES AND DOT HEAD UPSTAIRS.
CHESTER: (QUIETLY) I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to say.
LILY: It’s hard to know.
CHESTER: Is she like that...all the time now?
LILY: Not all the time, but it’s been getting worse
since the storms picked up.
CHESTER: You think Silas is doing this to her?
LILY: No, not like he’s attacking her or anything,
but...it didn’t used to rain like this in Mt.
Absalom. Ever.
CHESTER: I know.
LILY: For Mom that feels unfamiliar, and it’s throwing
her off. She’ll be okay. She’ll take her meds and
get some rest and tomorrow she’ll be better.
You’re soaked, Chester. Do you want a towel?
CHESTER: Yes, please.
LILY: Follow me. You can leave your coat and shoes
there.
THEY WALK THROUGH THE HOUSE TO THE
LINEN CLOSET.
CHESTER: There’s something else, Lily. It’s why I’m here.
I can’t find Hazel. You haven’t seen her, have
you?
LILY: Not me. You’re saying she’s missing?
CHESTER: She’s not missing, she’s...gone. She went to do
something.
LILY: To do what.
CHESTER: I don’t know. Look, I spent the morning in Julian
collecting supplies and talking to Mayor Zimmer
about sending aid if we need it. When I got back
home I found this in an envelope in my mailbox.
LILY: A cassette tape?
CHESTER: Except I don’t have a tape player at home. So I
stopped by Hazel’s house to tell her, look, it’s
me, whatever you have to say to me you should say
to my face instead of using technology from 1975.
LILY: But she wasn’t home.
CHESTER: I went to the August Lodge, but the tape player
we had in the office wasn’t there. I went to
Marisol’s shop but--
LILY: --all of her tape players are scrap and spare
parts--
CHESTER: --right, and then I remembered that Aiden’s old
Buick had a tape deck. I listened to it in the
car and then I told him I needed to borrow the
car and I rushed over here to you.
LILY: You didn’t tell Aiden?
CHESTER: Hazel asked me not to tell the other Delphics.
It’s on the tape...maybe you should just listen,
let’s go out to the car.
LILY: No need. Abbie has a tape player. Wes?
WES: (APPEARS) Hi.
CHESTER: (YELPS) Aah!
LILY: Is Mom...?
WES: She’s fine. She’s reading. She’s a little
embarrassed and doesn’t want to talk about it.
LILY: I need to borrow Abbie’s tape player.
WES: Are they okay with that?
LILY: I’ll ask permission later. This is an emergency.
They’ll understand. Would you mind please getting
it for me?
WES: Happy to help, Lily. (DISAPPEARS)
LILY: Are you going to scream again when he comes back?
CHESTER: I’m sorry, I’m not used to that. You’re telling
me it doesn’t unsettle you even a little?
LILY: There’s plenty of other shit I’m trying not to
freak out about. Wes popping up here and there
doesn’t make the list.
CHESTER: Can he, you know, teleport other stuff with him
or...?
WES: (FROM UPSTAIRS) Found it! Be right there. (RUSHES
BACK DOWNSTAIRS)
LILY: Nobody’s an expert on this. I don’t even think
Wes knows everything about himself.
WES: (ARRIVING) One tape player. If Abbie asks, you
took it.
CHESTER: Thanks, Wes. Hold on, I need to...
HE POPS THE TAPE IN AND REWINDS IT,
THEN PRESSES PLAY.
HAZEL: (ON TAPE) ...I make this statement of sound mind
and free will, and...
BRIEF FAST-FORWARD.
CHESTER: She does this little disclaimer, it’s...not...
HAZEL: (ON TAPE) ...and he hated me, Chester. Hated
that I got...
STOP AND BRIEF REWIND.
CHESTER: Too far...forgot how long you need to press it...
WES: What are we listening to?
LILY: Hazel’s missing. But she left some kind of
recorded note for Chester.
