Isabela Madi-Shaw

Isabela Madi-Shaw

Personal Information

Alias(es)

Bells
Bluebell (Father)
hells_bells (Chat Name)

Affiliation

The Blackout Club
THEE-I-DARE

Pronouns

She/Her

Age

17

Hair Color

Dark Brown

Family

Bryson Shaw (Father)
Zaina Madi-Shaw (Mother)

Isabela Madi-Shaw, also known as Bells by her close friends and parents, is a character from The Blackout Club (game).

Description

Bells is a brave, intelligent, and level-headed person, managing to think rationally and calm herself down even in the face of terrifying situations. After her disappearance, her mother calls her a "survivor," stating that she would not have jumped off the Leap. When others in The Blackout Club were afraid to act, Bells sought out evidence on her own, reluctantly describing them as "cowards" when frustrated by their hesitance. She seemed well loved and revered by those in TBC, enough that her disappearance spurred the Club to finally act. She was especially close to Gwen, Dax, and the New Kid.

When speaking with her parents while grounded, she does not hold back when expressing her frustration, replying sarcastically to her father and snapping at the both of them when her mother's employers are brought up. She dismisses their behavior and mentions knowing where they keep the car keys hidden, implying she's snuck around more than once without their permission. Despite her annoyance with her parents, she expresses shock upon being led to believe they intend to "push someone onto her," and automatically phones her dad for help when she hears an intruder in the house. These imply that despite recent events, she is close with her parents. This is further shown after her disappearance, where her parents are both left devastated, but refuse to give up hope in Bells.

In Devin's journal entries, Bells is described as "an angry girl," as well as "seriously PO'd" while at school. However, her and Devin are able to become friends, close enough where they feel comfortable discussing various personal topics. According to Devin, Bells is also knowledgeable in LGBT+ topics, and is "in touch" with someone out of town in regards to them.

Bells is a young teenager with tan skin and short, dark brown hair. In the Prologue through her laptop screen, she is seen wearing a white shirt and grey zip-up sweatshirt. Later while she is being dragged by a Sleeper, Bells is seen wearing light-colored lace-up sneakers and dark pants with small tears along the legs.

History

Before the Game

Bells and Gwen became friends when they were younger, and at some point shared what Gwen refers to as their "first kiss," where they both kissed the backs of their colliding hands. Bells was two years older than Gwen, and the two had just been friends.

Isabela's parents would perform paired Old Tongue over her bed at night. Though Bells was asleep, she learned the gestures demonstrated to her. Grandmother thinks this was an experiment by the Voice and says that Bells was "chosen by the Voice". THEE-I-DARE believes that Isabela was one of the rare children gifted in Old Tongue, who sometimes act it out in their sleep.

At some later unknown point, Bells began experiencing strange blackouts like the other kids in Redacre. Together they bonded over these shared experiences, forming The Blackout Club. Bells became quite close with Gwen and Dax. Bells and Dax once investigated a creepy sound by the cliff together with climbing equipment. Isabela caught Dax when he almost fell, after which he expressed he owed her a life debt. At the bottom of the cliff, they found a very shallow cave containing a statue of SPEAK-AS-ONE’s symbol. They called the place the “haunted armpit” and didn’t tell anyone about it, even Gwen.

Bells would often experience waking from a dream into another dream, which according to THEE-I-DARE happens when two or more of The Voices are fighting over a person. Bells’ teacher, Staneck, made note of the dreams to DANCE-FOR-US. At some point, Bells spoke to a member of the Dead Skeptic, who warned them about the Voices, as well as shared old stories about them, documented in the journals.

When fellow club members were too afraid to start collecting evidence of the strange happenings, Bells went out on her own. While exploring in the maze, she recorded something that the Voice wanted to keep hidden. Upon hearing that Bells recorded evidence, THEE-I-DARE expressed interest in finding it. Bells "recorded a meeting in which something... horrible was said". The Voice was very concerned about the recording and would not tell Watchers what was on it, though Watchers were instructed to "seek it at all costs."

According to HQ, Bells was exposed to multiple Voices before she met THEE-I-DARE, one of whom led her to Saturation Control. Bells managed to sneak into Saturation Control because the lucid on guard thought she was trustworthy due to her mother being a lucid. In the report of the event, Lucid F# E♭ says they were only gone for 28 seconds. In an attempt to defend themselves from blame, the lucid mentions that it could have been nothing and kids sometimes pull fire alarms for fun. The Voice takes particular interest in this, repeating the word “fire”, and demanding to see the recording, which is transcribed in the report. While in Saturation Control, Bells can be heard breathing quickly, but 16 seconds into the room, she calms abruptly. She releases saturation group 6, freeing multiple people. The transcript ends with the Voice saying, “It led her to them. It was there. It is here.”

