[upbeat music]
[Ilonka] The next chapter.
That's something people say a lot,
talking about the stories of their lives.
Turn the page.
The past is prologue.
The next chapter. Like it's already been written.
Like, the words are already there waiting for us.
But I disagree.
We are the authors of our own stories.
Sure, we can't always control the plot, but we can decide who we want to be.
So to me, the next chapter just means
the endless possibilities of the blank page.
New beginnings. It doesn't matter who you…
We were in high school.
The jock, the nerd, the weirdo, the criminal or the princess
or what plot twist got tossed our way.
It's time to turn the page and write the next chapter ourselves.
[light guitar music]
[Tim] It could be the compressor. Sure.
No, no. That's just the fan running.
How old did you say the unit is? For 4,000 square feet.
Uh, yeah, I could take a look at the wiring,
but we may be looking at a replacement.
How's 9:00 a.m. tomorrow?
[liquid pouring]
Of course. Yeah, no problem.
Okay. Yeah.
All right. All right, Bill. Yeah. I'll see you then.
New client?
[laughs] New hair?
Wow, looks great.
You'll look great in a cap and gown, too.
Damn. I wish Maggie was here to see this.
That's all she ever wanted, you know? For you to have your best go of it.
Salutatorian means second best.
[Tim] Oh, just a second. Get out of here.
Ilonka, you've done great, and you need to celebrate it.
And you should also break a few rules, I think.
You know, just like once in your life. Just…
Stop it, Tim.
[crickets chirping]
[Lauren] Holy shit! You did it. [laughs]
The red looks badass.
Where's Josie?
Uh, she chickened out, and I kind of get it.
What if they don't let us in?
-I mean-- -Lauren, this is our chance
to get a jump on a real college party.
Or we could start with a high school one since we kind of missed that boat
when we were being total nerds.
-Fuck high school. -[Lauren chuckles]
[hip-hop music]
[indistinct chatter]
Um… Vodka soda, please.
-He's not a bartender. -It's fine.
You go here? You look a little young.
-Uh… -Thank you.
[party music blasting]
Oh, there they are.
I don't know why they need six types of rum over there and no water.
Yeah, half the water bottles in the kitchen
were being used as ashtrays.
So you… you pace yourself. Or are you winding down?
Uh, I'm waiting for my friend. She's busy.
I think she's trying to make a couple of mistakes.
Uh, I'm Brian.
-Ilonka. -I don't think I've seen you around.
-I've kept to myself most of the year. -Hmm.
What's your major?
-English. -Me too.
You don't say.
What were some of your favorite classes this year?
[Brian puffs]
I'm gonna go with Romantic and Victorian literature.
[chuckles]
-Yeah. I know that sounds like a line. -It sounds like a line.
But it isn't.
No, I… I know it isn't, I do.
Romance and terror in the age of Victorian England.
That was one of my options for my senior thesis.
-One of your options? -See, I'm a sucker for Oscar Wilde.
A little "meh" on Stevenson. I still love, just polite love.
My favorite is Shelley. Mary, not her husband,
Mary Shelley, the teenage girl who wrote Frankenstein.
A teenage girl did that.
She was… She was 19 when she became the mother of modern horror.
I mean, she… she wrote the first major work in the science fiction genre.
Frankenstein is not only the first creation story to use science that way,
but to deal with the ethics of experiment and experimenter…
[both chuckling]
Sorry, that's, uh…
That's why I went with Shakespeare for my thesis. I…
I tend to ramble when I get going on Shelley.
Jesus. Where have you been all semester?
Uh, so… so tell me about you.
What are some of your favorite…
[coughs]
Excuse me. What were-- [coughs]
Here. Here you go.
[ominous music]
[water sloshing]
[water stops]
[breathing heavily]
[gasps, breathes shakily]
[gasping]
[ominous music]
[breathing heavily]
[thuds]
[clicking]
[Dr. Rowlands] Ilonka, did you hear me?
[sniffles] Sorry, I was just, um…
[breathing shakily] I'm sorry. I'm just distracted.
Can you say the name again? Like the name…
Can you say the real name again, please?
Papillary thyroid carcinoma.
