The Curse of Immortality: "Deal With Death" (Psychological Horror)

0:00 Speaker 1: Doorway to Nightmare is brought to you in part by Swanage Press. It lies in wait amidst your dreams, where nothing is ever how it seems. It is a portal to a terrifying world beyond the doorway. Come in. Welcome. I'm Artemis Black. The Roman politician and philosopher Marcus Cicero is quoted as saying, I do not wish to die, but I care not if I were dead. I believe that no one actually wishes to die. Time on this planet is so short, and there are some who will give anything to have a little more of it.

1:19 Speaker 2: No, no, no, no. Don't do it.

1:22 Speaker 3: I've already told you, Dr.

1:23 Speaker 4: Hale.

1:24 Speaker 3: I cannot die.

1:27 Speaker 2: Just put the gun down, Mr.

1:29 Speaker 1: Smith.

1:31 Speaker 2: I believe you.

1:32 Speaker 3: But you don't. You don't really believe me. But I'm going to prove it to you.

1:42 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, Deal with Death, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Darren Mahler, I'll return shortly with Act One.

1:59 Speaker 5: The only witness to her murder cannot speak. Until now.

2:06 Speaker 2: Click.

2:07 Speaker 5: A Tale of Revenge by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

2:33 Speaker 1: Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me. The carriage held, but just ourselves and immortality. Emily Dickinson's poem is simply a personification of that gaunt, cloaked figure that eventually comes for us all. Dr. Hale?

3:06 Speaker 2: You must be my afternoon appointment.

3:09 Speaker 6: Joe. Joe Smith.

3:11 Speaker 1: Yes, Mr. Smith.

3:13 Speaker 2: Please, come in and make yourself comfortable.

3:22 Speaker 1: Thank you, Dr.

3:22 Speaker 3: Hale. Thank you for seeing me.

3:25 Speaker 2: Well, it was court-ordered. After all, you did try to, well, end your life.

3:35 Speaker 6: Suicide, Dr.

3:36 Speaker 1: Hale.

3:38 Speaker 3: That's the proper term. And, yeah, that is exactly what I tried to do.

3:46 Speaker 2: Let's see. According to the report from the hospital and the court, You were seen using the roof access, walking towards the edge, your eyes closed, and jumping without hesitation.

4:02 Speaker 3: Yes, Dr.

4:03 Speaker 1: Hale, I did.

4:05 Speaker 2: And yet, lucky coincidence, you survived.

4:10 Speaker 3: The window washer was on the scaffolding, about ten feet under me. If I'd just opened my eyes before jumping, I would have seen him.

4:19 Speaker 2: When you jumped, you landed right beside him. It's remarkable.

4:23 Speaker 3: Just don't call it luck.

4:26 Speaker 2: Oh, but it was luck. And rather good luck that watched over you.

4:31 Speaker 3: Believe me, Dr. Hale, luck had nothing to do with it.

4:36 Speaker 2: You apparently knocked yourself out when you hit the scaffolding, which is why you were taken to the hospital. Only a few bruises. Well, you seem to be doing fine now.

4:49 Speaker 6: Seem to be, yeah.

4:51 Speaker 1: I suppose so.

4:53 Speaker 2: Are you still having thoughts of ending your life?

4:58 Speaker 3: Every day, Dr.

4:59 Speaker 1: Hale.

5:00 Speaker 3: Unfortunately, death will not let me die.

5:04 Speaker 2: I'm sorry? What exactly do you mean by that statement?

5:11 Speaker 6: Haven't I made it plain enough?

5:13 Speaker 7: Death.

5:14 Speaker 1: Death.

5:15 Speaker 3: That cloaked figure carrying the large sickle that everybody has to face at the end of their days. Well, he won't let me die. I can't die.

5:26 Speaker 6: I've tried. I can't. No matter how hard I try.

5:28 Speaker 2: Perhaps you had better start at the beginning. Now, what makes you think that you can't die?

5:37 Speaker 3: Because of a deal that I made.

5:39 Speaker 1: A deal?

5:42 Speaker 2: You mean with the devil?

5:45 Speaker 3: The devil? That's something that wasn't even thought of in my time.

5:54 Speaker 2: I'm sorry.

5:56 Speaker 1: Your time?

5:57 Speaker 3: How old would you say that I am?

