“Escape” Brimstone VS Episode 311 Written by Greg Lemieux TEASER INT. A TENT LOCATED IN A DESERT A GRAPHIC READS “SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST - NOVEMBER 1999” The interior of the tent is a study in simplicity. A LARGE FOLDING TABLE is in the center of the room. A RADIO TRANSMITTER can be seen in one corner. Some SMALL BOXES of paraphernalia are also in sight. Two middle-aged Middle Eastern men in outfits that look like desert camouflage gear are standing near the ENTRANCE FLAP to the tent. They are a pair of TERRORISTS, a LEADER and his HENCHMAN. The FLAP is pushed aside and two men burst through. They are obviously expected, as the other two men barely react to their entrance except to greet them. One is a younger man, also from the Middle East and dressed in desert gear. Let’s call him the TRANSPORTER. The other has a similar outfit except that his face is covered with the exception of his eyes. This is BADAK. LEADER I see you made it safely here with Badak. Were you followed? TRANSPORTER No. Everything went smoothly. The younger man removes some of his outer gear, the parts to protect him from the desert sun and winds. BADAK removes the wrap from around his face. The leader and his henchman get a good look at him for the first time – only it isn’t a he. It’s a woman. In fact, it’s ASH. LEADER (to the Transporter) You imbecile. You defile our camp by bringing a woman here. The transporter looks at Ash, who is calmly removing the last of her bulky protective gear. TRANSPORTER But... but... she wasn’t a woman when we started the journey. I swear… ASH Never mind that. I’m here now. Let’s do business. LEADER What sort of business? ASH I’m throwing a party next month; I need something to give it a little bang. I understand you have two Stinger missiles and a hand launcher; those should do nicely. LEADER We have plans for them too. But we are always willing to negotiate for the right price. What are you offering? ASH (mildly amused) I didn’t say I wanted to BUY them from you. I just said I needed them. The leader can barely mask his anger at such a remark. His henchman walks right up to the side of Ash as if preparing to attack. LEADER You mean you offer nothing for them? ASH No. I’m a reasonable person. Tell you what - you give me the missiles and the launcher and... I’ll let you live. LEADER (furiously) I would not accept such insolence from a man, let alone a worthless female. The leader makes a quick motion with his hand like one would make to open a switchblade. The henchman responds instantly by pulling a KNIFE from a scabbard within his robe and, with a lighting-fast motion, slashes toward Ash’s throat. But lightning-fast speed isn’t enough to stop Ash. In an even quicker movement, she jerks her hand up and catches the henchman’s arm in her grip. To his shock, the man finds his arm is frozen in place as if it had struck a steel wall. Ash calmly jerks the man’s arm in a downward motion. We hear the sound of BREAKING BONES. Then she turns the now limp arm back to the henchman and drives his own knife into his heart, pushing it upward just to make sure she has hit her target. The man falls to the ground quite dead. ASH Now, as I was saying... The leader has pulled out a gun and proceeds to SHOOT ASH FOUR TIMES in the heart. We see the bullet rips through her garment, but she has no reaction to it at all. Then the man shoots her in the center of her forehead. A large hole appears, but there is no blood coming from it. ASH Now, you’re really starting to piss me off! Ash runs up to the leader in a flash, with a TRAIL OF BLUE FLAME behind her. She grabs his head and twists it violently – so violently she actually breaks it off. The rest of his body slumps to the ground. Ash looks mildly disgusted at the mess she had made, shrugs, and casually drops the head to the floor. The transporter has seen this carnage and runs to the tent flap. But Ash races to him, again with a TRAIL OF BLUE FLAME behind her. She catches him, and jerks him around to face her. ASH You know where the missiles and launchers are, don’t you? The transporter nods meekly. ASH Take me to them. TRANSPORTER You’ll let me live? ASH No. Sorry. But I will give you a relatively quick and painless death. (a beat) Or, I can make it slow and extremely agonizing. Her hand begins to visibly HEAT UP, even with a WISP OF SMOKE coming from it. She slowly begins to lower it toward his crotch. TRANSPORTER (terrified) I’ll take you! I’ll take you! Ash pulls her hand back up and lets it begin to cool down. ASH (casually) Good boy. FADE TO BLACK A GRAPHIC READS “SOMEWHERE IN NEW YORK JULY, 2000 – PRESENT DAY” THE OVERTURE TO MOZART’S CLASSICAL MUSIC PIECE “EINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIK” (“A Little Night Music”) IS HEARD AS WE FADE IN TO: INT. A LAVISH APARTMENT - EVENING The first thing we see is Ash, very pregnant now, reclining comfortably on a couch, listening to the music and tracing the air with her finger as if she in conducting an imaginary orchestra. She is in a fancy apartment, with a kitchen and mini-bar nearby, and the elaborate living room she is in. She seems blissfully content, until she is interrupted by A DOORBELL RINGING ASH Casey! Will you get that for me please? She continues to listen to the music until THE DOORBELL RINGS AGAIN. ASH CASEY! Will you please get the door? (a beat, then quietly) Oh, right. I sent you out to get me pickles and ice cream. Ash hauls herself off the couch, flicks a remote control to MUTE THE MUSIC, and slowly walks to the door. THE VIEW THOUGH THE PEEPHOLE We see what Ash sees – a TEENAGE BOY in a pizza delivery outfit, holding a pizza box in his hand. INT. THE APARTMENT Ash clearly doesn’t like the looks of this. She goes over to a small table and opens a drawer within it to get something. INT. THE HALLWAY OUTSIDE ASH’S APARTMENT The PIZZA BOY is standing there calmly with the box in his hand, when suddenly the door BURSTS OPEN and Ash emerges in front of him, holding a large GUN in her hand. ASH All right, buster, you’d better have a good reason for being here, because I didn’t order a pizza. PIZZA BOY (speaking in a dazed, listless voice) Ashur. Ashur Badaktu? ASH (with a smile) Oh, you know my name! With that, she points the gun right between the boy’s eyes. ASH Now you’re REALLY in trouble! PIZZA BOY I don’t... expect you to... recognize me in this form. But... if you look into my eyes... you will understand. Ash hesitates. She is clearly puzzled by the request, yet intrigued at the same time. She looks around into the hallway, as if afraid someone is waiting to jump her if she does this. But then she shakes it off and cautiously looks into the boy’s eyes. C.U. PIZZA BOY’S EYES We see what Ash sees – a large black area. We half expect to suddenly see a flash of hellfire in his eyes, but instead a large bright light emerges until it fills the screen with white. THE HALLWAY Ash gasps in shock. She drops the gun. Then she DROPS TO HER KNEES. ASH Oh, Asherah, my queen! I am not worthy to stand in your presence. Pizza boy’s eyes register a blank stare. But as his mouth moves, from within him now comes a BOOMING FEMALE VOICE – THE VOICE OF ASHERAH! ASHERAH Rise, Ashur! You are wrong. No one else in this universe is more worthy to stand in my presence than you are. You who remain faithful to me after 4,000 years in Hell, you who sacrificed her only child to me. Come, let us speak in private. Ash follows the boy into her apartment and she closes the door. He sets the pizza box down and speaks to Ash. He is tall, so Ash can speak to him face to face. ASH I bring you news of great joy. The child I bear is one fathered by a man with a soul of tremendous energy. He will grow to be a powerful being who will help me tear down the gates of Heaven and destroy Yahweh, leaving that realm for you to occupy forever. ASHERAH Yes, I know about the child. That is one reason I have come. I am concerned that he may not have a chance to be born and grow as intended. The soul-hunter is seeking you out. He knows your secret. He knows that if he sends you back, all your fellow souls will go back with you. The others cannot be relied upon to delay him as expected. You need fresh souls – beings not connected to you. Those souls can delay the hunter until your child is born and can begin to use his abilities. ASH But how can I get them? ASHERAH I have very little power in this universe, as you well know. But I have found an asteroid - a small one that is heading near the Earth in five days. I can steer it into this planet’s orbit long enough to briefly put out some of the firewalls of Hell as I did once before. ASH We can arrange another escape? ASHERAH If you hurry. The asteroid will pass into Earth’s orbit at 10:08 PM, five days from now. This may be the last chance you have for a hundred years. Can you arrange it in time? ASH Yes, my queen, I will do it. I will arrange another escape from Hell. I will set a new army of souls free to wreak havoc on this planet – and on Stone. ASHERAH Excellent. Take my hand. Ash takes the hand of the pizza boy. A GREEN GLOW emerges from it and passes into her body. For a moment, she GLOWS GREEN, and then returns to her normal self again. ASHERAH That will give you the power to make the other souls your willing slaves, so you need not fear that they will overthrow you. You can pass the power to whomever you choose, but the souls they touche will still be enslaved to you and you alone. ASH I understand, my queen. ASHERAH My time is almost up. I will contact you again when all is completed. Do well, my beloved priestess. Asherah’s voice fades. As it does, the boy begins to shake his head, as if he is waking from a dream. PIZZA BOY Oh, where am I? What’s going on? He picks up the pizza box and opens it. PIZZA BOY Oh, no. I didn’t make my delivery! I must’ve got lost! And now the pizza’s cold. My boss is gonna kill me. ASH (amused) Let me see what kind of pizza you’ve got. (picking it up, inhaling its aroma) Ooh, Sausage, pepperoni, ANCHOVIES! Ash sets the pizza down and reaches into the small table drawer and pulls out a FIFTY- DOLLAR BILL. She hands it over to the boy. ASH Here. I’ll take this off your hands. Keep the change. PIZZA BOY Oh, gosh! Thanks, lady. You’re a lifesaver! ASH Oh, no. Thank YOU. You have no idea how many lives you just helped ME affect. With that, she hurriedly hustles him out the door and slams it behind him. She goes over to the pizza with an almost sensuous smile on her face. She picks up the remote and TURNS THE CLASSICAL MUSIC BACK ON. It was still playing when muted, so now it is building up to its climax. Ash carries the pizza box over to the COFFEE TABLE next to the couch and sets it down on it. She lies back down on the couch, takes A LARGE SLICE OF PIZZA and holds it in her hands. It HEATS UP until it SIZZLES like it just came out of the oven. ASH Enjoy your spending money while you can, little boy. Your days are numbered. (a beat) Everyone’s days are numbered. As the LAST NOTES OF THE MUSIC PLAY, Ash bites down into the pizza like a predator taking a bite out of her prey. CUT TO BLACK END OF TEASER ACT I EXT. AN OLD ABANDONED APARTMENT COMPLEX – NIGHT A six-story apartment building looms in front of us, modern-looking but abandoned now. Some of its windows are broken, but otherwise it is pretty much intact. It is quiet for a moment, until the silence of the night air is broken by: A WOMAN’S SCREAM INT. AN ABANDONED APARTMENT – NIGHT The WOMAN appears to be a hooker, dressed in a tight outfit that emphasizes her cleavage and exposes most of her legs. Her hands are tied together over her head by a rope that is in turned attached to a ceiling fan above her. She is struggling to get loose, but in vain. Her full name is ARABELLA, but she is called BELLE for short. Standing next to her is a MAN dressed like a Puritan of 17th century America, a large hat, black clothing with a large patch of white around his neck and shoulders. He is WILLIAM STOUGHTON, once a judge who presided over the Salem witch trials – now a damned soul. He grabs the woman by the throat. STOUGHTON Silence, woman. Or I’ll silence you forever. Arabella is having trouble breathing with STOUGHTON’s firm grip on her windpipe. She nods weakly to show her understanding. He releases her neck. BELLE (in a meek voice) Please. This is all a mistake. STOUGHTON Oh, then I did not hear you ask me if would pay you to perform acts of lust that are reserved for the bedroom of a married couple – and even just barely there? BELLE Yes, but... it’s just voluntary. If you don’t wanna do anything, I’ll just go. I won’t tell anybody. STOUGHTON You are a tool of the Devil! You use the body God gave you to try to seduce and destroy good men. I saw your kind 300 years ago bring evil to our colony. We hanged nineteen of you before we were forced to stop. Others judges repented and begged forgiveness for what they had done, but I knew better. I knew the Devil had merely thrown a boulder in our pathway to stop our effort to cleanse the land of witches. (a beat) And now I return to this world and see the foul sewer the Devil has made of our land. Witches like you walk the street in plain sight. You no longer even need to hide in the shadows like your predecessors. This country is on its way to Hell, but I will stop the descent. I will destroy all of you. BELLE Listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not a witch. STOUGHTON Well, we shall see then. I will examine you for witchmarks. STOUGHTON pulls hard and furiously on her dress and it rips apart in one stroke, falling to the floor and leaving her clad in only a bra and panties. She is too frightened at this point to be embarrassed. The Puritan examines her front side and sees nothing of note. But as he moves around and looks at her back, he sees a large tattoo of a butterfly. STOUGHTON May the Saints preserve us! The Devil has not only marked you, he had made your body his canvas. BELLE What are talking about? STOUGHTON This winged creature he has etched into you back. I swear I just saw it flap its wings. BELLE What? That’s just a tattoo. Lots of people have them. STOUGHTON Yes. All those that the Devil has chosen for his own! BELLE Look. I don’t even like the thing. It was my boyfriend’s idea. Then he ditched me. STOUGHTON You would be willing to have it removed then? BELLE Sure. Sure. If it’ll make you happy, I promise to have it removed. STOUGHTON Excellent. (a beat) I’ll get my knife. BELLE What? Are you crazy? You can’t cut it off! Do you know how deep those things go? STOUGHTON We shall soon see, won’t we? BELLE You’re crazy! Help! Somebody help me! STOUGHTON ignores her and goes through a DOOR into the kitchen. On a table there he has a SET OF KNIVES and some other TORTURING DEVICES all in a TOOL BOX-STYLE KIT. He picks up a large, sharp knife. STOUGHTON This should do nicely. Suddenly, the DOOR BESIDE HIM IS KICKED OPEN. EZEKIEL STONE emerges through it with his gun drawn. STOUGHTON turns toward him with the knife now in a defensive position. He looks at the tattoos visible on Stone’s outstretched arm. STOUGHTON ‘Pon my soul, the Devil has marked you even more than his handmaiden in the next room. BELLE (O.S.) Please, listen to me. I have a little girl. If you kill me, she’ll be an orphan. STONE Well, at least this one’s still alive. You’ve left a trail of bodies over a lot of cities. STOUGHTON There is much evil to undo. Starting with you. STOUGHTON charges at Stone. Ezekiel tries to fire a quick shot but misses. STOUGHTON slashes his knife and catching Stone painfully on his gun hand before he can fire again. Stone drops the gun and grabs at the judge’s knife hand. They struggle for a moment and then CRASH THROUGH THE KITCHEN DOOR into the next room, a move that sends them both toppling to the floor. The knife FLIES THOUGH THE AIR landing a distance away from the both of them. STOUGHTON runs over and sets himself behind Arabella. As Stone gets closer, the judge literally pushes the girl into him, causing her to scream. STOUGHTON then takes advantage of Stone’s position and runs to the window. STOUGHTON We’ll fight another day! STOUGHTON DIVES THROUGH THE WINDOW and sails five stories to the street below. Stone runs over to the window and looks down. EXT. THE STREET OUTSIDE THE COMPLEX STOUGHTON gets up off the street and runs off into the night. THE APARTMENT Stone climbs on the ledge as if preparing to follow Stoughton’s path. BELLE No, please. You’re not gonna leave me like this, are you? Stone hesitates for a moment, but his humanity wins out. He steps back off the ledge and walks toward the girl. STONE (defeated) No. No, of course not. He picks up the knife off the floor and goes over to Arabella, cutting her ropes loose with the knife. As soon as her hands are free she ducks to the floor and tries to wrap her torn dress back around her. BELLE Thank you. STONE Are you okay? BELLE I’ve been better. STONE I heard you say you had a daughter. Was that true or were you just trying to get some sympathy? BELLE No, it’s true. I left her with a friend. Paid her my last ten bucks to babysit. And I didn’t earn anything tonight. That freak never gave me a dime. Stone reaches into his pocket and finds some bills. It’s late and his money will soon evaporate anyway. He hands what’s left of it over to Belle. BELLE (suspicious) What do you want for this? STONE Nothing. Just consider it... hazard pay. (a beat) You might consider another line of business. BELLE You think I like doing this? I needed rent money by tonight, or I’m getting thrown out. I’ve got no savings. Now I won’t even have a place to stay. Stone looks at this poor unfortunate woman. He looks as if he knows what he says next will cause him nothing but grief, but he says it anyway. STONE Is your daughter far away? Arabella shakes her head. STONE Why don’t you let me take you home, then? BELLE Yeah. I’m kinda scared to be alone right now, anyway. Stone gives Arabella his jacket to put around her since her torn dress won’t stay in place by itself. Together the two of them leave the apartment. INT. A LUXURY HOTEL – THE HONEYMOON SUITE It’s a honeymoon suite all right. The bed is shaped like a giant heart. There are lovely flower arrangements by the wall. The whole room seems to glisten with the purest of white on the walls and the warmest of pink on the curtains and the sheets and blanket on the bed. Indeed the atmosphere has almost a dreamlike quality to it. The DOOR BURSTS OPEN and a GROOM enters carrying his BRIDE over the threshold. Both are still dressed like they came there from the church. She is wearing a bride’s outfit complete with veil (though it’s not down over her face). He is dressed in a black tuxedo, although it looks a little worn out and wrinkled. The lovebirds’ names are DEXTER and GWEN. DEXTER Oh, we’re here at last. I was beginning to think we’d never make it. Dexter gently sets Gwen down onto the floor in a standing position, as she speaks. GWEN I know. What a crazy day. The minister was two hours late, then the car broke down on the way over and you had to fix it. Then we got lost three times trying to find this place. DEXTER Oh, but it is beautiful! Just like you. GWEN (embracing Dexter) Oh, Dex, I... (suddenly feeling a little frantic) I have to use the bathroom. She runs to a small bathroom door on the far side of the room. As she opens the door and runs in, she pokes her head out for just a moment. GWEN Don’t start without me! DEXTER Don’t worry. Just hurry. INT. THE BATHROOM It’s just a typical hotel bathroom, except it’s shiny white almost. Gwen has just FLUSHED THE TOILET and she is looking in the mirror checking her makeup. We get a good look at her and she seems familiar to us. THE HONEYMOON SUITE Gwen bursts back out through the door only to find Dexter is already in bed under the covers. His shirt is off, and he is presumably naked. Gwen looks disappointed. GWEN Dex. We were supposed to undress each other! DEXTER I’m sorry. I couldn’t wait. (a beat) But since you’re still dressed, you could do a little striptease for me. Gwen pretends to be a little embarrassed at his suggestion, but she’s just playing with him. She beams and gives him a “why not” smile. Then she peels off her veil in a sexy manner and tosses it onto the bed. Her bridal gown has a lacy covering around the skirt section, so she undoes that and tosses it toward the bed. But, to her horror, as it sails through the air it SPONTANEOUSLY IGNITES. When it lands on the bed it is on fire. The FIRE QUICKLY SPREADS ALONG THE EDGES OF THE BED, making a heart- shaped ring of fire that Dex is now trapped in. Gwen is in a panic. GWEN Oh, my God. Dex! DEXTER Gwen. Do something. Hurry! Gwen sees a FIRE EXTINGUISHER on the wall. She runs over and pulls it free from its latch. She aims it at the bed. But instead of shooting CO2, it SHOOTS FIRE AT THE BED LIKE A FLAMETHROWER. Dexter is now ENGULFED IN A SEA OF FIRE. We hear his SCREAMING IN PAIN as the inferno swallows him up completely. Gwen can only step back from the holocaust and SCREAM. GWEN Dexter! Nooooooooo! As she screams, the fire increases until it is spread up over the wall. The whole room is now aflame. Then slowly, like a two-dimensional image the flames literally burn away the whole scene and then vanish as if there is nothing left to burn. The room is replaced be a huge cavern reaching up several stories high and out as far as the eye can see. Gwen is no longer dressed in a bridal gown. She is now wearing a PEASANT GIRL’S OUTFIT from 15th century Provencal in France. She is GWEN DUBARE (from the episode “Heat”) and this is her own personal Hell. In the distance, we can hear the MOCKING LAUGHTER OF THE DEVIL. DEVIL (O.S.) Oh, Gwen. You never disappoint me. As often as you’ve done this, you always think that this time it’s going to be real. This