The Moth Diaries (2011) Movie Script
2
- September 5th.
I have decided to write
at least one page
in my journal every day.
I'll be able
to read it later
and know exactly what
happened to me when I was 16.
- One of us
isn't gonna be here
And one of us
is gonna be running
Off alone
to the great unknown
You're not me
You're a model of freedom
All you need are your kicks
when you need 'em
Come and go
Caught that slow all right
- Maybe this year, I'll get on
the A squad for field hockey.
- Field hockey, my God.
Seems so unlike you.
Let me guess.
Lucy does it.
- Oh, Mom.
- I forgot the world revolves
around Lucy.
- No, I love it.
Sometimes we even get up
at 6:00 a.m. to practice.
- Hey, ooh, yeah,
you gotta be leaving
Say what you want
What you say, say anything
No one knows
just how deep it goes
We are old in your teenage
tyranny
And all you need
is a hunger to feed
I've got my own secrets,
though
Say what?
- Here, Mom, I'll take it.
- No, but-
- No, it's fine.
- We are doomed,
but we wanted more
- I'll call you.
- It's the ride we take
The many-winged escape
It's the bough
- Becca?
- Oh, my God!
Here.
You have no idea how much
I've missed you.
- I missed you too.
Is your room next to mine?
- Yeah, here, let me show you.
This is your fireplace,
and the bathroom is huge.
- This is gonna be
the best year ever.
- Wuh-whoa!
- You better hide it
before Miss Rood sees.
- Ah, come on.
- Charley, you can't get
expelled on the first day.
- You can't worry
on the first day!
- So what'd you bring us?
- Just some downers I stole
from my mom.
- Well, I got chocolate
in Geneva.
- You guys hear about
Annabelle?
She's been hooking up
with two different boys
from Langley College.
- What?
- Such a whore.
- Jealous?
At least she has sex.
- Look who's talking.
- I've had lots of sex.
- Girls don't count.
- Why not?
And I've done boys.
- One boy.
- Oh, are you still all
pathetic virgins?
- Well, I am,
but not for long.
I've met someone.
Hey, Lucy, what about you
and Jason?
- I broke up with him.
- Yeah, on Facebook.
How cold is that?
- What about you, Becca?
- I don't know.
We'll see.
- It's the times, we say
That no one's gonna
take your place
- Oh, the apple, the apple!
- Ew.
- So did you guys hear?
The new English teacher
is a guy.
- Wait, do the dykes
who run this place allow that?
Like, he's probably
gonna have to wear a plaid skirt
and kneesocks,
like Miss Bobbie.
- Charley...
- I saw him.
His name's Mr. Davies.
He's actually really cute.
- And he's a poet.
- Wait till he finds out
about Rebecca's dad.
- Charley.
- Not cool.
- No, not about that.
About him being a famous poet.
- He wasn't really famous.
- Let's go play some hockey.
- Let's not.
- Come on, yeah.
That's exactly
what we need, yeah.
- Seriously?
On the first day?
Why do you have to kill me
on the first day?
- Oh, I've longed
for these tubs.
- I know, sometimes I hate it
so much when I'm here,
but I just miss it all the time
when I'm at home.
- How's your mom?
- She just sat in her studio
and painted,
listening to the same music
over and over.
The same music my dad-
my dad was listening to
when...
- Rebecca, I want you to meet
a new girl, Ernessa Bloch.
She'll be in the room
across the hall.
Please help her
find her way around.
- Sure.
It's easy to get lost.
Did they tell you this place
used to be a hotel?
Um, like, 100 years ago.
This place has a lot
of old nooks and crannies.
- Breakfast is at 7:30,
morning assembly 8:30 sharp.
You must apply to me
for permission
to leave the school grounds.
You may use
one of two staircases
to get to the dining room.
The left one also goes
to the library.
- It's so, so different
from the first time
I came to Brangwyn
two years ago.
My father had just died.
My mother was a wreck.
So I was sent here.
Every night,
I sat in my room alone,
aching for my father.
And then I met Lucy.
She was so confident,
carefree, and normal.
She taught me
how to be happy again.
That's why I love her so much.
I wonder what her secret is.
- Well, everyone's got one.
- Alcoholic mothers.
- Nasty divorces.
- Parents who don't care
about them.
No one comes to Brangwyn
unless something bad
has happened to them.
- Except for me.
I'm the only boring one.
- Believe me,
I wish I was like you.
- Good morning.
It gives me great pleasure
to welcome another
freshman class
to Brangwyn school.
- I scored.
Party in your room tonight?
- Okay.
- Amen.
- Your life here will be
a moral and spiritual journey
that will prepare you
for whatever life awaits you
outside these gates.
- She's never going
to change that speech.
- No.
- Oh, I want to sign up
for practice.
- Okay.
I got to grab my books
for English...
Check out
the cute new teacher.
I'll see you at quiet hour?
- I said I would
spend it with Dora.
- It's our first day back.
- Okay.
I can see her another time.
- Okay, great.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I'm Ernessa... Bloch.
- Yeah, I saw you last night.
How are you finding
everything?
It's a little strange.
- It must be hard,
with everyone already
knowing each other.
- What's that?
- It's a friendship necklace.
My friend Rebecca
gave it to me.
- It's really pretty.
Would you show me around?
I don't really know
where I'm supposed to be.
- Yeah.
Yeah, come with me.
- In all of the classic Gothic
horror stories,
we see expressed
some kind of anxiety
about the modern world.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula,
some critics see an anxiety
about female power,
female sexuality,
a fear that
the pure Victorian maiden
would be transformed
into a ravenous beast.
The story is a shape-shifter,
just like the vampire itself.
You find it in different forms
in almost all cultures,
but there are three things
you find
in every vampire story:
sex, blood, and death.
Becca?
Just want you to know,
I'm a great admirer
of your father's work.
I'm going to be running
a poetry workshop
later this term.
I was hoping you'd take part.
- Yeah.
- Okay, good.
- Um, thank you.
Are you lost?
- No.
This is one of my favorite
places here.
- The passageway?
It's so dark; I always just run
straight through.
- I like looking out
the windows.
- I'm actually going to see
Miss Norris.
She teaches Greek.
I have lessons with her
on my own
because no one else
wants to do it.
- I used to study Greek
and Latin.
I was very serious,
even though I was a girl.
Then other things intervened.
- Okay, well, um...
I'm late for my class, so...
I'm no Barbie doll
I'm not your baby girl
I've done lots of things,
and I have made mistakes
And I am not as pretty
as those girls in magazines
So what if I'm no baby bird
Hanging on your every word
Nothing ever smells of roses
That rises out of mud
Why do you love me,
why do you love me?
Why do you love me?
It's driving me crazy
Why do you love me?
I get back up,
and I do it again
Get back up and I do it,
do it again
- Whoo!
- So how's Mr. Davies' class?
- She has a huge crush on him.
And he's just lapping it up.
It's sickening.
- Jealous much?
He's actually really cool.
Hey, why don't you switch?
- No, I like the Romantic poets.
- I thought you hated poetry.
- No, I just never read
the right stuff.
You know, Ernessa says
poetry is the purest
of all the arts.
- Ernessa?
- She's incredibly smart.
She's gonna help me
with my German.
She speaks it perfectly.
I'm just gonna go say hi.
Hey.
What are you reading?
- It's a book I found
in the library.
Sit down.
- What's it called?
- It's called...
- Slow emotion
- Hey, did you hear anything
last night?
- No.
Why? Did you?
- I thought I saw Ernessa
pacing back and forth
under our window,
and she was in her bare feet.
It was kind of weird
and creepy.
- She has trouble sleeping.
So what?
- You don't think
it's kind of strange?
- She has issues.
Stuff with her family.
She's a nice person
if you give her a chance.
- I'm sorry to interrupt.
I usually use this room.
I didn't know
you played the piano.
- I hardly ever play anymore.
- You play so well.
How do you do that
without looking at the music?
- My father was a musician.
I inherited everything
from him,
just as you did
from your father.
- I didn't inherit anything
from my father.
- Are you sure?
- I'll find another room.
It's wonderful here, Daddy.
- I wanted to show you
this place.
- It's so beautiful.
- It's always peaceful here.
- I've missed our walks
so much.
I thought I would never
see you again.
- Don't be so sad, Rebecca.
I'm always here.
- I love you, Daddy.
