The Haunting of Hill House - 01x10 - Silence Lay Steadily

[bunniefuu]

I got it.

Open it!

Mr. Dudley says this is a master key,

so it's supposed to open
any door in the house.

What do you think is in there?

What if it's a cotton candy machine?

That'd be something.

Or a pony?

[SHIRLEY] Not a pony.

This isn't working.

It could be a pony.
Something was moving.

I saw the shadow under the door.

Hello?

If there's a pony in there, it's dead.

[BANGS THE DOOR]

Where's the friggin' key?

- Don't say that word.
- You say it.

I want to see what's in there, too.

Daddy, we need more keys!

It's an emergency!

You're not funny, Luke.

[STEVE] I am home.

I am home, I thought,

and stopped in wonder at the thought.

I am home.

I am home.

- Hey.
- Hey.

How was it?

It was great. Kelly says hi.

Her boys are huge.

You were missed.

I was going to cook.

I know, but she wants fries.

All the fries. Nothing but fries.

How's the writing?

Slow, it's really slow.

How much since I left?

Two...

- pages.
- Ouch.

I always said, I'm never gonna do
a follow-up to Hill House

and I think this is why. It's just...

Eat.

It's the best cure for writer's block.

[SNORTS] Don't use those words.

Fries, nothing but fries.

Read me something.

"Certainly there are places
which attach to themselves

an atmosphere of holiness and goodness.

It might also be said that some houses

are born bad."

"Born bad"?

Too much?

Hmm. It depends. Where are you?

Dad and I just got to the house,

and, um,

we know Luke bought the gasoline, and...

Oh, honey.

We're about to go inside.

You don't have to do this, you know?

You said yourself, you
were never gonna publish it.

I do, though.

To see it, to really see it.

Here.

[CHUCKLING] You feel that?

- Mmm.
- That little girl in there,

who's getting ready to join this family,

one day she's going to
ask about her grandfather

and about her Uncle Luke,

and what happened in that house.

She's going to hear all sorts
of stories and speculation

like you did when you
were little, but...

whose voice did you need?

Whose story did you
need to hear the most?

She needs to hear this from you.

This is for little Eleanor.

[STEVE] This house, which seemed
somehow to have formed itself,

flying together in its
own powerful pattern

under the hands of its builders...

reared its great head
back against the sky

without concession to humanity.

It was a house without kindness,

never meant to be lived in,

not a fit place for
people, or for love,

or for hope.

- You smell that?
- Yeah.

Gasoline.

Yeah.

All right.

If he's here,

I think I know where to find him.

[LOUD BANGING]

Dad.

It's okay.

Come on.

Look at me.

[STEVE] Fear.

Look at me.

[STEVE] Fear is the
relinquishment of logic,

the willing relinquishing
of reasonable patterns.

We yield to it or we fight it.

But we cannot meet it halfway.

Okay.

[STEVE] I am home.

"I am home," I thought,

and stopped in wonder at the thought.

I am home.

I am home.

Now to climb.

Luke! Luke!

[STEVE] Dad.

- That door has always been locked.
- Yeah.

Only when it wants to be.

Take off the hinges. How hard can it be?

But I tried everything.

Maybe with the two of us...

Dad!

Steve, wait!

[EXHALES DEEPLY]

You okay?

Yeah, I just need a break.

Why don't you come to bed?

Get some sleep. Hill House
will be there in the morning.

I know it's hard. It's
too much right now.

- [EXHALES]
- Why don't you put this down

come to bed, and leave the
ghosts where they belong.

That's...

That's not the problem.

Where are you now?

Well, we... we went into the house.

And then we went to the Red Room.

And then the...

the door opened and
I saw Luke, and then...

Luke d*ed.

No.

He... He was alive on the floor.

And then the door closed,

and...

And then he d*ed.

You have to say it.

You gotta finally say it, Steve.

- That's the problem.
- I know.

The door closed and then I...

I... I, uh...

I can't say what happened.

It's still too soon. Why
don't you come to bed?

No, Leigh, I mean, I...

I can't say what happened
after the door closed.

I don't remember.

I mean, how I got out of the house.

I... I don't remember
coming back to California.

I don't remember us...

reconciling.

Or finding out you were pregnant.

[SIGHING] Well, of course you don't.

Because you haven't written it yet.

I mean, is anything real
before you write it, Steve?

