Scene Summary: We All Want to Go Home

We All Want to Go Home
Chronicle	New York Chronicle
Game Date	December 7-10, 2014
Real Date	November 27 — December 2, 2015
Characters	Chason Wells Colin Thomas Evelyn Summerfield Ian Kross Jean Claude Danut Maeve Glaistig
Locations	Aurelius Compound Chicago Elysium Chason's House Ventrue Correctional Facility
Previous Scene	Cut Flowers (Chason) Whispers in the Dark (Colin) And What's Yours is Mine (Evelyn) What Makes a Man (Ian) The Ginevra Files: Paris (Jean Claude) Armistice Day (Maeve)
Next Scene	Jean Claude's Journal (Chason) Maeve's Journal: From Paris to DC (Colin) All That Remains (Evelyn, Maeve) What Makes a Man II (Ian) Letter: Jean Claude to Ian (Jean Claude)
Content Warnings	Captivity, Death, Domestic Abuse, Mind Control, Sexual Assault, Suicide, Torture
Original Scene	We All Want to Go Home

We All Want to Go Home is a scene from the New York Chronicle primarily featuring Evelyn Summerfield and Ian Kross, with cameo appearances by Chason Wells, Colin Thomas, Jean Claude Danut, and Maeve Glaistig. It depicts Evelyn informing Ian of Maeve's death and her own Embrace.

Scene Summary

Evelyn enters the Ventrue Correctional Facility and walks down a corridor to the cell where Ian is being kept, smiling politely at the guard at the door but refusing his help. She thinks back to places she has called home before, recognizing that this place doesn't feel like home. She thinks about contacting her family, but the idea of them asking her what happened to her prevents her from doing so.

She walks into the cell, where Ian is sitting on the bed. She leans against his desk and chair and tells him that Marcus Aurelius sent her with a message. He sneers at the mention of his sire, but asks her what it is. He tries to stand up, but she pushes him back down and asks him to stay seated before retreating again. She hesitantly tells him that she is sorry and Ian recognizes that bad news is coming, telling her to get on with it. She tells him that Maeve Glaistig is dead.

Ian curls in on himself, clutching his own hair. Evelyn moves to comfort him, but he tells her to get out. When she doesn't do so quickly enough, he uses Presence to chase her out, causing her to move so quickly with Celerity that she drops her cane and falls to the ground in the hallway. The guard slams the door behind her and she stares at the door, waiting for violence, but instead hears Ian sobbing inside. She allows the guard to help her to her feet, thanking him and asking him to help walk her down the hall now that she has no cane, which he agrees to do. Evelyn is broken-hearted for Ian but also feels that he deserves his pain.

The next night, Ian wakes up in the destroyed rubble of his cell, which he has broken in his grief. His face is smeared with blood and he lies on his bed for hours, thinking back to his memories of the last night he saw Maeve. He remembers ordering the deaths of any Sabbat members in the city on sight as Prince, only for Maeve to publicly oppose him, leading to them arguing in front of the entire court on the lawn in front of Elysium. Angry and embarrassed, he tells her to shut up and hits her, knocking her to the ground and seriously injuring her. Colin attacks him and he falls to the ground. As the memory ends, Ian rolls onto his back and blames himself for her death.

The next night, Evelyn returns to her rooms in Marcus Aurelius' compound. She reflects on the fact that she wishes she could help Ian, but also does not believe that she can and doesn't want to see him. She thinks about her recent life, which has been empty and boring. She thinks about Marcus calling her earlier in the evening to tell her that she needs to go out with him tonight, and giving her a dress in a garment bag and a new cane, which she carries into the apartment with her. Once inside, she drops to her knees and throws the dress away to fall to the floor. She remains on the floor, thinking about how unfair and miserable her life has been lately, and then gets up and gathers up the garment bag and her makeup.

Evelyn goes into the bathroom, where she hangs up the dress, locks the door, and wedges a chair under the doorknob. She reflects that she didn't previously have any problem with being naked, remembering her fiance Alexander Kross teasing her about how often she didn't wear clothes when she stayed with him. She removes her clothes methodically and folds them on the vanity, then looks at herself in the mirror and traces her finger along the long raised scar on her face. She flashes back to Jean Claude Danut attacking her, using a knife to carve her face open before kissing her and then stabbing her in the throat. She also remembers that he took her clothes from her after her hip was broken by Chason Wells, who then pinned her to the ground and forced her to drink his blood. She recalls him holding her head in his lap and stroking her hair while she bled to death.