[exhales shakily]
Right. Thyroid cancer.
[Ilonka] Uh, you said treatable?
[Dr. Rowlands] It can be. We need to know more.
But the biopsy results tell me we should do an immediate thyroidectomy
and start you on radioactive iodine treatment.
[Ilonka] You want to remove my thyroid?
No, I'm… I'm going to Stanford… in the fall.
Stanford? I… [inhales sharply]
If we start this now, will it…
Will it be finished before the semester starts?
[Dr. Rowlands] It's hard to say.
We should just schedule the thyroidectomy.
So just walk me through the worst case.
Worst case. Just… [sniffs]
…paint a picture.
Talking about it is the best way to make sure it doesn't happen, isn't it?
Am I going to need chemo?
Oh, kiddo, let's… let's not go there.
Ilonka, there are a lot of steps between here and chemo.
-Are the odds in my favor? -It's not quite that simple.
[Ilonka] I… I was number two in a class of 900.
Youngest in my class, too, and I skipped a year to get here.
I was in the top two-tenths of 1 percent.
I'm good with odds.
I got this.
[chuckles softly]
-♪ Happy birthday, dear Ilonka ♪ -♪ Happy birthday, dear Ilonka ♪
-♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ -♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
What am I supposed…
I mean, the candles aren't lit.
Well, hospitals aren't exactly in love with open flames, so…
[exhales sharply] Okay.
-[Dr. Rowlands] Yay. -[Tim] Happy birthday, kiddo.
-Hey. Don't you have an install today? -[Tim] It's…
No. This is more important.
Don't lose another job for me.
This is more important.
[Ilonka] How is it?
[Lauren] Honestly? College is easier than high school.
I mean, less bullshit and more things that actually matter.
-[Dr. Rowlands] Tim, can I borrow you? -[Tim] Yeah.
[Lauren] So, how are things with you? [chuckles]
Well, the food is shit, and, um, my foster dad is my only friend.
But there is an orderly that has the hots for me though.
-[Lauren] Well, is he cute? -Ugh! I'd rather die.
So I win.
Look, I got to go, but…
-Uh, cool. -Thanks for calling.
-It means a lot. -Happy birthday. And…
Basically, I'm afraid this round didn't do it.
[Dr. Rowlands] The tumors in her lungs didn't respond the way we'd hoped.
So we… we do it again? Another round.
Another round isn't going to make a difference at this point.
[Tim] What, so you're saying that…
You're saying she's terminal.
Yes.
[breathing deeply] Hmm.
[somber music]
[Tim sighs]
How long?
[Dr. Rowlands] It's tough to say.
[Tim] It's tough to fucking hear, too, Doc. Give it a try.
[Dr. Rowlands] I really prefer not to. Everyone is different, and--
[Tim] She's 18 years old today.
Could she make it to 19?
Yes, she could. It's possible.
Yes.
[Tim] And, um, 20?
[Dr. Rowlands] We should talk about what you want to do next,
though there isn't much else on my end besides making her comfortable.
[voice fades]
[somber music]
[computer beeping]
[foreboding music]
[gasps]
[unsettling music]
[mouse clicking]
[classical music playing]
[eerie music stings]
[gasps]
[breathing heavily]
[unsettling music]
[Ilonka] It's a special program and it's fully funded.
I mean, all of this, it's adding up.
Brightcliffe Hospice. You know what that means, right?
Of course. But it's specifically for young people.
One of the only places like it in the world.
They should be with their family, Ilonka.
Lots of them don't have families according to the Web.
Lots of foster kids. I mean, kids on their own.
It's a place for teenagers to transition on their own terms.
This means no more treatments. No more trials, no more--
None of that's working.
[Tim sighs]
I promised Maggie…
I promised Maggie that I would take care of you.
And you did.
You did so good, Tim.
[Tim] Like I said, just a trial period.
[Ilonka] So, like cancer sleep-away camp.
[Tim] I'll be at the Motel 6 in town.
So, you know, just in case you change your mind, which you can,
of course, change your mind.
Come right home to Sacramento. Remember that.
Ilonka. Hey.