The things you write about are
real, those people are real,

their feelings are
real, their pain is real,

but not to you, is it?

Not until you chew it
up and you digest it

and you sh*t it out on a piece of paper.

And even then, it's a
pale imitation at best.

You take other people's lives
and love and loss and pain,

and you eat it, Steve.

You are an eater.

You eat it and you sh*t it out,

and then, and only
then, is it real for you.

Normal people's lives are flesh
and blood and muscle and bone,

but not yours, darling. Oh, no.

Your life is plastic.

You are a plastic parasite.

A plastic hack, aren't you, honey?

So of course you don't remember
how you healed our marriage

or made our baby, because
you haven't really seen it.

Have you? You haven't
shat it out in prose.

I was always a supporting player
in your story, if we're honest.

I would feed you and
f*ck you and pay the bills

while you squinted over some novel

that nobody was going
to read or publish,

but I paid you to write them, didn't I?

I picked up the check for your dreams

and I said goodbye to mine,
and not even that was enough.

Don't lie to me, honey. I wasn't real.

If I was real, you never would
have walked out that door,

but I wasn't, and you
did, and now this one...

this...

little one...

she won't be real either.

Oh.

She's kicking.

Oh, she's hungry.

She must be an eater like her dad.

If she is, my love,

if she eats me from the inside

and I burst like a blister,

will you lose your mind?

Like your mother?

[NELL] Steve.

[GASPING]

Luke.

Luke. Oh, God.

Oh, my God.

No, no, no.

Luke.

Come on.

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

Mom.

[LUKE] I couldn't help her.

Look, listen, I know I f*cked up. Okay?

But I... I didn't use, I didn't,

and I'm so f*cking cold,

and my... my arms and legs
are so stiff, I just...

I need... I need a bed.

Like a couch. I'll sleep
on the g*dd*mn floor.

Just... please.

Please, please, please
let me come back, please.

[SHIVERING]

Hey.

What do you think?

It's the perfect place to
get clean for a few days.

We're already paid up and they
even have room service, Luke.

You know, everybody's always
given up on me my whole life.

But not you, Luke. Not you.

You saved me.

But I, um, I didn't.

I mean, you...

You took the money and you ran away.

- I never found you.
- No.

No, I came here.

I got us this hotel room.

And I found you at
the payphone, remember?

Right.

- [LAUGHS]
- Why did you follow me?

You never did tell me the real truth.

I think it's 'cause you're sweet on me.

A little bit.

I have something for us.

One last time, just to get
well before we get clean.

No, I'm -days clean.

Ninety-two, actually.

Yeah, but that's not clean.

You can -step it
and collect your chips,

but you're never clean,

never really clean,

because one day that needle's
going back in your arm.

You have an appointment
with that needle.

You're expected.

No, that's... No, that's not true.

I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking this is
what I did with your money.

I mean, Steve's money. Let's be real.

You're thinking that I put
it in my arm in some alley

and maybe I d*ed there.

In the puke and the piss.

And the alley rats are

chewing on me right now.

Little yellow teeth...

punching through the jelly...

of my pretty eyes, right?

God, that's good.

Come with me, Luke.

No.

No, I won't.

Baby, you already did.

[GASPING]

Oh, Gordon was right.

If you look long
enough at the wallpaper,

you can see that little girl.

It's the little girl with the runny-egg

eyes.

[GRUNTS]

[PANTING]

[BANGING ON DOOR]

[STEVE] Luke! Luke!

[HUGH] But I've tried everything.

- Maybe with the two of us...
- Dad!

- Steve, wait!
- [DOOR SLAMS]

[FOOTSTEPS]

[SHIRLEY] Luke.

Dad?

[HUGH] Up here!

[THEO] Dad.

[HUGH] Up here! Hurry!

Dad!

Dad.

Dad!

Oh, my God. Shirley!

[PANTING]

[GASPS]

[MAN] This is for you.

I didn't order that.

Oh, um...

Tell him thanks, but I'm...

Do you want me to pour it out?

Tell you what,

what's the weirdest thing you
guys have on the happy hour menu?

Like, the thing no one ever orders.

So I'm minding my own business
over there and all of a sudden...

I had to repay you for the drink.

So you sent me a plate of, uh...

Boneless Caribbean jerk wings.

Serves me right for not being
able to spot a ring at ten yards.

