This person, or thing,
that came out of our basement...
That's what killed our friend, Jason.
Somehow, I think I created him
or invited him.
When your father left, this figure became real,
and losing Jason made you think about him again.
So do you think that this figure feels
more real to you
when you're in distress?
You shouldn't have gone to see the baby like that.
- You crossed a boundary. - He looks just like me.
You and your husband, do you fight with him a lot?
I mean, all couples fight.
We have some things we have to figure out.
But it's just part of being married.
Is it?
There is an ocean
inside of you.
And you can rest at the bottom.
Find the silence there.
Use the silence.
Come on!
Come on! Come on!
Oh, shit!
Shit!
Oh, my God.
Are you okay?
Hello, 911.
We just had a car accident.
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That's it? You can't give me more information?
Fine, okay.
Yes. Yes, I'm on my way.
- Oh! - Hey.
S... sorry. I, uh...
- What are you doing here? - I... I was just outside
and I, uh, saw your dog running around.
Your door was open.
I... I didn't mean to...
- Are you okay? - Um...
would you mind sticking around for a few minutes?
Yeah, yeah.
Sure, sure.
They, uh...
they didn't say how serious an accident.
Just that I should bring his clothes.
Well, sometimes they have to cut people's clothes off
to get them out of the car, you know?
He wasn't wearing clothes.
Oh.
They said it sounded like...
like someone was after him.
- After him? - Like chasing him.
Attacked him.
Like how someone attacked your friend who got killed?
I don't know.
I think so.
Hey, why... Why don't you let me drive?
You... you seem kind of upset.
Yeah, um...
yeah, thanks.
Hey, man.
You all right?
- Yeah, yeah, I'll be okay. - Ian drove me.
Yeah, we were worried about you.
Thanks.
- Thanks for bringing her. - Yeah, thanks.
- Um, you should get back. - You sure?
No, you don't have to stay here.
I can if you need anything.
- No. - Nah.
We don't know how long they're gonna keep me here, so...
Sure.
Yeah, well, um, you know where I live so...
Thanks.
Hey, feel better, dude.
Thanks.
Dude.
I've never tried floating meditation before.
Is it relaxing?
It was.
Why didn't you tell me you were going there?
I don't know.
I should have.
Was there...
any reason why you felt like you needed to go there?
Jill.
Tom.
I wanna know.
You guys up for a little visit?
Nah, I don't need to watch it.
I was there.
You know, in most cases like this
we would wonder whether the goal
was to kill her and you just happened to be there.
But all things being considered,
it's much more likely the goal was to get you.
Who knew you were gonna be there?
Because this Vanessa Moss didn't really advertise
this Jacuzzi closet anywhere.
In fact, she's mostly a doula.
Did I say that right? "Doula"?
She delivers babies.
A doula.
Yeah, this whole floating meditation mumbo-jumbo,
the clientele is mostly word of mouth.
Did a friend refer you?
You're in her phone.
There's one linked contact.
Who is "Sarah Winters"?
I did some work for her a while back.
I mean she... yeah, I guess she knows Vanessa.
Do either of you know the person in this video?
Or have any idea why...
he would like a Dr. Seuss character gone wrong?
No.
No?
His mask, it's, um...
it looks like this character that Jill created
when we were kids.
She just... she used to do these drawings.
Come again?
Okay, there are a lot of these drawings
in our basement, right?
So if this person was hiding there
then he probably saw them and made himself up
to look like that or something.
I mean, this... This person's obviously insane
or on drugs... PCP, something.
He got shot multiple times... It didn't even slow him down.
But why is he interested in you two?
Why does he try to kill you...
but make a point of letting your wife live?
Hey, Unagi.
Hello.
I really think we should go to a hotel.
I have to show you something first.
Jill...
What?
You really didn't see that guy's face?
Did you or didn't you?
Do you know who this person is?
Do you know why he's dressed like this?
He's me.
What?
Come on, I wanna show you something.
