Audio Play / Let Them Go

Let Them Go is an audio drama created by Alexander Shaw and is the seventh story in the New Century series, though it serves as a Prequel to the series as a whole.

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Let Them Go provides examples of:

• Agent Scully: Dawson is this for a good portion of the story in regards to the fact he refuses to believe that the people they're dealing with are infected with Egyptian Rabies despite all evidence to the contrary.
• Analogy Backfire: While dealing with Mr. Galloway, Amanada compares the potential partnership between their two stores to the symbiotic relationship between remoras and sharks. Galloway says it sounds more like a parasitic one and Amanda later comments that she probably shouldn't have used that analogy.
• Anger Born of Worry: A rather extreme case on behalf of Charles Wolverton towards his children. After they play hide and seek in the woods around Ravenwood a year after Timothy's death, Charles becomes furious at them, and then, their aunt and uncle. This leads to a breakdown in relations between Amanda and Rebecca's father and their aunt and uncle.
• Armor-Piercing Response: Rebecca is able to get Dawson to stop trying to put Amanda down because she points out that if there's no way to save someone infected with Egyptian Rabies, then he might as well kill himself too, because he's likely been infected as well.
• Berserk Board Barricade: At one point, Dawson begins breaking down furniture and using the resulting boards to nail over the windows.
• Big "NO!": Rebecca gives one when Cleo is killed by barghests.
• Book Ends: The story begins and ends with Rebecca finding one of her siblings hiding in the same tree.
• Boom, Headshot!:
  • How Cleo dispatches Cavendish.
  • Also how Rebecca kills Elsie.
• Calling the Old Man Out: After their father's suicide, Rebeccas does this directed towards Amanda, saying that their father essentially abandoned them and their mother in his pursuit of profit.
• The Caretaker: Rebecca takes care of her mother after she falls ill while her father continues traveling for business and her sister is in Geneva for school. This is part of the reason why she rejects Rafe's marriage proposal.
• Caretaker Reversal: Rebecca was forced to take care of her mother when she fell ill while her father was away on business.
• Carry a Big Stick: One of the improvised weapons Rebecca uses is a carpenter's hammer, which she uses to beat Dawson to death.
• Cathartic Scream: Rebecca lets one out after the reading of her father's will.
• Catch Your Death of Cold: In episode 2, Rebecca worries that Timothy will catch a cold when it starts raining while they are playing in the woods. While he doesn't catch a cold, due to his long exposure to the rain, he does catch pneumonia and die.
• Closed Circle: The main story deals with a group of people trapped in the English mansion of Ravenwood by a barghest prowling outside. Becomes even more so when Rafe, the only combat capable member of the group, is killed, losing the group's only firearm in the process.
• Cobwebs of Disuse: Rebecca notes that Ravenwood now sports numerous signs of age that were not present the last time she was there, such as cobwebs in the high corners of rooms.
• Cool Old Lady: Aunt Cleo, who is happy to go against the spirit of her brother's will in order to help Rebecca and dispatches a barghest with a shotgun, something trained soldier Rafe was unable to do.
• Creepy Basement: Rebecca has to enter Ravenwood's dark basement at one point in the story. It contains an old, unused room behind a hatch that is even creepier.
• Death from Above: How William Smythe dies, as the barghest he climbed into a tree to avoid is hiding further up in the tree than he was, and she drops down on him when he falls out.
• Dead-Hand Shot:
  • Played with, in that seeing Timothy's limp hand is how Rebecca finds him in the woods, and while he's alive at the time, he has already become infected with the pneumonia that would kill him a few days later.
  • After the group retreats back into the house when Rafe is attacked, Rebecca looks out the window in an attempt to find him and can only make out one of his corpse's hands in a shaft of moonlight.
• Dead Man Writing: Amanda leaves Rebecca a letter she managed to write before succumbing to the barghest infection.
• Dehumanization: Rebecca starts thinking of the barghest as separate creatures instead of the people they once were to make doing what she has to easier for her.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance:
  • Charles Wolverton does not believe women have a place in business and has been trying to force Rebecca to find a husband over running the family store.
  • Dawson dismisses the idea of Egyptian Rabies being in the British Isles due to it being the provinence of Darkest Africa and countries with "unpronounceable names".
• Dramatic Thunder: In episode 2, thunder rolls ominously in the distance as the Wolverton sisters realize they cannot locate their brother.
• Dramatic Shattering: Rebecca drops her teacup, which shatters against the floor, when she notices the barghest watching her and Cleo through a window.
• Driven to Suicide: Charles Wolverton shoots himself in the head shortly after learning the British are pulling out of India due to "Egyptian Rabies".
• *Drool* Hello: Played with due to the fact that William Smythe notices the barghest he was running from hiding in the tree above him and then she drools on him before attacking.