No way that's ten yards.

I never really thought about it,

but you send someone a drink...

- Without their consent.
- And it's socially acceptable.

- But you send someone an appetizer...
- Without their consent.

And yeah, it's really, really weird.

- [LAUGHING]
- I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be funny.

It's been a minute, I guess.

Can I sit here while I eat these?

- You don't have to eat them.
- Oh, sure I do.

I will keep it
professional. Hand to God.

We can chat, um, embalming technique.

That's what these things are for, right?

No funny stuff.

- Embalming only.
- [CHUCKLES]

I guess that's the thing
about starting your own home,

they just never tell you.

It's not like buying a
house, not even a little.

I didn't sleep for two years.

And mine was pre-owned, too.

For real?

I didn't hear last call.

Me either.

Well, I guess that's it.

You were true to your word.

I always am.

Very well behaved.

I seldom am.

- Um, on that note...
- Oh, no.

- Don't do it.
- I'm not. I'm just saying,

- since we missed last call...
- You're gonna do it.

I've got all the makings
of a mean martini in my room

if you want a nightcap.

I did really good right
up until the end there.

You did. The one-yard line.

- Such a guy.
- I can't help it.

It's taken million years to develop

the carnivorous biped
you see before yo u.

Thank you, anyway.

It was nice to meet you, and
I enjoyed the conversation,

but I'm going to say goodnight.

[CLEARS THROAT]

That's not what you said, though.

You looked at my ring,

and then I said the thing
about the carnivorous biped,

and you said...

Let's see what kind of martini it makes.

We walked out of the bar, crossed
the lobby, into the elevator,

and you had that martini, didn't you?

How old was Jayden then? Six?

And Allie was...

- Two.
- Two.

It had been diapers and bills for years

and you had just bought the
business and it was in the red

and life was...

- Loud.
- It was hungry, too.

The bills were screaming and
the children were screaming

and your husband just...
drifted out of focus, didn't he?

And you were so far away from
home for the first time in so long.

Stop it.

You looked at my wedding ring
right before you answered.

It was gross. You were
married and you were pushy...

Don't lie.

That ring closed the deal.

You went upstairs with
me because of the ring,

because the ring meant...

You had as much to lose as I did.

And that was a calculation,

Mrs. Harris.

You don't know me.

Well, that was the whole
point. Just a fling.

People have them all
the time, but not you.

I mean, the whole thing was so not you.

But God, who would have
guessed how good at it you were.

You got dressed and you flew home
and it was like nothing happened.

You got away with it.

I'm a good wife.

I'm a good... mother.

I'm a good person.

Well, you never did it again.

Never.

But you never told him, did you?

- f*ck you.
- And even then, your anger at Theo and Kevin...

f*ck you.

So righteous.

You don't want to look at it, do you?

You did this thing.

You did it and you liked it, and
you just decided not to look at it.

Now, that's you all over.

Shirley never wants to look.

But Shirley has to look.

Is everything all right?

I think she's just a little overwhelmed.

She knows something most people don't.

The instant someone dies,

they learn everything.

Every secret thing.

And when I die,

I'm going to wake up in that hotel room

and have to watch every
single thing she did.

And that scares her so bad,

she hopes she'll die first.

Oh, that's all right.

Here.

Come with me.

It's okay.

I fixed her.

I ripped out her organs and eyeballs,

and I sucked out the blood and the sh*t,

and plugged her holes
so she wouldn't leak.

And wired her jaw so
she couldn't scream.

And I painted her face
and her hands, and...

set her eyelids on spikes
so they wouldn't stare.

And I hung flowers full of smell
and posed her like a dreamer,

and now,

she is fixed and pretty.

But underneath,

she is a horror.

We pickle it and paint
it, but it's still death.

And rot.

And ruin.

But she is pretty.

Isn't she?

[STRANGLED SCREAMING]

[NELL] Shirley.

[GASPING]

What the hell?

We need help.

This isn't real.

- It's a dream.
- It's real.

He's dying.

Come on, Luke!

Come on.

[TRISH] Tell me something
only I will ever know.

- [STEVE] Luke!
- [THEO] When I was a child...

When I was a child, my mother spanked me

for throwing a rock
through a greenhouse roof.

It was the only time she ever.

