04x04 - The Moth

[bunniefuu]

[theme music playing]

NARRATOR:
Man lives in the sunlit world

of what he believes
to be reality.

But... there is,

unseen by most, an underworld.

A place that is just as real

but not as brightly lit.

A dark side.

[clock ticking]

[humming quietly]

[continues humming]

[whispers]:
Sybil.

''Scrape the skin from the back
of a hairless animal.''

Wickedness.

[sighs]

[footsteps approaching]

Sybil.

Ma?

Ma!

l don't want to know
where you got that book, Sybil,

or what you paid for it.

But l want to know
if you've been using it!

lt won't burn!
l know what that means!

lt tells me
where that book was written!

Sybil, what's wrong?!

[whispering]:
Oh, poor girl.

Who did it?

Annie Lee.

Claims l stole
her husband's soul.

Claims l made him love me.

Did you?

Annie Lee always hated me.

l didn't go after
Annie Lee's husband;

he come after me.

l know you, Sybil.

Did it out of mischief.

You don't care anything about
Annie Lee's husband.

You just want to make trouble.

Well, l'm gonna be
punished for it, Ma.

l'll be dead by midnight.

Hush.

l need to sleep, Ma.

Sybil, where's that black book?

Sybil.

Sybil!

Sybil!

Sybil, l went down
to the Pages'

and their boy's
going for the doctor.

MA:
Oh!

What on earth are you doing?

Passing the time till l die.

That one's for Annie Lee,
and this one's for her husband.

You're a wicked girl.

[blows]

[Sybil laughs]

[sighs]

MA:
You could die, girl.

You should be
making your peace with God,

not laying a curse
on your enemies.

l'm warning you, Sybil.

This is a terrible way
to leave this earth.

l said l was gonna die, Ma,

but l didn't say anything
about leaving this earth.

[kisses]

[door opens, closes]

Ma, who was that?

That was Leroy, the Pages' boy.

He said the doctor
was in Babylon today,

probably wouldn't get here
till in the morning.

lt'll be too late.

Leroy said something else.

What'd he say, Ma?

He said Annie Lee was dead.

Well, that was sudden.

Eugene shot her.

After he found out
she stabbed you.

You did it, didn't you?

With that candle.

l didn't do nothing, Ma.

[clock chiming]

''Yea, though l walk through the
valley of the shadow of death,

''l will fear no evil,
for Thou art with me.

''Thy rod and Thy staff,
they comfort me.

''Thou preparest
a table before me

in the presence
of mine enemies.''

Sybil?

Can you hear me?

You are an evil daughter.

You caused me
nothing but pain and trouble

since the day you were born.

But l have loved you.

l've loved you like you was
one of Jehovah's angels.

l've loved you against my will
and my inclination.

And l loved you
when l knew you was in league

with the things
that gave you that black book.

l won't weep now...

'cause you never did one thing
to deserve my tears.

So you do love me.

l do.

l love you, too, Ma.

And l don't want to leave you.

But you know and l know
you'll be dead in the morning.

Maybe.

But that don't mean
l have to leave you.

l don't want to hear this!

l got a last wish, Ma.

l want you to do
something for me.

l'll pray for your soul.

Something else.

l'll know when
l'm about to die, Ma.

And l'll tell you.

And when that time comes,

l want you to tie a cloth
over my mouth.

Why?

'Cause that's how the soul
leaves the body, Ma.

You know that.

Then, when l'm dead,

you pull the cloth
and put a jar over my mouth,

and you catch
what comes out my mouth.

And don't let it
out of that jar.

Otherwise, l can't come back.

What do you mean, ''come back''?

Before dawn, l'll come back
and get whatever's in that jar.

Will you do it?

No.

You have to!

lt's your only daughter's
dying wish.

[wolf howls in distance]

[screaming]

Hurry, Ma!

[gasping]
Please, Ma!

Please, do it!

l don't have much time!

[Sybil panting]

Stuff my mouth.
Ma, l'm dying!

[Sybil gasping]

[grunting]

Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

Tighter!

Tighter, Ma!

Yes, all right, all right.

MA [whispers]:
There.

[panting]

[exhales deeply]

[Ma sobs]

Poor girl.

[crying]

[chittering]

[chittering continues]

l didn't punch any holes
in the top of that jar,

but you're still alive.

You're not a moth at all.

You're something else.

That's cheating God.

May even be cheating the Devil.

[chittering continues]

Darling, if you came back,

you'd just cause more trouble.

You're dead.

lf you don't lie still,

you'll be an evil, evil thing.

l can't let you do it.

[jar thuds onto floor]

[gasps]

[Ma whimpers, gasps]

So you're the only one
that can open it.

-[chittering] -MA: ''Circle the
day of death with blood.

''Surround the body with water.

''These are the barriers used
to prevent the dead

from recapturing their souls.''

My poor baby said
she was coming back for you.

[chittering]

She has to get you back in her
mouth before dawn, doesn't she?

Or she can't come back.

Well, l just found out
how to stop her.

[chittering grows louder]

Be still just a little while
longer, my darlin'.

Don't get up just yet.

Morning's a long way
away, honey.

You got plenty of time.

[glass shattering]

[snapping]

Just a few minutes more,
darlin'.

[wind whistling]

[wood creaking]

[owl hooting]

Not yet, baby.

lt's not time to get up yet.

Ma'll tell you when.

[wind whistling]

[floorboards creaking]

Just one more thing.

SYBlL:
Ma...

Ma!

Who's that calling?

Sybil.

MA:
Sybil's dead.

Ma, help me. l'm confused.

l'm not surprised, darlin'.

You died earlier this evening.

l can't be dead, Ma.

l can smell the pines.

What you smell is the pine
boards of your coffin, darlin'.

But l'm not in my coffin, Ma.

Coffins are confining,
and l just sat up straight.

l'm in my old bed, Ma.

That's as may be, but you're
still dead, girl.

Did you save what came out
my mouth, Ma?

lt's here.

Looks like a moth.

SYBlL:
l'll come for it.

Why can't l get to you, Ma?

Because you're dead.

The dead don't want
to cross water.

You must be wrong, Ma.

This isn't water; it's milk.

What's this on the dresser, Ma?

A barrette.

Belonged to my daughter.

l broke it when she died.

Has her name on it.

Sybil?

That must be you.

But l'm not dead yet.

Yes, you are.

MA:
See the clock?

l stopped the clock
when you died.

See the calendar?

With my own blood, l circled
the day that you died.

l wouldn't do that
if you weren't dead.

l need my soul back, Mama.

What's this?

What's what?

What does it feel like?

Feels like... sand.

lt's the earth piled
above your coffin.

No!

Yes.

ls there much of it?

l don't know, l can't see.

Why don't you count
the sand, Sybil?

Count the grains.

You can't come in till l know
how deep you're buried.

SYBlL:
One, two,

three, four,

five,

six,

seven...

[chittering]



[rooster crowing]





[sand scraping]

You tricked me!

[chittering]

[grunts]

[Sybil's voice]:
You should've let me

come back for my soul, Ma.

Not all my tricks were
written down in that book.

Sleep tight, Ma.

NARRATOR:
The dark side is always there.

Waiting for us to enter.

Waiting to enter us.

Until next time, try
to enjoy the daylight.