Homestead on the Corner

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CONTENT WARNING: Existential dread, implied body horror, squelching sound effects, terror, loud noises, and depictions of anxiety and a panic attack.

02022020c: Beneath the silent grave of Oslow, mysteries of the past and future slowly intertwine.

Starring Alejandra Cejudo as Amanita, Van Winkle as Sam Bailey, and Ezra J. Wayne as Ned Leroux, with original music by Jesse Haugen. Written and produced by Virginia Spotts, with dialogue editing and sound design by Van Winkle.

This episode was made possible by our supporters at Patreon.com/homesteadcorner, ko-fi.com/homesteadcorner, and our backers on Seed&Spark.

For more information, additional content, and episode transcript, visit thesheridantapes.com

Script

Transcript

CONTENT WARNING: Existential dread, implied body horror, squelching sound effects, terror, loud noises, and depictions of anxiety and a panic attack.

[Deep below the earth, branching strands of mycelia grow]

[Rumbling]

[A gunshot echoes in the dark]

[Echoes of a voice from beyond]

Edgar Morrison

For now, we must be content to speak as through a mirror darkly, as you linger amongst the leavings of my handiwork.

[The sound warps]

Edgar Morrison

I have simply removed them from the troubles of this false and failing world to a place where all may find peace. Where death and the ravages of time are no more. Where all things are made and remade.

[A door creaking open]

[A rip]

[Distortion increases]

Edgar Morrison

For I am but the firstborn of many brothers, and I build paradise brick by brick, wall by wall, soul by soul so that you may join me here… That all the worlds may join me here, when the time comes for the old Heaven and the old Earth to pass away. For behold… I am coming soon.

[The echoes slowly die out]

[Dripping noises]

[Amanita’s voice echoes in the tunnels]

Amanita

What shall I do, Prophet?

[Cassette noises]

[Click]

[Main Theme]

Recording Begins

[Cassette noises]

[Click]

[Static fades away]

[Jerry’s rattling front door; footsteps in the dirt]

[The sound of a quiet desert night]

Sam Bailey

Sam Bailey, personal investigation — February 2nd, 2020 at 11:12pm, Pacific Standard Time. Couldn’t sleep. It’s been a long day, and I just… 

[He pauses, and re-starts]

The stakes are about as high as they could possibly be. Oslow is gone. Morrison is in the wind, with the promise of… of return. And Jerry… he’s our best indicator of what must be happening to people outside the city who had memories of Oslow at one point. Without intervention, they just… forget. I talked with Kate some more, and we’re going to play the recording of Bill and Rob for him tomorrow. We want him to be fully rested before we try again. We’re hoping that a primary source will at least jog his memories a little bit. Or maybe it’ll give him new memories. Maybe he can at least trust us when we say something bad is happening here.

As for Maria’s hit about the manuscript, it sounds like there’s a chance she’s actually getting somewhere with that. If anyone can crack it, I think it’s Maria, and she’s on the right track.

I’ve also been thinking about where this all started… listening to Anna talk about the void of space. That no matter where you are at night… 

[He looks up]

…you could look up at the sky and feel as though you could fall right into it.

[He looks back down]

Now that Oslow has fallen away, I have to wonder… will I fall after it? Will I—

[Sam cuts off]

[A van door creaks open and then slams shut, footsteps towards Jerry’s house]

[Ned enters the house]

[Sam pauses]

Sam Bailey (whispering)

That’s… that’s Ned. He’s sneaking into Jerry’s house. 

[Ned reemerges]

[He tosses up a set of keys playfully, then unlocks Jerry’s truck and gets in]

[The truck starts and drives off into the night]

[Sam emerges from his hiding place]

Sam Bailey

Goddammit Ned… what are you up to this time?

[Click; recorder stops]

[Silence]

[Click; recorder begins]

[Sam sighs, the sound of a rumbling dirt road beneath him]

Sam Bailey

Thank God there’s all this moonlight, or I’d have to turn on my headlights and make myself way more obvious. That’s one thing you can count on in the high Sierra… clear night skies and empty highways. Although I honestly don’t know if Ned somehow didn’t notice the only other car on the highway following him, or if he knows I’m here and is just choosing to ignore me. Honestly, I wouldn’t be too surprised by the latter… there’s only one thing I know of down this road, and it’s those damned tunnels.