[unsettling music]
Hey, are you okay, kiddo?
Yeah, just, uh…
deja vu.
[grand music]
Sorry. You're gonna think I'm a freak, but…
do… do I know you?
Yeah, I… I think so. You went to Franklin High, right?
Or you were a… a patient at Seattle General?
No, I'm from Sacramento.
Weird.
No, I've never been.
Uh… what are you in for?
Papillary thyroid carcinoma with lung metastasis,
so, um…
thyroid cancer, I guess.
Leukemia, I guess.
It's nice to meet you.
Should I just call you Thyroid Cancer?
[chuckles] Sorry, I'm, um, Ilonka.
[Tim] Everything okay, sweetie?
Yeah, I'm fine. This is, um… Leukemia.
[both chuckle]
Kevin, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, Kevin. I'm Tim.
Well, should we go check out the inside and see what all the fuss is about?
Yeah.
[Kevin] Uh, well, uh, I'll see you around.
Maybe.
I mean, yep. I'll be here, short term anyway.
-Ilonka, right? -[Ilonka] Yeppers.
Welcome to Brightcliffe.
I'm Mark, one of the nurse practitioners. Uh, Doc's inside waiting for you.
Come on, I'll help you with your bags.
-Thank you. -Yeah. How was the drive?
[Tim] It's beautiful.
[Mark] It can be a little dodgy at spots.
[Tim] Are you sure you're okay?
Yeah, yeah, it's nothing.
[door closes]
[Tim] Jeez. How old is this place?
Well, the house itself was built in--
1901.
That is right… uh, by a logging industrialist, um…
Stanley Oscar Freelon.
Correct. And also his wife, Vera.
Uh, changed hands a few times over the years after that,
until 1966, when Dr. Stanton bought it.
But before that, it was a halfway house in the Depression…
-[Mark] Mm-hm. -…and a religious commune
called the Paragon, lived here in the '40s.
So it was also a cult compound.
-I did not know that. -Yep, and it was…
Who's…
What?
It's, um…
It's… [breathes shakily]
[eerie music stings]
[classical music]
[thuds]
[gasps, breathes heavily]
There she is.
Welcome back, Ms. Pollock.
[Tim] You're okay, sweetie.
[Dr. Stanton] Just a fainting spell.
Pretty common for someone with your diagnosis.
I thought I saw someone, an old lady--
I'm not exactly an ingenue, but old is pretty harsh.
[Ilonka] Not you, someone…
[exhales] Never mind.
I'm Dr. Georgina Stanton.
Welcome to Brightcliffe.
[unsettling music]
I'm sorry about earlier, Doc.
-[Ilonka] Earlier? -When you fainted.
He scooped you up and ran for the door,
which I completely understand.
It makes no sense.
No sense at all to leave her here.
To leave her here when she's sick.
Trust me. I know.
It's exactly how I felt when I lost my son, Julian.
I couldn't talk to parents in your situation
if I hadn't been one myself.
I'm sorry, I didn't… didn't realize.
The thing I didn't understand when we talk about cancer
or any terminal illness, really.
Look at the language we use, the language of battle.
We're gonna fight this thing.
We're going to fight with everything we've got.
Be brave for the fight.
And then people say…
they lost the battle.
It's so backwards.
I get it. To talk about the fight, it's active, visceral.
Don't look at the hard part.
Look at all these shiny, sharp weapons we've developed all for you to try.
Brightcliffe isn't about battles.
It's about permission to leave the battlefield.
To focus on living instead of fighting.
We aren't about a fight, and it's certainly isn't losing a battle.
Every living day here is a win.
You and I can talk a little more, Tim, if you'd like.
Maybe while Ilonka finishes her tour.
Um, I'd like that.
So this is the dormitory.
Boys or girls?
Both. Boys and girls don't share rooms, of course,
but we don't see the need to quarantine them.
These young people are dealing with more than some adults ever will.
The least I can do is treat them like grownups.
[hip-hop music playing]
This is Spence.
Spence, I'm designating you peer mentor for the afternoon.
I was fifth in succession. What's happened to the others?
[Spence] Stick to it and don't get lost.