Evelyn gets dressed in a sensible black evening dress fro the garment bag and dislikes the feel of it against her skin. She does her makeup, trying to minimize her scar, and puts her hair up. She smiles at the mirror and hopes that it looks genuine. She thinks about how Marcus has been kind lately, then remembers how kind Chason was when he took her to parties and kissed her cheek. She continues to practice her smile in the mirror.

The next night, Ian has broken through the wall of his cell in his grief, revealing a second identical cell next door. He thinks about how Milan is responsible for Maeve's death, but that Marcus will not give him any more information. He is sitting in the rubble with his back against the wall when Evelyn arrives and walks into the cell. He asks what she wants, and she tells him to talk, carrying the conversation herself when he tries to refuse. She sits down beside him and tells him that she understands what he's going through, which he dislikes but can't argue with. She tells him that she knows he is thinking about suicide, but that he needs to stay alive so that he can avenge Maeve's death, revealing that Jean Claude is also the one who killed her. Ian almost frenzies at this news, but Evelyn slaps him and he returns to his senses. She insists that he has only one chance to avenge Maeve, and that she wants to help him, to which he agrees.

After a long silence, Ian asks Evelyn how Maeve died, knowing that he will be devastated by the answer. Evelyn explains that Octavius Sage found Maeve in Paris and that Jean Claude has taken credit for killing both of them, guessing that they fought over Maeve and she got in the way. Ian is infuriated again by the many men who claimed ownership over Maeve and the fact that she died in captivity. Evelyn asks what he plans to do and he admits that he doesn't know. He thinks back over the past few days spent wondering what happened to Maeve, and now knows that she must have died feeling betrayed, thinking that it would have been very similar to when he hit her. He tells Evelyn that he always told Maeve not to trust Jean Claude, but that she was a trusting person and couldn't help it. He asks where Evelyn learned all this, to which she replies that local New York Toreador told her at a recent salon. When he is confused about why they would talk to her, she is exasperated that he hasn't noticed and tells him that Chason Embraced her, and that Jean Claude caused her permanent injury.

Evelyn begins to cry and Ian knows he should comfort her, but doesn't, instead miserable about memories of doing so for Maeve. Evelyn tries to curl into a ball to cry, but Ian demands more information. Evelyn tries to tell him that Kross Industries and his holdings were all taken by Chason and Jean Claude, and he grabs her and uses Dominate to force her to tell him everything. Unable to resist, Evelyn describes Chason arriving in her office, telling her to hate Ian and voluntarily transfer all of his funds to Chason and Jean Claude, intentionally leaving a trail so that it would appear that Ian himself destroyed his business to collect fraud money. Ian begins pacing the cell while she tells him that Chason then took her home, where Jean Claude killed her and Chason Embraced her. She goes on to tell him that they kept her in a locked room and that she only ever saw Jean Claude, and he stops her, afraid of what else she might tell him.

Once the mind control ends, Evelyn is furious and gets to her feet, telling Ian that he had no right to her personal memories. Ian argues that she had no right to take his company, and she tells him that it was as much hers and Xander's as it ever was his, and that he might have been her domitor but wasn't entitled to take or destroy her life. She marches out, slamming the door, while Ian calls after her, realizing that he may have angered her too much to help him find Jean Claude. He stands in the rubble for a long time, but now that he has a new reason to live, eventually goes into the new cell next door through the hole in the wall and sits down on the bed to think.

Script Summary

The script summary for this scene pares it down to only dialogue and action directions, allowing for a quicker and easier read through what was actually said and done by the characters. Click on the "Expand" tag to the right to view the entire script summary for this scene.

We All Want to Go Home Script Summary

Evelyn arrives at the Ventrue Correctional Facility and walks down a corridor from the stairwell. She arrives at Ian's cell and smiles politely at the man guarding the door, then declines the hand he offers to help her walk. She takes a deep breath and goes into the cell. Ian is sitting on the bed and looks up at her when she arrives.

EVELYN: Hey. Marcus sent me.

She leans against a chair next to the cell's desk. Ian sneers.

