Mark Higgins

**Mark Higgins** is Dan Turner's best friend and helps him to find information outside of his job in the Catskills. He is also owner of a podcast called Mystery Signals.

## History

At Mystery Signals, people record a horror podcast called True Tales of the Secret City. Mark Higgins introduces himself and the audience applauds. Mark tells Dan about the story, but Dan does not believe in supernatural phenomena. Before he leaves, Mark asks him to tell him if he was feeling low again, demanding that he ask him for help if he needs it.

Dan does not know how Virgil found out about his family since it was not public information, but Mark does not know either and invites him to go drinking with him.

In the middle of the night, Dan wakes up startled. He plugs a USB into his computer and watches Mel and her friend talking again. He zooms into a picture of her and looks at the dog in the photo, which looks a lot like his family's dog. He tells Mark that the dog could be his, but he does not understand how. Mark says that to him, 13 unrecovered bodies meant that they died, but Dan is not sure since he had looked for Mel and could not find her. Mark asks if he was asking all of this because of Jill, but Dan says that he was not, telling him that he had saved up three weeks of allowance to buy his dog Cleo a red dog collar, but Mark does not believe it. Mark tries to convince Dan not to take the job, but Dan sees the picture as a sign and says that he will accept it.

Dan runs out and looks for signal desperately; he is able to find it and calls Mark. Mark asks him what had happened because he had not heard back from him, but Dan tells him that LMG had been listening. Dan says he is okay, but thought he had seen something, but brushes it off, saying that the place was messing with him. He asks about Tamara Stefano, but Mark says he had not found anything. Dan asks for him to look up anything he could about LMG and Melody Pendras. He hears noises around him as he ties a lace to a tree.

Dan reaches his lace and calls Mark, telling him he saw his father in the footage at the Visser in 1994 in some kind of ambush. Mark thought his father was a psychology professor at NYU, which makes it strange that he was there. Dan says that Davenport was a liar, because he must have known that his father was involved. Mark tells his friend that he could keep his cool or try to fight, but Dan simply asks him to go to his aunt's house and gather his father's files, which Mark agrees to.

Dan runs to the woods and sees a small sort of cellar, but is not able to open it. He sees a ladder to the side and calls Mark, telling him through voicemail that Melody did know his father, as she was his patient, so he wanted him to look for patient files. Suddenly, he sees someone in the distance in a red jacket and calls out, running towards the person, who manages to lose him.

Dan walks up to the piano and plays the melody he used to play as a kid. After that, he grabs a bike and heads to the nearest town in order to meet up with Mark. There, he tells Mark that he believed that his sister had come up with the melody he used to play, which he thought she had made up, but now it turns out it was the "Visser Historical Sex Society's sex cult theme song". He hands Mark a piece of paper which says Kalaygo, which he thinks is creepy. Mark tells Dan to keep investigating the house, but Dan knows it is under surveillance, so he asks for the other stuff he asked for. Mark tells him that Legacy Management Global is an iceberg because he could not find anything. He says that at Dan's aunt's house he was not able to find any patient records for Melody Pendras, but he has his father's recorded patient sessions and has the ones marked with Melody's name. He wonders if Melody had filed the complaint against Dan's father, but Dan does not think so even though he knew that Melody was mad at him. Mark says that maybe he could ask for himself, since Melody Pendras did not die in the fire and was alive and well in Pittsburgh, so she could know what happened to his father.

In the woods, Dan tells Mark that he had listened to a few of the tapes he had brought him, which could contain some interesting things. Mark says that he did some digging on the letter and realized Dan's father could have been publishing some things that went against NYU policy. Also, Mark tells him that a musicologist that he used to date listened to Dan's song and mentioned she had never heard anything like it. Dan says he spent all night taking his bathroom apart, opening up the mirror and disassembled the fixtures, but found no cameras in there. Virgil had said that there was no internet there, but there was a data port on the wall, so he opened up the plaster and found many cables, tapping a feed using vampire tap, so he now has access to all the cameras in the compound, both inside and out, so now all he has to do is finish mapping the camera positions. Dan also tells Mark that he is working on going back down to the basement, and asks him to be gentle with Melody when he sees her since she had been through a lot.