It's like a labyrinth in here, more like Vegas.
They don't want you to know what time it is,
and they don't want you to get out.
Former patients of Brightcliffe, class of '66, all of them gone.
Pushing daisies.
It depends on who you talk to, though.
The guy who gave me this tour, he's gone now.
But he used to call it the Ghost Tour.
Do you believe in ghosts, newbie?
[chuckles] Does it matter?
Depends on your career ambitions, I guess.
Myself, I've got my fingers crossed.
I'll be an entry-level poltergeist when we finally forget
to fuck with people.
[Spence] You coming?
Yeah.
Group therapy will be in here. A bunch of therapies, actually.
These two are doing some new agey thing called yoga,
which is Hindi for bullshit.
That's Natsuki, ovarian cancer, and that's Sandra, lymphoma.
Sandra is kind of a Jesus freak, speaking of bullshit,
and she gets weird if you mention her wig.
No judgment. Whatever works.
We all got our poison to pick.
This is my poison.
Yeah, the library is tough to beat.
Whole thing was donated from a local library
before it closed, so it's like a proper library,
just as hard to navigate.
[Spence] It's got a card catalog and everything.
But wait till you to see what's next.
[metal clanking]
[Spence] Amesh, new girl.
Hey, there.
Glioblastoma.
Oh, gesundheit.
-I'm Ilonka. -[whispers] Fuck.
Ilonka, hi. I'm so, so glad I'm not the new kid anymore.
Welcome. This is an excellent day for me.
-[Spence] Amesh has been here… -Two months.
…two months and I think he's been…
Two months of the new kid jokes.
-[Amesh] The constant hazing. -There isn't any hazing.
There's no hazing.
But he keeps bringing that up,
keeps asking us when the hazing starts and we keep telling him
-this isn't a frat house. -I mean,
I don't get to go to college. I don't think I'm asking for much.
Could have at least tried to do some hazing.
I don't know why you can't agree with me, dude.
You haven't seen her in a bikini.
Well, Lydia's all yours.
[Amesh mumbles]
You've got some old elevator. I've only ever seen these in the movies.
Just the one.
Oh, you want to take a ride? Just… just hit the B button.
Dude, I said no hazing.
I'll take a ride.
-What's in the basement? -Oh, man, I dare you.
No, he doesn't.
-Dude, finally, some hazing. -Shut up.
Bring it. I did three rounds of chemo. Takes a lot to scare me.
[clanking]
[Amesh] No, wait. Don't. Don't.
Don't actually go down there.
-Don't. -It's the morgue.
I guess I didn't think of that.
[Ilonka] That makes sense, doesn't it?
I'd stay out of the elevator, in general. It's possessed.
[Spence] Hops on and off, goes up and down at night all by itself.
Something wrong with the wiring.
It's old, but I'd stay out.
[Amesh] You know what? I get it now.
This is not a good place to do hazing.
-Yeah. -It's just mean.
Remind me to thank everybody.
-[Spence] Mm-hmm. -[Amesh] Mm?
[cello music playing]
[Ilonka] That's beautiful. Don't stop.
Did you write that?
You know what, I did.
-You new? -I'm Ilonka.
Cheri. Nice to meet.
[Amesh] Okay, I don't know much about music,
but I can almost guarantee she did not write that.
-[cello music playing] -[Spence chuckles]
-That's Cheri. You've got to watch out. -Yeah, watch out.
One time she told me she was a flight attendant,
and I believed her for more than a day.
We don't know much about Cheri. Her story keeps changing.
Only thing I can say for sure is the day she arrived,
she rode up with two moving trucks and her nanny was driving a Bentley.
Everything she said since, grain of salt, at best.
All yours. Well, yours and Anya's.
She was supposed to be here for introductions.
And in fact, I think she was supposed to do your tour.
[Spence] But, well, Anya is Anya.
Uh, dinner is in the conservatory at seven, if you're feeling up to it.
Otherwise, you can have it delivered.
Do not use your bedpan.
Uh, they're in every room for some reason,
and they really don't want you to use it unless you really have--
Let's go.
They're apparently decorative, is what I'm saying.