IAN: Well?

EVELYN: Ian...

She closes her eyes, then opens them again.

IAN: What is it?

Ian stands up, but Evelyn crosses to put a hand on his should. Her injured leg buckles so that she has to hold onto him for a moment.

EVELYN: No. Please, just — sit down.

Ian sits back down. Evelyn steps away.

EVELYN: Marcus has heard from his people in Europe. Ian, I — I'm so sorry.

IAN: Just say it.

EVELYN: Maeve is dead.

Ian curls into a ball where he sits, his hands in his own hair. There is a pause.

IAN: Get out.

EVELYN: I...

She takes a step away.

EVELYN: Okay. Okay, I'm just going to—

IAN: I said get out!

Ian uses the Presence Discipline to terrify Evelyn, who drops her cane and runs as fast as her Celerity Discipline allows into the hallway. Her leg collapses under the effort and she falls to the floor. The door slams behind her and the guard stands up. Evelyn stars at the door. Behind it, she hears Ian sobbing. The guard helps her get to her feet.

EVELYN: Thank you. Could you please help me back to the stairs?

They walk down the hallway. The next night, Ian wakes up in his cell with blood from weeping on his face, surrounded by rubble from destroying things. He lies in bed for hours, reliving his last night in Chicago, when he gave orders on the Chicago Elysium lawn.

IAN: Kill them. Kill every one of them you find.

Maeve: No.

The entire court turns to look at them. Ian cannot remember exactly what was said for much of the conversation.

IAN: Will you just shut up!

Ian hits Maeve in the side of the heaad, knocking her down. He looks down at her until Colin crashes into him and they fall to the ground. The memory ends and Ian rolls onto his back.

The next night, Evelyn walks to her rooms in Marcus' house. She is carrying a garment bag and has a new cane. Once she reaches her room, she goes inside and then sinks to her knees, throwing the garment bag away to hit a wall. She remains on the floor for several minutes before getting back up. She retrieves the garment bag and her makeup bag and goes into the bathroom, where she locks the door.

She jams a chair under the door handle. She removes all her clothes, neatly folding and putting them on the vanity. She looks at herself in the mirror and traces the scar on her cheek. She flashes back to Jean Claude Danut attacking her, creating the scar with a knife before kissing her and stabbing her in the throat. Chason Wells shatters her hip and pins her to the ground. He forces her to drink his blood and then pulls her head into his lap and strokes her hair while she sobs until she bleeds to death. The memory ends and Evelyn takes the dress from the garment bag and puts it on. She does her makeup and puts up her hair, then practices smiling in the mirror.

The next night, Ian sits in the rubble of his destroyed cell with his back to a wall. Evelyn walks into the cell.

IAN: What do you want?

EVELYN: To talk to you.

IAN: Don't have much to say.

He looks away to the ceiling. There is a long pause. He eventually looks back at Evelyn.

EVELYN: Okay. Then I'll just talk.

She walks into the room and sits down next to him with her back against the wall.

EVELYN: I know what you are going through. I know how much it hurts. And I know everything you are thinking about doing to run away from the pain.

Ian looks away again.

IAN: Yeah? What am I thinking about, Evie?

EVELYN: That you want to die. That it would be easy and maybe even painless. That it'd be quick. Though I think you're underestimating yourself there, if so.

Ian puts his hand over hers.

EVELYN: You can't die, Ian. Not yet.

Ian looks at her.

EVELYN: Now when y-you still have things to do. I know who killed her.

She looks at Ian and waits.

IAN: Who?

EVELYN: Jean Claude Danut.

Ian begins to frenzy, but Evelyn stops him by slapping him across the face.

EVELYN: Ian? No! No, you don't get to go away. You don't get to lose it.

She grabs his face to force him to look at her.

EVELYN: You have to think. For once. You have to — for her. For Maeve. You can't afford to be angry. You only get one chance, Ian. Do you understand?

She lets him go and leans against the wall again.

IAN: Yeah. I do.

EVELYN: Good.

She puts her hand over his.

EVELYN: Like I said... I know what you're thinking. I know what you want to do. And I — I want to help you.

There is a long pause.

IAN: How did she die? What happened?

EVELYN: I don't know everything yet. Her sire found her in Paris, while she was there with Jean Claude. He's... he's been bragging. That he killed both of them. Maeve and the Black Rose.

