FREDDIE stands at the bathroom sink, washing his face. The tap turns on, water runs for a moment (perhaps a light splashing), then the tap shuts off. FREDDIE looks up at his reflection and sighs.

FREDDIE(?):

(muffled, as though behind glass)

Freddie! There's not much time, I need you to listen to me.

Shocked, FREDDIE stutters a couple times as his reflection continues.

FREDDIE (REFLECTION):

I went to try and find Iris. Or, I guess you did. We did? Whatever, it doesn't matter, the point is I got it wrong. You have to find Lium and get them to help you project. We could try again, but I can't in this time. You have to go back.

FREDDIE (REAL):

Project? Wait, actually? Are you serious? Last time –

REFLECTION:

I know! I know. But listen, we know better now. And she's still in there, I swear. There's a chance we can get her back but you have to go, right now, and get Lium. You can stop this before it happens.

FREDDIE:

Before WHAT happens?

His voice echoes a little in the following silence. No response.

FREDDIE:

Hello? Where’d you go?

FREDDIE taps/knocks on the glass of the mirror a couple times. Nothing. He sighs, frustrated.

FREDDIE:

Just me.

A door bursts open. We are in GALLIUM (LIUM)’s room, where they are hanging out. We can hear pencil scratching on paper, and either the graceful snoring honk of a cat. In the background, music plays from a speaker.

LIUM:

(as if answering the telephone)

You've reached Gallium & Mercury's metallurgy services, how can we– oh, you do not look happy to be here.

(She turns the music down.)

What's going on?

FREDDIE:

What about Iris are you not telling me?

Beat. FREDDIE waits for a response, but LIUM is stunned into silence.

FREDDIE:

(kind of working himself up)

You said she was GONE. You said - you said you were sure she DIED in there. That there was nothing that could be done. Did you lie to me - did you not care –

LIUM:

(defensively)

Of COURSE I cared, you know Iris and I were… Freddie, what is this about???

FREDDIE:

I just had, a conversation? with my reflection? Or, with myself. From the future, I think? It said- He said- I said, I went to try and FIND her. like she was just LOST somewhere. and that we could get her back.

(beat)

Lium, I need you to be completely honest with me right now, Look me right in the eyes and tell me that I'm wrong. Tell me there's no way this could be real, shoot me down here, prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is some kind of trick, or I'm just, I don't know, losing it.

(another beat)

If you can't do that... then I need you to help me.

There’s a long pause. LIUM sighs, resigned, then;

LIUM:

(with resolve)

I'm almost out of candles. We'll have to get more on the way.

MERCURY:

(Plaintive but demanding mrrrrp)

LIUM:

Oh, give me a second to feed Merc.

MERCURY:

(mrow)

Nighttime, outside; we can hear crickets and perhaps a distant howling wind. FREDDIE and LIUM are walking, feet crunching through the grass.

FREDDIE:

(plastic rustling as he handles the candles)

I got the 10-pack, we only need the 9 though right?

LIUM:

Oh, no, we have to go back. if there's a single extra one around it'll fuck everything up.

FREDDIE:

...Wait, actually? You couldn't have mentioned this before??

LIUM:

(loving eye-roll)

No, not actually. Trying to lighten the mood a little, I don't want to feel like we're doing, like, a death march.

FREDDIE:

Hey, it'll be fine. You know this stuff way better than me, and we’re older and wiser every day, right?.

LIUM:

(pensively)

I guess so. Just hope it’s been enough days, then.

(beat. then, genuine;)

Thank you, though. For.. believing in me.

FREDDIE:

Ok, if you keep talking like that I’m maybe gonna start believing a little less.

Both of them laugh a little, the mood lightening.

FREDDIE:

But yeah, you've always got my back, and if... recent events are any indication, I think I can survive whatever life throws my way.

(faux cheer)

I’ve never felt better! And I guess you can keep that last candle for, uh. Whatever else you use these for.

LIUM:

(facetious)

Oh, well thank you kindly. How gracious.