- Thank you for joining us,
Rebecca.
- I'm sorry.
- That's okay.
We're just talking
about CarmiIIa.
Now, with Carmilla,
we are looking at
one of the originators
of the Gothic tale,
20 years before Bram Stoker
wrote Dracula,
and I think it's fair to say,
it influenced him greatly.
All right, let's talk about
the character of Carmilla.
A mysterious stranger
comes from the West
and begins to take over
the narrator, Laura.
- "Sometimes
with gloating eyes,
"she drew me to her,
"and her hot lips
"traveled along
my cheeks in kisses,
"and she would whisper,
almost in sobs,
"'You are mine.
You shall be mine.
You and I are one forever.'"
- That lavender bath oil
feels so good.
- I know.
I can smell it from here.
- What are you reading?
- CarmiIIa.
It's for Mr. Davies' class.
- What's it about?
- Hey.
- You know,
it's Gothic fiction.
- You're burning red.
How do you stand such hot water
on your skin?
- We always take hot baths
before bedtime.
It's relaxing.
- So I've brought us
a list of verbs to conjugate.
Let's start with baden,
to bathe.
- Baden.
- Mm-hmm.
Beginnen.
- Beginnen.
I'll show you how far I got.
- "The vampire is prone
to be fascinated
"by particular persons.
"With an engrossing vehemence
resembling the passion of love,
"it will never desist until
it has satiated its passion
and drained the very life
of its coveted victim."
- Hello.
- Do you have a minute?
- Of course.
Here you go.
Please.
- Um, it's about Carmilla.
- Okay.
- If she's in love with Laura,
then why does she want
to destroy her?
- Well, I don't know
that she wants to destroy her.
She wants to control her.
The vampire's
a very lonely figure.
Carmilla wants a companion
in her existence.
She wants someone
to be all hers, forever.
- But why does Laura want
to be friends with someone
who's so obviously evil?
- I suppose she's been
hypnotized in some way.
Remember, the vampire needs
the consent of the victim.
- The vampire needs
the victim's consent?
- Yes-
well, in a way.
Remember, in Dracula,
he can only enter
if the victim
leaves the window open.
- It's Lucy's fault
for being such a weak person.
- Lucy?
- No, I mean Laura.
It's Laura's fault.
- Mm, in a way.
- Thank you.
It's been a big help.
Hey, Lu, do you have
the shoe polish?
Did you get new shoes?
I don't think those are allowed,
are they?
- These are Ernessa's.
- And why are you cleaning them?
- She doesn't know how.
She's never had to polish
her own shoes.
- It's really not that hard.
I'm sure she could do it
if she tried.
She never eats.
Have you noticed?
- What?
- Ernessa, she never eats
anything, ever.
- Maybe she's anorexic.
- Remember Annie Patterson
last year?
Her face looked like a skull,
and she still wouldn't eat.
- I just don't think
that'll ever be my problem.
- When you lose
that much weight,
your body can't even
keep itself warm,
and you begin to grow fuzz
all over your arms.
You can see it when they stand
against the light.
They call it "the glow."
Does Ernessa glow?
- No, and I don't think
she's starving herself.
Look at her.
She has a perfect body.
But if you think
she has anorexia,
you could just go up to her
and feel her arms.
- This is really fucking stupid.
- Sorry.
- Whoa.
- She's too sensitive.
- What a way to start a morning.
Do you think Ernessa's
hooking up with someone
at Langley College?
- A boy?
No way.
- She's slipping out at night.
- What do you mean?
- I heard her door open
last night.
And she didn't come back in,
at least not until after
I fell asleep.
- Really?
- It's happened before too.
- Weirdo.
Maybe she goes out to score.
- In the middle of the night,
go into town?
- Let's follow her.
See where she goes,
what she gets up to.
- Can you see anything?
- I don't know.
- It's fucking freezing.
What does Ernessa do out here?
- She watches us sleep.
Hey, you know when you see
the school from here,
you can totally imagine
what it looked like
back when it was a hotel.
Guests drinking tea
on the lawn.
- When I see the school
from here,
I think about how easy
it would be
to just walk out.
- Well, I don't see Ernessa,
and it's cold.
Come on, let's go,
before the caretaker
creeps on us.
- Dora, wait up.
- What are you doing?
- Come on.
- Deanndra,
comment for short skirt.
Charlotte, third comment
for messy hair.
Detention.
Rebecca,
comment for dirty shoes.
And Mrs. Rood needs to see you
in her study now.
- How can she give
wardrobe advice?
It's like we're in,
like, duty.
- When I was a little girl,
the farmers said that
a nosebleed
was a sign of good luck.
You really shouldn't be sad
about these
cheap, sentimental things.
I feel like sweeping them all
into a pile on the floor.
- That's cruel.
Mrs. Rood lost her husband.
She needs these things
to go on living.
- I don't need things
to remember my father.
- Neither do l.
Before Ernessa came here,
I was getting better.
I was happy.
Now all the darkness
has come flooding back.
It's like she's invading
my mind.
Even when I'm alone,
I can't escape her.
There's this disgusting smell
that comes from her room:
sickly sweet but rotten.
Why doesn't anyone else
notice it?
Lucy?
I haven't seen you all day.
Where have you been?
- I was busy.
Why did you complain
to Mrs. Rood
about Ernessa's room?
- Lucy, it's right across
the hall from me,
and it smells really bad.
- I thought you would be more
sensitive, considering.
- Considering what?
- Her dad killed himself.
- I didn't know.
- I thought you, of all people,
would understand.
- November 9th.
His last day on Earth.
Lucy didn't remember.
She never said anything.
We spent it together
last year.
- What's your favorite memory
of your father?
Let's think about that.
- If I had to pick one moment,
it would be the night we saw
the Luna moth.
- Look.
There.
You see it?
I've never seen a moth
like that before.
- The Luna moth was the most
beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Why weren't those things
enough for him?
"A person may become a vampyre
if he dies unseen."
My father
wanted to die unseen,
like an animal who wants
to curl up and die alone.
- Don't feel bad
about your father.
Some of the greatest artists
went mad or committed suicide.
Some people find great joy
in the prospect of death.
Just thinking about it
can be a comfort,
like lying in your bed
and pulling up the covers.
The moment of death
is ecstatic.
It's the most joyful sensation.
You're being born into
a new existence.
- Is my father's illness
in my blood too?
I wonder when he did it.
How much did it hurt?
And did it really
take the pain away?
- Party in my room tonight,
FYI.
- Okay.
- Hello, she.
What'd you bring me today?
- Hey, so tell me,
are you nervous?
- Of doing it?
- Yeah.
- Well, Kiki said
it wouldn't hurt that much.
- I know.
It's just the whole thing.
I mean,
what if it feels weird?
Or what if you change your mind
right in the middle of it?
- I don't know.
Part of me just wants
to get it over with, you know?
- Don't do that.
- We have to.
It hides the smell.
- I mean it.
I'll have to leave.
It'll suffocate me.
It's so sweet.
- All right.
You guys move to the window.
We'll just
freeze our butts off.
- Right.
- How does it feel?
- It's fine.
I don't even feel anything.
- Are you serious, Becca?
- Are you okay?
Just lie down, okay?
- Don't cry about it.
- Speaking of yesterday,
of life.
Eccentric.
- What's going on?
- I need to tell you.
Listen to me.
I need to tell you,
tell you what it's like.
When I first came here,
we took the boat over.
I kept looking
at the gray waves,
and I kept saying to myself,
"Jump, jump."
But it was too cold.
The Brangwyn Hotel.
I arrived with the same secret
that you did:
a father's suicide.
My mother brought me here
because she wanted to put
an ocean between his death
and me.
But to me,
an ocean was nothing.
Everywhere I went,
I heard my father's voice
calling to me.
- Yes!
- Charley.
- Oh, my God!
Whee!
- I have this wonderful idea.
What you need to do...
- Come on.
- Oh, my God!
- Okay, guys, watch this.
One, two, three!
Hey, Miss Rood,
can you get my chair?
Oh, my God!
- Ernessa should never have
given us those crazy drugs.
Charley's been expelled.
The school wouldn't give her
a second chance.
- This is all Ernessa's fault.
- She thinks she can get away
with anything
and no one can touch her.
Dora?
Are you awake?
- Yeah.
- Okay, I need your help.
- What?
- I'm gonna go along
the gutters
to see what's inside
Ernessa's room.
