I got it.
Open it!
SHIRLEY: Mr. Dudley says this is a master key,
so it's supposed to open any door in the house.
What do you think is in there?
- (LOCK RATTLES) - What if it's a cotton candy machine?
That'd be something.
Or a pony?
SHIRLEY: Not a pony.
(SQUEAKS AND RATTLES)
This isn't working.
It could be a pony. Something was moving.
I saw the shadow under the door.
Hello?
If there's a pony in there, it's dead.
(BANGS LOUDLY)
Where's the friggin' key?
- Don't say that word. - NELL: You say it.
I want to see what's in there, too.
Daddy, we need more keys!
It's an emergency!
(FOOTSTEPS FADE)
(FLOORBOARDS CREAK)
You're not funny, Luke.
(PLAYER CLICKS)
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
STEVE: I am home.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
I am home, I thought, and stopped in wonder at the thought.
I am home.
(DOOR CLOSES)
- LEIGH: Hey. - Hey.
How was it?
- It was great. Kelly says hi. - (CHUCKLES)
Her boys are huge.
You were missed.
I was gonna cook.
I know, but she wants fries.
- All the fries. Nothing but fries. - (CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
How's writing?
Slow. It's... Really slow.
- How much since I left? - (SIGHS) Two...
Pages.
Ouch.
I always said, I'm never gonna do a follow-up to Hill House,
and I think this is why. I... It's just...
Eat.
It's the best cure for writer's block.
(SCOFFS) Don't use those words.
Fries, nothing but fries.
Read me something.
"Certainly, there are places which attach to themselves
"an atmosphere of holiness and goodness.
"It might also be said that some houses
"are born bad."
"Born bad"?
Too much?
Hmm. It depends. Where are you?
Dad and I just got to the house, and, um,
we know Luke bought the gasoline, and...
Oh, honey...
We're about to go inside.
You don't have to do this, you know? You said yourself,
- you're never gonna publish it. - I do, though. (SIGHS)
To... See it, to really see it.
- (SIGHS) - Here.
(CHUCKLING) You feel that?
- Mmm-hmm. - That little girl in there,
who's getting ready to join this family,
one day, she's gonna ask about her grandfather
and about her Uncle Luke,
and what happened in that house.
She's gonna hear all sorts of stories and speculation,
like you did when you were little, but...
Whose voice did you need?
Whose story did you need to hear the most?
She needs to hear this from you.
This is for little Eleanor.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
(SIGHS)
STEVE: This house, which seemed somehow to have formed itself,
flying together in its own powerful pattern
under the hands of its builders...
Reared its great head back against the sky without concession to humanity.
It was a house without kindness,
never meant to be lived in,
not a fit place for people, or for love,
or for hope.
- You smell that? - Yeah.
Gasoline.
All right.
If he's here,
I think I know where to find him.
(LOUD BANGING)
Dad...
- HUGH: It's okay. Come on. - (BANGING CONTINUES)
Uh... (PANTING)
Look at me.
(GASPS)
STEVE: Fear.
Look at me.
STEVE: Fear is the relinquishment of logic,
the willing relinquishing of reasonable patterns.
We yield to it or we fight it.
But we cannot meet it halfway.
(CANE TAPPING)
Okay.
STEVE: I am home.
"I am home," I thought,
and stopped in wonder at the thought.
I am home.
Now, to climb.
Luke! Luke!
STEVE: Dad.
That... That door has always been locked.
HUGH: Yeah.
Only when it wants to be.
Take off the hinges. How hard can it be?
HUGH: But I tried everything.
Maybe with the two of us...
Dad!
Ah, Steve, wait!
(EXHALES DEEPLY)
You okay?
Yeah, I just need a break.
Why don't you come to bed?
Get some sleep. Hill House will be there in the morning.
I know it's... It's hard. It's too much right now.
- (EXHALES) - Why don't you put this down,
come to bed, and leave the ghosts where they belong?
That's... That's not the problem.
Where are you now?
Well, we... We went into the house.
And then we went to the Red Room.
And then the...
The door opened and I saw Luke, and then...
Luke died.
(STAMMERING) No.
He... He was alive on the floor.
And... And then, the door closed,
and...
And then, he died.
You have to say it.
You gotta finally say it, Steve.
- (SIGHS) That's the problem. - I know.
The door closed, and then I...
I... I, uh... I can't say what happened.