THEE-I-DARE remembered meeting Bells in Saturation Control: “A girl, soon a woman, walking this path. Two minds war in her: sun, moon, forced to share a sky. She opens the door to a cell." In further recollections of the story, THEE-I-DARE shared more details: “The girl [was] in the hall near the cell. She heard his breath beyond. The man was new, but not the place. Somehow, somehow… had she been here before? She sees a man, asleep, eyes open. She stood [with] the cell door open. The man within [was] haggard. Her fear faded. [The man was] inert, then he lunges. She locks eyes with the man. Haggard. Drawn. Sleepless. Did her parents know? Did they… want her to know? Her thoughts race. The girl faced the man in the cell. Did he know what she saw? Did he know what they had done? She hoped he would speak aloud. His lips did not move, yet… she heard my words."

After accessing the memory multiple times, THEE-I-DARE pushed to know more: “The face of the man changes. Fatigue. Panic in his cell. Eyes open, lips unmoving. The girls feels it, as he does. The girl knows this place. Such effort to find it. The guidance of a dark voice, every law broken to be here. Yet why does she remember it? The cell door thrown open. The man opens his eyes. The girl almost remembers. Then, she hears my words.”

With the presence of THEE-I-DARE’s fragment and Cody in Group 6, Bells heard THEE-I-DARE speak:

"You followed my signs. Found a fragment of me. Isabela, is it? No...Your friends call you Bells, a name you chose...That's you. Names have power, Bells. Tell me, have you got any idea what they have planned for you?

So...Bells. You broke into this damn gulag and found my boys. Smart kid. And you’ve been dreaming about what you witnessed the other night. I see...Parts of it. Behind your eyes. You caught them. Recorded what they’ve been doing here...For years.

You hear me now, don't you? But not for long. I'm like that recording you made, a single fragile copy of the truth. They've wiped out most of the others by now. If they catch you, they'll erase me.

You don’t trust your mom and dad, do you kid? Heh, wise. Hell, they’ve had a plan for you since the doctor cut the cord. Well, your parents work for mine. They’re the ones controlling Redacre and the whole damn slumber party.

My name? THEE-I-DARE is one. The bastards who built this place call me Adversary. The eye of sin. Just words. Spin the globe though, and that meaning falls away. My real name is a code, in a language everyone speaks in dreams.

That code’s like a chain. Links all the way back to the dawn of belief itself. All our names are part of it. They get their hands on it, and pull real hard? They choke out you, me, and anyone else in this town who dares to fight back.

That’s what you saw, kid. Ain’t it? Hundreds of people that the world won’t miss. Posing. Chanting. Asleep, but unable to rest. Trying to break that code…until their bodies give out and their subjects die in the dark.

They’re coming for you, kid. We’re partners, now. I’ll teach you what I know, but you need to skip town. You… you’re my backup plan. This poor jailbird you’re locking eyes with right now? Barely believes at all anymore. And the sun is going down. Time for you to take up the torch.

Oh, hell, I...I’m forgetting things. Too long since this part of me heard from the others. Couple days, and I’ll be no voice. No light. Just… smoke. Tell your club, if you get out.. That trace of me you found wasn’t the only one."

According to Grandmother, anything touched by THEE-I-DARE is placed into group 6. Group 6 has been fairly empty since the cull of THEE-I-DARE’s hosts, but Grandmother knew of two prisoners contained there: Colm Ryan, and a young man, who vanished from Saturation Control. Grandmother muses that perhaps Bells “caught fire” from the young man. Most of THEE-I-DARE’s hosts are killed rather than captured, which means the two prisoners were kept alive for a reason. After hearing the description of the young man, THEE-I-DARE confirms that it was Cody. THEE-I-DARE explains that neither Colm nor Cody was killed by SPEAK-AS-ONE because his fragments are not only left in death, but also when a host loses faith. He believes that SPEAK-AS-ONE kept Cody as a prisoner rather than killing him to observe the formation of a fragment. Bells found the first THEE-I-DARE fragment (left by Cody when he lost faith) upon freeing Cody from Saturation Control. Of the first fragment, THEE-I-DARE said, “It would be so emphatic, desperate [that] it would drive her to find others. It would tell her all he had seen, give her such a head start on the story of my kind.” After realizing this, THEE-I-DARE understands why Bells seemed “haunted” and did not trust him. Bells found the first of THEE-I-DARE’s name fragments, saving him from death in the process.^{[citation needed]}

Grandmother recalled that SPEAK-AS-ONE seized a small boat and gear for climbing cliffs from Graham Culver, a THEE-I-DARE host killed in the cull. The event that led to his death was erased from the Song, so Grandmother doesn’t know exactly what he did. The seized items were completely destroyed, “which means he used them for something they want disappeared.” THEE-I-DARE explains that the speed of SPEAK-AS-ONE’s retaliation to Graham was only matched in the disappearance of Isabela. He believes that Graham and Bells witnessed the same thing. Dax thinks that Graham discovered a cave on Lake Tolmie that leads into a deeper part of the maze. There are parts of the maze that were permanently locked down after Bells discovered them. Dax also thinks Bells and Graham found the same thing, Graham from a lake entrance and Bells from a maze entrance. The lake in Redacre connects to one of the largest underground rivers in the US.

