Episode Transcript
[Music]
You are listening to an Atomic Broadcasting Production.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy the feature presentation.
And remember, do your part, such as like, comment, rate, and don't forget to tell a friend to tune in for an Atomic Time.
[Music]
[Static]
Wait, don't touch your dial.
I'm Sam Sarver.
Welcome to the Atomic Broadcasting Radio Theater.
For the next 40 minutes, the performers will take you on a journey deeper into horror and suspense.
Ponder this.
What makes a house a home, and just how strong is the bond of blood?
[Phone Ringing]
911, what's your emergency?
Please, you have to help me.
The house, my baby.
Ma'am, are you okay?
Where are you?
She's gone. She's in the wall. Please help.
Sylvia? Is that you?
Mrs. Tucker, are you there?
[Screams]
[Music]
April 18th, stormy night in the Ozarks.
The two officers of man's law have arrived at One Valley Lane.
Both of them familiar in their own ways with the old family house, tucked away deep in the ancient ruins.
Great. Sheriff, don't look too happy.
Probably because he called us over 40 minutes ago, Dale.
Took 40 minutes to get here.
20 if you didn't stop.
Will you lay off it? Nothing serious happened here. It's Holler Hill. No one in the county wants to do anything in Holler Hill.
That's not what the dispatcher said. They said it was a poss...
Possible. Ain't nothing ever happened here. Now let's get talking to our esteemed sheriff.
Well, thanks for finally arriving. I'm sure the Tuckers appreciate it.
Had a bit of trouble, but we got here. What's going on?
The two officers, new to the scene, stare in shock as they see a barely conscious naked man being checked over by a paramedic.
Jonathan winces at the leeches as they are removed, while Dale wonders just how thin and emaciated this man looks.
None of them at first even consider the damage. The broken ribs, the singed skin, the missing teeth.
Is that Nathan... Mr. Tucker over there? He looks...
Yeah. When I got here, I found a set of footprints. I thought it was Mrs. Tuckers, but I found him passed out, naked in the creek. Is he okay?
Anyone else inside the house?
Jonathan, go check in with Mr. Tucker. I haven't gotten a chance to speak with him since I got here.
Right.
Dale, come over here. Listen, I know that you think...
No, I don't. Now, Mr. Tucker's got a wife and two daughters. Where are they at?
I don't know. We went inside and there wasn't anyone else there. The place was cleaner than a doctor's office.
Mr. Tucker hadn't been conscious very long, so maybe Jonathan will get something from him. In the meantime, I need to make sure you're good for this. In case, you know...
Don't worry about me, Sheriff. I know what's important.
That's good to hear. Now, let's take a look around the premises real quick.
How's he doing, Drew?
Done what I can here. I need to get him to the hospital. Fractured bones, maybe internal bleeding. He had those leeches on him a long while. The man looks like he hasn't eaten in days.
That can't be. I just had dinner with Nathan last night.
I thought Lindsay was finally heading off to college.
She's not sure yet. It's been a few years and she's worried it won't be as easy to get back into schooling, you know.
Jonathan, man, you know what Dale will do if he...
Yeah, I know. He'll kill me. Man, his own sister calls in terrified and he wouldn't even let me ask him about it on the way here. Man just went full statue about it.
Just don't say anything stupid.
Me? Never. Am I good to chat with Nathan for a minute before you take him?
Yeah, Sheriff won't let me go until we're for sure the others aren't just around the corner, you know.
Thanks, man.
(Groaning)
Gee, Nathan, what happened?
Jonathan?
Yeah, it's me, Nathan. What happened? Who did this to you?
The house.
The house? What's going on with the house? Where's Lindsay?
It took them.
Took them? Where are they? Who took them?
The...the house. Inside the house. Looked for days. Sylvia didn't want to come.
What? She didn't want to look for Lindsay? For Lily? Her girls? If they're in the house and someone took them, then...
No, no. Sylvia wouldn't leave. She...she...the teeth. The teeth. Please, find them. Get them out or...or...
(Groaning)
Aw, crap. Sheriff! Nathan just threw up blood. A lot of blood. I gotta go now!
Hold on a second. I'm with you.
Help me get him situated, John.
Sure thing.
Stuff sounded weird. Be careful, okay, John?