It's still too soon. Why don't you come to bed?
- Get some sleep... - No, Leigh... Leigh, I mean, I... I...
I can't say what happened after the door closed.
I... I don't remember.
I mean, how I got out of the house.
I... I... I don't remember coming back to California.
I... I don't remember us...
Reconciling.
Or finding out you were pregnant.
(SIGHS) Well, of course you don't.
Because you haven't written it yet.
I mean, is anything real before you write it, Steve?
The things you write about are real. Those people are real,
their feelings are real, their pain is real,
but... Not to you, is it?
Not until you chew it up and you digest it
and you shit it out on a piece of paper.
And even then, it's a pale imitation at best.
You take other people's lives and love and loss and pain,
and you eat it, Steve.
You are an eater.
You eat it and you shit it out,
and then, and only then, is it real for you.
Normal people's lives are flesh and blood and muscle and bone,
but not yours, darling. Oh, no.
Your life is plastic.
You are a plastic parasite.
(GASPS) A plastic hack, aren't you, honey?
So, of course you don't remember how you healed our marriage
or made our baby, because you haven't really seen it,
have you? You haven't shat it out in prose.
I... I was always a supporting player in your story, if we're honest.
I would feed you and fuck you and pay the bills
while you squinted over some novel that nobody was gonna read or publish,
but I paid you to write them, didn't I?
I picked up the check for your dreams,
and I said goodbye to mine, and not even that was enough.
Don't lie to me, honey. I wasn't real.
If I was real, you never would have walked out that door,
but I wasn't, and you did, and now this one...
This...
Little one...
She won't be real, either.
- (PULSE BEATS) - LEIGH: Oh.
She's kicking.
Oh, she's hungry.
She must be an eater like her dad.
If she is, my love,
if she eats me from the inside,
and I burst like a blister,
will you lose your mind...
Like your mother?
NELL: Steve.
(GASPING)
Luke.
Luke. Oh, God.
Oh, my God.
No, no, no.
Luke.
Come on.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(WHOOSHES)
(GASPS)
Mom.
(GRUNTS)
LUKE: I... I couldn't help her.
- Look, listen, I know I fucked up, okay? - (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
But I... I didn't... I didn't use, I didn't,
and... And I'm so fucking cold,
and my... (SHIVERS) My arms and legs are so stiff, I just... I...
I... I need... I need a bed.
Like a couch. I'll sleep on the goddamn floor.
Just... Please.
Please, please, please, let me come back, please.
- (SHIVERING) - (POLICE SIREN BLARING IN DISTANCE)
Hey.
What do you think?
It's the perfect place to get clean for a few days.
We're already paid up, and they even have room service, Luke.
You know, everybody's always given up on me my whole life.
But not you, Luke. Not you.
You saved me.
(CHUCKLES) But I, um, I didn't.
I mean, you...
You, uh... You took the money and you ran away.
- (CHUCKLES) I never found you. - No.
No, I came here.
I got us this hotel room.
And I found you at the pay phone, remember?
Right.
- (LAUGHS) - Why did you follow me?
You never did tell me the real truth.
I think it's 'cause you're sweet on me.
A little bit.
I have something for us.
One last time, just to get well before we get clean.
No, um, I'm 90 days clean.
Ninety-two, actually.
Yeah, but that's not clean.
You can 12-step it and collect your chips,
but you're never clean, never really clean,
because one day that needle's going back in your arm.
You have an appointment with that needle.
You're expected.
(STAMMERS) No, that's... No, that's not true.
I know what you're thinking.
You're thinking this is what I did with your money.
I mean, Steve's money. Let's be real.
You're thinking that I put it in my arm in some alley,
and maybe I died there.
In the puke and the piss.
And the alley rats are chewing on me right now.
Little yellow teeth...
Punching through the jelly...
Of my pretty eyes, right?
(JOEY SIGHS)
God, that's good.
Come with me, Luke.
No.
No, I won't.
Baby, you already did.
(GASPING)
Oh, Gordon was right.
If you look long enough at the wallpaper,
you can see that little girl.
It's the little girl with the runny-egg eyes.
(GASPS, GRUNTS)
(PANTING)
- (BANGING ON DOOR) - STEVE: Luke! Luke!
HUGH: But I've tried everything.
- Maybe with the two of us... - Dad!
