The Gentleman From Hell |S1| Ep. 18

Speaker 1 Rusty Quill presents.

Speaker 2 Good evening, gentlemen and gentle ladies of hell.

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Speaker 15 Philly, Philly, do come here this very instant.

Speaker 15 Coming, mother.

Speaker 7 Yes, mother, what is...

Speaker 7 You wretched thing! How dare you serve me cold tea? Mother, I brought that to you hours ago. You've just forgotten again.
Forgotten?

Speaker 7 I haven't forgotten a thing. You just wait until I tell your father how you've been treating me.
Why, he'll be positively furious with you. Mother, do try to remember.
Father's passed away.

Speaker 7 Do you recall anything we spoke about this morning? Little witch! I'll not be poisoned, nor will I be lied to.

Speaker 7 Of course, Mother. Just let me clean up this mess and I'll be back with some fresh tea.
You're quite adept at cleaning up others' messes, aren't you, my dear? Ugh, what are you on about now?

Speaker 7 You lied for them, Mason and Leon. Lied for those horrible child killers.
Let them walk free. But you do so excel at lying, don't you, Philly? Remember poor Molly Dixon?

Speaker 7 How she begged you to save her daughter, sweet little Brittany? Do you remember what you told her? I do. You promised her you would save her.
Promised.

Speaker 7 Stop it.

Speaker 7 I didn't lie to her. I did all I could to stop those monsters.
Did you?

Speaker 7 I thought you just stood by and allowed your friends to murder children for that little Britney Dixon to burn. Her tiny body twisting in the flames, her blackening eyes weeping smoke.

Speaker 7 What's happening? It was just daylight a moment ago. The sun sets quickly upon the guilty, does it not, daughter? Mother, where are you? Oh, what's happening? Oh, but you needn't worry, Billy.

Speaker 7 Soon you'll burn too. They're all down there right now, waiting for you, looking up through the fire.

Speaker 7 Mother,

Speaker 7 no.

Speaker 7 I don't know what you are, but it'll take more than bad dreams to get under my skin.

Speaker 7 Ah, another living soul. I was beginning to think I'd been abandoned.
Nope.

Speaker 14 I brought all my tools and whatnot right in here, so I wasn't too far away. Just in case.

Speaker 7 You do know how to take care of a lady, Mr. Rhodes.

Speaker 14 Tell that to Marlene. According to her, I'm just an ape who learned how to dress and drive a car.

Speaker 7 She clearly underestimated you. You can clearly do

Speaker 7 whatever it is you're doing.

Speaker 14 I'm putting this drone together. Apparently, Hughes wants us to use it to better canvas and record the city.
But right now, I got a much better use for it.

Speaker 7 Hmm. Might it have something to to do with a certain secret underground tunnel network?

Speaker 14 You guessed it.

Speaker 7 And I did it without using a single drop of my vast psychic power.

Speaker 14 I'm gonna plug this baby into the mobile setup in the van to let us see whatever we want without ever setting foot down there.

Speaker 7 Given all that's happened, I'd say it's a capital idea. So, where's your partner in crime?

Speaker 14 He's upstairs in that reading room you two like so much. So he's gonna keep at it with the VS tapes.

Speaker 7 Uh, how is he?

Speaker 14 How are any of us?

Speaker 16 He's tough, though.

Speaker 14 Tough as they come.

Speaker 7 I know. But this thing is starting to exact a toll on me.

Speaker 7 There's only so much we can be expected to handle.

Speaker 14 Look, Phil, I know you're sticking it out for me, but it's my problem.

Speaker 14 You don't need the money, and...

Speaker 7 You and Leon are like my family.

Speaker 7 All we've gone through.

Speaker 7 I don't know if I could be alone, not having someone around who was there, who

Speaker 7 understands.

Speaker 7 So, wherever you two go, I go.

Speaker 7 There's nothing else to say about it.

Speaker 7 Now, you enjoy your tinkering while I make some tea and see what I can do to be useful.