[door closes]
[sighs]
[knocks on door]
Come in.
[Tim] Well, I guess your mind's made up, huh?
Guess we can put these bags back in the car.
We'll drive all night, be home by morning.
How was Dr. Stanton?
Well, truth be told, she was great.
She actually reminded me a little of Maggie.
I'm supposed to be dropping you off at college, not this.
Well, it's not too much of a stretch.
-It's got serious Ivy League vibes here. -[Tim chuckles]
Just think about it that way, if it helps.
[sighs]
[bright music]
[Ilonka] What the fuck?
[grunts]
-[Anya] What are you doing? -Oh. Ow.
Sorry, there's a…
I'm Ilonka.
Thyroid cancer.
With, uh… with lung metastasis?
-You're Anya, yeah? -Yeah.
[Anya] You're going to read all those?
Yeah.
I was supposed to start college in the fall,
trying to keep up with my syllabus.
[Anya murmurs] Fucking shite.
So there's, uh…
There's weird symbols under my bed in chalk.
-[Anya] Yeah? -Do you, uh… Do you know why?
Rachel, I expect.
Rachel?
[Anya] Roommate Rachel.
She was super into Wiccan stuff.
Toward the end.
Well, we all need something, right?
Yeah.
Ten grams of morphine for me. [sighs]
[Ilonka] Well, I… I get it.
Not necessarily like Wicca, but there's something to magical thinking.
Yeah, but it sure didn't work for Rachel, the bitch is dead.
But, hey, why not leave them there? Go for double jeopardy.
Where the scores can really change.
Well, it was great to meet… you.
[upbeat music]
Uh, do I go to the kitchen or…
[Kevin] No. They'll bring it. Made special.
They talked to your doctor about that already,
but you can change the menu if you want.
We didn't meet officially. I'm Sandra.
Ilonka. Nice to meet you.
I like your, uh…
-[Ilonka] I like your hair. -Thanks.
Yours, too. I mean, you look terrific.
I'm Natsuki. Welcome.
[Ilonka] How long have you all been here?
-Four months for me. -Five.
-Three. -Three.
Sixty-three days, 17 hours and 11 minutes.
You don't know the minutes.
Sandra and Anya are the seniors here.
You've both been here almost…
-Almost six months? -Almost six.
More than six. Actually, I just got re-upped.
Got my double D. Oh, my god.
Yeah, I got to do that.
-Double D? -Double diagnosis.
Still dying. Confirmed.
Insurance pays for hospice in six month increments.
So if you're still here in six months, you got to go in for an exam.
[Cheri] This is a hospice?
My parents told me this was a boarding school.
[Sandra] They wouldn't really throw you out.
Dr. Stanton wouldn't throw us out.
Just 'cause it's got a morgue in the basement
doesn't mean it's not a business.
So how did you end up here?
I sort of found Brightcliffe on my own.
I sent in an application, did an interview with Stanton over the phone
and said there was an opening.
[Anya] That opening was Rachel I guess.
Hm. I didn't really get to know Rachel.
She was in full cranky ass bitch mode by the time you got here.
And the whole witchcraft thing?
If cancer didn't take her out, someone was going to drop a house on her.
I think God will forgive her for the witchcraft stuff.
Jesus Christ. Rachel was a Wiccan.
If she was a heretic, I'm going straight to hell.
Only God knows what's in someone's heart in the end,
and I like to think He'll find yours is way more full of love than you let on.
-Oh, yeah? -Oh, no.
[Anya] Rachel was getting real dark towards the end.
I didn't tell you guys the weird shit she was saying.
She said that she could feel something following her like a living shadow.
[Anya] And every time she turned around, gone.
You can't scare me, Anya.
[Anya] The night before she died, she came running into our room.
I don't know how she ran at all.
She was in real bad shape by then.
She said it almost got her that time.
That she could feel its fingers touching her shirt.
That it was that close.
And she cried and cried.
And she said she knew that she wouldn't be able to escape it.
Not again.
And the next day she died.
-Why do you always do that? -Do what?
It's scary enough without that.
You've got nothing to fear, right? I mean, you've got Jesus on your side.
[Kevin] Sandra, you know what it is?