HAZEL: (ON TAPE) ...I’ll speak with them separately.
(BEAT) I need to apologize to you, Chester.
Actually, I need to make two apologies.
HAZEL’S SPEECH GRADUALLY CHANGES FROM
THE FIDELITY OF THE CASSETTE TAPE TO
THE SOUND IN HER OFFICE AS SHE RECORDED
IT.
HAZEL: (A SLIGHT CHUCKLE) Did you ever hear about...did
I ever tell you? The sixth-grade end-of-year
field trip to Cincinnati. You remember, don’t
you, from when your class got to go? A full day
away from Mt. Absalom, you’d go to see the Music
Hall, the art museum, the conservatory...the zoo.
You probably looked forward to the zoo, didn’t
you. There was that one time I baby-sat you and
you told me everything you knew about polar
bears. (BEAT) I didn’t want to go with the rest
of my class. Not to the zoo. Because I looked up
a travel guide before the trip, and what I found
out about the zoo was that one of the habitats
was Gibbon Island. And I knew, immediately, what
was going to happen to me. James Middlecamp was
going to happen to me. James Middlecamp, he was a
boy in my class and he hated me, Chester. Hated
that I got better grades than him, hated that our
family had such deep roots in the town...any time
I glanced his way he’d look back with those
icy blue eyes of his like he wanted me to drop
dead. And we were going to go to the Cincinnati
Zoo together, and the second he noticed there was
a Gibbon Island he would never let me hear the
end of it. (BEAT) We went to the zoo first. No,
that’s not true, we saw Fountain Square first,
then we went to the zoo. We went inside the
gates, and right there was a banner, this
bigger-than-life photo of this silly-looking
monkey right above the words “Gibbon Island.”
I saw his face light up, and he turned to me, and
right before he opened his mouth, Alice Slade
points at the banner and says “That looks like
James!” The whole class bursts out laughing. Then
Daniel...Daniel, I’ve...huh, I’ve forgotten his
last name. Daniel says “yeah, that’s James all
right!” The whole class is howling. Ms. Travers
reads us the riot act. Makes Alice and Daniel
say sorry to James in front of all of us, tells
us that anything like that happens again she will
march us all back to the bus and end the trip
entirely. Nothing else happens. Some whispers and
giggling when we went through the habitat. But
nobody, not even James Middlecamp, ever says a
word about my last name. Not then, not ever. All
that for five dollars each to Alice and Daniel.
Well. Two five-dollar bills, and Jennifer Doherty
stopped talking to me that summer. When she found
out what I’d done she said I’d been too mean and
she didn’t want anything else to do with me.
(BEAT) When the Revelator entered the town,
Chester. When the wolves came, when everything
else turned upside-down...I put all of my focus
on what I could do about it. It’s what I always
do. You know that. But I stopped looking at...I
stopped seeing everyone I was trying to save. I
stopped seeing you, Chester, and after Rudy
was...after Rudy died, it didn’t even occur to me
to ask how it had affected you. I didn’t
recognize your grief until you threatened to
leave the Order. For you to even imagine that.
I’m sorry I didn’t notice it before. Truly I am.
THE SOUND OF HAZEL RECORDING IN THE
OFFICE HAS GRADUALLY RETURNED TO THE
FIDELITY OF THE AUDIO CASSETTE. AS IT
PLAYS, HAZEL’S VOICE IS HEARD UNDER THE
SOUND OF THE RAIN OUTSIDE HITTING THE
SIDEWALKS AND STREETS AROUND TOWN HALL.
HAZEL SHIVERS UNDER AN UMBRELLA AS SLOW
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH HER: AN OLD MAN AND
TWO DOGS.
HAZEL: (ON TAPE) It made me realize that I’d waited too
long. Planned too much. The Revelator is breaking
us, Chester. I won’t let that happen.
THE FOOTSTEPS HALT.