6:01 Speaker 6: Be honest.

6:02 Speaker 2: Oh, well, possibly 30. Maybe 35, but not much older.

6:09 Speaker 1: Okay.

6:09 Speaker 3: And where do you think that I come from?

6:12 Speaker 1: Well....

6:14 Speaker 2: I don't want to hazard a guess. Your speech, well, that tells me you were definitely American.

6:20 Speaker 3: Yeah, but to look at me, you would say I was, what, Middle Eastern, possibly?

6:25 Speaker 2: Yes, I would say that.

6:28 Speaker 3: You'd be correct, Dr.

6:29 Speaker 5: Hale.

6:29 Speaker 3: I was born in Egypt, but not 30 years ago.

6:33 Speaker 2: Well, you look remarkably well for your age.

6:39 Speaker 6: Dr.

6:40 Speaker 3: Hale, I was born... over 7,000 years ago.

6:57 Speaker 2: Patient named Joe Smith is under some sort of delusion that he is immortal. I referred him to another doctor, and I have consulted with a friend of mine on the. Yes, come in.

7:15 Speaker 8: Dr.

7:15 Speaker 3: Hale, I hope I'm not interrupting.

7:17 Speaker 2: Well, I was dictating some notes. Did you go and see Dr. Adams?

7:23 Speaker 3: No, I didn't. I want to prove that what I said yesterday was true.

7:30 Speaker 2: Oh, about how you are immortal. And how do you propose to do that?

7:36 Speaker 6: With this revolver.

7:40 Speaker 2: Now, wait, Mr.

7:41 Speaker 1: Smith.

7:42 Speaker 2: Let's not do something drastic.

7:44 Speaker 3: You mean like holding the gun to my head like this and pulling the trigger like this?

7:51 Speaker 1: No, no, no, stop! You see?

8:00 Speaker 6: Death will not take me.

8:16 Speaker 1: British neurologist and author Oliver Sacks once said, It is the fate of every human being to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death. I'll return shortly with Act Two.

8:48 Speaker 1: Meet Jerry Connors. Family man. Business man. Psychopathic killer. The Convincer by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon. Jerry Connors. He can convince you to do anything. Even die. The English poet and playwright Hannah Moore once wrote, How short is human life? The very breath which frames my words accelerates my death.

9:36 Speaker 6: It's a trick.

9:38 Speaker 2: The bullets are fake.

9:41 Speaker 3: I assure you, Dr.

9:42 Speaker 6: Hale, that they are not. See?

9:45 Speaker 1: Ah.

9:49 Speaker 2: I believe that you have just murdered my sofa. So, how did you do it?

9:55 Speaker 3: All right, here's an idea. How about you shoot me then? Here, take the gun.

10:01 Speaker 2: I have no intention of shooting you, Mr. Smith.

10:04 Speaker 3: Go on, take the gun. Point it directly at me. Come on, pull the trigger.

10:10 Speaker 2: It is quite obviously some sort of a trick with the gun. Or you are a very lucky man.

10:18 Speaker 6: Lucky am I, really. I can't die. Would you call that lucky?

10:25 Speaker 2: You also claim to be over 7,000 years old. I find it very hard to believe.

10:31 Speaker 6: Okay.

10:32 Speaker 3: Would you like to hear the whole tale?

10:34 Speaker 2: I would be most interested.

10:39 Speaker 9: Okay.

10:47 Speaker 1: Okay.

10:48 Speaker 3: I was a pharaoh in Egypt. My kingdom was the largest, but I wanted so much more. The world was not enough. I wanted the heavens as well. But one day I discovered that I was only a mortal being. That one day, everything, everything that I called mine would belong to someone else. What good was it to own so much and only have a few years to enjoy it? So I vowed that I would make a deal with death itself. By all the gods, I command you to appear before me. Death, appear before your pharaoh!

11:32 Speaker 8: Now!

11:51 Speaker 3: Because I do not wish to die.

11:55 Speaker 1: No one wishes to die. Every mortal on this planet wants another year, another day, another moment.

12:16 Speaker 3: Yes, but I am not like those others. I... Am Pharaoh. I should be immortal.

12:27 Speaker 1: But no one... No one... Can be... Immortal.

12:40 Speaker 3: Which is why I offer you... Ten thousand souls. Ten thousand souls to do with as you will... In exchange... for my immortality.

