Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Season 2 Episode 12 The Tale of the Hatching
David tells a tale about siblings and their experience at a new boarding school.
Series Index
Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990-2000)
Characters/Groups
The Midnight Society
Character thumbnails with links to profiles
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Detailed Synopsis
David is sitting by himself near the fire when the others arrive. Kiki asks him if he is sick and Frank thinks he wants something from them. Betty Ann asks him if he is okay and David says he is fine. Kristen tells David to just tell the others and Frank continues to give David a hard time. David walks off and Kristen tells the others that David's family moved across town and he had to change schools. Kiki calls David a baby for being so upset and David explains the problems with moving to a new school include that he gets lost and feels invisible because people already have friends. Gary tells him that things will get better, and David tells the others that he came up with a story about two kids who have to go to a new school. He says that the new school is far stranger than anything they could ever imagine. He then starts his tale.
A dog is sniffing by a manhole when the manhole cover opens, and something grabs the dog and pulls it into the manhole.
David says the Blackbrook School was supposed to be the best boarding school around so when Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Wilson had to go away for business they thought it would be the perfect place to send Augie Wilson and Jazz Wilson.
Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Wilson drop Augie and Jazz off at the school and Mr. Wilson asks them what they think. Augie calls it classic post-industrial architecture. Mrs. Wilson calls it charming, while Jazz calls it the pits.
David says that Augie and Jazz had never been to a boarding school and if they knew what they were in for, they never would have stepped foot inside.
As they are walking to the administrative office, they hear a scream and open the door to the West Dormitory and find Marie sitting in bed. She asks them who they are and they ask her if she is okay and she tells them that she was just having a nightmare. Mrs. Taylor and Mr. Taylor walk into the room and Mr. Taylor tells the Wilsons that Marie has a fever and should be in the infirmary. Mr. Taylor introduces himself to Augie and Jazz while Mrs. Taylor takes Marie to the infirmary. The PA system emits a buzzing sound and Mr. Taylor tells them the sound is a notification for class change. He describes the school to the Wilsons and the PA system emits the sound again and Augie figures out that the different frequencies mean different events. Augie's watch alarm goes off, and Mr. Taylor grabs his ears in pain which stops when Augie turns off the alarm. Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Wilson leave and the buzzer for dinner comes on. At dinner a large bowl full of a white substance is passed around by the students. Jazz asks what it is and Kit tells her it is called spunge. Augie looks at the spunge and thinks it is some grain-based product like grits. The PA makes a buzzing sound ending dinner and Kit takes them to where their rooms are.
David says all the other kids were cool and they seemed to like the place so Augie and Jazz decided they should try and fit in. Still there was something off about the school including some strange rules.
Mr. Taylor yells at Willy for reading while walking and then takes him away. Kit sees Augie about to use his Walkman and tells him they are not allowed to listen to music on school grounds.
David tells the others that after a few weeks Augie and Jazz got used to the rules and even started to like Blackbrook. Then one-night things took a strange turn.
The buzzer goes off and the students wake up and start to leave their rooms. Jazz and Augie, who were immune to the buzzer, follow the other students. The students climb down towards a containment system full of water and pour a substance over eggs floating on the surface of the water. Jazz tries to talk to Kit, but he is in a daze. Jazz then asks Marie what she is doing, but Marie doesn't answer. Jazz picks up one of the eggs and Mrs. Taylor and Mr. Taylor walk in and watch the children. Jazz and Augie follow Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Taylor as they leave and hear them talk about the incubation nearing completion. Mrs. Taylor says the master is pleased and has been patient for one hundred years. Mr. Taylor pulls up his sleeve revealing reptilian skin on his arm. Jazz and Augie go back to their rooms and Jazz wants to stop them, but Augie is afraid. They separate to get dressed and when Augie goes to get Jazz, Mrs. Taylor is holding her and covering her mouth. Jazz bites Mrs. Taylor's hand and she and Augie run away. They run to a tunnel but are locked inside by the Taylors. The Taylors tell them they are using the children to take care of the eggs and that when the eggs hatch the children will be eaten. They say that when children act up, they are fed to their master, The Mother. They tell Jazz and Augie that they are about to be fed to The Mother and a large reptilian starts to crawl towards Augie and Jazz. Augie pulls out his Walkman and connects it to a speaker and plays it at maximum volume and The Mother explodes along with the Taylors. Augie and Jazz hug each other and run to where the other kids are and find them wandering around confused and the ground covered in eggshells. The students walk away and as they do, one of the eggs which hadn't broken begins to hatch.
David ends his tale and Gary tells the others to go straight home since tonight is a school night.