HAZEL: (ON TAPE) And that’s the second thing I need to
apologize for. Not telling you what I’m doing
next. But you’d want to come with me, the same
way you went with Rudy. If this goes the way I
hope it will, then I’ll tell you everything when
I come back. (BEAT) If this doesn’t work
then you’ll have to be the one to hold the Order
together.
SILAS: Hazel Gibbons.
HAZEL: (ON TAPE) The frost is here. We must save as much
of the garden as we can.
THE TAPE STOPS. THE RAIN CONTINUES.
MOLOCH AND ABADDON PANT.
SILAS: I found your message, Miss Gibbons. “Meet me at
the western well.” No request, no courtesy.
HAZEL: You came anyhow.
SILAS: “The western well.” You might have simply called
it the Town Hall.
HAZEL: It isn’t Town Hall to you, is it, Reverend Lodge?
SILAS: No. Nor are we at the well right now. Until we
are, I hesitate to say we are met.
HAZEL: I understand. Please follow me. (BEAT) Will your
dogs...?
SILAS: Do they discomfort you?
HAZEL: If you want to bring them, I can be--
SILAS: --no need. Moloch, Abaddon. Stay.
THE DOGS WHINE BRIEFLY, BUT OBEY. HAZEL
AND SILAS HEAD TO A SIDE DOOR OF THE
BUILDING. SHE UNLOCKS IT, AND LEADS
THEM DOWN A SET OF STAIRS. THE RAIN
MUFFLES AND BECOMES MUTED AS THEY
DESCEND, BUT THE SOUND OF RUSHING WATER
CAN BE HEARD GROWING CLOSER.
SILAS: Where did you find the book?
HAZEL: The book?
SILAS: This one. The one in which I found your message.
HAZEL: That’s definitely yours, then? Your original book
of sermons? Not just some copy that someone
put your name in for fun.
SILAS: One of them. There were many others. To have only
one book is to exhaust one’s supply of stories,
and a reverend with no stories left to tell
eventually loses the attention of his flock.
(FLIPS THROUGH THE PAGES) You expected I’d be
drawn to this.
HAZEL: Which you were.
SILAS: I’m not a man to be baited, Miss Gibbons. One of
your Order has done so before and I did not
appreciate it in the slightest.
HAZEL: No offense was intended, Reverend Lodge.
SILAS: Intended or not, it was felt. But no matter; this
much may be forgiven. I do thank you for writing
your invitation upon the bookmark instead of upon
the pages.
HAZEL: I’m a librarian. I would never.
SILAS: As I asked before. Where did you find it?
HAZEL: We’ve always had it. It’s been in my private
collection. Sealed in an acid-free archival box
and kept in a cool, dry closet next to my office.
SILAS: Seems a good deal of trouble for such a small
thing.
HAZEL: We considered it a cursed artifact.
SILAS: I should be insulted, Miss Gibbons. I choose not
to be. Might I keep it?
HAZEL: Would you leave Mt. Absalom with it?
SILAS: (SCOFFS) As an exchange? Is that honestly what
you imply, that one could so cheaply purchase my
banishment anew?
HAZEL: It was a question.
SILAS: It was a request. And far too close to a demand.
HAZEL: An opening bid, Reverend Lodge. I didn’t expect
you to agree to it. We’re here.
SHE UNLOCKS A DOOR. THE SOUND OF THE
RUSHING WATER IS VERY CLOSE AS THEY
STEP THROUGH IT.
SILAS: (A DEEP, RELAXING BREATH) He’s close.
HAZEL: Who is?
SILAS: The One Who Blooms.
HAZEL: Right now?
SILAS: Always. But one feels his splendor more keenly
within the vicinity of the wells. Did you not
know this? No, I suppose you wouldn’t have.
HAZEL: I’ve known...someone was here. I’ve always felt
that. Since I was a child, I’ve known.
SILAS: Known, but never understood.
HAZEL: Never quite.
SILAS: This well was dry, not so long ago. Were you
aware of that?
