Season 3 Episode 3: The Knight of Swords

Jade – Ashley McAnelly
Sam – Nichole Goodnight
Maureen – Erin Lillis
Roz – Jessica McEvoy
Gavin – Jamie Petronis
Rachel – Fern Maye

[Maureen and Laura saying the below lines of the initiation in the background of Jade’s thoughts]

“Her head has been covered, for she is not herself but the Mother’s acolyte. (pause) Her hands have been bound, as her hands are bound to the coven, to seize and shape as the Mother bids her. (pause) She holds a blade against her breast, to keep danger close and ready to strike. (pause) She wears the mother’s Triple moon on her head as a symbol of the spiritual wisdom the Mother bestows upon her as she guides this coven. We raise you, Laura Peugh, to our highest honor as a coven. Do you accept the duties and bonds we give you?”

“I do.”

I’m glad I’m sitting with the recent initiates during Laura’s crowning ceremony. The circle for such an event is organized by those who have been here longest, so we are the furthest from the action. Fine by me. Watching as Maureen binds her hands and crowns her…I think I’d rather watch Fern, the new cat, cough hairballs up all day. I bet Ruth Ann feels a similar way, and the poor thing has a front row seat to it all. I’m just glad that the Endless Man didn’t take her whole life. Then again, there’s no way he could judge her as unworthy, I don’t care what underhanded machinations the Buried Mother may have whispered in his ear. Even the Endless Man must abide by his own rules when it comes to the truly righteous.

[scattered applause]

Thank Goddess it’s over. Now, onto the real business for tonight.

[Intro Roll in]

We line up for each member to share a touch to cement our bond with Laura as our new High Priestess. As we inch toward the front I make sure to shoulder my way close to Rachel. She’s been dodging me ever since my mazerunning, which just furthers my suspicions that she had something to do with Sasha coming to me that night, or maybe Laura being the first out. My thoughts have gone so far as to even think she had something to do with the Endless Man’s appearance, but that would make no sense at all, unless she’s decided to turn her back on this coven. But if one of us is going to betray this coven, then it should be me, not her.

I finally weave my way to be right behind her.

“Rachel.”

She startles at my voice.

“What are you, a ninja?”

“The shadows are my friends. Why have you been avoiding me?”

“Who says I’ve been avoiding you?”

“My text messages you left on read and the three missed calls and voicemail I left you.”

“I’ve been busy. You know I don’t just sit and wait on you to need me, right? You are not my fulfillment in life.”

“Please, ever since you got married you know you live for any thrills I can bring you. I know you know something.”

She glances around at the group that’s much too close for this conversation, but she meets my gaze, and I push my need for assurance in my eyes.

“After the ceremony is complete.”

“Walk back to the cars with me?”

She nods.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

We finally get close to the front of the line. Two people are ahead of Rachel, and we listen as one of the elder members gabs on and on about her troubles and how she is excited to work with Laura on solutions. Laura nods and smiles, but I don’t think she’s really listening. She’s too busy enjoying the Triple Goddess Crown on her head.

Rachel makes her turn short and sweet. I planned to do the same, but as I offer Laura my hand and an empty condolence, her firm grip holds me in place.

“I want to thank you, Jade, for conceding instead of playing out a finger pointing game that would have divided the coven even more. I’m glad you could see what was best for the coven.”

I open my mouth to spit out the knee-jerk insult that comes naturally, but instead take a breath and smile.

“I know you’ve seen my worst, Laura. But you shouldn’t be afraid of my worst, you should be afraid of my best. And my best is tied to keeping this coven intact, as my mother would have wanted.”

“I hope you keep your ferocity focused on the health of this coven, though I do always prepare for the best while expecting the worst. I’ll be keeping my eye on you.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Laura.”

She pushes some of her power into our grip. I push back, our energy smashing into each other. She’s more powerful than I remember. I thought her magic was mostly in her kitchen craft. She must have been honing her other skills while I’ve stayed away.

But it’s still not enough to overpower me. I decide not to show her my full strength here, and let her think we are in a stalemate, as equals. I smile at the thought that I’ll get to smack her down when it will really matter and she won’t see it coming.

“(Clears her throat from the strain) My, Jade, you are stronger than I give you credit for.”

“Sam didn’t nominate me just because I was nice to her.”

“My initial reaction was that Sam nominated you to get under Roz’s skin. Maybe there is more to you than quick wit and rage.”

