A Friend in Need Brimstone VS #304 Written by Greg Lemieux INT. AN OFFICE - DAY As we glide along the walls of this small one-room office, we see several pictures of women wearing beauty pageant costumes, both formal gowns and swimsuits. There are a couple of certificates on the wall referring to a MISS WORLD beauty contest and a few trophies on shelves. In between the trophies, in the center of one shelf, is a SMALL ANTIQUE MODEL OF A BEAUTY PAGEANT that looks like it was made back in the earliest days of pageants. Finally, we arrive at a girl seated in a chair in front of a desk. She is young, with hair that is currently dyed white with pink streaks. We know her as AMIE, friend of the Hotel Irondell desk clerk Samantha. Standing nearby, in a position of authority, is a black woman in her late twenties. She has dark hair, is attractive, and conveys an attitude of confidence, perhaps even cockiness, when she talks. For now, she is known to us as ALISE. AMIE You really mean it? I qualify to be in your beauty pageant? ALISE Oh, yes honey. You have a whole special look going for you there – the punk rocker type. I’ve been assigned to get a good cross-section of girls for this pageant and you are something different from the others. I’m sure my boss will just love you. AMIE And first prize is $100,000 – right? ALISE Absolutely. AMIE Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful? It’d be worth all the crap we’ve been through the last couple of days if this works out. Alise pulls open a drawer from the desk and picks out a large multi-paged contract from inside. She brings it over to Amie and hands it to her along with a pen. ALISE Now all I need is your signature on the dotted line and we can get the ball rolling. AMIE (hesitating) Gosh. That’s a big contract. ALISE It’s just standard stuff, honey. But it does need to be signed if you want to be in the contest. (a beat) I mean you are an adult, aren’t you? Do I need to show this to your mommy and daddy first? AMIE No, I’m twenty-four. I can make decisions for myself. Amie signs the contract on the bottom line and hands it to Alise. Alise smiles broadly, like the proverbial cat that has cornered the canary. ALISE Excellent. Alise reaches into her desk drawer and pulls out a NECKLACE WITH AN ANKH SYMBOL ON IT. She casually tosses it to Amie. ALISE Here. Put this on. Amie is all smiles as she slides the chain over her head and lets it fall to the bottom of her neck. Then she gets a strange, scared look on her face. ALISE Something wrong, sugar? AMIE I …can’t…move. ALISE Oh sure you can, honey. Watch. (in a commanding tone) Stand up and face me! With that, Amie jerks clumsily but swiftly to her feet and spins around to the side of the desk and stands there facing Alise – almost as if her body obeyed the command without any cooperation from her mind. In making the broad movement, however, her arms stretch out straight downward. Unbeknownst to either of them, a small CHARM BRACELET on her arm slides off and falls to the floor by the leg of the desk. ALISE You see? You can do anything you want…. (a beat) as long as I tell you to do it first. Alise goes over to the shelf by the wall to the little beauty pageant display model, which was situated in a special holder bolted into the wall. She removes it from its holder and then sets it down on the floor. It then incredibly begins to GROW IN SIZE, so large it almost seems like the room couldn’t possible hold it – and yet it does. In the now full-sized model are two rows, a TOP TIER and a BOTTOM TIER. The bottom tier has six circular PLATFORMS to stand on, with a small PODIUM in front of each one, and a pair of HANDLE BARS atop each podium. The upper tier is the same, except that there are seven such platforms and podiums. A LITTLE STAIRWAY fills up the extra space on the bottom tier. The bottom tier is filled with SIX GIRLS, of varying nationalities – Indian, Hispanic, Caucasian, Black, American Indian, and Asian, all seemingly frozen in position. The top tier only has four of its seven spaces filled in with FOUR GIRLS, also immobile and in another potpourri of nationalities. ALISE Okay, honey, take your contract and place it on the next open podium. Amie is clearly scared, but she cannot control her movements. Her hand takes the contract. Then her body marches forward to the pageant model, up the little stairway and over to the fifth spot on the upper tier. She places the contract on the podium in front of her. ALISE Now stand on the circle, dear. AMIE Why are you doing this? ALISE (with cruel casualness) You wanted to be in the contest dearie. This was all covered in the contract. (in mock surprise) Oh, that’s right. You didn’t read the contract, did you? Amie steps onto the circular platform behind the podium. ALISE Now put your hands on the handlebars. Amie does as she is commanded. There is a large RED DOT in the center of the handlebars – on a HINGE in an upward position. When Amie grips the handlebars, the dot lights up for a moment – deciding whether to accept or reject this latest contestant. Alise waits a few seconds breathlessly. Then, a bell RINGS and the dot flips over on its hinge, revealing the number 11. Clearly this young girl has been accepted by this device as contestant number 11. Amie’s arms now slip off the handlebar and down to her sides. Alise, unable to contain her joy at collecting another contestant, raises her fist in the air triumphantly and screams “YES!” She pauses for a moment, and then steps back to address all the girls, all of whom are wearing ankh necklaces and standing still with their arms by their sides, obviously unable to move anymore. We then look right at Alise’s face. Her eyes flash hellfire. ALISE Now ladies, as I’ve explained to some of you earlier, as soon as we have a total of 13 girls we can conduct the contest. The bad news is – the 12 runners-up will be transported to a Sultan’s palace in the Middle East. (a beat) But one lucky winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip (a dramatic pause) to Hell! WHITE FLASH END OF TEASER ACT I INT. – STONE’S ROOM AT THE HOTEL MEZZANINE – LATE EVENING STONE arrives in his room, obviously worn out from a long day. He walks over to his bed and flops down on it, still wearing his regular clothes. The moment he closes his eyes, there is a KNOCK on the door. STONE Who’s there? ALEXANDRA (from outside) I’m sorry to disturb you, Ezekiel. But there’s a Detective D’Amato on the phone for you, and it sounds important. Stone hops up out of bed immediately. INT. FRONT DESK – HOTEL MEZZANINE Stone is speaking on the phone set on top of the desk counter. STONE What’s up, Detective? SOPHIA There’s a young woman here who’s mentioned your name in passing. Tell me, do you know someone in a band called Lost Souls named Samantha Gordon? STONE Samantha? Yes, I do. SOPHIA Does she seem like the kind of a girl who needs a good lesson taught to her – like spending the night in jail? STONE No, no. She’s a good kid. Really. SOPHIA Well, I’m willing to send a car to pick you up, if you’ll come and take her out of here. Otherwise, I will throw her little butt in jail. Capisce? STONE I’ll be outside waiting for your car. EXT. – THE POLICE STATION - NIGHT Stone and SAMANTHA come walking out the precinct door and down the steps, talking as they go. Samantha is sporting a bright red shade of hair this time around, and is wearing a T-Shirt reading THE LOST SOULS on it, and a pair of loose-fitting jeans. SAMANTHA Wow! I never expected so see you again. I mean I knew you were here in New York, but I can’t believe you live in this area. It really is a small world! STONE Well, it was about to get smaller for you. The size of a prison cell. SAMANTHA But I wasn’t doing anything wrong! STONE Sam, you cannot stage a sit-in protest in a busy police precinct. They have work to do and you were getting in their way. SAMANTHA But my friend is missing, and they weren’t going to do anything to help! STONE Who is missing, and for how long? SAMANTHA My friend Amie. You remember her from when we went to see Star Wars? STONE I remember. How long has she been missing? SAMANTHA (a little weakly) Since this morning. STONE Sam, the standard operating procedure… Samantha stops completely in her tracks. Stone mirrors her action. SAMANTHA Yeah, yeah, I know. Forty-eight hours. But the trail gets cold after the first forty-eight hours! (a beat) I watch cop shows, you know. STONE Why do think she’s missing? Maybe she met an old friend and is out with them, planning to call you later. Maybe she’s taking in a movie marathon. SAMANTHA She would have at least called. Even if she’d met her dream guy and flew off to Vegas with him, she’d have still called me first. STONE I thought she’d already met her dream guy. Weren’t she and Alex going to get married once the band got going? SAMANTHA (after a beat) The band DID get going. We got a few gigs around the state. And that’s when Alex discovered that being in a band makes you a real chick magnet. He decided to have some fun before settling down in a real relationship. STONE I see. I guess Amie took that pretty hard. SAMANTHA She did. And I was the one there to comfort her. Then we started hanging out together doing girl stuff, putting a hold on the whole dating scene for a little while. (more seriously) Then she asked me to help her quit smoking. That was a tough