time you’re going to consummate your love. But it never happens – and it never will. GWEN Damn you! DEVIL (O.S.) I believe you have that backwards, child. GWEN Why do you torment me over and over like this? What’s the point? DEVIL (O.S.) Point? The only point is I win and God loses. You fell into my domain and now I can do as I please with you. And it pleases me to watch you try to obtain the love you never found in life and always fail to consummate it. (a beat) I must say, though, your time spent on Earth during your brief escape has improved you. Before, your fantasies always took place in that drab old Provencal, France. Now with all you learned in school, you can be almost anywhere in the course of history, honeymooning in the modern day, marrying a cowboy in the old West, dating a Knight in England, losing a lover in the Revolutionary War. You’re much more fun to torment now. GWEN I won’t do this again. I won’t think about a lover anymore. I won’t give you the satisfaction! DEVIL (O.S.) You always say that, Gwen. But sooner or later, you’ll start to fantasize again. And it will become real to you again. And you’ll come so close to achieving the bliss of true love, only to have your dream burst into flames. GWEN (after a long beat) I’ll beat you! Somehow I’ll find a way to beat you at your own game. DEVIL (O.S.) By now you should know better Gwen. (a beat, more seriously) Nobody beats the Devil. The Devil’s mocking laughter is heard for several seconds more and then it fades, leaving Gwen standing there alone again in her misery. INT. – HOTEL MEZZANINE – STONE’S APARTMENT Stone enters his room quietly, followed by Arabella toting a small, ragged-looking suitcase, and her six year old daughter AMANDA, a sweet-looking young girl dressed in decent but obviously outdated clothing. STONE Okay, you and Amanda can sleep in the bedroom. I’ll stay out here on the couch. BELLE I don’t know how to thank you for this. I really have nowhere else to go. STONE I’ll try to help you find someplace tomorrow. BELLE The shelters are all full up. I’ve tried. At least I can still get a meal there. STONE Well, I can only hide you here for a day or two. But you’ve been through enough for one night. So just get some sleep for now. BELLE Okay. And thank you. She starts to take her daughter into the room. Before she has a chance to close the door, the little girl speaks politely. AMANDA Thank you very much, sir. STONE (exaggerated, with a smile) You’re very welcome, young lady. Amanda slips into the room quietly. STONE You’ve taught her well. BELLE There’s a few things I still do right. She quietly steps back and closes the bedroom door. INT. A CAVERN DOWN IN HELL Gwen is walking through the cavern in Hell. Off in the distance about two hundred yards in front of her, is an OPENING LIKE ONE WOULD USE TO WALK OUT OF A CAVE. But in front of it, stretching from one end of the cave to the other and spanning an additional thirty feet in depth is a HUGE WALL OF FIRE. Indeed it doesn’t follow a random pattern of a burning fire but is almost like a huge invisible brick wall eternally lit up in flames. Gwen stares at it with fascination, knowing just beyond it is the passage back to Earth. GWEN If only I could pass through you like he does. Maybe this time. A voice calls out quietly. VOICE Gwen... GWEN (angrily shouting into the air) Leave me alone. You’ve had your fun for the day! VOICE No, it’s not the Devil, Gwen. Look down at your feet. Gwen looks down at her feet and sees what seems to be a small dog – brownish in color, very hairy, seemingly harmless. Its head is looking downward, but then it looks up at Gwen. Instead of a dog’s face, however, the creature has a HUMAN FACE LIKE THAT OF A TEENAGE BOY. Gwen recoils in horror for a second, but the face seems so forlorn, she can’t fear it. She can only feel pity for the creature. GWEN Who are you? WHAT are you? OTTO My name’s Otto. When I was a boy, I used to torture small animals. This is the Devil’s way of punishing me. Anytime I fall asleep, I dream I’m being tortured in the same way I used to torture creatures. GWEN Yes. That sounds like something he’d do. He has a very vicious sense of irony. (a beat) That makes you a self-punisher, Like me. OTTO A what? GWEN A self-punisher. He doesn’t have to waste his time tormenting us. He’s rigged us like horses on a merry-go-round, endlessly running around in the same vicious circle, never able to get off or go somewhere else. Leaves him more time to spend on the ones who need more challenging tortures. OTTO Is that bad? Being a self-punisher? GWEN Well, everything here is bad, obviously. Some are just worse than others. The good thing about being a self-punisher is that in between torments you’re pretty much free to go wherever you please. You can see other people’s torments, but they can’t see you. You can’t interfere with it; only a trustee can do that. It’s like – watching a hologram. But it keeps your mind from drifting back to your own torment – for a while at least. OTTO That’s what scares me now – my own torment. I’ve been awake for hours. I’m getting tired. If I don’t find something to keep my mind occupied, I’ll fall asleep again. Please help me. GWEN What’s the use? Sooner or later, you’ll still fall asleep. He’ll still have his way with you. OTTO Please. I’m scared. I was a horrible person. I did terrible things to animals. GWEN Well... maybe talking with you can keep me from thinking about a happy life back on Earth. Whenever I do that, I end up in a fantasy that ends in horror. So, I guess we can help each other. INT. STONE’S APARTMENT Stone is in the process of draping a sheet over the couch, when he hears a KNOCK ON THE DOOR. ALEX (O.S.) Zeke, are you in there? Stone looks puzzled, but goes to the door and opens it up. ALEX is standing there with a couple of TOOLS in her hands. ALEX (in a cagey tone) Oh, thought you could slip by me, did you? STONE Uh, what do you mean? ALEX Never mind. I have something for you. She plops a PIPE WRENCH into his palm firmly but carefully. STONE Gee. Alex, you shouldn’t have. My birthday isn’t till next month. ALEX And this too. She hands him a PLUMBER’S SNAKE which he takes in this other hand. STONE Is there a story behind all this? ALEX I’ve got a tenant in 342 whose toilet is both backed up and leaking and the maintenance man is out sick. Now I could try to drag a sick man back to work, or I could pay a plumber $60 an hour to fix it, or... STONE You could get one of your tenants who’s habitually late paying his rent to do it for you. ALEX makes a pointing motion with her hand, signifying “You’ve got it.” STONE Can it wait till morning? ALEX Sure. He’s trying to sleep now anyway. Tomorrow will be... At that, the BEDROOM DOOR opens up and BELLE pokes her head outside. BELLE Stone, do you have a night... (seeing Alex, pausing) light? Stone looks sheepishly at ALEX, who is now standing with her arms folded, looking stern. She is not a happy camper! WHITE FLASH END OF ACT I ACT II INT. THE HALLWAY IN FRONT OF STONE’S APARTMENT Alex is still seething as she was before. ALEX I need to see you outside a minute. She reaches out and pulls him out into the hallway, closing the door behind them. STONE It’s not what you think. ALEX Oh, it never is, is it? STONE She’s just... ALEX I know. She’s your cousin from Kalamazoo, right? Forget it, Zeke. I know who she is, or rather WHAT she is. STONE Look, it’s just. ALEX I know. You’re a man, and you have your needs. I’m not being judgmental. I’m not even going to mention that you seem to have money to spend on that and not on your rent, but I will not have... STONE She’s got no place to go. ALEX Really? Well, when your friend Samantha was in that position, you brought her right up to my desk and explained the situation. But this one you sneaked by me while I was taking a restroom break. STONE I can’t just throw her out. ALEX Well, that’s okay. (firmly) I can! STONE’S APARTMENT BELLE is standing outside the bedroom door still as Alex and Stone reenter the room. ALEX Okay, LADY, why don’t you slip into something less comfortable and... A moment later, little Amanda opens the bedroom door, rubbing her eyes. AMANDA Did you find a nightlight yet, Mommy? Alex suddenly stops talking. She looks at Amanda and then at Stone again. ALEX Excuse us. She opens the door and hauls Stone out of the room again, closing the door quickly. THE HALLWAY ALEX Why didn’t you tell me she had a little girl with her? STONE I don’t recall you asking - or giving me a chance to get a word in edgewise. ALEX Fine. Who is she and what is going on? STONE She was attacked tonight by a lunatic. I took her home, and found she was getting kicked out. So I offered to put her up here. ALEX Why didn’t you come to me and tell me that? STONE If I had done that, would you have let her stay? ALEX Believe it or not, YES! Do you think I’m some heartless creature that would throw a working mother out in the street – no matter what her “job” is? STONE No, of course I don’t. ALEX Then why couldn’t you trust me enough to be honest with me? STONE (after a long beat, apologetic) Because, like you said, I’m always behind with the rent. You’re always helping me out by letting me do odd jobs to earn my keep. I just... didn’t want to press my luck. I’m sorry. Alex looks a little more understanding now and a lot less pissed. ALEX All right, that’ll do for now. STONE’S APARTMENT The door opens again and Alex and Stone re-enter. Arabella and Amanda are standing there waiting for the news. ALEX I’m sorry about the miscommunication before. You’re welcome to stay here for a few days until you can find another place to live. BELLE We appreciate that. ALEX There’s just to be... no... business transactions... while you’re staying here at the hotel. Is that understood? BELLE You have my word on that. ALEX Okay. You’ll find a nightlight in the bottom bureau drawer. BELLE Oh, thank you. ALEX And in the morning, I think we can find you some rolls and jam if you’d like. BELLE Oh, we’d like that a lot! ALEX Good. I’ll see you then. Good night. Alex steps out of the door. Stone follows her without any prompting this time. THE HALLWAY STONE I appreciate all you did for them. ALEX No problem. I want to help people in need. Just as long as it’s only temporary. STONE I’ll make sure of that. (a beat) And I will fix that toilet first thing in the morning. ALEX (firmly, but still playfully) You bet you will! She smiles at him and then walks off down the hallway. Stone goes back into his apartment. INT. ASH’S APARTMENT – THE FRONT DOOR Ash steps up to the door and opens it. Standing there is LIZZY DARKE, holding a WHITE BOX delicately in both hands. LIZZY Lulu sends this with her compliments. Ash looks outside the door to see if Lizzy is alone. She is. ASH Why doesn’t she ever come herself? LIZZY (shrugging) She has her reasons, I guess. But she promises when the time comes that you need her as a midwife, she’ll be here 24/7 if necessary. ASH All right, then. Let’s see what she sent. Ash OPENS THE BOX carefully and pulls out a LARGE PURPLE CANDLE. LIZZY She says the aroma from that candle, when lit, will increase your strength, stamina and passion for several hours until it burns out – just as you requested. ASH Excellent. LIZZY She’s curious what you need it for. ASH (firmly) Tell her I have MY reasons. LIZZY Okay, okay. Don’t shoot the messenger. ASH Thank her again for the potions she sent earlier. They’ve done wonders for me. I’m back to full strength again. LIZZY That’s what she expected. But she did tell me to warn you as the birth begins to get closer you’ll get weaker again. Potions can only do so much. ASH I’ll deal with that when the time comes. Thank you for bringing this over. LIZZY No problem. ASH Oh, and here. She hands Lizzy a KEY. ASH That’s in case you need to drop something off while I’m not here. LIZZY Okay, but isn’t Casey usually here? ASH (after a hesitant beat) I may have to send him away soon. LIZZY Oh, that’s a shame. ASH Why do you say that? LIZZY I’ve got eyes. I see the way you look at him. You like him. ASH He is very sweet. Quite a change from the rest of North’s crew. He had come up here to help just before I sent for you. He was a big help to me when I was feeling weak – before you and Lulu got here with your potions. I guess I have grown fond of him. (a beat) But there’s no time for romantic entanglements now. I haven’t had much luck with men in the past anyway. LIZZY Well, I hope your luck changes. See you later. Lizzy goes out the door and Ash closes it behind her. She puts the candle back in the box and takes it toward her bedroom. FADE TO: ASH’S APARTMENT – THE DINING AREA – A SHORT TIME LATER Around a LARGE DINING TABLE, Ash has assembled NORTH RATARE, still wearing his eye patch, and two of the remnants of his dozen. One of them is LEONA PRIDE, a well-built, tough-looking Hispanic woman and the other is CASEY BUTLER, an average-looking tall, gangly fellow. Ash sits on one side of the table. The other three are seated on the opposite side. There is no doubt who’s in charge here. ASH Now, while the take you brought in from the bank robberies will be helpful in our future efforts, something else has come up. It overrides all our previous plans and hopefully will take us to a whole new level in our battle. NORTH Why? What’s happened? ASH I’ve been contacted by Asherah, the serpent queen. NORTH Oh? Did she send you a telegram? ASH No, she came here. In a sense you’d never understand. That’s not important. What is important is that Asherah and I are going to try to arrange another mass escape from Hell. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get as many out as before, but whoever we release will be totally enslaved to us and we can use them to eliminate Stone and any other minions sent out by either side. CASEY How will the escape take place? ASH Asherah will place a small asteroid in the Earth’s orbit at the spot close enough to affect the portal between here and Hell. CASEY I’ve never quite understood that. Why were we able to get from Hell to Earth without going through Heaven or the judgment area? ASH (with a smile) An excellent question, Casey. Allow me to explain North has a surly look on his face, as if annoyed by the change in Ash’s tone. There are a SALT SHAKER and a PEPPER SHAKER on the table, as well as SQUEEZE BOTTLES of both MUSTARD and KETCHUP and a BUTTER DISH. Ash PICKS UP THE KETCHUP BOTTLE FIRST. ASH Let’s say this is Hell. She plunks it at one side of the table close to her, and then picks up the MUSTARD. ASH And this is Yahweh’s home – for now. She PUTS THE MUSTARD ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE TABLE. Then she PUTS THE BUTTER DISH between them. She puts the PEPPER SHAKER between the KETCHUP AND THE BUTTER DISH to represent Earth. ASH When a mortal dies on Earth, (picking up the salt shaker) he is immediately transported to the judging area. She picks up the SALT SHAKER and puts it on the butter dish. ASH If he’s been a little wimp, kowtowing to God, he goes here. (indicates the mustard) If he’s been a fighter like us, he goes to Hell. (a beat) Now comes the flaw in the design. From the judging area, there should be two portals – one out to Heaven, one out to Hell. But instead, (plunking the salt shaker back near the pepper) the mortal is sent back to Earth first, and from there travels through a portal to Heaven or Hell. This mistake is what made an escape possible. Otherwise breaking out from Hell would take you to the judging area where you’d be recaptured promptly. But instead this system allowed us to return directly to Earth. CASEY How come they never fixed the flaw? ASH Because, as so many others bureaucrats say, that’s just the way it’s always been done. (a beat) Now, when Asherah and I planned the first escape we realized we had to find a way to put out some of the many firewalls that guarded Hell. To do that we had to put something in the portal between Earth and Hell. The portal leads deep underground. Nothing human will ever get deep enough to block its path. Nothing on the ground or up in space has enough power to affect it. It requires the gravitational field of a heavenly object not following the laws of this universe. That is something only Asherah can provide. She exists in a different plane - but a much smaller, almost empty plane of existence. LEONA So she provided the object that you used for the first escape. ASH Yes, she diverted the course of a large asteroid, bringing it near enough to the Earth for its gravitational field to affect the firewalls in Hell for several minutes, snuffing them out and allowing us to escape. The ideal time to do it would have been May of 2000, when the planets were all aligned in a row. But that would also have been too obvious a time – some heavenly powers would have been alerted, no doubt. So she chose the time just under 2 years before that. The slight proximity to the alignment aided in the plan. NORTH So what’s this have to do with now? ASH Asherah has found a small asteroid nearby. She will align it in four days to allow the firewalls in Hell to go out for a few minutes. It won’t give us much time, so we’ll need a diversion to make it work. Obviously, I can’t use the same diversion I used before, so this is what I propose. North, I presume you still have possession of the Stinger missiles I acquired last year? NORTH No. I lost them in a poker game. Ash glares at him. But he in turn looks like he’s disgusted that she even asked such a question. NORTH They’re available whenever needed. ASH Good. I have an abandoned warehouse in New York City I need you to transport them to. Now, Leona, you're the best shooter in North’s Dozen – at least of those still left. Think you can pick off a passenger plane or two with two missiles? LEONA Honey, I could shoot off a flea’s wing a mile away. ASH Well, this won’t require that kind of accuracy, so you should be fine. NORTH (indicating Casey) What about him? Can he help me move the missiles? ASH No, He’s going to help me find the right spot to shoot the planes down from, as well as precisely what airline flights the targets will be. (a beat) You have your missions then. North, go fetch the missiles. Leona, start scouting the streets so you can figure a way to transport those missiles without being caught. Any questions? None of the three venture any questions. ASH Then let’s move! INT. HOTEL MEZZANINE – A SMALL BATHROOM Stone is in the bathroom of apartment 342. The plumber’s snake is lying in a bucket soaking and the toilet is clean and working again. There is a large REPAIR BOOK setting on top of the tank. Ezekiel is on his back on the floor tightening the bolts under the toilet tank with the pipe wrench. His aggravated expression indicates he’s been at it a while. We are close-up on his face as he tightens the bolt, when suddenly. VOICE (O.S.) (angrily) What are you doing in here? Stone, without thinking, LIFTS HIS HEAD UP AND BANGS IT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE TOILET TANK. Further frustrated now, he lifts himself up off the floor, only to see that the voice came from the DEVIL, who is standing on the floor, leaning casually on the bathroom counter. DEVIL Oh, was that you, Ezekiel? So sorry. STONE Yeah, like you were sorry about the Vietnam War. Stone slides back under the tank and tries to tighten the bolt even as the conversation progresses. It’s his way of letting the Devil know how little he thinks of him. DEVIL It pains me to constantly have to come up here and lecture you on priorities. Being a plumber is not part of your job description. STONE Well, maybe if you paid me more than $36.27 a day I wouldn’t have to do odd jobs to pay my rent. DEVIL Now, Mr. Stone, that’s not the whole story, is it? The fact is you have to kiss up extra to Alex now so she’ll let you keep your hooker friend in your flat. If you had just left her behind and chased after Stoughton, this woman would no longer be your problem. STONE How do you know I wouldn’t have come back for her? DEVIL It wouldn’t have mattered. She would have pulled so hard on the ropes to free herself, it would have brought the ceiling fixture right down on her head. Death by blunt force trauma. Stone slides out from under the tank and slowly gets back up off the floor as he speaks. STONE In that case, I’m GLAD I stayed behind to help her. (a beat) So would she have ended up in God’s hands or in your lap? DEVIL She’s borderline. Could have gone either way. They tend to overlook prostitution as a damnable offense by itself. It is the world’s oldest profession, after all. STONE Give me your opinion on the state of the world, why don’t you? DEVIL (mildly flattered) Well, all right, Mr. Stone. I think the world... Stone takes that moment to FLUSH THE TOILET LOUDLY. The Devil stops talking, realizing he’s been had. As THE NOISE DWINDLES... DEVIL Very childish, detective. I could almost compliment you on that. So I take it you plan to just keep working here while a damned soul trods merrily through the face of this city. STONE Your buddy Stoughton only shows up at night. I talked with Belle about where she ran into him. It won’t do me any good to look around for him during the day, unless you’re willing to tell me what coffin he’s sleeping in right now. Stone looks at the floor beneath the tank. He sees the DRIPPING of blue toilet water onto the RAG he had set on the floor. STONE (aggravated) I guess I need a new set of washers. At least THAT’S something I can afford. He walks out of the bathroom, brushing right past the Devil without acknowledging him. Satan gets up for a moment and walks over to the toilet. He casually SLIDES THE REPAIR BOOK forward on top of the tank. THE BOOK FALLS, LANDING FACE UP WITH THE PAGES OPEN right on the spot that the toilet is leaking down to. DEVIL (smiling) I’ve got the touch. EXT. THE