“I guess if you are my high priestess then you’ll find out one way or another, won’t you?”

“I look forward to it.”

She finally tones down her magic and releases me. I stop pushing my magic into her but keep my shield up. That’s the difference between Laura and me – my shield must stay up at all times.

Most of the coven stays and drinks and partakes in the merriness. Rachel turns down a chalice offered to her. She says her goodbyes for the night, using Marcus as an excuse to rush home. Not many care that I’m leaving early. It’s expected, I’m sure.

I catch up to Rachel in the woods. My rushed footfalls sound like a stampede in the foliage, to the point that Rachel looks braced for a fight by the time I catch up to her.

“How you go from ninja to raging elephant is beyond me.”

“Cut the crap. Spill.”

She sighs and begins walking again. I follow along beside her.

“First, a cone of silence.”

“Really, you think someone is close enough to hear?”

(incredulously, snarky) “Uh, have you been in these woods? You know words echo forever.”

“Fine, fine. But I don’t have a quick shot on me.”

Rachel raises her hand to show me she’s holding something. In the scattered moonlight I make out its shape. It’s a crystal.

“You came prepared, didn’t you? You knew I would corner you tonight. So you have been ignoring me!”

“For more than one good reason.”

[SFX: crystal cracks]

Rachel cracks the crystal and waves it above us, as if drawing down a bubble over us and pulling it down to encase us. We can still hear our surroundings, but they can’t hear us. Once the cone of silence is in place, Rachel pockets the crystal and keeps walking.

“I assume Roz told you I was the one she and Maureen chose to help them with the veil in the maze?”

“Your assumption is correct. You know what conclusions I would draw with that information.”

“Was me helping Laura cheat the frontrunner in your thoughts?”

“No, though I won’t lie, it got added to the list later. Along with you conspiring with the Endless Man against me. But no, the first thought was that you sent Sasha to me.”

“Sasha? Sasha helped you out of the maze?”

“She came to me as I was praying for guidance.”

“You, praying?”

“Now you’re starting to sound like Roz.”

“Anyone who knows you would say that same thing. But back up – I didn’t send Sasha to you. Do you realize what this means? And what’s this about the Endless Man?”

“It doesn’t matter now if Sasha was the Mother’s Blessing or not. Laura is our High Priestess. I was more concerned with the Endless Man showing up at the exit than winning the nomination.”

I fill her in on the truth, how he came to me and how he must have stolen some time away from Ruth Ann. She’s the only one I trust in the coven, outside of those who already know, to keep this secret.

“Such scandal and deceit, already beneath the new High Priestess.”

“Yeah. Wait, what do you mean? Laura doesn’t know about the Endless Man, either. Or, at least not yet. I’m sure now that she’s High Priestess Maureen and Roz will feel honor-bound to tell her.”

“I mean that I know she did cheat.”

“….No.”

“Yep. In the section of the maze I cast the veil, I left an opening. I told Laura how to get to it.”

I don’t know what hits me worse, the betrayal or the confusion.

“Why the hell would you do that?”

“Before you lose your shit, just listen to me. I’ve had it all planned out ever since she was nominated. Everyone but her devout flunkies knows that she would make a subpar High Priestess at best. But now that she’s been nominated once, the seed has been planted in her thick head. You and I both know she would keep getting nominated and stay in the running until she’s finally High Priestess and the coven suffers through it for a bit and replaces her. Why not cut out the long miserable parade of continuous nominations and jump to the end?”

I smile, and fight back a laugh. I have never loved Rachel more than this moment now.

“Rachel, I did not know you had a pragmatic, cynical bone in your body.”

“People change when they have to. No one is ever going to make Laura change, so we just have to make her face her defeat sooner rather than later.”

Something else hits me about Rachel, nothing to do with Laura and everything to do with Rachel’s newfound cynicism.

“Hang on. You’ve become cynical and say People change when they have to? You turned down the wine at the ceremony when you usually drink? You’ve been ignoring me, reminding me that my world doesn’t revolve around you — are you pregnant?”

Even in the dim moonlight I can see the shock on her face.

“This is why I stay away from you — you are too perceptive.”

“Why on EARTH would you want to keep the news from me?”

“Because I’m not out of the first trimester yet–”

[SFX: Jade unexpectedly hugging Rachel hard]

I hug her. I hug her so hard that we both stumble and catch ourselves on a tree.