(LUKE GROANS)
- HUGH: Ah, Steve, wait! - (DOOR SLAMS)
(LUKE GRUNTS)
(GASPS)
- (POUNDING IN DISTANCE) - (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
SHIRLEY: Luke.
Dad?
HUGH: Up here!
THEO: Dad!
HUGH: Up here! Hurry!
THEO: Dad!
Dad.
Dad!
Oh, my God. Shirley!
(PANTING)
(GASPS)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER) - (PIANO PLAYING)
BARTENDER: This is for you.
I didn't order that.
Oh, um...
Tell him thanks, but I... I'm...
Do you want me to pour it out?
Tell you what,
what's the weirdest thing you guys have on the happy hour menu?
Like, the thing no one ever orders.
(CHUCKLES)
So I'm minding my own business over there, and, uh, all of a sudden...
I had to repay you for the drink.
MAN: So you sent me a plate of, uh...
Boneless Caribbean jerk wings.
Serves me right for not being able to spot a ring at 10 yards.
No way that's 10 yards.
I'm sorry.
You're the first person I've seen at this convention
that doesn't look like they're also shopping for a coffin.
Yeah, these things can get a little Adam's Family.
I never really thought about it, but you send someone a drink...
- Without their consent. - And it's socially acceptable.
- But you send someone an appetizer... - Without their consent.
And yeah, it's really, really weird.
I feel like a jerk.
A boneless jerk.
(LAUGHING)
I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be funny.
It's been a minute, I guess.
Can I sit here while I eat these?
- You don't have to eat them. - MAN: Oh, sure, I do.
I will keep it professional. Hand to God.
We can chat, um, embalming technique.
That's what these things are for, right?
No funny stuff.
- Embalming only. - (MAN CHUCKLES)
All right. (EXHALES)
The bartender actually said that these are not too bad.
His words.
- (SHIRLEY CHUCKLING) - (GROANS)
SHIRLEY: I guess that's the thing about starting your own home,
they just never tell you.
It's not like buying a house, not even a little.
I didn't sleep for... Two years.
And mine was pre-owned, too.
For real?
I didn't hear last call.
Oh, me neither.
Well, I guess that's it.
You were true to your word.
MAN: I always am.
- (CHUCKLES) - Very well behaved.
I seldom am.
- Um, on that note... - Oh, no.
- Don't do it. - MAN: I'm not. I'm just saying,
- since we missed last call... - You're gonna do it.
I've got all the makings of a mean martini in my room
if you want a nightcap.
(MAN SIGHS)
I did really good right up until the end there.
You did. The one-yard line.
- Such a guy. - MAN: I can't help it.
It's taken 60 million years
to develop the carnivorous biped you see before you.
Thank you, anyway.
It was nice to meet you, and I enjoyed the conversation,
but I'm gonna say goodnight.
(SIGHS)
(CLEARS THROAT)
(FOOTSTEPS RETREATING)
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
MAN: That's not what you said, though.
You looked at my ring,
and then I said the thing about the carnivorous biped,
and you said...
"Let's see what kind of martini it makes."
We walked out of the bar, crossed the lobby, into the elevator,
and you had that martini, didn't you?
How old was Jayden then? Six?
And Allie was...
Two.
It had been diapers and bills for years,
and you had just bought the business, and it was in the red
and life was...
- Loud. - It was hungry, too.
It was so hungry, it was screaming.
The bills were screaming and the children were screaming
and your husband just... Drifted out of focus, didn't he?
And you were so far away from home for the first time in so long.
Stop it.
How long had it been since you'd been just a tiny bit reckless?
You looked at my wedding ring right before you answered.
It was gross. You were married and you were pushy...
Don't lie.
That ring closed the deal.
You went upstairs with me because of the ring,
because the ring meant...
You had as much to lose as I did.
And that was a calculation, Mrs. Harris.
You don't know me.
Well, that was the whole point. Just a fling.
People have them all the time, but not you.
I mean, the whole thing was so not you.
But God, who would have guessed how good at it you were.
You got dressed and you flew home, and it was like nothing happened.
You got away with it.
(CRYING) I'm a good wife.
I'm a good... Mother.
I'm a good person.
Well, you never did it again.
Never.
But you never told him, did you?
Fuck you.
And even then, knowing everything we did,
every single delicious thing we did in that hotel room,
your anger at Theo and Kevin...
Fuck you.
So righteous.