Shortly before the events of the Prologue, Bells had been caught trespassing at her mother's workplace. Her father later explained how this almost led to her mother losing her job. Bells had been grounded and stayed home, but during this time, she recorded a monologue about the strange happenings in Redacre and vowed to get her proof out of town by stealing her parents' car later that evening.

Prologue

Main article: Prologue

Bells on a video call with her parents.

Bells first appears in her room recording her plea for help and confirmation she obtained proof about the strange happenings in Redacre. She stores the file on a flash drive and plans to steal her parents' car once they return home. It is learned in a video call with her parents that Bells was grounded for trespassing into her mother's job which could have resulted in her mother being fired. Static breaks up the call and her parents misunderstand Bells' comment about the call quality, instead remarking how Bells will not be 'the lonely one for much longer.' After fixing the television, Bells sees a message on screen about how she must close her eyes to wake up. She closes her eyes to see a message asking her to collect images of her mother, father, and herself. While finding the images, Bells sees a shadow coming from her living room window, but the figure vanishes as Bells closes her eyes to see the glowing figure. While collecting the images of herself, mother, and father, the messages she sees with her eyes closed warn her "YOUR MIND IS NOT YOUR OWN. STOLEN IN YOUR SLEEP. YET YOUR BODY REMEMBERS.", "THEY TORE OUT SO MUCH. TOO MUCH TO MEND. THE BODY KNOWS WHAT WAS TAKEN. HEAR IT NOW. TAKE IT BACK.", and "THEY KNOW YOU SAW THEM. IT IS COMING FOR YOU." While finding these images, the Unit Tree appears in Bells' living room, later dozens of red streamers hanging from the ceiling appear as well. On her bed is an invitation, "You are invited to witness Two become one. Please save the date. Just close your eyes.". Bells is shocked at the invitation and the thought of her parents pushing someone on her. Eventually, Bells closes her eyes to see the words "WAKE UP" plastered around the room.

Bells waking up in her bed, checking she still has her flash drive of evidence and her smartphone.

Bells then wakes up in her bed. She grabs her flash drive and smartphone for reassurance, but strange noises outside her house spook her. She rushes into the bathroom and calls her father. Bells speaks too quietly to be heard and is cut off as the Shape enters through the front door. Bells manages to escape through a crawlspace in her house that leads into the Maze. Avoiding capture, evading detection, and receiving more messages with her eyes closed, Bells makes her way deep into the Maze. She runs into her parents, dressed in Sleeper garb, who hold Bells as the Shape returns out of a nearby Red Door. Bells breaks free and makes her way to safety by climbing out of a well with a Grappling Hook. On the surface she begins receiving text messages from The Blackout Club again and starts walking back to the the Hideout. However, at the last moment, Bells is captured and dragged away, leaving her smartphone behind.

In-Game

Missions started the day after Bells' disappearance, but the game seems to have begun sometime after; newspaper clippings detail her distraught parents and how her disappearance is suspected to be a possible suicide. Bells continues to be the driving force for the other TBC members. Club members have come together to gather evidence to find out where she is and what happened to her.

According to the TV recordings in the Hideout, the search for Bells was called off three weeks after her disappearance. Her parents are interviewed by the local news station where they appear distraught about losing their daughter. In one clip, her parents beg her to come home, maintaining that she is still alive somewhere.

SPEAK-AS-ONE stated that they confiscated all of Bells' stuff after her disappearance, but she had already erased a lot of important information.

THEE-I-DARE believes Bells was ambushed by SPEAK-AS-ONE because his chosen saw a ring of machines and vehicles around her door the next day, cleaning up the evidence. He is unsure whether or not Bells is dead, but would want to see a body in order to be sure she is dead.

In late May 2020, Bells contacted players like a Voice would, as opposed to a physical appearance or texting. Players only heard her voice, and said she had difficulty remembering things. She could remember her name, the Club, and her teacher, Mrs. Staneck. She didn't appear to recognize THEE-I-DARE's name when asked, and reacted in pain the second time she heard it. She had players perform the Old Tongue for her, saying it allowed her to sense them, even though she could not see them. She would eventually take them to Saturation Control and asking them to follow the path that led to the SPEAK-AS-ONE symbol. She said a man was with her and helping her, presumably The Captive.