She had designed it, you see,

and she was getting ready
to show it to a client,

and because I threw the rock...

for the only time in
my life, she hit me.

Just once. That was all she
could take, and then never again.

But a simple rock through some glass

taught me so much about my mother.

Taught her, too.

I thought about it for a long
time, remembering the spanking.

But remembering also the lovely crash.

And after thinking
about it very seriously,

I went out and did it again.

[TRISH] What's that about?

I...

can't...

recall. There was a
reason for this, and...

I don't remember.

I don't feel anything.

- That's okay, none taken.
- No, I don't...

I don't feel anything else.

Because you're normal.

What were you feeling before?

I was feeling...

fear.

And...

And guilt.

Fear and guilt are sisters.

I knew a man once

who knew those sisters well.

They kissed his eyelids as he slept,

and every morning he went
just a little more mad.

So he built a wall to
keep it all outside,

but those two sisters,

they were in there with him.

Even there.

That silly man thought his
wall would keep them out,

but there was just
enough room for him...

and them.

So he was trapped behind that wall.

Afraid and guilty.

And his voice left him

and he scratched and whimpered,

and his fingers were
shredded on his own bricks

until his scratches just sounded like...

rats in a wall.

He felt small.

So small.

But that was his dream.

And when he woke up, he was tall.

So tall.

For always.

Wait.

Fear and guilt are sisters, Theodora.

But when you wake up,
they'll leave you be.

For always.

- Wait.
- Shh.

Just enjoy me.

I'm loving you.

[VOICES WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY]

No.

No, no...

- No.
- [NELL] Theo.

[GASPING]

He's not breathing.

Oh, my God.

Stop, stop, stop.

Come on.

- [STEVE] Go, go.
- Check his pulse.

[SHIRLEY] No, no. No, no, no.

I... I can't feel it.

[SHIRLEY] Don't you f*cking dare, Luke!

- Don't you f*cking dare!
- Oh, sh*t.

[SHIRLEY PANTING]

Sweetheart.

You're awake.

Oh, I've missed you so, so much.

Where are we?

We're home, my love.

You know,

when I was a little girl about your age,

I was driving in the car
with your grandmother,

and we passed a house adorned
with a forest of red roses.

And I fell in love with that house,

and with houses, all at once.

I can live there forever, I thought.

No one will ever find me there, either.

I will light a fire in the cool evenings

and toast apples in my own hearth.

People will come to me to
have their fortunes told,

and I will brew love
potions for sad maidens.

I will have a...

a robin.

I will have a robin.

I almost named you Robin.

Your dad even agreed.

Robin Crain.

But when I looked at
you for the first time...

you were Luke.

You just were.

Oh.

I almost forgot.

Your big boy hat.

No, I, um...

No, no.

We were going to have a tea party,

with big boy hats and
cups of stars and we're...

we're so glad you're finally here.

Go.

Why would you want your brother to go?

He just got here.

Have a seat.

Don't.

Am I dead?

You're awake.

And I'm so sorry, honey.

You were having such a nightmare.

I'm... I'm sorry, Mom.

No, don't you apologize to me.

It wasn't your fault, never once.

You were perfect.

But I... I wasn't.

- I'm... I'm not.
- You were.

And you are.

It's the world, my love.

It isn't and it wasn't and you never

should have been fed
to it like you were.

Yes, have a seat.

Don't.

- Go.
- Why... Why does she keep saying that?

Honey. Honey...

Just look at me. Look at me.

This is a gift.

For us all.

Not if I'm dead. I...

I don't want to be dead.

But you want to be in here.

- No, I... I don't.
- Yeah, you do.

You've been knocking on that door

for years and years and years.

We could hear you.

Knocking louder all the time.

And finally, here you are.

- Please.
- Don't.

No, I have to get... I have to get...

Please!

[GASPING, COUGHING]

Oh, God.

Luke! Hey, can you hear me?

- His pulse is pretty weak.
- We got to get him to a hospital.

I thought you were gone,
man. I thought you were gone.

She saved me.

[SHIRLEY] You... You just woke up.

- No.
- You were gone.

She saved me.

I feel a little clearer just now.

We have.

- Nell?
- [NELL] All of us have.

Wouldn't have changed anything.

I need you to know that.

- Nell...
- [NELL] The rest is confetti.

- Hey.
- So many times and we didn't know it.

All of us.

Nellie?