HAZEL: We were. It came as a surprise to learn it
had...resurrected.
SILAS: Rudolphus Peltham was much more than surprised
when he saw it. He felt despair, utter betrayal,
a fury that I could feel from miles away. He
tried to attack the well, did you know that? It
led to the destruction of your precious celery
bottling factory.
HAZEL: Is that why you killed him?
SILAS: I did not kill Dr. Peltham.
HAZEL: You didn’t?
SILAS: He did. The One Who Blooms. To protect me.
HAZEL: ...what?
SILAS: Another surprise, then. How long has your Order
believed the One Who Blooms belongs to you?
HAZEL: We never said...
SILAS: That he was your plaything?
HAZEL: That’s not how we thought of it! Of him! Nowhere
in our text do we--
SILAS: --and how often have text and thought misaligned?
(BEAT) Do you understand why I tell you this,
Miss Gibbons? I tell you this so that you might
yourself avoid the fate of Dr. Peltham. He sought
to murder me, within the aura of the northern
well. He learned too late of his folly.
HAZEL: I didn’t ask you here to kill you, Reverend. I do
know that Rudy acted rashly. That he acted in
error.
SILAS: We’re here to talk, only?
HAZEL: Yes.
SILAS: To negotiate.
HAZEL: Hopefully.
SILAS: (AFTER A MOMENT) I’m listening.
THE SOUND OF THE RUSHING WATER
TRANSITIONS BACK TO THE SOUND OF
THE RAIN ON THE ROOF AT FENWOOD.
THE TAPE REWINDS AGAIN, AND
REPLAYS.
HAZEL: (ON TAPE) ...The Revelator is breaking
us, Chester. I won’t let that happen.
BRIEF FAST FORWARD.
HAZEL: (ON TAPE) The frost is here. We must save as much
of the garden as we can.
TAPE PLAYER STOPS.
LILY: What does that mean?
CHESTER: It’s from the sacred texts of the Order.
LILY: So it’s not code for anything.
CHESTER: Code for what?
LILY: I don’t know. Code for where she went. Like she’s
at some important hardware store.
CHESTER: Important hardware store.
LILY: Or florist shop. Gardening. I don’t know.
CHESTER: If she wanted me to know where she went after
going so far out of her way not to tell me, she
wouldn’t hide it in--
WES: Stop. Something’s different.
LILY: What?
WES: Don’t you feel it?
CHESTER: Feel what?
WES: The house.
CHESTER: I don’t feel anything.
WES: The house. The walls. The water.
LILY: The water...
THE RADIATOR AND PIPES BEGIN TO CLANG,
GENTLY. STEAM BEGINS HISSING ELSEWHERE
IN THE HOUSE.
WES: The water is being disturbed.
CHESTER: What does that mean? Does that mean something?
LILY: Wes, what’s disturbing the water?
WES: Not here. Elsewhere.
LILY: But what is it?
WES: Silas. Silas stands at the edge of the water.
LILY: What’s he doing?
WES: His voice is a stone, and that stone skims across
the surface of the water and the ripples travel
outwards.
CHESTER: I don’t understand what--
LILY: --let him speak.
THE HISSING AND CLANGING GROWS IN
VOLUME.
WES: Anticipation and fear. A curiosity. They stand at
the edge of the water together.
CHESTER: They? Someone’s with Silas?
LILY: Hazel?
CHESTER: She wouldn’t try to...not after what happened
to Rudy, she’d--
LILY: --you seriously don’t think she’d try it? You
don’t think that Hazel would tell herself that
Rudy had the right idea but wasn’t as up for the
task as she is?
CHESTER: Oh, Hazel. Oh no no no no no. (DIALS HIS PHONE)
Pick up, Hazel. Pick up.
THE HISSING AND CLANGING GROWS FURTHER
IN VOLUME.
WES: He prepares.
LILY: Prepares for what?
WES: To act again. If he must.