What the hell is he up to?

[He notices the parked truck]

Ah!

[Sam turns the wheel and pulls in to park]

[Car engine stops]

[Click]

[Click]

[Recorder turns back on]

[Footsteps up to the hatch, squeak of metal as it opens]

[Click]

[Click]

[Footsteps down the metal ladder, the sound of wind going through the tunnels below]

[Click]

[Click]

[Footsteps down the tunnel; the creaking blast door of the now-destroyed psychic wheel room]

[Dripping]

[Sam steps inside, slight crunching underfoot]

Sam Bailey

Ned! Ned, I saw you take Jerry’s car, I know you’re down here.

[Sam continues walking forward]

You’d better not be up to anything stupid, Leroux. My trust is wearing about as thin as it can—

[One of the doors into the deeper tunnels creaks as it swings open slightly]

Please, not down there… 

[Sam sighs, switches on a flashlight]

[He follows the sound downwards, into a smaller tunnel]

[The space sounds damp]

[He cries out as he slips slightly]

Jesus… why does the floor turn down so sharply? Was there a collapse?

[He runs his hand along the wall]

The wall is smooth… no cracks I can see. But there’s definitely some kind of structural damage here. The walls are slick, and the floor is… just gritty enough to walk down.

[He continues walking]

[A distorted voice echoing from ahead]

Ned, if that’s you, and you’re ignoring me, I swear to God… 

[Sam approaches, hearing Ned]

Ned Leroux

Come on Ned… [Nervous laugh] Just reach back into the void. Back where you started. It’s time to get them. It’s time to—

[Sam places his hand on Ned’s shoulder and turns him around]

Sam Bailey

What the hell are you doing?

Ned Leroux

Sam! What the — Jesus.

Sam Bailey

Ugh! You’re soaking wet. I didn’t know you could sweat?

[Ned catches his breath]

[Tense silenc]

Sam Bailey

You were trying to get back into the Source, weren’t you? [Ned doesn’t respond] Weren’t you?!

Ned Leroux

Lay off, Bailey.

Sam Bailey

No, Ned, I won’t. Weren’t you the one telling me that if you made it back across the veil, you’d be toast?

Ned Leroux

I’m getting desperate, Sam.

[Pause]

Sam Bailey

Listen, I don’t want to lecture you, but… come on, Ned. You know you can’t go in there like this. The moment you do, you’ll fall into a vortex you can’t escape, and we can’t afford to lose you like that. You need calm. Control. And I don’t think that’s something you can find down here.

[Beat; Sam steps back, looking around]

Why are you down here, anyway?

Ned Leroux

I, uh… I thought maybe it’d be easier down here. It was always a… thin place. Even before Morrison… And I was looking for any sign of how Morrison did it. What really happened.

Sam Bailey

Which part?

Ned Leroux

The transformation. The… disappearance. But, I suppose this place wouldn’t be here anymore if this is where he pulled the city under. Must’ve had a different central location.

Sam Bailey

OCPD, maybe?

Ned Leroux

Could be… it’s centrally located.

Sam Bailey

And a physical manifestation of Morrison’s ego, if there ever was one.

Ned Leroux

[Ned scoffs] You’ve got that right. You know what Bailey? For all our differences, we sure do hate that guy the same.

Sam Bailey

Oh, you have no idea. [He sighs] Well now that we’re here…?

Ned Leroux

What?

Sam Bailey

Seems as good a place as any to tell a ghost story, doesn’t it?

Ned Leroux

You wanna know what I saw. In detail.

Sam Bailey

Well, you don’t have the tape of what happened, so… 

[Ned adjusts]

Ned Leroux

Have it your way. But I swear to God, if any weird shit starts happening down here… let’s just say, I’m not confident these walls are just concrete and steel anymore.

[Something distantly groans]

Sam Bailey

I… I was wondering about that myself.

Ned Leroux

I think we can handle ourselves, though. We already survived one underground trap, didn’t we?

[Sam laughs once]

[Beat]

I was reluctant to come back down here, before Spengler dragged me along. Didn’t have a clear reason. I’d been in Oslow for months. At first, I kept expecting that any day I’d see that old asshole finally crawl out of his den, get some medical attention, and show up at OCPD like nothing ever happened. But when that didn’t happen… well, a part of me thought, “Great, this is exactly what I was waiting for. I can take his place and ride out, say, 10-15 years before I get too bored.”