Can you watch out?
- What if Ernessa sees you?
- I'll just pretend I'm going
to Kiki's room.
- Okay.
Hurry up,
before someone sees you.
Becca!
You've got to come now.
Get back to your room.
Come on.
But I saw-
- Go on.
Now, go on.
What was wrong with you
last night?
I mean,
what happened out there?
- When I looked
into Ernessa's room,
I could see these moths.
- Yeah?
Okay.
- No, but thousands of them.
- That's impossible.
- I saw them.
There were thousands
of these shiny little moths,
and they started throwing
themselves against the glass.
- I'm sorry,
but you're really letting
this whole Ernessa thing
get to you.
I think
you're imagining things.
- Dora, you have to believe me.
There's something really weird
about that room.
Come out with me tonight,
and I'll show you.
- You're scaring me, Rebecca.
- Please, look,
I have to prove this to you.
- Okay.
Okay, I'll do it.
- Okay.
- Okay, ready?
- Well, it's slippery.
- We can feel our way along.
- You almost fell last time.
What's that?
- Did that just happen?
- I don't know.
- Do you believe
in the supernatural
or the spirit world?
- No.
Those are just fairy tales.
- Dora,
she walked through glass.
- Maybe she left
her window open.
- You know she didn't.
- Or it was a trick
of the light.
- Why are you pretending
you're not freaked out by this?
- I am, okay?
But it can't be real.
There has to be a rational
explanation behind this, okay?
We'll talk about it
in the morning.
- Yeah, okay.
Dora...
- And you're certain
you heard nothing?
One of your classmates
had an accident
right outside your window-
a fall.
- I'm a very deep sleeper.
Maybe you should ask one
of the other girls.
- The holly and the ivy
When they are both
full grown
Of all the trees
that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
Oh, the rising of the sun
and the running of the deer
The playing
of the merry organ
Sweet singing in the choir
The holly bears the blossom
as white as a lily flower
- I know it's been hard,
what happened with Dora.
The whole thing
just seems so-
do they think that she-
- No.
She was very happy.
She had no reason.
Mom, it was an accident.
That's all it was.
- It's okay if you don't want
to go back there.
- No, no.
I have to go back.
Mom, I can't change schools.
- Okay.
You know, I was thinking
it would just be really great
if we could get away.
I called John...
- Dora fell.
She must have fallen.
She went out there again
and slipped just like I did.
Ernessa didn't walk
through glass.
She couldn't.
The window
must have been open.
It was dark.
I won't let myself believe
things I know aren't possible.
Hi.
- Hi.
- Did you come in by train?
- My mom gave me a lift.
- How was your-
- I got to return these
to the library.
- Wait.
Lucy, wait, please.
I'm sorry.
Last term, I just-
I guess I just got so jealous
of you and Ernessa.
I think I went a little-
I don't know.
Crazy.
I'm sorry.
- It's okay.
These things happen.
- No, it's not okay.
It's my fault about Dora.
I made her go up on the roof.
- Rebecca,
we all went up there.
You can't beat yourself up
over this.
- I've just been so stupid.
I-I hated being jealous.
I never want to feel
like that again.
- I didn't want to stop
being friends with you.
It's just that you wouldn't give
Ernessa a chance.
- I've missed you so much.
- I missed you too.
- Let's just start over
and pretend like last term
never even happened.
- Yeah.
It feels like
a bad dream anyway.
- But you have to be friends
with Ernessa.
We were just talking
about you,
how we should all
do something together.
- Yes.
Let's.
- Maybe Sunday, we can all
go into town or something.
- We could go to the movies.
- I would love that.
Oh, Sunday...
I booked two horses
to go riding.
- Oh...
- Can you ride?
- No.
I never took lessons.
- We'll have to think
of something else.
We'll make a plan.
- We will for sure.
- I'm sorry about Sunday.
But we're going to spend
a lot of time together
very soon.
We have so much in common.
- "I heard a fly buzz
when I died.
"But the stillness in the room
"was like the stillness
in the air,
between the heaves of storm."
It's as if she's taking you
moment by moment
through the experience
of dying.
Okay, on that cheerful note,
thank you very much, ladies.
Uh, Rebecca?
I have something to show you.
It's a first edition
of your father's book.
You know, I have to tell you,
I so admire
the way your father kept writing
and working all those years.
- The bank?
- Yes, the bank.
- I think he kind of liked
having a real job.
- You know,
I try to write at night,
but there's marking papers,
and there's preparation.
I don't know.
Sometimes I just feel my life
slipping away.
- You know, with my dad,
it feels like
all the bad stuff happened
when he was able to stay home
all day and write.
- I will take that
as my inspiration.
He really is my hero,
you know.
- Mr. Davies?
- Yes?
- I need your supply list.
- Of course, uh-
- Thank you.
- I was just showing Rebecca
here this-this book.
It's her father's.
very rare.
- Bye.
- Hey, are you joining
basketball?
- I'm not going to do sports
this term.
It's too tiring.
- Why are you so tired?
You know,
you should eat more.
- I do eat.
I eat all the time.
- I don't see you
at breakfast anymore.
- I'm not hungry
in the morning.
- You don't seem very hungry
at dinner either.
- It's okay, Mom.
I'm fine.
- Okay, okay.
I'm sorry.
I'll back off.
Lucy?
Where have you been?
- I couldn't get up
this morning.
I slept right through
the bell.
- I see that Caroline Wallis
and Lucy Blake
were late for assembly.
You will report for detention
after classes.
Ernessa Bloch
has missed gymnastics
for the fourth week
in a row.
She will report to Miss Bobbie
to make up these classes.
- Miss Bobbie
makes Ernessa swim laps
every day after school.
It's so unfair.
It's like torture for her.
- Now, into the pool.
Into the water.
We don't have all afternoon.
- Head up.
Breathe.
Head down.
Bend your elbows.
Point your toes.
Breathe.
- Becca.
I'm meeting Chris tonight
in the upper field to, uh...
well, you know.
- Really?
- Yeah.
I want you and Kiki
to keep guard.
Will you do it?
- Yeah, of course,
if you want us to.
- Thank you.
- You know, if it rains tonight,
we're leaving.
- Can you see
their hovering spirits
entwined through eternity?
Just like a poem.
- Hey, Rebecca.
- So how was it?
- It was kind of nothing.
I feel exactly the same way
I did before.
And I'm sure
I'm not in love with him.
- Well, did you
at least enjoy it?
- Not really.
Maybe I will
after I get used to it.
- Okay.
- I'm just glad
it's over with.
I'm glad it was the first time
for both of us.
- What is that?
- Oh, my God.
- I regret to say
that a terrible accident
has befallen one of our
teachers, Miss Bobbie.
She died some time
last night.
Please, girls, be quiet.
Assembly is not yet over.
Let us turn to hymn 51.
O, God,
our help in ages past
Our hope for years to come
Our shelter
from the stormy blast
And our eternal home
- Rebecca.
My mom came in early.
She won't let me come back
after spring break.
I shouldn't have said anything
about Miss Bobbie,
but I was so upset,
and I don't want to leave you.
- All my friends are gone.
Ernessa spends all her time
in Lucy's room.
They always
keep the door shut.
Lucy's just a few feet away,
but she might as well be
on the other side of the world.
- You look like death.
- It's cramps.
I feel like I'm hemorrhaging.
- I haven't had my period
in months.
No, thanks.
- How can you resist this?
- Lucy, it's your favorite.
- I'm going back to my room.
- Okay, I have to talk to you
about Ernessa.
- I'm not gonna indulge you
in your ridiculous obsession.
I'm sorry to say this,
but you're just jealous.
- How can she survive
without eating?
- I don't want to talk about
this anymore.
- Wake up.
Wake up!
Didn't you hear the sirens?
- The what?
- The ambulance.
They took Lucy.
- What?
I'll come back later.
Something terrible
is happening to Lucy.
I'm glad she's in hospital.
At least she's away
from Ernessa.
Hi.
I brought you some chocolates
and a book.
- Thank you.
- What's this?
- Ernessa was just here.
She brought that for me.
I'm too tired to read.
The book is so heavy.
- Are you feeling any better?
- It's not bad
feeling so weak.
I just lie here
and think about breathing.
- What happened to your flowers?
They're all faded.
- I guess they're starting
to die.
- I just brought them.
What's Ernessa doing
in the basement?