job, but we really got to know each other going through it. We’ve gotten even closer since then. Now, she’s like the sister I never had. Look… She shows Ezekiel the charm bracelet she is wearing on her right arm. It is just like the one Amie was wearing, except that hers bears the name SAMANTHA on it, whereas Amie’s had her own name on it. SAMANTHA Amie bought this for me and I bought her one with her name. We were going to get identical charms for all the places I visited with the band, and any places she visited on her own while we were out touring. (with conviction) She wouldn’t run off without telling me. If she hasn’t contacted me, she’s gotta be in trouble. I just hope she’s not dead in an alley somewhere. STONE All right, I’ll tell you what. Let’s take you back home for now, and I’ll try to help you find your friend. Okay? SAMANTHA I’d appreciate that so much. (a beat) Say, that lady detective called you Detective Stone. Are you back to being a cop? STONE No. You might say I’m …consulting for them. SAMANTHA Did you come here to get back with your ex-wife, maybe? STONE We haven’t discussed my fee yet. SAMANTHA Fee? STONE My fee is… no questions about my past, or my present – for the duration. Agreed? SAMANTHA (smiling) That sounds fair. She shakes Zeke’s hand in a businesslike tone. Then they proceed over to the police car which will take them both to her place. EXT. - THE PLANK AVENUE HOTEL - NIGHT The police car pulls up in front of this building. Calling it a hotel is a compliment. It’s a miserable looking little dive with a front door and windows covered with iron mesh. It’s like one of those places you’d rent by the hour – only not as nice. From the back seat of the police car, Stone and Samantha look out at the building. STONE This rat trap is where you’re staying? SAMANTHA It’s all we could afford. STONE (to the officer driving the car) If it’s okay with you, we’ll both get off here. Thanks for the lift. OFFICER No problem. I hope you find your friend, Samantha. SAMANTHA Thanks. I appreciate everything. Stone and Sam exit the car and it quietly pulls away. SAMANTHA You didn’t have to do this, you know. STONE I couldn’t let you walk in this neighborhood alone at night. It’s not safe. SAMANTHA Yeah. I’m sure it isn’t. Sam and Stone start to walk to the door, talking as they go. INT. - PLANK AVENUE HOTEL – THE STAIRWAY - NIGHT Stone and Samantha walk up the four flights of stairs to her room. The stairs creak, the paint is peeling. If this were smell-o-vision, the place would no doubt reek. SAMANTHA (in mid story) So this so-called producer flew us over here on his private jet – or at least what he claimed was his private jet – and took us to a record company and we talked to the owner. He set up a time for me to meet the next day and do some test vocals for a record. STONE (puzzled) But it was just you and Amie here. And she’s not even in the band. SAMANTHA I know. I know. Reason number 12 I should have suspected this Robin creep. He said he just needed me because I was the vocals. I invited Amie along because she always wanted to see New York. (a beat) So he had set us up in a big hotel room for the week. Then that night he comes into my room. He says since he did me this big favor, I should do him a favor. A very specific favor! One inspired by our current Chief Executive and his gal pal Monica. STONE (catching on) Oh. SAMANTHA So I gave him a slap across the face. STONE And that deterred him? SAMANTHA No. But the knee in the groin did. (a beat) Actually it was more like a kick in the groin. I was really mad. STONE Ouch. SAMANTHA Hey, what I really should have done was pretend to go along with what he asked for – and then bit down hard! STONE (grimacing) Remind me never to get on your bad side. SAMANTHA Well, he waddled out of my room after that. Next morning, he was gone. He’d only paid for one night so we got kicked out I went to see if I was still booked with the record company owner. Turned out the guy we had met was only posing as the owner. The real owner had never heard of us. Now we were stranded here in New York without a ride back. STONE Couldn’t you call your parents and ask them to wire you some money? SAMANTHA And admit what a pair of dopes we were to fall for his malarkey? I’d sooner hitchhike back. STONE That’s not how you plan to get home, is it? SAMANTHA No, I had a credit card with me. I managed to book a flight back for the end of the week. It would have cost three times as much to go home the next day. STONE That’s not how you plan to get home, is it? SAMANTHA No, I had a credit card with me. I managed to book a flight back for the end of the week. It would have cost three times as much to go home the next day. STONE True. SAMANTHA But that maxed out my card. I have some money in savings. I’ve been taking out a little of it each day through an ATM. About $100 a day. (a beat) Can you imagine what it’s like trying to get by on just $100 a day in New York? STONE (shaking his head) Hard to imagine. They have now reached the front door of Sam’s hotel room. She unlocks the door and lets them in. INT. - SAM”S ROOM - NIGHT Picture the room Stone had in the Hotel Irondell. Then split the room area in half and double the grunge factor. Now you have an idea what Sam’s room looks like. STONE This is awful. SAMANTHA It’s only for a few more days, as long as I find Amie. Otherwise, I’m staying right here until I do. STONE When was the last time you saw her? SAMANTHA Early this morning. I wanted to use the time here to try to make some record contacts. She wanted to see if she could find a day job to get a little cash so we wouldn’t be so strapped. I told her we’d be okay but she felt bad because she was the one who introduced Robin to me in the first place. (a beat) So while I went to check the record companies, she was looking in some little trade paper for day work. When I came back for lunch, she was gone. I left her a note, but when I came by later in the afternoon, she still hadn’t come back. No note. No message at the front desk. Nothing. STONE Okay, let’s take a look around. See if she left any clues. The two of them look around the room for a note or anything. There isn’t much to look in. Stone finds a small diary on a little table. It has Amie’s name on it. STONE Did you look in her diary? SAMATHA I can’t do that. It’s personal. It’d be like opening someone else’s mail. STONE Just look at the last two days. I’m sure she’d understand. SAMANTHA (reluctantly) Okay. Sam takes the diary and opens it to the day before. She reads it to herself. SAMANTHA (with a bittersweet smile) Awww. STONE What is it? SAMANTHA (very touched) She called me her best friend. (she flips the page over) She said she found something in the paper that might be the answer to our problems. (a beat) But that’s all she says. There’s nothing more in here about what it was. Stone looks at the trade paper Sam had mentioned earlier. He opens it to the classified section. There is an ad circled reading “Need money fast? Opportunity for young girl aged 18-30. Call 555-6610.” STONE Did you try calling this number? SAMANTHA Several times this afternoon. They said it was disconnected. STONE Maybe it wasn’t this morning. Maybe she called it, got an address, and went somewhere. He sees a notepad on a counter that looks like a page was torn off it. He rubs a pencil across the next page, but nothing shows up. STONE She must have torn the note off first, then written on it. (a beat) Look. I’ll check with the newspaper office first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, pack your things and Amie’s. You’re staying at my place tonight. SAMANTHA (a little hesitant) What did you have in mind? STONE (casually) You take the bed; I’ll take the couch. SAMANTHA That sounds good. STONE You almost sound relieved. SAMANTHA I guess I am a little. (a beat) You see, I had time to think things over after you left. You were this.. well.. handsome mysterious older stranger (correcting herself) Not that much older, I mean. STONE No offense taken. SAMANTHA Max had told me a little about you. She obviously had the hots for you too. I mean, I flirted with you and all, but I didn’t really expect it to go anywhere. I wouldn’t have even made a real play for you if I hadn’t had that dream that you were leaving. I was surprised that you took me up on my invitation that night – oh, pleasantly surprised, that is. And it was wonderful, really it was. But… STONE (feigning offense) I was just another notch in your bedpost, then? SAMANTHA No, that’s not it at all. I…. STONE (with a smile) Sam, I’m teasing you. (a beat) You just meant, you weren’t looking for a long term relationship with me. More of a passionate interlude. SAMANTHA Yeah. Passionate interlude. That’s a good term for it. (a beat) That’s why I was so willing to give you up to Maxine that night. Besides, I always had the feeling deep down you were seriously hung up on someone else – maybe that ex-wife you used to talk about. STONE Maybe. But I was going through a rough time that night, and making love to you was …. (a beat) as one of your songs put it, “a wonderful oasis in my seas of troubles”. SAMANTHA Wow. You DO pay attention to the lyrics. STONE When I respect the author? You bet! (a beat) Now let’s get packing. SAMANTHA Right. (a beat) But, what if Amie comes back during the night? STONE We’ll leave word