Season 2, Episode 12

Aubrey

Content Warnings:

-Mention of alcohol abuse
-Mention of torture
-Mention of kidnapping

[Ruthven’s house, almost immediately after the last episode. There is the faint clink of dishes as some cups are set on the table]

HENRY

...Did you get this tea from the vampire’s kitchen? 

ENLIGHTENED

Yes.

[He pushes the mug away from him]

HENRY

…You know what, I’m good thank you.

ENLIGHTENED

Suit yourself.

SCORNED

Are you three okay? No one’s hurt?

VICTOR

...I almost died.

SCORNED

But are you okay now?

VICTOR

Well yes, but--

SCORNED

Then we’re good. 

HENRY

Sorry, but who the hell are you?

SCORNED

Take a guess.

CHRISTINE

You two are vampire hunters.

SCORNED

Not exclusively, but they do tend to be our main focus, yes. 

HENRY

Y’know, I was more going for names.

SCORNED

Right, of course. Aubrey.

VICTOR

And you?

SCORNED (AUBREY)

His name is Jon.

ENLIGHTENED (JON)

No it’s not.

AUBREY

[Mildly irritated]

For all intents and purposes, yes it is. No need to get into semantics.

CHRISTINE

...Do I wanna know the story behind that?

AUBREY

Probably not. There are some more important things to take care of. Long story short, I knew your mother, Victor.

[Victor groans]

Something wrong?

VICTOR

No, it-- Well, it’s typical, isn’t it? Something weird happens, boom. It’s connected to my mom. Ruthven knew my mom, the Red Death knew my mom, you two--

AUBREY

Wait. You saw the Red Death?

VICTOR

Yeah, she sucked. I yeeted a book at her and she died.

[There is a pointed silence]

What?

JON

Did Ruthven tell you anything useful?

CHRISTINE

Do you guys know anything about someone named Carmilla?

AUBREY

A bit. I know that she was the one who introduced Caroline to the concept of the supernatural. That vampires more or less worshiped her. I… dated someone who knew her at one point.

VICTOR

Laura. We saw the tape.

AUBREY

Tape?

VICTOR

...I assumed you sent it.

AUBREY

I have no idea what you’re talking about.

HENRY

Someone left a VHS of Victor’s mom on his doorstep. 

AUBREY

Oh goddamn it. [She sighs] Victor, how much do you know about your mother’s work?

VICTOR

Basically nothing. 

AUBREY

...She started young. Like I said, when she first came across Carmilla. I first met her years later, when she and your father moved to the US. I didn’t know a thing about any of this at that point. I’d just moved from New Hampshire, started going steady with Laura. That was when I met Ruthven. I had to go to a shareholder’s meeting in Hartford, and was hating every second of it. But then I ran into him, we got to talking. Found out we were both living in Marksbury, had a Small World moment. He was smart, charming, not like the rest of those other trust fund idiots running around that place. 

AUBREY (Cont)

I considered him a friend before we even got back home. And once we did, I spent quite a bit of time with him. He worked as an overnight supervisor for some tech company I can’t be bothered to remember the name of, that’s what he told me. And what reasons did I have to question it?

AUBREY (Cont.)

Then Laura went missing. Presumed dead. I didn’t make the connection, I had no reason to. But… I’m sure you know that some nights are harder than others when it comes to grief. I was having a rough time and needed someone to talk to. I’d met Caroline a few times through Laura, but we weren’t exactly close. So I went to the man I considered to be one of my best friends.

I took a shortcut that led to his backyard. And… I saw him. Truly, for the first time. Blood on his lips and hands, with some poor bastard gagged and tied to a tree, hardly alive. He was torturing the guy. And Laura was right there next to him.

AUBREY (Cont.)

The rest is pretty cut-and-dry. I left Marksbury that night in case either of them saw me. I learned what I could about vampires, started hunting. Found Jon a few years later. But the reason I bring all this up is because they were using magic to torture the kid. You see, Ruthven is incredibly skilled with it, I’m sure he bragged about it to you. I never could get the hang of it, but Laura apparently caught on quickly. Caroline dabbled in it, as well. 

AUBREY (Cont.)