I'll try, but if someone has her, I'm not sure how careful I'll be. Now get out of here!
Oh yeah. Jonathan, Dale, you two look into things here. I want to know where the rest of the family is and who did this to them.
I want to make sure Mr. Tucker's taken care of. Maybe after some rest he'll remember more.
We'll do our best, sir.
Alright, let's get inside.
John, Tucker was found by the creek. Chances are the others were taken that way.
No, I...I think he dragged himself over there.
How? In his condition, I doubt he could drag himself out of bed. Why would he go to that leech-infested hellhole?
To get away from the house.
Excuse me?
He said his family was inside the house. They were taken in there and Sylvia didn't want to leave.
Fine. Let's take a quick look inside, then. Storm's gonna make the walk to a creek a pain anyway.
Just open the damn door, kid!
Right. Sorry, I just...got a feeling. I...
Don't care about your feelings. The door.
Light ain't workin'.
Mine works fine. Storm probably knocked out the electricity. Easy to happen in places like this.
Right.
The two stand at the precipice of the home. Neither are able to quite understand why the house is foreign to them now.
Looks pretty clean for a kidnappin'.
It's...weird. It feels...sterile. But the air is...thick.
The living room looks clear. I'm not hearing anyone in this place, you sure?
That's what Nathan said. They were in the house. Check the kitchen. That'll clear us a corner.
It's clear. Looks like this floor is clear. Either they're upstairs or in the basement.
What are you doing?
Trash is empty.
And?
Trash was emptied last night. Wouldn't be empty today.
Maybe they just took it out again. What is wrong with you?
Nothin'. I just...feel off. Something feels off.
Maybe it's the fact that you were here last night, taking out their trash. That's pretty off to me.
Dale, look!
No. Let's just focus on the job.
Right. You want upstairs or basement?
And why are we splinning up?
They could be anywhere. You want to lose Sylvia because we both went upstairs and they just waltzed out of the basement?
Fine. Basement is fine. I trust you can find your way around the bedrooms?
Yeah. Right.
Down I go then. And get your gun out, will ya? If someone is in here, they messed Nathan up pretty bad. Be ready to defend yourself.
You know not everything needs to be solved with a gun.
If something happens to you, the sheriff will be ridin' me until retirement. Unless he just fires me.
Yeah. Alright, Dale.
Dale stands at the peak of the basement, staring down into the abyss. The tremors in his hands shake him from his gaze.
Can't believe Jonathan has been coming here. He knows exactly why I told him to stay away from Lindsay. Why I told Sylvia to keep Jonathan away.
But does anyone listen to Dale? No. Nobody understands it quite like I do.
Dale pans around the basement with his flashlight. He checks every corner, every potential place Sylvia and the girls could be hidden.
He knows them all. After all, he rebuilt this home after the last storm tore it apart decades ago.
But it is here now that he discovers what intruded upon his designs. An unknown factor.
Jonathan!
Jonathan creeps up the stairs and finds himself in the familiar comfort of the hallway outside of Lindsay's room.
Lindsay? Hey. Are you in here? You alright? Lindsay?
Shoot. I've never seen a room so clean. Lindsay? Hey, are you... Oh, oh! What the hell is that? Coming from her bathroom! Oh!
Okay, hey. Are you here? What is that?
Jonathan stared at his reflection, like a stranger as he followed the scent. The rotting. The decay to the mirror.
Must have just left something out.
Jonathan nervously throws open the hinged mirror only to meet utter disappointment.
Nothing out of place. No source of the smell. In fact, the smell is gone.
What?
Jonathan lets himself relax as he closes the mirror, running his fingers down the familiar, smooth edge. Not seeing the mirror's newly broken, jagged grin.
Ah! That's just great! I'm never gonna hear the end of this. Maybe Dale was right. Maybe they got taken out of the house.
I gotta go find him. There's nothing here. She's just taken today off, like Lindsay said. Maybe I... What is that?
Jonathan stands in the hall again, his eyes fixed on that which is not familiar. A door. A door at the end of the hall where Bookshelf should stand.
Damn!
Dale stands frozen, still calling out for Jonathan.
Jonathan! Get down here!
An intruding door stands mocking his sense of space and time.
The door does not match any other door in the house he helped rebuild.