for her at the front desk. She’s welcome to stay at my place too. SAMANTHA How do we get there? Our ride’s already left. STONE I’ll spring for a cab. I’ve still got 15 bucks left. That should be plenty. It’ll be gone in the morning anyway. Samantha has started to pack, but pauses at that last comment. SAMANTHA What does that mean – It’ll be gone in the morning anyway? Stone realizes he’s made a faux pas. He pauses for a moment and then: STONE It’s just an old _expression. Probably before your time. SAMANTHA (amused) I guess so. Samantha resumes packing as the scene DISSOLVES TO: INT. - THE BEAUTY PAGEANT DISPLAY - NIGHT The pageant model is now reduced to its tiny size again with the eleven girls in it, including Amie. None of them are moving and it is quiet, but then a sound breaks the silence. It is the VOICE of a girl with a Hispanic accent. Her name is LUISA. LUISA’S VOICE You. The new girl. Can you hear me? Amie tries to respond, but in her current position she can’t even move her mouth like she could earlier. LUISA’S VOICE Don’t try to answer with your mouth. Just think out loud. AMIE’S VOICE You mean like this? (a beat) Holy cow. I can hear myself thinking out loud. That’s creepy. LUISA This whole place is creepy. It’s cold as Hell, too. AMIE I noticed. My name’s Amie. Which girl are you? LUISA Number five. In the bottom tier. Luisa. I’ve been here almost a week. Every time I see someone out there I try to warn her – including you. But no one can hear me out there – just in here. AMIE What about the other girls? Can they talk? LUISA Most of them have given up. I think they’re just trying to pretend in their heads they’re someplace else. I wish I could do that too. (a beat) Does anybody else know you’re here? AMIE Nobody. Not a soul. INT - HOTEL MEZZANINE – STONE’S ROOM - NIGHT Stone goes over to check on Samantha. She is sleeping peacefully in his bed. He goes over to the couch and lays down on it. As his head reaches the end of the couch, we see a FAMILIAR FACE camped over him, leaning his head right near Stone’s head. DEVIL So we’re baby sitting now, are we? Stone is startled and jerks himself up into a seated position. He looks like he’s going to chastise the Devil, but then says nothing, as if he won’t give the Devil the satisfaction of knowing he was caught off guard. DEVIL Really, detective. I thought we were running a track down and dispatch service, not a day care center. STONE Sam’s not a baby or a child. She’s an adult. DEVIL Ah yes. An adult. A consenting adult. What a wonderful phrase to justify taking advantage of a person half your age. STONE She’s not half my age. And I’m not taking advantage of her. DEVIL Oh, but she is just half your age. You’re neglecting to add the fifteen years you spent as my guest. And of course you’ve already taken sufficient advantage of her, haven’t you? STONE That was in the past. Right now, I’m just trying to help a friend. DEVIL (scoffing) By trying to find her missing friend? Leave that to the police, Ezekiel. STONE Why? What’s it to you? It’s not exactly as if you’ve given me something else to occupy my time. The Devil SNORTS mildly and then tosses a business card onto the couch. Ezekiel picks the card up and looks at it. STONE Jack LeMay, Mickey’s Garage. (annoyed) I checked this guy out already. Your escapee left his employ a week ago. No forwarding address. Nothing. It’s a dead end. DEVIL Wrong, detective. If you question him more thoroughly, which is what you should have done in the first place, you’ll find he knows more than he indicated. (a beat) Don’t forget whom you work for, detective. STONE (tossing the card onto the table) Fine. I’ll check with him tomorrow. When Stone turns back to the Devil, the Devil has vanished. Stone just eases himself back down onto the couch. STONE (defiantly) After I check out the newspaper office for Sam. He moves around on the couch, to make himself comfortable and prepares to sleep. INT. THE BEAUTY PAGEANT MODEL - NIGHT Everything is the same as when we left it before. LUISA My Mom works in a hospital. I used to hate to visit her there. I didn’t like the feel or the smell of the place. Now I wish I were there right now. I wish I were having surgery there right now. AMIE Yeah. Right now, I’d settle for having root canal – without anesthetic! At least I’d know that was going to end! WHITE FLASH END OF ACT I ACT II INT. HOTEL MEZZANINE – STONE’S ROOM – EARLY MORNING Samantha stretches, and then climbs out of bed, wearing a pretty, but not overtly sexy, nightie. She walks forward out of the bedroom and into the main living area, but it is empty. She walks over to the coffee table where she finds a note set out for her. SAMANTHA Dear Sam, I’ve gone to check out the newspaper office to try to find out who purchased the ad. Please stay put! (a beat) Yeah. Just stay put. Right. She tosses the note aside and pouts a little. INT. - A NEWSPAPER OFFICE - MORNING This is a small newspaper printed on a small press in the back room. There is a long counter with only two slots for customers. They don’t get that much business, apparently. Behind the counter is one LADY MANAGER in her thirties, who for now is handling the shop. There are no customers around other than Stone, who is talking with her. STONE I just need an address for whoever placed this ad. It regards a missing persons case. MANAGER I’d help you if I could, really. But all I can do is enter new data into the computer. STONE Well, who can get data out of the computer? MANAGER That would be Charlie. (a beat) But he’s away on business until tomorrow. STONE Can you call him? It’s important. MANAGER He’ll be on the road most of the day. STONE On his cell phone, then? MANAGER He doesn’t have one. (a beat) He likes his privacy. STONE Do you remember anything about who placed the ad? A name? A description? MANAGER I’m sorry. I think Charlie took the order that day. It was only run for one day apparently. Stone is clearly aggravated by this. He shakes his head, then hands the lady a card with his name and number written on it. STONE If Charlie calls today, will you please tell him what I need and have him call me at this number? MANAGER Absolutely. And I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help. STONE Yeah. I understand. He walks out the door disappointed. He is looking at the card the Devil gave him the night before and obviously planning to go there next. The manager slips Zeke’s card into a cubbyhole in front of her. A moment or two after Stone is gone, the Devil waltzes into the room from a door marked “Private” on the far end of the office. He is dressed in a formal three piece suit. He walks over to the Manager with an approving smile. DEVIL Excellent work, my dear. Why, you almost had me convinced that you couldn’t help that gentleman. MANAGER (feeling guilty) Just what was that all about? DEVIL Merely teaching him a lesson about priorities. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a handful of $100 bills and holds them spread out in his left hand. DEVIL Now I know your priorities involve getting a little extra cash for your struggling paper. The manager nods in agreement. With his right hand, the Devil casually pulls out a fresh hundred, folds it in half lengthwise and then across and appears to hand it to her. But we get a close-up look at his hand and see that he had another bill pre-folded the same way and tucked under his ring. That is the bill he actually hands to her. DEVIL Pleasure doing business with you, ma’am. He strolls out the door casually. The manager has a guilty smile on her face, but just shakes her head and opens up the bill. It is, in fact, a one dollar bill. MANAGER Why, you son-of-a……. She quickly opens the little door on the end of the counter and RACES OUT to try to catch the Devil. The Devil meanwhile appears inside the room and behind the desk. He takes the card Stone left for the manager and tucks it into his jacket. DEVIL My favorite part about that trick is that I got it from an episode of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL. A moment later, the manager bursts back into the shop, but the Devil is gone. She angrily goes back to the cubbyhole to retrieve Stone’s note, only to find that it isn’t there. MANAGER Damn! She slams her fist on the table. Off this: CUT TO: A SCENE ON A TV SCREEN A judge has just banged his gavel on his bench. A lawyer can be heard protesting this action and saying “I object, your honor.” At that moment, the picture is turned off by remote control. INT . HOTEL MEZZANINE – STONE’S ROOM - DAY Samantha, now dressed in a casual polo shirt and white pants, sits there with the remote in her hand. SAMANTHA I object, too. She tosses the remote aside and looks for something else to do. She picks up Amie’s diary and looks at the passage from the previous day, smiling again at the “best friend” remark. She flips it over to the last written page and then to the page after that. Suddenly, she looks at the blank page carefully. It has indentations on it. At that moment, we see the thought in Samantha’s head of Amie pulling a note off the pad and writing on it using her open diary as a surface to write on. Samantha excitedly takes a pencil and rubs it over the empty page. She sees an address of 1440 Wiggins Street. Suite 113. INT. HOTEL MEZZANINE - FRONT DESK - DAY Moments later, Sam trots down the stairs and stops at the