- Hey, Mommy. - Hey.
Hope you're ready for breakfast.
Yes, I'm starving. Looks delicious.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Hmm. What's that...
What are you looking at, sweetheart?
It's my favorite YouTube video.
- YouTube video. - I had no idea.
- You guys okay on drinks? - I'm good.
He was there to protect me.
Protect you? From what?
Anything painful.
I know it sounds crazy.
When I was little, I used to lie awake at night
thinking about all the bad things that could happen.
To me, to my parents...
After my dad took me to the circus,
I came up with Pretzel Jack.
I used to draw my stories about him
and put them under my bed.
When my dad left...
that's when he became real.
Real?
How?
He walked out of a little door
in the back of my closet.
Like that one.
He slept under my bed.
And then a few months later,
Mom and I moved away.
It wasn't like I forgot about him,
it's just...
it felt more and more like a dream.
Except now he's back.
What is that?
It's him.
From back then.
I don't know what that is.
Pretzel Jack killed Jason, Tom, and that woman.
You know... you saw him.
Jill, I saw...
a maniac in a mask or something.
So did you.
No, it wasn't a stranger. I felt it.
You felt what?
Some awful connection.
Like family.
It was almost comforting.
Jill, you were in shock.
It was Pretzel Jack.
Somehow he's real.
And he was trying to kill you.
Okay, let's just say all that's true.
Why would Pretzel Jack want to kill me, huh?
What?
I just told you my secret.
I'm naked here.
You tell me yours.
Why didn't you tell me about the kid?
Sarah Winters called, and I answered.
I heard the baby crying.
You have a kid with this woman, Sarah Winters.
Tell me I'm wrong.
The time you and I reconnected,
but when you and I got together for real, Jill,
we ended it.
Wasn't till later I found out she was pregnant.
Jill, she's married, okay?
Her husband thinks that the kid is his son.
She doesn't want him to know.
Her husband thinks the kid is his.
Yeah.
But he's your son.
Yeah.
Pretty sure that's my kid.
How old is he?
Eight months, one week.
Why the fuck didn't you tell me then?
Because, you know, Jill, I remembered about your dad
wrecking marriages, screwing up kids.
I fucked up, okay?
Why was it so fucking easy for you to lie?
It wasn't fucking easy.
You've never been all the way in this, Jill.
Like, any little mistake I make...
- Little? - That could be the reason...
- Little mistake? - I know.
I know. I know how fucked up it is
that I did this to you.
Then why did you do it?
Because I love you, Jill.
You wouldn't have loved me back if you knew.
I don't know how we can be together
without hurting each other.
- Stop. Stop. - No.
Jill, yes... yes, we do. We know.
- You know how to do this, Jill. - I don't know.
I don't know how we fix this.
Let's work on this the right way.
What... what do you mean?
I mean where we're less likely to hurt each other.
Where?
Where... where do you want to go?
I don't normally accept patients back
after they've fired me,
but considering you're in crisis,
I am going to refer you
to a trauma therapist I know,
as well as a very good marriage
and family therapy guy.
Thanks.
Nice to meet you.
And you.
So...
let's just address this other thing first.
Imaginary friends do feel real
to the children who invent them.
That's the point.
I already had this conversation.
Look, um...
We're in the middle of a...
perfect storm right now, relationship-wise.
I fucked up.
I kept a really, really huge secret from her,
and I want to make it right.
Okay, here's the thing.
What is love?
Real love.
It's two people saying,
"Here I am.
Vulnerable."
And what do we ask of our lovers?
Cherish us.
Protect us.
"Here is my soft underbelly.
Are you gonna hurt me?
You gonna cut me open, spill my guts?
Or...
are you going to show me your soft underbelly?"
Okay, but wait.
Going back, because this is important,
this Pretzel Jack thing is not an illusion.
- It's... - We, um...
You and I both agree that there's someone out there
who wants to hurt us... Or at least hurt me...
And that person has made himself up
to look like Pretzel Jack...
