Episode 87: "Probad los Espíritus” – The Sheridan Tapes
CONTENT WARNING: Depictions of grief and loss, character betrayal and arguments, existential dread, pyrophobia, and loud noises including screams
02142020a: Memories of family past and present lead Maria to take a dangerous gamble.
Starring Amitola Lomas as Maria Sol, J Cuevas as Alejandro Valero Sol, Deniss Carvajal as Sandra Isabella Sol, Yessenia as Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez, Airen Neeley Chaconas as Anna Sheridan, and Mike Kennedy as Edgar Morrison, with original music by Jesse Haugen. Written by Van Winkle with sensitivity consultation by Sophie Borjón. 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: Depictions of grief and loss, character betrayal and arguments, existential dread, pyrophobia, and loud noises including screams
Voicemail
You have — 4 — new messages.
[Beep of voicemail]
[A quiet room, a coffee maker is on]
Maria Sol
Hey Kate — guess you must be on the road already. I was going to call earlier, but… you know, staying in your childhood room, easy to sleep through your alarms. Anyway, just wanted to check in and make sure you’re all doing okay.
No new insights from the manuscript, unfortunately… I spent all night going over it and didn’t find anything. I was hoping that if I looked at it after dark—
[The door opens, sound of traffic outside]
Alejandro Sol
¿María? Ya me voy.
Maria Sol
Oh! Uh, ¡Buena suerte papa!
Alejandro Sol
Ay Maria, tu español está empeorando…
[The door closes behind him, Maria sighs]
Maria Sol
Anyway… I was hoping that looking at it after dark would bring some more clues out of it, but it just ended up making me stay up later than I meant to. I’ll try to get back to it today, be more methodical about it. Call me back when you can.
[Beep]
[Silence]
[Beep]
[Music blares, loud conversation]
Maria Sol
Kate? Kate are you — no, it went to voicemail I guess. I just missed your call, can you call me back as soon as you—
Sandra Isabella Sol
¿Mari? ¿Eres tú? ¡Caray, has crecido tanto!
Maria Sol
Si, tía Sandra… Perdóname, pero…
Sandra Isabella Sol
But Maria, I haven’t seen you since you were pequeñica—
Maria Sol
—I’ll be right back tía, I just need to take a call.
Sandra Isabella Sol
Siempre está ocupada…
[Maria pushes her way into her room, the party sounds muffling as she shuts the door]
Maria Sol
Sorry about that… whole family’s visiting for the weekend, so I probably won’t be as reliable if you need to get in touch with me. No new finds with the manuscript — I spent the day indexing the pages by text color and style, but no new insights there. Still feels like I’m missing something, though.
Anyway, call me back when you can — I’ll try to pick up this time.
[Beep]
[Silence]
[Beep]
[The house is quiet]
Maria Sol
Hey Kate — guess you must be on the road by now. My folks are both at work already — guess I slept in again. Also, sorry if I’m a little… out of it right now, I stayed up too late going over the manuscript last night and I—
[Yawns] Anyway — still not finding anything. I thought I was getting close last night — although honestly I don’t know why I thought that, I hadn’t actually figured anything out. Just a feeling or something. I had all the pages spread out on my bed and I just… I don’t know, I kept feeling drawn to certain ones, even though I couldn’t read anything on them.
I think that’s it though. I’ll probably just go over the digitized versions from Anthony today. Maybe there’s something in there.
[Beep]
[Silence]
[Beep]
[The coffee maker is going again]
Maria Sol
Sorry for calling this early Kate — I completely forgot about the time difference… Hopefully I didn’t wake anyone up. Anyway… yesterday was another bust. I have all the pages taped up to the walls of my room, much to my mother’s chagrin, but it’s really helping me—
[Her mother enters the room]
Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez
—I told you already Maria, I’m fine with it so long as you don’t chip the paint.
Maria Sol
Ah! Umm… buenos días, mamá.
[She rummages around, getting ready for work]
Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez
Just speak English, Maria.
Maria Sol
Oh… right, sorry.
Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez
Talking to your friends in Nevada?
Maria Sol
Leaving a voicemail, but… yeah.
Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez
Hm. Still stuck on Anna’s manuscrito, mmm?
Maria Sol
…a little bit? I just can’t get my head around it.
Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez
[She sighs, considering] Do you know what your abuela used to tell me? When I got stuck on my homework, or couldn’t figure out a book I was reading?
Maria Sol
What did she say?
Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez
[Remembering as she translates] “You are my daughter, granddaughter of my mother before me and her mother before her — your eyes are keen and your mind is sharp, and your ears hear songs which others do not. Open your heart, and you will find the answer.”
Maria Sol
Mamá?
Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez
Hmmm? What is it, Maria?
Maria Sol
Have you ever… did you ever think that you might — you know, have a gift? Like abuela María?
Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez
No, I’m afraid not mija… the Lord gave me my mind and my hands, and I thank him every day for those more ordinary gifts.
Maria Sol
But… I thought all the women in our family were gifted like her? Or at least most of them?