We're not allowed down there.
There's that same
horrible smell,
just like the one
from her room.
- Oh!
- Here, let me help you.
- Thank you.
Stupid of me.
You saved me.
- Can I tell you something
in confidence?
- Uh, sure.
- It's my friend,
Lucy Blake.
She hasn't been eating,
and now she's in the hospital.
- Why don't we talk
in the car?
- Yeah.
There's this other girl,
Ernessa Bloch.
She's just a bad influence
on Lucy.
- What do you mean,
bad influence?
- She's controlling her,
and Lucy just accepts it.
- You think she's
enabling Ernessa?
- Lucy adores her,
but Ernessa doesn't have
her best interests at heart.
I mean, Lucy's just getting
sicker and weaker and thinner,
and Ernessa acts like
this is all good.
- You're worried that she's
encouraging her eating disorder.
- Well, it's more than that.
She's dangerous.
She has some power over Lucy.
- You know, cooped up here,
you girls get so close.
All that emotion
can turn toxic.
I mean,
it's obvious Lucy needs help,
but maybe you need to step away
for a little while.
Put all this emotion
into your writing.
Rebecca.
You're a very intelligent girl.
You're one of the brightest
I've ever taught.
You'll figure this out.
Things get worse,
don't be afraid
to come talk to me.
- Thanks.
- Okay.
- Is everything okay with you?
- Not really.
- You seem stressed.
- I'm so worried about Lucy.
It's been ten days,
and they still
won't let me see her.
- Oh, she's much better.
- How do you know?
- I don't know.
- Come on.
- Okay, Ernessa told me.
She visited Lucy.
- When?
- Um, several times last week.
- They let her see Lucy?
- Well, Mrs. Rood
gave her permission,
because she's Lucy's
very special friend.
- You let Ernessa see her?
- I don't know
what you're talking about.
- You told me no visitors.
Why would you let Ernessa
see her?
- Lucy asked to see her.
Now Ernessa can't visit her
either.
- Well, she's my best friend.
It's not fair.
- Lucy has taken a turn
for the worse.
The doctors don't think
she'll last the next few days.
She's so weak.
- No, l-
I have to see her.
I have to say good-bye.
I have to.
- It's out of the question.
Only family members
are allowed to visit.
Oh!
You disrespectful child!
- You, me, Lucy?
It would be better if we never
saw each other again.
I'll give her up
if you just keep away from her.
- Have you ever considered
how much we look alike?
- Miss Johnson,
the nurse...
- Lucy.
- She would bring me
all this green Jell-O.
- Lucy?
- Look, she's back.
And she's so much better.
- Doctors think I'm a miracle.
- Can I talk to you
about something?
- Of course.
- Look, I know what happened
with Dora and Miss Bobbie
made everybody pretty crazy.
- It'll calm down.
Eventually, the school
will get back to normal.
- No, it won't,
because the person
who's doing this
hasn't finished yet.
She still has one more victim.
It's the one she came for.
The others,
they just got in her way.
- I'm-I'm sorry?
- The girl I told you about,
Ernessa Bloch?
- The next victim is who?
- Lucy Blake.
- Why are you saying this?
- Because this time,
Lucy won't make it
to the hospital.
- Rebecca, you know
what you're saying
can't possibly be true.
- Lucy got better when
the doctors banned all visitors.
She got better because Ernessa
couldn't get to her.
Ernessa won't let that
happen again.
- Listen, Rebecca.
I understand.
This has been a difficult year
for you.
You're still coming to terms
with what happened
to your father,
but you can't blame it all
on Ernessa.
- It is Ernessa.
Why can't anyone else
see that?
- Rebecca.
You're too young for all these
morbid thoughts.
- Lucy?
I know you're getting
sick again.
I'm worried.
I need to call your mom.
- I'm not sick.
Really, I'm not sick.
It's something else.
- Don't you want your mom
to come get you?
- No, you can't call her.
She'd come right away,
in the middle of the night.
- Lucy, I just don't understand
why you won't let me help.
- That's because
you just want to believe
that I'm still the old Lucy.
It's sad.
You don't care about the new me,
the real Lucy.
You don't even want
to know her.
- This is all Ernessa's fault.
She's turned you against me.
That's why you're saying this.
- Why do you want to blame her
for everything?
- Because she is to blame
for everything.
- No, no.
- If she hadn't come here
this year,
we would have had
a great year.
Don't you see she's ruined
everything for me?
God, I hate her so much.
I'd kill her
if I had the chance.
- Don't talk like that.
It's sick.
- Look at yourself.
Tell me you don't look sick.
You can barely stand up.
- Look at yourself.
Just leave me alone, please.
I can't stand having you
around me all the time,
wanting me only for yourself.
You're a fucking drag.
You pull me down
with all your pain.
- You never said anything.
I'll never speak to her again.
Never.
Lucy?
Lucy!
Lucy!
Lucy.
Oh, Lucy, Lucy.
What happened?
Lucy.
Lucy, don't leave me.
Please don't leave me.
Lucy, please!
Please don't leave me, please!
Please!
- I know how hard Lucy's death
must have been for you.
Thank you for coming to see me,
Rebecca.
- The school made me.
- They're concerned about you.
They think you have some
unresolved feelings
about your father.
Can you tell me a little
about his death?
- He slit his wrists.
Both of them.
- Did you see him?
- I was kept away.
- Let's talk about
the conversation
you had the other day
with Mr. Davies.
You don't really believe
what you said
about that other girl,
do you?
- Mr. Davies talked to you?
He told you what I said?
- He talked to Miss Rood.
Obviously, he was concerned.
- Wordsworth's lyrical ballads.
Anybody heard of them?
Dad?
Daddy?
- Books won't save you.
Your writing won't save you.
The past won't save you.
Mr. Davies won't save you.
Daddy can't save you.
- My father wanted to save me.
He loved me.
I know he did.
- He's the one who caused you
all this trouble
in the first place.
- You're wrong.
The good things I remember
about my father,
the walks we took,
the fairy tales he read to me,
they all really happened.
- He read you other fairy tales
that you forgot.
My mother,
she butchered me
My father, he ate me
My sister,
little Anne-Marie
She gathered up
the bones of me
And tied them
in a silken cloth
To lay under the juniper
Tweet, tweet
What a pretty bird am I
It's time to free yourself.
- September 5th, 1907.
Tea on the lawn
at the Brangwyn Hotel.
We had picnics
and played croquet.
My mother recovered,
but I never did.
I kept my face composed,
but inside,
my thoughts screamed.
My father's voice kept
calling to me,
"There's nothing
for you here."
One day, I filled the bath
with warm water.
It was less painful there.
By the time
the water turned red,
I could no longer see.
- Ernessa died here,
and she wants me
to die here too.
I'm the one she came for.
It was me all along.
- Get another ladder
over here!
Let's get another unit
around the back.
Check for hot spots.
- Rebecca.
You'd better come with me.
Your mother is waiting for you
at the police station.
They need to ask you
some questions.
- They're suspicious of me,
but I'm not afraid.
They will find the ashes
of her trunk in the basement,
but they won't find a body.
Ernessa's gone,
and she's not coming back.
I set us both free.
Can you open the window
just a little?
- Sure.
- One-track mind
like a goldfish
Stuck inside my Petri dish
I can't breathe,
and I can't smile
This better
be worth my while
I feel numb most of the time
The lower I get,
the higher I'll climb
And I will wonder why
I got dark only to shine
Looking for the golden light
Oh, it's a reasonable
sacrifice
Burn, burn, burn bright
Burn, burn, burn bright
Forgo family, forgo friends
That's how it started,
how it ends
I can't open up and cry
'Cause I've been silent
all my life
I feel numb most of the time
The lower I get,
the higher I'll climb
And I will wonder why
I got dark only to shine
Looking for the golden light
Oh, it's a reasonable
sacrifice
Shine
Looking for the golden light
Oh, it's a reasonable
sacrifice
Sacrifice
I feel numb most of the time
The lower I get,
the higher I'll climb
And I will wonder why
I got dark only to shine
And I'll light up the sky
Stars that burn
the brightest
Fall so fast
and pass you by
Puff like empty lighters
Shine, and I'll light up
the sky
Stars that burn
the brightest
Fall so fast
and pass you by
Spark like empty lighters
Dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum
Dum, da-dum, da-dum
Dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum
Dum, da-dum, da-dum
- September 5th.