And yet you don't want to look at it, do you?
You did this thing.
You did it, and you liked it, and you just decided not to look at it.
Now, that's you all over.
Shirley never wants to look.
But Shirley has to look.
(ORGAN MUSIC PLAYING)
Is everything all right?
I think she's just a little overwhelmed.
She knows something most people don't.
The instant someone dies, they learn everything.
Every secret thing.
And when I die,
I'm gonna wake up in that hotel room
and have to watch every single thing she did.
And that scares her so bad, she hopes she'll die first.
Oh, that's all right.
Here.
Come with me.
It's okay.
I fixed her.
I ripped out her organs and eyeballs,
and I sucked out the blood and the shit,
and plugged her holes so she wouldn't leak.
And wired her jaw so she couldn't scream.
And I painted her face and her hands, and...
Set her eyelids on spikes so they wouldn't stare.
And I hung flowers full of smell and posed her like a dreamer,
and now, she is fixed and pretty.
But underneath, she is a horror.
Yeah, we pickle it and paint it, but it's still death.
And rot.
And ruin.
But she is pretty.
Isn't she?
(STRANGLED SCREAMING)
NELL: Shirley.
(GASPING)
(STEVE GRUNTS)
What the hell?
We need help.
This isn't real.
- It's a dream. - It's real.
He's dying.
Come on, Luke!
SHIRLEY: Luke...
STEVE: Come on.
TRISH: Tell me something only I will ever know.
STEVE: Luke!
THEO: When I was a child...
When I was a child, my mother spanked me
for throwing a rock through a greenhouse roof.
It was the only time she ever.
She had designed it, you see,
and she was getting ready to show it to a client,
and because I threw the rock...
For the only time in my life, she hit me.
Just once.
That was all she could take, and then never again.
But a simple rock through some glass taught me so much
about my mother.
It taught her, too.
I thought about it for a long time, remembering the spanking.
But remembering also the lovely crash...
And after thinking about it very seriously,
I went out and did it again.
(SIGHS)
TRISH: What's that about?
I... Can't... Recall.
There was a reason for this, and...
I don't remember.
I don't feel anything.
- That's okay, none taken. - No, I don't...
I don't feel anything else.
Because you're normal.
Tell me something only I will ever know.
You keep saying that.
We all do.
Tell me something only I will ever know
or what will you remember me by.
Where have you been?
Nothing of the least importance has ever belonged to me.
Can you help?
And I did.
A girl in the wall bricked into a corner
so no one could get in.
That's all for now.
You're gonna wake up.
What is it?
My sister.
What about her?
She's in trouble.
She'll be fine.
Wait, uh, wait.
- Why? - It feels wrong.
(TRISH SIGHS)
(TRISH CHUCKLES)
Nothing.
It's just a touch without the rest.
Just you and me.
See?
You're normal.
This is normal.
I was... I was feeling so much.
And then I was... And then I was feeling nothing.
And then I was... I just can't remember.
What were you feeling before?
I was feeling...
Fear...
And...
And guilt.
Fear and guilt are sisters.
I knew a man once
who knew those sisters well.
They kissed his eyelids as he slept,
and every morning, he went just a little more mad.
So he built a wall to keep it all outside,
but those two sisters,
they were in there with him.
Even there.
Fear and guilt.
That silly man thought his wall would keep them out,
but there was just enough room for him...
and them.
So he was trapped behind that wall.
Afraid and guilty.
And his voice left him, and he scratched and whimpered,
and his fingers were shredded on his own bricks
until his scratches just sounded like...
Rats in a wall.
He felt small.
So small.
But that was his dream.
And when he woke up, he was tall.
So tall.
- For always. - (SIGHS)
(SIGHS) Wait.
Fear and guilt are sisters, Theodora.
But when you wake up, they'll leave you be.
For always.
- Wait. - Shh.
Enjoy me.
I'm loving you.
This is love.
(VOICES WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY)
No.
No, no... (GASPS)
No.
NELL: Theo.
(THEO GASPS)
(GASPING)
He's not breathing.
Oh, my God.
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
Come on.
- Go. - SHIRLEY: Check his pulse.
No, no. No, no, no.
I... I can't feel it.
SHIRLEY: Don't you fucking dare, Luke!
- Don't you fucking dare! - Okay.
(SHIRLEY PANTING)
(SIGHS)
(GASPS) Sweetheart.