No, no, he hasn't made himself up to look...
It's something else, which is why what I saw
- as a kid is relevant now. - Babe, we both agree
that it's not safe for us, okay?
- Can we just stay there? - Right, but...
We're not going back to the house after this.
- We're gonna go get a hotel. - Yeah, okay, that's fine,
but you have to listen to what I'm saying, it's related.
Let's throw away this question
of what you saw as a kid, just for right now.
Why are you both acting like I am a kid?
Funny you say that.
Funny that's how you perceive you're being treated.
Who has imaginary friends?
Kids.
This is not good for me.
This is not good for any of us.
It's maintenance guys.
Tom, I'm not crazy, okay? I'm not crazy.
- No, no, no, don't. - Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I... I'm just going to tell
whoever it is making that noise out there
to keep it down.
It's Pretzel Jack.
Jillian...
I'm going to prove to you that it isn't.
If I open this door and it's not Pretzel Jack,
will that reassure you?
Hmm?
No, no, stay away from him.
No, no, no.
You need to leave, sir.
Do you want me to call the police?
Turn around...
and crawl right back out that window
just the way...
you came.
Come on!
Go, go, go, go!
Drive.
- We should call the cops. - Trust me.
- Come inside. - Jill, let's go.
You made him real.
What?
You're special.
- You have a condition. - Jill.
I know because I have it, too.
I'm just like you.
Here you go.
For you.
Okay.
So, first off, we don't have a lot of time,
so be open to what I'm telling you,
crazy as it sounds.
Because the longer that you resist,
the more danger everyone around you is in,
especially him.
And whatever you do, stay calm,
'cause your distress is like
the fucking Bat signal, okay?
He's out there, and he'll come when you call him,
whether you mean to or not.
Okay.
What did you tell him?
Everybody has...
their own emotional stuff, right?
You know, anxiety issues, hang-ups, fears.
But for you and I, that stuff...
can become real.
Pretzel Jack is my stuff?
Right, exactly.
I mean, everybody has secret doors, right?
But you and I can open ours.
Now, I don't know what issues
you might be dealing with, but, uh, if I was to guess,
I would say that Pretzel Jack
is something like your emotional
defense system.
How? How is that possible?
I don't know, but I'm guessing
Tom triggered it last night, right?
Anyway, it's probably not the first thing you've manifested.
For me, it started young.
I mean, these things we make as kids, they're...
They're like old toys, right?
You know, may be weird and beat up,
but they're comforting.
Jill.
What's more likely, here?
That there was a maniac in our basement
who saw your drawings, or that you and our neighbor
can mentally manifest your feelings?
When I was 12,
I went to the National Science Museum.
I saw a jar there with a sort of a...
brain tumor in it.
And it occurred to me, this tumor
is exactly like what we have.
Only our tumor isn't going to kill us,
and it isn't inside the skull.
It's on the outside just...
Just walking around.
Your tumor.
- Yeah, that's what I call it. - So, what?
This is just, um, some coincidence
that you happen to be our neighbor?
It's not a coincidence.
I mean, put yourself in my shoes.
You... you live your whole life feeling like you're alone
in the world, and then one day you wake up and you realize
somebody else shares your condition...
How? How do you realize that?
Because I can feel her.
She can feel me, too.
She just doesn't know it yet.
If that's true, you should have told me up front.
Yeah, I should have.
I'm sorry.
But I was worried I'd scare you off.
Maybe you would have,
but that was up to me, not you.
Jill.
Say I did create him.
How do I kill him?
Sorry it's uh, so Spartan in here.
Your guys' bedroom is a little more domestic, huh?
So...
how do you kill them?
Right?
It is possible, though, if you want
to do it physically, you're really gonna have to,
you know, take them apart.
I'm talking fully smash the head, cut it off,
throw him in a meat grinder, fully incinerate him.
That might do it.
But here's the thing, right?
You don't have to kill Pretzel Jack.