FREDDIE:

M'lady.

We listen to the two of them continue to walk a little longer, in more comfortable silence, before reaching their destination. We hear a “scary as fuck creaky old door opening” as FREDDIE and LIUM enter an old house in the woods.

FREDDIE:

(maintaining the same gentlemanly tone)

After you.

Beat. They both burst into a little bit of a giggle, cause they’re dorks.

LIUM:

Well, if you insist.

The door shuts behind them. Some footsteps on wood, then scratching of chalk as LIUM begins to draw something out on the floor.

FREDDIE:

So what's the game plan? How are we doing this?

LIUM:

You tell me. It's your future self that told you to do this.

FREDDIE:

It told me to ask you for help.

LIUM:

Well… in lieu of an actual plan, I can guide you to retrace the last steps she took, and see if we can find her that way.

FREDDIE:

And then what? Do I just walk her back, or is there a special ritual to do once we find her, or a secret third thing?

LIUM:

(trying to break this kindly)

Look, it's... not impossible that she's still there. It's not going to be easy though. Let's just worry about that part first.

FREDDIE:

Okay, okay. Is there anything else I can do to help set up then?

LIUM:

(slightly distracted, setting about lighting candles)

What you can do right now is to make sure you've memorised all the words to the chant. Even more than I am, those words are your lifeline. You can't come back without them, and I don't want to run into trouble if I can't prompt you.

FREDDIE:

I know, I know. I've got them all down. It won't be like it was in drama, I promise.

LIUM:

(fondly)

I should hope not. We can't scrape by with a B- here.

(then)

Alright. You ready?

FREDDIE:

I'm ready.

LIUM:

You sure?

FREDDIE:

I am. Are you?

LIUM:

(a little taken aback but she recovers quickly)

Yeah. Of course.

FREDDIE:

Okay.

LIUM:

Okay.

LIUM and then FREDDIE make small sounds of pain as they each make a cut in their palms. There’s a short pause as LIUM holds out her hand.

FREDDIE:

What? Oh, you don't actually need that last candle right now, do you? After all that??

LIUM:

...Freddie, you need to take my hand.

FREDDIE:

Oh! Yeah. Yeah, of course, sorry. Okay, yeah, obviously, that's why... Right.

(nervous chuckle)

A small sound as they clasp their bloody hands together. You know how it goes.

LIUM:

(under her breath)

Okay. 3, 2.

(beat)

BOTH:

With candles lit in darkest night I bind myself to thee
Unmoor my/thy mortal essence from this ground on which we bleed
One solitary anchor point remains to guide unseen

FREDDIE:

(slightly late, but with full confidence)

My body here

LIUM:

My hands secure

BOTH:

But let my/thy soul roam free

FREDDIE:

My body here

LIUM

My hands secure

BOTH:

But let my/thy soul roam free

FREDDIE:

(more confidently)

My body here

LIUM:

My hands secure

BOTH:

But let my/thy soul roam –

FREDDIE enters his trance & trails off at the very end, just missing the word “free”. Probably fine. From here onward, LIUM’s voice has a slightly echoey quality to it, like it’s bouncing around somewhere on its way to reach our pal FREDDIE.

LIUM:

–free.

(beat)

Freddie? Are you there?

A pause that is just slightly too long.

FREDDIE:

(dazed)

Yeah, I’m. I’m there. Or, here. Or, I don’t know, would you call it a “where”? It’s not like my actual body can be here, right?

LIUM:

(normal amount of relieved and being chill and cool about it)

Hah, great! Cool. Um. Yeah, I mean it’s often referred to as a realm, or a space, but it’s more just that we don’t really have the vocabulary to talk accurately about this kind of thing. As far as I understand it, it’s sort of, time? Time made tangible?

FREDDIE:

Time, but tangible, but not a place, so not really that tangible. So…?