front desk. She is wearing the same outfit as before except that her long hair has been wrapped up and placed under a small floppy hat. She hands Alexandra an envelope with Ezekiel’s name on it. SAMANTHA Listen, as soon as Ezekiel calls, give him this address and tell him to meet me there, okay? ALEXANDRA Sure thing. You’ve got it. Samantha practically skips out the front door, excited to have a clue to finding her friend. Alex smiles and puts the note in Stone’s mail slot. INT. HOTEL MEZZANINE - HALLWAY - DAY A moment later, we see a familiar hand set off the fire alarm from the hallway switch. FRONT DESK Hearing the alarm, Alex gets upset, but still treats the alarm seriously. ALEX All right, everyone. I need you to exit the building in an orderly fashion. Let’s go. She ushers people toward the exit, and then climbs the stairs to alert other people in the building. After she is gone, the Devil scurries in and steals the note from Stone’s mail slot. Then he looks around at the desk. DEVIL No sense wasting a good fire. He takes some papers from the desk and sets them out in the open. Then he points toward the sprinkler system above and it begins to SPRAY WATER over all the papers. DEVIL (chuckling) Marvelous. He then walks away from the desk cheerfully. INT. MICKEY’S GARAGE - DAY Stone is speaking to a MECHANIC in an ordinary-looking garage. The mechanic is wiping the grease off his hands as he speaks to Stone. MECHANIC You know, now that you mention it, I do remember now. There was another guy working here at the same time, Ryan Foster. about where he went off to, it would be Ryan. STONE Why didn’t you mention that when I talked to you yesterday? MECHANIC I just didn’t think of it. I’d had a busy day, and I was distracted. Anyway, he lives about three miles down the road at 212 Marshak Street, if you want to check it out. STONE Thanks. I’ll do that. He shakes hands with the mechanic and then exits out the door. As soon as he is gone, the Devil comes strolling in from another part of the garage, holding the familiar stack of hundreds in his hand. DEVIL Excellent work, sir. Why, you almost had me convinced that you were telling him the truth. We fade out on this scene. We all know what’s about to happen to this poor sap. EXT. A HALLWAY IN FRONT OF SUITE 113 - DAY Samantha stands outside the door simply marked with the numbers 113 on it. She knocks on the door. Alise opens the door, distracted by a conversation she is having on her cell phone. ALISE (aggravated) Yes, I’ll hold. Samantha steps into the office. It is the same office we saw before in the teaser. The beauty pageant model is still shrunk to its tiny size, so poor Sam has no clue her friend is just a few feet away from her. Alise is now obviously on hold. She turns to Sam. ALISE What do you want? I’m busy. Samantha pulls out a picture of Amie from her wallet and shows it to Alise. SAMANTHA Have you seen my friend Amie? I understand she came over to see you yesterday. Alise looks at the picture and shakes her head. ALISE I haven’t seen anybody looking like that. Now go away. I’ve got work to do. (responding to the cell phone) Yes. Yes. This is Alice Porter. You’re damn right, I’m upset. I only had that phone line for two days. I’m not paying for a whole month. I intend to be around for a long, long time and I’m not letting myself get screwed over by clowns like you. Samantha turns away in despair and then looks down. Suddenly, she sees the charm bracelet by the leg of the desk. She picks it up and sees the name AMIE on it. She is shocked to see it. Seeing Alise is distracted, Sam slips over to the window and turns the lever that locks the window down, sliding it into the unlocked position. Then she slips back to where Alise is standing. ALISE Yeah. Yeah. You bet I’ll hold for your supervisor! Now on hold again, Alise turns her attention to Samantha. ALISE What are you still doing here? SAMANTHA Please. Take one more look at this picture. Are you sure you haven’t seen this girl? Alise takes another cursory glance at it and responds. ALISE No, I haven’t seen her. I only saw three girls yesterday, two Hispanics and an Asian girl. No white girls. This is a Miss World contest you know, not Miss Whitebread. Now beat it! Alise shoves Samantha out the door rudely and slams the door behind her. Samantha takes another looks at the charm bracelet in her hand. SAMANTHA She’s a lying bitch! EXT. A GAS STATION - DAY The station appears to be in an area far off the beaten path. Stone is dialing a number using a PUBLIC PHONE bolted into the side of the building. INT. FRONT DESK – HOTEL MEZZANINE - DAY Alexandra answers the phone, looking a little harried. ALEXANDRA Hello? STONE This is Zeke Stone. Can you get Samantha on the line please? ALEXANDRA I’m sorry, I can’t. She’s gone somewhere. Hang on a second and I’ll tell you where. She checks Stone’s mail slot, but of course it is empty. Frustrated, she looks around at the other papers, many still drying out from the sprinkler attack earlier on. ALEX I’m sorry, Ezekiel. She gave me a note saying where she was going. I swear I put it in your mail slot, but now it’s gone. STONE Did you leave the desk? ALEX Well, I had to when the fire alarm sounded. And then the sprinklers wouldn’t stop running, and then the firemen came. STONE All right, never mind that. Do you remember what the note said? ALEX No, it was in an envelope. I never read it. EXT - A GROVE ACROSS THE STREET FROM 1440 WIGGINS STREET - DAY Samantha, hiding behind a tree, watches as Alise gets into her car and drives off down the road. She looks at her watch. It is 11:30. SAMANTHA (under her breath) Damn it. Where is Zeke? He should have been here by now. She hesitates for a few moments and then scurries across the street and to the side of the building. INT – ALISE’S OFFICE - DAY The window slides upward and Sam slithers into the room carefully. She starts to look around the room for some kind of clue – any clue. For a moment, she even looks at the model of the beauty contest but doesn’t see her miniaturized friend in there. She goes over to the desk and opens a drawer. She finds two contracts inside. She picks one up, sits down and starts to skim over it. She sees things in it that obviously distress her. She takes the contract and starts to climb out the window while still holding it. Then she suddenly stops in her tracks and backs away. A HAND HOLDING A GUN to Sam’s face can now be seen. A moment later, Alise bounds in through the window in one smooth motion, leaving just a TINY TRAIL OF BLUE FLAME as she does. ALISE You weren’t quite as stealthy as you thought, honey. I saw you unlatch my window. So I just drove around the block and then came back to see if you’d gone after the cheese. (snatching the contract from Samantha) I guess you read some of this. Well, that’s more than your friend did. SAMANTHA So you DO know what happened to Amie? Where is she? ALISE Somewhere no one will ever find her, dearie. Good-bye. She points the gun at Samantha’s head. SAMANTHA (keeping her cool) You don’t want to shoot me. That means facing a murder charge. That’s big trouble. ALISE (chuckling) Honey, I just spent the last six years in Hell. You can’t get in worse trouble than that. Plugging you won’t make a bit of difference for me – except that it might keep me from going back there again. Samantha closes her eyes. Alise then pauses and takes a closer look at Samantha and pulls her gun away for the moment. ALISE What color hair do you have under that hat, sweetie? Alise pulls the hat off Samantha’s head and tosses it aside. Sam’s bright red hair flows down around her shoulders. ALISE A redhead! Honey, this may be your lucky day! And mine too. Alise shoves the contract back into Samantha’s hands and gives her a pen. ALISE You like this contract so much. Why don’t you sign it? SAMANTHA (firmly) I’m not signing that. ALISE Let me put it this way. (putting the gun back against Sam’s head) Either sign it, or I’ll splatter your brains across the wall. Samantha angrily takes the contract, signs it and hands it back to Alise SAMANTHA I signed that at gunpoint. It’s totally invalid. ALISE That depends on who you’re dealing with, honey. Alise goes to the desk and pulls out a necklace and tosses it to Sam. ALISE Now put that on. Samantha slides it over her head in a defiant manner. Almost immediately she begins to feel its paralyzing effects. Alise casually sets her gun down on the table and walks over to the model. Samantha clearly wants to pick the gun up, but can’t force her body to move a muscle. INT. - THE SMALL NEWSPAPER OFFICE - DAY The phone RINGS and the lady manager from before picks it up. MANAGER Hello? EXT. THE GAS STATION PHONE - DAY On the other side of the line, using the same phone as before, is Ezekiel. STONE Hi, it’s Ezekiel Stone again. I was wondering…. MANAGER (happy, in a vengeful sort of way) I am so glad you called. I have the information you need. STONE But I thought…. MANAGER Listen, I owe you an apology. I could have helped you this morning, but someone offered me a bribe not to – and then he stiffed me! STONE (putting two and two together) What did he look like? MANAGER Well, now that I think about it, he looked an awful lot like my ex-husband. STONE Nasty divorce? MANAGER The nastiest! STONE You’re forgiven. Just give me the address please. INT. ALISE’S OFFICE. - DAY Samantha is now on the full sized beauty pageant display and putting her hands on the handlebars. Alise is pointing a gun at her from the floor. ALISE Now, you’re either number 12 (cocking the gun) or number one with a bullet! The red dot in front of Samantha flips over, revealing the number 12. ALISE Hot damn! Sugar, you just saved me a whole lotta searching around for the day. Thank you! A moment later we see the Devil, dressed in the kind of outfit a contest MC would wear, standing next to Alise. DEVIL Excellent choice, Alise. I always did like redheads. ALISE Now, I just need one more and our arrangement is complete. Right? DEVIL That’s right. 