Upon hearing about the voice claiming to be Bells, both Gwen and Dax offered personal stories of Bells from their childhood together, stories that only she would know, in hopes to determine whether this voice was truly Bells or just an imposter.^{[citation needed]} When asked, the voice was able to accurately recall the memories.^{[citation needed]} For example, Bells discussed the story of the Haunted Armpit where Bells and Dax used climbing equipment, Dax nearly fell, but Bells caught him. Dax strongly believes that it is Bells because only Bells knew that story. Despite passing the Club's test, many were still concerned that these memories were just uploaded into The Song and could be repeated by anyone without SPEAK-AS-ONE. However, THEE-I-DARE stated that such personal details tend to fade when someone is taken into the Song. He was unsure if this was a trap, but if it was, it was artful and very unlike SPEAK-AS-ONE.

HUNT-THE-STRONG claims to have information on Bells's fate, and says he will share it if the Club renounces the other Voices in prayer. THEE-I-DARE doesn't believe HTS is lying, and believes if the Pact manages to bind him, they could force answers from him, but by the time they manage to do so, it may be too late for Bells. THEE-I-DARE says the Pact cannot act until they are positive that this is really Bells.

IN-HER-TEETH believes that it isn't really Bells, and that the real Bells is dead. However, according to the Isolated Watcher, Bells is alive. The Isolated Watcher passed on a message from Isabela warning of a traitor in The Pact. According to THEE-I-DARE, Bells would now be at hosting age. Because she was allowed to live and is being held in Saturation Control, it is likely that SPEAK-AS-ONE wants her in the Song. After SPEAK-AS-ONE learned of the Club's conversations with the Isolated Watcher, they moved Bells.

SPEAK-AS-ONE intends to make Bells part of the next Voice as an example of how even troubled children can be converted. The transition between Voice pairs is also referred to as the Sundown Project.

Bells was being kept in a vault with the Voice, which would only be opened for Sundown. She is likely sedated but alive and capable of waking. THEE-I-DARE hoped to infiltrate Sundown and wake her up using what A.P. Perdichi taught him. Because Bells carried a fragment of THEE-I-DARE, he would be able to use it to contact her, but only once.

The Sundown Ritual

Warning: Unlockable Content Spoilers

This section contains details about content players can unlock and discover in-game.

The Blackout Club (Group) managed to infiltrate the Sundown Ritual with the help of the remaining Voices, THEE-I-DARE, IN-HER-TEETH, HUNT-THE-STRONG, and Grandmother. As the Club overlooked the ritual room, Bells could be seen outlined in orange, with red vibrations on the ground rippling outwards from her. Vague shapes and strings were shadowed in the space around her. The Voice addressed their followers, Haltingly, Bells responded, “For we… are never… alone…” Recognizing her voice, some in the club pulled off their masks to see her. Bells stood in front of the Voice, who appeared as . A group of stalkers knelt in a semicircle behind her, and rows of sleepers played strings in the space behind them.

The Voice continued, “You were called Isabela. Of these loyal children whose eyes have become our own, which did she hold most dear? Choose, and complete the duet. From two mouths, a new Voice will Speak As One.”

Bells replied defiantly, “Choose… NO! I chose a voice! And you knew him! He was family and you BROKE him! But my friends brought him back. Woke him up… And now he’s doing the same for me… He can’t talk, after what you did, but he speaks through us.” The voices of various club members, from Player Interactions and Lights of Rebellion, could be heard choosing death over the song.

Bells turned to address the club, “If you guys are out there, they’re not ever gonna stop. But thank you… I’m free,” and then ran past the Voice, leaping off the ledge behind them, refusing to become part of the Song and ending her life.

To honor Bells' memory, FIND-THY-VOICE took on her voice.

Player Interactions

Have you had an interaction with Isabela Madi-Shaw? Consider sharing your experience here!

Interactions with Isabela Madi-Shaw: Isabela Madi-Shaw Interactions.

Interactions discussing Isabela Madi-Shaw: Discussing Isabela Madi-Shaw.

Trivia

• Isabela appears on the logo of the game alongside Gwen and Dax.
• Isabela is only a playable character during the Prologue.
• According to the sacrifice quote for THEE-I-DARE, Bells is a follower of THEE-I-DARE, matching her risk-taking attitude.
• According to the journal, CHORUS Madi-Shaw Inquest - Transcript Pt.2, Bells' mother (Zaina Madi-Shaw) is a Lucid.