0:00

Looking to get out of the ads and back to the

0:02

story? Fable & Folly Plus

0:05

is a new way to support the creators you love.

0:07

The podcast you're listening to right now, and

0:10

more than 60 others, can be heard ad-free

0:12

for as little as $4 a month by visiting

0:14

fableandfolly.com slash plus. And

0:17

now, you'll start to see Fable & Folly

0:20

Network shows are offering bonus content

0:22

to all existing and new supporters.

0:26

And exclusive new episodes from shows

0:28

like Where the Stars Fell, The Call

0:30

of Cthulhu Mystery Program, and Civilized.

0:33

Plus, early access to new episodes

0:36

of Midnight Burger.

0:37

All still entirely ad-free.

0:39

The Road

0:46

of Shadows. Created

0:51

by Mark R. Healy. A

0:54

Beyond the Dark production. Season 1.

1:00

Episode 9. The Wicked.

1:18

Did I say something wrong?

1:22

This book looks ancient. There

1:25

are no dates inside, so we don't know

1:27

when it was written. In fact, there's

1:29

really no indication of when or where it

1:31

came from at all. But as

1:33

I said, if I had to guess,

1:36

I would say it's around 150 years old.

1:40

The Wicked Devils of Night. Looks

1:43

like it's in English, too. Do you

1:45

want to take a look? Uh,

1:47

hell yes. Here let me take it. Ooh,

1:51

damn, it's heavy. Huh.

2:01

No author listed and,

2:03

uh, yeah, no publisher. As

2:06

I said, details are scant on this one.

2:09

Where did it come from? Oh, well

2:11

now. That's a good question.

2:14

I couldn't really say for sure. It's

2:17

been sitting around for years. Do

2:19

you think it could have been Frasier who requested it? Like

2:22

with the other book, the Spanish one? It could

2:24

be. I don't have too many people

2:26

in town who would really take an interest in this

2:28

sort of thing, to be honest. That's

2:30

why I took it off the shelves and stored it here.

2:33

Not much demand for it.

2:35

Is there a way I can check this out of the collection?

2:38

Ha! Check it out! Amber,

2:41

just keep it. It's only gathering

2:43

dust here. Are you

2:46

sure? Absolutely. Now,

2:49

make yourself comfortable while I go and lie

2:51

down for a bit. Think I'll

2:53

take a short nap. Oh,

2:56

we could leave, if you like. Not when I've

2:58

just served you tea. Drink up! I'll

3:00

be back again soon.

3:05

Holy shit, can you believe this? Let's...

3:09

let's keep our expectations in check for

3:11

a minute. We don't know if this book

3:13

is fiction or totally unconnected to our

3:15

shadows or... well,

3:18

anything at this point.

3:18

Let's take a look. Okay,

3:22

this didn't come off a printing press. It's an

3:24

original. Written in ink.

3:28

This may be the only copy in existence. What's

3:31

it say? Are some parts in another language?

3:34

No, no, that's English. It's just

3:36

a very messy cursive. Whoever

3:39

wrote this had terrible handwriting.

3:41

What's that first word? Uh,

3:44

let me take a stab at the paragraph. There

3:48

is a stirring in the

3:50

town once more, and

3:53

I feel that I must make known

3:55

my thoughts and...

3:57

ints? Inter... Inter?

4:01

Oh, innermost feelings?

4:03

Here, with ink and parchment,

4:06

before the time comes that I am no longer able

4:08

to do so. First, I must

4:11

give an acorn...

4:14

acorn? Acorn? No.

4:18

Account. Account of

4:20

my dear sister, the gentlest

4:22

of women who this past year met with an

4:25

untimely demise at the hands

4:27

of the accursed scarlet fever.

4:28

What is this?

4:31

Is it all just rambling? I

4:33

don't know. Let's just skim through. Um, okay.

4:37

Wow, there's so much in here. Uh, yeah,

4:40

it looks like... it's

4:43

all in the first person. Oh, there

4:46

are some hand-drawn illustrations too.

4:48

Not very good ones by the looks of it. Okay,

4:51

we're just gonna have to take

4:53

our time with this and... I dig

4:57

through it line by line, just like we did with the Hidden

4:59

World.

5:00

Who knows, there

5:03

may be something worthwhile buried in these pages.

5:06

We've got nothing better to do for the next few hours. Okay,

5:11

let's make a start. I just can't wait to

5:13

hear the story of some guy's sister dying of scarlet

5:15

fever. That's

5:18

the spirit.

