The Magnus Archives - MAG 173 - Night Night

Episode Date: June 25, 2020

Case ########-13Considerations of youthRecorded by The Archivist, in Situ.Content warnings:- Children in peril- Screams (inc SFX)- Bullying- Emotional abuse / neglect- Darkness- Isolation / Helplessness- Fear of bodily harm- Perceived parental negligenceThanks to this week's Patrons: Kenna Malone, Meg Simmons, James, MEGAN GREEN, Talbot Elfgrunge, Julia Mejbaum, Chuck Lambing, Sarah Burke, eicas, Serena Jensen, veevox, Brinnanza, Darth Nexus, Tiny Demon Dragon, Avery Breakell, Philip Kelley, Darcy M, Maria Blowers, Kellen, Cats 2019 Was A Pretty Good Movie, Allegra Rosenberg, Rachel Berger, Eleanor Mae Langston, Wren Valadin, Sarah Poiani, Ashley Crutchfield, Space Arbys, Annie Nate Schindler, Lana Elise, Emily Rose, Rebecca B, Piper, trinity, Evan Lukas, elwids, June W, Kayleigh T, sarenraesbesthope, Erin Yost, corbett, Erebus Odora, Senna_Redtail, Φ, Lorelei Millund, mathias elliot, Natazha Thomsen, Dr. Teatime, Mariana Bittermann, Sara Norris, Rachel GouldIf you'd like to join them visit www.patreon.com/rustyquillEdited this week by Nico Vettese, Maddy Searle, Brock Winstead & Alexander J NewallWritten by Jonathan Sims and directed by Alexander J NewallProduced by Lowri Ann DaviesPerformances:- "Martin Blackwood" - Alexander J. Newall - "The Archivist" - Jonathan Sims - "Callum Brodie" - Will Harvey Sound effects this week by Carlvus, Yuval, Brokenphono, klangkonserve, nebyoolae, ivolipa, Bpianoholic, Iamgiorgio, jwheeler91, Hoerspielwerkstatt, j-zazvurek, djphizz, namikiri & previously credited artists via freesound.org.Check out our merchandise at https://www.redbubble.com/people/rustyquill/collections/708982-the-magnus-archives-s1You can subscribe to this podcast using your podcast software of choice, or by visiting www.rustyquill.com/subscribePlease rate and review on your software of choice, it really helps us to spread the podcast to new listeners, so share the fear.Join our community:WEBSITE: rustyquill.comFACEBOOK: facebook.com/therustyquillTWITTER: @therustyquillREDDIT: reddit.com/r/RustyQuillEMAIL: [e-mail] Magnus Archives is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill Ltd. and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Sharealike 4.0 International Licence Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Know your risks. Visit heartandstroke.ca Rusty Quill Presents The Magnus Archives Episode 173 Night-Night Slow down, I can barely see a thing. Sorry. No prizes for guessing who's in charge here, eh? I suppose not. You know, I really miss the days when I could blame broken streetlights on the council.

A strongly worded letter just doesn't feel as forceful when it's addressed to whichever dread power it may concern. Hmm. John? Hmm? Johnny, you alright? I mean, like, comparatively. I'm fine.

No? Try again. Look, I would just really like to get through here as quickly as possible. How come? This one seems like the quietest place we've been in a while. It's just rows and rows of quiet houses. I mean, I know some people don't like that sort of thing, but I'm actually finding it kind of relaxing. Martin, please. John?

Where are we? It's complicated. That's not an answer. Can we please just move on? John, where have you brought us? What do you think happened to all the children when the world changed? Or were you not thinking about it? No.

Because they didn't just vanish. Childish fears are simplistic, direct. The eye prefers the more complex neuroses and disquiets of a fully developed mind. So the children are allowed to age, and they are placed in domains where their fears can mature. Domains like this one. Christ, that's... that's messed up. Yes. We've got to help them.

How? I don't know. I'm not the one who's supposed to know everything. There has to be something we can do. What's happening to them? Do you really want to know that? Really? I've been trying very hard to keep this one bottled up. What about the Avatar?

I know you said it didn't change anything, that the domain would still exist, but at this point I don't care. Anyone who's chosen to spend their apocalypse tormenting children. You need to end them. Now. It's not that simple. Seriously. Seriously. Fine. Okay, good. Where are we going?