An arched, heavy steel door, lined with hardwood. The stark contrast to the solid alder wood of the home.
What did they do? Dig up a whole new room down here? I told them if we extended this way, the creek would leak in. Jonathan!
Damn it! Shouldn't be yelling. Gotta go find Sylvia.
The hell is this?
The door is open. The door is shut.
Come on! Come on!
The room grips at Dale's understanding of the Tuckers. The Tuckers are simple. Their home is filled with furniture Nathan can make.
Sylvia's art hangs on the walls.
Modest. This room is nothing like that. Forty feet wide, thirty feet long.
The room is centered by a large Victorian couch. A large easel in the corner. A fireplace. Burning in the basement. No, not the basement.
Three large windows make up the east wall. A large lawn with a road in the middle leads up to the house.
Forest on all sides of the lawn. The grass, green, flat, and uninterrupted.
Not like Dale would see in the Ozarks. He is not in the basement any longer.
What was that?
Almost as an answer to his question. The stool in front of the easel scrapes back.
Wayne, I know that easel. I built that fort. Sylvia! Sylvia, are you in here?
Color. Shapes. Memory.
This ain't happening.
Dale watches them come to life on the paper. The broken brush hastily scratches a colorful scene of helplessness.
It stabs into being Dale's childhood. He watches himself, only ten, frozen in fear.
As his sister Sylvia is caught on the bottom of the pool. Her air lurching out of her.
Do something!
He watches as another boy plays the handsome hero. A role never meant for him.
He watches his parents scold him. Beat him.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I only looked away for a second. He...
He was alone again. Old and alone. She never said it, but he knew. He knew how much she resented him.
How much his parents hated him. How much they all loved the hero.
Dale is about to graduate high school. His fist bloody. His rage exhuming.
The hero lies on the grass. Bloody. Broken. Dale can do nothing. But hate himself.
Teeth shower around him as he watches his sister's hate grow in tandem with her love for his enemy.
I was so stupid. You never trusted me again. Not really.
Why didn't you listen? Why'd you let Jonathan hear?
The mistake. The house. Burning.
I'm sorry.
Dale! Dale! What... What was that?
His tongue in rebellion lies down. His ears and chorus grasp through the silence for anything. Anything. To break the sudden isolation.
He's just over here.
Lince! Don't be so loud, Johnny.
Lindsay. You're here. In the room, he sees the forest. Not a room, but a forest with two doors. The forest is like a memory. It was not quite right, but it feels cozy. Familiar.
Come on. He's just over here.
A woman in a dotted yellow dress with golden hair pauses in the forest with a small boy, wearing a rock and roll sleeveless shirt.
Ma'am, have you seen...
Hey, Johnny, come on.
Eee! I love slugs!
Hush, Johnny. Don't be so loud. Anything could be in the forest.
Jonathan now knows what lies before him.
Mom? Mom? Mom?
The child aimlessly swings his stick around. His weapon of choice.
Are we almost there, Mom?
I'm sure we're getting there. But it's important not to focus too much on where we are going.
Why?
Because we must focus on what is with us. What surrounds us. What poetic beauty rivals our own. Oh, like that lovely blue flower over there.
It's pretty, Mom. Do you think slugs like it?
If they do, does that make me a slug? Because I like it.
We can both be slugs.
Hmm. How about whoever gets it first is a slug?
Yay!
They both run to the flower, dodging the trapping of trees, the snares of brush.
No. No. Don't. Mom, don't.
Jonathan finds that he is stuck. His legs shake in terror. Tears rush down from his eyes.
Yeah, I did it! But you can be a slug too, Mom.
Mom?
No.
Don't. Mom?
A flailing arm calls Johnny's attention as it sinks deeper into the earth.
Mom!
The two run to her. Little Johnny grabs her hand and pulls as hard as he can, her head breaching the canal of the earth.
Johnny!
Blood runs over her face. Her teeth slide out of her mouth.
Johnny! Be... be... good!
Her control is taken as her tongue escapes her mouth. Her flesh ripples. Blood spews from her mouth over Johnny as she's anted into the earth.
Silence.
Mom, it's just over here.
Jonathan is kicked from the ensnaring trauma as Lindsay walks alongside him in a lovely dotted yellow dress.