12:53 Speaker 1: An intriguing offer. And when you deliver these souls....

13:04 Speaker 3: Tomorrow, I shall seal them up within the walls of my new pyramid. In a few hours, the air will be gone and their souls will be yours.

13:22 Speaker 2: And what happened then?

13:24 Speaker 3: I lived as no other human being ever lived. But then after a few months, I became bored.

13:35 Speaker 2: You ran out of things to do.

13:38 Speaker 3: Yes, I was immortal. I'd only been that way for a few months, but I became bored. I found out nothing could harm me. There were several assassination attempts. Each one failed. I found that nothing could hurt me.

13:54 Speaker 1: And then?

13:56 Speaker 2: Well, what did you do?

13:59 Speaker 3: I met Aisha. Mesmerizing goddess. Her eyes shined brighter than any desert sun. Her skin so soft, so beautiful.

14:16 Speaker 2: Aha, you fell in love.

14:20 Speaker 3: More than just love, Dr.

14:21 Speaker 1: Hale.

14:22 Speaker 6: I wanted her to be mine. Always.

14:25 Speaker 1: Forever.

14:26 Speaker 6: And she agreed.

14:27 Speaker 2: But then something happened. What was it?

14:32 Speaker 3: Death happened. In its own cruel way. Death took her from me.

14:42 Speaker 1: Oh, my Aisha.

14:45 Speaker 6: Oh, my Aisha.

14:47 Speaker 1: Why?

14:48 Speaker 6: Why? Why did you step in front of the assassin's blade? To save me? I told you I would never be harmed. Aisha, why didn't you listen to me?

15:11 Speaker 1: Because she loved you. You? You?

15:18 Speaker 6: Hook her from me.

15:20 Speaker 3: But I shall see her again. In the next life.

15:24 Speaker 1: Are you forgetting our... There will be no... Next life... For you. You wish to be... Immortal... And immortality is what you shall have. Seneca the Younger once said, Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all. It sets the slave at liberty, carries the banished man home, and places all mortals on the same level, insomuch that life itself were a punishment without it. I'll return shortly with Act 3.

16:39 Speaker 5: Have you heard any good books lately? Audiobooks from Winslow Swan, now available on Spotify.

16:58 Speaker 1: Singer and songwriter Joan Baez once said you don't get to choose how you're going to die or when you can only decide how you're going to live.

17:10 Speaker 2: Now right it's amazing seven Thousand years. The advancements that you must have seen.

17:25 Speaker 6: It is a terrifying fate, Dr.

17:28 Speaker 1: Hale.

17:29 Speaker 3: Yes, I've seen quite a bit. But I've also seen people around me die. They know the true joy of no tomorrow. I watched friends and close acquaintances grow old around me and die.

17:47 Speaker 2: And you never loved again?

17:50 Speaker 3: Not the way that I loved Aisha. I would never know that sort of love again.

17:57 Speaker 6: Ever.

17:58 Speaker 2: But how did you survive? You must have worked at something. After all, living can be quite costly.

18:08 Speaker 6: How do I explain this? Do you have a deck of cards?

18:15 Speaker 1: Yes, I believe so.

18:17 Speaker 2: Somewhere in here.

18:19 Speaker 1: Ah, here we are.

18:20 Speaker 3: Shuffle them.

18:21 Speaker 1: Thoroughly.

18:22 Speaker 3: Don't hand them to me, or let me touch them.

18:24 Speaker 6: In any way.

18:29 Speaker 1: All right. And now what?

18:31 Speaker 3: Deal out five cards to each of us, like a poker hand.

18:43 Speaker 1: There you are.

18:45 Speaker 3: Okay, now turn them over.

18:53 Speaker 2: I don't believe it. I have a straight flush. Four, five, six, seven, and the eight of clubs.

19:02 Speaker 3: A very strong hand indeed. One that you would definitely bet on.

19:06 Speaker 2: You bet your life I would.

19:08 Speaker 3: Unless you were playing opposite me.

19:12 Speaker 1: See?

19:15 Speaker 2: But that's... No.

19:19 Speaker 1: I don't believe it.

19:21 Speaker 3: You see? A royal flush. The only other hand that will beat yours.

19:33 Speaker 2: Come in.

19:35 Speaker 6: Am I disturbing you, Dr.

