The Gentleman From Hell |S1| Ep. 9

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Speaker 9 I must admit, Mr. Hughes is a very generous man.

Speaker 3 He said that the risk demands the pay increase, which, of course, I wasn't gonna argue with him about.

Speaker 10 But now, we have to find some way of capturing proof of all this. Which, I gotta say, doesn't sound easy.
This thing does whatever the fuck it wants, whenever the fuck it wants.

Speaker 10 How are we supposed to get evidence if it doesn't want us to?

Speaker 9 For all its apparent power, whatever it is, it isn't omnipotent. It has limitations.
We just have to figure out what they are.

Speaker 3 More salt?

Speaker 9 Quite possibly.

Speaker 3 Then we should probably sprinkle some around the Jenny. Maybe that'll keep it from shutting off power on us.

Speaker 10 Did he say how soon these paranormal experts are gonna be here?

Speaker 3 He said as soon as he finds the best, they'll be here. But all the new equipment he wants us to use should be in Portafoy in the next few days.

Speaker 10 While we're there, we should use the time to jump on the net and look into some of the stuff we've come across. Like, what's the deal with the hyena? Is there some kind of meaning to it?

Speaker 10 And could we do an image search of the guy and the painting with the hyena? And we should also look into the lawyer and the doctor, Christ, and Raglan.

Speaker 10 I think the bureau dropped the ball with those two. Be a good idea to see what they're up to.

Speaker 3 Phil, aren't hyenas supposed to be some kind of animal that witches use or something like that?

Speaker 9 You mean like a familiar?

Speaker 3 Yeah, sure, a familiar.

Speaker 9 I've never heard of that specifically, but it's possible. I mean, familiars are evil spirits, or even the devil himself, tucked into the shape of an animal.

Speaker 9 They're usually creatures that are considered particularly nasty, so it does make sense. Where did you come up with that?

Speaker 3 I don't know, it just seemed to make sense.

Speaker 10 Speaking of the devil, you said this wasn't a ghost, but something demonic. Now, as a quasi-atheist, I can wrap my head around spirits as a sort of psychic leftover.
But demons...

Speaker 9 Well, then, you explain what we've seen in terms of a deceased human being.

Speaker 10 Can't ghosts appear as different things? You know, like in the movie Poltergeist.

Speaker 10 There were all sorts of monster-looking things in that, but they were all the product of a bunch of ghosts that got screwed over when their graves were desecrated.

Speaker 9 Ugh, I'm not sure how much research actually went into that movie, but in all the cases I've been privy to, traditional hauntings, ghosts, don't rise to the level of what's been happening here.

Speaker 9 I haven't even heard of anything like this.

Speaker 3 So, what is a demon exactly?

Speaker 3 Well,

Speaker 9 I suppose it depends on who you ask. They're viewed differently by the specific religion they appear within.
Christians say they're fallen angels, Hindus might call them Asuras.

Speaker 9 But they're all evil creatures that never started out as human beings.

Speaker 10 So, what type do you think we got here?

Speaker 3 I.

Speaker 3 I don't know.

Speaker 9 I've always been a spiritual person, though non-denominational, and I've absolutely felt dark spirits, things that didn't feel human. But I also believe there are realms of existence beyond ours.

Speaker 3 Perhaps that's what's happening here. So you mean, like.

Speaker 3 aliens?

Speaker 10 She means being from different dimensions of existence, not aliens from outer space.

Speaker 3 Gotcha, but whatever we're dealing with, it's clearly not an alien in the sense of being a stranger in a strange land. It knows the layout of this side of the looking glass just fine.

Speaker 3 Knows what gets under our skin, too.

Speaker 10 So much for having the home field advantage. But uh, speaking of aliens,

Speaker 10 we might have another visitor.

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah? How's that?

Speaker 10 When me and Phil checked out the farm, we ran into what looked like signs of someone snooping around. Found this note they tossed away.

Speaker 3 Looks like there could have been the start of a license plate number. From all the scribbling, seems like they screwed it up.

Speaker 3 Ben and Jim's a little shaky, and Pen's pressed in pretty deep into the paper. Whoever wrote it might have been in a hurry or scared or both.

Speaker 9 All that from a scrap of paper.

Speaker 9 Your deduction skills are a thing of beauty, sir.

Speaker 10 More like X-ray eyes.

Speaker 3 Where'd you find it?

Speaker 10 Next to the barn at the nearby farmhouse. It was a guy, judging by the size of the bootprints.
He waited in his car for a while before snooping around.

Speaker 3 Was the barn door open?

Speaker 3 Anything interesting inside?

Speaker 10 I just took a quick peek, as we were all on don't go at it alone mode. But I didn't see anything besides piles of junk.

Speaker 3 Might be a good idea to take a closer look.

Speaker 3 Just seems a little suspicious that someone came all the way out here, in the middle of the night and in a thunderstorm, to look for something inside an abandoned barn inside an abandoned city.

Speaker 9 You really think it's got something to do with what's going on here?

Speaker 3 Can't say, but it's weird enough to check it out, I think.