Stop! Stop! Showing me this! It wasn't my fault! I... I...
The painting tears. On one side, the house, Nathan and Sylvia. And on the other, Dale, angry.
Why are you doing this? Where in the hell is Sylvia? This doesn't belong to you. It belongs to her!
The painting begrudgingly begins to reveal Dale, staring at the burned ruins of One Valley Lane. A large book in his hand. A lock of hair. And a sigil that...
No! No more! I ain't standing here being judged! I did what was right! I did what I had to do! You...
Moon benounced to Dale, so focused on his rage. The corners in the room begin to melt. Melt into a row of teeth-like fungus.
You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me! So leave me the hell alone and show me where Sylvia is now or so help me God!
The key's door opens. The soft voice floats on the stale air. A voice that always brings comfort.
Sylvia! Sylvia!
As he enters into the new room, the door follows. Dale now stands in the living room. One that held many Christmas parties, movie nights, dinners, arguments, laughs, judgments.
The living room of the old One Valley Lane. The home of his parents. Sylvia sits on a rocking chair, consoling the newborn. Lindsay.
Sylvia! Oh my God, Sylvia, it's you! You're here!
Oh, Dale! I didn't know you were here today.
Of course I'm here! I came looking for you! The house! It's...
What now, Dale? Did I move another bookshelf the wrong way?
What?
Did Nathan sit down on something wrong?
Sylvia, what are you talking about?
I'm getting tired of this, Dale. Of the way you treat me and Nathan. Why can't you ever just be happy for us?
Because... because he... because... he's a jerk! He's a pompous, stuck-up, perfect, goody-two-shoes little brat who never worked a hard day in his life and he gets all of...
Excuse me?
He just waltzed in here and...
He did no such thing, Dale. I was given all of this. I invited him in because I love him. We worked on our relationship. There was no waltzing in.
Oh, is that so?
Yes. And Dale, maybe, if you ever looked at anything other than yourself, you'd understand a thing or two. Forget it. Just go have another drink. Make everyone uncomfortable. It's all you're good for these days.
[Dale screams]
[glass shatters]
[Sylvia screams]
Dale stands outside the home with no memory of passing through a door. He seethes as he watches Nathan flip another burger.
Oh, hey, Dale. How are things today? You get to see Sylvia and Lindsay yet?
I'm gonna kill you, you son of a-
What?
The skin on Dale's fist peels back as it connects with Nathan's false teeth. Nathan is soon reeling, his jaw now loose in a bag of flesh he called a face. The grill is knocked over. The flames... have come alive.
Lindsay, where did you get that dress? We need to get out of here. Now!
Lush, Johnny. Don't be so loud. You know I got it from Ellie.
Ellie? But my mom... Look, Lindsay, come on. You know I don't like being called... Wait, Lindsay! Stop!
Stop? We can't stop. Anything could be in the forest.
Please, stop. I need you to come with me. I gotta get you out of here before whoever took you... We just gotta get out of here.
I'm sure we're getting there, but-
Lindsay, please! You can't stay here. He's gonna come back. I don't want to have to defend you. I want you to be safe.
You can't defend me. You never could. The only time you ever tried, you killed a man for buying me a drink.
Lindsay, how could you say that? You know that was... that was an accident. You know I-
Jonathan, we gotta focus on what's with us. What surrounds us. Who surrounds us. What poetic beauty rivals our own.
We gotta appreciate the time we're given. It was given, but not without a cost.
What do you mean? Lindsay, what do you mean a cost?
You see that blue flower over there?
No, neither of us do. There's no flower, Lindsay. Only me. Only me. Please, don't look at anything else.
You can't hide from the truth, Johnny. First one to the flower gets to be a slug.
No! I can't watch you die! I need you here, alive with me! With Lily! With us!
Oh, Johnny. I've always been dead. Now's just my time to go home.
What do you mean? He killed you? The man who took you, he-
Johnny, you don't understand. Lily doesn't have to join me. Please, see to it she doesn't.
As Jonathan grasps for words, the earth acts again. Lindsay is taken. Blood bursts out. Her teeth shoot out like BBs from a rifle.
Her tongue falls away. Her arm dangles from Jonathan's.
No!
The fire rages. The family runs. Men lay on the ground, pushed by the attacker. Dale has let go.