No, not a heart.

- Nell?
- A stomach.

Nell?

We have.

All of us have.

I don't think she can hear us.

So many times and we didn't know it.

All right, we need to
get Luke out of here,

we need to get him to a hospital...

[COUGHING]

I don't get it.

All this time we tried
to get into this room

and now we can't get the f*ck out.

I feel like I've been here before.

We have.

All of us have.

So many times and we didn't know it.

All of us.

[NELL SIGHS]

I feel a bit clearer now.

Everything's been out of order.

Time, I mean.

I thought for so long that time

was like a line, that...

that our moments were
laid out like dominoes,

and that they...

fell, one into another

and on it went,

just days tipping, one into
the next, into the next,

in a long line between the beginning...

and the end.

But I was wrong.

It's not like that at all.

Our moments fall around us like rain.

Or... snow.

Or confetti.

You were right.

We have been in this room.

So many times and we didn't know.

All of us.

Mom says...

that a house is like a body...

and that every house...

has eyes.

And bones.

And skin.

And a face.

[SIGHS]

This room is like the
heart of the house.

No, not a heart, a stomach.

It was your dance studio, Theo.

It was my toy room.

It was a reading room for Mom.

A game room for Steve.

A family room for Shirley.

- A treehouse.
- How do you spell "No Girls Allowed"?

[NELL] But it was always the Red Room.

How do you take your tea?

[NELL] It put on different faces
so that we'd be still and quiet.

While it digested.

I'm like a small creature
swallowed whole by a monster.

And the monster feels my
tiny little movements inside.

You have to live.

I don't... I don't know
how to do this without you.

I learned a secret.

There's no without.

I am not gone.

I'm scattered into so many pieces,

sprinkled on your life like

new snow.

There's so much I
want to say to you all.

I'm so sorry our last
words were in anger.

They weren't our last.

[SHIRLEY] I'm sorry.

I'm sorry that I didn't...

answer the phone.

But you did.

So many times.

I'm sorry if I didn't
listen, and I'm sorry...

[NELL] It wouldn't
have changed anything.

I need you to know that.

Forgiveness is warm.

Like a tear on a cheek.

Think of that and of me

when you stand in the rain.

I loved you completely.

And you loved me the same.

That's all.

The rest is confetti.

[NELL CHUCKLES]

[EXHALES]

The first was young Miss Grattan

She tried not to let him in

He stabbed her with a corn Kn*fe

That's how his crimes begin

The next was Grandma Grattan

So old and tired and gray

She f'it off her attacker

Until his strength gave way

The next was Grandpa Grattan

A-settin' by the fire

He came up close behind him

And strangled him with wire

The last was Baby Grattan

All in his trundle bed

He stove him in the short ribs

Until that child was dead

And then he spit tobacco juice

All on his golden head

[OLIVIA] Stay away.

He's just too cute, Liv.

Away.

Forgive a girl for being lonely.

Nothing sadder than a cold bed.

But all those wedding beds go cold.

Don't they, loves?

[CHUCKLING]

Journeys end in lovers' meeting.

I have spent an all but sleepless night.

I have told lies and
made a fool of myself.

And the very air tastes like wine.

Everyone is home.

You've changed so much.

For my heart.

How long has it been
since you were here?

Longer than I intended.

It was too hard to
see you here, this way.

But I still...

- had you with me.
- Oh, love.

That wasn't me,

that was just you.

What were you doing...

all this time away?

[HUGH] I was...

holding a door.

Holding a door closed.

I had my back against it

and my arms out wide,

because I knew there were
monsters in the other side

and they wanted what
was left of our family.

And I held it so hard,

I didn't have arms left for the kids.

The monsters got through anyway.

That's what monsters do.

- But not here.
- No.

Especially here.

They're... They're out there,

in the woods.

They're out there and we're in here
and the children are finally safe.

But, no. No.

They're... They're not.

They're dying.

They're waking.

You kept them from me.

To keep them safe.

You kept them from the truth.

To keep you safe.

Their... Their image of you.

I woke up...

at the foot of these stairs,

and I started walking.

No more headaches.

No pain, no day, no night,

no now, no then.

And I would dream while I walked.

I dreamed of you.

I dreamed of you and
the children's laughter.

And then I'd remember...

that you took them from me.

You took them

and you hurt them, Hugh.

