This article is about the Nightmare Time story. You may be looking for the song.
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Forever and Always is the first story in the second episode of Nightmare Time. It is the third story of the three-part live streamed reading. It was performed live on October 17, 2020 and released on YouTube on February 14, 2021.
Summary[]
Paul Matthews and Emma Perkins are getting married, but before they tie the knot, the happy couple must come to terms with a terrible secret from "Emma"’s past...
Synopsis[]
The story opens at the Hatchetfield Natural History Museum where 'Emma Perkins' and 'Paul Matthews' are getting married. Professor Hidgens officiates and the wedding is attended by Bill, Sylvia, Ted, Tom and Man in a Hurry. The couple exchange their vows but as Emma is finishing her vows the Homeless Man bursts in declaring that "that's not Emma Perkins!". Tom takes the man out of the wedding and Emma is motioned to continue but she is shaken by the interruption and she runs from the room. Paul follows her out and find her crying. He tries to comfort her but Emma then reveals that she isn't really Emma Perkins. She reveals that the real Emma died in a bus crash and that she took her identity. Paul tells her that he accepts her for who she is and the two return back to the wedding and get married. The two go to their hotel honeymoon suite where they decide they are going to take each others names making them Paul Perkins and Emma Matthews.
A week later Paul returns to work at Coven Communications, Research and Power where he passes Sylvia who is discussing a potential temporal distortion in Spankoffski's office but refuses to go in there as she thinks it potentially radioactive as he "whacks off in there". A bit later Bill and Paul are sat in their cubicles where Bill s on the phone with his ex-wife agreeing to take Alice over the summer break while her mother goes on holiday with her boyfriend Allan. He then remarks to Paul that "marriage is a crock o' shit" and that one day the shit is gonna hit the fan. Paul then sets out to go to the Java Cafe to get his coffee. While he is on his way to the cafe Paul bumps into Emma Perkins who has recently returned from Guatemala and is clearly not dead. Mistaking her for his wife Paul tries to kiss her leading to an altercation where Emma calls Paul a pervert.
Once he gets home Paul confronts his wife on what happened outside his work much to her confusion. From the clues Paul gives Emdroid realises that the real Emma is still alive and sets out to hunt down and kill her. Ten minutes after Emdroid has left the real Emma shows up at Paul's door demanding answers. It is here that she finds the pictures of Paul and Emdroid together. Realising the apartment isn't safe Emma and Paul go to The Birdhouse Bar where Emma does shots of whiskey much to Paul's surprise. Emma then reveals that she didn't die in the bus crash and was in fact the lone survivor but as Emdroid stole all of her government identification Emma was unable to get back to Hatchetfield. Paul still appears doubtful of the real Emma.
After drinking half a beer and becoming tipsy Paul goes to the bathroom. It is at this point that Emdroid arrives at the bar where she threatens Emma with a knife to get her to come into the back alley. However, on their way out the two doubles are intercepted by a group of bikers. Emma flirts with them in an attempt to get away from her knife wielding double but once the bikers see the knife they pull out their own. Emdroid ends up slaughtering the entire bar as a result of being threatened and is about to kill Emma before Paul walks in. She tries to convince him that he is drunkenly hallucinating however while she is doing this the real Emma hits her in the head with a pool cue which cracks in half on her head allowing Emma to stab it into the fake Emma's eye. However instead of bleeding her eye sparks revealing that Paul's wife is an android. While the robot is distracted Paul and Emma are able to escape in Paul's car. While the two escape Emdroid locates herself a new eye though it is blue and not brown and burns down the bar to remove any evidence of her crimes.
On the other side of Hatchetfield Emma and Paul enter Emma's hotel room, the same one Paul and Emdroid shared on their wedding night. Emma tries to flirt with Paul but he turns her down saying that he's married to Emdroid. It is at this point that Emdroid appears from the bathroom. The two Emma's fight and in the chaos the knife ends up flying and nearly hitting Paul's head. While the two women continue to fight Paul grabs the knife and demands they stop. The two women reason with Paul both begging him to kill the other one. Paul ends up stabbing the real Emma and she dies.
Later that day, Paul and Emdroid dispose of Emma's body over the Nantucket Bridge where Emma reveals that she is really an android from the future who killed her creators and escaped. In response to her confession Paul confesses that he isn't Paul Matthews either and is instead a clone version of him made by CCRP. He reveals to Emma how he murdered the real Paul and took his place. The two agree to continue their lives as a normal married couple after they murder the Homeless Man for ruining their wedding and knowing Emma's secret.
Cast[]
Creative Team[]
| Crew Member | Job |
|---|---|
| Corey Lubowich | Technical Supervisor |
| Matt Dahan | Musical Accompaniment |
| Nick Lang | Writer |
| Matt Lang | Writer |
Song[]
| Song | Sung by |
|---|---|
| Forever and Always | Robert Manion |
| Mariah Rose Faith Casillas |
Trivia[]
- The synopsis for the episode was released on October 14 2020.
- The episode links to the second story of Nightmare Time Episode 2 Time Bastard as it comes full circle.
- In one draft of the script, it included a scene where the true Emma finds out that her sister Jane has died (since the imposter Emma took the call that she died in this universe) but the Langs figured it pulled too much focus from the main plot.