Speaker 10 Well, if we're going, we should go now. Hit the scene as fresh as we can.

Speaker 3 Right. Everyone ready to roll?

Speaker 10 Let's walk the perimeter first. Get a good look at all the windows and doors.

Speaker 3 Ugh, this place.

Speaker 9 Ugh, like a beach before the darkest tide rolls in.

Speaker 3 What do you mean?

Speaker 9 Like I've got a view of something massive rolling in from the distance.

Speaker 9 Something bad.

Speaker 10 Did you feel that when we were here the last time?

Speaker 9 No. Just the ambient apprehension I've had to get used to since I first arrived here.
Every so often, it grows.

Speaker 3 Like now.

Speaker 3 Let's get a move on then.

Speaker 10 Windows are all broken, and the doors look like they'd fall apart if you pulled on them. If anyone's coming in and out of here, it's through the front door.

Speaker 3 Yeah, let's head inside. Ain't nothing to see out of here.

Speaker 10 Let's open these doors as wide as they go.

Speaker 3 Not much for footprints coming in. Just those few dry, muddy ones.

Speaker 10 Yeah, they pretty much disappear over there there by that pile of pallets.

Speaker 9 I'll hang the LED lantern on one of these ceiling hooks. Should improve the lighting situation appreciably.

Speaker 9 There, that's much better. Just easier to work without one hand holding a flashlight.

Speaker 3 It'd take a dozen of those lanterns to light this whole place up. Finding anything in here could take a while.

Speaker 10 Well, let's get cracking.

Speaker 9 I'm officially taking a break. A woman of my age must proceed with caution, after all.

Speaker 3 Ugh.

Speaker 10 The one thing I liked about working for the Bureau was that we had people to do the searching for us. This do-it-yourself approach sucks.

Speaker 3 Yeah, and there's still all that shit over on that side of the room to go through.

Speaker 9 All right, let me see the damn piece of paper. I'd rather return to the mansion that's possessed of spirits and modern amenities rather than rummage around a giant haunted barn.

Speaker 3 You didn't say the barn was haunted.

Speaker 9 Um, what part of the entire city was the victim of a supernatural event? Did you not hear? Everything was infected by it.

Speaker 9 I've just not been all that eager to dip my toes back into the water after all that's happened.

Speaker 10 But if this random incursion by a stranger in the night means that much to you, we'd just like a clue that could have some material dimensions to it. Something tangible.

Speaker 9 Personally, I think it's a waste of time. No human beings are behind this.

Speaker 3 No,

Speaker 3 but they might be beside it.

Speaker 9 I suppose that's a good point. All right, just give me a bit of quiet, won't you?

Speaker 10 You got it. Not so much as a peep.

Speaker 10 He's dead. He's been dead for years.
Get a hold of yourself.

Speaker 10 I know he's dead. But he.

Speaker 2 He's been talking to me.

Speaker 2 From. from from hell.

Speaker 3 Good lord.

Speaker 9 Whoever was here, I've got a sense of him.

Speaker 9 He was looking for something concerning.

Speaker 3 his brother.

Speaker 3 He...

Speaker 9 he thought he'd been here, that there might have been some sign of him here.

Speaker 3 He looked for quite some time till he came across.

Speaker 3 Hmm. This.

Speaker 3 Huh. Looks like a bunch of melted credit cards.
Maybe an insurance card, too.

Speaker 10 Yep. This card right here has the same alphanumerics as the paper I found.

Speaker 10 But I can't make out anything else.

Speaker 3 Neither could he, apparently.

Speaker 10 But he left it here instead of taking it with him. Which means.

Speaker 3 Which means he didn't want anyone to know he'd been in here and taken something.

Speaker 9 Why would anyone be watching him all the way out here?

Speaker 10 Anything else we should know, Phil?

Speaker 9 Yes.

Speaker 3 The brother,

Speaker 9 the one who was being sought out, believed the dead was speaking to him.

Speaker 3 From hell.

Speaker 10 I don't know, but that sounds connected to me.

Speaker 3 All this shit about hell and demons.

Speaker 10 Phil said demons, but so far, all we've actually heard about are the damned. The Latin on the archway, and what Rupert said Ben's father was into.
And now this.

Speaker 9 Are you trying to say that the hyena isn't some kind of demonic manifestation?

Speaker 10 I'm just saying we don't know for sure what the fucker is. I don't doubt it's paranormal, paranormal, Phil.
But now's the time to be real careful about what we take for granted.

Speaker 10 We are playing outside the margins. We can't afford to be making assumptions.

Speaker 9 I suppose you're right at that.

Speaker 9 So hand me that ward of melted plastic. No time like the present to see what, if anything, I can make from it.

Speaker 9 Whoa.

Speaker 9 Oh, that was

Speaker 9 unexpected.

Speaker 9 Whoever had the cards was taken. By multiple people, I think.
It was quick.

Speaker 3 Over in moments. Was it killed? I don't know.

Speaker 10 Any names? Details about any of them?

Speaker 9 Just that the man didn't know who came at him. They grabbed him and took him away.