I'm done with this! I'm done with you! You came in and saved her when I couldn't! You took away my sister, my only friend!
You left me alone, all my life! I'm tired of you and you! Sylvia!
Dale lets Nathan drop to the floor as he stares into the inferno, embracing Sylvia and Lindsay, her skin popping from the heat.
No! Sylvia! No!
Now it is dark. Dale is alone. A book in his hand. A lock of hair. A sigil in the middle of the house. A memory. A profane pact was made.
I can fix this. I'll fix everything.
He grips the golden hair tightly. His shame overcomes him. What he did to acquire it.
She won't even know. She won't be hurt. But my family will be back.
Dale places the hair in the sigil and begins to speak in an unknown language. Fire engulfs him. And when he has finished speaking, the house is brand new. He sees through the window, Sylvia and Lindsay having dinner with Nathan. The house. The family is back.
A life for a family. I'm sorry, Ellie. I'm sorry.
He prayed that Ellie had no family, as it desired more than one life for a family. But he prayed there was only one life to give.
Mom!
Johnny!
No family.
No. No. I ain't living this again.
Dale steps away from the memory, frantically searching for the door.
Our deal was made. A family for a family. Now you've broken it. So where is my family?
A fungal growth begins to spread throughout the room. The newly born family's flesh peels away in favor of the mycelium.
Lindsay. Lindsay.
Jonathan stares at the arm in his hand. At the loose dirt below him. He sees the tongue crawling away. A pink slug. He picks it up. The mucus stretches with it.
It's okay. It's okay. Let's go find Lily together.
Jonathan, with eyes wide open, to hear staining his face, now walks to the door, aimlessly swinging the arm.
Lily? Lily?
Jonathan now walks among the graveyard, overflowing with tombstones, each marking the death of the memory. His mother's laugh. His father's face. His daughter's eyes.
No. I remember them. They're... they're blue. Yeah. Blue.
Daddy, I can't see.
The voice calls from the open grave. The tombstone of Lily. Jonathan stares at his daughter.
No. No. Why is this happening? Who's doing this? Who took you? Your eyes.
The infant stares back, her eyes unseen, blocked by the fungal growth climbing out.
The house remembers. Remembers the deal. Payment owed.
A deal? Do you... Lindsay, do you know what she's speaking of?
Okay. What deal? Who remembers? What... what reward is owed? How does this have to do with you, my precious?
The house remembers what Dale Mason owes. The house did not receive a full, and just reward only a morsel. The family has grown. The reward is greater.
Dale? Dale made a deal? A deal with who?
A morsel. Now an entree. Soon a feast.
Why won't you answer my questions? What morsel?
As Jonathan kicks the tombstone before him, he feels the cracking of bones and falls to his knees. He stares ahead at the stone. A new etching skews the old.
Now red. Here lies the first morsel. Ellie Layton.
Mom. Mom.
He killed me.
The pink slug speaks from Jonathan's shoulder.
It wants the family now. The whole family.
It can't. It can't have you, or me, or Lily, or oh God, not Lily! I thought she'd be safe with you here. I thought you'd go to college and I'd go with you, the three of us, a happy family with our daughter. But now, now you're all dead. This house killed you.
The rotting infant now crawls up Jonathan's lap. A father and his daughter.
My house is only listening to its nature. The nature planted by Dale.
Yeah. Dale. Kill him. Save us. Save us all from this cruel fate.
Let our souls be free.
No! No! I can't!
A hand rests on Jonathan's shoulder. Above him stands the floating remains of his late mother.
Ellie Layton.
Kill him. We'll all do it. Together.
No! No! I can't! I'm a good person! I've tried to be good, Mom!
No! You've been so good, Johnny. So good. I'm so proud of you. Now all that's left is justice. Justice is good. You're a police officer. This is your job.
Yes. Justice.
Save me, Daddy.
We can all be slugs.
Where is he?
[baby crying]
What? The furnace? Lily? Where are you, hon?
Dale fumbles in the dark, the only light of the furnace before him. He finds his flashlight and illuminates the cellar. On a metal plate protruding from the furnace, the baby, Lily, lies face down, screaming.
Oh my god! Lily! Ah! Lily! No! No! Sylvie will never forgive me!