I have decided to write
at least one page
in my journal every day.
I'll be able
to read it later
and know exactly what
happened to me when I was 16.
- One of us
isn't gonna be here
And one of us
is gonna be running
Off alone
to the great unknown
You're not me
You're a model of freedom
All you need are your kicks
when you need 'em
Come and go
Caught that slow all right
- Maybe this year, I'll get on
the A squad for field hockey.
- Field hockey, my God.
Seems so unlike you.
Let me guess.
Lucy does it.
- Oh, Mom.
- I forgot the world revolves
around Lucy.
- No, I love it.
Sometimes we even get up
at 6:00 a.m. to practice.
- Hey, ooh, yeah,
you gotta be leaving
Say what you want
What you say, say anything
No one knows
just how deep it goes
We are old in your teenage
tyranny
And all you need
is a hunger to feed
I've got my own secrets,
though
Say what?
- Here, Mom, I'll take it.
- No, but-
- No, it's fine.
- We are doomed,
but we wanted more
- I'll call you.
- It's the ride we take
The many-winged escape
It's the bough
- Becca?
- Oh, my God!
Here.
You have no idea how much
I've missed you.
- I missed you too.
Is your room next to mine?
- Yeah, here, let me show you.
This is your fireplace,
and the bathroom is huge.
- This is gonna be
the best year ever.
- Wuh-whoa!
- You better hide it
before Miss Rood sees.
- Ah, come on.
- Charley, you can't get
expelled on the first day.
- You can't worry
on the first day!
- So what'd you bring us?
- Just some downers I stole
from my mom.
- Well, I got chocolate
in Geneva.
- You guys hear about
Annabelle?
She's been hooking up
with two different boys
from Langley College.
- What?
- Such a whore.
- Jealous?
At least she has sex.
- Look who's talking.
- I've had lots of sex.
- Girls don't count.
- Why not?
And I've done boys.
- One boy.
- Oh, are you still all
pathetic virgins?
- Well, I am,
but not for long.
I've met someone.
Hey, Lucy, what about you
and Jason?
- I broke up with him.
- Yeah, on Facebook.
How cold is that?
- What about you, Becca?
- I don't know.
We'll see.
- It's the times, we say
That no one's gonna
take your place
- Oh, the apple, the apple!
- Ew.
- So did you guys hear?
The new English teacher
is a guy.
- Wait, do the dykes
who run this place allow that?
Like, he's probably
gonna have to wear a plaid skirt
and kneesocks,
like Miss Bobbie.
- Charley...
- I saw him.
His name's Mr. Davies.
He's actually really cute.
- And he's a poet.
- Wait till he finds out
about Rebecca's dad.
- Charley.
- Not cool.
- No, not about that.
About him being a famous poet.
- He wasn't really famous.
- Let's go play some hockey.
- Let's not.
- Come on, yeah.
That's exactly
what we need, yeah.
- Seriously?
On the first day?
Why do you have to kill me
on the first day?
- Oh, I've longed
for these tubs.
- I know, sometimes I hate it
so much when I'm here,
but I just miss it all the time
when I'm at home.
- How's your mom?
- She just sat in her studio
and painted,
listening to the same music
over and over.
The same music my dad-
my dad was listening to
when...
- Rebecca, I want you to meet
a new girl, Ernessa Bloch.
She'll be in the room
across the hall.
Please help her
find her way around.
- Sure.
It's easy to get lost.
Did they tell you this place
used to be a hotel?
Um, like, 100 years ago.
This place has a lot
of old nooks and crannies.
- Breakfast is at 7:30,
morning assembly 8:30 sharp.
You must apply to me
for permission
to leave the school grounds.
You may use
one of two staircases
to get to the dining room.
The left one also goes
to the library.
- It's so, so different
from the first time
I came to Brangwyn
two years ago.
My father had just died.
My mother was a wreck.
So I was sent here.
Every night,
I sat in my room alone,
aching for my father.
And then I met Lucy.
She was so confident,
carefree, and normal.
She taught me
how to be happy again.
That's why I love her so much.
I wonder what her secret is.
- Well, everyone's got one.
- Alcoholic mothers.
- Nasty divorces.
- Parents who don't care
about them.
No one comes to Brangwyn
unless something bad
has happened to them.
- Except for me.
I'm the only boring one.
- Believe me,
I wish I was like you.
- Good morning.
It gives me great pleasure
to welcome another
freshman class
to Brangwyn school.
- I scored.
Party in your room tonight?
- Okay.
- Amen.
- Your life here will be
a moral and spiritual journey
that will prepare you
for whatever life awaits you
outside these gates.
- She's never going
to change that speech.
- No.
- Oh, I want to sign up
for practice.
- Okay.
I got to grab my books
for English...
Check out
the cute new teacher.
I'll see you at quiet hour?
- I said I would
spend it with Dora.
- It's our first day back.
- Okay.
I can see her another time.
- Okay, great.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I'm Ernessa... Bloch.
- Yeah, I saw you last night.
How are you finding
everything?
It's a little strange.
- It must be hard,
with everyone already
knowing each other.
- What's that?
- It's a friendship necklace.
My friend Rebecca
gave it to me.
- It's really pretty.
Would you show me around?
I don't really know
where I'm supposed to be.
- Yeah.
Yeah, come with me.
- In all of the classic Gothic
horror stories,
we see expressed
some kind of anxiety
about the modern world.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula,
some critics see an anxiety
about female power,
female sexuality,
a fear that
the pure Victorian maiden
would be transformed
into a ravenous beast.
The story is a shape-shifter,
just like the vampire itself.
You find it in different forms
in almost all cultures,
but there are three things
you find
in every vampire story:
sex, blood, and death.
Becca?
Just want you to know,
I'm a great admirer
of your father's work.
I'm going to be running
a poetry workshop
later this term.
I was hoping you'd take part.
- Yeah.
- Okay, good.
- Um, thank you.
Are you lost?
- No.
This is one of my favorite
places here.
- The passageway?
It's so dark; I always just run
straight through.
- I like looking out
the windows.
- I'm actually going to see
Miss Norris.
She teaches Greek.
I have lessons with her
on my own
because no one else
wants to do it.
- I used to study Greek
and Latin.
I was very serious,
even though I was a girl.
Then other things intervened.
- Okay, well, um...
I'm late for my class, so...
I'm no Barbie doll
I'm not your baby girl
I've done lots of things,
and I have made mistakes
And I am not as pretty
as those girls in magazines
So what if I'm no baby bird
Hanging on your every word
Nothing ever smells of roses
That rises out of mud
Why do you love me,
why do you love me?
Why do you love me?
It's driving me crazy
Why do you love me?
I get back up,
and I do it again
Get back up and I do it,
do it again
- Whoo!
- So how's Mr. Davies' class?
- She has a huge crush on him.
And he's just lapping it up.
It's sickening.
- Jealous much?
He's actually really cool.
Hey, why don't you switch?
- No, I like the Romantic poets.
- I thought you hated poetry.
- No, I just never read
the right stuff.
You know, Ernessa says
poetry is the purest
of all the arts.
- Ernessa?
- She's incredibly smart.
She's gonna help me
with my German.
She speaks it perfectly.
I'm just gonna go say hi.
Hey.
What are you reading?
- It's a book I found
in the library.
Sit down.
- What's it called?
- It's called...
- Slow emotion
- Hey, did you hear anything
last night?
- No.
Why? Did you?
- I thought I saw Ernessa
pacing back and forth
under our window,
and she was in her bare feet.
It was kind of weird
and creepy.
- She has trouble sleeping.
So what?
- You don't think
it's kind of strange?
- She has issues.
Stuff with her family.
She's a nice person
if you give her a chance.
- I'm sorry to interrupt.
I usually use this room.
I didn't know
you played the piano.
- I hardly ever play anymore.
- You play so well.
How do you do that
without looking at the music?
- My father was a musician.
I inherited everything
from him,
just as you did
from your father.
- I didn't inherit anything
from my father.
- Are you sure?
- I'll find another room.
It's wonderful here, Daddy.
- I wanted to show you
this place.
- It's so beautiful.
- It's always peaceful here.
- I've missed our walks
so much.
I thought I would never
see you again.
- Don't be so sad, Rebecca.
I'm always here.
- I love you, Daddy.
- Thank you for joining us,
Rebecca.