CHESTER: (AS HAZEL’S VOICEMAIL FINISHES) Hazel! Don’t do
this! What are you thinking? I’m at Fenwood now,
you call me ba...you COME HERE right now and talk
to me about whatever it is you are planning.
Just...don’t do this! ARGH! (HANGS UP) She’s not
answering. I don’t know where she is.
WES: They’re at the well.
LILY: The observatory? But that collapsed. Nobody can
get down there.
WES: Not the observatory. Not the northern well.
CHESTER: But then that leaves here, and...Town Hall. But I
was just there. When I first came back from
Julian. I went into Mayor Lopez’s office to get
his signature stamp and then I went home to...but
I...I didn’t go downstairs. She must have been
downstairs. She hid from me. Right under
my...Lily. We gotta go now. Right now. (RUSHES TO
FRONT DOOR TO PUT SHOES ON)
WES: How can I help? Do you want me to go there?
LILY: Please don’t. I need you here. Look after Mom.
WES: Hurry, Lily. I feel like something terrible is
about to happen.
CHESTER: (RUSHING OUT THE DOOR) Come on, Lily!
LILY FOLLOWS OUT THE DOOR. THE
HISSING AND CLANGING BLENDS INTO
THE SOUND OF THE RAIN AND
TRANSITIONS BACK TO THE RUSHING
WATER OF THE WELL. HAZEL TURNS ON
A TAPE RECORDER, WHICH BEGINS
RECORDING ON AUDIO CASSETTE.
SILAS: What’s that for, then?
HAZEL: This is a tape recorder. It captures sound on--
SILAS: --I am aware of what it is. I asked you what it
was for.
HAZEL: I want our conversation to be something others
can hear later.
SILAS: You don’t trust me. You believe I’ll give you my
word and then withdraw it.
HAZEL: I believe that nobody will believe we had this
conversation unless I have it on tape.
SILAS: Not even your Delphic Order?
HAZEL: No.
SILAS: I see. No trust even within your sworn circle.
HAZEL: Reverend Lodge, the first thing I want to say is
that I’ve had a lot of time to consider you.
SILAS: To consider me what, exactly?
HAZEL: Nothing. Just to consider you. Who you were. What
you became. What it means to have you here.
SILAS: I should be flattered, Miss Gibbons. I choose
not to be.
HAZEL: You want what I want for Mt. Absalom. I see that
now. You want a sense of order. An end to
uncertainty and conflicting ideals. You want
one story to be told.
SILAS: That much is true.
HAZEL: It’s all we Delphics want as well. But there are
limits to our mortal understanding. Limits that
you have demonstrated you do not suffer from. I’m
done trying to fight you, Reverend Lodge. We
should not be enemies when we could be
collaborators.
SILAS: Collaborators. How so.
HAZEL: I’ve worked very hard to organize the Delphic
Order, to unite them in one purpose and one
belief. But there’s only so much I can do with
that many people, each of them with their own
ideas, their own wills. But then I see you.
Holding that book in your hands. Your book. And I
believe that if you tell us the story. The one
story. The true story. I believe that the Delphic
Order can be the instrument of your will. Yours,
and the One Who Blooms.
SILAS: (AFTER A MOMENT) You are a peculiar creature,
Miss Gibbons. Your words speak contrition while
your eyes show attack.
HAZEL: No...I told you, I’m not trying to--
SILAS: --every conversation of your life but a moment
for defeat or for victory. Whether you discuss
terms with a vengeful phantom or manipulate a
moment of embarrassment at the gates of a zoo.
HAZEL: How...how would you know about that?
SILAS: I was told. When I am told a story, I listen. Of
your day at the zoo. Of the ritual you perform
when you lock your doors. The secret you would
never dare speak aloud to your sister Ginger.
HAZEL: Stop that. You don’t know me. You can’t.
SILAS: You offered me an arrangement because you believe
I want something. Because you believe that I want
at all. Very well, then. Shall we set conditions
of a tithe?