“Would you knock that off? I just said I don’t want anyone to know yet, let go of me!”

“Calm down, everyone is still celebrating. Besides, cone of silence, remember?”

I feel her sigh of surrender and she relaxes in my arms, hugging me back as much as she can with her limbs pinned beneath my grip.

(like she’s still trying to wrap her head around it excitedly) “I’m pregnant.”

“Tell. Me. Everything.”

Rachel gives me a thorough rundown of when she and Marcus decided to start a family. Once they both had stable jobs, it was only a matter of time. Rachel has always wanted to be a mother. And though methodical in their planning, the love between them could never be mere routine. As she recounts all their prepping and planning and waiting for that little stick to show the double lines, I plaster a smile on my face and cheer in my voice, but inside I’m slowly closing in on myself. Would motherhood ever be something for me? As it is, no way, but I’ve been living so long as the orphan with revenge on her shoulder, I seriously wonder for the first time if there could ever be room for more? I guess Sam showed me the possibility. I wonder if it would harden me or soften me. Then again, I don’t know if I can handle being any harder than I already am without going off the deep end again.

We hug and say goodbye before retreating into our cars. She drives home to a man who loves her and is probably doting on her over the baby she carries, me to a near-empty apartment with only a cat who comes to me when she wants something. I guess it’s better than nothing.

The next day creeps through the shop at a snails pace. After my morning rush I just check inventory, finish the themed table of books for this week, feed the cat that keeps itself scarce, and then just plop myself down at a table near the front window and sip on some tea.

It’s not long before the memories flood in. Flashes of that night overtake my thoughts. The moment I broke the seal, the solid fleshy feeling of hearts in my hand even though they were still beating in the chests of the cronies. The exploding feeling when I clinched that fist and killed them all. Over and over. I felt nothing but their deaths, numb to any morality blinded by my goal. Save Sam at all costs. That was all on my mind. Find Sam and save her.

[SFX: bells jingle as front door opens]

Speak of the devil. Damn, I’ve got to stop getting lost in thought. My whole day just flies by and I’ve barely gotten anything done. Then again, that just means Sam can do it.

“Hey Jade, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just, you know, contemplating my existence. The norm.”

“Well snap out of it, we’ve got work to do.”

She flings her backpack up on the counter and rummages through it. The day this kid walks in with no determination or scheming on her face is the day I die happy.

“Really? I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough work in the store to do, let alone whatever plans you have for me.”

“Oh, please, you leave most of the inventory and stocking to me anyway. Besides, I just want to do a reading for you.”

“Sam, we’ve talked about this –”

“Which is why I’ve already pulled the card.”

She pulls her deck from her backpack, on top is one card face up. She slides it in front of me.

“Who do you think this is?”

It’s The Hierophant. Sam’s been using the Modern Witch Tarot Deck, so it’s a woman sitting in a seat of power, but traditionally this card represents a religious masculine authority. So I know she’s not asking me what the card is, she’s asking me what man it’s referring to.

“First of all, you need to be careful when you do a reading for someone who specifically tells you not to go meddling. Most of the time when you’re doing readings it’s about your intentions, but the subject of your reading’s intentions can also be important, and can make the answers unclear. And that’s how you end up with a card like this. The only religious masculine authorities in my life are my Uncle Dale, and then each of the heads of the churches, mosques, and synagogues around here. None of which do I plan to give any sway over me. What exactly did you ask the cards?”

“I asked for someone who could help you get through…this hard time. Between losing the nomination and still getting over…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say that night at the Arlington, let alone that I killed dozens of people in order to save her. I don’t think she even knows how many I killed, and I’d rather it stay that way.

“Well, The Hierophant could be signaling someone coming to help, but it’s not anyone that I know is coming, let alone someone I’m going to reach out to for help. I’m dealing in my own way, and Laura’s nomination seems to be bugging you more than me.”

“And why is that?”

“For one thing, I had already made a plan for if I lost. I decided I wouldn’t let it eat me up.”

Sam perks up at this.

“You mean you’re already making a plan on how to dethrone her?”

“No, I made a plan to just deal with it. There will be other chances to be High Priestess.”

She slumps when she realizes I’m not plotting to overthrow Laura.

“Well, I still think you need someone to help you through the rest of it.”

“You sure you aren’t projecting there?”

“I’m finding my own way of coping and getting some support from Aunt Roz. But you two aren’t close like that anymore, even though there isn’t much reason for that chasm anymore.”