• Dwindling Party: After the barghest shows up, the five characters begin to be whittled down. Semi-started when Amanda gets incapacitated by a barghest bite, then kicks into full gear as Rafe, then Cleo are killed.
• The End... Or Is It?: In addition to the fact that the barghest plague will only get worse after the ending of the story, [[the last scene implies that Rebecca having left the hatch in the basement open will lead to bad things.]]
• Epigraph: The first episode begins with a quote from The Stolen Child by William Butler Yeats.
• Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Charles Wolverton disapproved of Rebecca wishing to become a businesswoman, instead believing she should focus on finding a husband to the point he leaves the family business to his sister in a final effort to keep it from Rebecca. Somewhat subverted overall though, as he approves of his married daughter Amanda's dream of being a writer.
• Final Girl: Rebecca, as the other characters are either killed by or infected by barghests. Unremarked upon but related is the fact, as the only unwed character in a Victorian setting, she is likely also a virgin.
• Flash Back: William Smythe has one on how he ended up being chased through a rural English field by a barghest.
• Foreshadowing: William Smythe being attacked by a female barghest hints that there is more than one barghest lurking around Ravenwood.
• Gory Discretion Shot: The group in Ravenwood close the door just as the barghest pounces on Rafe to finish him off.
• Gothic Horror: The story is a return to a more horror oriented tale that the series had drifted away from since Secret Rooms and perhaps surpasses the other stories in invoking the feel of a period accurate horror story.
• Halloween Episode: Most of the story takes place on Halloween night.
• Hide and No Seek: As children, Rebecca would threaten this while playing with her siblings as a tactic to get them to reveal themselves.
• Hope Spot: Aunt Cleo manages to kill the Cavendish barghest, only to be set upon and killed by two others who had gone unnoticed.
• Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: Most of the story occurs on Halloween night.
• Hysterical Woman: Dawson believes Amanda is this after Rafe's death, but she is actually undergoing the transformation into a barghest.
• I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Ravenwood, especially when you learn it was originally named Crowswood and derived its name from the fact it was located near a crossroads that featured a gibbet that would house living criminals who were ultimately feasted on by crows.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In what would be her last letter to Rebecca, Amanda revealed that she was planning on divorcing Rafe, because she knew he and Rebecca were in love with each other and she wanted them both to be happy.
• Imagine Spot: In episode 2, after Amanda tells him to be quiet while they're in the woods, Timothy briefly imagines the trees coming to life and forcibly shushing him.
• Impaled Palm: Happens to Dawson when Rebecca stabs him as he attempts to break into the room she's barricaded herself in.
• Improvised Weapon: After the loss of the shotgun, Cleo gathers a number of household objects that the ground could use to defend themselves. Rebecca later uses a fire poker and a meat cleaver to fight an injured barghest, then dispatches Dawson with a kitchen knife and a carpenter's hammer.
• Inelegant Blubbering: Amanda's reaction to Rafe's death.
• Ironic Nursery Tune: Amanda sings "O Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?" after Rafe is killed, showing both her sorrow over his death and her succumbing to the barghest's bite.
• It Always Rains at Funerals: It rains during Timothy's funeral.
• It's All My Fault: Both Cleo and Rebecca blame themselves for Timothy's death.
• It Will Never Catch On: Galloway is somewhat unsure of Rebecca's overall plan, though listeners will realize she's essentially describing a shopping mall.
• Jump Scare:
  • After Rafe goes looking for the barghest, the group begin talking amongst themselves, only for Rafe to suddenly fire the gun nearby, startling everyone.
  • As Rebecca is musing after killing one of the barghests, she is startled by Dawson suddenly slamming against the basement door.
• Knee-capping: Happens to Rafe during his struggle with the barghest.
• Libation for the Dead: Amanda suggests that food should be left out for the restless dead that she believes likely haunt the woods around Ravenwood, due to the location's morbid history and the fact that it is Halloween.
• Love at First Sight: Rafe believed he had this with Rebecca. Ultimately, he said he was still in love with Rebecca even though he became engaged to her sister.
• Madness Mantra: Amanda continuously sings "O Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?" as she falls victim to the infection.
• Married to the Job: Rebecca is implied to be this with respect towards running the shop, as Amanda has to literally drag her away from it for them to visit their Aunt Cleo. This is part of the reason why she rejected Rafe's marriage proposal, as, due to the law, Rafe would be given control of the shop if they married.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: After she locks herself in the master bedroom and hides in the bed, Rebecca is confronted by voices that belong to her dead loved ones. It seems as though these are just figments of her stressed mental state, but the narration later states that this was not the last time someone heard voices like this in the house.
• Meaningful Echo: Rebecca says "I found you" both when she finds Timothy sick with pneumonia under the tree, and when she finds a barghest-infected Amanda hiding in its branches.