LIUM:

(defensive)

Look, I don’t have all the answers. As in, it’s not physically possible for me to. Our minds can’t perceive its truest form, which is why it feels so much like a place when it’s really not. You’re interpreting it through the lens of having a human mind, and that’s literally the best either of us can do. Okay?

FREDDIE:

Okay! Sorry I asked. I guess the fine details don’t matter, ‘long as you know enough to keep me safe and get our girl home.

(affectionately/comfortingly)

And I know that you do.

LIUM:

Yeah. Thanks. Alright, now since your mind is interpreting it as a space, you should be able to “see” that place in your mind’s eye. Can you describe it for me?

FREDDIE:

Yeah. It’s… I mean, it’s the house. The one we were just in. Or are in still, I guess. It looks pretty much the same, as far as I can tell, but there’s some kind of a mist covering the floor and

(suddenly, interrupting himself)

ohh, that’s weird. I have no feet.

LIUM:

Well, you do, they’re just–

FREDDIE:

Not “here”. Yeah, I know. Still weird, though…

LIUM:

Yeah, of course it would be. Sorry. If there’s nothing else here, you’re gonna wanna go out the front door and follow the path through the forest, back the way we came.

FREDDIE:

Gotcha. Easy. Oh, wait - there is one thing here that’s different, actually.

LIUM:

(trying to hide their worry)

Really? What?

FREDDIE:

It’s an… extra window? I wouldn’t have even noticed, not like I counted them before we started or anything but it’s kinda jammed in between two other ones, and it looks a lot newer –

LIUM:

(DEAD serious)

Stop.

FREDDIE:

Woah, what?

LIUM:

Stop. Look away.

FREDDIE:

Wait, why? You said go if there’s nothing else, and this is something else, so -

LIUM:

(suddenly desperate)

Freddie, PLEASE. Please just look literally anywhere else, and go out the front door, I’m not kidding.

FREDDIE:

OKAY! Not looking. Moving forward. Towards. The door.

LIUM:

Thank you. Once you’re properly on track, a few more obvious routes should take form, and we can figure it out from there.

FREDDIE:

Wait, “take form”? There’s not, like, a map? Or maybe not a map, I guess, but there’s not any kind of formula for this?

LIUM:

People have tried... But you can’t risk assuming you know everything, including predicting for sure what’s gonna happen, because… you can’t. The wrong kind of map can get you lost.

FREDDIE:

So how do I not get lost?

LIUM:

You keep talking, with me.

FREDDIE:

“With you”, like with the chanting, or -

LIUM:

No, I mean… It's just important for us to keep having a conversation. It’s not a good place to wander around lonely. I’m your tether. That’s my role. I’m here to remind you of your body so you don’t lose yourself. Feel my hand, here?

She gives it a squeeze.

FREDDIE:

(surprised)

Yeah, I do. Woah, that is weird! But that makes sense, I guess.

The conversation lapses, and there is an awkward moment trying to decide where to take the topic.

FREDDIE:

Getting lost. Is that what…

(thinking better of asking)

How did you and Iris get into this stuff, anyway?

LIUM:

I mean, you’ve known me since highschool, you know how I dress, my whole… thing. I’ve always been drawn to the esoteric, but Iris… Iris lived and breathed it. She always talked about it more like a tool. I don’t mean that she just saw it as a means to an end, more like, I don’t know, practical?

(struggling for the words)

It was just…

FREDDIE:

It’s just how she lives.

LIUM:

Yeah. Or, lived.

FREDDIE:

Right.

Another awkward pause.

FREDDIE:

(biting the bullet)

So, as I do make this apparently very dangerous journey, I would love for you to tell me what the fuck happened back there with the window. I’m all the way in here, I think I deserve an explanation.

LIUM:

Yeah. Sorry, that’s fair. I didn’t mean to freak out on you like that, I just–

FREDDIE:

Oh actually just before we get into that, could I get an ETA on the room, uh, ending?

LIUM:

…What?