HOTEL MEZZANINE An establishing shot shows that it is well past noon outside now. INT. HOTEL MEZZANINE – THE FRONT DESK Alex is at the front desk working on her computer. Stone emerges from the hallway and gently SETS THE PIPE WRENCH ON THE COUNTER and SETS THE CLEANED- UP SNAKE AND EMPTY BUCKET on the floor behind the desk. STONE Well, it took a new set of washers and a few hours, but I managed to finally stop the leak. ALEX Good work. STONE (pulling out a ten dollar bill) I’m afraid I owe you for a new repair book. Somehow that one fell on the floor and got soaked. ALEX (waving the offer off) Don’t worry yourself. It was pretty old. Gives me a legitimate excuse to order us a new one. STONE (putting the money back in his pocket) Thanks for taking Belle and Amanda out to lunch. ALEX Oh, it was nothing. They were feeling a little down. It’s hard to find a cheap apartment that doesn’t look like a dump. (a beat, more seriously) She told me about the attack last night. I was a little relieved. STONE Excuse me? ALEX Oh, I meant when you said she was attacked, I was afraid she might have been raped. STONE Oh... no. No, at least she was spared that. ALEX I see enough rape trauma as it is. It’s not an easy thing to deal with. Again Stone seems a little puzzled. Alex explains. ALEX I volunteer twice a week at a rape crisis center. STONE Oh, I didn’t know that. I think that’s wonderful. ALEX Well, it’s not entirely altruistic. I help them with some legal paperwork. It’s good practice for the future. But, I’m glad to be able to help some way. I can’t think of a worse ordeal for a woman to go through than being raped. Stone’s face betrays to us how much this line of conversation is hurting him by making him think of Rosalyn. But he is careful not to let on to Alex. STONE Yeah, that... must be awful. ALEX Of course, having a nutbag tie you to a ceiling fan and accuse you of witchcraft is no picnic either. That guy had to be insane. STONE Well, there are more crazy people out there than you can imagine. ALEX If a man has to choose someone from the past to emulate, why someone like a Salem witch trial judge? That was the biggest travesty of justice I ever read about. I mean, you had absolutely no defense. You could be the minister’s wife, at home in bed asleep with him, and somebody else claims your spirit came out from your body and seduced him. And you get hanged for it! Virtually all they had to do was accuse you of witchcraft, and you were found guilty. STONE Yeah, it was a pretty twisted time. ALEX I get so annoyed when people use the term witch hunt frivolously. I mean I could see using it during the McCarthy hearings in the 50s. But nowadays, anytime someone is homing in on a famous person’s guilt, suddenly they start calling it a witch hunt! They have no concept of what a real witch hunt is. STONE I guess none of us really do. ALEX Except maybe that bogus lunatic with his pawn shop knives. STONE Yeah, maybe he... (a beat) What do you mean – his pawn shop knives? ALEX (after a beat) I don’t know. It’s something Belle said. It didn’t register on me at the time. (a beat) Guess I wasn’t thinking like a lawyer then. STONE Sometimes that’s a good thing. QUICK CUT TO: INT. STONE’S APARTMENT Stone is now in mid-conversation with Arabella, who is seated on the couch. Next to her on the couch is a NEWSPAPER OPEN TO THE CLASSIFIED SECTION, with several of the apartment listings circled. BELLE That’s right. I hadn’t thought about it when you talked to me earlier. But there was a small K on the kit that his knives were in. STONE Meaning...? BELLE There’s a Kelton’s Pawn Shop on 26th and Main. I’ve had to hock a few things there. When he buys something from you that you intend to buy back, he marks it. If it’s something you just want to sell and get rid of, he doesn’t mark it. I guess it’s his way of making sure he doesn’t sell something he shouldn’t. STONE Doesn’t that damage the merchandise? BELLE No, he has some fancy gizmo that imprints the letter so that it only looks like it’s been inked. But he can actually easily remove it when he sells it back to you. STONE He can ID them as stolen, too. That’s clever. (a beat) 26th and Main, you said? Belle nods. Stone gets up quickly and heads for the door. BELLE Where are you going? STONE (after a thoughtful second) Shopping. He opens the door and rushes out. Belle looks a little puzzled, shakes her head and goes back to checking the newspaper. WHITE FLASH END OF ACT II ACT III INT. A CAVERN IN HELL Gwen is sitting on a large rock, with Otto perched on it next to her. She has obviously been telling him her life story to help keep him awake. GWEN So I took the bloody rags that I’d been wearing and wrapped them up like torches. And I used them to burn down the houses of the squires. And I killed them all. (a beat) Unfortunately, I also killed their families – innocent women and children among them. I was arrested and the wheels of justice, which failed to move when I was the victim, ground me over in short order. Within a few days I was sentenced to death by beheading. OTTO And you never repented? GWEN They sent someone to my cell to offer prayer and confession. But I was so angry then, I would have no part of it. I felt I was justified in what I had done. I wasn’t sorry. Not one bit. (a beat) I remember when they led me up to the platform, I was hoping the ax-man wouldn’t miss. I didn’t want to feel the pain of having my head halfway off. But he was very skillful. I heard a swoosh and never felt a thing. I thought that was the end of it. But then I arrived here, and found my torment had scarcely begun. OTTO What did he do to you? GWEN At first, he threw me in the river of fire. It’s like a molten lava bath. You sink into it and you can’t swim back out – it’s too thick. It’s like being coated in liquid fire – it’s horrible. OTTO How long were you in there? GWEN Hours. Days. Who knows? Finally, he fished me out. Took me to a room like a dungeon, sat me on a chair, talked to me. He said he did that to all people who kill with fire. I was lucky that all my victims died quickly and there were no survivors. Otherwise I’d have had to spend one minute there for every minute any victim suffered or any survivor lived – burned and disfigured. Some people spend years in that thing. OTTO Then what happened? GWEN All that time in the river of fire had just made me angrier. He admitted he wasn’t sure what to do with me. I told him I didn’t belong here – that I had a right to take revenge. I was entitled to have a chance to find love on Earth just like everyone else. Then he just looked at me with an oh-so-pleased-with-himself look and said, “Of course you are, my dear.” (a beat) And the next second, I woke up, like it was all a bad dream. I was back on Earth. The rape had never happened or the fire. In a short time, I met up with someone and we fell in love. But at the wedding ceremony, someone knocked over a lantern and the whole place burned down, killing my love and all my family. Then instead of consuming me, the fire burned away and I was back in the same dungeon in the same chair as before. (a beat) That’s when I realized it had all been an illusion – just a sick fantasy to make me think I had found love only to have it taken away. I was furious. I called him every foul name I could think of. That was a mistake. He knew them he had my perfect punishment. And that’s what I suffered over and over again since that day. In between fantasies I’m free to wander around as I choose, but sooner or later my mind drifts into a fantasy and it starts all over again. OTTO I wish that were my punishment. It would be easier to bear than this one. GWEN Oh, but that’s the point. That’s his raison d’etre – his reason to be. He tailors the punishment to be the cruelest possible to each individual. (a beat) I had no hope of it ever ending... until one fateful day. SLOW FADE TO: INT. A FOREST – DAY Gwen can be seen walking through a forest that is on the edge of a small town that looks like a 17th century Puritan colony in America. She reaches the edge of the town and sees a large platform with TWO OLD-FASHIONED PILLORIES built on it. The left pillory is empty, but in the right one is our friend STOUGHTON, dressed in his Puritan garb, except for the hat. He is outraged at his confinement and lets the world outside know about it. Gwen keeps her distance, HIDING BEHIND A LARGE TREE at the edge of the town, close enough to see what is going on, but not be seen. STOUGHTON This is an obscenity! You are the sinners! You townspeople cowering in your houses! You had no right to pass this judgment on me. God will smite all of you for your wickedness! Do you hear me? Release me at once! He CONTINUES TO RANT and fails to notice A WOMAN step into the picture from the right side of the town. Gwen sees her, but not vice versa. Gwen DUCKS DOWN FURTHER, HIDING BEHIND THE TRUNK OF THE TREE. The woman steps up next to Stoughton. We have a good view of her now. She is ASH, but with short, dark-black hair and dressed in an outfit like a Roman toga. She isn’t pregnant now. This is the past, when she was still residing in Hell. STOUGHTON You. Woman. Release me from this device at once. ASH Oh, shut up, will you? Haven’t you learned by now all your bluster is useless? The more you complain, the more he likes it. STOUGHTON Who? Who enjoys my suffering? Who? ASH The Devil, of course. You’re in Hell. He’s humiliating you the way you used to humiliate others. STOUGHTON Liar! I’m not in Hell! I’ve spent my life fighting against the Devil and his minions. I still fight him. ASH You were on a panel that judged nineteen innocent women to be hanged as witches. That wasn’t exactly doing God’s work. Later, after the governor put a stop to all of you, you never repented! In fact, you became a governor yourself later on. (a beat) But that’s why I like you. For most of the judges, their actions could be attributed to mass hysteria. But you were always a witch-hunter. You allowed evidence that made convictions easy. You even once told a jury who’d brought in a not guilty verdict to go back and deliberate again – and they came back with a guilty verdict. You weren’t just caught up in the hysteria; you were one of the causes of it. STOUGHTON Why have you come here? ASH To offer you a chance to escape from here. STOUGHTON You’ll release me from this infernal contraption? ASH I can do better than that. I can give you a chance to escape Hell all together. No more of these absurd punishments. You’ll have a chance to go back to Earth and continue your work of rooting out witches. STOUGHTON How do I know you’re not in league with the Devil – trying to tempt me so you can secure my soul? ASH Think it through! If I were in league with the Devil, would I offer you a chance to escape from him? STOUGHTON But will it cost me my soul? ASH He already HAS your soul! STOUGHTON Liar. You were sent by Satan himself to deceive me. The conversation is interrupted when TWO SMALL CHILDREN – A BOY AND A GIRL both about nine years old and dressed in Puritan garb run up in front of the pillory stopping a few feet short. They don’t even react to Ash, just to Stoughton. They point at him and laugh. BOY AND GIRL Sinner! Sinner! You’re a sinner! STOUGHTON No. You’re the sinners. You vile heathens. ASH (casually) Just ignore them. They aren’t even real. They’re just illusions put there to taunt you. The little boy has a SMALL SACK in this hand. He pulls out a ROTTEN TOMATO from it and throws it at Stoughton, HITTING HIM RIGHT IN THE FACE leaving behind TRACES OF ROTTEN TOMATO on his face. Ash RUBS A BIT OF THE TOMATO REMNANTS off STOUGHTON’s face. ASH Unfortunately, that rotten tomato was quite real. Again, the children act as if Ash isn’t even there. They just taunt Stoughton. BOY Sinner! Sinner! Do your penance, sinner. GIRL Evil, lustful man. Shame on you. The boy and girl laugh and then race off toward the forest where they simply VANISH from sight. STOUGHTON You’ll pay for this, you little devils. I’ll see that you each get ten lashes – well laid on! ASH They won’t get any punishment. They’re illusions. And they’ll taunt you forever. She starts to walk away. STOUGHTON Wait. Wait. I can’t stand this treatment any more. You said you could help me escape? Ash walks back at a casual pace. ASH I can. I probably still shouldn’t bother, but... STOUGHTON No. Prithee, I will do whatever you ask. ASH That’s better. Well, there are some conditions. STOUGHTON Such as...? ASH I will acquire all of your memories. Stoughton looks at her in shock. ASH Oh, you’ll still have them. I’ll just have them too. I need all the knowledge I can get... to ensure the escape. STOUGHTON Fine. Take them ASH And I hope it goes without saying that you won’t tell anyone about this escape. Then it would be ruined and you’d just have to rot in this pillory for years. STOUGHTON You have my word. No one else shall hear of this. ASH Good. Then let’s make it a pact. She goes over to him and touches his eyes. They GLOW for a second and then SHIMMER back to normal. ASH See no evil. She touches his ears. They also GLOW and then FADE back to normal. ASH Hear no evil. She touches his mouth. The same effect is seen on that as well. ASH And speak no evil. (a beat) There. It’s done. STOUGHTON Good. Now release me. ASH In a time and place of my choosing, sir. I’ll let you know then. STOUGHTON Well, at least let me out of this damnable device. ASH Sorry, judge, but if you got loose, the Devil would want to know why. He’d investigate, and then you’d blab about the escape. So you stay there, and keep quiet until the time comes. Ash starts to walk forward out of the town, in the direction of Gwen. STOUGHTON Wait. Wait. Come back. I would have another word with you. The next moment, TWO UGLY WOMEN appear out of nowhere and walk up to Stoughton. As with the children before them, they don’t even seem to notice Ash is around. FIRST WOMAN So, the man who told us what foul sinners we were is now locked up for his own crimes. Sinner. Sinner. SECOND WOMAN Yes, you made me parade myself through town naked with only a sign over my neck reading “Adulterer.” And that was for just LOOKING at a man. Well, as long as I paid the penance, I might as well do the crime. She PLANTS A WET, SLOBBERING KISS on Stoughton. He is repulsed, but can’t do much to stop her. STOUGHTON Away from me, you foul wench. Meanwhile, the other woman goes up behind Stoughton and PULLS HIS PANTS DOWN. She has a BROOM in her hand and begins to WHACK HIM ON THE FANNY over and over. FIRST WOMAN Sinner. Sinner. Do your penance, sinner. Ash looks at this display from her distance, SHAKES HER HEAD and ROLLS HER EYES. ASH It’s like watching a bad vaudeville show. The Devil has no imagination whatsoever. She starts to walk into the forest. Fearful of being seen, Gwen starts to creep backward, only to STEP ON A SMALL TWIG that SNAPS LOUDLY. Ash quickly turns to the sound with an ICY EXPRESSION on her face. She sees only the trees and branches. ASH Who’s there? Show yourself. She POINTS HER FINGER DRAMATICALLY toward the trees. ASH Except for the Devil and a few of his minions, I am the most powerful being in Hell. If I have to, I’ll burn the trees away to reveal you. And then you’ll REALLY feel my fury. There is silence for a moment, and then Gwen slowly, nervously STEPS OUT FROM BEHIND THE TREE and STANDS OUT IN THE OPEN. ASH Who are you? GWEN Gwen. Gwen DuBare. ASH Gwen DuBare? That name sounds familiar. Where are you from? GWEN A town in France called Provencal. ASH (musing) Provencal. Provencal. (making the connection) Of course. I’ve heard the Devil speak of you many times. You’re one of his favorites. GWEN Then I’d hate to see how he treats the ones he despises. ASH Is it true you burned down the homes of the squires who raped you? GWEN Yes. I did. And I’m glad I did! ASH Oh, child. They shouldn’t have punished you for that. They should have pinned a medal on you. GWEN (puzzled) Pinned metal on me? ASH I mean they should have rewarded you. You were fighting for your rights – for justice. (a beat) Would you like to leave here, child? GWEN Oh, more than you can possibly imagine! ASH My imagination has far greater limits than yours. You’ve only been here six centuries. I have borne this for four millennia. GWEN I’m sorry. I... I meant no disrespect. ASH No. No. It’s quite all right, Gwen. Come here to me. Gwen walks up to Ash unafraid. ASH Did you hear the conditions I gave to Stoughton? GWEN Yes. ASH And do you accept them? GWEN Gladly. ASH Good. (touching Gwen’s eyes, causing the expected effects) See no evil (touching Gwen’s ears, with the same effects) Hear no evil. (touching Gwen’s mouth, same again) And speak no evil. (a beat) There. You’re ready. All you must do is wait for my signal to come. GWEN Why did you have to touch my mouth? ASH That’s a rather nasty effect. It would cause your tongue to start to burn if you even think about betraying me to the Devil. It wouldn’t be permanent, but it hopefully would persuade you to keep silent. (a beat) But I saw into your soul, Gwen. I know I can trust you to keep silent. GWEN What did touching the ears do? ASH It attuned them to me. That way you can hear me when the time comes for the escape. The others won’t know until it is far too late. GWEN And my eyes? ASH That allowed me to see into your soul and absorb your memories. GWEN It felt like something more. Like it put a permanent connection there. ASH Well, let’s just say I have to keep some secrets. All right? GWEN Yes. Surely. ASH Then, good-bye for now, dear. We’ll meet again. You’ll know not the time or the place until it comes, but when it does we shall fly away from this grisly cage. Ash gives Gwen a friendly hug and then walks away quietly. Gwen turns the other way and heads back into the forest. SLOW FADE TO: GWEN AND OTTO SEATED ON THE ROCK GWEN I had such hopes that day. Hopes for another chance – a chance to escape this hellish nightmare. OTTO But you never did? GWEN No, Otto. I did escape – at least physically. But in a sense, I never could escape the clutches of this place. We pull back to just a shot of GWEN PETTING OTTO’S HEAD WITH A FORLORN LOOK ON HER FACE. CUT TO: INT. POLICE HEADQUARTERS – SOPHIA’S DESK Stone is seated next to Sophia D’Amato’s desk, in the middle of a conversation with her. SOPHIA is seated next to her COMPUTER TERMINAL, which is up and running. STONE ...So I went to the pawnshop and checked with the owner. He DID remember the kit. He said he’d gotten it from an independent filmmaker. He’d used it in a low budget horror film. He was hocking it to help finance another film, but he wanted a chance to buy it back later on. Kelton kept it on display but it wasn’t for sale. But Stoughton came in to look at it and demanded it be given to him as an officer of the law. Kelton refused and Stoughton laid him out good and fled with the kit. SOPHIA If it was just for a horror film... STONE No. I’m afraid these knives were quite real. And there were a few other torture devices in there like thumbscrews. Stoughton still has some of those. SOPHIA Well, I’ll help you find him. Not that I need much persuasion. Are there any leads? STONE Well, Kelton did call in the robbery and the police investigated. I wondered if they had any luck finding him. SOPHIA Let’s find out. Sophia spins around to the terminal and TYPES IN A FEW KEY WORDS. A POLICE REPORT can be seen on the screen. SOPHIA Let’s see. It says they tracked him down to a hovel near an old meat-packing plant. They found evidence that he had been there, but he didn’t return. Somehow he must have figured they were on to him. STONE So the case eventually was filed away... SOPHIA Right. With no further leads, it went unsolved. (a beat) They staked it for a few days, but he never came back. They had other cases to follow up on. STONE I found him hiding out in an abandoned apartment complex. He’ll probably stay clear of that now. I wonder if he might be confident enough to go back to his first haunt now. SOPHIA We can only hope. HER PRINTER PRINTS OUT A SHEET OF PAPER. Sophia pulls it out and HANDS IT TO STONE. SOPHIA Here’s the address. STONE Thanks. Sophia. SOPHIA Thank me by getting this monster off our streets. And let me know if there's anything else I can do to help. STONE That’s a promise. He GETS UP FROM THE CHAIR and HEADS OUT OF THE ROOM QUICKLY. WHITE FLASH END OF ACT III ACT IV INT. ASH’S APARTMENT – HER BEDROOM - EVENING The place has the usual amenities – a QUEEN-SIZED BED, a MIRROR-TOP DRESSER, a CHEST OF DRAWERS and a DESK. Ash is seated on a chair in front of the dresser. She’s wearing an oversized nightgown because of her pregnant condition. Casey Butler enters the room like someone who has been summoned for an errand. He is still dressed in casual clothes. CASEY You called for me? ASH Yes, Casey, I need to talk to you. Please have a seat. There is a CHAIR in front of the desk. Casey pulls it out, sets it so that it is facing Ash, and then sits down on it. ASH First, I wanted to thank you for all the help you’ve given me. This pregnancy depleted me much more than I expected. I don’t know how I would have made it through these past few weeks without your help in running errands, helping me get around this place, helping me deal with the pain, all of that. CASEY It was my honor and pleasure, Ash. You know how much I respect you. ASH Yes, I do. And that’s why what I’m about to ask will be very difficult for both of us. CASEY I’m willing to do whatever you ask. ASH I’ve sent North and Leona away to do their tasks to help with the escape. What I need from you... is considerably more. CASEY I wondered about that. You told them I needed to help you get information but... you would know more about getting that than me. ASH You’re very perceptive. (a beat) In order for the escape to be successful, a great deal of souls