13 beautiful girls of varying nationalities between the ages of 18 and 30. But remember, the rule still applies – no more than one per day. I don’t get a really good selection when decisions are made in haste. ALISE No problem. DEVIL And you have filled your quota of Caucasians now. I think a girl a nice of shade of cocoa should do to complete the pageant. ALISE I’ll have some brown sugar for you tomorrow. (a beat) And our deal is then I get to stay here on Earth as long as I want. DEVIL As per our signed contract, neither I nor any of my demons from Hell will attempt to dispatch you from the Earth. (a beat) But for now, you’ll have to vacate this office. The police are on your trail. ALISE Damn. DEVIL Well, I did advise you against putting an ad in a newspaper. ALISE It was just one small paper, and it did net me one contestant – and now two. The Devil shrugs. Alise turns to look at Amie and Samantha and when she looks back the Devil has vanished. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. THE DOOR OUTSIDE ALISE’S OFFICE - DAY Stone arrives at the door cautiously, with his gun drawn. He leans back from the door, reaches out his hand and turns the handle carefully. The door opens with no problem. Stone bursts through the opening with gun drawn. INT. ALISE’S OFFICE - DAY The office is now empty save for the desk, shelves and chairs, all of which are bare. Stone looks around the room carefully and finds Samantha’s hat on the floor. For a moment, we see in his mind a memory of Samantha wearing that same hat at the front desk of the Hotel Irondell, then removing it with a flourish to reveal that her hair was colored with the seven shades of a rainbow in neat, even streaks. The picture returns to Stone picking up the hat off the floor. STONE Sam. Why couldn’t you have just stayed put? He grips the hat in frustration. WHITE FLASH END OF ACT II ACT III INT. POLICE STATION - DETECTIVE SOPHIA D’AMATO’S DESK SOPHIA is entering data onto a computer screen while Stone patiently looks over her shoulder. SOPHIA Alice Porter? Is that correct? STONE Yes. SOPHIA And you got this name…….? STONE From the landlord at the office she was leasing. She didn’t leave a forwarding address. Sophia enters the name into the computer. After a few moments, a rap sheet appears on the screen with Alise’s mug shot photos on it. SOPHIA Bingo! Alise Marie Linburke, alias Alice Porter, Alicia Dawson, Allison Hoffman, and at least a dozen more aliases. STONE Charged with? SOPHIA Credit Card Fraud. Pigeon Drop. Impersonation. Phony Contests. Bogus Telemarketing. Apparently you name a scam, she’s done it. STONE Is there a current address on her? SOPHIA (checking the screen) Unfortunately, yes. (a beat) Lot 259, Ventura Cemetery. STONE (whispering to himself) That son-of-a-bitch. She IS a damned soul. SOPHIA Sorry. It’s this new system. You have to tell it you’re looking for someone who’s still breathing. STONE Can you print that out for me please? Sophia looks suspicious, but pushes the print button and the rap sheet is quickly printed by the laser printer on her desk. Stone looks at it. STONE Her description matches the one the landlord gave me. SOPHIA So what? She’s dead. I think that takes her off the suspect list. Stone takes a breath, hesitates and then: STONE Sophia, I need you to put out an APB on this girl. Sophia looks at him askance, and then realizes what he is implying. SOPHIA You’re not still trying to pawn off that nonsense about dead souls escaping from Hell. STONE Look at her rap sheet. Does it look like she was heading in any other direction? SOPHIA If I put out an APB on a girl who’s been dead for six years, I’ll be the laughingstock of this precinct. Forget it. STONE All right, look. The ad Amie checked on asked for girls ages 18 to 30. Check with missing persons. See if there aren’t girls that age missing recently. SOPHIA That’s a pretty broad spectrum. There’s bound to be one or two. People disappear every day. STONE See if there isn’t a pattern. It’s important! SOPHIA Why is it so important? STONE Look, you met Samantha. SOPHIA Yes, and I liked her. Enough not to throw her in jail, anyway. Your point? STONE Well, I’ve known her longer. She’s always seemed very level-headed. She was worried sick yesterday because her friend vanished. Now she’s vanished too. And I think that woman is somehow responsible. (a beat) I’d like your help on this. But with or without it, I’m going to track her down. Stone then leaves the room quickly, trusting Sophia to do the right thing. Sophia looks for a moment like she just wants to ignore the whole thing. Then she sighs, shakes her head and begins to type into her computer. A close-up of the monitor shows she is typing in “Missing Persons Query.” INT. THE BEAUTY PAGEANT DISPLAY - NIGHT AMIE Luisa? Are you still awake? LUISA (weakly) I’m so cold. So cold. I can’t take it much longer. AMIE She’s almost gone. Poor kid. It’s amazing she’s stayed awake this long. Most of the other girls apparently only lasted a day at the most. (a beat) I’m sorry I got you into this, Sam. SAMANTHA I’m not blaming you, Amie. How could you have known? How could ANYONE have known something like this even existed? It’s monstrous. AMIE Luisa. There’s no response from Luisa. Amie calls her name out a few more times but with an equal lack of success. AMIE It’s just us now, Sam. This cold is starting to get to me too. SAMANTHA Fight it. Resist it as hard as you can. You’re a fighter. You quit smoking, remember? That took a lot of willpower. AMIE Only because I had you helping me. SAMANTHA Well, I’m here now. And we’ve got to stay awake – keep our wits about us. We’ve got to try to figure out a way to get out of here. AMIE What makes you think there is a way out of this? SAMANTHA I don’t know if there is or not. But one thing’s for sure – we’ll never find it if we fall asleep. INT. POLICE STATION - A WAITING AREA Stone is seated in a chair near the front desk. It’s late at night and there isn’t much activity so no one disturbs him. After a few moments, DETECTIVE KANE enters the room, walking over to Stone with a sense of urgency. Stone gets up and the two walk over to a quiet corner to talk. KANE I just got off stakeout duty. Someone said you’d been waiting here for a few hours. What’s going on? STONE I need your help. I need to get out word about a damned soul. Her name is… Suddenly a voice interrupts the conversation. It is Detective D’Amato calling out for Stone. He acknowledges her and she approaches. SOPHIA You’ve got your APB. STONE (amazed) What? SOPHIA I faxed her photo to the landlord to be sure. He confirms she was his tenant. I left all her aliases in the bulletin, but I didn’t use her real name. I doubt she’s using that anyway. (a beat) This doesn’t mean I buy into your explanation. Could be her sister or her cousin or just someone who looks like her and wants to follow in her footsteps. STONE That’s fine for now. What changed your mind? SOPHIA These. She sets a set of ten files on a table near the two men. SOPHIA They’re missing persons cases. All females aged 18 to 30. A variety of nationalities. But most important, if their “last seen on” dates are accurate, they’ve been disappearing at the rate of one per day for the last ten days – twelve when we include your two friends. KANE What do want us to do? SOPHIA First thing in the morning we re-interview all the parents. Maybe these women have something in common with each other. Maybe they’ll recognize Alise. Maybe they or their daughters heard of a scam we can trace. Whatever. We’ll look until we find something. She takes the files and gives half of them to Kane. SOPHIA You take these. I’ll take the rest. You’re welcome to take Stone with you, Kane. If he had his own car, I’d let him take some files too. For now, get some rest. We’ll get an early start on this in the morning. I promise. Sophia heads out the door for home. Kane and Stone leave together as well. SLOW FADE TO: INT. THE BEAUTY PAGEANT DISPLAY – EARLY MORNING AMIE This is all my fault. I’m the one that met Robin and introduced him to you. If it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t be in this mess. SAMANTHA Hey, he invited ME to go on this junket, remember? Then I invited you along. I’m just as responsible. AMIE But I’m the one that answered that ad and signed that contract. You’re only here because you tried to find me. SAMANTHA Okay, so you made a mistake. We all do (a beat) I trusted Robin too. And I should’ve waited for Stone to arrive before I sneaked into this office. But no, I had to go play Nancy Drew. AMIE What scares me is … one of us might end up in the Sultan’s palace, while the other might wind up in …. SAMANTHA Don’t think that way. Nobody’s been sent anywhere