Mark walks doen the street and introduces himself to Melody, who now has a burn on her face. He tells her that he was visiting because of the tapes she had shot at the Visser building in 1994. She invites him into her house, where she tells him that the tapes were not real. He asks about her looking for her mom, but she says that she had never found her. She tells him that she does not remember much about the fire except for waking up in the middle of the night and seeing everything on fire, including herself. The next thing she knew, she was in the hospital waking up and nobody went looking for her since she was listed as a Jane Doe. She tells him that she is not in touch with anyone she had met there, so Mark starts to ask about Steven Turner, but she tells him once again that she does not remember a lot. He plays the eerie melody that Dan recorded, but she simply says it is pretty, so he thanks her for her time.

Dan walks into the chapel which is now open while Mark pours himself a drink. Mark tells him that Melody did not show and nobody was at her house, so he would go back later. Dan tells him that there was a housekeeper who he convinced to let him into the chapel. He tells Mark that the chapel had no cameras but it did have an entrance to the tunnels, so he now had 7 hours of an empty corridor recorded which was now looped back into the feed, so now he has to get a code for the door. Mark tells him they could have used his skills all these years, but Dan says he is only halfway there and Mark admits that he lied about Melody and says that it was not her, but someone different who had bought her identity and had enough details to fool anyone who might come looking. Dan asks if he could keep looking and Mark says that the only way stealing another person's identity like that is if the real person is dead. Dan thanks him for making the trip and says he would talk to him later.

Mark finds Dan's father's studies weird and says that that might have gotten him in trouble with the department. Dan says that he found a bunch of stuff from the Visser apartments such as clothes, pictures, and books, also finding Melody's ring and journal. Dan says that the man writing the journals must have been working there as well. Mark asks him if he is okay, but Dan says that he does not want to talk.

When they hang up, Mark is approached by Virgil, who tells him Mystery Signals has a great space and a real sense of history. Mark says that the building is not for sale, but Virgil says that everything is for sale and introduces himself. He tells Mark that he thinks that both he and Dan make a strange pair, but Mark wants to know why he would need to get anything out of their relationship. Virgil tells him that he is worried about Dan and knows that they are in touch so he wants to get some perspective on his mental health since he knew that Dan had spent 8 weeks in Vermont thanks to Mark's father. Mark says that the breakdown did not happen because of Jill, but because it triggered a bunch of old family memories and realizes that all Virgil wants is a spy, so he tells him to fuck himself. As Virgil leaves, Mark asks him what is so important about Melody and her tapes, wanting to know what he wanted to find, but Virgil says that it is confidential. He hands Mark a card and tells him to call anytime.

Dan realizes that Melody was real and calls Mark, saying that he could save her since there was still time. Mark does not know what he is talking about and Dan explains, but Mark looks at the card Virgil sent him.

Dan restores his father's tape from when he turned 8 and starts thinking about the past. The telephone rings, so he picks it up. Mark tells him that he is outside and Dan tells him that he cannot let him in since the place was under surveillance. He tells him that he is doing fine and apologizes for him having come all that way, but Mark gets him to come back by telling him that he found Thomas Bellows, who was offered a ton of cash by Davenport to restore VHS tapes, but she signed some NDAs after a car accident he had in Nova Scotia. Mark tells him that Thomas had lost his shit up there and Mark tells Dan that he said he had been seeing Melody. Dan tells him that he is fine and tells him to go home. Dan walks back into the house and starts destroying the cameras, so that Virgil could no longer see him.

Dan calls Mark and tells him that Thomas Bellows was digitizing tapes belonging to Patricia. He also adds that he saw the same face Thomas had seen. The call ends and Bobbi approaches him. He tells her that he found the replacement deck and asks what had happened to the man before him. She tells him not to make the same mistake; advising him to do the job, take the money and never look back.