I only met up with her a handful of times. After you were born, she told me that she was leaving this life behind her. But these things, they don’t care if you’ve quit. They’ll keep coming until you and everyone you love is dead. So she found a way to… hide you, so to speak. A sigil that could, in theory, prevent supernatural forces from tracking you all down. But there were two problems. Caroline was a novice, she was self-taught. So someone with as much experience as Ruthven was able to see through the “barrier” easily. Not to mention the fact that you three stayed in the same house. Plus, with the skills she had, Caroline could only assure protection up to her own death. Once she was gone, the spell would still linger, but any act of magic done by any of you could shatter it. And all at once, everything that had been searching for your mother over the decades would hone in on you.

VICTOR

And… what about something that was an act of science, not magic?

JON

The two are closer than you think. They overlap every day, and most people don’t even notice.

AUBREY

[Just short of accusatory]

Why? Did you do something, Victor?

VICTOR

I--

HENRY

[Cutting in]

You still haven’t told us what that has to do with the tapes.

AUBREY

He’d never admit it, but Ruthven was scared of Caroline. After all, she helped kill someone his kind thinks of as a goddess. I think that’s why he never made a move until now. Now that she’s gone, since someone has clearly broken the sigil, he’s getting cocky again. I’d bet money that he’s the one who sent you the VHS, just to get you anxious. Distract you from what’s going on behind the scenes.

CHRISTINE

Which is…?

JON

Ruthven and Laura found a way to bring Carmilla back. 

VICTOR

Oh, wonderful. Well. You two have fun with that. Good luck. Goodbye.

AUBREY

Victor--

VICTOR

What? What could you possibly want me to do about it? This isn’t my fight, okay?! I didn’t sign up for any of this! And even if I did want to help, what do you expect me to do, huh?! I got lucky with the Red Death, I didn’t know what I was doing! And someone still died! Prospero was a piece of garbage, but he was still a person! He had friends, he had a wife! He died, and I couldn’t stop it, it was my fault! I’m not-- I’m not going to be responsible for any more lives!

JON

[Soft]

Victor. Listen to me. You can’t save everyone. You can try like hell, but that’s not how it works. But you’ve got an obligation, you hear me? To these two, right here. Carmilla will kill all three of you if we don’t stop her. You’re scared, I know. The world has changed faster than you can take it all in. And now suddenly you’re being asked to fight in a war you never asked to be a part of. It’s not fair, but life never is. And you’ve got people who love you. Friends. Family. It may be a small circle, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are not alone. And we all know that we can do this. 

VICTOR

I don’t want to.

AUBREY

Tough. Figured by this point in your life, you would have learned that we don’t always get what we want. 

HENRY

That’s enough. I’m in.

[Victor makes a concerned noise]

CHRISTINE

Me, too.

VICTOR

No! No, no one is in! 

CHRISTINE

That’s not your call to make, Victor! Maybe you’re okay with letting them run around killing people, but you don’t get to tell us that we have to be, too!

[A beat, and she calms down]

Sorry. Sorry, just– You know we can’t just sit around and let it happen. We’ve already gotten ourselves neck-deep in everything, we can’t just look away now.

VICTOR

[Beat.]

You’re right. I just-- God, I-- I can’t lose you guys, I--

HENRY

Then help us. More hands on deck means it’s more likely we all walk out of it alive.

VICTOR

I just-- You guys are putting way too much faith in me. I’m not… good at this sort of thing, I’m not really good at anything these days. Look at me. Last week I got drunk and started talking to a stray cat about how much I hate the Spanish monarchy.

JON

...Why do you hate the Spanish monarchy…?

VICTOR

They just suck, okay?

AUBREY

International political discussions aside. You’re an important part in all this, Victor. I’m not going to force you to do anything, but Henry’s right, we need all the help we can get. And Caroline Frankenstein’s son could be one hell of an asset. Ichabod said you might have access to some important information.

CHRISTINE

Wait, Ichabod Crane?

AUBREY

You know many other Ichabods?

JON

Laura kidnapped him a while back.

CHRISTINE
What?!

JON

He’s fine now.

CHRISTINE

He’s-- What?!

AUBREY

We’ve got him at a safehouse until we know that he’ll be good to go back up to Maine. Plus, I get the feeling he’s more connected to everything than he knows.

HENRY

What do you mean, “Everything”?

AUBREY

I don’t know. Caroline did. But she never told me, always just said that something was coming. Talked about binding “them”. Wouldn’t even say who “they” were. 

[The chair she’s sitting in is pushed back as she stands]

That’s a problem for another day. You three, go home. Get some sleep. Looks like all of you could use it. Here’s my card in case you need me.

HENRY

...It just says “Don’t need me”

[Aubrey gives a small, smug laugh and the front door closes]