yet. We just have to keep trying as long as there’s hope. The important thing is not to give up – not to drive our car off a cliff like THELMA AND LOUISE. AMIE Don’t worry. I’ll never get THAT desperate. SAMANTHA That’s the spirit! P.O.V. - AMIE AND SAMANTHA We see what Amie and Samantha are seeing through the front of the display. Alise is entering the room with another attractive young black girl walking in behind her. Her name is VANESSA. Amie and Samantha immediately try to yell aloud and scream at the girl to get out of there right now. INT. ALISE’S OFFICE - MORNING For Alise and Vanessa, not a sound can be heard coming from the little display. VANESSA So I’m really going to be in a beauty contest? ALISE Oh yes. And you won’t have to wait long at all for the judging either. You’ll be the last contestant we need. Alise goes to the desk and pulls out the last contract. She hands it to Vanessa along with a pen. ALISE Just sign this and you’ll be on your way! Vanessa happily accepts the contract and pen. Then she calmly sits down on a chair and starts to read the contract. ALISE What are you doing? VANESSA (nonchalantly) I’m reading the contract. ALISE Oh, it’s just a lot of legal jargon. You’ll be bored out of your mind. Sign it now. Read it later. VANESSA Listen. I don’t sign anything until I read it first. Okay? ALISE stands there for a moment, seething. EXT. THE FRONT DOOR TO ALISE’S CURRENT OFFICE For a moment there is quiet. Then suddenly the door is pulled open and Vanessa is literally PITCHED OUTSIDE INTO THE HALLWAY like used bathwater. Then her purse is hurled out after her. Vanessa is first stunned, then livid. VANESSA Why, you little bitch! INT. ALISE’S OFFICE – LOOKING TOWARD THE FRONT DOOR. Vanessa is now standing up in the hallway and shouting. VANESSA Who the hell do you think you are, you lousy motherf- Alise slams the door, cutting off the last two syllables of that remark. She seethes for a moment, then analyzes out loud. ALISE Great. If she complains to someone, I’ll have to move to another office again! She pauses a moment, then goes to her purse and pulls out her gun. ALISE (casually) Or..., INT. THE HALLWAY Alise steps out into the hallway only to see that Vanessa is all the way out to the front door of the office building and has opened it. Upon hearing Alise’s door open, Vanessa turns to her and shouts defiantly. VANESSA You can take your beauty contest and shove it up your... The next moment, Alise uses her evil abilities to charge at Vanessa with lightning speed. As a TRAIL OF BLUE FLAME follows her, Alise races to Vanessa and SLAMS INTO HER hard, knocking her to the floor. Then she picks up Vanessa and hurls her toward the street with such force she is literally SENT AIRBORNE – flying a few feet off the ground forward into the street. In horror, she sees a CAR APPROACHING, but is completely unable to stop her flight. The car HITS HER squarely in the stomach and carries her forward out of our range. We hear the SCREECHING OF BRAKES and then the sound of Vanessa’s body HITTING THE PAVEMENT. Alise calmly closes the door and pockets her gun. ALISE (with a smirk) Saved myself a bullet. INT. MONARQUE HOSPITAL - ADMISSIONS DESK Kane and Stone are talking to a woman dressed in a nurse’s outfit near the admittance desk. She is Hispanic, and obviously trying very hard to be helpful. She is SYLVIA, Luisa’s mom. She is looking at the picture of Alise. SYLVIA No. I’ve never seen this woman. Do you think she’s involved in Luisa’s disappearance? KANE Right now we just want to talk to her. STONE Did your daughter mention some sort of new activity she was excited about? SYLVIA (sadly) No. We only talked about once a week. She never wanted to come here and meet with me. I think she never liked this place. That’s why she stayed away. It’s my fault. KANE Don’t blame yourself, ma’am. We don’t know yet why she disappeared. SYLVIA You’re not going to find her, are you? It’s been a week. I’d have heard something by now. She’d at least try to get in touch with me and let me know she’s okay, unless…. Suddenly Kane’s CELL PHONE is heard RINGING. He fishes it out of his pocket and answers it. Detective Sophia D’Amato is on the other line. SOPHIA How far are you two from Monarque Hospital? KANE (in disbelief) We’re there now! SOPHIA I got a call on the APB. A policeman found a girl named Vanessa at an accident site. She ID’d the photo of the girl. She’s in a recovery room – 122. KANE We’re on our way. INTERIOR – MONARQUE HOSPITAL - RECOVERY ROOM In a small semi-private room, Vanessa is laid up. Her left arm and left leg are in traction with temporary casts. Her stomach is wrapped in bandages. Her face is a little scraped up, but nothing that will leave a permanent scar. She’s a little weak, but very talkative to Stone and Kane, who are alongside her bed right now talking with her. VANESSA (in mid-story) Then she gives me some... singsong about how I was so pretty... be a great contestant for her beauty contest. Took me to her office... gave me a contract to sign... started reading it, she got furious. (a long beat) Next thing I know, she’s practically... ramming her foot up my booty kicking me out... Somehow she... charged me like a linebacker..., threw me right into a car. (a long beat) Four busted ribs... a broken arm... a broken leg. I’m lucky that car was goin’ slow! Stone pulls the rap sheet out of his pocket and shows it to her. STONE Is this the girl? VANESSA Yeah…. That’s the bitch….. I’ll never forget her ugly face. KANE What’s her address? VANESSA Let me think... 613... Robey Lane. Yeah... Suite 102. STONE Let’s move. The two men start to leave the room. VANESSA Are you gonna arrest her? STONE Better! I’m going to send her someplace horrible that she’ll NEVER come back from. With that Stone and Kane race out the doorway. VANESSA (smiling) You da bomb! INT. A RESTAURANT – A SMALL BOOTH Alise is talking with another pretty black girl. Her name is JASMINE. ALISE I could take you to my office right now and start the paperwork rolling. JASMINE Imagine. Me in a beauty contest. My friends will just die of jealousy. ALISE Now, one thing. You aren’t one of those people who insists on reading every word of a contract before signing it, are you? Because I have a tight deadline to meet. JASMINE No, I’ll let the lawyers worry about that stuff. (lightly) Hey, if you tried to cheat me, I’d just sue you. Right? ALISE (laughing) Right, honey. (a beat) Oh, waiter. Check please! WHITE FLASH END OF ACT III ACT IV INT. ALISE”S OFFICE - DAY All is quiet for a few moments. Then we hear the sound of the DOORKNOB JIGGLING. Moments later, the door opens. It is Stone and Kane who are entering. Kane slips something back into his pocket as they enter cautiously. STONE Very smooth. KANE Practice. (a beat) More than I’d ever admit to, of course. The two men fan out across the room, looking for some clue to the whereabouts of Alise, Amie or Sam. Stone is checking the shelves soon and his face is right in front of the beauty pageant display. INT. THE PAGEANT DISPLAY SAM & AMIE Zeke. Zeke. It’s us! We’re here! Help us! THE OFFICE Stone hasn’t heard a sound from the two girls. STONE That girl on that display almost looked like Samantha Stone shakes his head and returns to checking some of the photos on the wall. Then suddenly, as if a light bulb has gone off in his head, he rushes back to the display model and looks at it carefully. A close-up of the model reveals that the tiny Samantha is wearing a tiny little charm bracelet on her arm. STONE That’s too much of a coincidence! Stone grabs hold of the model, jerking it from its container toward him to get a better look. Suddenly, to his surprise, the model literally begins to grow in size right in his hands. He sets it down carefully on the floor and steps back. Kane turns to see the model growing and is equally stunned. The two mean step clear of it until the growth has stopped, and the now full-scale model stands before them. STONE Sam! Stone races onto the model and up the steps. He picks Samantha off her platform gently, carrying her down in his arms. STONE My God. She’s so cold. Stone sets her down gently on the chair behind the desk. He feels her neck gently. STONE She still has a pulse. SAMANTHA (weakly) The necklace. Take off my necklace. Without hesitation, Stone pulls the necklace off Samantha’s neck and tosses it onto the desk. Samantha starts to move on her own now, trying to massage her own arms and legs to get her circulation going. SAMANTHA (still weak, but recovering quickly) The girls. They’re all alive. Take off their necklaces. Tear up their contracts. Get them off those platforms. Hurry. Stone and Kane run to the display. STONE You take the top row. I’ll get the bottom. Within moments, Kane is carrying Amie and the two girls’ contracts down the steps, while Stone takes a girl in each arm from the bottom tier and carries them forward. INT. THE HALLWAY - DAY Alise and Jasmine are walking down the hallway now toward the office door, CHATTERING a little. When they get to the door, Alise notices SHADOWS MOVING inside. She quietly unlocks the door and slips it open just enough to see Stone and Kane inside. Stone is pulling the last two girls off the model, stacking them on the floor and against the wall as best he can. Meanwhile, Kane is ripping up all the contracts as quickly as he can. JASMINE