- I'm sorry.
- That's okay.
We're just talking
about CarmiIIa.
Now, with Carmilla,
we are looking at
one of the originators
of the Gothic tale,
20 years before Bram Stoker
wrote Dracula,
and I think it's fair to say,
it influenced him greatly.
All right, let's talk about
the character of Carmilla.
A mysterious stranger
comes from the West
and begins to take over
the narrator, Laura.
- "Sometimes
with gloating eyes,
"she drew me to her,
"and her hot lips
"traveled along
my cheeks in kisses,
"and she would whisper,
almost in sobs,
"'You are mine.
You shall be mine.
You and I are one forever.'"
- That lavender bath oil
feels so good.
- I know.
I can smell it from here.
- What are you reading?
- CarmiIIa.
It's for Mr. Davies' class.
- What's it about?
- Hey.
- You know,
it's Gothic fiction.
- You're burning red.
How do you stand such hot water
on your skin?
- We always take hot baths
before bedtime.
It's relaxing.
- So I've brought us
a list of verbs to conjugate.
Let's start with baden,
to bathe.
- Baden.
- Mm-hmm.
Beginnen.
- Beginnen.
I'll show you how far I got.
- "The vampire is prone
to be fascinated
"by particular persons.
"With an engrossing vehemence
resembling the passion of love,
"it will never desist until
it has satiated its passion
and drained the very life
of its coveted victim."
- Hello.
- Do you have a minute?
- Of course.
Here you go.
Please.
- Um, it's about Carmilla.
- Okay.
- If she's in love with Laura,
then why does she want
to destroy her?
- Well, I don't know
that she wants to destroy her.
She wants to control her.
The vampire's
a very lonely figure.
Carmilla wants a companion
in her existence.
She wants someone
to be all hers, forever.
- But why does Laura want
to be friends with someone
who's so obviously evil?
- I suppose she's been
hypnotized in some way.
Remember, the vampire needs
the consent of the victim.
- The vampire needs
the victim's consent?
- Yes-
well, in a way.
Remember, in Dracula,
he can only enter
if the victim
leaves the window open.
- It's Lucy's fault
for being such a weak person.
- Lucy?
- No, I mean Laura.
It's Laura's fault.
- Mm, in a way.
- Thank you.
It's been a big help.
Hey, Lu, do you have
the shoe polish?
Did you get new shoes?
I don't think those are allowed,
are they?
- These are Ernessa's.
- And why are you cleaning them?
- She doesn't know how.
She's never had to polish
her own shoes.
- It's really not that hard.
I'm sure she could do it
if she tried.
She never eats.
Have you noticed?
- What?
- Ernessa, she never eats
anything, ever.
- Maybe she's anorexic.
- Remember Annie Patterson
last year?
Her face looked like a skull,
and she still wouldn't eat.
- I just don't think
that'll ever be my problem.
- When you lose
that much weight,
your body can't even
keep itself warm,
and you begin to grow fuzz
all over your arms.
You can see it when they stand
against the light.
They call it "the glow."
Does Ernessa glow?
- No, and I don't think
she's starving herself.
Look at her.
She has a perfect body.
But if you think
she has anorexia,
you could just go up to her
and feel her arms.
- This is really fucking stupid.
- Sorry.
- Whoa.
- She's too sensitive.
- What a way to start a morning.
Do you think Ernessa's
hooking up with someone
at Langley College?
- A boy?
No way.
- She's slipping out at night.
- What do you mean?
- I heard her door open
last night.
And she didn't come back in,
at least not until after
I fell asleep.
- Really?
- It's happened before too.
- Weirdo.
Maybe she goes out to score.
- In the middle of the night,
go into town?
- Let's follow her.
See where she goes,
what she gets up to.
- Can you see anything?
- I don't know.
- It's fucking freezing.
What does Ernessa do out here?
- She watches us sleep.
Hey, you know when you see
the school from here,
you can totally imagine
what it looked like
back when it was a hotel.
Guests drinking tea
on the lawn.
- When I see the school
from here,
I think about how easy
it would be
to just walk out.
- Well, I don't see Ernessa,
and it's cold.
Come on, let's go,
before the caretaker
creeps on us.
- Dora, wait up.
- What are you doing?
- Come on.
- Deanndra,
comment for short skirt.
Charlotte, third comment
for messy hair.
Detention.
Rebecca,
comment for dirty shoes.
And Mrs. Rood needs to see you
in her study now.
- How can she give
wardrobe advice?
It's like we're in,
like, duty.
- When I was a little girl,
the farmers said that
a nosebleed
was a sign of good luck.
You really shouldn't be sad
about these
cheap, sentimental things.
I feel like sweeping them all
into a pile on the floor.
- That's cruel.
Mrs. Rood lost her husband.
She needs these things
to go on living.
- I don't need things
to remember my father.
- Neither do l.
Before Ernessa came here,
I was getting better.
I was happy.
Now all the darkness
has come flooding back.
It's like she's invading
my mind.
Even when I'm alone,
I can't escape her.
There's this disgusting smell
that comes from her room:
sickly sweet but rotten.
Why doesn't anyone else
notice it?
Lucy?
I haven't seen you all day.
Where have you been?
- I was busy.
Why did you complain
to Mrs. Rood
about Ernessa's room?
- Lucy, it's right across
the hall from me,
and it smells really bad.
- I thought you would be more
sensitive, considering.
- Considering what?
- Her dad killed himself.
- I didn't know.
- I thought you, of all people,
would understand.
- November 9th.
His last day on Earth.
Lucy didn't remember.
She never said anything.
We spent it together
last year.
- What's your favorite memory
of your father?
Let's think about that.
- If I had to pick one moment,
it would be the night we saw
the Luna moth.
- Look.
There.
You see it?
I've never seen a moth
like that before.
- The Luna moth was the most
beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Why weren't those things
enough for him?
"A person may become a vampyre
if he dies unseen."
My father
wanted to die unseen,
like an animal who wants
to curl up and die alone.
- Don't feel bad
about your father.
Some of the greatest artists
went mad or committed suicide.
Some people find great joy
in the prospect of death.
Just thinking about it
can be a comfort,
like lying in your bed
and pulling up the covers.
The moment of death
is ecstatic.
It's the most joyful sensation.
You're being born into
a new existence.
- Is my father's illness
in my blood too?
I wonder when he did it.
How much did it hurt?
And did it really
take the pain away?
- Party in my room tonight,
FYI.
- Okay.
- Hello, she.
What'd you bring me today?
- Hey, so tell me,
are you nervous?
- Of doing it?
- Yeah.
- Well, Kiki said
it wouldn't hurt that much.
- I know.
It's just the whole thing.
I mean,
what if it feels weird?
Or what if you change your mind
right in the middle of it?
- I don't know.
Part of me just wants
to get it over with, you know?
- Don't do that.
- We have to.
It hides the smell.
- I mean it.
I'll have to leave.
It'll suffocate me.
It's so sweet.
- All right.
You guys move to the window.
We'll just
freeze our butts off.
- Right.
- How does it feel?
- It's fine.
I don't even feel anything.
- Are you serious, Becca?
- Are you okay?
Just lie down, okay?
- Don't cry about it.
- Speaking of yesterday,
of life.
Eccentric.
- What's going on?
- I need to tell you.
Listen to me.
I need to tell you,
tell you what it's like.
When I first came here,
we took the boat over.
I kept looking
at the gray waves,
and I kept saying to myself,
"Jump, jump."
But it was too cold.
The Brangwyn Hotel.
I arrived with the same secret
that you did:
a father's suicide.
My mother brought me here
because she wanted to put
an ocean between his death
and me.
But to me,
an ocean was nothing.
Everywhere I went,
I heard my father's voice
calling to me.
- Yes!
- Charley.
- Oh, my God!
Whee!
- I have this wonderful idea.
What you need to do...
- Come on.
- Oh, my God!
- Okay, guys, watch this.
One, two, three!
Hey, Miss Rood,
can you get my chair?
Oh, my God!
- Ernessa should never have
given us those crazy drugs.
Charley's been expelled.
The school wouldn't give her
a second chance.
- This is all Ernessa's fault.
- She thinks she can get away
with anything
and no one can touch her.
Dora?
Are you awake?
- Yeah.
- Okay, I need your help.
- What?
- I'm gonna go along
the gutters
to see what's inside
Ernessa's room.