You're awake.
Oh, I've missed you so, so much.
- Mom. - Mmm-hmm.
Um, where are we?
We're home, my love. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
My little boy.
You know, when I was a little girl about your age,
I was driving in the car with your grandmother,
and we passed a house adorned with a forest of red roses.
And I fell in love with that house,
and with houses, all at once.
I can live there forever, I thought.
No one will ever find me there, either.
Behind all those roses.
And just to be sure, I will plant oleanders by the road.
I will light a fire in the cool evenings
and toast apples in my own hearth.
I will raise white cats and sew white curtains...
And sometimes I will come out of the door
to go to the store to buy cinnamon and tea and thread.
People will come to me to have their fortunes told,
and I will brew love potions for sad maidens.
I will have a...
Robin.
I will have a robin.
I almost named you Robin.
Your dad even agreed.
Robin Crain.
But when I looked at you for the first time...
You were Luke.
You just were.
Oh.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY) I almost forgot.
Your big boy hat.
LUKE: No, I, um...
No, no.
We were going to have a tea party,
with... With big boy hats and cups of stars, and we're...
We're so glad you're finally here.
Go.
OLIVIA: Why would you want your brother to go?
He just got here.
Have a seat.
Don't.
OLIVIA: Aren't you happy to see your brother?
Am I dead?
No.
You're awake.
And I'm so sorry, honey.
You were having such a nightmare.
When you see your child have a nightmare,
the feeling you get,
you just wanna take it on yourself.
Just pull it from those eyes and let it jump on to you.
Instead leap up from their minds like a spider made of tar.
And you would... You would welcome it,
you would open your body and your skull and take it all in.
Take any sadness or sickness and eat it if you had to,
if it meant they wouldn't feel it.
You know, they say God is love.
But he can't be.
Because anyone who would allow her child... Her child...
a single moment of actual suffering...
No, doesn't know a thing of love.
God has nothing on a mother.
I'm... I'm sorry, Mom, but I...
No, don't you apologize to me.
It wasn't your fault, never once.
You were perfect.
But I... I wasn't.
- I'm... I'm not. - OLIVIA: You were.
And you are.
It's the world, my love.
It isn't and it wasn't, and you never should have been fed to it
like you were.
Yes, have a seat.
Don't.
Your brother has been having a nightmare, young lady.
Just like you.
Don't you want him to wake up?
Go.
Why... Why does she keep saying that?
Honey. Honey...
Just... Just look at me. Look at me.
This is a gift.
For us all.
Not if I'm dead. I... I... I don't want to be dead.
But you want to be in here.
- No, I... I don't. - OLIVIA: Yeah, you do.
You... You've been knocking on that door
for years and years and years.
We could hear you.
Knocking louder all the time.
And finally, here you are.
- Please. - Don't.
- No, I have to get... I have to get... - (GASPS)
Please!
(GASPING, COUGHING)
SHIRLEY: Oh, God.
Luke! Hey, can you hear me?
SHIRLEY: His pulse is weak. THEO: We gotta get him to a hospital.
I thought you were gone, man.
I thought you were gone.
She saved me.
SHIRLEY: You... You just woke up.
- No. - SHIRLEY: You were gone.
She saved me.
I feel a little clearer just now.
We have.
- Nell? - NELL: All of us have.
- (LUKE GROANS) - It wouldn't have changed anything.
I need you to know that.
- Nell... - NELL: The rest is confetti.
Hey.
So many times, and we didn't know it.
All of us.
Nellie?
No, not a heart.
- Nell? - A stomach.
Nell?
We have.
- All of us have. - I... I don't think she can hear us.
NELL: So many times, and we didn't know it.
All right, we need to get Luke out of here.
- We need to get him to a hospital. - (COUGHING)
I don't get it.
All this time, we tried to get into this room,
and now we can't get the fuck out.
I feel like I've been here before.
We have.
All of us have.
So many times, and we didn't know it.
All of us.
(SIGHS)
I feel a bit clearer now.
Everything's been out of order.
Time, I mean.
I thought for so long that time was like a line, that...
That our moments were laid out like dominoes,
and that they...
Fell, one into another.
And on it went,
just days tipping, one into the next, into the next,
in a long line between the beginning...
And the end.
But I was wrong. (CHUCKLES)
It's not like that at all.
Our moments fall around us like rain. (LAUGHS)
Or... The snow.