Jill walks into a bookstore, where Mark was at. He wonders why it was empty, but she says that she needed to fire her coworker. He tells her that he heard that Evie had a stroke last week and knew that her son wanted to sell his grandfather's tapes. He tells Jill that he knows she has them and the only reason she knew of them was because of Dan's weird obsession with *The Circle*. She tells Mark that she knows that Dan does not work at the museum anymore, to which he replies that he is out of town and Jill says that it was not for sale to him or his podcast. Mark says that Dan would never forgive her for having sex with the film festival guy even if she bought him anything, so she might as well let him pay for it.

After that, Jill tells Mark that apparently Will Crest was weird, but *The Circle* was different and was bout some cult in New York City. The Vos Society, but she could not find anything about them. She tells Mark that the scripts are not bad and tells him about the people in photos. She hands him a copy of the snuff film Will had seen which inspired *The Circle*. They watch the film, which surprises Mark and Jill tells him that the rumor is that everything is cursed. Mark tells her that he would take it off her hands.

Outside, Dan loses his temper and goes back to his apartment, which was open. There, he sees Mark, who walks up to him and hugs him. He tells him that he had to get something for him, but Dan asks if he had gotten his message because he has Thomas on video mentioning a face in the screen. Mark thinks he is strange, but Dan says that he saw it too and describes it as unhuman. Mark says that people used to believe cameras could capture demons and says that he wants to show him something as well. He shows him the William Crest collection, telling him that Evie Crest had died. Mark tells him about the Vos society, which did a lot of dark magic and had an instruction manual from witches called Baldung. He tells him that they were trying to raise Kaelego from an alternate dimension. He hands Dan the snuff film Samuel wanted, which William Crest dedicated his life to figure out. He shows him the Vos family ghost photos and asks if he had been seeing something similar, but Dan is not sure. However, he looks at one of the photos and recognizes a woman, who Mark says is Iris Vos, but Dan says that was the woman that Anabelle was painting.

Mark tells Dan that the Vos mansion was destroyed in a fire as well as the Visser, so they realize that Iris had done the same ritual trying to bring the demon to their world, which means that Samuel must have done the same thing at some point. Dan says that Melody's tapes just ended, so he has no idea what happened to her after his father took her to Rockland. Dan says that Samuel could not have killed Melody since he needed her, so Dan wonders if there is someone left who could help them. Dan asks about Anabelle, who would be 50, but Mark wonders if they should leave it. Dan needs to know what happened since his father was a part of that and they stole her life. Mark asks what Anabelle's last name is and Dan gives it to him, so they start looking for her.

Walking into Rockland, Dan and Mark are taken to Anabelle. She asks if he is Dan and he asks if she knows him. She asks what took him so long and opens the door for him. Inside, Anabelle tells him that "she" had been waiting for him, which he does not understand until she mentions Melody, who was painted all over her wall. Dan wonders where she is and Anabelle tells him that in the Otherworld just like Iris was and tells him that he needs to get her out.

Anabelle tells Mark and Dan about how Melody escaped and Dan asks if she is sure that his father was not working with Samuel, but she says that that was what she remembers. Anabelle says that she has been painting Melody for a long time and hears her calling. Mark tells Anabelle that Melody died in a fire at the Visser, but Anabelle says she did not and wants to go home, needing Dan to find her. Anabelle also says that Jess left something for Dan and hands him a box of tea bags, which she wanted to keep safe. Mark says that he looked up Jessica Lewis but did not find anything and Anabelle lets them know that her new name is Sister Mary Cecilia and went to Haiti just recently. Dan wonders what is in the tapes, but Anabelle does not know.

Mark and Dan watch the tapes, where they hear a distorted growl and different noises. Dan brings out a video camera made for kids and knows that Jess had one. There they see a video Jess shot asking Melody what she wanted to do growing up. The other videos show static except for another one that shows Melody, saying that she is looking for Jess, who was being held against her will. She says that her footage is submitted as proof against Samuel, also adding that if something happens to her, Samuel is responsible.

Mark summarizes everything, saying that the ritual was done at the Vos mansion, which had collapsed with no survivors or bodies found with the same thing happening at the Visser in 1994. The ritual was done again and disaster struck, but now they had a better look. Mark says that if he believes everything they had seen, they got a glimpse into The Otherworld and the ritual opens a door, where the worlds intersect. Iris had tried to pull Kaelego out, but was pulled inside instead, so Dan realizes that Melody could be there as well and the visions that he has been having are a way Melody has of saying she is trapped, but they do not know how to get her out. Dan says that Davenport probably has a plan, but Mark tells him that he is lucky Davenport had not killed him before. Dan says that his father had tried to help and failed, so Dan says that perhaps everything he lost all comes back to that moment and he has a chance to make things right.