Gabriela Londoño Rodriguez
I don’t know Maria, sometimes it skips a generation, sometimes it doesn’t come at all. [She chuckles] You know, I used to think you might have the gift when you were little. You always had a way of seeing things we missed.
[Gabriela gathers her things and heads to the door]
[Door opens]
I’ll be back late — there’s leftovers in the fridge if you need anything.
Maria Sol
¡Gracias, mamá!
[The door closes after Gabriela]
[Maria sits in silence for a moment]
[Cassette noises]
[Click]
[Main Theme]
Recording Begins
[Cassette noises]
[Click]
[Maria sets the recorder down in her quiet bedroom]
[The clock on her wall ticks]
Maria Sol
This is Maria Sol, recording at… 12:06pm, Mountain Standard Time. Marker. [She claps]
[Silence]
This is stupid. Obviously, it’s stupid. I have no idea what I’m doing, but for some reason, I’m still doing it. I put up some blackout curtains I had from back in the day and I’ve shoved towels under the door, but I honestly don’t know why I’m…
[She sighs]
I’m trying to conduct a séance. That’s the long and short of it, honestly. Mom’s going to kill me if she figures out I raided her candle stash. Though honestly she’ll probably be more upset if I chip the paint. I still have all the pages up on the walls — well away from any of the candles, mind you. I’m being as smart as I can be for not knowing what the hell I’m doing, but… I really feel like I’m out of options here. I’ve tried every logical way of looking at these pages, so now I’m taking a page out of Sam’s book and just going by intuition.
Also Sam, if you’re listening to this, just know that I’m not going to stop giving you shit for jumping headfirst into the unknown. I may be doing the same exact thing, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a bad idea. I don’t even know if this is going to work, but… even if I don’t have a gift like my abuela’s, that power is still a part of me. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it.
[She strikes a match, and lights three candles]
[She puts the match out, gets up, and switches off her overhead light]
[She sits back down in front of the candles]
Okay. [Long pause] Um… Anna? Are you there? Can you hear me? [Long pause] Anna? It’s Maria. I have your manuscript. I know it’s your thoughts pushed through the veil. Say something if you can hear me. [Long pause] Oh please tell me I don’t need a Ouija board for this to work, mom will kill me if she sees me bring a—
[A cold draft blows through the room, and the candles are blown out]
[Pages flutter slightly]
[She shivers] Goddammit dad, why do you never run the heat in the middle of…
[She trails off]
Shit… I put towels under the door. There shouldn’t be any way for a draft to get in.
[Slight echoes of other voices, noises, gently entering]
A-Anna?
[Slight static on the tape]
[Anna’s voice comes through, distorted]
Anna Sheridan
I’m here, Maria. I can hear you.
Maria Sol
Oh my god… Anna.
[Maria reaches out for the matches, striking but not lighting one]
Anna Sheridan
No!
Maria Sol
No?
Anna Sheridan
Don’t light those candles, Maria… I don’t want you to see me like this.
Maria Sol
Like…?
Anna Sheridan
Amy did her best to put me into these pages, but… it was her first time doing it. I’m not exactly a… perfect copy.
Maria Sol
So… you’re not really Anna, then?
Anna Sheridan
I’m the closest thing to Anna that I can be. At least, while the real me is still… gone.
Maria Sol
So why should I trust you any more than the Echo? I’ve run into plenty of… copies of Anna since she disappeared.
Anna Sheridan
Maria, I promise, everything that makes me me is here — everything I was at the moment when Amy pushed me into paper and ink. I’m as real as I need to be.
Maria Sol
To do what?
Anna Sheridan
To tell you what you need to know to find me.
Maria Sol
…prove it.
Anna Sheridan
Prove what?
Maria Sol
Prove that you’re Anna… or at the very least, that you come from her.
Anna Sheridan
How?
Maria Sol
How did we first meet?
Anna Sheridan
At Voxel Media… you were doing your internship there and ended up re-editing Desmodus on your own time.
Maria Sol
When did I first tell you about my grandma?
Anna Sheridan
On Christmas night, up at my house… must have been 2016?
Maria Sol
And what happened before I told you?
Anna Sheridan
I was… I was having a nightmare.
Maria Sol
When did I first tell you I loved you?
Anna Sheridan
[She laughs] When you were dropping me off at the airport on my way to Chile. You didn’t even realize it was the first time you’d said it until I pointed it out.
[Maria sighs, then pauses]
Maria Sol
Why did you lie to me?
Anna Sheridan
What?
Maria Sol
That last night in Oslow. Before you went missing. Why did you lie to me?
[Long moment, no response]
Well, I guess that answers that question, doesn’t it? You’re definitely Anna.
Anna Sheridan
I… I don’t know what to say.
Maria Sol
Yeah, I bet you don’t.