You just learn to control him.
He's a part of you. He's like your hands.
Plus, you can manifest other tumors
whenever you want.
You just gotta be careful.
It... it takes something out of you.
I get that you might be having a little trouble
swallowing all this.
Uh...
So how about I show you?
Show us?
Name an animal.
Something small and light.
A werewolf.
What?
We're already talking about impossible things.
Why don't you make a small,
light werewolf?
A cat.
Make another cat.
I love cats.
Oh, what the fuck?
It's a Lykoi.
Werewolf cat.
It's an actual breed.
I didn't just, you know, make it up.
Google it.
This power...
you can learn to control it.
Okay.
So, now what,
there's just a weird door
in your bedroom forever?
Well, once you learn how to really control it,
you know, you can un-create your doors.
But baby steps.
But I...
I can control him.
Yeah, you can.
What about range?
Range?
Does... could he be anywhere,
or does he have to be within
a certain proximity for him to, you know,
respond to how I'm feeling?
In my experience, you have to be within
a few hundred miles for it to work.
So what would happen if I just got on a plane
and went to Japan?
Well, he'd, uh, just stand there,
like a car in neutral waiting for you to come back
or until he just withered up and died,
which happens eventually.
Either way, it wouldn't fix your problem
because you'd still be at risk of manifesting a new one
at any moment.
The point is, we gotta figure out
what to do about this one.
Now...
Maybe if we could...
Draw him out and...
trap him.
Then at least you'd have time to figure out
how to control him.
And how would we do that?
When Pretzel Jack goes after somebody,
what does he think he's protecting you from?
Disloyalty.
Deception.
Betrayal.
Okay.
Let me get this straight, the only way
to not get me killed is to try to get me killed?
Is that what we're doing here?
Hey. Relax. I've done this before.
You're in good hands.
I think we should have waited longer to get married.
What?
I think we should have
gotten to know each other better, first.
We've known each other for over 20 years.
We knew each other more than 20 years ago.
There's a difference.
Can we not do this with him here?
It's not supposed to be easy.
He's here to help.
If you want to draw him out, you have to get hurt.
You have to get really hurt.
You have to be willing to go where it hurts.
Can you do that?
Okay.
I wish I could tell you she started it.
That's not the truth.
I was in their bedroom
taking measurements...
And I heard this laughter coming from outside.
She was out there with her kid, her daughter.
She looked so happy.
And good.
And I knew the marriage wasn't good.
Few days later, when we were alone in the house,
it just happened.
It was never illicit.
The way you imagine it might be with a married woman.
It just felt comfortable.
She never wore...
Supposed to turn your phone off during therapy, right?
Hey, keep going. You're doing good.
You're doing really good.
I don't know where I thought it would go.
Now...
Now she's raising our son.
And I don't know him.
He'll go his whole life
without knowing who I am.
I wanna be his father.
I want to teach him the things my dad taught me.
But now someone else will teach him different things.
I think of you that way, Jill.
I think of you as someone to be a parent with.
But I'm afraid that's not what you want.
I'm afraid you'll sabotage it.
You draw a border around yourself.
I'm worried there's no room to include anyone else.
Even a child.
I'm afraid that, deep down...
you're like your dad.
I guess that makes two of us.
Don't stop now.
This is good, we're almost there.
Keep going.
Tom...
You're fucked up.
I love you.
No, w... wait.
Wait.
Tom.
Tom!
I'm sorry, he gave up.
He shouldn't have. We were really close.
Hello? Who is this?
Jill... I, uh...
- I needed to talk to you. - Hello?
Jill, it's me. Dad.
...not over the phone.
I need to see you right away.
Jill? Jill, are you there?
Who is it?
It was my dad.
Your dad?
What did he want?
I don't know.
Jillian...
Stay calm.
If you're calm, he's calm.
Focus.
Deep breaths.
Tom?
Tom.
Tom, it's me. Open the door.
Tom.
Hello?
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We need to talk.