They ended up at a facility because Dr. Turner had put them there, but Virgil does not know why. He tells Dan that they burned down his house in order to destroy them, also saying that there are people that wanted to raise that demon more than anything and people who wanted to avoid that more than anything and his father was on the other end of those people - his family paying the price and Dan's survival being purely accidental. Dan tells Virgil that Melody is still alive and in the Otherworld and needs his help to get her out, which Virgil says is impossible since it is not a hospitable environment for a human being, having spent the better part of 20 years researching the properties of that dimension, but Dan tells him that Samuel is in there as well, playing the rest of the tape for him. Virgil describes Samuel as irrational and has no reason to rescue him from the tomb he had trapped himself in willingly, which angers Dan, so he charges at Virgil and the two fight until he pulls out a gun. Virgil says that he is sorry because he really does like him, but Mark shows up and hits him in the head.

Dan walks into the hole he made in the pantry and goes downstairs with Mark, who is nervous about Virgil sending people to kill them. However, Dan says that he went there to get Melody out and says that everything they need is there. Dan tells Mark that they know how to do everything, but his friend reminds him that both rituals ended in total destruction and would not let himself get his throat slit. However, Dan says that he is not trying to raise the demon, but open a door instead, which Mark says that he would not let him do because it is suicide. Dan tells him to go since it is not safe and it would make a great story for his podcast, but Mark says that he had not been doing all that for the podcast, but because he cares about him and does not want him to die. He says that if Dan was really going to go through with the plan, then he would not leave him there and both of them hug.

Mark and Dan head downstairs to the room identical to the Vos mansion with Melody's tapes playing, which surprises Mark, saying that the place was very weird. Mark grabs the book and hopes that Melody is inside, but is called by Mark who has a gun pointed to his head by Bobbi. Bobbi tells Dan that she does not know if Virgil was going to make it; he says that the hit was in self-defense, but she says that he only wanted to hijack the place. Dan says that Melody was trapped and they needed to help her, which makes Bobbi ask why he would risk his life for somebody he does not even know, but only a shadow. Dan says that it is not like that and Melody was counting on him. However, she tells him that the ritual did not work for the others, and it would not work for him since they did not have everything they needed. She tells them that the book should have been destroyed since the Vos family stole it and it did not belong to them, but they failed to acquire the key they needed.

Mark realizes that Bobbi is a Baldung and Bobbi tells them that only a Baldung could open the door with both the spell and key. Dan wonders if she would get Davenport inside, but she says that she would never do that - he was only a means to an end. Mark wonders if she was going rogue and raising Kaelego, but Dan realizes that she was not there for that and wants to get Melody out too. Dan realizes that Bobbi is Melody's mother, and she tells them that she thought that if she gave her up, she would be safe and would not have to bear the burden of their bloodline, having no idea that she would go looking for her. Bobbi says that she has spent 25 years trying to get her back, knowing she was in there because she dreams about her every night, but she does not have magic anymore, so she needed Davenport to make that possible, someone to thin the veil enough to crack inside, which is what playing the footage does.

Bobbi, Dan, and Mark begin by trying to find the frequency to enter the other world. Dan mentions that Davenport had told him no human could survive there, but she tells him that Davenport has no idea what he is talking about, but it would be disorienting, and Kaelego would want to keep them there since he is lonely and would want them to surrender. She tells Dan that she could hold it open for five minutes and begins the ritual, telling him to follow the sound of the key to go back home. She covers the Kaelego figure in blood and begins chanting in the ancient language, opening the door to the Otherworld.

Melody calls for Dan, but sees Bobbi there, who reaches her hand out and helps her get up. Melody asks if they know each other, but Mark asks where Dan is. Melody says that she does not know because he was right next to her, but Samuel was there as well. Mark calls for Dan, wanting to know where his friend is.