The Gentleman From Hell |S1| Ep. 22

Speaker 1 Rusty Quill presents.

Speaker 3 Good evening, gentlemen and gentle ladies of hell. First and foremost, thank you for tuning in.
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Speaker 8 Coach, the energy out there felt different. What changed for the team today?

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Speaker 10 Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

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Speaker 14 I'm Hannah Burner and I'm also thinking about underwear, but I prefer full coverage. I like to call them my granny panties.

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Speaker 7 Did I talk too much to the family? Did I just let it go?

Speaker 4 Thank you so much.

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Speaker 17 This school's as abandoned as everywhere else in this godforsaken place. Hard to believe this dump ever had kids in it.

Speaker 17 I still don't understand how literally everything went dead.

Speaker 4 Car,

Speaker 4 lights, wristwatches.

Speaker 5 Just doesn't make any goddamn sense.

Speaker 17 I'm willing to bet it's got something to do with that machine of theirs.

Speaker 17 And now that we know the sisters are working with those private digs who brought down the Sadas, I'm assuming they're cooking up something big.

Speaker 4 Weird not being able to get a hold of Frank, though.

Speaker 7 He knows we'd be checking in.

Speaker 17 Yeah, but once he gets that message I left about the other bunch being there, he's gonna lose his shit. Especially since no one else seems to have a clue.

Speaker 4 They're all in Cold Sparrow. What do you think they're up to? Some sort of goofy ghost mumbo-jumbo, I guess.
I mean, it's Cold Sparrow. What else would they be doing?

Speaker 17 Yeah, but if that machine.

Speaker 17 the Parasonic Resonator.

Speaker 17 But if the Paradohickey can knock out all the power, power that was over a mile away in our case,

Speaker 17 it's gotta be more than just a ghost hunt, don't you think? Well, that's what we're here to find out. Now, help me pile up some of this junk so we can get a fire going.

Speaker 17 We're almost out of daylight as it is. You think it's really a good idea to start a fire in here?

Speaker 17 With all the holes and whatnot in this place for ventilation, we should be fine. Plus, the mansion's on the far side of the building.
They won't be able to make us from the fire.

Speaker 17 All right, whatever you say.

Speaker 4 Hold up.

Speaker 17 What's wrong? You didn't hear that? Shit sounded like um,

Speaker 17 I don't know, something weird. Maybe just one of your deer or coyotes.
Don't be a smart ass.

Speaker 17 Oh, okay.

Speaker 7 I heard it that time.

Speaker 17 Quick, grab some rags and then stick over there while I get this fire going.

Speaker 7 What are you gonna do with them?

Speaker 17 I'm gonna make a torch, fuckwit.

Speaker 7 Ah, good idea. And if you ever call me fuckwit again, I'm gonna shove that stick straight up your ass.

Speaker 17 Yeah, sure. Just hurry it up, will you?

Speaker 17 Might only be some kind of animal, but I want to be able to see it if it comes at us.

Speaker 3 Sounds like some kind of dog or something.

Speaker 4 Yeah, hey, Ginkgy, give me that stick.

Speaker 4 Come on, hurry up. Light mine.

Speaker 4 Hurry the fuck up. It's getting closer.
Give me a fucking minute, will you? I'm going as fast as I can.

Speaker 4 Jesus Christ! Hurry up! Hurry up!

Speaker 4 Where the fuck did it go?

Speaker 4 I don't know.

Speaker 4 What the fuck was that? I got no clue.

Speaker 17 But we need to get out of here.

Speaker 4 Goddamn thing's stuck. Won't budge.
Come on, all at once.

Speaker 4 One, two,

Speaker 18 three.

Speaker 4 Fuck.

Speaker 4 Won't open.

Speaker 17 Just kick the fucking thing open then.

Speaker 17 I think it's.

Speaker 17 It's over there.

Speaker 17 In that room.

Speaker 7 What what is it?

Speaker 4 Jesus Christ, Brun.

Speaker 4 Tomorrow,

Speaker 4 I don't wanna die.

Speaker 1 Please, I don't wanna die.

Speaker 4 Please, let me live.