HAZEL: A tithe?
SILAS: One of the oldest traditions of the conquered.
What shall I ask you for? Once a year, you
deliver to me a third of the town’s meat.
HAZEL: But you’re...you wouldn’t need it.
SILAS: That’s not why one sets a tithe, Miss Gibbons.
And my dogs deserve better than to forage for
every scrap or morsel. But perhaps you’re
correct. Maybe a more permanent sacrifice. You
give over to my dominion a southern quadrant
of the town. You erect new churches in the
locations of my choosing.
HAZEL: Would that satisfy you?
SILAS: And a child.
HAZEL: What?
SILAS: A newborn. The first of every five years,
delivered to the Witch’s Altar on the night of
the new moon, to raise as my own loyal acolyte.
Unless it displeases me and must be slaughtered.
A VERY LONG PAUSE. HAZEL CHOKES ON WHAT
TO SAY NEXT.
SILAS: But no. Calm yourself, Miss Gibbons. I will not
ask that of you.
HAZEL: Th...thank you.
SILAS: Although you would have agreed to such cruelty,
in the end. Were I to pursue it. (BEAT) No,
instead I need from you only this. An apology.
HAZEL: An apology?
SILAS: Yes.
HAZEL: For what?
SILAS: Knowing what you apologize for is an aspect of
the apology.
HAZEL: I’m...sorry that I worked so long to maintain
your banishment.
SILAS: No.
HAZEL: No?
SILAS: That is not the matter at hand.
HAZEL: I’m sorry for...the generations of the Delphic
Order that kept you away?
SILAS: No.
THE SOUND OF THE RUSHING WATER BEGINS
TO RISE.
HAZEL: I apologize for the town’s ancestors who killed
you. I apologize for their having buried your
church, and hiding your books, and for telling
their descendants that you were a man of evil.
SILAS: NO.
HAZEL: (DESPERATELY) I don’t know what you need!
THE RUSH OF THE WATER CONTINUES RISING
WITH THE TONE OF SILAS’S ANGER.
SILAS: There will be no peace for Mt. Absalom without
forgiveness, and there will be no forgiveness for
Mt. Absalom when it does not understand the
transgression. You, Miss Gibbons, who has relied
so much on her collection of books that she
failed to acknowledge the story that went
unwritten. The history at which I stand in the
center. We are nothing alike. The chasm between
us is wide enough to hold oceans. You are a
people who leashed the beasts, who hunted the
birds, who thought to cage nature itself and bind
the very soul of The One Who Blooms.
ABOVE THEM, TOWN HALL BEGINS TO PULL
APART, BRICK BY BRICK. THE SOUNDS OF
THE RAIN OUTSIDE, SWIRLING AND
POUNDING, BEGIN TO BLEND WITH THE RUSH
OF WATER.
SILAS: Even this town hall is but more of the same.
Fools piling brick and mortar onto open wounds
and declaring it civilization.
HAZEL: Oh no. No, stop, what are you doing?
SILAS: You who would tell yourselves fictions of your
own cleverness to mask the truth of your
savagery. I will show you who you are, Hazel
Gibbons. Look into the well.
HAZEL: Please, please stop--
SILAS: --LOOK INTO THE WELL.
THE BUILDING CONTINUES TO FLY
APART INTO THE MAELSTROM. MOLOCH
AND ABADDON CAN BE HEARD HOWLING
ON THE WIND. THE WATER IS A DULL
ROAR. HAZEL TAKES A SHORT, DEEP
BREATH AND LOOKS INTO THE WELL.
SHE GASPS IN AWE. A SINGLE NOTE
SOUNDS FROM DEEP WITHIN, AND FROM
THAT NOTE, HAZEL BEGINS TO SOB,
AND THEN TO SING QUIETLY TO
HERSELF.
HAZEL: Sing of joy...and sing of grace...welcome to our
warm embrace...