What’s wrong? Are they burglars? Without warning, Alise pulls her gun from her purse and CLOBBERS Jasmine on the back of the head with it. Jasmine falls to the floor unconscious, but clearly still alive. Alise then KICKS THE DOOR OPEN and bursts into the room. Samantha, who is fully recovered now, SLIPS DOWN OFF THE CHAIR and hides under the desk. Alise sees only the two men. She runs up toward them, gun drawn, stopping in front of her desk, facing away from the desk and toward the two men. ALISE What do you two think you’re doing? You put those girls back up on those platforms NOW! KANE It’s over, Alise. We’ve torn up the contracts! Whatever you were planning with these girls is finished! ALISE You let me worry about the contracts. You just put those girls back up there now. And no sudden moves. Both Stone and Kane are able to see Samantha slowly rising from the back of the desk. Alise clearly doesn’t have a clue she is there. Samantha sees the necklace she was wearing sitting on top of the desk. A very broad smile comes over her face. STONE (stalling for Samantha) All right. All right. We’ll do as you say. Right, Kane? KANE Yeah. I guess we have no choice. STONE Here. You take that girl. I’ll take this one. KANE Hey, no way. You’re not leaving me with the fat one. YOU pick that girl up. As they volley verbally, Samantha creeps up onto the desk with the necklace in her hands. STONE You’re calling her fat? My girl must have twenty pounds on her easy. KANE Are you kidding me? She must be- ALISE (livid now) Just pick the girls in front of you, you morons- At that, Samantha neatly pops the necklace right over Alise’s head. The two men charge at Alise, but Samantha holds out her hand to them. ALISE (now unable to move) No. Get this thing off me! SAMANTHA Drop the gun. Unable to disobey, Alise drops the gun to the floor. Samantha hops off the desk and stands beside her. SAMANTHA She’s powerless with the necklace on. Watch. (like a drill sergeant) TEN-HUT! Alise’s body jerks into the position where she is now standing at attention. ALISE Look. Can’t we make some sort of deal here? SAMANTHA Oh, a deal. I’ve got a great deal for you! Samantha goes over to the drawer and pulls out the last contract. She marches over to Alise and hands it to her along with a pen. SAMANTHA Sign that! Alise’s face goes into shock ALISE No. No, you can’t make me do that! But even as she speaks, Alise is obediently signing the contract on the dotted line. Samantha examines the signature, nods and then shoves it into Alise’s hands. SAMANTHA Platform number 13 is waiting for you. You know the drill. Samantha points to platform number 13. Alise’s body begins to walk herself toward the step, contract in hand. ALISE No. This is illegal. This is invalid. SAMANTHA That depends on who you’re dealing with, sweetie! As the threesome watches, Alise walks up the stairs and over to platform number 13. She places the contract on the podium in front of her, and steps back onto the platform, protesting all the way. ALISE No. No. I’m not a contestant! I’m not a contestant! SAMANTHA Hands on the handlebars, toots! Alise places her hands on the handlebars. ALISE No. Reject me! Reject me! But the little red circle in front of her instead flips forward, revealing the number 13. ALISE (in total frustration) NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Then the model, now containing only Alise, smoothly shrinks back to its tiny size. STONE Allow me. He picks up the model gently, and places it into the container it was in before. As the three of them watch, the display lights up and a tiny little spotlight shines on all the empty platforms. A familiar voice can be heard singing, to the tune of “There she is, Miss America” DEVIL (O.S. as if coming from the model itself) There she is, Our Miss Netherworld. There she is, our ideal. Finally, the little spotlight shines on the tiny ALISE. DEVIL (O.S.) We have a winner. SAMANTHA Yeah. By default! The platform Alise is standing on turns bright red for a moment, and then like a trap door it falls away. Alise drops into the empty space below her. We hear an EAR-PIERCING SCREAM emitting from her as she falls, but it slowly fades away, as if she is falling into a bottomless pit – which in effect, she is. INT. A DARK SPACE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN OUR WORLD AND THE GATES OF HELL. The background is like the walls of an endless cavern through which Alise is falling deeper and deeper toward the bowels of Hell. She is still in a straight up, but stiff position unable to move on her own. The Devil casually glides in next to her dressed up like a playboy. ALISE Where am I? DEVIL On your way to Hell, obviously ALISE But I can’t be! I still have my eyes. Ash told us as long as our eyes aren’t destroyed we can stay on Earth. DEVIL Yes, but when the eyes are destroyed, your soul is sucked out of your body and plunges down to Hell. You’re already plunging to Hell. ALISE But Ash told us as long as we still have our eyes… DEVIL Oh, very well. If you insist on standing on ceremony. He produces a blowtorch from his coat. It is emitting a gas, but not yet lit. ALISE You can’t use that on my eyes! It’s forbidden. DEVIL Oh, I’m not going to use it on your eyes. (a beat) You are. He casually lifts her left hand and locks it around the small blowtorch, aiming it so the gas is headed toward her eyes. ALISE No. You can’t make me destroy my own eyes. That’s forbidden too. DEVIL Well, normally that’s true. But there is the small matter of the contract you signed. ALISE She made me sign that! I didn’t sign it of my own free will. It’s invalid. DEVIL Oh, not THAT contract. I mean the one you signed with me when this began. You see, clause 17 stated that if you failed to provide me with 13 beautiful girls for this contest as agreed upon, that you would “voluntarily submit yourself to be returned to Hell.” I’d say that mess you left up there pretty much constitutes a failure on your part. So... He sticks a butane lighter in Alise’s right hand and closes just her fingers around it, leaving her thumb free. DEVIL Time to submit yourself. ALISE That’s not fair. DEVIL Well, neither was cheating all those people out of their hard-earned money when you were alive, but that never seemed to bother you. He pulls a cigar from his pocket and holds it directly above the lighter, in the path of the blowtorch gasses. DEVIL Light me up. Alise grimaces, clearly trying to resist, but unable to. Her thumb FLICKS THE LIGHTER, setting it off. The FLAME IGNITES THE BLOWTORCH GASSES and the resulting BURST OF FIRE SHOOTS INTO HER EYES and DESTROYS THEM IN A QUICK BLAST. INT. ALISE’S OFFICE - DAY Stone clutches his side for a moment, as he feels Alise’s tattoo burning away, assuring him that Alise has definitely been returned to Hell permanently. Samantha hears the SIZZLING sound. SAMANTHA What’s that noise? But then suddenly, the whole model itself begins to SIZZLE IN A BLUE FLAME. Then it DISSOLVES AWAY completely, as do all of the photos and beauty pageant paraphernalia on the walls as well. SAMANTHA Holy Mother of God! STONE (shaking his head) Not her. Not hardly. Samantha nods and then sees Amie is starting to pull herself up off the floor. Sam runs over to her and helps her to her feet. Then she pulls Amie’s charm bracelet out of her pocket, and slides it back onto Amie’s arm. AMIE Boy, I’m sure glad you never fell asleep. SAMANTHA Only because YOU stayed awake and kept talking to me. I told you we could get out of this if we didn’t give up. AMIE Right on, Sam. Stone and Kane look at each other with relieved smiles. AMIE Hey, I saw what you did to Alise. (a beat) You kicked butt, girl! Amie and Samantha hug each other as we: SLOWLY DISSOLVE TO INT. A QUIET RESTAURANT - EVENING We see a quiet little restaurant/bar with a TV playing from atop the wall in one corner. Stone, Samantha and Amie are seated at one of the tables, each eating a slice of cake. The TV is currently on a local channel showing the news. REPORTER The city is still abuzz about the bizarre case of thirteen young girls, lured to an office on the premise of a beauty contest only to be drugged and held captive – apparently for shipment to the harem of a Middle Eastern sultan. SAMANTHA So that’s the official story we’re sticking with. STONE Well, unless you want to try to tell them what really happened. Sam and Amie both shake their heads. AMIE No thanks. I’ve got a long life ahead of me, and I’d rather not spend it in a padded cell. The TV shows footage of different girls hugging their families, in particular a shot of Luisa hugging her mom. REPORTER (O.S.) All the women have recovered from their drugged state and are unharmed. The plan unraveled when potential beauty contestant Vanessa Winslow was viciously assaulted by the head of the group after attempting to flee the scene. She alerted Detectives Kane and D’Amato, who found the missing girls, alive but drugged, stashed in an office awaiting shipment to parts unknown. Ms. Winslow, incidentally, is expected to make a full recovery. AMIE Hey. You didn’t get any credit for the rescue. STONE Well, I’m not actually with the police department anymore. It might have raised too many questions. My reward is having you two safe and sound. AMIE Speaking of reward, I heard Vanessa got five thousand bucks from one of the families. SAMANTHA Well, she deserves