But… you know I don’t sleep, not really. But I kept having these… flashes of waking nightmares. I’d remember the glimpse I got of Morrison after everything went to shit. It wasn’t clear. He ran straight down these tunnels into the dark when I called after him, but there was a… more of an energetic presence. I kept staring, trying to see if I could spot him, and something froze me to my core. Nothing changed, at least not that I could see. But something… something made me think I’d just locked eyes with him. Guess I’ll never know for sure if I did. Then of course I… heard him run.

And for all my years of experience… I suppose I can be just as susceptible to the odd bit of wishful thinking. What I wanted to be true was that a crazy, evil, wounded old man was just going to find a dark place to die.

I just didn’t expect for him to rise.

Sam Bailey

What did you see when you did come back down here?

Ned Leroux

[Ned breathes] Like I said, I didn’t want to come back down here. I wanted things to be easy. But Morrison… he had his own masters. And one of em was very insistent that I lead him here.

That same feeling of being watched got stronger the closer we came. That was my only warning, but it couldn’t have been any clearer. I knew before I was ready to admit it that I’d made a mistake. A deadly one.

Morrison looked starved, like if a starving man didn’t need his body to live. He looked like a nightmare. Like something from beyond had taken up residence in him. But when he spoke… it was all Morrison. All of his worst moments, all of his power and ego and hatred. It was all him. And the way he told it… that is exactly what happened. He was asked a question.

Sam Bailey

“What would you do to save yourself?”

Ned Leroux

…yeah. He said it was his own voice that asked him. A version of himself with power. And he made it whatever promises he needed to save his own hide.

Sam Bailey

God. When you mentioned that Morrison was like you and me, I guess I just didn’t want to believe that… 

Ned Leroux

Yeah.

Sam Bailey

But how… how could he have taken in all of that power?

Ned Leroux

That’s why I came down here.

Sam Bailey

…What happened before he told you to run?

Ned Leroux

He opened a rift to the other side, easy as an old screen door. And he tossed his boss inside. And then he looked at me, and…

I suppose that’s the second scariest pair of eyes I’ve ever looked into. They shone with something I couldn’t see or understand, but I knew what it meant. Morrison could’ve ended me there… but for some reason, he let me live.

Sam Bailey

And by “ended you,” you mean… thrown you into the Source unprepared? Like you almost did yourself?

Ned Leroux

You’re right. I’m honestly not all that confident I could survive in the Source without being unmade. I made it out once, but… [He sighs] Anyway, if I had someone with me… someone to help me stabilize… 

Sam Bailey

This again?

Ned Leroux

Help me save Bill and Rob, Bailey.

[Sam’s voice echoes more sharply]

Sam Bailey

Ned, you just said it yourself, we have bigger problems right now. There are more problems than we have time to fix them. If saving Bill and Rob is a priority for you, you need to get them yourself.

Ned Leroux

And why isn’t it a priority for you?

Sam Bailey

I’ve already told you. We can’t risk the world for them. We’ll just lose them twice.

Ned Leroux

And what use is the world without them?

[Silence; then Sam turns, looking around in confusion]

[The noises of the tunnel have changed]

[The droplets are gone, and something rumbles far away]

[The space sounds smaller]

Sam Bailey

I… 

Sam Bailey

Where are we?

Ned Leroux

Oh, shit.

Sam Bailey

The tunnel shifted.

Ned Leroux

It sure as shit did.

[Ned kicks some rubble on “shit”]

[The tunnel groans back]

Sam Bailey

The way back is… where is it?

Ned Leroux

See the shape of the walls?

Sam Bailey

Flatter. Smaller. How…?

Ned Leroux

We don’t have time for questions, Bailey. Goddammit, which way is out?

[Ned begins to walk away, Sam calls after him]

Sam Bailey

Ned, no, wait, I have a bad feeling… come back this way.

[They stop as a voice appears behind them]

Amanita

Hello, boys.

Sam Bailey

Amanita… 

Amanita

Now now… no need to worry Sam. I did promise that no harm would come to you.

Sam Bailey

I… remember.

Amanita

That’s not why I’m here. [Small laugh] Y’all got yourselves caught in a pickle, didn’t you? Not to worry. I’ll help you get out of here. You’re lucky I found you when I did, these tunnels have started to become… hungrier, of late.