5:29

You want another tea, Daniel? No

5:31

thanks. I think I started to hit my limits

5:34

somewhere around the third one. Yeah,

5:36

you're right. I mean, Mr. Simkins is going to

5:38

run out of supply the way we're going. Is

5:41

everything okay with him? I thought he was going

5:43

to head into the library at some point. I checked

5:45

in on him an hour or so back when you went to

5:49

the bathroom and he said

5:51

he was just going to take the day off. I

5:53

think his headache is still bothering him.

5:56

Speaking of which, I think I'm starting to get one

5:58

of those too after staring at the handwriting

6:00

all day. Oh it's been an ordeal

6:02

I'll give you that. Maybe

6:04

it's time to put our heads together, consolidate what

6:07

we've managed to pull out of it so far?

6:09

Yeah this thing is huge. We're

6:11

not going to get through it all today. Yeah

6:13

our mystery author can be a little

6:16

verbose at times. A

6:19

little? We just logged through three pages

6:21

about the roosting habits of chickens. He's

6:24

a details man that's for sure. Paints

6:26

a vivid picture. I'd prefer he just get

6:28

down to the point myself. I mean

6:31

in the preface it says the book is a compendium

6:33

but this guy clearly had no idea what the word compendium

6:36

means. Not exactly concise

6:38

is it? Yeah

6:41

okay you got your notes ready?

6:43

Yeah right here. Cool

6:46

I've got mine too. Honestly I think the hardest

6:48

part has been picking out the actual information

6:50

from the pros. The guy talks in

6:52

riddles half the time or

6:54

circles even. I thought this line

6:56

was pretty direct. Traces

6:58

there were none. Oh right

7:02

that was in the context of a

7:05

missing farmhand from

7:07

a neighboring property huh?

7:09

Yeah the kid went to sleep in the

7:12

barn but the next morning he was gone. No

7:14

son of a struggle no blood. And

7:16

his body was never found. Not

7:19

even the bones. So that

7:21

all fits. And how about this? The

7:24

wicked ones are most wary of those

7:26

whose gaze is true. Oh I

7:29

don't think I have that. It's right

7:31

after the part about the crops going bad. Huh

7:33

must have missed it. But that sounds right

7:36

as well. Those whose gaze is

7:38

true. That must mean people like

7:40

me. The ones who can see their true form.

7:42

Yeah I mean that makes sense but you

7:45

mentioned the part about the crops? Yeah I call

7:47

bullshit on that one. Listen.

7:50

The crops of the season were soured across

7:52

the district and I felt the woe of my neighbors most

7:54

keenly. Many families were brought to the

7:56

brink of ruin and destitution by fruit

7:58

that had turned black

7:59

on vine and stalk. That

8:02

can't be right. Shadows turning

8:04

crops bad? Yeah. Have

8:07

you ever seen anything like that? No,

8:10

but it doesn't mean they can't do it. I

8:14

just think it flies in the face of some of the

8:16

other things we know. You

8:18

said it yourself. Shadows try

8:21

to stay out of the limelight to avoid detection,

8:24

right? Killing all the crops in the district

8:26

isn't exactly a stealth move, and

8:28

why would they even do that? This

8:30

is a subjective account by a guy who clearly has

8:32

a lot of superstitions. In another

8:35

chapter, he blames the shadows for an eclipse. Exactly.

8:38

So how do we separate truth

8:40

from fiction? I don't think we have a way of

8:42

doing that right now. We just have

8:45

to take as many notes as we can and

8:47

put the pieces together afterward. Yeah. I

8:50

was kind of hoping this book would have clear

8:52

answers for you. I think there's still

8:54

some useful stuff here. Like this other

8:57

thing, the uh… The conduit?

9:00

Yeah, that's it. Yeah, I wrote that down too,

9:02

but I'm not sure it makes sense. Uh…

9:07

The sacred conduit is paramount.

9:09

They fear it.

9:11

He mentioned it in another place, too. The

9:13

conduit came to me then, like a blessing, and

9:16

the righteous truth was thus spelled out that

9:18

the only weakness they truly possess is the

9:20

sufferance of their own power.

9:23

I mean, it doesn't

9:25

make sense. Their power

9:27

is their weakness. What

9:30

power? It's a contradiction. Okay,

9:33

okay. Let's think about it.

9:35

They're afraid of the conduit.