19:37 Speaker 1: Hale? Oh, no, Mr. Smith.

19:38 Speaker 2: Not at all. In fact, I've had a cancellation.

19:41 Speaker 6: Please, come in.

19:45 Speaker 2: I was really hoping to see you again. It's been what, a week now?

19:50 Speaker 3: Yes, at least.

19:53 Speaker 2: Any more thoughts of, well, doing away with yourself?

19:58 Speaker 6: Dr.

19:58 Speaker 3: Hale, I told you, death won't take me. I've hired professional hitmen to eliminate me. Yet every time, something happens and I'm saved.

20:10 Speaker 2: Well, I must say, you look better than you did last week. Has something changed in your life?

20:18 Speaker 3: Is it that obvious?

20:20 Speaker 1: Yes, Dr.

20:21 Speaker 3: Hale, something wonderful has changed. My Aisha has returned to me.

20:27 Speaker 1: What?

20:29 Speaker 2: Are you saying there is another 7,000-year-old walking around? No, nothing like that.

20:34 Speaker 3: She's been reborn. Her name is Ariel Mooring. I met her in the park after our last session, and we, well, we've been seeing each other.

20:47 Speaker 2: And you are positive that she is the reincarnation of Aisha?

20:53 Speaker 6: Yes, and she knows it as well.

20:57 Speaker 2: And have you told her? Have you actually told her that you will never die?

21:05 Speaker 1: No, Dr.

21:06 Speaker 6: Hale, I have not told her.

21:11 Speaker 1: Mr.

21:11 Speaker 2: Smith, don't you think it's a little selfish on your part to keep something like that from her? She will grow old and die, and you, well, you will still be the way you are now.

21:23 Speaker 3: Selfish or not, I have my Aisha back, if only for a few years still.

21:29 Speaker 6: Don't you see? I can live again.

21:31 Speaker 3: I've spent over 7,000 years trying to die. But now, now I want to live.

21:42 Speaker 2: That was what I had been waiting to hear.

21:49 Speaker 1: You.

21:50 Speaker 3: You.

21:52 Speaker 6: You shot me. I'm... I'm bleeding.

21:57 Speaker 3: But... But how?

22:01 Speaker 2: Don't you.

22:03 Speaker 1: Recognize me? For 7,000 years... I have waited to hear you say those very words.

22:21 Speaker 4: Yes, I took Aisha from you so long ago.

22:33 Speaker 7: And how? I'm taking her away. Again, again, again, again. Anubis,

22:46 Speaker 7: it isn't fair.

22:49 Speaker 1: Is that.

22:50 Speaker 6: No. Anubis, it isn't fair.

22:56 Speaker 1: No.

23:07 Speaker 9: Death, as is life, is never fair.

23:26 Speaker 1: As Joe Smith takes his final breath, Dr. Hale, or rather, death, takes his soul to its final destination. I'll return shortly with a final word.

23:46 Speaker 5: If you'd like to support us, visit our merchandise store. T-shirts, caps, mugs, and so much more. Visit doorwaytonightmare.com today.

24:12 Speaker 1: I leave you with the final two stanzas from Emily Dickinson's poem. We paused before a house that seemed a swelling of the ground. The roof was scarcely visible, the cornice in the ground. Since then, tis centuries, and yet, feels shorter than the day. I first surmised the horse's heads were toward eternity. Our cast included Darren Mahler and Winslow Swan. The story was edited by Quinson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan. And now, a preview of our next tales.

25:04 Speaker 7: So, Captain Jack, you must know a lot of stories.

25:10 Speaker 8: Aye, that I do, Mr.

25:12 Speaker 1: Wilson. That I do.

25:15 Speaker 7: Anything weird?

25:18 Speaker 8: Depends on what you mean by weird. The sea itself can be weird. Stay on her long enough, and you could become a weird story.

25:36 Speaker 1: This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us to the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the world of your own terrifying imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully.

25:57 Speaker 5: Epilogue The butler did it! Hey guys, this is Crimson.

26:04 Speaker 2: And this is Swan. And we'd love to know what you think of the stories.

26:07 Speaker 5: Even if it's bad.

26:09 Speaker 2: So leave us a comment.

26:10 Speaker 5: Or give us a thumbs up.

26:12 Speaker 1: Thank you!