Or confetti. (CHUCKLES)
You were right.
We have been in this room.
So many times, and we didn't know.
All of us.
Mom says...
That a... That a house is like a body...
And that every house...
Has eyes.
And bones.
And skin.
And a face.
(SIGHS)
This room is like the heart of the house.
No, not a heart, a stomach.
It was your dance studio, Theo.
It was my toy room.
It was a reading room for Mom.
A game room for Steve.
A family room for Shirley.
A tree house.
How do you spell "No Girls Allowed"?
NELL: But it was always the Red Room.
How do you take your tea?
NELL: It put on different faces so that we'd be still and quiet.
While it digested.
I'm like a small creature swallowed whole by a monster.
And the monster feels my tiny little movements inside.
You have to live.
(SIGHS) I don't... I don't know how to do this without you.
I learned a secret.
There's no without.
I am not gone.
I'm scattered into so many pieces,
sprinkled on your life like...
New snow.
There's so much I want to say to you all.
I'm so sorry our last words were in anger.
They weren't our last.
SHIRLEY: I'm sorry.
I'm sorry that I didn't...
Answer the phone.
But you did.
So many times.
I'm sorry if I didn't listen, and I'm sorry...
NELL: It wouldn't have changed anything.
I need you to know that.
Forgiveness is warm.
Like a tear on a cheek.
Think of that and of me
when you stand in the rain.
Hmm?
I loved you completely.
And you loved me the same.
That's all.
The rest is confetti.
(NELL CHUCKLES)
(GASPS)
(EXHALES)
(SIGHS, SWALLOWS)
"The first was young Miss Grattan
"She tried not to let him in
"He stabbed her with a corn knife
"That's how his crimes begin
"The next was Grandma Grattan
"So old and tired and gray
"She f'it off her attacker
"Until his strength gave way
"The next was Grandpa Grattan
"A-settin' by the fire
"He came up close behind him
"And strangled him with wire
"The last was Baby Grattan
"All in his trundle bed
"He stove him in the short ribs
"Until that child was dead
"And then he spit tobacco juice
"All on his golden head."
OLIVIA: Stay away.
He's just too cute, Liv.
Away.
Forgive a girl for being lonely.
Nothing's sadder than a cold bed.
But all those wedding beds go cold.
Don't they, loves?
(CHUCKLING SOFTLY)
Journeys end in lovers' meeting.
(SIGHS HAPPILY)
I have spent an all but sleepless night.
I have told lies and made a fool of myself.
And the very air tastes like wine.
Everyone is home.
You've changed so much.
For my heart.
How long has it been since you were here?
Longer than I intended.
It was too hard to see you here, this way.
But I still...
- Had you with me. - OLIVIA: No, love.
That wasn't me, that was just you.
What were you doing...
All this time away?
HUGH: I was...
Holding a door.
Holding a door closed.
I had my back against it
and my arms out wide,
because I knew there were monsters on the other side,
and they wanted what was left of our family.
And I held it so hard,
I... I didn't have arms left for the kids.
The monsters got through anyway.
That's what monsters do.
- But not here. - HUGH: No.
Especially here.
They're... They're out there,
in... In the woods.
They're out there, and we're in here, and the children are finally safe.
But, no. No. They're...
They're... They're not.
They're dying.
They're waking.
- No. - (SNIFFLES) You kept them from me.
To keep them safe.
You kept them from the truth.
To keep you safe.
Their... Their image of you.
I woke up...
At the foot of these stairs,
and I started walking.
No more headaches.
No pain, no day, no night, no now, no then.
And I would dream while I walked.
I dreamed of you.
I dreamed of you and the children's laughter.
And then I'd remember...
That you took them from me.
You took them and you hurt them, Hugh.
- And they suffered. - HUGH: They did.
They all do.
And even if they're... They're broken or addicted
or joyless or, yes, even if they die,
we have to watch it all because we're parents.
And that's the deal we make.
Whatever that life is, we bear witness.
- It's a horror. - HUGH: It doesn't have to be.
I saw our daughter dance at her wedding.
Her smile was like a light,
and it was reflected in everyone's faces.
And I recognized that light.
Because it was ours. We did that.
We loved each other so well
that it spread out into the universe
and it created a new star. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
(SIGHS) Stars die.
The night sky is full of dead stars.
They explode to death.
