The Ghoul Page #4

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of witches, the good kind,

performed a ritual

to stop Hitler invading.

They stripped naked, danced,

and chanted, "You cannot cross the sea!

You cannot come!"

It worked.

Well, it worked for them.

Made them feel better about how the war

was going and their place in it.

Who knows? Maybe it really did work.

He never did come, did he?

Come on.

Schnell.

A lot of what I do

is trying to distract you,

rather like a stage magician.

Only, the rabbit I'm trying

to pull from the hat

is the solution to your depression.

That's what we have to crack

with you, Christopher.

You have to believe you can get better.

Come on. Tea.

"- This is Michael Coulson.

- You know what to do."

"Either you tell me what's bothering you

"or I'm going to start banging

on about alchemy and maths again."

"I don't know what else to say.

I've told you everything."

It's not about that. It's not about that.

Look, I-I Do you know what?

I'm too tired.

I'm too tired. I can't do this right now.

Really.

"What is this thing

that's making you so unhappy?"

"It's depression.

It's clinical depression."

- That's just a name. Pick another one.

- What?

Call it Derek or Tony. Or Mary if you want.

Just name it.

But it had better do it justice, so

maybe not a normal Christian name,

but give it a name.

I-I-I I can't. It's

"Clinical depression" is someone else's name.

Give it your own name.

This is stupid.

You call it "clinical depression",

you're locked into seeing it that way.

So call it something else.

Give yourself a chance to look

at it from another perspective.

You said you were interested in magic.

Well, that's all magicians are doing.

When a magician raises

a demon or an angel,

it may only be real in his head,

but if it's real to him, it may

as well be real, full stop.

If he makes it into something tangible,

then he can deal with what it represents.

It's the process that matters.

We're trying to raise up whatever

it is that's got you in its grip,

so we can deal with it.

Let's have another brew.

"I know what it's called.

I know its name.

"The ghoul."

Can you describe it?

It it

It comes out and I

I can't get rid of it.

It can be anywhere it wants to be.

And it

It hollows you out and it

clings to you.

Other people can see it.

They see it on you and they're

frightened to come near

in case it leaps off you and onto them.

So they stay away.

And that's what it wants.

Is it here now?

Does it know I'm here?

Does it want me to be here?

It needs me to be alone.

But you're not alone, Chris.

You may feel like it, but you're not.

It hasn't beaten you yet, Christopher.

And it's been trying for years.

Sorry, Chris.

- It's so embarrassing.

- It's ok. Don't worry. It's fine.

I didn't expect to cry

my f***ing eyes out.

He's such a f-f-f f***ing arsehole.

Yeah.

Sorry, Chris.

- It's fine.

- I'm sorry. I'm really embarrassed.

Don't worry. It's fi it's fine.

- Please don't worry.

- Thanks.

Really. Thank you.

Ok

That's, that's fine.

I I probably best get going.

I'll yeah, I'll just

They're gods, they're gods

Come in, come in, come in.

I've been working very hard.

I've been working very hard.

And I-I-I've worked it out, Morland

and Fisher's plan, their purpose.

But there's a lot of work to do.

people with vulnerable minds, and they'll go

one by one through their patients

until they find the right one.

One by one by one by one!

And Morland, the stuff he's into,

magic, the occult and mathematics,

loops, circles, cycles,

origins of consciousness,

he's been studying this for years.

Hang on, I've got something.

Fisher's job, her plan, her purpose

S-s-she plans and she picks the patients.

If you believe something,

it might as well be real!

They believe that they can create

a loop inside a person's mind.

They can live inside the loop!

They can move and they can change!

Fisher is dying. Fisher's got cancer.

He hasn't got long. He's old.

What they're planning to do

is prolong their life.

No one believes that he's a sorcerer.

And Fisher, her job,

overall, is a protge.

A pupil procurer that procures patients!

What they're doing is creating

a universe of the mind!

- Basically, they're gods. They are gods!

- Stop!

They are gods. They are gods.

They are gods!

"Oh, god. It just sounds so alarming."

- Horrible to see someone so unhappy.

- Yeah.

What about you?

Well, you were so unhappy a while back.

I don't know. I'm getting there.

Oh, I should've seen it coming.

It's not the first time.

He's strayed a couple of times since uni.

I loved Manchester, you know.

I went back to visit

a couple of months back.

And just driving up the motorway,

seeing signs to the north,

it felt so good.

I don't think I'll stay

in London much longer.

I-I'd like it if you stayed.

Is, er is that a new dress?

Yeah, it is, actually. Do you like it?

- Yeah.

- I

Dunno. I might take it back.

I've got this, erm tag gun. You

know like they have in the shop?

If you change your mind, you just

stick the tag back in the dress.

You just take it back,

no questions asked.

- That's crafty.

- I know.

Are you sure you should be in charge of children?

You're like a super villain.

"You seem better."

"Yeah."

"You were in a bad way

when we first met."

I was in hell.

Is that how it felt?

We're all in hell. We just can't

remember how we got here.

- Where did you hear that?

- Sorry?

That phrase. What you just said.

Someone just said it once.

This friend of yours,

who's having a breakdown,

is it Michael Coulson?

No. Yeah, y-y-yeah.

Christopher, how long have you

been friends with Michael Coulson?

I-I don't know. I just

- We just met after a session once. Why?

- Christopher

It's very important that you don't have

anything to do with Michael Coulson.

Look, I-I-I know he's manic

depressive, but

- Christopher - He's fine

Michael Coulson is not a manic depressive.

He's dangerous.

- I-I've seen his medicine.

- Oh, have you seen the bottles?

- Seen the labels on the bottles?

- No. I-I didn't.

Would you know what medication someone

with bipolar disorder takes anyway?

Christopher,

sometimes you encounter a person

who is bad for you to be around.

Michael Coulson is one of those

people for you.

I-I don't understand.

You know I can't share

information about a patient,

but I must tell you

Michael Coulson is not

He's very adept at putting

ideas in people's heads.

You must promise me

that you'll stay away from him.

Christopher?

That's enough for today.

What is this place?

Sometimes I work in property management.

It's quite interesting. All

these "Mary Celeste" houses.

Places where people have died.

Sometimes Tommy needs somewhere

for one of his mysterious bags.

They come in quite useful.

You know Morland and Fisher

are working together?

- Michael - No, no, no, Christopher

I'm not low, I'm not manic.

I can see clearly.

They're trying to get inside your head

and they'll drop you if they can't use you.

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