John? John, wait, are you sure? Yeah. What is it? Callum Brodie? Yeah. Wait, is this...? Are your parents home? Dad's dead.

Mum's here, but she lost it a while back. So now it's just me. Do you know who I am? You're the eye guy, right? That's right. So you're, like, real important. I suppose I am. Okay. So, what do you want?

John, can I have a word? Sure. Excuse me, Callum. That's the avatar for this place? Callum Brody, 13 years old. He guides the children through their fears of the dark. This is that kid Basira went after last year, right? The one the Darkness cult took. So that's not even a kid, that's whatever was

inside Maxwell Rayner. It's just wearing his body. Callum? Yeah, what? You remember when those people kidnapped you? What happened? It was fine. I just hid and the cops came and got me. Tell the truth. I was scared, alright? I was really, really scared. It was dead dark and I couldn't see anyone. I didn't know where I was. And there was something on my face and it was

cold and slimy and it didn't like me. Then there was a bang and it was gone. And the police were there. And what happened to the thing that tried to take you over? Dunno. It went away. It died in the light. Whatever. And it was after that you started shoving smaller kids into cupboards, right? Yeah. Give them a taste of it.

Make them afraid of the dark. But you've always pushed around smaller children, haven't you? They made me feel sick. I hate them. And now? Now everyone's afraid of me. Martin? Fine, you've made your point. Thank you, Callum.

Whatever. Isn't it past your bedtime? I don't have a bedtime anymore. You see? See what, John? What am I supposed to see? That you don't want to kill a 13-year-old kid? Big revelation. I don't know what you want me to do. I want you to use your power. I want you to help them. I want you to make things better. There

is no better anymore. You keep saying that and I hate it. I keep saying it because it keeps being true. You know that. What I know is that leaving children here is inexcusable. It's monstrous. Martin, tell me what you want me to do and I will do it. Tell me about this place. I need to know. I thought you hated listening. Are you sure that's

what you want? Of course it's not. But I need to hear it. Okay. See Jack. See Jack run. Run, Jack. Run into the dark. Don't see Jack anymore. Jack doesn't want to be in the dark. Everyone knows there are monsters in the dark. Horrible monsters with sharp teeth and red eyes and big nasty claws that eat up little children who don't run fast enough. So why does Jack run into the dark? Is it because a grown-up told him to? into the dark. Is it because a grown-up told him to? No. Now that it's dark, the grown-ups are asleep. They are snoring in their beds and will not wake up no matter how much Jack shouts. Some grown-ups are not in bed, but they do not want to help Jack. They want to be alone. They

don't want any children around at all. They tell Jack it is after his bedtime and put him in another dark room where he cannot run. So no grown-ups told Jack to run into the dark. Is it because he is brave enough to fight the monsters? No. Jack is scared all the time. The world is so big and the night is so long and the monsters are waiting under the bed and in the closet and down the hallway and in the street and round the corner and behind him. They cannot wait to eat him. He wants to be somewhere the monsters can't get him. Jack is not brave. So why does Jack run into the dark? Because everywhere is dark on Night Street, and if he doesn't run, the monsters will get him.

Jack has never seen a monster. Of course he hasn't, it's too dark. But he is sure that they are there. See that shadow behind the swings? It is twisty and twirly, and if he doesn't jump over it, then Jack is sure he would cut off his feet and eat them. See that tree, the one in the back garden? If Jack got too close, he is sure the bark will open like a big mouth, and splinter teeth will bite off his hands to wear like apples. You see that drum? The one from the old drying machine? There's a big worm that lives underneath it, and Jack is sure that if he disturbs it, it will wrap around him like a big slimy snake and squeeze him until his eyes pop out.

So Jack keeps running. He keeps running through the dark. He runs through his big dark house. He runs through his big dark garden. He runs down the big dark street that just goes round and round and round. He runs until he sees another child. It's Callum, from number 27. He is big and brave and isn't scared of monsters,

though he knows ever so much about them. He smiles when he sees Jack. He is Jack's friend. For just a minute, Jack stops running. Callum smiles and says he's found a brand new monster. Jack doesn't want to hear about it. He knows that when Callum tells him what it is, then it will start to chase him. He won't see it, of course, because it's just too dark.