I glare at her for the first time in a long time with a rage shimmering in my eyes.

“Don’t poke that bear, Sam. I know I’ve been playing nice and doing some mending with the group, but if you haven’t noticed, I stick close to the newer members and avoid the ones who were there…that night.”

It’s my turn to avoid saying the words. The night my mother was killed, sacrificed for the greater good. Ever since I was 16 the Sisters of Hecate have told me my mother lived a heroine and died a heroine. I refused that bullshit line for so long. Sixteen-year-old me is still alive, still stoking the fire of that hate, that need for vengeance. But present me knows the reality of the situation, of what we are capable of and what price we are willing to pay. Now, with the decision to take in Sam, to teach the neophytes, it’s not a matter of burning it all to the ground. It’s a matter of shaping it into what it should be.

But in order to do that, the ties to the past need to be severed. Maureen and Roz are part of that past, but through Sam they may be part of that future as well, I haven’t decided yet. First things first, build the new plan around Laura being high priestess for now. Rachel’s plan was genius, I’m jealous I didn’t think of it. I’ll ride this out, be the good little witch they need to see I can be, and let Laura self-destruct on her own.

“You’re only hurting yourself, you know, and Aunt Roz. She’s just about as stubborn as you on this. One of you needs to be the one to say sorry first, and then the other will follow suit.”

“No amount of apologies from her will be enough for what she did.”

Sam opens her mouth but closes it just as quickly. I can see the turmoil on this matter in her eyes. She knows to be very careful about what she says when it comes. Whatever she planned on saying, she thinks better of it, and washes the conversation away with the wave of her hand.

“You two will figure it out. In the meantime, I want my next lesson.”

We go to the basement and I push her boundaries more. The strength of our magic shields and offensive energy is a delicate dance between our natural abilities and our learned skill to control it. Sam has plenty of natural talent, but the focus isn’t always there. I keep telling myself that she has a normal life and doesn’t need to hone these skills as much, but the closer she gets to me, the further she gets from that normal life. I don’t want that for her, but I’m also not brave enough to completely shut her out.

Once she’s thoroughly exhausted, I order us pizza for dinner. Sam sits by the window, scrolling on her phone, probably messaging her friends. Friends. I had those once. Rachel is still my friend, but things do get tense or at least awkward sometimes with her. I haven’t really had much luck with close friends in the last decade. I’ll chat with the regulars and mingle with the book club that meets here every once in a while, but it just takes so much energy to maintain relationships like that. Domino and the rest of the howlers? I can just lay in the woods and pet them all day as we soak up what rays make it through the canopy. Mr. Giggles is content to swim with me, let me float on his belly as we float down the river underneath a pale full moon. Presence is enough for my creatures. But people need to talk. How exhausting.

[SFX: text tone on Jade’s phone]

Ugh, I’m so ready to mute this coven group chat. Oh, wait. It’s not that. It’s a text from Silas, or should I say Mesmer. He seems to be better known by his stage name than his real one. I haven’t heard him in a while, not since I hired him to be the entertainment on Halloween night. That was a lovely disaster, but I think he finally figured out he can’t just bottle up his necromancy. I open his text.

Hi Jade, is your offer to help me with my powers still good?

Hmm, or maybe he went home and ignored his powers until another disaster struck, and he’s finally desperate enough to ask me for help. Guess we will find out.

I’m free next week. Come on down.

[SFX: Bells jingle as the front door opens]

Ah, finally the pizza’s here. In stroll two people, one the Domino’s delivery driver, said pizza in hand, but the other looks like a customer. Dang, I forgot to turn the open sign off. I ignore the customer while I pay for the pizza. Sam takes the box and digs in, no plate.

“At least grab a napkin off the table, kid.”

(mouth half full with pizza) “Who said it’s gonna last long enough to need a napkin? Oh, it’s hot!”

I chuckle as Sam breathes through her hot food, juggling it around in her mouth. I tip the driver and he goes on his merry way. But I’ve got to deal with the customer before I can eat.

“We are right at closing time, so if you can’t make it quick, you’ll need to come back tomorrow.”

I have a split second to take this kid in. He’s tall and lanky, with shaggy brown hair that curls at the tips just enough to stay out of his eyes. The thing that stands out to me the most though, is that he’s keeping his hands in his hoodie pocket. It’s dusk and still 90 degrees outside, I doubt the hoodie is because he’s cold.