will have to escape in a short amount of time. Even if the diversion is successful enough to draw the Devil away, there will only be a matter of minutes for them to react. The only way to make it work is to alert the souls we need in advance of the escape. And that can only be done... if someone were to go down there and warn them. CASEY You mean…you need someone to... ASH Yes. To go back to Hell and warn them. I have no way to contact them from here. CASEY (a little hesitant) I see. Ash stands up from her chair, with a little difficultly. Casey instinctively STARTS TO RISE to help her, but she HOLDS OUT HER ARM to indicate she’s okay doing it by herself. ASH This is a task I can only give to someone I trust. You’ve been very decent and helpful to me and I feel I can trust you. But this is very risky. In theory you can escape with the others in a few days, but... something could go wrong. (a beat, then firmly) So I won’t order you to do it. It has to be voluntary. However, I will offer you something in return. CASEY And what is that? ASH Myself. (a beat) For one night. Never to be repeated again, even if you return. I will give you one night of passion, taking any form you wish, fulfilling any request you make – you need only ask. And don’t worry about the baby; you won’t do him any harm. (a beat) I’ll give you some time to think about it… CASEY (without a second thought) I’ll do it. ASH smiles. ASH I like a man who’s decisive. Ash goes over to her bureau, STRIKES A MATCH, and LIGHTS THE PURPLE CANDLE that Lizzy brought earlier. Then, with surprising casualness, she pulls a string on the front of her nightgown, and IT FALLS TO THE FLOOR IN ONE SMOOTH MOTION. Ash stands naked before Casey. He GAZES AT HER IN AWE for several moments. She nonchalantly turns around and walks over to the bed. ASH (playfully) If you want to get started, I‘d say you’re a little overdressed. Casey snaps out of his stunned state and PULLS OFF HIS SHIRT and BEGINS TO UNBUCKLE HIS BELT with great speed. FADE TO: INT. A RUN DOWN BUILDING – NIGHT We PAN across the room to see it is an abandoned office building, with some OLD OFFICE FURNITURE COVERED WITH DUST AND COBWEBS. As we pass one DESK however, we find it occupied. There is a BLACK WOMAN seated uncomfortably in a CHAIR behind the desk. Her WRISTS ARE TIED, and so are her FEET, The ROPES are LOOPED TOGETHER and TIED UP BEHIND THE FRONT OF THE DESK. The result is that the woman’s arms are stretched forward over the desk and her feet are held in their position as well. It is as in someone wanted to put her in old-fashioned stocks, but none were available, so he made due as best he could. The woman is DRESSED IN A TIGHT RED DRESS like a hooker would wear. Her street name is COFFY. COFFY struggles to pull any one of the ropes free, but she is obviously having no success. We hear FOOTSTEPS and then Stoughton ENTERS THE SCENE and STEPS IN FRONT OF THE DESK. STOUGHTON Well, have you had sufficient time to meditate on your sins? COFFY Get me out of this damned contraption! STOUGHTON I’m giving you an opportunity to come clean and confess your sins before we have to resort to more unpleasant measures. COFFY Are you calling THIS pleasant? STOUGHTON The witchmark found on your body by itself is testament to. COFFY I told you – that is NOT a witchmark. It’s a mole! My mom called it a beauty mark. I wish to hell she hadn’t, or I might have had the damned thing cut off years ago. STOUGHTON You profess that you send your wishes to Satan himself. You call the mark a “damned thing.” And yet you continue to deny that you’re a witch. COFFY I’m not a witch - any more than you’re a frippin’ Pilgrim. If you’d been wearing that outfit when I first saw you, I would never have come near you. STOUGHTON People would not speak so freely in front of me if they knew I was a judge. But your words already prove the very truth you try to deny. (a beat) Very well. I must resort to other means. Stoughton reaches into his pocket and pulls out a THUMBSCREW DEVICE. He walks over to Coffy and PLACES THE DEVICE ON HER LEFT THUMB. She recognizes what it is and is naturally terrified! COFFY Are you crazy? STOUGHTON It will be necessary to inflict pain upon you until such time as you confess. He STARTS TO TURN THE SCREW. COFFY (panicked) Okay! Okay! I confess. I’m a witch! I’m a witch! Stoughton STOPS TURNING THE SCREW. He is elated now! STOUGHTON You admit you signed the devil’s book? COFFY Oh, yeah, sure. I signed it in blood if you want. STOUGHTON And you attended a witch’s coven? COFFY Sure. One or two maybe. STOUGHTON Good. He PULLS OUT A PAD from his cloak pocket and a FEATHER QUILL. STOUGHTON Then you won’t mind giving me the names of the other witches in your coven? COFFY Names? STOUGHTON Yes, I must track down the other witches. Where there is one, there are always more. I will need the names of the others in your coven, or I will have to resume... He reaches for the thumbscrew again. COFFY No. No. You want names? I’ll give you names. STOUGHTON (picking up his pen) That is better. Who is the lead in your coven? COFFY Uhm. Samantha. STOUGHTON I need a full name to track down. COFFY Oh, okay. Samantha Stevens. And her daughter Tabitha. STOUGHTON A mother conveying her evil on her child. Disgraceful. COFFY And then there’s Endora. Uh... uh... Morehead. (a beat) And... uh... Serena... Montgomery. That’s all I know. STOUGHTON Oh, come now. A coven would have at least half a dozen witches. There must be at least one or two more you can give me. COFFY Oh, uh, let me think. There’s, uh... Wendy... Casper. STOUGHTON Yes. One more. COFFY Uh... Sabrina... oh, what the hell is her last name... uhhh... Smith! STOUGHTON Smith? There were several Smiths in Massachusetts. Sad to think one of them might have been the ancestor to this Sabrina. If I had been more successful in wiping out the witches then, I might have prevented her from existing now. COFFY Well, she never hurt anyone that I know of. STOUGHTON Very well. You have made a confession and given me the names of the others. It is now time for you to depart. COFFY (visibly relieved) Oh, sure. That sounds great. Stoughton pulls a KNIFE from a nearby table and uses it to CUT THE ROPES that were binding Coffy. He UNDOES THE THUMBSCREW DEVICE as well. Then he helps her up from the chair. Her body is hurting from being tied in one position for so long. STOUGHTON I need you to do one last thing before you depart. You must sign a confession. COFFY Oh, just lead me to it. I’ll sign anything right now. He takes her over to a table. There is a PARCHMENT on it with a FANCY WRITING obviously done by a quill pen. He hands her the PEN. She SIGNS THE PARCHMENT ALONG THE BOTTOM and gives him back the pen. He PICKS IT UP and LOOKS AT IT. STOUGHTON Coffy... Klatch? An unusual name. COFFY Well, my customers like it. STOUGHTON Well, Miss Klatch. Time for you to depart. He leads her over into another larger room. Again this one is full of OLD DUSTY FURNITURE. Standing out is a LARGE WOODEN CHAIR, which Stoughton leads Coffy toward. As they approach it, she looks up and sees a ROPE TIED IN A HANGMAN’S NOOSE swaying gently high above the chair. When she sees it, she freaks out! COFFY No, What are you doing? You said I could leave. STOUGHTON You ARE departing. You are departing this world. As the Bible tells us, “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.” Stoughton PULLS COFFY’S ARMS BEHIND HER BACK, then takes the LOOSE ROPES that were still around Coffy’s wrists and wraps them around, TYING HER WRISTS TOGETHER. She SCREAMS and PROTESTS while he is doing it and tries to fight against it, but his Damned Soul strength is too much for her. With a TRAIL OF BLUE FLAME BEHIND HIM, he LEAPS UP TO THE CHAIR, PULLING HER UP WITH HIM. As he starts to PUT THE NOOSE AROUND HER NECK, we PAN over along the length of the rope seeing it STRETCHED OVER A BEAM IN THE CEILING and then going down near the floor to where the ROPE IS TIED TO A METAL RING FASTENED INTO THE WALL. THE SPOT OF THE EXECUTION Stoughton leaps back down to the floor. Coffy now has the noose around her neck and her feet are just BARELY TOUCHING THE SEAT OF THE CHAIR. COFFY No. Please. Don’t do this! STOUGHTON (stoically) May God have mercy on your soul. He KICKS THE CHAIR OUT from beneath her. C.U. COFFY'S FACE Coffy is CHOKING as the noose tightens around her. C.U. ON THE WITCH HUNTER STOUGHTON Don’t struggle, child. It’ll be over quicker that way. C.U. THE METAL RING WITH THE ROPE TIED TO IT For a moment nothing happens. We just hear the sound of the ROPE TWITCHING in the distance. Then suddenly a HAND REACHES IN, GRABS THE ROPE and PULLS IT HARD ENOUGH TO JERK IT AND THE METAL RING RIGHT OUT OF THE WALL. C.U. STOUGHTON As the witch hunter looks up, he is stunned to see Coffy’s body suddenly PLUNGING DOWNWARD, LANDING RIGHT ON TOP OF HIM. As a damned soul, he feels no pain from the impact, but he is KNOCKED OVER ONTO HIS BACK and he has to STRUGGLE TO PUSH HER OFF FROM HIM. Finally, he KNOCKS HER FORWARD and she LANDS ON THE FLOOR. She is not moving on her own and just LIES THERE ON HER BACK. STOUGHTON You’re a powerful witch. The rope was not enough to kill you. He PULLS THE KNIFE from his cloak pocket. STOUGHTON Perhaps you need a stake through the heart! Stoughton RAISES THE KNIFE, preparing to impale Coffy. But, without warning, he is grabbed from behind by Stone, who WRAPS ONE ARM AROUND HIS NECK and GRABS STOUGHTON’S KNIFE WIELDING HAND WITH HIS OTHER ARM. STOUGHTON (partly choking as he speaks) No. Stop this madness. I must do God’s work. STONE Hanging innocent women may seem like God’s work to you. But you’re really in the employ of the other guy. Stoughton is weakening because of the hand wrapped around his neck. Stone slowly and carefully PUSHES WILLIAM’S ARM UPWARD until it is near the man’s eyes. Then, with a jerking motion, he SHOVES THE KNIFEPOINT UPWARD INTO WILLIAM’S RIGHT EYE. As the BLUE STATIC FLAME begins to emerge, Stoughton instinctively tries to put his hand up to stop the seepage from his eye. He stops struggling with Stone, allowing Stone to easily PLUNGE THE KNIFE INTO WILLIAM’S LEFT EYE. With both eyes destroyed the process can no longer be stopped. Stone lets Stoughton’s body SLUMP TO THE FLOOR, as he is BEING SUCKED BACK TO HELL. His SPIRIT VANISHES DOWNWARD and his BODY FADES AWAY as well. Stone stops for a moment to catch his breath and then feels the TATTOO BURN ITSELF OFF HIS CHEST. After the burning is over, he goes over to check on Coffy. Gently he UNDOES THE NOOSE and PULLS IT OFF OVER HER HEAD. Then he UNTIES HER WRISTS, and SHAKES HER LIGHTLY. In a few moments she wakes up, looking DAZED. STONE Are you okay? COFFY (looking up around her) This... doesn’t look like Heaven. STONE It’s not. COFFY (after a beat) Oh... my God. No. STONE No. No. It’s okay. You’re on Earth. You didn’t die. COFFY Are you sure? I mean, I was hanging there. I passed out. I thought I was gonna wake up dead. STONE I pulled the rope loose. You’re okay. Coffy slowly starts to rise. She feels her neck and some of her other muscles. She is pretty sore. COFFY Oh, man. I ache all over – especially my neck. But, I’ll take it! STONE Luckily he broke your fall. Probably the only nice thing he ever did for a woman. COFFY Where’d he go? STONE He’s on his way back to the loony bin. He won’t trouble you or anyone else again. (a beat) Sorry it took me so long to get here. COFFY Hey, you saved my life. Quit apologizing. She walks over to the table with the parchment. She proceeds to TEAR UP THE PARCHMENT. COFFY Nobody’s ever seeing this confession. Even if I did just sign it with my street name. Stone picks up the PAD with the names of the witches on it. He SMILES BROADLY as he reads it. STONE So these are the witches you gave up, huh? COFFY Well, I wasn’t gonna turn that bastard loose on any of my friends. Hell, I wouldn’t sic him on my worst enemy. STONE You know, you’re pretty smart. You oughta think about getting into another line of work. COFFY Well, let’s say I’ll give that some serious consideration. STONE Listen. I’ll walk you home. (a beat) You do have a place to live, don’t you? COFFY Sure. A place with two other girls. STONE Glad to hear it. He walks out of the room with Coffy following right behind him. INT. A CAVERN IN HELL Gwen and Otto are still sitting together on the same rock we saw them on before. Our focus is on Gwen as she is telling her story. GWEN Then I looked at him, and the waters around us started bubbling up and turning boiling hot. Poor Todd turned red and started to scream. Then he sank into the water and drowned. That poor sweet boy – he died because of me. She turns to Otto for his reaction only to see he has fallen asleep. His body twitches fitfully, like he is having a bad dream. GWEN Oh, God, Otto! Wake up! Wake up! She shakes Otto, trying to wake him up, but her efforts are in vain. Finally, she stops trying. GWEN I’m sorry, Otto. I wasn’t paying any attention to you. I didn’t mean to let you fall asleep. Now he won’t let you wake up until your dream is over. (a beat) I’ll stay here with you. I’ll stay right here until you wake up. We pull back and just watch as Gwen tenderly holds Otto in her arms, trying to comfort him. INT. ASH’S BEDROOM – EARLY MORNING Ash and Casey are on the bed. Ash is cradled gently in Casey’s arm. Though they have a cover over them, they are both obviously naked. Casey looks exhausted as if he and Ash have been having a marathon love-making session all night. CASEY Wow! I never imagined we could do in so many different places, so many different positions! It was phenomenal. (a beat, then dutifully) I’m ready now. ASH Are you sure you don’t want to try it one more time – maybe hanging from the ceiling. CASEY No, it’s okay. Even with all my extra strength, I’m sapped. You held up your part of the bargain more than a person has the right to ask for. ASH Well, it was my pleasure. Really. (a beat) But I guess it is time. Casey stiffens up a little, preparing himself. ASH During one of our... sessions... I transferred the power Asherah gave to me to make other souls my willing slaves. You can use that on each soul you contact who agrees to escape. That way they’ll be unquestionably loyal to me when they return to Earth. CASEY I understand. ASH Are you ready? CASEY There’s something I have to tell you first. ASH (nervously) Yes? CASEY I would have done this for you anyway – even without the extra incentive. ASH (smiling) That’s all right. I suspected as much. That’s why I made my offer so quickly. (a beat) A man should be rewarded for his loyalty. Casey smiles and stiffens up his body again. ASH Now, I’d tell you to close your eyes but... it really will be quicker if you leave then open. CASEY Okay. Ash delicately raises her hand up and extends two fingers out over Casey’s head. Then WITH A LIGHTNING-FAST MOVE, she THRUSTS HER FINGERS INTO HIS EYE SOCKETS AND THEN PULLS THEM BACK OUT. Casey’s LIFE FORCE IS SUCKED OUT FROM HIS EYE SOCKETS. He doesn’t scream like most of them do, but accepts his fate with calmness as Martin Benedict did. When his LIFE FORCE finally vanishes, his body fades away as well. Ash looks down at the empty spot on the sheets. ASH Good luck, Casey. You were a good man. (a beat, with a smile) In more ways than one. She looks upward now toward the ceiling. ASH Now, we are poised on the brink of victory again, just like that day two years ago. JUMP CUT TO: INT. A CAVERN IN HELL – TWO YEARS EARLIER Ash, sporting her black hair of years ago, walks alone up to the edge of a FIREWALL somewhere in Hell, but not the same one we saw Gwen near. At the edge of the firewall, the cave has partially sunk in, leaving a very narrow gap at the edge of the firewall. Ash carefully slides her body through the narrow gap and passes by the outer layer of the firewall. She steps out into a clearing just beyond the firewall. In front of her is a GLOWING WHITE CIRCLE, a wormhole between Hell and Earth. ASH Asherah, my queen! Are you there? From overhead, the disembodied voice of Asherah BOOMS. ASHERAH Ashur. I’m glad I have reached you again. Are you safe? ASH Yes. The fool doesn’t suspect a thing. He trusts me so much I have almost completely free reign down here. He thinks I love him as much as he loves me. He will someday have a very rude awakening. ASHERAH Is all in readiness for the escape? ASH Yes. I have even made two short trips to Earth to find the ideal place to emerge from. With all the information I received from the other souls, it was an easy task. ASHERAH You were able to actually return to Earth? ASH As long as I am away only briefly and return using the same passage as I entered through, I can slip away without arousing his suspicions. But I won’t need to do it again. All is in readiness. When the Day of Convergence arrives in two years, we will be ready to escape. ASHERAH No, Ashur. The date of the escape will not be the Day of Convergence. He would know the significance. He would suspect. He would be prepared. ASH (visibly disappointed) I understand, my queen. I will wait no matter how long it takes. ASHERAH You need not wait, Ashur. The escape will take place tomorrow. ASH (almost gasping) Tomorrow? Oh, my queen! ASHERAH It was necessary to conceal that from you. The fewer who knew the truth, the less chance of someone finding out. Can you be ready tomorrow? ASH I have been ready for centuries, my queen. I have my 113 souls selected. (a beat) 113 escaped souls on his record. How poetic. He loves the number 13 so much. This will foul his love of it forever ASHERAH You still have the gift of Chaos? ASH Yes. The gift you gave me the day I sacrificed Seri to you. I have held it in readiness for this day. ASHERAH Good. The gift will throw Chaos into his realm. All his traps will be undone; his images and sounds destroyed for the timespan of one hour. ASH And it can pass through the firewall? ASHERAH Easily. It will pass through and infect everything within his realm. But remember, you can use it only once. ASH Once is all I will need! ASHERAH Then go prepare, my priestess. One day from this moment, your freedom will come! ASH Bless you, my queen. I will praise your name for all eternity! Then stealthily, Ash slips back to the firewall, and begins to squeeze her way back inside to Hell. FADE TO: INT. ASH’S BEDROOM Ash is now dressed in a robe again, seated on her bed. ASH Casey will get the souls ready. Leona will shoot down the plane as a diversion. And then I will have the troops I need – to conquer this world, and then Heaven! WHITE FLASH END OF ACT IV. ACT V A GRAPHIC READS “THREE DAYS LATER” ESTABLISHING SHOT. – EXT. A LARGE HOSPITAL – NIGHT INT. A HOSPTIAL CORRIDOR – NIGHT Alexandra Gray is walking quickly down a corridor, toward a small WAITING AREA. THE WAITING AREA This is a small room with COUCHES, CHAIRS and a TABLE, located near the emergency room. Inside is a woman in her late forties, BRENDA KELLY, being comforted by her daughter BARBARA, who is 18 years old. When they see Alex, Barbara lets Brenda go and the distraught mother runs to Alex, who hugs her. ALEX I just got your message. My God, what happened? BRENDA (angry, tearful) That bastard. He didn’t have the guts to come after me, so he went after my children. ALEX Who? Who did this? BRENDA Kenneth Sullivan. ALEX I thought he was in jail. You finally got his victim to agree to testify. BRENDA (barely able to speak without crying) He made bail. He cut the alarm on our house. He attacked my girls while they were there alone. She starts to CRY uncontrollably. Barbara comes forward to help. ALEX Bee. What happened? BARBARA He snuck in my room first, overpowered me. Had me laid out on the bed. Then Dee came in. She must have heard the struggle. She grabbed a belt off the bed and started hitting him with it. He got furious. He... picked her up like a toy, slammed her head against the wall over and over. Finally, I recovered enough to grab the lamp and break it over his head. (a beat, angrily) God, I wish I’d killed him! ALEX Is Dee...? BARBARA She’s alive. I called 911 and they brought her here. But she still hasn’t woken up. And there was so much blood on her head. ALEX just pulls Barbara toward her so she can hug them both. They are emotional wrecks right now. A few moments later, a DOCTOR enters the room. Alex lets the two go so they can talk to her. BRENDA Is she...? DOCTOR (hesitantly) She’s in a coma, but she’s stable for the time being. We had to intubate, but I think once the swelling in her brain goes down, she’ll be able to breathe on her own. BRENDA Oh, thank God! DOCTOR But, she still hasn’t regained consciousness. We don’t know how serious the brain injuries may be. We won’t know for another 24 hours. BRENDA What are her chances? DOCTOR There’s a very real chance that... she may never come out of her coma. All Brenda and Barbara can do is look at each other, and then HUG each other for support. Alex looks on, feeling helpless. INT. ASH’S APARTMENT – THE DINING AREA Ash is going over some plans with North. He has a few SMALL DRAWINGS of the hand launcher and missiles. NORTH I’ve broken the launcher into three pieces and placed them in what looks like a trunk in the janitor’s closet. The missiles are hidden in a ventilation shaft on the roof. They do the maintenance on the place only once a week so it’s doubtful anyone else will even be looking around in that area. Leona’s a pro and has worked with high-tech weapons before. She’ll have it all assembled in a matter of minutes. ASH Excellent. We’ll be ready to launch tonight. NORTH I still don’t see how this will make a difference. You think the Devil just runs out to spy on every disaster that happens on Earth? ASH No, but he goes to the judgment area whenever there are mass casualties that involve innocent people caught off guard. NORTH Because...? ASH Because a lot of souls