Can you watch out?
- What if Ernessa sees you?
- I'll just pretend I'm going
to Kiki's room.
- Okay.
Hurry up,
before someone sees you.
Becca!
You've got to come now.
Get back to your room.
Come on.
But I saw-
- Go on.
Now, go on.
What was wrong with you
last night?
I mean,
what happened out there?
- When I looked
into Ernessa's room,
I could see these moths.
- Yeah?
Okay.
- No, but thousands of them.
- That's impossible.
- I saw them.
There were thousands
of these shiny little moths,
and they started throwing
themselves against the glass.
- I'm sorry,
but you're really letting
this whole Ernessa thing
get to you.
I think
you're imagining things.
- Dora, you have to believe me.
There's something really weird
about that room.
Come out with me tonight,
and I'll show you.
- You're scaring me, Rebecca.
- Please, look,
I have to prove this to you.
- Okay.
Okay, I'll do it.
- Okay.
- Okay, ready?
- Well, it's slippery.
- We can feel our way along.
- You almost fell last time.
What's that?
- Did that just happen?
- I don't know.
- Do you believe
in the supernatural
or the spirit world?
- No.
Those are just fairy tales.
- Dora,
she walked through glass.
- Maybe she left
her window open.
- You know she didn't.
- Or it was a trick
of the light.
- Why are you pretending
you're not freaked out by this?
- I am, okay?
But it can't be real.
There has to be a rational
explanation behind this, okay?
We'll talk about it
in the morning.
- Yeah, okay.
Dora...
- And you're certain
you heard nothing?
One of your classmates
had an accident
right outside your window-
a fall.
- I'm a very deep sleeper.
Maybe you should ask one
of the other girls.
- The holly and the ivy
When they are both
full grown
Of all the trees
that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
Oh, the rising of the sun
and the running of the deer
The playing
of the merry organ
Sweet singing in the choir
The holly bears the blossom
as white as a lily flower
- I know it's been hard,
what happened with Dora.
The whole thing
just seems so-
do they think that she-
- No.
She was very happy.
She had no reason.
Mom, it was an accident.
That's all it was.
- It's okay if you don't want
to go back there.
- No, no.
I have to go back.
Mom, I can't change schools.
- Okay.
You know, I was thinking
it would just be really great
if we could get away.
I called John...
- Dora fell.
She must have fallen.
She went out there again
and slipped just like I did.
Ernessa didn't walk
through glass.
She couldn't.
The window
must have been open.
It was dark.
I won't let myself believe
things I know aren't possible.
Hi.
- Hi.
- Did you come in by train?
- My mom gave me a lift.
- How was your-
- I got to return these
to the library.
- Wait.
Lucy, wait, please.
I'm sorry.
Last term, I just-
I guess I just got so jealous
of you and Ernessa.
I think I went a little-
I don't know.
Crazy.
I'm sorry.
- It's okay.
These things happen.
- No, it's not okay.
It's my fault about Dora.
I made her go up on the roof.
- Rebecca,
we all went up there.
You can't beat yourself up
over this.
- I've just been so stupid.
I-I hated being jealous.
I never want to feel
like that again.
- I didn't want to stop
being friends with you.
It's just that you wouldn't give
Ernessa a chance.
- I've missed you so much.
- I missed you too.
- Let's just start over
and pretend like last term
never even happened.
- Yeah.
It feels like
a bad dream anyway.
- But you have to be friends
with Ernessa.
We were just talking
about you,
how we should all
do something together.
- Yes.
Let's.
- Maybe Sunday, we can all
go into town or something.
- We could go to the movies.
- I would love that.
Oh, Sunday...
I booked two horses
to go riding.
- Oh...
- Can you ride?
- No.
I never took lessons.
- We'll have to think
of something else.
We'll make a plan.
- We will for sure.
- I'm sorry about Sunday.
But we're going to spend
a lot of time together
very soon.
We have so much in common.
- "I heard a fly buzz
when I died.
"But the stillness in the room
"was like the stillness
in the air,
between the heaves of storm."
It's as if she's taking you
moment by moment
through the experience
of dying.
Okay, on that cheerful note,
thank you very much, ladies.
Uh, Rebecca?
I have something to show you.
It's a first edition
of your father's book.
You know, I have to tell you,
I so admire
the way your father kept writing
and working all those years.
- The bank?
- Yes, the bank.
- I think he kind of liked
having a real job.
- You know,
I try to write at night,
but there's marking papers,
and there's preparation.
I don't know.
Sometimes I just feel my life
slipping away.
- You know, with my dad,
it feels like
all the bad stuff happened
when he was able to stay home
all day and write.
- I will take that
as my inspiration.
He really is my hero,
you know.
- Mr. Davies?
- Yes?
- I need your supply list.
- Of course, uh-
- Thank you.
- I was just showing Rebecca
here this-this book.
It's her father's.
very rare.
- Bye.
- Hey, are you joining
basketball?
- I'm not going to do sports
this term.
It's too tiring.
- Why are you so tired?
You know,
you should eat more.
- I do eat.
I eat all the time.
- I don't see you
at breakfast anymore.
- I'm not hungry
in the morning.
- You don't seem very hungry
at dinner either.
- It's okay, Mom.
I'm fine.
- Okay, okay.
I'm sorry.
I'll back off.
Lucy?
Where have you been?
- I couldn't get up
this morning.
I slept right through
the bell.
- I see that Caroline Wallis
and Lucy Blake
were late for assembly.
You will report for detention
after classes.
Ernessa Bloch
has missed gymnastics
for the fourth week
in a row.
She will report to Miss Bobbie
to make up these classes.
- Miss Bobbie
makes Ernessa swim laps
every day after school.
It's so unfair.
It's like torture for her.
- Now, into the pool.
Into the water.
We don't have all afternoon.
- Head up.
Breathe.
Head down.
Bend your elbows.
Point your toes.
Breathe.
- Becca.
I'm meeting Chris tonight
in the upper field to, uh...
well, you know.
- Really?
- Yeah.
I want you and Kiki
to keep guard.
Will you do it?
- Yeah, of course,
if you want us to.
- Thank you.
- You know, if it rains tonight,
we're leaving.
- Can you see
their hovering spirits
entwined through eternity?
Just like a poem.
- Hey, Rebecca.
- So how was it?
- It was kind of nothing.
I feel exactly the same way
I did before.
And I'm sure
I'm not in love with him.
- Well, did you
at least enjoy it?
- Not really.
Maybe I will
after I get used to it.
- Okay.
- I'm just glad
it's over with.
I'm glad it was the first time
for both of us.
- What is that?
- Oh, my God.
- I regret to say
that a terrible accident
has befallen one of our
teachers, Miss Bobbie.
She died some time
last night.
Please, girls, be quiet.
Assembly is not yet over.
Let us turn to hymn 51.
O, God,
our help in ages past
Our hope for years to come
Our shelter
from the stormy blast
And our eternal home
- Rebecca.
My mom came in early.
She won't let me come back
after spring break.
I shouldn't have said anything
about Miss Bobbie,
but I was so upset,
and I don't want to leave you.
- All my friends are gone.
Ernessa spends all her time
in Lucy's room.
They always
keep the door shut.
Lucy's just a few feet away,
but she might as well be
on the other side of the world.
- You look like death.
- It's cramps.
I feel like I'm hemorrhaging.
- I haven't had my period
in months.
No, thanks.
- How can you resist this?
- Lucy, it's your favorite.
- I'm going back to my room.
- Okay, I have to talk to you
about Ernessa.
- I'm not gonna indulge you
in your ridiculous obsession.
I'm sorry to say this,
but you're just jealous.
- How can she survive
without eating?
- I don't want to talk about
this anymore.
- Wake up.
Wake up!
Didn't you hear the sirens?
- The what?
- The ambulance.
They took Lucy.
- What?
I'll come back later.
Something terrible
is happening to Lucy.
I'm glad she's in hospital.
At least she's away
from Ernessa.
Hi.
I brought you some chocolates
and a book.
- Thank you.
- What's this?
- Ernessa was just here.
She brought that for me.
I'm too tired to read.
The book is so heavy.
- Are you feeling any better?
- It's not bad
feeling so weak.
I just lie here
and think about breathing.
- What happened to your flowers?
They're all faded.
- I guess they're starting
to die.
- I just brought them.
What's Ernessa doing
in the basement?