FREDDIE:

Yeah, you know, it’s kind of. Stretching out? So the door looks further away, and I guess it’ll get harder to reach, but I’ll get there eventually, right? Do you know, like, how much time, or distance, or whatever that’s gonna take?

LIUM:

(trying to retain composure a little)

Yeah, uh. I mean, things are pretty elastic here, but I don’t…I’m not sure. Sorry. It’s not an exact science.

FREDDIE:

Yeah okay, fair enough. It does make it easier to tell which window is the wrong one, though. The rest all kind of stayed with the main house.

LIUM:

Freddie…

FREDDIE:

Yeah?

LIUM:

I said not to look.

FREDDIE:

I’m not, I swear, I looked away when you told me to! I just… can see it. Not like there’s much else here, unless you want me to do some graffiti with the non-pencil I didn’t bring into the Nothing Realm.

LIUM:

(amused despite herself)

You got me there. If there’s nothing to see, just keep talking to me, and keep walking.

FREDDIE:

Did Iris… tell you what she was doing before she went missing? Like, whatever she was trying to do that got her stuck.

LIUM:

(How About We Stop Talking For A Little While)

Let’s focus on getting to her first. Maybe she can tell you herself.

FREDDIE:

Right. The door is closer now, I think.

LIUM:

That’s good.

FREDDIE:

You and Iris have known each other for ages, right?

LIUM:

Since kindergarten, yeah. She used to be such a teacher’s pet.

FREDDIE:

No way. How come you never mentioned that when you were trying to get us to stop cutting class?

LIUM:

Because I was the opposite. How far is the door now?

FREDDIE:

Further, maybe? It’s hard to tell, it kinda seems like it changes every time I try to work it out.

LIUM:

Maybe don’t try so hard to work it out then.

FREDDIE:

I’ll try. Or, not, I guess.

Another awkward pause. It’s not easy finding a topic in here.

FREDDIE:

You, uh. Have you watched anything good recently?

LIUM:

(lightly teasing, but unintentionally a bit mean)

Gee, I wonder… Have you been watching anything recently? Or, all the time?

FREDDIE:

(stung)

Woah, hey, I had a lot of time on my hands, what else was I gonna do??.

LIUM:

OH, shit, Freddie, I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant you watch it a lot in general, ‘cause… you know…

Lium trails off, regretful.

FREDDIE:

Don’t worry about it. You’re not wrong.

(pausing, finding something else to say)

I do really appreciate you visiting so much, the both of you. It meant a lot. Really. I mean, everything you and Iris did for me after all that, even though I would talk both your ears off. And, y’know… even if so soon after –

LIUM:

It’s fine. It’s.. what friends are for, okay. Which is why we should focus.

FREDDIE:

(aware of being shut down)

Of course.

Yet another pause, shorter this time.

FREDDIE:

(startling)

Ohh, fuck. Ok. Uh.

LIUM:

What? What’s going on??

FREDDIE:

The, uh. The window. It’s really, uh. Close?

LIUM:

Okay. That’s… okay. Don’t look at it. Don’t even think about it. Just keep walking forward, keep your head straight.

FREDDIE:

Easy for you to say. You don’t have to be here with it. It’s literally the only thing around, except the door, which you also told me not to think about, and I can barely see that anyway!

LIUM:

Alright, well–

FREDDIE:

It seems… closer now? I don’t know how that would have even happened, I’ve barely moved and I don't think the rest of the room has either. It’s… ugh, I just wanna stop for a second, stop looking at anything. Not even using my body and I somehow feel tired, that seems like such a scam.

LIUM:

Freddie, I don’t know if –

FREDDIE:

(panicking a teeny tiny little bit)

Hey, I, uh. I can’t stop? Looking? Like I can’t close my eyes. I try and it’s just all the same.

LIUM:

Oh, yeah, remember what we were talking about before? With the legs? You’re not in your body right now, you’re in your mind. You don’t have eyes in here to close. Just redirect your attention elsewhere.