it. If she had just signed that contract without reading it, we’d all have been toast. (a beat, then turning to Amie) I didn’t mean anything about you by that. STONE Think of it this way, Amie. If you hadn’t signed that contract, someone else would’ve. And if that someone hadn’t had a friend like Samantha who’d go to the police and keep rattling cages until she were found, then 13 girls might have vanished without a trace. AMIE I appreciate the thought, Zeke. But it’s okay. I’ve learned my lesson. (to Samantha) Tell you what: I won’t ever sign something without reading it again, if you promise to never play Nancy Drew again. SAMANTHA Deal. The two women shake hands on that. There is a brief pause and then. AMIE You know, Sam and I actually saw what the Devil looked like. STONE (feigning surprise) Really? Did he have horns and a big tail? SAMANTHA No. That’s the weird thing. He looked just like a normal human. Well, a creepy-looking normal human. (a beat) You know, he looked a lot like… Amie, remember that Geoff Sellers character who caught our act one night? AMIE Yeah. He said he was with Hellbent records, wasn’t it? Both girls GASP simultaneously as the realization hits them. SAMANTHA Oh my gosh. That was him. AMIE He must have been….. the Devil! STONE (concerned) You didn’t sign anything with him, did you? SAMANTHA No, thank goodness. But now, some of those crazy offhand remarks he was making finally make sense. Ewwww! AMIE Can you imagine? If you’d signed a record contract with him, you’d be working for the Devil right now. SAMANTHA Yeah. I’d be... doing his bidding. AMIE And seeing his ugly face every day. That would be beyond grotesque. STONE (almost to himself) Yeah, I guess it would be. SAMANTHA You know. I think I’ll be going to church a lot more often now. AMIE Yeah, and I think I’ll go back to saying my prayers every night. Amie and Sam have finished the last of their cake now. Both begin to rise. Samantha leaves some money for the bill for all of them. SAMANTHA Well, thanks again for saving our hides, Zeke. We really owe you one. And don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us. STONE Secret? SAMANTHA About your consulting work for the cops. If you don’t want anyone to know about it, our lips are sealed. STONE Well, thank you. (a beat) So, where are you two going now? Not back to that dump, I hope. AMIE Oh, no! Luisa’s mom offered to put us up for a week or two. SAMANTHA So I bumped our flight back a few days, and made some appointments with a few record companies. AMIE And the rest of the time we’ll spend sightseeing. SAMANTHA Oh, and I had Tommy FedEx me some extra demo disks for the record producers. (She pulls one CD out of her purse) This one’s for you. Signed by the band like before. AMIE And by me too. Stone smiles at that revelation. SAMANTHA But it has a bonus track on it – our new version of the song “Turn to Stone.” I had them add that as sort of my secret salute to you after I had that dream you were leaving. But now, it’s REALLY an appropriate tune. Stone accepts the CD from Samantha. She gives him a friendly kiss on the forehead as well. STONE Thank you. I’ll never let this one get out of my sight. (a beat) So where are you off to tomorrow? One of the major labels? SAMANTHA No. Tomorrow, Amie, Luisa, me and our fellow abductees are all going to visit the Statue of Liberty! AMIE And we’re going to climb all the way to the top, right? SAMANTHA Absolutely! The two women clasp hands for a moment and then march out of the restaurant together side by side. Stone smiles, happy that these two friends of his have not met a gruesome fate like so many others. He then looks up at the TV and catches the very end of the report. The TV screen shows a photo of Alise. REPORTER As a final note, if anyone has seen this woman... Suddenly a voice responds off screen, and afterward we see his face. DEVIL Why, I’ve seen that woman. This very day in fact. Stone turns to see the Devil is seated in the chair across from him now. He deliberately pushes the remainder of his slice of cake over in front of the Devil. DEVIL And to what do I owe this magnanimous gesture? STONE I just thought it was appropriate – for someone who tried to have his cake and eat it too. DEVIL Why whatever are you implying, Detective? STONE You did everything you could to sabotage me from finding Alise Linburke: Bribery, theft, malicious mischief. DEVIL Now, Mr. Stone, it was ALWAYS my intention to have you return Alise back into my loving embrace. STONE Sure. AFTER she delivered your 13 girls to you for your obscene beauty pageant. Then you were going to renege on your agreement to her. DEVIL Nonsense. I gave her a signed contract saying neither I nor any of my demons would send her back to Hell. Can I help it if there just happened to be a rogue hellcop on the case determined to send all my children back to me? STONE Uh, huh. And those 12 girls you were going to send to some Middle Eastern ruler? DEVIL Oh, just some deal I was brokering with an ugly looking Sultan – his soul for a dozen multi-racial girls who would be his willing slaves. The necklaces would have taken care of that last part. (Sighs) Obviously, I’ll have to renegotiate THAT deal. STONE And exactly what was that device she was using – that little model that grew and shrank at the drop of a hat? The next moment, the Devil is holding the little model in his hand as he continues to talk. DEVIL Oh, this? That goes back to one of my earlier schemes. I made a deal with an antique dealer named Louis Vendredi. Put a curse on all his antiques. Caused quite a lot of havoc… (with mild disgust) …until a quartet of goody-goodies rounded them all up and sealed them in a vault forever. All except this one. But I guess I’ll be putting this one in mothballs now too. The focus shifts to Stone’s face for a moment, when the Devil is next seen, the model has vanished from his hands. STONE And just what would have happened to the winner of that contest? DEVIL She’d be placed on a high air-conditioned pedestal in Hell where we could all admire her beauty. Au naturel, of course. We’d want to admire her true unadorned beauty. STONE And how would you get around the fact that she was never condemned to Hell? DEVIL Because, as per the terms of her contract, she would just be a guest in Hell. And she would be paid - $1,000 a year in gold for the 100 years of her stay. (with a smirk) Of course, she couldn’t take any of it with her when she went back home. STONE Yeah. Back home – 100 years later. Not knowing anybody in that time period or even what the world would be like by then. DEVIL Well, that wouldn’t be a problem. See, I was going to wipe her memory clean. She’d have no memory of the past at all. Think of it as starting with a clean slate. (a beat) But for now, it will be Alise adorning that pedestal. Not that she’s that beautiful but I just love the thought of making her suffer the very fate she was willing to foist on someone else. I do love the irony of the human who digs the pit and then falls into it. Stone shakes his head. DEVIL Well, you can’t really blame me. There’s so little beauty down in Hell. Even the pretty girls who end up there have such evil souls they’re not pleasant to look at. But, your friend Samantha for example – she’d have been quite beautiful to gaze at. (a beat) She had an excellent chance of winning, you know, even if she wasn’t using her natural hair color. STONE And you would have made her honor a contract that she signed at gunpoint? DEVIL Well, she still had a choice to sign or not sign, Detective. (picking up a water glass, then casually) She could have chosen death. The Devil then nonchalantly takes a sip of the water. STONE Tell me, rationalization, justification – were those things that you invented? DEVIL Oh please, detective. Those terms date back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. (quoting) Oh, Eve made me eat the fruit. Oh, The Serpent made me eat the fruit. STONE Well, as I recall you did sell them a phony bill of goods about what would happen if they ate that fruit. DEVIL Oh, but that’s just it, detective. I told them the truth. I told them it would give them the knowledge of good and evil and that it would make them more like gods. Both of those things were true. (with a smirk) They just never stopped to consider that maybe God had a good reason for not wanting them to know what good and evil were. That once they were stripped of their childlike innocence, they’d be booted out of paradise. (with an almost contented sigh) They failed to realize something that mortals to this very day have failed to learn. STONE And what is that? DEVIL That they should read the whole contract completely before they sign on the dotted line. Stone shakes his head in bewilderment. The Devil takes a last bite of the cake, as we: FADE TO BLACK THE END BONUS – THIS WEEK’S CLOSING THEME (To the tune of “There She Is, Miss America) There she is, Our Miss Netherworld There she is, our ideal. The dream of A million girls who are bored but pretty Can come true In this place without pity. And someday she just might be Condemned for all eternity! There she is, Our Miss Netherworld There she is, so ideal. From 12 other beauties, She took the crown by storm, With her Oh-so-devilish face and form. Worth gold, she is On a pedestal, she is Coldest of the cold, she is Our Miss Netherworld!