are borderline – capable of earning either redemption or salvation. Often his arguments in the judgment area are what send those souls to Hell instead of Heaven. He figures if he isn’t there, he may lose a few souls that he could have gained otherwise. So if the plane goes down just before the firewalls go out, he’ll be busy in the judgment area - far away from Hell. NORTH Yeah, whatever. Ash looks at North with DISGUST. She stands up and GLARES AT HIM. ASH All right, how long is this going to go on? North stands up to face her down. NORTH What, exactly? ASH Your surly attitude. You’ve been like this for three days now. Are you still upset that I sent Casey back to warn the other souls about the escape? NORTH No, I’m angry at what you did before that! ASH And exactly what is that? NORTH When I came back here that morning, you had a look about you – and a smell. ASH Oh. Should I use a new deodorant? NORTH I mean you had that same look and smell on New Year’s Day – after you were with Stone. ASH Oh, I see. NORTH What did you do – give him a going-away present? ASH He was about to go on a dangerous mission. He deserved a little reward. NORTH Why didn’t you make me that offer? ASH Because, sadly for you, I needed you here. Casey was the most expendable of your group, but there was no reason to toss him away like trash. (a beat) And besides, with all these pregnancy hormones flowing through me, I’ve been horny as hell for weeks. North makes a not-to-subtle gesture with his good arm as if he is going to grab Ash’s waist to pull her into an embrace. ASH (firmly) But I’m over that now! North puts the brakes on his maneuver and goes back to his standing position. ASH (in a sensual tone) But, if everything goes according to plan and the escape is successful, I might just decide... (a beat, then in a regular tone) to heal your eye for you. North GRUNTS and then just walks off and out the front door annoyed. Ash shakes her head as if she thinks he’s just an overgrown boy. ASH (sighs) Casey, I miss you already. You were really good. (a beat) Oh, I have had better. For a moment, we see a brief FLASH of Ash and Stone together. ASH But mostly, I’ve had worse. Much worse. The camera PANS down and we fade back a couple of years to: INT. A CORNER OF HELL – DAY There is a walkway made of stone that stretches across a wide area filled with pits. Ash, with her dark hair and dressed in a toga, is walking side by side along it with the Devil. He stops occasionally and looks down into a pit, as if observing some soul’s suffering down below. Ash seems particularly excited today, because it’s a day she’s awaited for centuries. DEVIL Ah, yes, another day, another dozen or so souls – more than that, hopefully. ASH Yes, I always love the start of a new day. DEVIL You seem a little frisky this morning. Why the sudden desire to walk with me along the Pit Observation Trail? Usually, you don’t find that appealing at all. ASH Oh, I guess I’ve been selfish lately. I know how much you enjoy watching the souls try in vain to crawl out of their holes. I thought maybe you enjoyed that more than you enjoyed being with me. DEVIL There’s no one I enjoy being with more than you, Ashur. Having you here makes this part of my job all the more appealing. The Devil looks down in one of the pits. DEVIL (amused) Oh, look at that. That one has gotten almost fifty feet up the side of that wall. He picks up a rock from the ground. He takes careful aim and then flings it down into the pit. DEVIL (calling down) Timberrrrr! A moment later we hear the distant sound of a MAN YELLING CLUMSILY AS HE FALLS followed by a SOUND LIKE A THUD. DEVIL They never learn. (a beat) But then, they never learned when they were on Earth either. The two resume walking again. ASH So, any new arrivals this morning? DEVIL A bank robber. Aldo Caligari by name. ASH Really? I believe I may have spoken to him this morning. DEVIL Yes, he’s still out and about for now. I have to arrange to have him relive his crimes from the victim’s side, then figure out his permanent punishment. A devil’s work is never done. The path now takes them near a LARGE FIREWALL. Just beyond it if you pass through the firewall, is a ROCK FORMATION SHAPED LIKE AN ALTAR, and a LARGE GLOWING CIRCLE beyond that – a pathway to Earth. ASH How much do you love me? DEVIL More than I can possibly describe. ASH And I feel the same. Let me show you how much. She POINTS TO THE FIREWALL. ASH Take me beyond that firewall to that altar over there. DEVIL Why? ASH Because I want to make love to you right on that altar. DEVIL Well, I can just bring it in here instead. ASH No, you miss the whole point, darling. I want to give myself to you freely. DEVIL It’s not like we haven’t made love before. ASH Yes, but always here – in your domain. You still have power over me here. I sense your doubts sometimes. You’re afraid I only love you because I have to. (a beat) But out there, where the firewall starts and beyond it, you have no power over me. Whatever I do there, I do of my own free will. Let me show you what real unbridled passion is like. DEVIL But I can’t take you through the firewall. ASH Of course you can. You pass through it in a flash all the time. Just hold on to me when you do it. DEVIL It’s not that I physically can’t. It just... against the rules. ASH Darling, you LIVE to defy rules. You always have. DEVIL Yes, but not my own. I’m sorry, Ashur. ASH Well, I’m sorry too. I’m in a very free giving mood right now…. She LETS THE STRAP ON HER SHOULDER SLIDE OFF THE TOP OF HER DRESS, letting him have a SPECTACULAR VIEW OF HER CLEAVAGE. ASH I may not feel this impulsive again for years. Pity. She TURNS AND STARTS TO WALK AWAY SLOWLY. The Devil loses control of his lust. He GRABS ASH and WRAPS HIS ARM AROUND HER BREASTS. DEVIL Okay, you want to make love beyond the firewall? So be it! In an instant, he and Ash turn into a FLASH OF LIGHT. The light PASSES THROUGH THE FIREWALL and then they turn back to their normal selves just beyond it. THE ALTAR JUST BEYOND THE FIREWALL The Devil releases Ash and then playfully hops up onto the altar and sits on it. DEVIL Now what were you saying about unbridled passion? Ash playfully gives the Devil a COME HERE MOTION WITH HER FINGER. He HOPS DOWN OFF THE ALTAR and stands beside her. She GIVES HIM A LONG, PASSIONATE KISS to get him started. Then she pulls back and lets her shoulder strap come off entirely. The top of her dress slips forward, exposing her breasts. The Devil starts kissing her on the breasts and slowly working his way down. Ash gives a MILDLY DISGUSTED LOOK that he cannot see. Then she smiles and opens her mouth wide. A WHITE GAS EMERGES FROM HER MOUTH and PASSES FORWARD QUICKLY THROUGH THE FIREWALL, where it then turns into a THICK FOG that SPREADS RAPIDLY. This is the GIFT OF CHAOS. All during this, the Devil’s face is buried in Ash’s breasts and he never sees a thing. EXT. A PURITAN TOWN William Stoughton is locked in STOCKS this time, a device which holds his hands and feet. The FOG passes through and suddenly, like SHATTERING GLASS, the illusion breaks into pieces and vanishes. Stoughton finds himself free and in a large empty cavern. He looks around in astonishment. ASH (O.S.) Head to the far northern firewall. Now. Quickly. Stoughton turns and races to the north. INT. A SMALL CHAPEL IN PROVENCAL Gwen is dressed in a bridal gown and her lover in a groom’s outfit. They are about to exchange vows in front of family and friends. As the FOG ROLLS IN, the LANTERN nearby falls and STARTS A FIRE. But then, the whole scene SHATTERS LIKE GLASS. Gwen is alone in her peasant girl outfit in an empty cavern. ASH (O.S.) The firewall north of you. Hurry. There isn’t much time. Gwen beats feet out of there. INT. A GRAND STAGE MARY CHAINE is performing LADY MACBETH on a stage, but the audience in BOOING HER and THROWNING ROTTEN FRUIT at the stage. She’s trying to maintain her dignity as the FOG ROLLS IN. Suddenly, it too SHATTERS LIKE GLASS. The stage and the audience are gone, leaving her alone with her son RUSTY, in a cavern. ASH (O.S.) The north firewall. Go! Now! Mary and Rusty race out of the picture INT. THE BOILER ROOM OF A HUGE SHIP TEN CREWMEN, formerly of the GENERAL SLOCUM are PASSING BUCKETS OF COAL IN A LONG LINE and then TOSSING THE COAL INTO A HUGE FURNACE. The FOG ROLLS IN and the SHATTERING GLASS effect occurs again. The ten men are alone in a cavern now and look for direction. EXT. THE ALTAR BEYOND THE FIREWALL Ash is now lying on the altar with the Devil on top of her, having a really good romp. A close-up of Ash shows that she is making sounds as if she is on the throes of orgasm, but in her mind we hear her voice still alerting the others. ASH (in a voice coming from her mind) The northern firewall. It should be out by now. Everyone run through it, into the portal to Earth. Do it now. Don’t be afraid. Your freedom is at hand. INT. A HUGE FIREWALL SOMEWHERE ELSE IN HELL Like the firewall Ash was looking at earlier, it is like a huge brick wall eternally in flames. Just beyond it is a large WHITE CIRCLE, the PORTAL back to Earth. A mass of DAMNED SOULS are approaching the firewall, as it slowly begins to lose power and then goes out completely. The youngest in the group RACE FORWARD over the empty space left by the absent firewall and then pass into the portal at the far side and begin their journey to Earth. One of the oldest souls, WILLIAM WILSON, collapses on the ground and the others just hop over him. MARTIN BENEDICT comes back and helps him up, leading him into the portal and off to Earth. The FOG is still there in the foreground, but it has no effect on any of these souls. But one of the Devil’s UNDERLINGS, a tall humanoid with REDDISH SKIN, HORNS and LEATHERY WINGS ON HIS BACK appears and seems to STUMBLE AROUND as if he was blinded by the fog. The other SOULS just keep racing into the glow and escaping to Earth. EXT. THE ALTAR The Devil and Ash have finished their tryst now. The Devil is FINISHING UP DRESSING. Ash still has her toga coyly wrapped around her. The FIREWALL in front of them is still actively burning. DEVIL Ash, I’ve never seen you show so much sexual energy. You really ARE a different woman when you have complete freedom. We must do this more often. ASH I assure you – this is just the beginning. Suddenly, from just beyond the firewall, one of the Devil’s UNDERLINGS stumbles into the scene through the FOG, which is still there but slowly dissipating. UNDERLING (weakly) Escape! Escape! DEVIL What is he saying? Sounds like “escape”. Without thinking, the Devil simply PASSES THROUGH THE FIREWALL without taking Ash with him. Ash just smiles. IN FRONT OF THE FIREWALL The Devil notes the fog, though it doesn’t affect him that much. He helps the Underling to his feet, and then interrogates him. DEVIL What’s going on? Where’d this fog come from? UNDERLING I don’t know. But there’s been an escape – a massive one. DEVIL How? How could there be? UNDERLING The North firewall. It went out. There were souls waiting there for it to happen. They went through the portal back to Earth. DEVIL How many? Ten? Twenty? UNDERLING A hundred. Maybe more! DEVIL A hundred escapees? How it that possible? How could they have known...? Then the truth hits him. In horror, he looks back toward the altar. Ash is long gone by now. The Devil RACES BACK THROUGH THE FIREWALL. THE ALTAR The Devil looks around for Ash, but by now he knows she won’t be found. He walks up to the altar and sees something scratched into it – the number 113. DEVIL (furious, screaming at the top of his lungs) Damn you, Ashur. Damn your black soul to Hell! DAMN YOU FOR ALL ETERNITY! INT. ASH’S APARTMENT – DAY The ECHO of the Devil’s cursing is still heard for a few moments in Ash’s memory. ASH (chuckling) I could hear you screaming all the way back to Earth. But don’t worry, darling, someday I’ll be back... (a beat) as a conqueror. WHITE FLASH END OF ACT V ACT VI INT. HOTEL MEZZANINE – FRONT DESK Alex is behind the desk WRITING SOMETHING ON PAPER. Stone casually walks into the room and greets her. STONE Morning, Alex. What’s up? ALEX (sounding distracted) Oh, I’m just writing a letter of reference for Arabella. She’s got a job interview. If she gets the job, she could land the apartment she’s on the waiting list for. STONE You don’t seem too happy about it. ALEX Oh, I hope it works out for her. (sighing) I have to admit, I’ll miss Amanda though. I’ve grown quite fond of her. STONE Is that why you look so glum? ALEX Oh, I wish! It’s worse than that. (a beat) You remember I told you I volunteer at the rape crisis center? Stone nods. ALEX The woman I work for there – Brenda Kelly – her daughter is in bad shape. STONE What happened? ALEX Brenda convinced one of her clients to press charges against her rapist. The guy was arrested but got out on bail. He tried to rape Brenda’s oldest daughter, Barbara. But her younger sister Delores got involved and he bashed her head repeatedly against a wall. She’s in a coma, and she may not come out of it. STONE That’s awful. ALEX And it’s not fair! Brenda’s dedicated her life to helping rape victims. She’s a good person. She doesn’t deserve something like this. STONE People don’t always get what they deserve. (a beat) At least, not in this life. Alex can only shrug at that. STONE How soon will they know if she’ll recover? ALEX The brain swelling should go down by tonight. They’ll be able to run some preliminary tests. STONE Well, I’ll pray for her. ALEX Thanks. I hope it helps. INT. A CONTROL ROOM IN HELL - DAY We’re looking at a room which looks like a Peeping Tom’s dream. There are several TV MONITORS spread strategically across the room, a DESK WITH A COMPUTER CONSOLE AND KEYBOARD in the center of the room and a DOOR off to the far side, though it doesn’t appear to be an exit door. In fact the area has no windows or other doors and no discernable exit other than the one door. In this setting we find SALLY ANN MCGEE, last seen in the episode “Carrier”. She is still young, blonde, slim and dressed in a 1920’s FLAPPER OUTFIT, complete with the WHITE CAP. She seems to be looking at one of the monitors. They are all facing away from us, so we can’t see what is on them. Without warning, the wall behind Sally GLOWS WHITE for a moment and then the Devil just PASSES RIGHT THROUGH THE WHITE SPOT and then steps into the room. The WHITE SPOT vanishes behind him, becoming a solid wall again. DEVIL Okay, Sally, let’s have your report. SALLY Oh, sure boss. Well, Bill is still mooning over his married secretary, but he can’t find a way to get her alone with him. DEVIL Great. Sounds like it’s the right time for me to arrange for them to get stuck in an elevator together. (a beat) He’s just like one of my other favorite Bills. Can’t keep it in his pants no matter how important a position he occupies. (chuckles) How about Daryl? SALLY Oh, he’s just fumbling around. He’s NEVER going to get the nerve up to embezzle that money. DEVIL Oh, never say never, Sally. It’s just a matter of removing an obstacle or two so he can do it the first time easily. Then he hooked after that. I think a slight computer security malfunction on Friday should do the trick for him. (a beat) How about Stone? SALLY He’s taking Belle out to breakfast. DEVIL (in a surly tone) What is with that man and hookers? First Magdalena and now this girl. In his situation, he should be using their services, not trying to single-handedly get them all off the streets. SALLY I think it’s sweet. The DEVIL SCOWLS at her for a moment. SALLY (catching herself) In a sick, twisted, ordinary human sort of way, that is. DEVIL He's walking a fine line lately. SALLY Oh, speaking of walk. DEVIL Yes? SALLY Well, I mean this is a nice little control room here, and you know, (pointing to the door) that’s a nice little bedroom over there, but... well... I thought maybe we could do something different like... go out for a walk in the caverns or something. DEVIL Oh, you’d like a change of scenery, eh? SALLY (smiling broadly) Oh, yes. The Devil walks toward her until he is almost right in her face. DEVIL Well, I have little spot you might like to explore. It’s called an isolation ward. SALLY (in a tone of displeasure, rather than fear) Oh, no, no, please not that. That’s where I spent so much time when I was alive. (putting her hands on her hips) And that’s where you put me FOR A YEAR after Stone sent me back here. DEVIL Well, you had only yourself to blame for that, Sally. You tried to escape from here after all. I could have been much more unpleasant with you. Sally puts her hands back at her sides, realizing she is on the losing side in this argument. DEVIL The only reason I let you be a trustee here at all is: (a beat, then devilishly) I’ve always had a weakness for flappers. SALLY (blushing) Oh, I guess that’s why you make me wear this all the time... except of course when we... uh, you know... The Devil walks around her in a circle, admiring her outfit. DEVIL Yes, there’s something about that slinky, layered, slim outfit. It’s almost asexual and yet at the same time so erotic. I wish I could say I had a hand in its design, but I didn’t. (a beat, then trumpeting) Now, the thong on the other hand...! SALLY So that’s why you let me work here, huh? Just for the outfit? DEVIL No, I also had heard some other rumors about you and your skills in certain areas. SALLY Oh, you mean like fooling around? Yeah, I always liked that. I bet Wolfie gave me a good recommendation, huh? DEVIL (more formally) No, actually he didn’t. SALLY Really. Oh, gee. I thought he liked me. I mean I know I accidentally killed him and all, but... we were really having lots of fun before that. DEVIL Well, unfortunately, fornication in and of itself is not a damnable offense. (a beat) Wolfie made it upstairs. SALLY Oh, that’s great. (catching herself again)) I mean... if you’re... into going to Heaven... or stuff like that. DEVIL (circling her again) Yes, you snuffed him out prematurely. If he had lived longer I might have had a chance to corrupt him. But instead he got away from me. SALLY Oh, well, what about the nightclub owner and that lout at the bar? You got them, didn’t you? DEVIL Oh, true, but I would have gotten them eventually anyway. Wolfie, on the other hand, could have fallen into my trap given time. You may have cost me his soul, and I hate losing souls. He looks at her face to face. She is nervous, helpless. She doesn’t know what to say to defend herself. But then, he eases back and takes a casual tone. DEVIL But don’t worry. (a beat) You have all of eternity to make it up to me. With that he casually WALKS AWAY and PASSES THROUGH the wall again leaving it solid again after he departs. SALLY (with zero enthusiasm) Oh... Goody. INT. A SMALL CAVERN IN HELL Otto is in a fitful slumber for a few moments, but then opens his eyes He finds he is still next to Gwen on a large rock, as if she has been watching over him all the time. OTTO (weakly) Gwen, you’re still here. Have you been here all this time? GWEN No. I wish I had been. I tried to keep my mind focused, but I drifted into a fantasy again. (a beat) I was on the Titanic, just like in that movie I saw. I was Rose – with Jack. But the plot turned out different. We got lost in the ship’s corridors and ended up in the boiler room. The boiler blew and Jack got burned alive. (a beat, yelling up into the air) Only a sadist like you could have my lover die by fire on a sinking ship! There is no mocking response from the Devil this time around. GWEN What happened to you? You were out for almost three days. OTTO A long time ago, I let a small dog die of thirst just to see how long it took. It took about three days. GWEN And this time around, you were the dog. Otto nods. GWEN Is it the same torture every time? OTTO No, it’s like a progression. Each time I live out something that happened later in my life. GWEN Maybe you should stop fighting it. Let yourself sleep. Go through all the tortures you handed out. Accept that you’re only getting exactly what you dealt out in life. Maybe once you’ve gone through all the pain you inflicted, he’ll do something else to you. (a beat) Of course, I can’t guarantee that’ll be any better. OTTO What about you? You still fight to avoid your punishment. GWEN It’s different with me. When I’m in a fantasy, I don’t know I’m being punished. Not until it’s over and my lover is burned alive. Then I’m back here filled with fury again. That’s the way it was when I escaped. I was still full of that fury and rage. I was still angry and furious when that hellcop sent me back here. OTTO Aren’t you still angry now? GWEN Yes, but because my punishment is pointless. I know I did wrong now. These horrible fantasies don’t show me the cruelty of what I did. It’s just an exercise in sadism. At least if he made me live out the suffering I inflicted, I could accept that as justice. OTTO What changed your mind? GWEN Ever since I got back from Earth, all I can think about is Todd, the kid I boiled alive, or Jon, the teacher I burned up, or that poor guy in the bar that I literally cremated just to satisfy my own lust. At least he probably never knew what hit him. But, none of them deserved that. (a beat) I wish now I’d been like Martin Benedict. OTTO Who’s he? GWEN I’m not entirely sure myself. I think he did something bad to some people during a war. (a beat) Before the escape, I used to see him in the same spot in Hell. All he ever did was sit there and look at faces flashing before him. And he was in such torment. OTTO What happened to him? GWEN He was sent back, not too long after me. And he’s still there, looking at faces. But he seems different now. I think I’ve finally figured it out. I don’t think he sees those same faces any more. I think he sees different faces – faces of people he helped after the escape. He looks at peace now... or at least in