Conjuring the Cult

Hey, bug, are you ready?

Hello.

Hey. I'm home.

Okay.

God damn it!

Stop putting empties in the fridge.

Okay. Where are we going?

Hello?

Hey, I know you're here.

I can see your car parked outside.

Hey, what time did you say your friends are coming over?

Masha?

Masha?

Hey, Masha. Hun.

Are you in here?

Masha?

Masha bud.

Are you in there, honey?

No.

Masha.

I can't even work in the garden anymore.

Everything reminds me of her.

And the nights.

Nights, they're the worst of it all.

I can hear her.

She cries in the night.

Dead people don't cry, Gregory.

I know.

And know when I say this.

I'm not compelling you to completely forget about Mary

nor your time together.

We do need to find an enduring connection to the deceased

while embarking on our new life.

Now, the key word in that sentence, Gregory, is life.

Letting yourself live.

Does anyone else have anything

to share with the group tonight?

David, do you have something you'd like to share?

Hey, my name is David Bryson and I was born and raised here

in Bremerton.

Some of you probably already know, but, um.

Uh, four months ago.

I lost my daughter.

Masha.

Suicide.

And a month after that, I lost my wife.

She left me because she knows as well as I do that my

daughter killed herself because of me.

David, you know that's not true.

You cannot keep blaming yourself.

People keep telling me that I need to move on.

That I need to move forward.

I want to, but every time I try.

I just think to myself, what's the point?

You know what?

Why am I even doing this?

To move on, David.

We have to progress.

In a way that we have to progress.

No matter what events have transpired.

If I could, I'd like to go back and do things over, you know.

But you can't.

And you know what else I can't do, Gregory?

Anything?

Yeah. I don't know if it's

apathy or if it's depression, but

I just don't have the energy to do anything.

And so I just sit on the couch and I mindlessly scroll through

the channels because.

After everything I've been through.

The worst part about all of this are the nightmares.

What do you dream about, David?

You know about a Ouija board.

How fucked up is that.

No, David. It's not.

It's perfectly normal to want

to speak to our loved ones again.

I mean, isn't it so wonderful that you love something someone

so deeply?

That you feel this much about them.

It truly is a beautiful thing.

Yeah, well, I'm really jumping for joy here, doc.

And you know, my personal feelings on Ouija boards or

psychics or voodoo mysticism.

Yeah, well.

I don't even have the energy to do that.

There anyone else that has something they'd like to share

with the group today?

You have something to share.

We're very sorry to hear about your daughter, David.

You were here last week, weren't you?

Yeah, I was.

I'm glad you shared your full story.

It hurts, but it'll help.

You should never, ever blame yourself, David.

Thank you.

That's, um.

Very kind.

Of course.

The Ouija board can help, you know.

You just have to be careful with what you let in.

I'll keep that in mind.

Yeah. Thank you again.

Are you four all here together?

We belong to another help group as well.

We come here not only to support each other, but to

support those who desperately need it.

Sometimes people just want to

be listened to, voices to be heard.

Okay, that makes sense.

We don't normally do this, but we can help you.

Come to one of our meetings.

Uh,

thanks, but I don't.

I don't think I'm going to be coming back to this one.

Precisely the reason we're offering.

We can help you.

We can help you close out that chapter with your daughter.

Take care of yourself, David.

Masha, is still hanging on to you as well?

You can feel it.

Hey, wait a minute.

How do you know my daughter's name?

Sometimes, if you listen closely.

Their voices can be heard.

Just.

Be careful,

if you decide to continue with this on your own.

Thou shalt not screw around

with things thou does not understand.

Or else.

So, Keno.

- What? - Destruction.

If you change your mind.

Damn it!

Hey.

Hey.

I should have all this gone by tomorrow.

Dad's picking me up at four to

get the rest of the stuff, okay?

No, don't.

Don't start.

I can't deal with this right now.

I'm sorry.

I don't want you to think that I don't care because.

I do.

I will always continue to love you and Masha.

Thank you.

I guess I needed to hear that.

I'm sorry that things turned out the way they did.

It just.

Things got complicated.

I got to go.

Private stay out.

Dear diary, I don't know what to do anymore.

It's like a big rain cloud is

following me around all the time.

And I guess my diet or my feelings or something.

Really, I don't know, I just.

Just wish it would all go away.

Figure it out for us today.

It's too much.

I'm so overwhelmed.

I wish there was a clear answer.

Why, why, why, why?

Maybe this is just a.

Why, why, why, why?

Why, why, why, why?

Masha?

Masha?

What the fuck?

Yeah. Hey, is this is this Casey?

Hey, Casey, this might sound a little bit weird, but this is

David Bryson.

I'm Masha's father.

Thanks for agreeing to meet with me today.

Not a problem, Mr. Bryson.

Oh, please, call me David.

So I've been reaching out to some of Masha's friends since.

You know, truth be told, I didn't.

I didn't know my daughter that well.

I mean, when she was younger,

she was my little buddy, you know?

But she grew up, and, I don't know, we just kind of seemed to

drift apart.

Me and my dad too.

Can I get one of those from you?

Aren't you a little young to be smoking?

It happens.

It does.

But I mean,

seriously though, you guys had to have been close, right?

I mean, I remember hearing your name a few times.

We were.

Was she happy?

Well.

Masha. She was she was struggling with something.

You know, I mean.

She. There were a couple times

we'd go to our friend Megan's house,