Speaker 4 I don't wanna die.

Speaker 17 Please, please, please, God, let me live. live.

Speaker 19 I don't wanna die.

Speaker 4 I keep dying. Please, please, for God's sake, let me fucking live.
Please.

Speaker 4 Are you in there, Tom?

Speaker 4 It's okay.

Speaker 5 You really won't feel anything.

Speaker 17 It's like...

Speaker 4 going home.

Speaker 3 Your sins aren't heavy enough.

Speaker 4 You'll be as light as a breeze.

Speaker 4 Will you come out now?

Speaker 4 Just leave me alone, Gator.

Speaker 17 I know it's not you.

Speaker 4 You gotta leave me alone. You gotta leave me alone.
I wanna live. Don't let me die.
Just let me...

Speaker 4 God, please. Gary, you gotta go away.
I know it's not you.

Speaker 4 Please, Gator, just leave me alone. Just go away.

Speaker 4 Gotta let me live. I gotta live.
I don't die. Please, just leave me alone.

Speaker 4 That's okay.

Speaker 4 Have it your way.

Speaker 4 Definitely aren't gonna run out of firewood anytime soon. Must be a ton of it in the wood room.

Speaker 19 If it weren't for the circumstances, I'd say it's positively splendid in here.

Speaker 20 Oh, you do finish battening down the hatches.

Speaker 1 Everything's as ready as it's gonna get. We set up lanterns along the way to the bathroom and kitchen, so we're solid there.

Speaker 1 But for absolute safety, I recommend we all sleep where we can see each other, while Mason and I take turns on watch.

Speaker 21 You won't get any argument from me. I've never witnessed anything like what I saw today.

Speaker 21 Not even if you doubled all the other crazy paranormal shit and rolled it up into a single manifestation.

Speaker 20 I think I said about the same thing shortly after I arrived. It's almost beyond belief.

Speaker 20 But I want to ask you, ladies, does the Resonator enhance existing psychic gifts?

Speaker 19 That's something we wanted to discuss with you before we started using it. It's been known to have, well, effects on on gifted individuals.

Speaker 4 Effects?

Speaker 21 We would never have subjected you to it before letting you know all there is to know.

Speaker 21 It's just never done that before.

Speaker 21 All I did was turn it on to check the power levels.

Speaker 21 I didn't even engage the parasonic systems.

Speaker 20 Oh, no, no, that's quite alright. I'm fine.
Really, I am.

Speaker 20 It's just that I had one of the clearest visions I can recall while everything was going haywire.

Speaker 1 What'd you see?

Speaker 20 I saw Edward, Ben's father, sitting in the exact chair you're in now, Mace.

Speaker 20 And during a thunderstorm, just like the one over our heads, something...

Speaker 20 awful came through that door. It was female, almost made of darkness, and surrounded within a small flock of sparrows.

Speaker 20 Though the birds seemed...

Speaker 20 dead, Their bare skulls were visible and I could smell the rot clinging to them.

Speaker 20 Drawing up behind Edward, who knew she was there, she mentioned that he needed to be certain that the ways were clear, and she asked him how he was enjoying life now that it was twice tasted.

Speaker 20 But two things stood out to me. The first, the woman spoke in an archaic colonial dialect.
Second, she referred to him as Arthur, not Edward.

Speaker 4 Christ.

Speaker 1 The woman almost sounds like she could be...

Speaker 1 well, that she could be one of the sparrows. The Abigail, Mercy, or Hester?

Speaker 20 When you consider the colonial speech, the birds...

Speaker 20 Crazy as it sounds, it's certainly a possibility.

Speaker 4 So we're talking about a witch, right? I mean, that's what the sparrows were accused of being.

Speaker 20 I don't think it's quite that simple.

Speaker 21 Are you following this, Margaret? Because I was working on the laptop with Leon while you were reading the notes.

Speaker 1 I believe so.

Speaker 19 You're saying the woman in your vision was likely one of the sparrows. The family who was put to death in Isabel?

Speaker 19 Only now she's risen from the dead?

Speaker 20 Well, it's hard to say out loud, I know, but it makes the most sense. If anything makes sense anymore.