- And they suffered.
- They did.

They all do.

And even if they're broken or addicted

or joyless or, yes, even if they die,

we have to watch it all
because we're parents.

And that's the deal we make.

Whatever that life is, we bear witness.

- It's a horror.
- It doesn't have to be.

I saw our daughter dance at her wedding.

Her smile was like a light

and it was reflected
in everyone's faces,

and I recognized that light.

Because it was ours. We did that.

We loved each other so well

that it spread out into the universe

and it created a new star.

Stars die.

The night sky is full of dead stars.

They explode to death.

And if you could reach
up with some great hand

and pull them down

just before they burst,

- you would.
- Yes, I would.

We're all safe now.

This is our forever house.

It always was.

Nothing bad will ever
touch them ever again.

Nothing good will, either.

Open that door.

I know you can open that door.

I know you love the people in that room

more than anything.

I won't let you take them away again.

They'll die.

Liv, they will die if they
stay. They're dying now.

Our babies are dying.

Let them go.

You have always said that our
job was to send them sailing.

- That was a dream.
- Out into the world.

- A dream.
- Into the world.

- Let them go.
- I'll be alone again!

If it wasn't for the kids in that room,

I would've

laid down with you.

I would have followed you...

right into the darkness.

But those kids, Liv...

but those kids in that room,

if you open that door right now...

I will make a promise to
you that I will keep forever.

Open the door.

Please.

Let me fix this.

Journeys end...

In lovers' meeting.

You had that engraved on my watch,

do you remember?

But I was wrong.

That's the secret, isn't it?

Journeys don't end.

Not if you love someone.

They don't end at all.

Isn't that wonderful?

[LUKE] Once upon a time,

the world was just play.

[JAGGED BREATHING]

And all...

All we had...

- The five of us...
- No, no, no, stay with me.

All we had was... play.

Luke. Luke. Luke.

Stay with me. Stay awake! Stay...

I'll start the car.

- Is he breathing?
- Yeah.

Come on.

- [SHIRLEY] Sacred Heart's closest.
- [THEO] I can navigate.

Are you guys coming with us or... ?

Go ahead.

There's one more thing your
brother and I have to do.

- We'll see you there.
- What?

We'll meet you at the hospital.

[ENGINE STARTS]

Probably best you didn't
say anything to them.

Dad.

What did I see?

[CAR APPROACHING]

Olivia?

Liv?

[HUGH SCREAMING]

[HUGH CRYING]

[SOBBING]

What happened?

Why are you here?

Did you see?

What happened?

I... I...

I don't know.

We were looking for...

Oh, my God.

[HUGH] I can fix this.

I can fix it.

- Hugh.
- I can fix it.

Put her down.

No, I can fix this.

You... You can't.

Why is this happening?

Why are you even here?

We need to get you help.
We need to get the police.

Why are you here?

Our daughter snuck out of a vent
tonight and we thought maybe...

[MRS. DUDLEY] No.

No.

No, no, no...

[SOBBING] No. No. Oh, no.

No...

Both of their children.

All of their children.

[SOBBING CONTINUES]

She wasn't in her bed.

I didn't know.

I didn't know.

[ABIGAIL] Mommy?

Abby?

Abby? [PANTING]

Abby. Abby.

What happened?

Who hurt you, baby girl?

Honey?

I'm having the strangest dream.

[HUGH] I'm gonna burn it.

I'm gonna burn this house to the ground.

Stand over it.

Make sure that every room, every
wall, every splinter is immolated.

Burn this house and
its hills to the dirt.

Then I'll salt the earth.

You won't.

Horace, he can't.

She's still here.

I'll... carry her
body back to the woods.

I'll...

bury her by the cottage in
the garden that she loved.

And when she's buried

and it's done, we'll say nothing.

You understand, Hugh?

We'll say nothing.

She barely left our
house her whole life.

We kept her out of the
world to keep her safe.

And we're the only ones
who would even know to...

to mourn her.

We won't say anything about Olivia.

We won't.

That wasn't her.

We know that.

No, we know

what really happened here tonight.

And your kids,

they don't need to hear anything else.

Or remember their mother in any way

but the way that you truly was.

And we can protect that for you.

If...

If what?

[MRS. DUDLEY] If you keep this house.

Keep us on.

Keep everyone else away.

Don't let it take
anyone else, never again.