as much peace as you can find in this place. OTTO Isn’t there some way you can find that peace? GWEN No, because with my second chance I didn’t reach out to others. All I thought about was myself – how unfair my life had been. I just caused more suffering to other people. (a beat, with sadness) I know now I deserve to be here. And yet, a little piece of me still longs to try to escape again – to go back to Earth and try to reach out to others. Help other rape victims. Find a way to help ease their suffering. (a beat) But it’s too late now. I had my first life and my second chance and I wrecked both of them. There’s no more hope for me now. Gwen LAYS DOWN ON THE ROCK and CURLS UP, HOLDING OTTO AGAINST HER TENDERLY, as one would comfort an injured pet. BACK OF THE CAVERN Casey Butler walks into the scene. He is looking around, trying to find souls to alert about the escape. He looks in the direction of Gwen and Otto. But, alas, they are now lying down so low they cannot be seen from behind the rock. Casey thinks no one else is in this area, so he heads on to another cavern opening and is soon out of sight. INT. A DINING ROOM – EVENING At a seemingly peaceful dinner table are the familiar faces of MARY CHAINE on one side of the table, and her son RUSTY across from her. Next to Rusty is a man who resembles THURSTON BRISTOL. It looks like someone a casting agent would hire to play the real Thurston. Suddenly, this Thurston rises from his chair, grabs Rusty by the neck and holds a CARVING KNIFE to his throat. MARY (stunned) What are you doing? Let him go. Put down that knife. Thurston just smiles an evil smile. He SLASHES RUSTY’S THROAT with the knife. BLOOD GUSHES from Rusty’s throat as he gasps for breath for a long moment and then expires, collapsing onto the table. Mary SCREAMS IN HORROR. She picks up the lifeless body of her son and CRIES BITTER TEARS. Thurston just stands there triumphantly and smile. MARY You bastard! You killed my son! THURSTON LOOK-ALIKE He offended me. MARY You monster! You vicious heartless beast! I hope you burn in Hell forever! Thurston only chuckles casually and then walks out of the room without a second thought. MARY (screaming after him) Eternity in Hell won’t be enough suffering for you. Suddenly, from one side of the room, Casey Butler emerges. He walks over to Mary quickly, like a man on a mission. CASEY Mary, listen to me. I’m organizing another escape. I want you to come back with me. MARY (cradling her son) Go away. Leave me alone. CASEY Mary, this is just an illusion. That isn’t really Rusty. He’s in a different section of Hell. He’s agreed to escape with us. You can both come with us. MARY Go away. Let me mourn my son in peace. CASEY But that isn’t even your son. MARY (furious) Go away! Leave me alone! If you want to help me, track down that murderer and kill him – slowly! Casey tries to talks to her, but she PUSHES HIM AWAY. Finally, he realizes she doesn’t understand where she is and probably never will. CASEY I’ll track him down for you. Slowly, he gets up and exits from the room. MARY (crying out) Make him suffer! A creature who would kill someone’s son deserves to suffer. I hope he suffers forever! Then she just CRADLES RUSTY ON THE TABLE and SOBS. INT. THE CAVERN WITH GWEN AND OTTO Gwen is still holding Otto in her arms. He looks relaxed – too relaxed. OTTO Gwen, I appreciate this but... I’m likely to fall asleep this way. Gwen snaps out of it and rises up to a seated position again. GWEN Of course you’re right. I wasn’t thinking. OTTO I’m grateful to you anyway. I wish I’d known people like you during my life. Maybe I wouldn’t have been such an evil man. GWEN We can’t change the past, Otto. I wish we could. I wish someone could go back in time and prevent me from being raped, letting me have a normal, happy life instead. OTTO Maybe in another universe, but not this one. GWEN (sighing) There isn’t much more to tell you about the escape. We went through the portal back to Earth. Before we went to try to blend in with everyone else, we had a group meeting at the spot where we entered – somewhere in a series of tunnels underneath New York City. The camera PANS UPWARD away from Gwen to: INT. A MASSIVE TUNNEL UNDER NEW YORK CITY. There is a large rock formation with a platform on it. Ash is standing atop the platform dressed in her toga outfit, but wrapped carefully to make her look much less seductive than usual. Behind her are her two acquaintances from the Temple of Tyre, ENOK and DRAKU. Below are the other 110 DAMNED SOULS, all looking up at her and listening intently. ASH Now, all of you are hearing and understanding me, are you not? There is a general MURMUR OF AGREEMENT from the crowd. Some of them sound SURPRISED to be able to understand her. ASH Good. When you allowed me to absorb your memories, you also permitted me to leave something with you. You can all now speak perfect English, the language of this country. You can still speak your native languages as well, but I encourage you to use the English, so you can blend in with these people. The area above this tunnel is a vast place with many diverse people. It’s an excellent place to live out your lives. But there is another place on the other side of this country equally diverse. I encourage some of you to go there. We don’t want to all stay together. It makes it easier for the Devil if we do. (a beat) Now the place I’m talking about is called Los Angeles, which means “City of Angels.” MIRTHFUL SOUNDS emerge from the crowd, CHUCKLES and SOME LAUGHTER. ASH Yes, I thought you’d appreciate the irony of that. (a beat) Now, before we disperse there are a few things I want to make clear to you. First and foremost, always protect your eyes. You are no longer occupying bodies like you did when you were alive. Oh, these shells feel like your bodies but they are just your self-image, the image you retain from your former lives. You have no blood flowing through you. You don’t breathe. You don’t need food or water. Oh, it may feel like you do, but that’s just your mind playing tricks on you. The crown MURMURS QUIETLY, absorbing what they have heard. ASH Your bodies are indestructible. They can’t be harmed by any human. You can’t even feel pain unless it is inflicted on you by another damned soul – or some undead soul from Heaven. But there is one exception to that rule – your eyes. They are windows to your soul. Think of your soul as a huge concrete building with your essence inside. As long as someone attacks the walls, they can’t harm you; they can’t get to your essence. But there are also two windows in that building – your eyes. If one is smashed your essence will start to escape through. You may be able to repair it quickly. But if both those windows are smashed, your essence flies out too fast for you to stop it. Your soul will be sucked straight back to Hell and back into the Devil’s hands. So protect your eyes at all cost. (a beat) I know what some of you are thinking. Why not put something over your eyes so keep them from being punctured? You can – but if you do you’ll not only be blind, but deaf, dumb, and with no senses of touch or smell as well. Without your eyes, you can’t experience anything from Earth. You might as well be back in Hell. Again the crowd MURMURS and NODS IN UNDERSTANDING. One of the crowd, a young black woman, ALISE-MARIE LINBURKE can be seen SLIPPING QUIETLY AWAY and WALKING DOWN THE TUNNEL AND OUT OF SIGHT. ASH Now one other important thing. Naturally, the Devil won’t settle for just letting us roam about here freely. He’ll try to send us back. But what you have to know is that on this level, the Devil has no power over you. He can intimidate you, make threatening gestures toward you, but he can’t harm you – not really. He can hurt you, but he can’t touch your eyes. In short, he can’t send you back. (a beat) But I know how he thinks. I worked with him a long time in order to get the knowledge to plan this escape. He’ll find someone to hunt us down, probably another damned soul. That person will try to hunt us down and send us back. But he – or she – will be as vulnerable as us, so if we take out her eyes, she goes back to Hell. So don’t fear the Devil, and don’t make deals with him. A deal with the Devil is always a losing proposition. The crowd NODS IN AGREEMENT. ASH All right then. Anyone wishing to try Los Angeles, meet with me separately and I’ll tell you how arrange transportation. The rest of you may go, and good luck to you. The camera PANS DOWN from Ash and back to: THE CAVERN IN HELL GWEN That was it. The meeting was over. OTTO But you stayed behind to go to Los Angeles. GWEN Yeah, I did. THE TUNNELS UNDER NEW YORK Gwen watches as Ash climbs down from the platform and meets up with NORTH RATARE, who is dressed like a gangster. He has no patch over his eye at this time. They are close enough for Gwen to hear them, but far enough away that she plays no part in their conversation. Enok and Draku are hovering nearby. ASH So, did everyone stay for the whole meeting? NORTH That little black con artist. What’s her name - Alice? She slipped away early. ASH (snorts mildly) Figures. She’s a little moron. Wouldn’t surprise me if she was first one to get bounced back. NORTH Why did you even bother with her? She’s just a con artist. I thought you wanted the worst of the worst. ASH I did, but Hitler was unavailable. NORTH Excuse me? ASH From time to time, Lucifer liked to shift the souls around. Last month, he moved Hitler and his cronies into a Nuremberg style prison to be tried for their crimes. It was too far away to be near the North firewall. I had to substitute. I got Alise and those losers from the General Slocum to substitute. And of course there was Martin Benedict. I doubt he’d harm a soul. But at least he was always kept in the same spot – easy to reach. NORTH So you just took what you could get, huh? ASH Look who’s talking. You just brought in that Aldo character from last night. I barely had a chance to meet him. I thought you were going to go with Dillinger instead. NORTH Dillinger was a prima donna. He wanted to be the one in charge. He kept telling me Dillinger’s Dozen had a better ring to it than North’s Dozen. So when Aldo came along, I decided I liked him better. When the escape alarm came, I just clocked John D. on the head. Now he can be the leader of the Left in Hell club instead. ASH Doesn’t matter to be. Just as long as the total numbers of escapees was 113. And it was. Unexpectedly, a woman steps forward. An older woman known to us as MARIETTA BOOTH. Ash stops talking to North and walks over to Marietta. ASH Well, are you planning to travel to Los Angeles? MARIETTA No. No, I just wanted to ask a question. ASH Fire away. MARIETTA It’s about what you did to us in Hell. When you touched our eyes. ASH I explained that. It was to make a connection with you, so I could absorb your memories. MARIETTA Yes, but it felt like more than that. It felt like our eyes were somehow connected – like they still are even now. Ash moves toward Marietta in almost a threatening manner. Immediately, Enok and Draku are at her side. ASH Are you accusing me of something, Mrs. Booth? Marietta just humbly steps back from the tro. MARIETTA It was just a question. I’m sorry to trouble you. I have to go try and find my son now. (in a friendly tone) Thank you for helping us escape. Marietta calmly turns and walks quickly away from Ash, trying to put as must distance between them as quickly as she can. ASH (to North) You know, I thought that lady was rather naïve and foolish. I helped her because I thought she got a raw deal from the Devil. (a beat) But I’m beginning to think she was a lot smarter than I ever gave her credit for. The camera PANS down to: THE CAVERN IN HELL GWEN I just waited for Ash. She got me a ticket to L.A. and that was the last I saw of her. Ironically, I figured the farther away I got from New York, the harder it would be for anyone to find me. But wouldn’t you know I was one of the first to get sent back. OTTO So in the end, it was all in vain. GWEN I know. I never will escape this place. There’s really only one way out of here. OTTO What is that? GWEN Like everything else in this place, it’s there just out of my reach. OTTO What do you mean? GWEN That firewall over there. They say it’s the one that burns the brightest. There’s a rumor that if you could reach the center of it and stay there long enough, you could burn your soul to ashes. Suicide for the soul, so to speak. OTTO But I thought every soul is immortal. GWEN No, nothing is truly immortal. A soul CAN die. (a beat) But it doesn’t matter. There’s a vortex pushing out from it. There’s no way to stay in it long enough to burn your soul away. It’s just another dead end – another cruel joke from the King of Cruelty. Gwen looks forlornly at the firewall burning away just a short distance from her. WHITE FLASH END OF ACT VI ACT VII EXT – THE STREET LEVEL ENTRANCE TO A SUBWAY – LATE AFTERNOON There is a hustle and bustle of PEOPLE WALKING BY BRISKLY on their way to some destination. But at a casual pace, like they are enjoying the day, come Stone and Arabella walking up the stairs and onto the street. Belle is dressed very conservatively, like someone who has just come from a job interview, which she has. STONE So you think it went well? BELLE It felt promising. The bosses seemed to like me. And I did great on the typing test. STONE Always good at that, huh? BELLE Had to be good at something. My boyfriend bolted after he found out I was pregnant. I was scared about going in alone, but once I saw her first sonogram, I knew I just couldn’t give her up. So I’ve been supporting her on my own for five years. STONE How did you manage? BELLE I did secretarial work for one company for years. But they folded unexpectedly. I was able to do temp jobs for a while, but they couldn’t pay the bills for the two of us. Finally, I got desperate. I didn’t want to work the streets but it was a way to make money fast. At first I thought it would just be once in a while... STONE Things get out of control sometimes. I understand. BELLE You’re very nonjudgmental. Most people would say something like, “Well, I’d never get THAT desperate.” STONE Circumstances can force a person to do things they normally wouldn’t do. I’ve been there. I know it happens. BELLE Well, I appreciate this. All of this. From letting me crash at your place to walking me to and from my interview. STONE Well, the latter was selfishly motivated. It gave me a chance to take a nice casual walk and ride across the city and still be accomplishing something. BELLE Well, if the interview works, I can get the apartment I applied for and I’ll be out of your hair. STONE Well, I’ll miss you. But I will enjoy having my privacy again. They pass by an ANTIQUE SHOP. Belle stops abruptly. BELLE Oh, can I stop in here really quick? STONE Okay, but... do you think you can afford anything in there? BELLE No. But they have a nice restroom I can use. STONE Oh, okay, I’ll wait out here. Belle runs into the store. Stone LOOKS THROUGH THE WINDOW to see if he can see any interesting items. Suddenly, he sees the FAMILIAR REFLECTION OF THE DEVIL on the pane of glass. DEVIL Shopping for a snow globe for your wife? Stone turns and looks back at him, with annoyance. DEVIL Oh, correction, your widow. Your newly-married, pregnant-out-to-here, widow? STONE Don’t you have better things to do? DEVIL That was the very question I was going to ask you. Aren’t there still several of my souls homesteading in the wrong roost? STONE You’ve had two of them sent back a few days ago. You’re not in any position to complain... not that you’d let that ever stop you. DEVIL Mr. Stone, your math skills are in real disarray. Stoughton might be a bit stocky, but he hardly qualifies as two souls. STONE I didn’t say I was the one who sent them both back, but a second tattoo burned off me a few mornings ago. It’s happened before. I figured it was probably Ash. DEVIL (looking disturbed) Are you serious? STONE Want to count them? (a beat) That was a challenge. Not an offer. DEVIL Something’s afoot. Ash has been trying her best to keep a low profile. Now you tell me someone’s slipped back into Hell under my radar. STONE Seriously? Someone can actually slip into Hell without you knowing about it? What, have you got a revolving door down there? DEVIL Hell is enormous, detective. What you saw when you were there was only a thimbleful of water in my vast ocean. With all the souls arriving daily, it’s easy for some to wander for hours or days without getting processed. Naturally, in the end they can’t GO anywhere. (a long, enlightened beat) Unless... STONE Unless what? DEVIL Never mind, Mr. Stone. I’ll deal with it. You have a reprieve for now, but get your ass back to work. With a sudden WHITE FLASH, the Devil is gone. INT. THE CONTROL ROOM IN HELL Sally McGee seems to be watching one of the monitors intently when the Devil PASSES THROUGH THE WALL to join her. SALLY Oh, hey, there’s been lots of activity with Bill today. DEVIL Well, keep it short. I’ve got a lot on my mind right now. SALLY Okay. Well, Bill got stuck in the elevator with Monique like you arranged. Oh, boy, did they ever do the nasty. A couple of times in fact. They just barely managed to get dressed before the doors re-opened. DEVIL Good. I don’t want them to get caught - yet. That happens after they’ve met in various motel rooms for a few months, racking up their frequent sinning miles. (a beat) How about Darryl? Did he take the bait? SALLY No. Sorry. He almost embezzled the money, but chickened out at the last second. The Devil POURS SOME COFEE FROM A COFFEEMAKER as he talks. DEVIL Well, no matter. I’ll wear him down eventually. SALLY I don’t know about that. He seems pretty timid. Why spend so much time on him? The Devil SITS down near one of the monitors with an air of confidence in his face. DEVIL Some people just require a little extra effort, but in the end it’s worth all the time spent. (a beat) Have I ever told you about Dana Plato? SALLY No, I don’t think so. DEVIL Well, she was a TV star, a grown-up child star with what looked like a successful career ahead of her...until I planted myself in her life, that is. (a beat) Oh, I was quite unrelenting with her. I managed to get her hooked on drugs and booze, wrecked her marriage, turned her career to dirt. Every time she managed to take a step forward, I was there to knock her back into the gutter. SALLY You really worked hard on her, huh? DEVIL Yes, I did. And finally, just a short while ago, she took one sleeping pill too many by accident. And she was delivered into my abode forever. SALLY Plato, you said? Like that philosopher. DEVIL That’s the one. He confidently takes a LONG SATISFYING SIP OF HIS COFFEE. SALLY Well, that’s strange. (a beat) ‘cause in your diary, you said Dana Plato went to Heaven. The DEVIL COMICALLY SPITS OUT HIS COFFEE in shock. He JUMPS OUT OF HIS CHAIR and CONFRONTS SALLY FACE TO FACE. DEVIL (furious) YOU READ MY DIARY? MY PERSONAL DIARY? SALLY (dithering) Well, gee, pookie. I mean... you leave me here for hours at a time. I get bored. I have to do something. DEVIL Who gave you my password? Tell me and I’ll have him drawn and quartered! SALLY Well, gee... you did, pookie. DEVIL What do you mean? SALLY You say it every time when we... and you... you know, you yell out, (imitating the Devil) “I am God. I am God!” (a beat) So, I tried it, and... it worked. The Devil is nonplussed for a long moment, and then... DEVIL Way back at the dawn of time, I warned Him not to give any of you brains. But did he listen to me? No! The Devil FUMES for a few more seconds, and then he just walks back and COLLAPSES INTO HIS CHAIR. SALLY (meekly) So, she really did go to Heaven, huh? DEVIL Yeah, she slipped the noose, what can I say? Now she’s up there in Heaven – with her mother – forever out of my reach. (a beat) Oh, it’s not fair. She was so damn gorgeous. And I put SO MUCH work into her. SALLY I’m sure you did your best, pookie. DEVIL Sure. My best. How many times have I thought if I’d just given her one more temptation, a few extras traumas? She might be here with me now. (a beat, looking at Sally) Doing YOUR job! The Devil GETS UP FROM HIS CHAIR and WALKS TOWARD THE WALL. DEVIL Maybe I didn’t get HER. But there are a few other souls out there who just need a little push toward oblivion. And one in particular! He WALKS THROUGH THE WALL and vanishes. Sally anxiously GOES TO THE COMPUTER KEYBOARD and STARTS TYPING ON THE KEYS. DEVIL (O.S.) And I’ve already changed my password. Sally GRITS HER TEETH and BALLS HER FISTS IN FRUSTRATION. INT. STONE’S APARTMENT – THE FRONT DOOR The Devil, dressed in a fancy suit like a high-price lawyer, is in the midst of talking to BELLE, still clothed in her conservative outfit. BELLE But this is impossible. I PAID him a deposit three months ago. It included the last month’s rent. When I left that apartment, I was all paid up. DEVIL Well, Mr. Pratt begs to differ with you. He’s sworn out this warrant for your arrest, to be enforced first thing tomorrow morning – unless you can deliver him $200 cash before 8 AM. BELLE I haven’t got that kind of money. Look, I’ve got a chance at a good job. I’ll pay him back, I swear. DEVIL That won’t do. Tomorrow you’ll be arrested, and Child Services will take your daughter away. BELLE No, they can’t do that! DEVIL Oh, but they can. And they will. BELLE Maybe I can borrow some money. DEVIL Oh, excellent idea. When Child Services finds out you had to borrow money to stay afloat, they’ll be SURE to take Amanda away. BELLE What can I do to stop this? DEVIL Just have $200 in cash waiting for me when I come by tomorrow morning. Otherwise, two men will arrive with handcuffs, and they won’t be paying customers. BELLE All right. I’ll get the money somehow. I swear. DEVIL See that you