9:37

It's their weakness. But it's also

9:40

their power. Another goddamn

9:42

riddle. Do you think by the way he

9:45

phrased that line, maybe he

9:47

was able to hurt a shadow? Even

9:49

kill it? We've been through this, Amber.

9:51

They can't be killed. Unless

9:54

Compendium Guy found

9:56

a way. Was this before

9:58

or after the shadows caused the moon to block

10:00

out the sun. This guy is full of shit. Daniel,

10:03

you wrote down the part about the conduit. Same

10:05

as me. You must believe there's something to it. Maybe.

10:08

I just want to believe they can be hurt so

10:10

badly I... Come

10:13

on, we can do this. Um, the

10:15

conduit. What could

10:18

it be? What is their power?

10:20

Amber, this is... Work with me,

10:22

come on. Ah,

10:25

power. Okay, um...

10:29

Physical strength. Deception.

10:31

Is there some way we could use deception

10:34

against them? I don't know. Maybe

10:37

some sort of disguise or camouflage?

10:40

You think wearing a Halloween mask is the answer

10:42

to this whole mess? Daniel, you're

10:45

not even trying. That's because

10:47

so much of this book is unreliable. Worse,

10:49

it doesn't make sense. There has

10:52

to be something we can get out of it. Actually,

10:54

there is. This is

10:57

no time for jokes. No jokes.

10:59

I'm serious this time. Okay,

11:02

what have you gotten out of it? It's

11:04

hard to describe, but... I

11:06

feel better after reading it.

11:09

How so? This

11:11

can't all be a coincidence. The

11:13

term for Night Devils, the things he says about them, their appearance.

11:17

For all of his rambling, the guy's account

11:19

rings true to me.

11:20

I believe he's seen them. I do.

11:24

And that means that at some point in time, even

11:27

if it's just in the dark distant past, there

11:30

was someone like me. Someone

11:32

who has seen what my eyes have seen.

11:35

That gives me hope that I'm not alone.

11:38

You're not alone, Daniel.

11:40

I believe you. I've

11:42

seen enough now. I'm convinced. Thank

11:45

you, Amber. But you

11:47

haven't seen the one thing that really matters. I

11:51

hope for your sake that you never do. Should

11:55

we get back to reading? Or

11:57

call it a day and head home? What time?

12:00

Why is it? Shit!

12:02

I'm late. Late for what?

12:05

I have to pick up the motorcycle from Sandy's. It's

12:07

almost dark and she's going to close up any minute.

12:09

Are you still leaving

12:12

town? Tonight?

12:15

Uh, I

12:17

don't know. Oh,

12:20

okay. Uh, well, I'm going

12:23

to head back to the motel. You'll

12:26

stop by and say goodbye, won't you? Yeah,

12:30

of course. Daniel?

12:33

Yeah? Take

12:36

care of yourself. Sure.

12:39

I'll see you back at Misty Pines. In

12:47

the new podcast, Reformation Abroad,

12:49

you get immersed in the story of a prison

12:51

crew in outer space on a work

12:53

release program. But once the crew discovers

12:56

a dark secret, they find that their lives may

12:58

be in danger. Here's a quick taste of Reformation

13:00

Abroad.

13:02

This is Chief Engineer Kowalski. The aboria

13:04

requests immediate assistance at X-Ray Tango

13:07

Echo Dash 4-9-9. Come

13:09

on! We have to go now! Hello,

13:11

team lead. Please call me King.

13:14

King ran the biggest crew in Cook County Jail.

13:16

Going after that shit was a total

13:19

mistake.

13:19

This is the official statement and you will

13:21

do well to stick to it. I'm going to leave you all in

13:24

five if you don't get back to the pod. You're

13:26

going to kill us all! Cam, I think we've got bigger problems

13:28

right now. We are a voice in the darkness. The

13:31

only hope out here on the tide line. How did this

13:33

get so out of hand? Let this horse run. Guys,

13:35

I really don't think this is a good idea!

13:39

Check out Reformation Abroad,

13:41

a fun, immersive science fiction

13:44

audio drama wherever you listen to

13:46

podcasts.

14:00

Here we go again, huh? See this

14:02

sign here? Says, closed, just

14:05

like it did this morning when you came knocking.

14:07

I'm sorry, Sandy, I lost track of time. I'm

14:09

starting to think you were sent to this town for the sole

14:12

purpose of testing my resolve and patience. Is

14:14

that it? Has the good lord seen fit

14:16

to use you as his vessel in that regard?