Rachel was on a lot of drugs towards the end.
The drugs do a number.
You got to take what people say with a grain of salt.
I mean, people see ghosts, hearing voices.
I've heard three or four versions of that "Living Shadow" story
since I got here.
[Spence] She was tripping balls.
Relax, Sandra. You're just an easy mark.
Somebody say Mark? 10:00 p.m., lights out, new girl.
No wandering around. All right?
Doc gives you a lot of leeway, but safety is no accident.
Therefore, there is a strict curfew.
There's only one person on the night desk.
If you fall downstairs or something, we might not hear you.
Oh, fuck right off, Mark.
Okay. Anyone need anything else?
We're good.
What was that about?
-Yeah. Spence kind of hates Mark. -Why?
Well, he's young and cute and funny, and he ain't dying.
What's not to hate?
[crickets chirping]
[ominous music]
[classical music]
[classical music continues]
[ominous music]
[music stops]
[soft clanking]
[door closes]
[intriguing music]
[metal clanking]
[intriguing music]
[Kevin] You didn't even invite her.
Right off the dark.
She was asleep.
[Anya] Besides, I'm not sure about her.
Hey, well, you said that about me.
And I was right. Half your stories are just old episodes of Doctor Who
I really wish you wouldn't…
We've been through this.
Yeah, but that was before I found two bottles of Stanton's private stash.
[Sandra] But you shouldn't mix it with the meds.
[Anya] No, you shouldn't mix it with lorazepam.
Don't yuck my yums.
-What's it going to do? Kill me? -[Natsuki] Yes, it could.
Best case, it makes you pass the fuck out at the table
and feel like shit for three days. Like last time.
-I'm just going to smell it. -[chuckles]
[thuds]
Oh, I'll have a glass, too, just to smell it.
-Me too. -Yes, me as well.
I've already smell it.
How about it, Natsuki?
I'm dying to hear the next chapter.
Phrasing.
Where did I leave off?
He was walking home after the concert.
-[Sandra] I don't like this one. -[Anya] Fuck's sake.
No offense, Natsuki, you're telling it beautifully.
-Thank you. -It's just creepy.
Yours are always so creepy.
Deal with it. I sat through three full nights of your angel porn.
She's got you there, Sandra.
I thought you guys liked my angel story.
All right, then.
To those before and those after.
To us now and to those beyond.
[all] To those before and those after.
To us now and to those beyond.
Seen or unseen, here but not here.
[all] Seen or unseen. Here but not here.
All right, the concert's over, and Ren is walking home.
He didn't plan on staying so late,
but he heard that strange music coming from the Fine Arts wing,
and he didn't expected it to be coming from that empty classroom.
So now walking home, he's hearing it on the wind.
He suddenly realized he didn't recognize the street,
didn't recognize these houses.
But he made this walk every day.
It was muscle memory to him.
It didn't make sense.
And then that same melody so familiar, like he knew every note
that he was about to hear.
So, so familiar.
Then he feels himself being watched.
Not from the street.
The streets are empty.
No. The windows, all of them.
Every single window framing a face like a portrait gallery.
All smiling, all watching him.
He should run, he thinks, run back the way he came.
But the music is back.
It's in his ear. It's in his head. And then another sound.
[ominous music stings]
[crickets chirping]
Are you lost?
You look lost.
I'm…
I don't know where I am. I…
[mouths] I can't hear you.
I don't know where I am.
Can you just point me--
[girl] Are you lost?
[ominous music]
[screaming]
[Spence] Wait.
Don't be lazy.
-You scared? -Startled isn't the same as scared.
Anyone can bang pots and pans behind someone's head.
That's not scary. It's just startling.
And it's lazy as fuck.
Maybe.
But when that happens,
it actually releases a burst of adrenaline and…
[screams]
[panting]
[ominous music stings]
[panting]
[screams]
[eerie music]
[screeching]
[screaming]
[panting]
-[cat screeches] -Fuck!
Come on. Did you just fucking black cat scare us?
You do that first? Not at the end.
[Natsuki] You're right.
The point is, except for that homeless cat
the street was empty.
And you remember what that teacher had said?