And if you could reach up with some great hand
and pull them down just before they burst, you would.
Yes, I would.
We're all safe now.
This is our forever house.
It always was.
Nothing bad will ever touch them ever again.
Nothing good will, either.
Open that door.
I know you can open that door.
I know you love the people in that room more than anything.
I won't let you take them away again.
They'll die.
Liv, they will die if they stay. They're dying now.
Our babies are dying.
Let them go.
You have always said that our job was to send them sailing.
- That was a dream. - Out into the world.
- OLIVIA: A dream. - Into the world.
Let them go.
I'll be alone again! (SOBS)
HUGH: If it wasn't for the kids in that room,
I would've laid down with you.
I would have followed you...
Right into the darkness.
But those kids, Liv...
- But those kids in that room... - (OLIVIA WHIMPERS)
If you open that door right now...
I will make a promise to you that I will keep forever.
Open the door.
Please.
Let me fix this. (SIGHS)
Journeys end...
In lovers' meeting. (CHUCKLES)
You had that engraved on my watch,
do you remember?
But I was wrong.
That's the secret, isn't it?
(CHUCKLES) Journeys don't end.
Not if you love someone.
They don't end at all.
Isn't that wonderful?
LUKE: Once upon a time,
the world was just play.
(JAGGED BREATHING)
And all...
All we had...
The five of us...
No, no, no, no, no, stay with me.
All we had was... Play.
Luke. Luke. Luke.
Stay awake! Stay with...
I'll start the car.
- Is he breathing? - Yeah.
Come on.
(GRUNTS)
(SEAT BELT CLICKS)
SHIRLEY: Sacred Heart's closest. THEO: I can navigate.
Are you guys coming with us or...
Go ahead.
There's one more thing your brother and I have to do.
- We'll see you there. - STEVE: What?
We'll meet you at the hospital.
(ENGINE STARTS)
(SIGHS)
Probably best you didn't say anything to them.
Dad... What did I see?
(CAR APPROACHING)
Olivia?
Liv?
(YOUNGER HUGH SCREAMS)
(CRYING)
(SOBBING)
What... What happened?
Why are you here?
Did you see?
What happened?
I... I... I don't know.
We were looking for... (SIGHS)
- Oh, my God. - YOUNGER HUGH: I can fix this.
I can fix it.
Hugh...
- I can fix it. - MR. DUDLEY: Put her down.
No, I can fix this.
You... You can't.
Why is this happening?
Why are you even here?
We need to get you help. We need to get the police.
Why are you here?
Our... Our daughter snuck out of a vent tonight, and we thought maybe...
Oh...
MRS. DUDLEY: No.
(GASPS) No. No, no, no...
(SOBBING) No. No. Oh, no.
No...
Both of their children.
All of their children.
(SOBBING CONTINUES)
She wasn't in her bed.
I didn't know.
ABIGAIL: Mommy?
(MRS. DUDLEY GASPS)
Abby?
(PANTING)
Abby! Abby!
What happened?
Who hurt you, baby girl?
Honey?
I'm having the strangest dream.
YOUNGER HUGH: I'm gonna burn it.
I'm gonna burn this house to the ground.
Stand over it.
Make sure that every room, every wall, every splinter is immolated.
Burn this house and its hills to the dirt.
Then I'll salt the earth.
You won't.
(SIGHS) Horace, he can't.
She's still here.
I'll... Carry her body back to the woods.
I'll...
Bury her by the cottage in the garden that she loved.
And when she's buried
and it's done, we'll... We'll say nothing.
You understand, Hugh? We'll say nothing.
She barely left our house her whole life.
We kept her out of the world to keep her safe.
And we're the only ones who would even know to...
To mourn her.
We won't say anything about Olivia.
We won't. (SIGHS)
That wasn't her.
We know that.
No, we know what really happened here tonight.
And your kids,
they don't need to hear anything else.
Or remember their mother in any way
but the way that she truly was.
And we can protect that for you.
If...
If what?
MRS. DUDLEY: If you keep this house.
Keep us on.
Keep everyone else away.
Don't let it take anyone else, never again.
Let it starve.
But leave it here.
So I can see her.
MR. DUDLEY: This house,
it's full of precious, precious things,
and they don't all belong to you.
It's dangerous.
For both of you.
MRS. DUDLEY: I don't care. This is where she is now.
I'm her mother.
I won't leave her here alone.