Speaker 21 We've already heard and seen enough to know that this place is legit. So no worries about us being on board.

Speaker 4 I'm hung up on the Arthur thing. Why would she call him by a different name?

Speaker 1 I'm not completely sure, but I think we might have ourselves the beginnings of a pattern. There's David's brother Alex, who acted like nothing happened after he was nabbed by cultists.

Speaker 1 Then there's Ed, who, according to his girlfriend, was likely abducted by his own family and subjected to something horrible.

Speaker 1 She didn't say one way or the other, but I'm assuming Veronica was implying that Edward was likely changed by whatever his family did to him.

Speaker 4 I think you're on to something. something.
Every time someone gets nabbed, they come back different.

Speaker 4 Problem is, that doesn't tell a squad about this sparrow thing, the hyena, or where the population of the city went.

Speaker 4 Still, I got a hunch there's a thread tying it all together. Just gotta sniff it out.

Speaker 20 And it does seem to fit somewhat with your initial impression of the place, once you heard all the details.

Speaker 19 You mean demonic possession?

Speaker 19 The problem with my initial guest is that none of what you're describing fits the classic pattern at all. People who are possessed aren't usually very functional.

Speaker 19 You've got this Alex fella booking a flight and quietly leaving the country. And then there's Bane's father, an eccentric billionaire who collects antiques and lives peacefully with his butler.

Speaker 21 People suffering from possession are often crazed, even animalistic. And while they might occasionally be able to pass themselves off as normal, the condition only worsens with time.

Speaker 21 But then, if there were people getting possessed and pulling it off,

Speaker 21 I suppose we'd never know.

Speaker 4 Don't hold any move. Stay right where you are.

Speaker 20 I'm certainly not going to open the door.

Speaker 19 Has there been anyone else up here that it could be?

Speaker 1 Absolutely no one. It's the, you know, thing.

Speaker 4 Everyone stay close together and be ready for anything.

Speaker 21 I wish to hell we had some power so we could at least record this.

Speaker 19 Has it done this before?

Speaker 20 No, but then it seems fond of keeping us guessing.

Speaker 17 Are you getting anything, Phil?

Speaker 20 Like something gigantic is standing over the house.

Speaker 21 Temperature's dropping. I could feel it.

Speaker 1 Ugh, and that fucking horrible smell is starting to kick in.

Speaker 20 I don't know if this helps, but it certainly couldn't hurt to stand in the ring of salt.

Speaker 14 I'll take whatever I can get.

Speaker 4 You can pound as hard as you want, asshole. No one's opening the fucking door.

Speaker 20 Mason, you've got to relax. It's just doing what it always does.
Don't give it what it wants.

Speaker 19 She's like, miss. These things drive an intense emotion.

Speaker 4 It's best to remain as grounded as possible.

Speaker 4 Is it over?

Speaker 20 It's not gone. Oh, I can still feel it.

Speaker 1 Ah, that's one of the back doors.

Speaker 1 My god, he's everywhere.

Speaker 1 Oh, just stay in the circle.

Speaker 1 Be prepared for anything, folks.

Speaker 1 There's something out there.

Speaker 1 Something big.

Speaker 4 It looks inhuman.

Speaker 1 I can't see it clearly, but I can see that.

Speaker 4 It only has one arm.

Speaker 4 The left one.

Speaker 4 Oh my god.

Speaker 4 Stay off our back, or I swear to fuck I'll light you up. You move and you're dead.

Speaker 14 You got it?

Speaker 14 Where the fuck's you going?

Speaker 14 Away,

Speaker 1 and that's good enough for me.

Speaker 21 What the hell did it just throw in here?

Speaker 4 Everyone park a little bit.

Speaker 19 So the firelight can get through.

Speaker 1 You gotta be kidding me.

Speaker 4 Oh my god.

Speaker 4 They're severed arms.

Speaker 4 Jesus. Who the hell do you think they belong to?

Speaker 1 Hard to say with all that decomposition.

Speaker 21 Look at the rings on the fingers, Margaret. Oh, sir.