(very nervous, unsure if he can go through with it) “Are you Jade Allbright?”

His voice comes out shaky, and I don’t have to try hard to get a read on him. This kid’s nerves are shot, very tense about this interaction, or maybe because of something before or after it. I don’t like where this is heading.

“Depends on who’s asking.”

(soft, rage slowly bubbling) “My name is Gavin Murdock, but that name probably means nothing to you. His name probably means nothing to you as well.”

Dread creeps in between my shoulder blades.

“Whose name?”

“My dad, Ethan Murdock.”

Ethan. Ethan, the big lackey of Harry’s that escorted me into the Arlington. The man who caught me in the elevator and as we touched I threw lust into him to slow down his reaction time. People are less likely to kill you if they want sex with you first. That was the thought that ran through my head, but with or without the heat in his eyes, Ethan died just the same in that room. I’ve been telling myself that all this time.

I force my eyes to meet Gavin’s. The turmoil in his eyes. I know what he came here to do, at least I think I know. God, this is exactly what I was hoping to avoid. My guilt engulfs the dread and then washes over me and drowns me. I freeze, and we are both just standing there staring at each other. His nervousness and grief and rage piles on top of my guilt, and I don’t even try to fight back. I deserve to drown in them.

“Jade?”

Sam’s voice cuts through the ocean of emotions and brings me back to the surface. The concerned look on her face… God, I wish she wasn’t here for this.

“I know him. Tall, broad shoulders, a bit of vacant look in his eye until you do something interesting. He carried my bag up and caught me when I fell over in the elevator.”

Gavin’s gaze softens for a millisecond before filling with rage.

(soft at first and then rage building) “So, you do know him. Did you stare him in the face when you killed him?”

I swallow the lump in my throat and ignore the burning feeling. The guilt threatens to engulf me again but instead I let my own anger crest the waves. This kid doesn’t know the whole truth.

“No. I wasn’t even looking at him when I killed him. It was nothing to raise my hand and close my fist on his heart. I’d make the same decision in a heartbeat.”

That does it. Gavin’s hands come out of his hoodie and two things happen at once. I try to swallow Gavin down before he can attack, but it does nothing – he must have a ward on him – and Sam steps in front of me, with one hand outstretched in front of Gavin’s gun and the other in my face.

I want to shove her out of the way. How dare she step in front of the line of fire for me after all I risked to save her! But I don’t move. Gavin’s hand is too shaky holding the gun, and I do not want him to shoot Sam on accident.

“Both of you, please stop!”

Sam’s words are for me, too, but her eyes are on Gavin.

“This has nothing to do with you, get out of the way!”

“This has everything to do with me. I’m the reason your dad is dead.”

Gavin really looks at her now as if Sam just appeared for the first time, but doesn’t lower the gun.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sorry that Jade killed your dad, but she did it in order to save me. They didn’t tell you they were holding a girl hostage?”

His eyes frantically beat back and forth between me and Sam. He swallows hard enough for us to hear.

“I came home to my mother crying, telling me that my father was killed in a shootout at the Arlington. All I got told was that it was a woman named Jade Albright that killed him.”

“Typical. Because no one wants to speak ill of the dead right? No one wants to know the truth of their lost loved one.”

Sam closed her open palm to point at me, but still doesn’t break eye contact with Gavin.

“That’s not helping. (pause) Gavin, I know you know at least some of what your father really did. Even if no one ever told you. Everyone thinks we’re dumb and oblivious to anything adults do. We’re not. You know on some level that even if your dad was amazing at home, he did shady things for terrible people. Jade saved me. Wouldn’t your dad do the same if it had been you?”

Gavin finally lowers his gun and tears begin to swell in his eyes. He drops the gun and I have a split second of worrying about it still going off, but once it lands flat, I slowly move forward, pushing Sam’s hand out of my face.

Gavin crumbles to the ground and Sam goes with him. She kneels in front of him while he breaks down. I stand over them in my own emotional roller coaster. The guilt starts to overtake the rage. If Sam wasn’t here to intervene, I would have kept baiting him to shoot me. Part of me knows I deserve it.

“He was there for me. He never missed a game. He was there for my sisters too. But I knew what he was doing while we were at school.”
He looks up at me then, his gaze steady now, more sure of its intent than before, even drowning in his grief.