"I should tried to warn him about that melody."
What she said about how some music finds its way into your head.
How you can't stop yourself from hearing it once you've heard it.
How it plays on and on, and how she tried…
[both screaming]
[screaming]
[screaming continues]
The fuck was that?
[all chuckling]
Well, shit, new girl, might as well come out.
[Anya] Fuck.
I knew you weren't asleep.
I thought no one was allowed out at night.
We're not.
So, what is this?
-It's kind of a club. -Shh!
Give me the wine.
Take a sip.
I'm… I'm good. I--
Take a sip.
I can't. I'm on meds.
You're on Acetaminophen. And what? Haldol? You can have a sip.
Drink the contraband, and maybe you're in the club.
Forget about it otherwise, nobody rides for free.
Oh, come on. She's here already.
At this point, she's either a member of the club
or a witness for the prosecution.
The Midnight Club?
I'm not sure if that's what they called it originally,
but that's what it was called when I got here.
So you guys sneak into the library every night and…
Make ghosts.
-Tell stories. -Make ghosts sounds way better.
You tell a story, you're giving birth to a new ghost because…
That's all any of us are in the end,
stories.
[Amesh] Hmm. Yeah, speaking of which,
Natsuki is in the middle of a barn burner.
It's been going on for three days now,
and it's finally devolved into a pile of bullshit jump scares.
I hate you.
There's actually more to the club than just the stories.
One pretty huge thing, actually.
Hey, she hasn't had any wine.
She hasn't told a single story, so, yeah.
You want to be in the club? Ante up.
Tell us a story right now and drink the fuck up.
Like I said before, nobody rides for free.
Well, actually, Cheri rides for free.
-[laughter] -I was gonna say that.
Cheri hasn't told a single story yet and it's been three months.
[Cheri] I'm working on it.
Still editing, fixing it in post.
That's what my dad says all the time.
He's a famous movie producer.
Cheri's full of goddamned stories.
Just never in the club.
Hmm. But other than Cheri, nobody rides for free.
[breathes deeply]
What kind of story?
No rules there, though there does seem to be a theme.
We generally try to scare the shit out of each other.
Not all of us.
Well, the interesting ones, anyway.
They're easy, you know,
scaring someone who's already been given the worst news they'll ever get.
We're tough fucking audience.
Okay, well… [inhales]
how's this?
A story about a young woman who found out she was dying.
Oh, fuck off.
Boring. We try not to do that here. It's a little masturbatory.
Wait, hey, it's not what you think.
Her name was Julia Jayne
and she was born in 1951 in Lewiston, Idaho.
[nostalgic music]
It was her junior year when she met Nathan.
And it was…
It was the kind of love
when suddenly all the love songs are about you.
♪ I took one look at you And it was plain to see… ♪
[Ilonka] 1968 was the year she fell in love.
It was also the year she found out she had thyroid cancer.
Less than a year at the most.
[Ilonka] Julia was 17, and she lived with her elderly grandmother,
who was so on in years, she was barely herself.
Thyroidectomy, it metastasized, radiation,
and finally there was no other option
and she wound up at a hospice.
A new private hospice to wait it out.
[Julia] May 20th, 1969.
May 20th, 1969,
05-20-1969.
[Ilonka] She obsessed over the date.
May 20th, 1969.
[Ilonka] One year after her diagnosis,
the date she figured might be the end for her.
[Julia] 05-20-1969.
[Ilonka] She missed Nathan with all of herself,
sometimes late at night,
she swore she could hear him calling out for her.
[eerie music]
[faint whisper]
Julia.
[Ilonka] The next day, Julia didn't turn up for breakfast.
They searched the whole house, and she was nowhere to be found.
-[man 1] Julia! -[man 2] Julia!
[Ilonka] Another day and a police report is filed.
Julia Jayne was a sleepwalker
and they were worried she'd wandered out at night.
Worst case, wandered too close to the cliff,
into the ocean.
Days turn into weeks and then a month later…
[unsettling music]
[Ilonka] When asked where she had been all that time, Julia said…
I never left the house.
[Ilonka] Soon after she returned, her tumors started to shrink
and then somehow they disappeared.