FREDDIE:

Ha! Right! Of course! Thanks for the helpful reminder and tip, person holding my blood in your hand! I will just relax, and be cool, while my not-body has, I don’t know, an astral panic attack.

LIUM:

Shit, I’m sorry, of course that’s not helpful. I’m no good at this part…

FREDDIE:

Lium. Lium?

LIUM:

Yeah?

FREDDIE:

The window. It’s..

(before she can tell him off)

Okay, I’m not looking. I’m trying, really hard. But something's... Watching me. I can feel it -- like getting goosebumps. Or, you know how people say that thing, about sneezing when people talk about you? Obviously it’s none of that, I’m not in my body, but I can just… feel it. I know it has to be looking in at me through the window because where the fuck else would it in this endless goddamn room and it’s the only thing I can’t look at!!

LIUM:

Freddie, I’m sorry, but you can't. If you start, you can’t just close your eyes, remember? You might not be able to stop. You need another focus. We can talk about something else. Look, let’s go back to TV! I know I missed a ton of episodes between visits. Could you fill me in on the blanks? I never did find out what happened with that whole –

FREDDIE:

You’re not hearing me. I don't have a choice. If I don't – like, it’s all elastic here, it could be anything, right? . What if it's important? What if it's her?? I have to look. I can't not look.

LIUM:

Freddie. Freddie, please. Stay with me. Feel my hand. Can you feel my hand?? Just listen. Listen. It is elastic, but it can get distorted, especially if you keep staying in the entryway. It can’t be her. Not yet.

FREDDIE:

How do you know??

LIUM:

Freddie. You said you’d trust me. Please trust me. If we’re going to get where Iris was heading, we’ll have to travel further. We can get there, I promise, but you have to keep going straight ahead and out the door.

FREDDIE:

If it’s just gonna keep following me, maybe it doesn’t matter whether I’m in or out. I’m still tethered, right? I can still feel you there. It won’t take long. I just have to know.

LIUM:

Hold on, just –

FREDDIE makes a startled noise - somewhere between a gasp and just barely a yelp.

LIUM:

Freddie!?

FREDDIE:

(uncertain, trying to convince himself)

Oh, it's... Just my reflection. It's just me. It's literally just my reflection in the glass of the window. I don't know why I was so worried--

LIUM:

(increasingly desperate)

Freddie, Freddie, listen to me. You have to stop. Please. Focus on anything else.

FREDDIE:

I kinda got my hopes up, actually. For a second I thought I actually saw –

LIUM:

(cutting him off)

No. Enough. Freddie. That is not your reflection.

FREDDIE:

What? Yeah it is. I can see its mouth moving as I’m talking. And my freckles are all there. All in the right patterns. That's what you're meant to look out for in, like, dreams and stuff, right? The little details.

LIUM:

Freddie, it doesn't matter. You’re not there, that can’t be your face it’s reflecting. You have to look away, please. Can you hear me -- look away. Focus on my hand -- focus on me -- look away from the window. You have to look away, Freddie, please, I can't –

FREDDIE:

(overlapping)

Lium? I can't. How do I look away? You said distractions, right? You're trying to distract me. I need you to distract me.

LIUM:

Freddie, come on. Look away. Say something. Come back to me.

FREDDIE:

I want to. I want to stop looking now. Help me stop looking.

LIUM:

Freddie? Freddie, please say something.

FREDDIE:

I am! Help me, please! I want to come back! I want to stop!

LIUM:

Fuck! Freddie, I can't do it again. I won't.

(now or never)

If you can still hear me - God, I hope you can - I’m gonna start trying to bring you back, okay? I’m trusting you to remember the words.

FREDDIE:

Of course I remember. But you have to start it.

LIUM:

Shit, the candles. Okay. Freddie, please keep holding onto me.

(she begins to blow out candles between lines)

I free these flames, and now beseech the soul to which I'm bound

(REALLY trying to believe this next line)

Securely tethered to me here upon once-hallowed ground

FREDDIE:

Unseen, but not unheard, my anchor's chain becomes the key

BOTH:

(slightly out of sync)

Essence, enmesh

With blood and flesh

Return myself/thyself to me/thee

LIUM, not hearing FREDDIE’s pace, is rushing slightly. Both getting more desperate.