Ned Leroux

[Sighing] Helloo… 

Amanita

Howdy, Ned.

Ned Leroux

Listen Amanita, about, uh—

Amanita

Helping Morrison torture me? Think nothing of it. But you do owe me some respect. After everything you put me through, I still showed up down here, looking to save your ass. Although, you are lucky you’re with him.

Ned Leroux

I’m not sure I owe you anything in particular — not unless The Prophet can grow in tar.

Amanita

[She grunts, displeased] He cannot.

Ned Leroux

Well, then.

Amanita

But I suppose I can thank you for one very important thing.

Ned Leroux

And what’s that?

Amanita

Without you and Morrison, I never would’ve ascended the way I have. The things I am capable of now are… pretty remarkable.

Ned Leroux

So I’ve heard.

Sam Bailey

Guys, can we just… Amanita, how did you find us? And why are you in Oslow in the first place?

Amanita

Oh Sam Bailey… You’ll owe me double, if I’m both coming to your rescue and telling you my secrets. But… I suppose we are both colleagues against the dark. So a small payment between friends shouldn’t be a problem, should it?

Sam Bailey

Against the dark? You mean… 

Amanita

Yes, I mean Morrison, honey. Who else?

Ned Leroux

Of course.

Sam Bailey

Fine. [He sighs] Ned? 

Ned Leroux

I… I saw Morrison’s transformation into… whatever he is now. Maybe a day or so before Oslow disappeared. So I came back here to see if the tunnels would reveal anything. But so far this chatterbox… [He gestures at Sam] hasn’t given me a chance.

Sam Bailey

So… why are you down here?

Amanita

Follow me. I’ll tell you on the way up.

[They begin walking through the small, gravelly tunnels]

Amanita

Stay close. These paths can shift, if you don’t pay attention. They only stay one particular way if you keep your focus. Good thing you brought that flashlight, Bailey. Though I’ve got my own light, should I need it.

[Organic sound of growth as small, glowing mushrooms sprout over her body]

Ned Leroux

Bioluminescence. That’s a neat trick.

Amanita

The paths up are never the same way every time. But my kind? We always know which way is up.

Sam Bailey

So…

Amanita

An event happened here. Not Morrison’s transformation. Something earlier. Some time before, an imbalance formed here. Something deep. It is a mystery that’s beyond me… it’s something that’s yet to be solved.

Sam Bailey

Anna Sheridan disappeared from these tunnels a year and a half ago. Is that what you’re talking about?

Amanita

That’s almost right. But not quite… I don’t believe a person named Anna Sheridan really disappeared. Don’t you have to be lost to disappear?

Sam Bailey

What do you mean by that?

[She doesn’t answer, and picks up the pace slightly]

Amanita

Whatever it is that unbalanced things… it was here. But it wasn’t now.

Sam Bailey

Why do you suddenly care about whatever happened down here? Don’t you have a kingdom to run?

[Amanita stops, faltering]

Amanita

My kingdom… my kingdom… If time is broken, my kingdom cannot grow. If time is unraveled, we are lost. We can survive on scraps, in cold, in heat, travel distances mortals never could and withstand forces unfathomable to our old human minds. But if we don’t have the time to do it in… 

[Amanita breathes hard, panicking]

[Distortion on tape increases]

Sam Bailey

Amanita… Amanita, how close are we?

[Deep groaning noises in the tunnels]

Ned Leroux

Goddammit, we’ve gotta keep our focus on the tunnels, Bailey!

Sam Bailey

Amanita, how close are we? How do we get out?

Amanita

You’re… you’re on your own. I’m sorry. I can’t… the rhythm of time is broken and I can’t… I can’t… 

Ned Leroux

Come on, help us!

Amanita

You’re close. Hurry.

Sam Bailey

Where… 

Amanita

HURRY!

[Her roar echoes, shifting something in the tunnels]

[Sam and Ned breathe hard as they scramble and climb]

[The tunnels groan around them]

Sam Bailey

Come on, Ned!

Ned Leroux

We’re going the same damn speed!

[They run a bit farther, and finally find themselves back in the larger room]

[The sound of dripping]

[They stand there panting for a moment]

[Silence]

Ned Leroux

Well. She seemed off. 

[Clack]

Recording Ends

End Theme & Credits