14:19

Not that I'm aware of. Alright,

14:24

let's get this over with. Come on in. Did

14:27

you get

14:29

the repairs done? Well now,

14:31

lord knows it wasn't easy, but yes

14:34

I did. Can't say that machine of yours is

14:37

purring like a newly fed kitten, but she's running.

14:40

Had to use a bit of elbow grease to get everything back

14:42

into place just right, but it'll

14:44

get you to wherever you're going, I can guarantee that.

14:46

I even

14:47

filled up the tank for ya. That's great. I really owe you for

14:49

this, Sandy. About

14:52

that, would you like to fix everything

14:55

up or are you just gonna stand there with your mouth open? Sure,

14:57

I've got the cash right here. This

15:02

the lot? Yeah, is that enough?

15:07

You're a little short, I think. Ah,

15:11

dammit. Is there anything

15:13

else I can do to, I don't

15:15

know, make it up to you? I'm

15:18

a pious woman, Daniel. I don't go

15:20

for that funny stuff. Oh, that's

15:22

not what I meant. I was thinking if you had some

15:25

heavy lifting to do work... The

15:28

look on your face! Oh

15:34

shit, you were joking. Gotcha

15:37

good, didn't I? Sure did. You're

15:40

just too easy. You need to lighten

15:42

up a little, son. I get told

15:44

that a lot. Well, I

15:46

don't need any heavy lifting done, Daniel.

15:49

Pretty good at doing that myself. I'll

15:52

tell you what, though. The next time you come

15:54

through Colton, maybe you'll have a few more

15:56

dollars in your pocket.

15:58

You can hand it over then.

15:59

Really? You just let this slide? Eh,

16:02

why not? Is there a

16:04

reason why you're helping me? Well,

16:07

I may not look too smart, but I'm

16:09

a good judge of character more often than not.

16:12

And I think you've got a good heart. And

16:14

I believe the good people deserve to catch a break now

16:16

and again. Don't you? Look,

16:19

I don't usually take charity. You

16:21

might have to make an exception this once.

16:24

Go on. Thank

16:26

you, Sandy. I mean it. All

16:29

the best to you, Daniel. Happy Trails.

16:32

You too. Oh,

16:37

and whatever trouble is coming up behind you,

16:40

well, I hope that you can be done

16:42

with it real soon. Thank

16:45

you. So do I. I'm

16:59

sorry. It

17:16

feels good to have the bike under me again. Better

17:19

than that, it feels great. Like

17:21

the natural order of things has been restored. I

17:24

cruise through the twilight, the streets of Colton

17:26

all but empty. And for the first time in

17:28

days, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm

17:31

getting out of here and never coming back.

17:37

But a part of me knows it's not as easy as all of that.

17:40

Amber's not coming. That much is obvious.

17:43

But that doesn't change the fact that I have to leave. As

17:46

I pull into Misty Pines, I try to think of the

17:48

right words to say. The words that

17:50

will put her at ease and reassure her that this is how it

17:52

has to be. But

17:54

they won't come.

18:15

Amber, you in there? Mr.

18:26

Hobbs!

18:32

Hey Mr. Hobbs!

18:37

Where the hell is everyone? God

18:50

damn it!

19:03

Who is this? You

19:06

motherfucker! You've

19:09

got her, don't you? What

19:13

did you do with her? Tell me!

19:18

Shit, you

19:18

piece of... Hey,

19:24

what do you think you're doing in my office? You trying

19:26

to make a phone call in there? Where

19:28

is she? Who, your girlfriend? How

19:30

the hell should I know? Where did she go?

19:33

Probably still in her room. She's

19:35

not, I checked. I can't have

19:37

gone far. I saw her pass by the office

19:40

not even 10 minutes ago carrying some big

19:42

book thing.

19:44

Where'd you disappear to just now? Hey,

19:47

hey, calm down pal. It's not my

19:49

problem if you can't keep tabs on your own girlfriend.

19:52

Answer me! I

19:54

was turning on the lights out back. I

19:57

do it around this time every night, a fuse

19:59

blew out. And I spent a couple extra

20:01

minutes screwing around with it. Is that a crime?

20:04

Someone must have been here. A car

20:06

or- The only thing I heard was that shitty

20:09

bike of yours rolling in. You

20:11

sure?

20:12

Yeah, I... What

20:15

is it? Now that you mention

20:18

it, I did see a car on the highway going

20:20

real slow. Did you recognize

20:22

it? Well, that's an easy one. I

20:24

can tell you exactly who it was. It was

20:26

a police cruiser. Wouldn't be the first

20:29

time Sheriff Barnes has dropped in to see

20:31

her friend. I guess I- Hey!