Speaker 7 collective

Speaker 7 came the particular ways in

Speaker 7 mankind

Speaker 7 Found anything interesting?

Speaker 12 Not yet, but now that we know Edward was in on all of this, even if we don't know what all of this even is, I remember seeing this tape. It's marked Dad's Friend.

Speaker 12 But so far it's just him going on and on about his research. Hey, is that coffee for me?

Speaker 7 None of that.

Speaker 12 Just more proof of your psychic talents. I was just about to go get a cup.

Speaker 12 Anyway, I'm almost to the end of the tape. Hopefully, this last part has something interesting on

Speaker 17 In nearly all theaters of the paranormal, orbs of light have been reported, which would seem to.

Speaker 17 Hello, can I help you?

Speaker 18 Well, my goodness, aren't you the spitting image of your father?

Speaker 17 Was that a knock at the the door I just heard? Um, yes. I was just speaking with...

Speaker 18 Veronica McKay. I knew your father quite well.
And you must be Ben, his son.

Speaker 17 Right, you are. Um, but I'm afraid...

Speaker 17 well, my father is.

Speaker 18 Oh, I know, dear.

Speaker 17 That's why I came.

Speaker 18 I wasn't able to attend the funeral, so I wanted to stop by and pay my respects in person.

Speaker 18 I would have called first, but your number isn't listed. I hope I haven't come at a bad time.

Speaker 17 Uh

Speaker 17 no. Um no, not at all.
Uh please do come in.

Speaker 17 Could I get you something to drink?

Speaker 18 That would be wonderful. I was hoping to share a few memories with you.
Your father was incredibly special to me, and I'd like to pass on those moments to his son.

Speaker 17 That's very kind of you, Miss McKay. I'd um I'd like that very much.
Shall we continue this conversation out on the veranda? And would you mind staying for lunch?

Speaker 18 Only if I'm not inconveniencing anyone?

Speaker 17 Not at all. Why don't you go get dressed for lunch while I take Miss McKay out onto the porch?

Speaker 17 Then I'll start getting lunch ready. How does that sound? That sounds splendid, Rupert.
Thank you. I'll be right back down.
Ride this way, Miss McKay.

Speaker 17 Well, speak of the devil. Thank you again for making lunch, Rupert.
You've spared Miss McKay the misfortune of my cooking.

Speaker 18 I still can't get over the resemblance.

Speaker 17 So I've been told a few times now. But apart from the one portrait that hangs in the gallery, I'll have to take everyone's word for it.

Speaker 18 Well then, before we go any further, allow me to clear up any confusion.

Speaker 18 I brought it along with me so I could better recall him. Now you no longer need take your resemblance upon Faith.

Speaker 18 You see, you're practically twins.

Speaker 17 Hmm.

Speaker 17 Yes.

Speaker 17 Yes, I... I can certainly see the resemblance now.

Speaker 18 The photograph was taken at the very event where I met Edward.

Speaker 18 He was once a member of our order, the Circle of Trifasia.

Speaker 17 Yes, I have heard of them. They publish a journal, I believe.
Its principal focus is unraveling the secrets of the universe by way of mysticism and meditation.

Speaker 17 A very specific form of meditation, if memory serves.

Speaker 18 You remember correctly? It's called triphasic meditation, the three bridges technique. I wonder if your opinion of our approach to enlightenment is equally aligned with your father's.

Speaker 17 I don't recall the precise issue, but I did read a fairly recent article within it. cryptozoological evidence of the biblical giants, the Nifilhim.

Speaker 17 It surmised that certain cryptids, creatures such as Bigfoot, Dogman, etc.,

Speaker 17 are possible proof of surviving offshoots of the aforementioned biblical giants.

Speaker 18 And what do you think of that? The idea of monstrous creatures surviving, evolving to modern-day conditions?

Speaker 17 Well, if you don't mind me saying, I believe it's a bit like putting the cart before the horse, using one conjectured creature to prove the existence of another, even less probable creature.