Anna Sheridan
No, you… you don’t understand Maria, I can’t—
Maria Sol
—I know about your dreams, Anna. I know all about what you and Ren were doing behind my back that last year because you thought I couldn’t handle it. I know what happened to Craig, Anna. He was my friend too — how dare you not tell me that he died, how dare you! I knew you were hurting, but I had no idea how or why — do you know how painful that was for me? I could have helped you, Anna — I wanted to help you, but you kept pushing me away over and over again until you brought me back to Oslow just so I could… what, be there before you died? And once you disappeared, who do you think I blamed? I thought I’d all-but murdered you for the better part of a year, and even now that I know the truth it’s taken me so fucking long to be anything close to okay. You, on the other hand…
[She scoffs] You haven’t changed at all.
Anna Sheridan
I… I still don’t know what to say.
Maria Sol
Finally at a loss for words, huh? Guess miracles do happen.
Anna Sheridan
No — Maria, you’re not listening to me. I literally don’t know what to say. The Anna I was taken from doesn’t know any of this, so I don’t know how to feel about it. I don’t… I can’t know what to say… it’s not in these pages.
Maria Sol
What do you mean, she doesn’t know?
Anna Sheridan
You said it’s been more than a year since I disappeared, right? You’ve had time to think about what I did, how to feel about it?
Maria Sol
I mean… yeah, that’s pretty much all I’ve been doing.
Anna Sheridan
Okay so… to you, it’s been more than a year since we last spoke. But for me — for the Anna I came from, I mean — it’s only been a few hours. Maybe less. It’s hard to say for sure.
Maria Sol
You — it’s been what?
Anna Sheridan
Bailey, Maria — I still don’t know how exactly, but he pulled me out of time down in the tunnels and brought me to… well, he called it the Source, but it’s a place outside the universe where everything is—
Maria Sol
I know what the Source is.
Anna Sheridan
Bailey and I got lost trying to get back, and now he’s… we got separated. I don’t know where he is.
Maria Sol
How could Sam pull you out of time? Wouldn’t that be… I don’t know, some kind of paradox?
Anna Sheridan
I don’t know, he wasn’t able to explain it all. But it has to do with the well that took Amy, though. The well is the key.
Maria Sol
Yeah, I found that clue in the manuscript already. But it’s not there anymore. Kate and Sam both went to Iowa to look for it, and they didn’t find anything—
Anna Sheridan
—it doesn’t just exist in Iowa, Maria!
Maria Sol
It doesn’t… what?
Anna Sheridan
Amy told me. It’s… it’s like a repair system, for history. When something in the timeline breaks or changes, the well shows up to remove the remnants of people’s memories and lives from the world, like it did with her.
Maria Sol
Wait… you’re not saying that…
Anna Sheridan
It follows disruptions in time. And where has the biggest gash in history just been torn open? It’s not every day that an entire city gets pulled into the void.
[Maria is stunned for a moment, then begins feeling for her phone in the dark]
Maria Sol
Where’s my phone… I need to call Kate, I need to tell her.
Anna Sheridan
Kate actually made it to Oslow? That’s a surprise…
Maria Sol
Gah, I left it right here! I can’t find it… hold on.
[Without thinking, Maria grabs a match and strikes it]
[She gasps at what she sees of Anna’s twisted reflection]
[Maria accidentally knocks over the candles, the pages begin to burn]
[Anna cries out in pain]
[Heavy static, distortion]
Maria Sol
No!!
[The fire alarm goes off]
[Maria tries to stamp out the fire]
Maria Sol
Shit, it’s spreading too quickly! Where’s the fire extinguisher?!
Anna Sheridan
Maria, please!!!
[Maria grabs a small fire extinguisher]
Maria Sol
Got it! Hold on Anna, hold on—!
Edgar Morrison (echoing, discordant)
And behold, I have come… and my reward is with me…
[Maria freezes at the voice, then puts out the fire]
[The chemicals soak into the pages]
[The fire alarm turns off]
[Anna’s panic turns to soft whimpers of pain]
Maria Sol
…Anna?
Anna Sheridan
Please… Maria…
Maria Sol
Anna? Anna, please what?
Anna Sheridan
…Whatever anger you feel towards me… don’t hold onto it when you see Anna again… promise me that…
Maria Sol
Anna, please don’t go… Not again…
Anna Sheridan
She really does love you, you know. Even if she’s bad at it sometimes.
Maria Sol
Anna…
[The image of Anna slowly fades away]
[Distortion disappears]
[The clock ticks on the wall]
[After a long moment, Maria exhales, stands, and turns on her light]
Maria Sol
Huh. There’s my phone.
[She picks it up and dials; it rings]
[Disconnect tone]
Voicemail
We’re sorry, the number you’re trying to call cannot be reached right now. Please hang up and try again.
[Beep Beep Beep; call ends]
[Maria pauses in confusion, then dials another number]
Maria Sol
Come on Sam, pick up… please pick up.
[Disconnect tone]
Voicemail
We’re sorry, the number you’re trying to call cannot be reached right now. Please hang up and try again.
[Beep Beep Beep; call ends]
[Maria lowers her phone]
Maria Sol
What is happening in Oslow?
[Clack]
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