I will not. (CRYING)
Please, Hugh.
Please.
(SIGHS)
(STEVE SIGHS)
I wish you would have told me.
You didn't tell your sisters what you saw.
Why not?
Some things... Can't be told.
You live them...
Or you don't.
But they can't be told.
I'm sorry.
No.
I'm sorry, Dad.
HUGH: This is all yours now.
The house.
And the promise.
I want you to know...
You...
And your sisters...
And your brother...
Were the best part of my...
My...
(INHALES DEEPLY) Never been prouder of anything.
Anything, ever.
Take care of each other.
(SIGHS) Dad?
YOUNGER HUGH: And be kind to each other.
If nothing else...
Be kind.
I was so lucky to be your dad.
(SIGHS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER PA)
(MONITOR BEEPING)
STEVE: Home.
"I am home," I thought...
and stopped in wonder at the thought.
I am home.
Now, to climb.
I've been so wrong about so much.
I've lived with ghosts since I was a kid.
Since before I knew they were even there.
Ghosts are guilt, ghosts are secrets,
ghosts are regrets and failings.
But most times...
Most times, a ghost is a wish.
Like a marriage is a wish.
A marriage can be like a house, and a marriage can be haunted,
and I let that happen to us.
And I'm so sorry, Leigh.
You're scaring me.
I have something that I have to tell you.
And I'm going to.
But I need you to remember, while I do, that I love you,
my sweet...
Friend.
My best friend.
I'm asking you to love me
hard for the next few minutes, and it might be the hardest
that you've ever had to love me,
but I know it'll be okay, because it's us.
So...
I'm gonna jump. And I'm asking you to hold my hand...
While I'm falling.
Okay?
Okay.
(IF I GO, I'M GOIN' PLAYING)
Years ago...
Six years ago...
I went to that conference in Chicago.
- (SHIRLEY CONTINUES INAUDIBLY) - STEVE: I wish...
I'd loved you better.
And let you see me clearly, without disguise.
I wish I'd been a better husband.
I wish I'd been a better son.
(SIGHS) I wish I'd been a better brother.
(SONG PLAYING) This house
What are you saying, Steve?
She's holding secrets
I'm saying, I built a wall around a big part of my life,
and I hid behind that wall,
and I thought that wall kept us both safe. But walls don't work that way.
Walls never work that way.
What about these?
Oh, trash.
(SONG PLAYING) Just in case
I have to leave
I will go if you ask me to
I will stay...
I think the truck's full. Is that everything?
Yeah, I'm ready.
(SONG PLAYING) If I go, I'm going shameless
Let my hunger take me there
STEVE: And all of that, the guilt and the grief
and the secrets and the walls and the ghosts, right now,
my only wish...
My only wish is to come home.
(SONG PLAYING) This house
Please.
(SONG PLAYING) She's quite the talker
She creaks and moans
(SIGHS) I just want to fix this.
(SONG PLAYING) Keeps me up
And the photographs
Know I'm a liar
Theyjust laugh
STEVE: Fear.
As I burn her down
STEVE: Fear is the relinquishment of logic,
the willing relinquishing of reasonable patterns.
(SONG PLAYING) I will go if you ask me to
I will stay...
MR. DUDLEY: (CRYING) We're here.
We're here, Clara.
We made it. (SOBS)
(SONG PLAYING) If I go, I'm going on fire
Let my anger take me there
STEVE: But so, it seems, is love.
(GASPS)
(SONG PLAYING) And the shingles, man They're shaking
The back door's burning through
STEVE: Love is the relinquishment of logic...
(SONG PLAYING) This old house She's quite the keeper
STEVE: The willing relinquishing of reasonable patterns.
(SONG PLAYING) Quite the keeper of you
STEVE: We yield to it or we fight it.
But we cannot meet it halfway.
Without it, we cannot continue for long to exist sanely
under conditions of absolute reality.
Hill House, not sane,
stands against its hills, holding darkness within.
It has stood so for a hundred years and might stand a hundred more.
(SONG PLAYING) I will go if you ask me to
STEVE: Within...
Walls continue upright...
Bricks meet neatly...
Floors are firm...
And doors are sensibly shut.
Silence lay steadily
against the wood and stone of Hill House.
(SONG PLAYING) If I go, I'm going crazy
STEVE: And those who walk there...
Walk together.
(PEACEFUL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)