20:34

Hey, where are you going?

20:57

I Pause

21:14

at the edge of the highway This

21:16

is the moment when all those times before

21:19

I've made the decision to run To

21:21

move on to the next town and start again But

21:25

this time is different In

21:27

the end, it's not

21:29

even a decision at all. I

21:31

can't leave Amber stuck here in Colton. I

21:34

have to go after her and I have to do it now.

21:37

I just hope I'm not too late

21:58

Nothing much is open on me Street, not

22:00

at this hour. No surprises there.

22:04

I stop across from the diner and watch from behind a parked

22:06

truck for a couple of minutes. There

22:08

are a few familiar faces, but no sign

22:10

of Barnes or any of the deputies inside. Not

22:13

that I was expecting them to be there. I

22:17

turn and head up into a back alley, then along the rise

22:19

that leads up through the park. I find a

22:22

spot in the foliage just like I did a few mornings ago,

22:24

and crouch down so I can observe the cop station.

22:31

One, two, three

22:33

cruisers. They're all here. That

22:35

means Amber is here too. You're

22:40

going to need a plan, Daniel. A

22:42

damn good plan. There's

22:45

no way I can walk in there, find Amber, and get

22:47

out again unseen. That's just not going to happen.

22:50

On the other hand, I can't sit and wait for an opportunity

22:52

to present itself either. Even

22:54

though I can't sense the bloodlust yet, it's

22:57

only a matter of time before the shadow makes its move.

23:01

So, which one are you? Barnes?

23:04

Townie? One of the others? Whoever

23:07

you are, you can't kill her in front of the other

23:09

cops, can you?

23:11

You piece of shit.

23:13

Maybe that's my angle. The

23:16

shadow is probably in the process of trying to get the

23:18

other cops out of the station so that it can be

23:20

alone with Amber. That way, it

23:22

doesn't have to hide. It can do what it wants to

23:24

her. If I go in there before

23:26

that happens, it won't be able to attack me.

23:29

It won't risk revealing its true nature.

23:33

But if I set foot inside that cop station,

23:35

I'm going to need some leverage. Something

23:38

that will at least give me a chance when I go up against

23:40

a bunch of armed

23:41

cops. And

23:43

I think I might know exactly where to find it. The

24:03

Road of Shadows is created

24:05

by Mark R. Healy. If you're looking

24:08

to dig deeper into the show, I have good news

24:10

for you. Over at Patreon, we are already

24:12

dissecting the mysteries of Colton through exclusive

24:15

character dossiers and concept art. Learn

24:17

more about the characters and the lore, and get a

24:19

head start on the story by hearing episodes

24:21

a week early, ad free. All of

24:23

that and more is available now at patreon.com

24:26

slash beyondthedark. Check out more

24:28

of my podcasts at theroadofshadows.com.

24:32

The Road of Shadows Season 1 stars

24:35

Hamish Plagiamas, Marta Da

24:37

Silva, Rhiannon Mousel, Jimmy

24:40

Yamaguchi, Trent Trachtenberg, Madeline

24:43

Norton, Andres Echeveri,

24:46

John Carver, Jay Silva,

24:48

Ryan Page, Jason Cryer,

24:51

Gaviroc, Isabella Tugman,

24:54

Jaron Bekatt, Brian Geiser,

24:57

and Diana Helen Kennedy.

24:59

The Road of Shadows is a Beyond the Dark production.

25:16

The Fable & Folly Network, where

25:18

fiction producers flourish. Hi

25:22

folks. Let me see if I can sum up

25:24

Midnight Burger in about 25 seconds. Really

25:27

big monster! Zero irony. Pardon

25:29

me, Gloria. Might my husband

25:31

and I have a word? The radio is

25:34

talking

25:34

to me. So this is how it ends. Eaten by wolves

25:36

in space. There's a pocket dimension

25:39

in the deep freeze. This is the stupidest

25:41

dystopia we've ever been to. What the hell is

25:43

that? Because you're having a cigarette

25:46

in 415 million BC. Where

25:49

are we? Space.

25:51

Can you narrow that down? The bad part? Ava.

25:54

Yeah, that didn't work at all. At

25:56

the nexus of all things, there is a diner.

25:59

Look for Midnight Burger. on your favorite podcasting

26:01

app, or just go to weopenatsix.com.