Speaker 7 I see.

Speaker 18 I've been reading some of your work as well, Ben, including an interview you did for the Paranormal Register.

Speaker 18 You discussed your perspective on various phenomena and mentioned a paper you were hoping to publish, The Harmony of the Damned, a Unified Theory of the Paranormal.

Speaker 18 In that interview, you appeared to accept the existence of cryptids and even quoted several so-called Bigfoot hunters. Why acknowledge them on one hand only to dismiss them on the other?

Speaker 17 I only accept them provisionally and not necessarily as they are more classically defined. You see, I seek out the commonalities between paranormal entities, features that may unite them.

Speaker 17 If all paranormal creatures, ghosts, aliens, cryptids, and so many more, share the same underlying patterns, then it would seem to suggest they are not individual entities at all, or even distinct paranormal categories, but expressions of the same underlying force.

Speaker 17 Perhaps the hidden force of nature itself.

Speaker 18 Then the answer is yes.

Speaker 17 Answer to what?

Speaker 18 If you believed as your father did,

Speaker 18 he too wondered at the connections between all things,

Speaker 18 trying to tie them together into the same strength knot.

Speaker 18 And he also lost himself in the explaining of his heretical research.

Speaker 17 I do tend to lose myself from time to time.

Speaker 17 So, do tell me about your friendship with my father.

Speaker 18 Well, I suppose you could call us fast friends. We both.
Oh,

Speaker 18 good lord, I've made a terrible mess.

Speaker 17 Don't worry about a thing, Miss McKay. I'll fetch a towel from the kitchen and have it cleaned up in the gym

Speaker 17 Here, let me pick that glass up for you. There's no need to...

Speaker 18 Never mind that.

Speaker 7 Take this letter.

Speaker 17 It'll explain everything.

Speaker 18 I believe you are in grave danger. You must leave here as soon as you can.
Get away from anyone who knew your father. After you've read it, destroy the letter.

Speaker 18 And don't try to contact me after I've left. Do you understand me?

Speaker 17 I... I don't.
I don't understand. What? What are you talking about? It's all in the letter.
Quickly, tuck it away.

Speaker 18 He's coming back.

Speaker 17 Here we are. I'll get everything cleaned up before you know it.

Speaker 18 I'm terribly sorry, but I started feeling unwell.

Speaker 18 It happened so quickly, and I think I ought to leave before it gets any worse.

Speaker 18 I'm truly sorry for arriving unannounced and then leaving so abruptly. I hope you can understand.

Speaker 17 Of course, I understand completely.

Speaker 17 Let me at least walk you out.

Speaker 18 Oh, please don't trouble yourself. I remember the way.
Thank you so much for your hospitality, and again, my sincerest apologies for leaving in such a rush.

Speaker 17 Did something happen while I was gone? Not at all. She just seemed...

Speaker 17 ill all of a sudden. And that was that.
Strange woman. Do you think she'll be back? Somehow, I...
I doubt it. Well, I suppose I should finish cleaning this up and fetch out that lunch.

Speaker 17 I hope you're hungry. There's gonna be extra.

Speaker 17 I haven't the slightest idea what just happened out on the veranda. All the same, I've decided to keep the finer points of Miss McKay's statements to myself.

Speaker 17 While she may not even be who she claimed, there was something sincere in her eyes, and after she dropped the pretense, no small amount of fear.

Speaker 17 But there's no reason for conjecture when all that needs doing is to read the letter.

Speaker 17 Dear Benjamin, you have no reason to trust trust me.

Speaker 7 But I hope that at least a small

Speaker 17 part of what I say will be enough

Speaker 7 to put you on your guard,

Speaker 7 if not compel you to run from that house.

Speaker 7 I first met your father at the Triphasic Order's spring retreat in the 1960s.

Speaker 7 He was bright, charismatic, brimming with new ideas.

Speaker 7 We became lovers almost instantly.

Speaker 7 Though he tried the order's patience with his endless questions and doubts, we stayed together long after he left to seek his own truths.