do. He leaves the ARREST WARRANT behind and WALKS OUT THE DOOR. Belle closes it quietly behind him. BELLE Damn. Won’t this ever end? She LEANS HER HEAD AGAINST THE DOOR IN FRUSTRATION. INT. ASH’S APARTMENT – FRONT DOOR - DAY There’s no activity in the room for a moment. Then we hear the JANGLE OF KEYS and the DOOR UNLOCKS. It opens and in walks Lizzy Darke, carrying a VIAL OF POTION in her hand. LIZZY (quietly, casually) Hello. Anybody here? (a beat) Good. I didn’t want to talk to you anyway, Ash. You really creep me out. ASH’S KITCHEN Lizzy walks into the kitchen and sets the vial down on the counter. She takes a PIECE OF PAPER from a pad on the refrigerator and WRITES A NOTE on it. As she does so, she becomes aware of VOICES coming from Ash’s room. ASH (O.S.) You’re sure you know the drill? Everything’s in place? LEONA (O.S.) Stop worrying, honey. Look, I exaggerated about the flea’s wing, but I’m a steady shot. That plane is toast. Lizzy’s face registers SHOCK. LIZZY (quietly) Plane? Lizzy SETS THE NOTE DOWN and CREEPS CAUTIOUSLY OUT OF THE KITCHEN. ASH’S BEDROOM Ash and Leona are standing next to each other, speaking. Ash has a few DIAGRAMS on her DRESSER that she is showing to Leona. We see Lizzy just barely peek her head into the open doorway long enough to see who is in there. Then she WITHDRAWS HER HEAD and just LISTENS. ASH North has the weapon in three pieces in this little storage space just below the roof. You’ll have no trouble assembling it? LEONA Honey, I’ve assembled more weapons than you can imagine. I could do it in my sleep. ASH The other crucial element is time. The asteroid will be in place at 10:08 PM. You have to shoot the planes down about ten minutes before that. If you can bring two planes down, our odds of success increase dramatically. OUTSIDE ASH’S ROOM Lizzy listens to this with an appalled look on her face. JUMP CUT TO: INT. A LIVING ROOM The living room looks a little dated, with a ROTARY DIAL phone on a desk. A little girl, LIZZY AT AGE 9, is looking up at her FATHER, who is listening on the phone with a PALE LOOK ON HIS FACE. He HANGS IT UP SLOWLY and looks at Lizzy. LIZZY (AGE 9) Dad? What’s wrong? FATHER I... I’m sorry, Lizzy. He walks over to her and GENTLY PUTS HIS HANDS ON HER SHOULDERS. FATHER It’s your Aunt Dorothy. She tried to fly here for your birthday, but... LIZZY (AGE 9) But what? JUMP CUT TO: OUTSIDE ASH’S ROOM LIZZY (quietly) No. Not again. ASH’S ROOM LEONA ...and the Devil to run to the Judging Area to plead his cases. I know. ASH You should have a perfect shot at two planes. This building is close enough to the airport to give you a perfect view. So you should have no interruptions. LEONA If I get any interruptions, I can handle myself. ASH I don’t doubt it. (a beat) I'm counting on you, Leona. THE HALLWAY OUTSIDE ASH’S APARTMENT Leona casually WALKS OUT the front door and ENTERS AN ELEVATOR. We see Lizzy’s head POKE OUT from a DOORWAY TO THE STAIRS. As soon as the elevator doors close, we HEAR Lizzy begin to RACE DOWN THE STAIRS. INT. STONE’S APARTMENT – THE BEDROOM Belle is dressed up in her STREET CLOTHES, a tight-fitting dress showing ample cleavage. She is gently setting daughter Amanda, dressed in her PJs, under the covers on the bed. BELLE Now, remember, don’t answer the door for anybody. And don’t tell anyone where I went. I’ll be back by morning, I promise. AMANDA Are you gonna be okay, Mommy? BELLE I’ll be fine, honey. Everything will be okay. You’ve gotta believe that, ok? AMANDA (nervously) Okay. Belle KISSES AMANDA GOOD-NIGHT and then gently slips over to the window and OPENS IT, slipping out onto the fire escape and then CLOSING THE WINDOW BEHIND HER. INT. A SUBWAY CAR – LATE EVENING Leona Pride is CALMLY HOLDING ONTO A SUPPORT BAR as the car rumbles forward into the city. The camera PANS back past several PEOPLE in the car until it reaches Lizzy, who is looking ahead of her, keeping an eye on Leona. INT. STONE’S APARTMENT – EVENING Again, we hear the JANGLE OF KEYS and this time the DOOR OPENS to reveal Alex. She is carrying a BOOK in her hand and seems in a pleasant mood. She goes over to the bedroom door and opens it cautiously. THE BEDROOM Alex looks around the bedroom and is surprised to see only Amanda in the room, seemingly asleep. She hesitates for a moment, and is surprised when Amanda opens her eyes. ALEX Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. AMANDA It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep. Mommy didn’t have time to read me a bedtime story. ALEX Well, you’re in luck. I happen to have a book of them right here. AMANDA That’s great. Alex GOES OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE BED and SITS ON IT. She starts to OPEN THE BOOK ALEX Uh, why didn’t your Mom have time to read you a story? Did she go out to get groceries? AMANDA No, she just... had to go out. ALEX Go out where? AMANDA (hesitant) She asked me not to say where. Alex gets a depressed look on her face. She understands what Belle has gone out to do. ALEX (sadly) I’m really sorry to hear that. (a beat) Once upon a time... INT. A CAVERN IN HELL Casey Butler is talking to JASON NOVAK, former police officer and once a high-ranking member of Ash’s entourage. NOVAK So I can escape with you again? Get back to Earth and pick up where I left off? CASEY Absolutely. All you have to do is agree and shake hands. NOVAK I have to warn you. Ash is the one that send me back here. If she expects me to cooperate... CASEY Hey, you can do what you have to do. I just need to bring her more escaped souls. NOVAK All right, then. We’ll shake on it. Casey shakes hands with Novak. The GREEN GLOW we saw much earlier EMERGES FROM CASEY AND ENTERS NOVAK. CASEY Are you ready now? NOVAK (not so self-assured now) Yes. Anytime you say the word. CASEY And you’ll do whatever Ash asks? NOVAK (meekly) Whatever she says, I’ll do. CASEY Glad to hear it. Casey starts to walk away from Novak, who seems a little bewildered by his own behavior. CASEY If this power from Asherah can make him a willing servant of Ash, it should work on anyone. He continues on this way, WALKING OUT OF SIGHT. INT. HOTEL MEZZANINE – FRONT DESK Stone enters the room and goes right up to the front desk, where Alex is. She’s looking very glum. STONE I got your message. What’s up? ALEX Nothing. Everything’s down. STONE Come again? ALEX Brenda’s daughter is still in a coma. Her chances of recovery look bad. And I just got a call from Loveless, Inc. Belle didn’t get the job. STONE Well, there’ll be other jobs. ALEX That’s what I’m afraid of. She’s may be doing them right now. STONE What do you mean? ALEX She slipped out of her room a couple hours ago. I think she went back on the streets. STONE I can’t believe that. She almost got killed last time. ALEX Well, she’s not here now. I don’t know what else to think. For now, can you please just try and find her. STONE I’m on my way. He starts to walk out of the room. Alex suddenly CALLS OUT. ALEX Wait. I’ve got something to help you. QUICK CUT TO: EXT. A CITY STREET - NIGHT Leona is casually walking down a city street. She passes a LARGE CLOCK. It reads 9:20 PM. She continues walking, being careful not to attract any attention. She then sees a HOTEL in front of her. She walks up to the REVOLVING DOOR and WALKS INTO THE HOTEL. A few moments later, we see Lizzy walking on the same path. She looks at the HOTEL ADDRESS. She then pulls a CARD out of her pocket and looks at it. THE CARD has Ezekiel Stone’s name and a phone number for his message service. LIZZY She glances across the street, where she sees A PAY PHONE. EXT. THE PAY PHONE Lizzy walks into the scene, PUTS TWO COINS IN and PUNCHES IN THE NUMBER ON THE CARD AS QUICKLY AS SHE CAN. LIZZY Yes. Is this Ezekiel Stone’s message service? (a beat) Well, tell him this is Lizzy Darke. And that he needs to get his bony ass to the roof of the Henderson Hotel on the corner of West Fourth Street and Gordon Avenue – pronto! (a beat, then firmly) Yeah, I want you to tell him that WORD FOR WORD! She SLAMS DOWN THE PHONE EXT. HENDERSON HOTEL – THE ROOFTOP It is a basic rooftop. There is a large DISH ANTENNA on one end, but other than that it is bare with just some BRICK WALL EDGES and a GRAVEL PAVEMENT, with a FEW SMALL SKYLIGHTS scattered around. There is only one entrance – a DOORWAY. The DOOR OPENS UP and Leona marches onto the roof, carrying some WEAPON PARTS with her. She sets the pieces down on the pavement and begins to methodically START TO PUT THEM TOGETHER. WHITE FLASH END OF ACT VII ACT VIII EXT. THE PAY PHONE - NIGHT Lizzy nervously checks her watch. The time reads 9:45 PM. LIZZY Come on, Stone. Get you ass down here before it’s too late! She stops to think for a moment. A memory weighs hard on her mind. INT. YOUNG LIZZY’S LIVING ROOM FATHER It’s your Aunt Dorothy. She tried to fly here for your birthday, but... LIZZY (AGE 9) But what? FATHER I’m sorry. Her plane crashed. She’s dead. LIZZY (AGE 9) NO! NO! You’re lying. She’s not dead! FATHER (hugging her) I’m sorry, Lizzy. She loved you. You were her favorite! LIZZY (AGE 9) Nooooooooo! Little Lizzy BREAKS DOWN IN SOBS. WHITE FLASH THE PAY PHONE Lizzy looks across the street at the hotel. LIZZY No. I won’t let it happen again! She RACES ACROSS THE STREET TOWARD THE HOTEL. A CAR comes to a SCREECHING HALT to avoid hitting her. The DRIVER YELLS OUT at her. But she doesn’t react at all. She just RACES THROUGH THE REVOLVING DOOR. THE ROOFTOP Leona has pieced her MISSILE LAUNCHER together. She goes to a LARGE METAL VENT set into one of the WALLS around the SKYLIGHT. She removes the vent and pulls out TWO LARGE MISSILES from their hiding place. She LOADS THE FIRST MISSILE into the MUZZLE of the launcher. She AIMS the LAUNCHER into the sky. In the distance, we can see a PLANE FLYING TOWARD THE AIRPORT. She begins to TARGET THE PLANE. INT. A PASSENGER PLANE On board the plane are an ASSORTMENT OF PEOPLE in their seats, LOOKING OUTSIDE THE WINDOWS ENJOYING THE VIEW. As we glide down the aisle, we settle on a pair of PEOPLE seated next to each other. They are DAN COPPER and his daughter MAYA, on the last leg of their flight to New York. DAN I hope you don’t mind cutting the expedition short. MAYA No, it’s okay. I was getting a little homesick anyway. I’m glad to be back in America. DAN Yeah, me too. MAYA I just wanted to thank you again for taking me. I always wanted to see Brazil, to get a chance to see another country, another culture. I mean, I would have understood if you wanted to take Rosalyn instead, but... I’m so grateful you still took me. I couldn’t believe it when you said we were still going together. DAN It was wonderful having you with me all that time. I feel like I got to know you all over again. You’ve become an amazing young woman. (beat) Your mother would be proud. MAYA (touched) I feel like I got to know you too, Dad. It’s been fantastic having all that time alone with you. I’ll never forget this as long as I live. (a beat) I love you, Dad. DANIEL I love you too, Maya. They CLASP HANDS in a tender father-daughter moment. EXT. HENDERSON HOTEL - ROOFTOP - NIGHT Leona is LOOKING INTO THE MISSILE LAUNCHER VIEWPORT THE VIEWPORT A SMALL WINDOW in the viewer is LOCKED IN PLACE over the distant image of the plane. A little graphic reads TARGET ACQUIRED. THE ROOFTOP Leona puts her FINGER ON THE TRIGGER. LEONA Adios, Muchachos! Suddenly, without any warning, Leona is literally BLINDSIDED! Lizzy CHARGES INTO HER FROM HER RIGHT SIDE LIKE A BLOCKER HITTING A QUARTERBACK. The launcher literally FLIES OUT OF LEONA’S HANDS. Leona herself FALLS FORWARD ONTO THE PAVEMENT. Lizzy takes a quick moment to run to Leona, PICK HER FACE UP and GIVE HER TWO QUICK PUNCHES, LAYING HER OUT COMPLETELY. Lizzy then runs over to the launcher, picks it up, and with some struggle, manages to EJECT THE MISSILE onto the pavement. Then she RAMS THE MUZZLE of the launcher INTO THE WALL repeatedly until it BECOMES BENT. But, then it is Lizzy’s turn to be BLINDSIDED. Leona delivers a KICK to her head. Lizzy is caught completely by surprise and FALLS FLAT ON HER BACK, OBVIOUSLY IN GREAT PAIN. Leona follows that up with a KICK TO LIZZY’S FACE. Then she picks up the LAUNCHER and EXAMINES IT. It is obviously hopelessly out of commission. Leona CURSES IN SPANISH! She hurls the launcher away and PULLS LIZZY UP FROM THE PAVEMENT. Lizzy is TOO DAZED to respond. LEONA I should let Ash take care of you, but why should she get the satisfaction? Leona PUNCHES LIZZY IN THE STOMACH, then IN THE FACE. Lizzy is LAID OUT FLAT. LEONA By the time I get through with you, you’ll be RELIEVED to go back to Hell! EXT. HIGH ABOVE THE EARTH We look down on the Earth, a ball of blue, green, and white. From the left side of the screen, AN ASTEROID moves into the shot, filling the frame. We ZOOM out, and watch as it nears its target. EXT. ASH’S APARTMENT – A BALCONY Ash is looking out into the sky anxiously. She glances at her DIGITAL WATCH. It's 10:06 PM- two minutes to go. In the distance, she can see TWO PLANES, one flying in, the other flying out. ASH Come on, Leona. Now! Now! Before it’s too late! INT. A CAVERN IN HELL Gwen and Otto are still perched on the ROCK near the FIREWALL. She is in mid- conversation with him. GWEN When I got sent back, the Devil was furious with me. So he tried a different punishment on me. He sent a rapist into my dreams, one of the other escapees – a psycho named Gilbert Jax. OTTO That must have been horrible. GWEN It was at first. But it backfired on the Devil. It gave me a purpose – to escape Gilbert Jax. If I succeeded, I felt some satisfaction. Unlike all the other fantasies, where I was just given false hope over and over. Soon the Devil saw it wasn’t working, and put me back on the curse of fire punishment. (a beat) But I’ll never forget that psycho Jax and his sickening laugh. Not as long as I exist. Suddenly, there is a RUMBLE OF ACTIVITY in the background. Gwen turns to look and sees about 100 OR MORE SOULS, LED BY CASEY BUTLER, coming forward toward the firewall from an angle to her left. GWEN What is going on here? Suddenly, the FIREWALL BEGINS TO SLOWLY GET WEAKER. GWEN It’s happening again! THE ROOFTOP Lizzy goes FLYING FORWARD AND IS SLAMMED INTO A BRICK WALL. She can barely react to it before she is GRABBED AGAIN BY LEONA and PUNCHED IN THE FACE TWICE. Then she is FLIPPED OVER IN A SOMERSAULT and LAID OUT FLAT ON THE PAVEMENT. LEONA This has been fun, my little cucaracha, but enough is enough! Leona pounces on top of Lizzy, who is laying FLAT ON HER BACK, TOO WEAK TO REACT. LEONA One package for El Diablo from Leona Pride! She takes a KNIFE from her belt and QUICKLY CARVES HER INITIALS IN LIZZY’S STOMACH. Lizzy MOANS IN PAIN. LEONA Signed! She SPITS on Lizzy’s forehead. It SIZZLES when it hits - a clear sign of damnation. LEONA Sealed! She RAISES THE KNIFE over Lizzy’s head. LEONA (triumphantly) Delivered! BLAM! Without warning, Leona’s RIGHT EYE EXPLODES and BLUE FLAME BEGINS TO POUR OUT. She is so stunned, she can barely react. Then it doesn’t matter because: BLAM! Her OTHER EYE EXPLODES and her SOUL COMES POURING OUT FLOWING DOWN OVER THE HELPLESS LIZZY. Lizzy TRIES TO PUSH THE ESSENCE AWAY, as if fearful she will be sucked down with it. But she isn’t. A few moments later, Lizzy is alone and Leona is gone completely. LIZZY’S POINT OF VIEW Looking up from her perch on the pavement, Lizzy sees only STARS. And then a figure WALKS OVER HER, the figure of Ezekiel Stone. He holds a GUN and POINTS IT DOWN AT HER. Then he casually POCKETS THE GUN and REACHES OUT HIS HAND TO HELP HER UP. STONE Need a hand? Lizzy weakly reaches up. Stone grabs her hand and PULLS HER UP TO HER FEET. He helps her LEAN AGAINST A BRICK WALL on the side of the roof. She slowly begins to regain her composure. LIZZY Not that I’m complaining. Really. But how in the Hell did you get here in time? Stone smiles and pulls a CELL PHONE from his pocket. STONE A friend of mine loaned me her cell phone. I called my message service and told them to call me on that phone if a message came through. LIZZY But, how could you have possibly... STONE I had given the same number to another girl, someone else I've been looking out for. It was HER I was expecting to get a call from. But when I got your very graphic message and it sounded serious, I ran all the way here. Fortunately, I wasn’t that far away. I got up here, saw Leona about to dispatch you and took her out instead. (a beat) Now what was this all about? Lizzy weakly POINTS TO THE LAUNCHER. Stone goes over to it and EXAMINES IT. STONE Did she fire this? LIZZY I never gave her the chance. She was going to take out a passenger plane, maybe two. I couldn’t let her do that. STONE Did I get to your conscience before? LIZZY No, it wasn’t you. It was my Aunt Dorothy. Stone looks at her puzzled. LIZZY When I was little, my aunt died in a plane crash. She was my favorite aunt - wise and witty and sweet. Her death was the most devastating event in my life. (a beat) I just thought about that same scenario multiplied by 2 or 300 people. And I couldn’t bear it. No one was losing their favorite aunt on my watch! STONE I’m proud of you. LIZZY Yeah, I guess she would have been, too. (a beat) You know the big irony here? She was the wise one in our family. I’m sure she would have told me not to give that false testimony for my boyfriend. If she’d lived, she might have kept me out of Hell. STONE Well, maybe someday you can thank her personally. LIZZY How? She’s up there. I’m never going to see her again. STONE Lizzy. You just saved about 300 people. Did you ever think that maybe that might override one incident of bearing false witness? LIZZY You really think so? STONE Maybe I didn’t do you a favor stopping Leona from dispatching you. Maybe, just maybe, you would have gone up instead of down. LIZZY (wary) Are you planning on finishing the job? STONE No. I’m going to do that, after all the lives you saved tonight. But you need to consider doing all you can to stay clean. Tell me where Ash is. Then, get away from here, as far from her as you can. LIZZY Sorry. No can do. I’m still connected to Ash. But I think I have a way to get free of her. After that, I’ll try to keep my nose clean permanently. STONE Be careful, Lizzy. You’re gambling with your soul. If you do something seriously wrong, you may go right back on the condemned list. LIZZY Yeah, well I wasn’t expecting to go to Hell the first time. So, I don’t exactly trust the system. They may just toss me in Hell for making a deal with Ash in the first place. If I can break the deal... STONE All right. You can go. I won’t follow you. Are you gonna be all right? LIZZY I heal fast. Just like you. Lizzy starts to exit the roof. But then… LIZZY Hey. I forgot to say thanks for saving my ass! STONE That was the least I could do. Good luck, Lizzy. Lizzy WALKS DOWN FROM THE ROOF. Stone walks around the rooftop, trying to waylay his desire to follow Lizzy. As he walks, he hears a CLINK OF METAL by his feet. He reaches down and picks up something off the pavement. C.U. THE OBJECT What Stone has picked up off the ground turns out to be a MONEY CLIP. It has the initials L.P. on it and has at least TWO ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR BILLS in the clip. STONE Well, I’ll be. A bonus. (a beat) She really COULDN'T take it with her. He TOSSES IT UP and CATCHES IT AGAIN IN HIS HAND. INT. THE CAVERN IN HELL Now the ARMY OF SOULS is standing anxiously by as the FIREWALL GETS NOTICABLY WEAKER AND WEAKER. CASEY It’ll be out in just a minute or two. Then we all can run for it. GWEN’S ROCK Gwen and Otto are watching from their rock perch. They are DUCKED BEHIND THE ROCK to avoid detection. GWEN I can’t believe it. Another escape attempt. OTTO Maybe you can go with them. I mean, I can’t go back like this. GWEN It’s pointless. The curse of fire will just follow me to Earth again. I just wish I could... Suddenly, a PACK OF ANGRY DOGS emerges in front of the army of souls. They REEL BACKWARD IN TERROR. The Devil STEPS FORWARD from the back of the pack. DEVIL I don’t think any of you are going anywhere right now. Unless you want to be ripped to shreds that is. From within the pack, William Stoughton steps forward. STOUGHTON No. It’s a trick. I’m finally figuring all this out! They aren’t real! Stoughton RUNS FORWARD INTO THE PACK OF DOGS. And he turns out to be correct! The DOGS AREN’T REAL! He PASSES RIGHT THROUGH THEM. DEVIL Good call! They weren’t real. But THIS is! Suddenly, a RIVER OF LAVA comes flowing in from the LEFT SIDE, where the Devil is. Stoughton tries to run into it, but steps back. A wise decision, as he FEELS THE HEAT coming from the lava. But ONE OTHER SOUL RUNS FORWARD into the gap between the crowd and the FIREWALL. He just barely gets over the gap as the RIVER OF LAVA fills the gap behind him. He LAUGHS the familiar laugh of GILBERT JAX! GWEN’S PERCH GWEN (angrily) No. Not him! He’s not going back. Gwen RACES FORWARD TOWARD THE FIREWALL, which is now almost completely out. Since she was far to the right of the crowd, the LAVA hasn’t reached her position yet. She too is able to run over the gap before the LAVA surges in behind her. The FIREWALL now goes out completely. Jax begins to RUN TOWARD THE PORTAL JUST BEYOND IT, which will take him to Earth. But GWEN TACKLES HIM onto the ground. GWEN I know you! You’re Gilbert Jax! You’re a rapist! You’re not going back to find more victims! Jax seems almost unfazed by the action. He JUMPS UP LAUGHING. He GRABS GWEN AROUND THE WAIST and tries to pull her with him toward the portal. JAX Come with me, little girl. We’ll get it on back in the States. But Gwen carries a little excess baggage with her known as the curse of fire. Jax suddenly finds his arm BEING SEARED! He YELPS in pain. Gwen PULLS FREE OF HIS GRIP. GWEN I’ll bet you never had one of your victims do that to you. Or this! She gives him a