Jasper and Vivian meet, get married, and have a family. Then two years ago, Jasper dies of a stroke
Tanya is at home having breakfast, and then her family gets her and they go to Jasper's grave to leave flowers. That night, Tanya's two brothers play video games. Tanya finally goes to her room and looks at a photo of her and her father together. She turns from the photo... and sees Jasper sitting in her room. He says that he's reached out across to her across time and space, and offers to help Tanya with her pain if she'll take his hand. Tanya walks out while behind her, an alien vine extends from "Jasper"'s back out through the window and back to a rift at Coal Hill.
Matteusz visits Charlie and after Quill lets him in, a vine tries the letter slot door. Meanwhile, Matteusz tells Charlie that his parents have thrown him out.
Ram is at home trying to get the hang of his new leg and tries to call Tanya, but gets no response. A vine climbs up the outside of his window.
April is playing the violin when Ram calls and asks if she's seen Tanya. He knows that it's the two-year anniversary of Jasper's death, and asks April about their physics homework. Ram notices her keyboard and wonders if she writes, and April says that she doesn't.
Matteusz tells Charlie about his argument with his parents about Charlie. His father has to face the reality of his sexuality now that he has a boyfriend.
Quill is reading a book when someone knocks at the door. She answers the door but there's no one there, and she realizes the knocking is from inside the house.
Ram hears a knocking at his window and turns.
Quill sees a woman sitting at the table. The woman calls her Andra'ath, and Quill points out that no one alive knows her name. The woman invites her to fight.
Tanya goes to Vivian's room and sees her in bed, apparently asleep. She leaves her mother... unaware that green vines have wrapped around Vivian and the woman is comatose.
In Ram's room, the knocking continues but he refuses to check it out. He turns and then steps away from the monitor, revealing his dead girlfriend Rachel with vines extending out of her back to the window. April sees the apparition on her monitor, and then Rachel moves instantly to the monitor and April slams her laptop shut.
Tanya goes back to her room and finds Jasper still there. He says that they go to the person who misses them the most, and Tanya drew them to her when they stepped into the world. Jasper says that Vivian has already let him go.
As Quill sees the vine extending out of the back of the woman--Orla'ath--the woman asks Quill if she recognizes her own sister.
Jasper says that they are the Lankin, and they gather the souls of the dead if they let them.
Quill insists that their race don't have souls, and Orla'ath says that they do but they believe that they die with them. The Lankin look after the souls and shepherd them to be with the souls of everyone they've ever known.
Jasper explains that the souls give off energy and the Lankin take advantage of it. If Tanya takes his hand then when she dies, she'll be able to find him.
Ram goes outside and calls his father, but gets voice mail. He sees vines extending into all of the houses along the street and cuts one of them. It grows back together, and Rachel calls down to Ram. Frightened, he runs off.
Charlie tells Matteusz that he can stay there as long as he needs. Matteusz says that Charlie is still Charlie despite his strangeness, and says that he loves him. He asks if Charlie has love where he came from, and Charlie kisses him. When Matteusz wonders about Quill, Charlie says that he told her never to intrude unless the world is in danger.
Orla'ath says that the Lankin found a few souls that they can help, but they want to find more. Quill isn't impressed, and Orla'ath says that the Shadow Kin attacked so fast that no one knew it was their last day. She admits that she tried to kill because all Quill sisters do it, and they make sure they properly say goodbye so they can find each other in the hereafter. Quill figures that it's sentimental hogwash but it would lead humans into a trap.
Jasper insists that their relationship is symbiotic, and not all aliens are evil. He realizes that Tanya is considering his offer.
Ram finds the entire neighborhood covered with the vines. He sees one man talking to his mother. When the man takes his mother's hand, he's yanked away by the vine attached to her.
Jasper receives a surge of energy and tells Tanya that it was a soul saying goodbye but it was messy because of the anger.
After sex, Charlie explains that love on his world is two people combining what they have. Humans have the choice to combine that Charlie's race never does, and his family saw him as a commodity and didn't care what his wishes were. Matteusz realizes that Charlie wishes to combine with him.
Orla'ath invites Quill to fight, but admits that she has to stay attached to the great trunk because it's how the souls connect. Their intended have to come the rest of the way.
Jasper tells Tanya that souls can only be persuaded, not forced. He reaches out to her.
Orla'ath reaches out to Quill.
Tanya asks why Jasper calls him by her nickname "Puddle," and he explains. She figures that Jasper is reading his mind, and he tells her that she just has to believe him. Tanya says that she wants to reach out and calls him "Dad."
Ram runs past dozens of vine-wrapped people on the streets. He calls April and says that the world is ending.
Quill wonders what Orla'ath is hiding, and Orla'ath tells her to consider what she's offering.
As Charlie and Matteusz have sex again, vines slither in through the window.
April finds Ram and says that there must be another explanation then the dead coming back. Ram wonders why she always has to be so sensible, and April says that she is because the world isn't, and she won't let it break he because it's war.
As Charlie and Matteusz doze off, the vines begin to grow bodies at their tips.