BOTH:

Essence, enmesh

With blood and flesh

Return myself/thyself to me/thee

(finding it harder and harder to believe in)

Essence, enmesh

With blood and flesh

Return myself/thyself to me/thee

On the second-last line, LIUM’s voice stops echoing, and on the last it cuts off altogether.

FREDDIE:

Return myself to me.

There’s a moment of waiting, just a beat too long. Maybe he miscounted?

FREDDIE:

(shaky, but resolved)

Essence, enmesh

With blood and flesh

Return myself to me.

Another too-long moment, hearing nothing.

FREDDIE:

Lium?

Nobody’s there.

FREDDIE:

Shit… what else am I supposed to do? I don’t know anything else I can do, there’s nothing - there’s NOTHING! Trapped in a stupid void full of stupid nothing all for NOTHING. Iris isn’t even in here, and I bet she never was. This was pointless.

Although…No. No, that can’t be right. I wouldn’t send myself here if that wasn’t the case. I wouldn’t do that to… to me. So, she’s got to be somewhere. This can’t be the end. Okay, breathe. Calm down. There’s got to be… something, here. If I can just… the door…

He takes a deep breath. Further efforts to calm down prove unfruitful. The door is nowhere to be seen.

FREDDIE:

The door. It’s not…?

(beat)

God damn it!!!!!

Eventually it becomes clear that that’s not an echo anymore. It’s the sound of something - someone? - tapping on the glass.

The window.

There’s nothing else to do now.

FREDDIE:

(as if in a dream)

Oh, hey there… I forgot about you. I guess I was supposed to. They never got around to telling me why, though. I mean, I do trust Lium, and they sounded pretty scared, but… I don’t know. I might be all out of options now.

Tap. Tap. The rhythm is consistent and persistent.

FREDDIE:

Maybe they were wrong. They did say we can’t know everything. Maybe you can help me get out of here. I want to go back. Can I go back?

The tapping stops for a moment. Considering. Responding?

FREDDIE:

Okay. Okay, yeah. Great! Just let me, uh -

He opens the window. Carefully. deliberately.

FREDDIE:

So what do I… Oh, right, your hand, hah, obviously. So do I just –

Something pulls him through the window with a whoosh, and the wind blows it shut.

That’s all.

We’re back to LIUM, solidly in the real world no matter what they do. We can hear the sounds of the forest around them.

LIUM:

Return thyself.. Return.. Return thyself to me… Fuck! Freddie, come back. Please. Don’t leave me here alone with you. Just keep holding on, Freddie, I know you’re still in there, I can feel —

FREDDIE:

(weakly, faintly)

…your… hand…

LIUM:

(relieved, but not for long)

Yes!! Yes, oh my god, that’s it, just focus on my hand, keep holding on. Please, just keep —

(a pause, then a lot more frantic)

Shit !! Freddie? Freddie !!

No response. FREDDIE slumps onto her shoulder. Nothing to be done. LIUM sobs.

The wind that shut the window blows past, and faintly beneath it we hear dialogue from LIUM played backwards, picking up speed as it keeps going until it becomes unintelligible.

The wind is all we hear, for a moment.

Then, FREDDIE. Or at least his voice. He sounds almost like he’s practicing saying his own name, starting with the F and carefully, delicately, rolling it into the R, then building out the rest of the word, rolling it around in his mouth.

Once he’s got it down, he repeats it a few times, just to be sure .Trying out a few different tones.

FREDDY(?):

Frreddy. Freddie? Freddie.

(audibly smiling)

Freddie.

The wind changes. We’re going somewhere. Going back. Freddie’s bathroom sink, Past Freddie washing his face, sighing. This time from the other side of the glass.

FREDDY(?):

Freddie! There's not much time, I need you to listen to me.