She squeezes his hand.

EVELYN: I was told... that she belonged to Jean Claude and her sire wanted her back. And that they had some history, him and the sire. She could have just gotten in the way.

There is another long pause. Ian stares at the wall.

EVELYN: Ian?

IAN: Yeah. I'm here.

He wipes his face with a hand.

EVELYN: What are you going to do?

IAN: I don't know yet.

EVELYN: Oh.

IAN: I told her. I told her not to trust that little bastard. But she did. Because that was who she was. That was the kind of person she was.

He looks at Evelyn.

IAN: Evie... how do you even know this? What are you doing here?

Evelyn turns to face him.

EVELYN: I went to a salon, in the city. A couple of the Toreador told me.

IAN: Why?

EVELYN: Because they're my family now, apparently.

Ian stares at her.

EVELYN: Oh, of course you hadn't noticed, Ian.

She pulls her hand away.

EVELYN: You really are—

She shakes her head and begins to cry.

EVELYN: Chason Wells... turned me. Into this. This, this dead thing.

She touches the scar on her face.

EVELYN: And Jean Claude turned me into this. They took everything.

Evelyn pulls her knees to her chest and buries her face in her hands.

IAN: I said, what happened, Evelyn.

EVELYN: I'm sorry, Ian. I'm — I'm so sorry. The company, the — the accounts. Everything. Everything.

Ian grabs Evelyn's shoulders and uses the Dominate Discipline to force her to answer him.

IAN: Tell me what happened.

EVELYN: After we argued, I called Chason. He met me at the office. I did everything he told me to do. I logged in as you and transferred all of the company’s funds into the new account. I had to leave a trail to lead back to you.

Ian lets go of her. She slumps against the wall and stares at him.

EVELYN: The bombing, the accounts, everything. It had to all fit. He looked me in the eyes and he told me every step. He told me I was angry. And I was angry at you. I hated you.

Ian stands up and starts pacing the cell.

EVELYN: After... Chason took me home. To his home. And Jean Claude was there. I tried to fight, but he was so fast, I couldn’t. Then I tried to run. And — and Chason broke my hip. Jean Claude stripped me and cut open my face. Then he stabbed me in the throat, and I died.

Ian walks over to the bed, turning his back on her.

EVELYN: I woke up dead. They made me drink blood and kept me in a room by myself. Except when Jean Claude would visit—

IAN: That's enough.

The Discipline's powers end and Evelyn falls to the floor to sob. Ian presses his forehead against the wall. When he turns around, Evelyn looks up at him.

EVELYN: Y-You fucking ass!

She tries to get up but fails.

EVELYN: You — You horrible... That wasn't yours.

She tries again and stands up.

IAN: Yeah, well my goddamn company wasn't yours.

EVELYN: Fuck you! Wasn’t it? I ran that company for you. Just like Xander did before me. Just because you owned it doesn’t mean it was yours. My life wasn’t yours, Ian Kross.

She retrieves her cane and begins to walk away.

IAN: Wait. Where are you going? You said you wanted to help me, dammit!

EVELYN: Not tonight I don't.

Evelyn slams the door behind her. Ian stands staring at the door for a long time. He then walks through the debris and through the hole in the wall he made into the next identical cell and sits down on the bed.

Trivia

• Evelyn's swift movements in crisis in this scene highlight the fact that much of her limp is actually psychosomatic, something she is unaware of.
  
  
• Evelyn is originally from New York and her human family lives there, making her worries about them especially relevant.
  
  
• Ian has no memory of what happened after hitting Maeve in Chicago due to having frenzied and then been injured until he fell into torpor.
  
  
• Evelyn's desire to see Ian suffer over Maeve's death is due to her own suffering when the same Toreador killed her own fiance, Alexander Kross, in the bombing of Kross Industries.
  
  
• Although Evelyn is not aware of this, her description of Maeve in which she says "her sire found her in Paris" is doubly true, since both Maeve's original sire Dominic Vaughn and her adopted sire Octavius Sage were briefly reunited with her there.
  
  
• Ian's guilt over hitting Maeve shortly before her death is magnified by the parallel to his history; he also struck his wife, Rebecca Crosswell, who died in childbirth shortly thereafter.