[tape recorder crackles to life]
Lorie: So…you ended up here?
Bedwyr: Yeah…yeah, I did. I’m not sure why because he’s clearly not here…maybe he was and something happened, but they haven’t been returning my calls so it’s not like I can get my questions answered.
L: You just don’t know where he is?
B: [pause] Yeah. I don’t know.
L: Do you regret making the deal to come after him?
B: No…no, I don’t. Living in an empty flat by myself was awful and this way, at least I can feel like I’m doing something to learn about the fae. I can almost fool myself into believing I’m fighting back in a way.
L: Aren’t you as lonely here as you would be outside Breagh? You’re still by yourself.
B: Not quite, I found a cat.
L: But still…
B: …it was really bad the first few years. I used to just sit in the middle of the room replaying my tapes over and over. I didn’t even bother to eat…I don’t think we have to, in here. Then I realised that being depressed wasn’t gonna solve shit, so I may as well internalise it.
One nice thing about this town is that everyone has their own baggage. You can almost see it, like everyone’s personal rain cloud following them around. People who aren’t grieving or lonely or just fucked up don’t make deals to end up in places like this.
It’s all desperate people who can’t even remember what they were trying to forget by coming here.
L: …what about people who didn’t choose to come here?
B: I guess you inherit your baggage from other people…you really got the short end of the stick, huh? You ever read “This Be The Verse”? They fuck you up, your mum and dad, they may not mean to but they do…
L: It doesn’t seem like they fucked my brother up…they tried their best with him…it’s almost worse because I could see that it isn’t that they were incapable of being bad parents because they were nice to him, they just chose to do a bad job with me.
B: Did you get along with your brother?
L: Yeah…he was my best friend. Sometimes I thought he might have been the only person in the world who understood me.
B: I’m sorry…
L: [starting to get heated up] When he died, it just got worse. They didn’t have somebody else to focus on except for me so they were even worse to me. Every day, like it was my fault he was gone, like I was the one driving the car that hit him– It was totally random, too! It wasn’t even anyone’s fault! I used to think that maybe if the other driver had been reckless, if they’d been doing something bad, I could be mad at them and feel better, but it just…it was just dark, the road was just slippery, and my brother just died for no reason…it wasn’t anyone’s fault, it definitely wasn’t mine…
B: Losing people is its own special brand of shit…believe me, even if you did have someone to blame, it wouldn’t make you feel better. 
L: …it wouldn’t?
B: No. I’ve been hating Aine as hard as I can for years now, possibly decades, and it hasn’t done a single thing to make me feel less sad. Grief and anger don’t cancel each other out, they just make each other stronger until you have a shitton of both…also, no offence, but your parents sound like dickheads and I wouldn’t respect their opinions on anything if I were you.
L: [laughs weakly, then hesitates, she’s had this on her mind for a few minutes now but doesn’t know if she really wants an answer] …do you think if Walter had had a chance to pick between him and me, he would have picked the same thing my parents did?
B: No. Absolutely not. I can guarantee you he misses you as much as you miss him.
L: …how do you know?
B: That’s how loving a person works. It makes everyone tremendously selfish.
L: What do you mean?
B: Well…if you love somebody, sometimes you’d rather get hurt than see them get hurt because you don’t want to deal with the sorrow of seeing a person you love in pain, so you’d rather they do it. It’s the same thing as trading your life for someone else’s: you don’t want to live without them so you force them to live without you. It sounds like your brother really loved you, so I’m sure if he had the choice, he would have rather died than lost you.
L: …that sounds like being selfless, not selfish.
B: Maybe they’re the same thing.
L: You don’t make much sense.
B: Yeah, well, I’ve been talking to my cat for years, I could be much worse.
L: So…we’re all in a ring and there’s no way to leave…time works differently here and everyone’s from different time periods…and the fae are keeping us here to get power…
B: That about sums it up.
L: Wait, wait, but what about the letters? Henry’s letters from his mum, what did she mean about her brother taking him in and her marrying a human and all that?
B: …kid. This might be a hard one to come to terms with, but Henry’s mum was…one of them.
L: …one of who?
B: One of the fae.
L: No…no, that’s impossible, Henry isn’t evil or anything.
B: Have you ever noticed him say something strange? Maybe you forget things around him and only remember when you’re by yourself? Maybe he’s tried to stop you from figuring certain things out?
L: Yeah, but…but he’s just trying to make sure I don’t get in trouble, he’s not doing anything bad! I don’t…I don’t think he knows about his mum, he’s never said anything about it!
B: Kid–
L: When we found the letters, he was just as shocked as I was!
B: Kid, I don’t mean to sound patronising, but how good are you at figuring out when people lie?
L: Not very, but…
B: Is it possible that Henry’s been lying to you?
L: …I suppose…but I know him.
B: Yeah. And I knew Aine. You don’t really know what people are capable of until they do it.
L: …what am I supposed to do?
B: Maybe you can investigate by yourself for a bit…just to see if he tries to stop you or does anything suspicious.
L: I can try…
B: Might be a good idea.
L: Alright…thanks… [gets up]
B: I’m sorry.
L: For what?
B: I hate being the bearer of bad news and I’ve just given you a lot of it.
L: It’s not your fault…I’ll come back and tell you what I found, is that alright?
B: [smiles] Yeah. Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll look forward to it. I don’t get much company these days.
L: Except your cat?
B: Yeah, except her, she takes up a lot of my time, she’s very demanding.
L: Right…oh, I had one more question.
B: Shoot.
L: If you didn’t give them your real name, what did you say your name was?
B: Ah…I said it was Sinclair. 
L: Wasn’t that his last name?
B: …yeah. It holds value for me, but not enough value to give them complete power over me. I guess that’s why I can’t leave here, but I can remember everything.
L: That’s smart…goodbye, Mr. Sinclair.
B: You– [decides not to correct her] see you soon, Miss Abbot.
L: I’ll record everything I find out for you.
B: Very appreciated.
L: Bye!
[recording ends and starts up again]
B: [sighs] That kid’s too curious for her own good…then again, I guess that’s just what kids are like. It’s nice to have someone else in the house, even for a bit. You’d like her.
[recording ends]
Outro: This episode of Into The Ring stars Olivia Spreen and Val Zvinyatskovsky. It was created by Thomas Malinovsky and Olivia Spreen. It is written by Thomas Malinovsky and edited by Olivia Spreen. Cover art is by our friend Nick, you can find them on Instagram at @nickick._ Music is from Epidemic sound. Special thanks to Val Zvinyatskovsky. Thank you for listening, make sure to read “This Be The Verse”, it’s a nice poem. Until next time, welcome into the ring.