Speaker 3 Well, if they grabbed him, maybe they took him to the farmhouse.

Speaker 10 Definitely worth a look.

Speaker 9 I can try to use this melted lump to navigate through the house. If he was ever in there, that is.

Speaker 3 You gentlemen are armed, correct? Yeah, we're always backing, just in case. If you didn't bring yours, I got a spare Glock in the van.
You want it? Oh, no.

Speaker 9 Yes, yes, I do want it.

Speaker 3 Spirits are one thing, people are another.

Speaker 9 And I don't want to be without a weapon should something happen.

Speaker 3 You got it. One Glock coming up.

Speaker 10 Place looks pretty rough for being any kind of a hideout.

Speaker 3 Yeah, but the doorways are clear enough. Could have been some traffic through here.
Phil, you getting anything?

Speaker 9 Hard to say.

Speaker 9 Maybe a flicker,

Speaker 9 but I feel like if it's pointing anywhere, it's upstairs.

Speaker 3 Let's find those stairs.

Speaker 10 Stairs, dead ahead.

Speaker 10 What did you want with me?

Speaker 9 He was here.

Speaker 3 Dragged down the hall.

Speaker 9 That room at the end.

Speaker 3 Leon, stay here with Phil. I want to clear the room.
Beyond the safe side. Roger.

Speaker 3 All clear? Come on in.

Speaker 10 Oh, room looks like shit. Just like the rest of the place.

Speaker 9 The man was in here alright.

Speaker 9 They.

Speaker 9 Let me kill.

Speaker 9 They bumped alone. Oh, no.

Speaker 3 They gagged him.

Speaker 9 Tied him to this bed.

Speaker 10 She's right. Look at this.

Speaker 3 Yep, looks like the legs of the bed scratched against the floor pretty good. I tried like hell to get free.

Speaker 9 You boys wanted an earthly connection to all of this.

Speaker 9 It looks like you've got one.

Speaker 9 I don't know how, but this is somehow connected.

Speaker 3 I can feel it.

Speaker 3 All right, we need to tear this place apart. If there's anything even resembling a clue in here, we gotta find it.

Speaker 10 I was digging around in one of the other rooms and I found this. Bag of fresh audio cassettes.
I'll accept this one here.

Speaker 3 Huh. Says session 16.

Speaker 3 You wanna take a gander, Phil? Get it the fuck away from me.

Speaker 10 Phil, what's wrong?

Speaker 3 You okay?

Speaker 3 I'm sorry, boys.

Speaker 9 It's just, it feels like the other tape. The one from the lift.

Speaker 10 So I'm guessing we can't play it, right?

Speaker 9 I dunno. Do you remember what I told you before about what happened when I received the information about Ben's secret stash of media?

Speaker 10 Yeah, you said it felt like it was handed to you.

Speaker 9 Good lad. You do listen to me.
Ah, well, anyway, the cassette from the elevator had some of the same feeling to it. But not this.

Speaker 9 This wasn't intended for us.

Speaker 3 Good. That means we can now maneuver whatever the hell's been screwing with us.
Nice to know it ain't all knowing and all in.

Speaker 10 Well, in that case, we should definitely listen to it. I'm gonna run outside and grab the tape player.
I brought it along just in case we wanted to re-listen to Ben's trip.

Speaker 4 Be right back.

Speaker 3 Where are you going? Just to the window over here, so I can see that Leon makes it to the van and back.

Speaker 9 We've been confronted by several demonic manifestations, and now all of a sudden you're worried.

Speaker 3 You should know by now that regular old people can get up to some seriously nasty shit. And now we know we may not be alone in this burger.

Speaker 3 Well, I ain't taking any chances, And that goes for a lot of things.

Speaker 3 Like, I think we ought to start camping out in the huge master bedroom. No more sleeping in separate rooms.

Speaker 9 I'm glad you said that.

Speaker 3 After last night...

Speaker 3 Well,

Speaker 9 let's just say I have no desire to be locked in a room by myself again.

Speaker 3 Right. We need to keep each other covered.
Especially now that we can't count on any of the tech we brought. Fucking they could just pull the plug on anything we set up.

Speaker 10 Okay, let's play this sucker and see what's what.

Speaker 9 Ah, just one moment, please.

Speaker 10 What you got in the baggie?

Speaker 3 I hope that white stuff's flour, or we might have to take you in for possession.

Speaker 9 Very funny, but it's salt, the table variety. One can't be too careful.
You two might do well to carry a bag of it yourselves.

Speaker 9 Let's make ourselves a little circle.

Speaker 3 Ah, there we are.

Speaker 9 Now, just set the recorder in the middle and press play.

Speaker 10 All right, here we go.

Speaker 2 Is anyone there?

Speaker 3 Can you hear me?

Speaker 10 Yes.

Speaker 3 The Gentleman from Hell is a Maltopia production.

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

Speaker 2 and script editing was conducted by Walker Kornfeld. Be sure to rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.
And follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Meltopia.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 6 Hi, folks, it's Mark Bittman from the podcast Food with Mark Bittman.

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