SILAS: (PATIENTLY) Look you upon the surface of the
waters.
HAZEL: We name you now...our kith and kin...
SILAS: Look past the surface to the depths below.
HAZEL: Invite you to our...fires within...
SILAS: Can you perceive the divine light that emanates?
HAZEL: Should you ever tire of labor...
SILAS: Or do you see only the stark, empty loneliness in
your own soul reflecting back at you?
HAZEL: Should your hope be at its end...
ALL SOUND STOPS, BRIEFLY. AN EMPTY
VOID.
SILAS: There is nothing in your heart of any worth to
The One Who Blooms. I believe you have always
known that.
A SHORT CRY OF ANGUISH AS HAZEL’S
SPIRIT BREAKS IN HALF. THE
REMAINDER OF THE BUILDING TEARS
AWAY, LEAVING ONLY THE SOUNDS OF
WATER RUSHING BENEATH THE EARTH
AND FALLING FROM THE SKY.
AFTER A MOMENT, THE RAIN ALONE IS
HEARD, POURING BUCKETS AT A TIME.
AN OLD BUICK PULLS UP ON THE
STREET AND STOPS. TWO DOORS OPEN.
CHESTER AND LILY RAISE THEIR
VOICES TO BE HEARD.
LILY: Chester, where are we?
CHESTER: I don’t understand! We’re right here!
LILY: What are you talking about?
CHESTER: This is where Town Hall is!
LILY: I can’t see it!
CHESTER: But it’s here!
LILY: Get back in the car, Chester!
THE DOORS CLOSE. CHESTER AND LILY
INSIDE THE CABIN, THE RAIN
BATTERING THE VEHICLE.
LILY: You got lost. It’s understandable. Can barely see
ten feet in front of us.
CHESTER: I didn’t get lost! You don’t think I know where
Town Hall is?
LILY: Just look back where we last turned and--
A KNOCK AT THE PASSENGER WINDOW.
LILY: Shit!
SILAS: (FROM OUTSIDE THE CAR) Hello? Hello in there.
Lily?
LILY ROLLS DOWN HER WINDOW.
SILAS: Ah yes. I thought it was you.
CHESTER: You!
SILAS: Easy, young man, easy. You’re looking for your
Town Hall, I take it?
CHESTER: Where is it?
SILAS: It’s no longer here.
CHESTER: What do you mean, it’s no longer here?
SILAS: We no longer felt it proper to obscure the
western well. Although if these rains continue as
such, this may be Lake Absalom soon enough. And
we may all be better for it. (BEAT) I found
someone. She needs care.
HAZEL: (SHIVERING, SINGING QUIETLY TO HERSELF) Feel no
sorrow. Feel no fear.
CHESTER: Hazel?! Oh my god! Hazel!
SILAS: Here. Let me help you inside.
SILAS OPENS THE PASSENGER DOOR AND
GUIDES HER INTO THE BACK SEAT.
HAZEL: Let our hearts. Show true goodwill.
LILY: What’s wrong with her? Hazel?
CHESTER: What did you do to her?
SILAS: Miss Gibbons asked to have a conversation.
HAZEL: Let our light. Shine brighter still.
CHESTER: If you harmed her...
SILAS: I offered her perspective. It may have felt to
her like harm. (TAPS A CASSETTE TAPE AGAINST THE
WINDOW AND HANDS IT THROUGH) If you wish to hear
it yourself, she kept a record. Perhaps it will
enlighten you in ways it could not do for her.
HAZEL: When you might. Feel cold and lost.
SILAS: Good evening to the both of you. Get home safely.
Moloch, Abaddon, come.
SILAS AND THE DOGS TROMP AWAY.
LILY ROLLS UP THE WINDOW AND THEY
SIT SILENTLY IN THE CAR AS THE
RAIN POUNDS UPON IT. HAZEL SINGS,
QUIETLY.
HAZEL: We’ll protect you from the frost.
END