Word spread that she'd been leaving. Her prognosis changed.
She was gonna live.
But before she left the hospice, one last thing.
09-14-1970.
11-25-1971.
Julia, the doctor wants to see you.
02-06-1989.
[Julia] 02-06-1989.
-[chuckling] -Oh.
[Ilonka] It seemed like gibberish until…
on September 14th, 1970.
[breathing heavily]
09-14-1970.
[Ilonka] That young woman died in her bed.
-And on November 25th, a year later… -11-25-1971.
…the young man did too.
And the orderly who had helped Julia to her car…
died in a car accident on February 6th, 1989.
[Julia] 02-06-1989.
02-06-1989.
Julia Jayne was like everyone else after she disappeared.
She no longer knew her expiration date, but…
it seemed like she was cursed to know everyone else's.
So?
What happened to her?
There's more to the club you said.
One pretty huge thing you said.
What is it?
Tell me and maybe I'll finish that story.
Okay, newbie.
There's an agreement of sorts,
like a pact goes back to the start of the club,
whenever that was.
We're not just telling stories here.
One of us sitting at this table is going to die first and soon, probably.
I hate it when you say that.
[Anya] The first one of us to croak has a major job to do.
A responsibility of sorts.
To do everything they can to reach out from the other side.
Tell the others what to expect.
So…
has one shown up?
Anyone gotten, you know, a sign?
Oh, yeah. We have proof of the afterlife.
Happened a couple of weeks ago.
Now we just meet out of habit.
I mean, I have.
I've seen a sign.
-No. -[Anya] Horse shit.
[Ilonka] So you guys are thinking about this all wrong?
What happens after death?
You don't even know where you're standing.
There's so many stories about this place, this exact house, in fact.
Stories about people who thought they were going to die but didn't.
I could tell you those stories.
Stories for another night if you'll have me.
I'll even do your pact.
[exhales]
If it's me,
if I'm the first to go,
I will stand against that veil
and I will push, and scream, and wail until you hear me.
And I will scream the truth.
I promise.
You don't have to be such a drama queen about it.
That was a pretty good story. You make it up?
I did.
You could have been a writer.
Still could.
It's not all made up, though, is it?
What do you mean?
[Kevin] That's the thing. [sighs]
The others, they like it here, but they don't really get it.
They don't take the time.
Don't ever look for very long at these pictures.
Don't like to think about it, I guess, but, uh, me, I'm different.
And I've spent hours and hours looking at these photos,
thinking about the people in them and looking at their names.
Names like Julia Jayne.
[unsettling music]
So how much of that story was true?
I found her story researching thyroid cancer.
She had it and she was here at Brightcliffe,
class of '68.
And the police reports are real too.
She did disappear, but only for a week,
and she did come back
and she walked right through those front doors in full remission.
And she said, she said it was because of this place
that she found something here and it cured her.
I mean, she could be alive somewhere for all I know.
You didn't pick this place out of a hat, did you?
You're here because of that story.
There's so much more to this place than you guys know.
I mean, maybe we could find out together, but…
Yeah, you're right. That's why I'm here.
I'm going to live.
Yeah.
We should, uh…
We should probably head back up,
just in case the night nurse does her rounds.
I… I'm going to stay a bit.
Take a good look like you said.
Spend a quiet minute with these kids.
Okay. Well, good night.
Good night, Kevin.
[intriguing music]
[exhales]
[ominous music stings]
["Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger playing]
♪ I had visions, I was in them ♪
♪ I was looking into the mirror ♪
♪ To see a little bit clearer ♪
♪ The rottenness and evil in me ♪
♪ Fingertips have memories ♪
♪ Mine can't forget the curves Of your body ♪
♪ And when I feel a bit naughty ♪
♪ I run it up the flagpole and see Who salutes ♪
♪ But no one ever does ♪
♪ I'm not sick but I'm not well ♪
♪ And I'm so hot 'cause I'm in Hell ♪
♪ Been around the world and found ♪
♪ That only stupid people are breeding ♪
♪ The cretins cloning and feeding ♪
♪ And I don't even own a TV ♪