But he will know it's there. Jack can't tell Callum to be quiet, though. Last time he did that, Callum put him in a hole for a very long time, and the next hole would certainly be full of all of Callum's nastiest monsters. And anyway, Callum is Jack's friend, and friends don't tell each other to be quiet. So Callum begins to tell Jack about a new monster. It lives down the drain and pops up through the plug hole when you're washing your hands and bites off all your fingers one by one. The only way to stop it is to shine a torch down the hole. But there are no torches on Night Street. There are no lights at all. No way to check a drain or a shadow or a tree.

Only monsters. And the dark. So Jack begins to run. See Caitlin. See Caitlin hide. See Caitlin hide in the dark. Because everywhere is dark on Night Street. This time Caitlin is in her wardrobe.

The door is closed all but a crack so she can see into her bedroom. But the nightlight is out and the room is pitch black and she can hear the monsters moving about. They are looking for her. They snuffle and grunt and growl. They knock over her lamp and gut her cuddly toys and talk to each other of whether they want to cook Caitlin into a stew or barbecue her arms and legs. Caitlin buries her face in her mother's old fur coat and she cries and she cries. Her mother is downstairs but she is part of the sofa now. She won't stop staring at the television and laughing.

Laughing and laughing. She doesn't like it when Caitlin is awake. She doesn't hear it if she screams. The monsters are getting closer. They have looked for her under the bed. They have looked through her chest of drawers. They have climbed up all the bookshelves. And now they are moving towards the wardrobe. She cannot see them, but their voices are sharp and mean, and they come closer and closer, and Caitlin is ever so scared.

Caitlin read a picture book once, full of horrible spiky fish with big eyes and crooked teeth. She would see them every time she went to bed for weeks. That was what the monsters looked like, she was sure of it. They would grip her with their nasty cold fins and bite her head clean off. Caitlin could not hide for long. It was very dark, but their big eyes would see her in no time. She is curled up in the corner of the wardrobe against a huge pile of scarves. Wait, there's someone behind the pile. Caitlin can barely see, but it looks like Callum Brody. What is he doing in her wardrobe? Caitlin doesn't like Callum Brody. He punches her in the arm sometimes and calls her a baby.

And he's always told her the monsters were going to get her. He was a bully. Go away, Callum Brody, Caitlin says. I'm trying to hide. Callum Brody just smiles a big grin full of crooked teeth. She's in here, Callum Brody shouts, loud enough for the whole street to hear. Caitlin can hear the monsters coming towards the wardrobe. She pushes Callum Brody back and opens the door. It is so dark outside that she can't see anything at all, but she runs and she runs and she runs, looking for another place to hide. See Caitlin hide.

Is that enough for you? Do you need to hear more? See Luca. See Luca sleep. No, no, no, that's enough. That's enough. Thank you for not hitting me this time. Was that what you wanted? What you needed? No. No, it didn't help at all.

I'm sorry. Let's get out of here. If you're sure. The sooner we get back to the archives, the sooner we can put a stop to this. All of this. They just... They'll just need to hang on a little longer.

Right. Right. Come on. The Magnus Archives is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Sharealike 4.0 international license. Today's episode was written by Jonathan Sims, produced by Laurie-Anne Davis, and directed by Alexander J. Newell. It featured Alexander J. Newell as Martin Blackwood, Jonathan Sims as The Archivist, and Will Harvey as Callum Brodie. To subscribe, buy merchandise, or join our Patreon, visit RustyQuill.com.

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If you'd like to join them, go to www.patreon.com forward slash rustyquill and take a look at our rewards. Hello, it's Kareem, the voice of Simon Fairchild from the Magnus Archives, www.patreon.com forward slash Rusty Quill and take a look at our rewards. the best and freshest selection of mysteries and thrillers to choose from. Sometimes you just want to get lost in a classic whodunit, and sometimes you want to get wrapped up in a twisted new mystery where the tension is high and you just can't stop listening until you find out what happens next. Audible can take you places only you can imagine and whenever you want, on a run, doing errands, commuting, or just relaxing at home. And it's not just audiobooks. Audible also gives you binge-worthy podcasts and exclusive originals with thousands of included titles you Thank you. First Audiobook is absolutely free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.ca. This is the first radio ad you can smell. The new Cinnabon Pull Apart, only at Wendy's.

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