We're not allowed down there.
There's that same
horrible smell,
just like the one
from her room.
- Oh!
- Here, let me help you.
- Thank you.
Stupid of me.
You saved me.
- Can I tell you something
in confidence?
- Uh, sure.
- It's my friend,
Lucy Blake.
She hasn't been eating,
and now she's in the hospital.
- Why don't we talk
in the car?
- Yeah.
There's this other girl,
Ernessa Bloch.
She's just a bad influence
on Lucy.
- What do you mean,
bad influence?
- She's controlling her,
and Lucy just accepts it.
- You think she's
enabling Ernessa?
- Lucy adores her,
but Ernessa doesn't have
her best interests at heart.
I mean, Lucy's just getting
sicker and weaker and thinner,
and Ernessa acts like
this is all good.
- You're worried that she's
encouraging her eating disorder.
- Well, it's more than that.
She's dangerous.
She has some power over Lucy.
- You know, cooped up here,
you girls get so close.
All that emotion
can turn toxic.
I mean,
it's obvious Lucy needs help,
but maybe you need to step away
for a little while.
Put all this emotion
into your writing.
Rebecca.
You're a very intelligent girl.
You're one of the brightest
I've ever taught.
You'll figure this out.
Things get worse,
don't be afraid
to come talk to me.
- Thanks.
- Okay.
- Is everything okay with you?
- Not really.
- You seem stressed.
- I'm so worried about Lucy.
It's been ten days,
and they still
won't let me see her.
- Oh, she's much better.
- How do you know?
- I don't know.
- Come on.
- Okay, Ernessa told me.
She visited Lucy.
- When?
- Um, several times last week.
- They let her see Lucy?
- Well, Mrs. Rood
gave her permission,
because she's Lucy's
very special friend.
- You let Ernessa see her?
- I don't know
what you're talking about.
- You told me no visitors.
Why would you let Ernessa
see her?
- Lucy asked to see her.
Now Ernessa can't visit her
either.
- Well, she's my best friend.
It's not fair.
- Lucy has taken a turn
for the worse.
The doctors don't think
she'll last the next few days.
She's so weak.
- No, l-
I have to see her.
I have to say good-bye.
I have to.
- It's out of the question.
Only family members
are allowed to visit.
Oh!
You disrespectful child!
- You, me, Lucy?
It would be better if we never
saw each other again.
I'll give her up
if you just keep away from her.
- Have you ever considered
how much we look alike?
- Miss Johnson,
the nurse...
- Lucy.
- She would bring me
all this green Jell-O.
- Lucy?
- Look, she's back.
And she's so much better.
- Doctors think I'm a miracle.
- Can I talk to you
about something?
- Of course.
- Look, I know what happened
with Dora and Miss Bobbie
made everybody pretty crazy.
- It'll calm down.
Eventually, the school
will get back to normal.
- No, it won't,
because the person
who's doing this
hasn't finished yet.
She still has one more victim.
It's the one she came for.
The others,
they just got in her way.
- I'm-I'm sorry?
- The girl I told you about,
Ernessa Bloch?
- The next victim is who?
- Lucy Blake.
- Why are you saying this?
- Because this time,
Lucy won't make it
to the hospital.
- Rebecca, you know
what you're saying
can't possibly be true.
- Lucy got better when
the doctors banned all visitors.
She got better because Ernessa
couldn't get to her.
Ernessa won't let that
happen again.
- Listen, Rebecca.
I understand.
This has been a difficult year
for you.
You're still coming to terms
with what happened
to your father,
but you can't blame it all
on Ernessa.
- It is Ernessa.
Why can't anyone else
see that?
- Rebecca.
You're too young for all these
morbid thoughts.
- Lucy?
I know you're getting
sick again.
I'm worried.
I need to call your mom.
- I'm not sick.
Really, I'm not sick.
It's something else.
- Don't you want your mom
to come get you?
- No, you can't call her.
She'd come right away,
in the middle of the night.
- Lucy, I just don't understand
why you won't let me help.
- That's because
you just want to believe
that I'm still the old Lucy.
It's sad.
You don't care about the new me,
the real Lucy.
You don't even want
to know her.
- This is all Ernessa's fault.
She's turned you against me.
That's why you're saying this.
- Why do you want to blame her
for everything?
- Because she is to blame
for everything.
- No, no.
- If she hadn't come here
this year,
we would have had
a great year.
Don't you see she's ruined
everything for me?
God, I hate her so much.
I'd kill her
if I had the chance.
- Don't talk like that.
It's sick.
- Look at yourself.
Tell me you don't look sick.
You can barely stand up.
- Look at yourself.
Just leave me alone, please.
I can't stand having you
around me all the time,
wanting me only for yourself.
You're a fucking drag.
You pull me down
with all your pain.
- You never said anything.
I'll never speak to her again.
Never.
Lucy?
Lucy!
Lucy!
Lucy.
Oh, Lucy, Lucy.
What happened?
Lucy.
Lucy, don't leave me.
Please don't leave me.
Lucy, please!
Please don't leave me, please!
Please!
- I know how hard Lucy's death
must have been for you.
Thank you for coming to see me,
Rebecca.
- The school made me.
- They're concerned about you.
They think you have some
unresolved feelings
about your father.
Can you tell me a little
about his death?
- He slit his wrists.
Both of them.
- Did you see him?
- I was kept away.
- Let's talk about
the conversation
you had the other day
with Mr. Davies.
You don't really believe
what you said
about that other girl,
do you?
- Mr. Davies talked to you?
He told you what I said?
- He talked to Miss Rood.
Obviously, he was concerned.
- Wordsworth's lyrical ballads.
Anybody heard of them?
Dad?
Daddy?
- Books won't save you.
Your writing won't save you.
The past won't save you.
Mr. Davies won't save you.
Daddy can't save you.
- My father wanted to save me.
He loved me.
I know he did.
- He's the one who caused you
all this trouble
in the first place.
- You're wrong.
The good things I remember
about my father,
the walks we took,
the fairy tales he read to me,
they all really happened.
- He read you other fairy tales
that you forgot.
My mother,
she butchered me
My father, he ate me
My sister,
little Anne-Marie
She gathered up
the bones of me
And tied them
in a silken cloth
To lay under the juniper
Tweet, tweet
What a pretty bird am I
It's time to free yourself.
- September 5th, 1907.
Tea on the lawn
at the Brangwyn Hotel.
We had picnics
and played croquet.
My mother recovered,
but I never did.
I kept my face composed,
but inside,
my thoughts screamed.
My father's voice kept
calling to me,
"There's nothing
for you here."
One day, I filled the bath
with warm water.
It was less painful there.
By the time
the water turned red,
I could no longer see.
- Ernessa died here,
and she wants me
to die here too.
I'm the one she came for.
It was me all along.
- Get another ladder
over here!
Let's get another unit
around the back.
Check for hot spots.
- Rebecca.
You'd better come with me.
Your mother is waiting for you
at the police station.
They need to ask you
some questions.
- They're suspicious of me,
but I'm not afraid.
They will find the ashes
of her trunk in the basement,
but they won't find a body.
Ernessa's gone,
and she's not coming back.
I set us both free.
Can you open the window
just a little?
- Sure.
- One-track mind
like a goldfish
Stuck inside my Petri dish
I can't breathe,
and I can't smile
This better
be worth my while
I feel numb most of the time
The lower I get,
the higher I'll climb
And I will wonder why
I got dark only to shine
Looking for the golden light
Oh, it's a reasonable
sacrifice
Burn, burn, burn bright
Burn, burn, burn bright
Forgo family, forgo friends
That's how it started,
how it ends
I can't open up and cry
'Cause I've been silent
all my life
I feel numb most of the time
The lower I get,
the higher I'll climb
And I will wonder why
I got dark only to shine
Looking for the golden light
Oh, it's a reasonable
sacrifice
Shine
Looking for the golden light
Oh, it's a reasonable
sacrifice
Sacrifice
I feel numb most of the time
The lower I get,
the higher I'll climb
And I will wonder why
I got dark only to shine
And I'll light up the sky
Stars that burn
the brightest
Fall so fast
and pass you by
Puff like empty lighters
Shine, and I'll light up
the sky
Stars that burn
the brightest
Fall so fast
and pass you by
Spark like empty lighters
Dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum
Dum, da-dum, da-dum
Dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum
Dum, da-dum, da-dum