Speaker 7 His family's worth allowed us to travel the world, and I was happier than words can express

Speaker 7 until the day he received news of his father's passing, leaving him the sole heir to a vast ancestral empire.

Speaker 7 Once we arrived at his new estate, a great castle in the the outer barrens of England, it was clear that things were about to change for the absolute worst.

Speaker 7 His family, a crowd of ghouls if there ever was one, embroiled him in the matters of his ancient lineage, bogging him down, drowning him in wealth, high society and obligation.

Speaker 7 But there was more than merely the functioning of the family enterprise at the heart of their efforts. There was something sinister.

Speaker 7 They did everything to separate us, to isolate him.

Speaker 7 When I'd been all but expelled from Ed's company, I received a letter from my order.

Speaker 7 I'd written them for guidance in the matter before me.

Speaker 7 I was instructed in the meditative technique for divination called the Watcher upon the second bridge.

Speaker 7 In the quietude of a small, filthy room I'd rented far from the Outer Barrens, I began my spiritual quest for answers.

Speaker 7 I dwelt on Sata, the queen of final sight, and pleaded to her for clarity and perspective.

Speaker 7 Upon the third day, my request was granted.

Speaker 7 She showed me a vast pit, its sides striped in countless claw marks, all of them outlining the efforts of those who sought and failed to find purchase as they fell, howling into the abyss.

Speaker 7 I heard the ruminations of wicked things as they gnashed their teeth and spat curses at the heavens.

Speaker 7 More than anything, I heard them wailing your father's name.

Speaker 7 Voices echoing like wolves on the scent of prey.

Speaker 7 They wanted,

Speaker 7 Needed him.

Speaker 7 It was then that I knew without doubt, those who pretended to care for him, all the while deceiving and manipulating at every step, were preparing something unspeakable.

Speaker 7 Naturally, I went to Edward immediately, slipping uninvited into the castle where his horrible family held near total sway over him.

Speaker 7 But I was.

Speaker 7 I was too late.

Speaker 7 Upon stealing into a large vaulted room, I heard movement from below.

Speaker 7 Strange chanting that echoed from the very bowels of the castle.

Speaker 7 Suddenly,

Speaker 7 slowly, all the sound parted like curtains, allowing for the focus of all things to fall upon a single sound.

Speaker 7 Edward,

Speaker 7 screaming and screaming.

Speaker 7 I ran sobbing from the castle and never looked back,

Speaker 7 realizing that my vision had passed into some kind of horrible truth.

Speaker 7 And so that's where the matter laid for years.

Speaker 7 Until I read of Edward's death, which,

Speaker 7 even so many years after that horrible moment at the castle, moved me to more tears than I can tell.

Speaker 7 But what caused me to act was learning that you had been named his inheritor.

Speaker 7 I looked into you, learned something of your past, wondered if they might do to you whatever they did to your father.

Speaker 7 Once again, I knelt and scraped at the hems of Sata,

Speaker 7 seeking the wisdom only she could impart.

Speaker 7 Once again, upon the third day, she granted me vision.

Speaker 7 I beheld the three bridges.

Speaker 7 Save the moonlit waters that run beneath them had been replaced by a great, yawning trench.

Speaker 7 But instead of howls from the damned,

Speaker 7 this time I watched as dead birds, sparrows, fled its depths, filling the sky till it was black and starless.

Speaker 7 And I heard a dreadful chorus of the soul.

Speaker 17 Slip silently into temples where olden doors

Speaker 17 are now open.

Speaker 16 The Gentleman from Hell is a Meltopia production.

Speaker 2 Today's episode was written by Mark Anzalone and performed by Stephen Zivik, Sam Stark, Aubrey Akers, Jesse Van Hove, and Mark Anzalone.

Speaker 2 Sound editing was completed by Stephen Anzalone, and script editing was conducted by Walker Kornfeld. Be sure to rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.

Speaker 2 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 2 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.

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