“They said you walked into the Arlington bent on burning it down, but when they told me they would not retaliate, I couldn’t stand that. How could they let the woman responsible for all those murders walk away scot free? But I knew, I knew they must have done something to make you do it. I just didn’t want to believe it.”

Sam sits down beside him and puts an arm around him.

“I lost my parents in a car accident. I blamed everyone around me for it. The hole they make when they’re gone, it never goes away, but that anger will make the whole bigger. You can’t let it eat you.”

I kneel down in front of Gavin, wanting to help but knowing nothing I could do or, hell, even Sam could do that can really help. I’m just a reminder of the death, a personification of it for him. How the hell can I help? But I have to do something. He’s just a kid who lost his dad.

“When I was 16 I lost my mother. Everyone that was there the night she died kept telling me she lived and died a hero, but I blamed all of them for not stopping it. They watched as she made her choice to sacrifice herself for them. The rage that overtook me led me to end all of my relationships with anyone in my life, and I was alone. I felt nothing but that anger for years, wouldn’t let anyone near me. My rage drank me down until there was almost nothing left. It took my aunt not giving up on me to get me through it. I don’t ask for myself, I ask for you — please do not let it consume you. You think you lost everything when you lost him, but think about how much else you have to lose. Your dad wouldn’t want that.”

He’s still unsure of me. His eyes dance between his anger and his grief and wrestling with the truth of what his dad did for a living, but I think he’s considering my words. I decide to go on.

“I can take the edge off your anger and grief, and I will do that if you want. But there is a deeper healing to be had as you work your way through it, as long as you don’t go through it alone. This is all I can offer you, and it’s your choice to take it.”

He stares at me as his breathing calms and his sniffling slows. But finally he speaks.

“Did it really cost you nothing to kill him?”

I really did not want to be having this conversation in front of Sam, but I would not deny Gavin an answer. Not since he dropped the gun.

“It cost me everything. Taking a life eats away at your soul, only sociopaths and psychopaths disagree. But I wasn’t going to stand by while they hurt Sam. You find where your lines are, and then you find the loved ones you would cross them for.”
I don’t dare look at Sam when I say that. I know it must eat her too that I did that to save her. But one trauma at a time.

Once I know the threat is over, I grab the gun, pull the magazine out, and lock the store up. Everything that just transpired happened in no more than a couple of minutes, but felt like a lifetime. Thank God no one else walked in. Gavin talks to us about his dad, more memories he has of him, and does so without any more sobbing. I let him. That’s the least I can do. As my guilt grows, his anger and maybe some of his grief subsides. He feeds me his anger without me taking it. It’s all anyone can hope for.

Gavin finally leaves when he’s ready, well into the night. He stops at the door and turns to me.

“Harry asked me to tell you that they really are leaving you alone. He said he’s warned everyone in the tri-state area to stay away.”

“He was the one who told you where to find me, wasn’t he?”

Gavin nods.

“I didn’t tell him what I planned. I just told him I wanted to see you for myself.”

I bet Harry knew exactly what Gavin had in mind. That if anyone was going to be able to kill me, it would be a kid of one of the people I murdered. I think Harry gave Gavin my address so Gavin could end it one way or another. Either killing me, or cementing the peace. I say none of this to him, of course, but I’m even more grateful for the choice Gavin made.

He leaves. I lock the door behind him and turn to Sam.

“Don’t ever step between me and the line of fire again. I did not kill and become the boogeyman for the mob just to watch you die in front of me.”

Sam takes a step closer, the outrage coming clear on her face.

“I saved both of you. Now, we’re even. I won’t be helpless for anyone to kidnap again. I won’t be helpless against you or any other magic now that you’ve taught me control. I will step in front of you again if I think you’re just going to get yourself killed. I haven’t fought tooth and nail to get better and stronger and smarter just to watch you die in front of me.”

“Next time I will knock you on your ass.”

“You can damn well try, old lady. I don’t fall so easily now.”

“(laughs)No, no you don’t.”

This episode was written by Ashley McAnelly and Morgan Valko

Featuring the voice talents of Ashley McAnelly, Nichole Goodnight, Jamie Petronis, Erin Lillis, Fern Maye, Clay Clark, and Erika Sanderson.

Theme Music by ThaArsonist

Produced by Scott Thomas

Episode Artwork by Audrey McEvoy

You can purchase The Thing in the Wind by Bill Mullen here