Let it starve.

But leave it here.

So I can see her.

This house,

it's full of precious, precious things,

and they don't all belong to you.

It's dangerous.

For both of you.

[MRS. DUDLEY] I don't care.
This is where she is now.

I'm her mother.

I won't leave her here alone.

I will not.

Please, Hugh.

Please.

[STEVE SIGHS]

I wish you would have told me.

You didn't tell your
sisters what you saw.

Why not?

Some things

can't be told.

You live them...

or you don't.

But they can't be told.

I'm sorry.

No.

I'm sorry, Dad.

This is all yours now.

The house.

And the promise.

I want you to know.

You...

and your sisters...

and your brother...

were the best part of my...

my...

Never been prouder of anything.

Anything, ever.

Take care of each other.

- Dad?
- And be kind to each other.

If nothing else...

be kind.

I was so lucky...

to be your dad.

[SIGHS]

[STEVE] Home.

"I am home," I thought...

and stopped in wonder at the thought.

I am home.

I am home.

Now to climb.

I've been so wrong

about so much.

I've lived with ghosts
since I was a kid.

Since before I knew
they were even there.

Ghosts are guilt, ghosts are secrets,

ghosts are regrets and failings.

But most times...

most times a ghost is a wish.

Like a marriage is a wish.

A marriage can be like a house
and a marriage can be haunted,

and I let that happen to us.

And I'm so sorry, Leigh.

You're scaring me.

I have something that
I have to tell you.

And I'm going to.

But I need you to remember
while I do, that I love you,

my sweet...

friend.

My best friend.

I'm asking you to love me

hard for the next few minutes,

and it might be the hardest

that you've ever had to love me,

but I know it'll be okay,

because it's us.

So...

I'm going to jump and I'm
asking you to hold my hand...

while I'm falling.

Okay?

Okay.

Years ago...

six years ago...

I went to that conference in Chicago.

[STEVE] I wish...

I'd loved you better.

And let you see me
clearly without disguise.

I wish I'd been a better husband.

I wish I'd been a better son.

I wish I'd been a better brother.

♪ This house ♪

What are you saying, Steve?

♪ She's holding secrets ♪

I'm saying I built a wall
around a big part of my life

and I hid behind that wall

and I thought that
wall kept us both safe,

but walls don't work that way.

Walls never work that way.

What about these?

Oh, trash.

♪Just in case ♪

♪ I have to leave ♪

♪ I will go if you ask me to ♪

♪ I will stay... ♪

I think the truck's
full. Is that everything?

Yeah, I'm ready.

♪ If I go, I'm going shameless ♪

♪ Let my hunger take me there ♪

[STEVE] And all of that,

the guilt and the grief

and the secrets and the
walls and the ghosts,

right now

my only wish...

my only wish is to come home.

♪ This house ♪

Please.

♪ She's quite the talker ♪

♪ She creaks and moans ♪

I just want to fix this.

♪ And the photographs ♪

♪ Know I'm a liar ♪

♪ They just laugh ♪

[STEVE] Fear.

♪ As I burn her down ♪

[STEVE] Fear is the
relinquishment of logic,

the willing relinquishing
of reasonable patterns.

♪ I will go if you
if you ask me to ♪

♪ I will stay... ♪

[HORACE] We're here.

We're here,

Clara.

We made it.

♪ If I go, I'm going on fire ♪

♪ Let my anger take me there ♪

[STEVEN] But so, it seems, is love.

♪ And the shingles,
man, they're shaking ♪

♪ The back door's burning through ♪

[STEVE] Love is the
relinquishment of logic...

♪ This old house ♪
♪ She's quite the keeper ♪

... the willing relinquishing
of reasonable patterns.

♪ Quite the keeper of you ♪

[STEVE] We yield to it or we fight it.

But we cannot meet it halfway.

Without it,

we cannot continue for
long to exist sanely

under conditions of absolute reality.

Hill House,

not sane,

stands against its hills
holding darkness within.

It has stood so for a hundred years

and might stand a hundred more.

♪ I will go if you ask me to ♪

[STEVE] Within...

walls continue upright...

bricks meet neatly...

floors are firm...

and doors are sensibly shut.

Silence lay steadily

against the wood and
stone of Hill House.

♪ If I go, I'm going crazy ♪

[STEVE] And those who walk there...

walk together.