• Meet Cute: Rebecca and Rafe's first meeting was this, with him coming into her shop after her dog had damaged his boots, leading to her doing emergency repairs on them.
• Mercy Kill: Initially, Rebecca sets out to do this to Amanda, but ultimately can't bring herself to do it.
• No Peripheral Vision: Averted by Rebecca managing to spot Amanda hiding in the boughs of a tree despite her gaze being focused on the roots.
• No Range Like Point-Blank Range: Rebecca only manages to hit one of the barghests with a shot from the shotgun by firing it reflexively right before it leapt on her.
• Nothing Is Scarier: The hatch in basement is a recurring source of dread in the story, but only darkness is ever seen beyond it and we're never told, exactly what is inside. Even the ending, which implies that the hatch being left over was a bad thing, doesn't indicate why that is.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: It's mentioned that Rafe's parents find Amanda to be strange and that she once gave his mother nightmares.
• The One That Got Away: Rafe was this to Rebecca. She says their relationship ultimately didn't work out but that she was in love with him and no other man has measured up.
• Old, Dark House: Ravenwood, the main setting of the story, is an old English manor that has fallen into a slightly dilapidated state and is surrounded by a thick forest.
• Parental Neglect: After Timothy's death Charles Wolverton became distant towards his daughters and spent most of his time away on business.
• Prequel: The story serves as one to the whole series.
• The Reveal: In her last letter to Rebecca, Amanda reveals she knows that Rebecca is in love with her husband Rafe and was planning on divorcing him so he and Rebecca could be together.
• Running Away to Cry: Played with, in that Rebecca does flee the room to be alone after the reading of her father's will, but she does it out of anger and frustration instead of sorrow.
• Sacrificial Lion: Rafe, Amanda's husband and the only combat capable person at Ravenwood, is killed trying to hunt down the barghest.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: The ending implies that Rebecca leaving the hatch in the basement open after trapping Dawson was a bad thing, possibly for this reason.
• Sequel Hook: The ending says that Rebecca will return as well as implying that her leaving the hatch in the basement open will have consequences.
• Shell-Shock Silence: Happens to Rebecca after she shoots a barghest at point blank range. The ringing is enough that she doesn't notice at first that the barghest was now screaming in pain.
• Shoot Out the Lock: Dawson attempts to do this to get into Amanda's bedroom, but is stopped by Rebecca before he can.
• Shoot the Dog: Dawson attempts to do this with the infected Amanda after he is convinced that they're dealing with Egyptian Rabies.
• Shout-Out:
  • Rebecca remembers her father reading her and Amanda Gulliver's Travels when they were young.
  • When Dawson is looking into the room in the cellar, it's said that he sees "Darkness there and nothing more."
• The Social Darwinist: Galloway says he agrees strongly with Darwin's "survival of the fittest" statements when discussing a business deal.
• Soft Glass: Averted in Rebecca's story about a man who died after walking through a pane of glass.
• Staircase Tumble: Happens to Dawson after Rebecca slams the door at the top of the stairs in his face.
• Stiff Upper Lip: Rafe explains having to appear collected while in danger during his time as a soldier.
• Tae Kwon Door: Rebecca does this to Dawson after he starts chasing her, first slamming the door against his wrist then kicking it into his face, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs.
• The Teaser: The story's prologue, which opens on William Smythe being chased through a field in rural England by a barghest.
• Tragic Keepsake: Rebecca keeps the stopper to a lemonade bottle as a reminder of the relationship she almost had with Rafe. Fully becomes this after his death.
• Trapped-with-Monster Plot: The story becomes this when Rebecca ends up alone in Ravenwood, trapped with two people infected with Egyptian Rabies and more outside.
• The Un Favourite: Though she denies it, it's implied that Rebecca feels she is this, mostly in regards to Amanda being given an expensive education while Rebecca helps her mother in the family shop.
• Voiceover Letter:
  • Used for the telegram Charles Wolverton receives from Caruthers about the unrest happening in India.
  • Done with Amanda's last letter to Rebecca which is read over Rebecca hunting Elsie and Amanda down.
• Wham Episode: The emotional drama relating to Charles Wolverton's will is completely forgotten when a barghest suddenly shows up and attacks Amanda.
• Whole Episode Flashback:
  • Episode 2 takes place 11 years before the rest of the story and deals with the Wolverton sisters as children.
  • Episode 13 takes place 5 years before the main story and details the first meeting between Rebecca and Rafe and the start of her mother's illness.
  • This is followed by episode 14, which goes into the circumstances of Rafe and Amanda's engagement.
• Zombie Advocate: Despite believing they are dealing with Egyptian Rabies and seeing what an infected person can do, Rebecca refuses to let Dawson harm Amanda after she is bitten. Justified as it is not yet known that the infection is incurable.