Speaker 19 Our rings.

Speaker 4 They're our arms. Our left arms.
Mine and Pat's.

Speaker 1 It blew the damn fire out.

Speaker 4 Like a goddamn hurricane, it is.

Speaker 20 Just didn't separate us.

Speaker 4 It made the whole hands.

Speaker 4 We need some light.

Speaker 4 Phil, you got your lighter handy.

Speaker 20 Just give me a moment.

Speaker 4 Ah, there.

Speaker 20 Oh, I just hope it has enough fluid to...

Speaker 1 Looks like we got juice.

Speaker 21 The arms, they're gone.

Speaker 4 Well,

Speaker 4 whatever took them, swapped them. With a newspaper.

Speaker 20 What does it say?

Speaker 1 It's just this one page. It says...
Las Vegas man found dead after losing landmark paranormal bet.

Speaker 1 Renowned magician and skeptic Albert Whittle was found dead in his Las Vegas home early this morning.

Speaker 1 While authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of death, witnesses on the scene report it appears to be a suicide.

Speaker 1 Whittle had fallen into a deep depression after a recent legal battle left him financially and emotionally devastated.

Speaker 1 He put his entire reputation and savings behind that challenge, said longtime associate Gregory Simpson. When things turned against him, I saw him deteriorate day by day.

Speaker 1 This court case absolutely broke him.

Speaker 1 Earlier this year, self-proclaimed paranormal investigators Patricia and Margaret Ingersoll sued Whittle for failing to pay a $1 million reward they claimed to have won with a machine allegedly capable of viewing ghosts.

Speaker 1 In a landmark ruling, the court sided with the Ingersolls, forcing Whittle to pay.

Speaker 1 Widely admired for both his captivating stage performances and his staunch skepticism of the supernatural, Whittle leaves behind a complicated legacy. He was 62.

Speaker 1 Oh, God, no.

Speaker 21 I never thought.

Speaker 4 I mean.

Speaker 20 Trust me, ladies.

Speaker 4 We know exactly how you feel.

Speaker 20 It's the guilt that lets you know.

Speaker 4 You've truly arrived at Cold Sparrow.

Speaker 3 The Gentleman from Hell is a Meltopia production. Today's episode was written by Mark Anselone and performed by Steven Zivick, Sam Stark, Aubrey Akers, Jesse Van Hove, Callie Bear, and Matt Van Hove.

Speaker 3 Sound editing was completed by Stephen Anselone and script editing was conducted by Walker Kornfeld. Be sure to rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.

Speaker 3 And follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Meltopia. If you want unique art and animations of Meltopia's stories, visit our YouTube page or click on the link in the show notes.

Speaker 3 And for more exclusive content such as additional lore stories and art be sure to check out our patreon at www.patreon.com forward slash meltopia

Speaker 9 and we're back live during a flex alert oh we're pre-cooling before 4 p.m folks and that's the end of the third time to set it back to 78 from 4 to 9 p.m what a performance by team california The power is ours.

Speaker 8 Coach, the energy out there felt different. What changed for the team today?

Speaker 9 It was the new game day scratchers from the California Lottery. Play is everything.
Those games sent the team's energy through the roof.

Speaker 10 Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

Speaker 9 Hey, a little play makes your day, and today it made the game. That's all for now.

Speaker 4 Coach, one more question.

Speaker 11 Play the new Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams Scratchers from the California Lottery. A little play can make your day.
Please play responsibly.

Speaker 11 must be 18 years or older to purchase light or claim.

Speaker 2 Hey, I'm Paige DeSorbo and I'm always thinking about underwear.

Speaker 14 I'm Hannah Burner and I'm also thinking about underwear but I prefer full coverage. I like to call them my granny panties.

Speaker 2 Actually I never think about underwear. That's the magic of Tommy John.

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Speaker 2 And the bras soft, supportive, and actually breathable.

Speaker 14 Yes, Lord knows the girls need to breathe. Also, I need my PJs to breathe and be buttery soft and stretchy enough for my dramatic tossing and turning at night.

Speaker 14 That's why I live in my Tommy John pajamas.

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