Dale clutches Lily tightly, the sight of the scarred infant, eyes forever burned, allows Dale's emotions to overtake him.
No! What did you do? Let go of her! I won't let you burn her too!
Jonathan? What the hell happened to you? What is that? Whose arm is that?
Your handiwork, Dale! You killed her. You killed them all. I won't let you kill my daughter!
Your? Lily's your daughter?
Don't lie to me! All you've ever done is lie to me! Treat me like dirt! You threatened me, you tried to keep me away from Lindsay, from your family, and now I know why.
Dale looks around and finds a basket for Lily to rest in.
You and Lindsay?
She was so afraid of you, Dale. I was so afraid of you. But we're not afraid of you anymore.
Jonathan strokes the small pink tongue, limp on his shoulder.
I told you to stay away from this family! You extended the family! You brought my family into this! This is your fault! Ah!
Dale throws his fist, knocking Jonathan onto the floor. Teeth scatter around him. Blood flows down from Dale's hand.
I'm gonna get Lily out of here! You can stay and pay penance for getting Sylvia killed!
I didn't kill Sylvia!
Her name is Sylvia! Don't you dare come in acting like you're...
We killed them! Just like you killed my mother! Because of you, the house grows full. The morsels get low, and it doesn't need much more.
Your mother was the only way. She was the only one I knew no one would miss. The one I knew had no family. No one who'd love her anyway.
How dare you! How dare you speak about her like that! I loved her! I was her son! She was a beautiful, innocent soul! And now you've damned her! You've damned her into that hole in the ground!
No, no! She was a druggy whore! That's all she ever was! Every other week she was in the county jail for one thing or another! It wasn't hard to get her hair. I had never thought that she... Lily?
I hate you!
Lindsay's bones now protrude from Dale's heart, her arm reaching out to the fire. The warmth it no longer knows.
Jonathan, we have to burn the house!
You do it. This is all yours, not mine. I just want my daughter. I just want to be a happy family. I just want to be good.
Oh, David. What? What did he do to you?
Dale limps over to the furnace. He finds an axe in the corner and a wooden beam to use as kindling.
Just gotta get the fire burning. Oh, God, it hurts. Lindsay, Sylvia, I'm so sorry.
What did you do to my Lily?
Darn it, Jonathan. I didn't do anything. The house took her eyes, put her on this metal plate, was devouring her.
You burned her! I'm gonna make sure you dialed, man!
Dale runs at him, dropping the axe as Jonathan struggles drawing his gun. As he finally draws it, Dale is already on him, the two wrestling on the ground. Jonathan, gaining the upper hand, stands above Dale, pushing the arm deeper into his heart.
You ruined my life! You cursed me! At every turn, you hated me! You hated my family! You made the deal! You killed your family again! Now I will kill you for my family!
This is never what I wanted. If people had just listened to me, we'd all be happy.
Dale kicks forward, knocking Jonathan backward to a wet cut and clatter, as Jonathan's head falls into the discarded axe, leaving him lifeless.
Another morsel. Dale watches, justified in killing another who would kill his family. Another who would try to be better than him. Another who wouldn't listen to him.
He watches the fire spread in the room. He prays that burning the house again will be enough.
Okay. Okay, Lily. Let's get out of here.
Dale trepidatiously opens the door at the top of the cellar stairs. It opens to the hallway, and the next door opens to the porch. His relief is interrupted by the sharp pain of something near his bursting heart. Blood spurts from his mouth.
Don't worry, Lily. I'm gonna get you...get you...out of here.
Another fifteen feet. The rocky dirt now embraces the two.
I just want it to be good!
Lily howls into the night, alone, with no sight. The house behind her burns brightly. A lighthouse in the eternal, stretching woods.
Sirens approach.
(Sirens)
Thank you for tuning in to the House on Valley Lane, a story written by Samuel Sarver. House on Valley Lane was performed by the following. Jackson White as Jonathan, Jordy Haake as Dale, Sam Sarver as the dispatcher and the sheriff, Olivia Sarver as Sylvia and Ellie, Michael Jenkins as Nathan.
And special thanks to our guests, Extell or Extril the King on socials as the narrator, and Natasha or Natasha B Cosplays on socials as Lindsay and Lily. Thank you for tuning in. I hope you had a frighteningly atomic time.