Orla'ath invites Quill to try and kill her, and holds out an energy gun.
Ram and April stop at a bus stop, and Ram asks her if she meant what she said earlier. April explains that her father was a folk singer who played the fiddle. He also drank, and one night deliberately drove off the motorway with April and Jackie in the car. Jackie was paralyzed, and he went to prison claiming that he tried to kill himself. April got therapy and people treated her like she was a glass figurine, and she isn't going to let him take folk music from her. When she realizes that Ram is still shaking, April kisses him.
Charlie wakes up and catches a glimpse of two humanoid figures. They disappear by the time he sits up, and Charlie wakes up Matteusz and says that it looked like his parents. They see the vines outside the window.
April and Ram arrive at Coal Hill and realize the vines are extending through the tear. They spot a thick vine heading to Tanya's flat and follow it.
Tanya tells Jasper that her father was a policeman. Every night he'd come home and look in on Tanya to make sure that she was okay. Tanya did the same thing when she was young, because she figured that nothing good could last forever. She admits that she hated Jasper for leaving, and Jasper begs her to come to him so he can lessen his pain. Tanya gets up and looks at her father's hands.
Orla'ath offers Quill the gun and says that her sister wants it, and it has to be her choice. After a moment, Quill backs off and says that she thought Orla'ath was just giving her time to say goodbye. Charlie and Matteusz come in and Quill says that now that he's there and under threat, she can act. She kicks Orla'ath and the gun dissolves into plant matter. Quill smiles and tells Charlie to get two knives.
Ram and April arrive at Tanya's flat and see the central vine going up to their friend's window. April says that there have been folk songs going back centuries about dead people coming to the windows of their loved ones. She warns Ram that sometimes the ghosts want to drag the living down with them, and they go inside.
Orla'ath tells Quill that she has no idea what she's giving up, as Charlie returns with a screwdriver and secateurs. Quill tells him to stab Orla'ath in her hand, and he finally does so. He then checks his phone and discovers that April has been trying to get hold of him. He calls her back and April says that she's at Tanya's. Charlie asks Orla'ath if Tanya is in danger, and she says that the Lankin came to offer them release. The prince tells April and Ram to get Tanya, and they'll be there as fast as they can. Quill then tells Orla'ath that she made one mistake. Chameleons not only take other shapes, but shoot out tongues to catch their prey. Orla'ath says that humans are such a succulent species and it doesn't matter what they do to it, because it's found a grief that will make it strong beyond imagining. With that, the vine reabsorbs Orla'ath and slithers out. They realize that the main strand of the Lankin goes into Tanya's flat. As they go, Charlie tells Quill that Matteusz is living with them now.
Tanya considers her father as he reaches out his hands.
Charlie and the others run to Tanya's flat, and see the Lankin vines dragging away humans.
Ram and April enter Tanya's flat and find the rest of her family enshrouded in vines.
Jasper assures Tanya that once she takes his hand, she'll be free from grief. When she wonders how, Jasper orders her to obey him. As Tanya backs away, Ram hears her and calls. She wonders why Vivian didn't open the door to him, She demands answers, and the Lankin says that it's never met a species so in love with closure. Ram and April come in, and Jasper tells Tanya that she's his heart and he's not letting her go. April and Ram step forward to block him, and Jasper easily knocks them aside.
Charlie and the others arrive at the flat and start cutting their way in through the mass of vines.
Jasper tells Tanya to give him her hand or he'll kill her family. The Lankin wraps vines around Ram and April, and Ram warns Tanya that if she dies then Vivian will lose her without saying goodbye... and the Lankin will continue feeding as the cycle continues forever. Jasper says that he will let Tanya's friends ago, and take away her pain forever. She reaches and takes Jasper's hand, as Ram grabs her legs. However, Jasper winces in pain and Tanya says that her anger is stronger than her grief... and she's feeding it all to the Lankin. The Lankin realize that she's poisoned it as she pulls away, Laughing, Jasper says that Tanya has weakened him... but not enough.
Outside, Quill drives a bus up to the flat and rams it into the central vine. Jasper is yanked out through the window and down onto the street, and collapses into dust. The vines all draw back into the rift. Vivian comes into Tanya's room with no memory of what happened, and Tanya hugs her.
As the people in the street recover, Quill tells Charlie that she's spoken to a few and they don't remember what happened. Tanya, April, and Ram come out Charlie figures that he saw his parents briefly, but his bond wasn't strong enough with them so that they could appear. Quill watches them with disgust and then walks off.
Ram and April walk home, and April assures him that she's not made of glass. She says that she'll see him at school and heads off.
When they get home, Charlie tells Matteusz that he can stay as long as he needs. Quill comes in behind them and looks at the ashes of the "gun" on the floor, and takes a matching one out of a drawer.
Vivian sees Tanya's photo of Jasper and describes how they met. Mother and daughter look at the photo and both agree that they want to remember Jasper smiling. Once Vivian leaves, Tanya says goodbye to her father and kisses the photo.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 10, 2017