KICK IN THE GROIN. He DOUBLES OVER IN PAIN. Gwen sees a large broken stalactite on the cavern floor. It is about seven feet long and pointed on the end. She picks it up and holds it out like someone in a Kung Fu movie. Jax charges at her but she SPINS and HITS HIM IN THE STOMACH WITH THE ROUNDED END. Then she SWINGS IT ALMOST LIKE A BASEBALL BAT and KNOCKS HIM BACK TOWARD THE RIVER OF LAVA. She STRIKES HIM WITH THE STALACTITE SEVERAL TIMES UNTIL HE IS DANGLING OVER THE EDGE OF THE LAVA RIVER. Then she RAMS HIM IN THE STOMACH. He FALLS BACKWARD, PLUNGING INTO THE RIVER OF LAVA. He TRIES TO SWIM UP, but it is too thick. He SINKS INTO THE LAVA AND VANISHES. For a moment, there is silence. Then there is a LIGHT, SLOW CLAPPING OF HANDS from the Devil. DEVIL Impressive, Gwendolyn. You might have made a good soul hunter, if Stone didn’t already have the job. (a beat) As soon as the firewall lights up again, I’ll put a little bridge here for you to walk back here on. Gwen stops for a moment, LOOKS AT THE STALACTITE and then LOOKS AT WHERE SHE IS. An awareness sweeps over her. GWEN Don’t bother! I won’t be staying. She starts to walk toward the PORTAL back to Earth. DEVIL Don’t be a fool, Gwen. Stone will only send you right back here again. Gwen stops at a very specific spot – the exact center of where the firewall was before. GWEN Oh, I intend to escape! But not in the way you think. She picks up the stalactite firmly. With the same fury that King Arthur used to drive the sword Excalibur into the stone, Gwen DRIVES THE POINTED END OF THE STATACTITE INTO THE GROUND BENEATH HER. Then SHE TESTS IT. It is rooted in the ground firmly. DEVIL (nervously) Gwen. What are you up to? GWEN How does that saying go? If you can’t bring Mohammed to the mountain, then bring the mountain to Mohammed? Gwen GRASPS the STALACTITE FIRMLY WITH HER ARMS AND LEGS DEVIL (putting two and two together) Gwen. Come away from there now! I command it! GWEN You can’t control me here. I’m just beyond your influence. And if you try to come and take me from here, you’re as vulnerable as I am – and I will fight you to the death! A RUMBLING SOUND BEGINS. Gwen HOLDS TIGHT to her stake. A WHIRLWIND SEEMS TO BE EMERGING FROM THE VERY SPOT SHE IS IN. She STRUGGLES TO STAY WHERE SHE IS. DEVIL (laughing) Oh, alas Gwen. You forgot about the vortex. Its winds will blow you away from your little perch long before the firewall reignites again. (a beat) And if you think the curse of fire I gave you was bad, wait until you see what new punishment I’ll give you for defying me. A LOOK OF TRIUMPH suddenly emerges on Gwen’s face. GWEN That’s right. You gave me the curse of fire. And for that… (a beat, looking at the Devil directly) I thank you. The Devil realizes he has said too much now. DEVIL Gwen! Don’t you dare! Don’t you even think about it! Do you hear me? But Gwen is doing more than thinking about it. She is pondering every lover she’s had since the day she entered Hell. And as her soul is rigged to do, it begins to get hotter and hotter until... in a HUGE BURST OF FLAMES, THE FIREWALL REIGNITES. Gwen is now SURROUNDED BY A MASSIVE WALL OF FLAME. She looks as though she is experiencing pain beyond anything she has ever experienced or could even have imagined, but she refuses to let go! She HANGS ON TIGHT as THE FLAMES BEGIN TO CONSUME HER SOUL. DEVIL Gwen. Let go of the stake. Let go of it! I COMMAND YOU! Gwen is in INTENSE AGONY now. But as she LETS LOOSE ONE FINAL SCREAM, her soul takes the form of a two dimensional photo, and then it LITERALLY BURNS INTO ASH IN ONE SMOOTH MOTION. A SMALL PIECE OF HER SOUL, no larger than a PLAYING CARD, emerges forward and FLOATS UNNOTICED THROUGH THE REST OF THE FIREWALL AND INTO THE PORTAL where it VANISHES FROM SIGHT. Meanwhile, the ASHES remaining from the rest of Gwen’s soul COME FLYING OUT OF THE VORTEX and STRIKE THE DEVIL RIGHT IN THE FACE. It is as if Gwen found one last way to spit in the Devil’s face. For a moment he stands there, half furious, half frustrated at his failure to keep Gwen from making her final escape. But he is the Devil, and he can’t let anyone know he has been bested. DEVIL (loudly) You were a bore, Gwen. A pathetic, predictable bore. I don’t need you. I have millions of souls to torment. I DON’T NEED YOURS! Hell is better off without you! Good riddance! The OTHER SOULS back away from the Devil in fear and then start to run. Only Casey remains there. The Devil walks up to him. CASEY How did you find us out? DEVIL Oh, it wasn’t too hard really. The chance arrival of an asteroid near Earth made me suspicious. Then there was the knowledge of a soul sneaking back here under the radar. Another escape made sense. Still, I wasn’t sure where. Had I been distracted somehow, you might have gotten away with it. (a beat) But you didn’t. And if you think you’re going to sneak out later using that little gap in the firewall that Ash used to use, forget it. I found that and had it patched up months ago. CASEY It doesn’t matter. I had no intention of going back again. DEVIL Excuse me? CASEY I was only going to help the others across. But I wasn’t going back. I know what I did back on Earth. I can’t undo it. I didn’t have the nerve to send myself back but... I knew once I came back, I was going to stay. DEVIL (chuckles) Still, you could have stayed on Earth longer than you did. I hope whatever Ash offered you to come back early was worth it. Casey ponders the question for a moment. Then he SMILES. CASEY Actually, it was! Then, he calmly WALKS AWAY from the Devil, not in fear, but in full confidence. The Devil can only watch him walk off with his HEAD HELD HIGH. Satan looks like he wants to scream. OTTO’S PERCH From the rock near the blazing firewall, Otto looks out into the burning wall in front of him. OTTO Way to go, Gwen! The Devil suddenly STEPS UP BEHIND OTTO. DEVIL (in mock concern) My goodness. You look really tired, Otto. You need some sleep. With that, the Devil BREATHES ON OTTO. Otto BLINKS HIS EYES WEAKLY and then COLLAPSES INTO A FITFUL SLEEP. DEVIL (chuckling) Pleasant dreams! He WALKS OFF, leaving the sleeping Otto behind. FADE TO: INT. A HOSPITAL – THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT There is one patient in the room – a young 16 year old girl named DELORES KELLY. She has an IV in her arm, a LARGE WRAP around her head There is a DOCTOR and a NURSE situated over her, CAREFULLY MONTORING HER VITAL SIGNS. She is breathing normally, but has no other visible reaction. The Doctor OPENS ONE OF HER EYES and SHINES A LIGHT INTO IT. DOCTOR (shaking his head) Pupils still fixed and dilated. (a beat) What do the monitors show? NURSE (looking up toward monitors) Heartbeat, Pulse, Breathing – all normal. But no brainwave activity. DOCTOR The tube's been out for two hours now. She’s had more than enough time for the drugs to kick in. (a beat) God in Heaven. I was hoping against hope I was wrong. She’s in a permanent vegetative state. What a waste! NURSE There’s nothing more you could have done. She was beyond hope when they brought her in. DOCTOR That doesn’t make it any less of a loss. (a beat) Are her mother and sister outside? NURSE Yes. Her father too. He flew in from Baltimore just about an hour ago. DOCTOR Let’s go tell them then. No sense giving them any more false hope. The nurse goes over to the ICU DOOR. She opens it and ushers the family in. We see Brenda and Barbara again, along with Brenda’s husband BARRY. The Doctor walks over to the door to talk to them. Behind him, we see that LITTLE PIECE OF GWEN’S SOUL FLOAT GENTLY THROUGH THE CEILING and SETTLE INTO DELORES’S HEAD. For a moment, her HEAD GLOWS AND SILENTLY CRACKLES WITH ELECTRICITY. But no one is looking in her direction, so it all goes unnoticed. BY THE DOORWAY BARRY What is it, Doctor Conrad? Is she still in a coma? Is she going to be okay? DOCTOR (hesitates for a moment, then) Delores... A long moment of silence follows. DELORES (O.S.) (weakly) Yes? Doctor Conrad’s eyes bulge just slightly. He TURNS TO DELORES IN DISBELIEF. The rest of her family RUSHES OVER TO HER, STANDING AROUND THE CORNER OF HER BED. The doctor looks at the MONITORS. The one showing brain activity is now just as lively as the heart, breathing and pulse rate indicators. DELORES is BLINKING HER EYES. She looks up at her family. DELORES Mom. Dad. Barb. Are you all okay? BRENDA We’re great! We were worried sick about you! DELORES Barb. That man. Did he... BARBARA No. No, I’m still intact. I clocked that bastard with a lamp. (a beat) Pardon my French. DELORES My throat hurts. DOCTOR You haven’t had the tube out of your throat that long. It’s still a little swollen. There’s plenty of time to talk later. You just rest your voice for now. OUTSIDE THE ICU The doctor leads the family back outside. BRENDA Oh, thank God. I was expecting the worse. BARRY Me too. The look you had on your face, Doctor. I mean, I’d hate to see what you look like when you have BAD news. BARBARA I’m gonna go call Alex and give her the good news. Barbara RUNS down the hall. Her parents follow her at a more proper gait. The doctor stands by the door alone. DOCTOR What in God’s name just happened in there? INT. THE CONTROL ROOM IN HELL The Devil is seated on the control room chair, uncharacteristically morose, chastising himself mercilessly. Sally Ann can only sit back and watch, hesitating to speak. DEVIL How did I let this happen? How could I let Gwen get away from me like that! Damn it! She was one of my favorite people to torment – always coming up with brilliant scenarios to punish herself without even knowing she was doing it. (a beat, then quietly) Now, she’s gone – forever. Out of my reach like all the other souls I lost. (with fury) And she left that spike in the ground right in the middle of the firewall. If someone else can fight his way through that vortex, he could burn himself away too. I could lose maybe a dozen souls over the next millennium. SALLY Oh come on, pookie. What’s a few souls lost? You’ve got millions out there. The Devil stands up to face her. Sally Ann backs up from him carefully. DEVIL I don’t care how many souls I have out there already. I want every soul I can lay my hands on. And I don’t want to lose any more to escapes OF ANY KIND. SALLY Well, you prevented all those others from escaping and... and... you’ve got new souls coming in all the time. Pretty soon, you’ll forget all about Gwen. (a beat, then cheerily) In fact, I... uh... I bet I could make you forget all about her tonight, if you know what I mean. Sally Ann FLUTTERS HER EYES at him, trying to be seductive. It’s a clumsy attempt, but he seems to appreciate it. SALLY Let your little flapper girl make all your troubles go away. The Devil SIGHS QUIETLY but seems to settle down. DEVIL All right. You can help me forget all about what’s her name. (a beat) But you’d better be good. The Devil walks off toward the small bedroom quickly. When he is out of sight, Sally PULLS OUT THE FLASK THAT SHE KEEPS STRAPPED TO HER LEG UNDER HER DRESS and DRINKS IT ALL DOWN. Then she TOSSES IT ASIDE. SALLY It’s gonna be a long night. Then she WALKS OFF to join the Devil. INT. STONE’S APARTMENT – EARLY MORNING Alex is just coming out of Stone’s bedroom, where she had been checking on Amanda. The FRONT DOOR SUDDENLY OPENS and STONE ENTERS, CARRYING ARABELLA IN HIS ARMS. ALEX Oh, my God. Is she all right? STONE I think so. But help me get her on the couch. Alex and Stone lay Belle gently down on the couch. She has a BRUISE ON HER FOREHEAD and she looks exhausted and disheveled. ALEX Belle, what happened? BELLE (visibly upset) I was rolled – like a drunken sailor! ALEX What do you mean? BELLE I almost had enough money to pay off the rent. I just needed one more... This guy came up to me in a car. Then another lady, she looked drunk, got in my way but slipped me a note that that guy was a cop. So, I managed not to get arrested. After he was gone, I went over to thank her... and she sucker-punched me with her bottle. When I woke up, all my money was gone. All she left me was a note saying, “This is MY corner.” STONE I found her just a little after she woke up. She wouldn’t go see a doctor, so I brought her back here. BELLE Oh, God, it’s all over now. They’re gonna arrest me, and take Amanda away. ALEX Are you talking about that warrant I found over on the desk? Belle nods. ALEX Well, I wish you’d showed that to me last night. BELLE Why? What could you have done? ALEX Well, for starters, I could have told you it’s 100% bogus. BELLE (stunned) What? ALEX Look, I doubt there even is a Judge Woodbine, but if there is and he signed off on that, he must be a flaming idiot! That thing is nothing but a pile of legal mumbo-jumbo. You couldn’t confiscate a toddler’s rattle with that thing. Belle BURIES HER HEAD IN HER HANDS in frustration. She then looks back up at the both of them, feeling totally humiliated. BELLE Is Amanda all right? ALEX She slept through the night. I stayed here and kept an eye on her. BELLE Thank you, both of you. I know I broke my word to you, Alex. I’ll pack my things and go. STONE Go where? BELLE I don’t know. STONE I have an idea. How about Los Angeles? BELLE What’s in Los Angeles? STONE A friend. EXT. A DOORWAY – EARLY EVENING The door OPENS and standing in the doorway is FATHER HORN, a blind priest. We pull back to see Arabella and Amanda neatly dressed and standing outside the doorway in front of him. ARABELLA Father Horn? HORN (smiling) Ah, you must be Arabella! Arabella waves her hand in front of the priest’s eyes. He does not react to it. BELLE How did you know that? HORN Your perfume. Mr. Stone told me it smells like lilacs and daffodils. And I heard the sound of a little child giggling, and I knew that must be Amanda. At that moment, a NUN in her 50’s, SISTER JEAN comes forward to the door. JEAN Now, Father, I’ve told you a dozen times not to answer the door by yourself. HORN I’m sorry, Sister. But sometimes I just like to know that there are still some things I can do for myself. (a beat) Anyway, come in, everyone. He ushers them in. He SHAKES HANDS with both of them, as does Sister Jean. HORN Sister Jean here will help you do the final paperwork for the project, but we’ve already set up a small apartment for the two of you and a job. Ezekiel tells me you’re a good typist, so you should have no problem staying with it. BELLE I hope not. I’ll work hard at it. I promise. JEAN I’m sure you will, dear. There’s a lot more people in your situation than you realize. That’s why we set up this program, to give you a chance to have a job and a place to live. It’s no crime being poor. BELLE We don’t know how to thank you. HORN Well, the work you do will help us keep our church bulletin and newsletter going. So you’ll be repaying the very parishioners whose generosity made this possible. (a beat) Arabella. That means “answered prayer,” you know. Your parents must have been very religious. BELLE No, actually my dad was just a WILD WILD WEST fan. HORN Excuse me? BELLE That was the name of one of Artie’s homing pigeons. Daddy just always thought it sounded kind of cool. HORN (with a smirk) Oh, I see. BELLE Hey, I’m lucky, really. He could have named me Henrietta. They both GIGGLE at that for a moment. BELLE I have a confession to make, Father. HORN And what is that, child? BELLE No, I mean... I really have to make a confession. It’s been a long time. HORN Oh, of course. Sister Jean picks up on that. JEAN Say, Amanda, would you like to help me in the kitchen? Afterward, I have some nice homemade cookies you can try. AMANDA Okay. Sister Jean gently leads Amanda out of the room, talking as they go. JEAN That’s a lovely cross you have there around your neck. Did you mother give it to you? AMANDA No, it was my friend, Alex. She was neat. Amanda and the Sister disappear into the next room. BELLE I’m a little scared, Father. HORN Don’t be, child. There’s nothing you can tell me I haven’t heard before. And nothing you can tell God that he won’t forgive. BELLE I’m glad to hear that. (a beat) Bless me Father, for I have sinned... INT. ASH’S APARTMENT – THE LIVING ROOM We start with a tight close-up on Ash. ASH I failed you, Asherah. I’m sorry. We then PAN BACK to see there is a LITTLE GIRL there in a uniform similar to a Girl Scout, but different. A patch on her blouse reads RANGER GIRLS. The little girl is speaking, but it is THE VOICE OF ASHERAH that WE HEAR COMING FROM HER. GIRL Do not blame yourself. There was little time to prepare and many obstacles to face. ASH I tried so hard. I thought I had everything covered. GIRL Do you know what went wrong? My only awareness is that the escape did not take place. ASH Leona never came back. I can only assume Stone got to her somehow. The Devil must have tipped him off. How he found out I’ll never know. GIRL My time grows short. Come with me, Ashur. Come to my dimension. It’s not very large, but you can be my priestess forever there – safe from both Yahweh and the Devil. ASH No, I can’t. Not as long as Yahweh has Seri. I have to find a way to take over Heaven and get her back – among other things. GIRL Very well. Good luck to you, Ashur. May we meet again as rulers of Heaven. After a few moments, the little girl BLINKS HER EYES and LOOKS AROUND IN A DAZE. GIRL (in a normal voice) Where am I? How did I get here? ASH You were just leaving. Good-bye. GIRL Oh... wait. Would you like some cookies? ASH I don’t think so. The girl begins to PICK UP HER STACK OF COOKIE BOXES FROM THE FLOOR. GIRL I don’t blame you. Who wants these goofy things anyway? Listen to these names – Peanut Butter Bonanza, Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate, Fudge Explosion, Ash listens to the names and begins to SALIVATE. She PULLS A LARGE BILL FROM HER POCKET and SHOVES IT INTO THE GIRL’S HAND. ASH Here. This should cover it. She GRABS THE COOKIE BOXES FOR HERSELF WITH ONE HAND AND PUSHES THE GIRL OUT THE DOOR WITH THE OTHER HAND. The little girl looks at the bill in her hand. It’s a $50 bill. GIRL Wait, lady, You’ve got some change com... The line is not completed, as the DOOR SLAMS SHUT. Asherah takes the BOX OF PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES, OPENS IT and PULLS OUT A LARGE COOKIE. ASH I need my strength for the baby, after all. And like Lulu says, potions can only do so much. She TAKES A SATISFYING BITE out of the cookie and SMILES. SOFT FADE TO: INT. A HOSPITAL CORRIDOR – LATE AFTERNOON Strolling down the hallway, occasionally passing OTHER VISITORS, are Stone and Alex. ALEX Dee’s so happy. She’s finally being released tomorrow with a clean bill of health. It’s just amazing. STONE Well, people can surprise you sometimes. ALEX Like you, for instance. Not only did you spring for a bus ticket for Belle and Amanda to L.A., but you even managed to pay up all your back rent. I’m impressed. (a beat) And I was just about to try and get you to regrout my tiles. STONE Well, someone left me a little money when she passed on. But now it’s all spent. Before you know it, I’ll probably be in your debt again. ALEX It’s your cross to bear, huh? STONE Speaking of crosses, I noticed when I last saw Amanda, she was wearing your gold cross. Alex stops in her tracks. Stone does the same. ALEX (looking shocked) So THAT’S where that disappeared to. Stone looks beside himself now. But a moment later, Alex starts to LAUGH. ALEX I’m just kidding. I gave it to her. STONE Oh. I thought maybe you were going to pass that down to your children. ALEX Well, I still hope to have kids someday, but... it wasn’t really a family heirloom. I got it from someone I barely knew. I passed it on to someone I barely knew. It just seemed the right thing to do. (a beat) Besides, that way if Belle gets in a tight squeeze again, she has something she can hock – instead of herself, that is. STONE But, I think she’ll be okay now. ALEX Yeah, me too. But I’ll miss having them both around. At that moment, they arrive at their destination. INT. A HOSPITAL ROOM Delores is in a hospital bed, looking much more chipper than last time we saw her. She just has an IV TUBE in her arm now. Other than that, she looks like she’s ready to waltz out of there as soon as she can. ALEX Hey, Dee. How’re you doing? DELORES Great. I’m just itching to get out of here, that’s all. ALEX This is my friend, Ezekiel Stone that I told you about. DELORES Oh, glad to meet you. Alex has told me... almost nothing about you. STONE Not her fault. I’m the quiet, mysterious type. (a beat) So are you back to normal again? DELORES Oh, better than normal. Get a load of this. (a beat) _Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? Je suis bein._ (a beat) That’s 'Hi. How are you? I’m cool.' More or less. ALEX I didn’t know you could speak French. DELORES That’s just it. Neither did I. I mean I took it for two years in school, but it didn’t seem to stick with me. Now, it’s like I can remember everything I ever heard in class. ALEX Wow. Maybe I need to get MY head scrambled like you, Dee. DELORES Oh, that’s something else I wasted to bring up. Call me Gwen, if you don’t mind. ALEX (puzzled) Gwen? DELORES Well, it’s my middle name. I’ve been thinking about going with it for a while now. ALEX But I thought you and Barbara liked going by Bee and Dee. DELORES Yeah, we used to. But now she’s in college and she likes going by Barb. People kept thinking Bee was short for Beatrice. ALEX Okay, but what’s wrong with Delores? DELORES Well, it rhymes with... you know. ALEX (with a knowing nod) Oh, yeah. I saw that episode of SEINFELD. (quietly to Stone) I’ll explain later. STONE So what are you plans now? DELORES Well, I’ve been thinking of doing what Mom does – becoming a rape crisis counselor. I think it’d be a good career, and I’d really like to help other victims. STONE Well, I think that’s admirable but... I was more curious about short-term. DELORES Oh. Well, my Mom just told me that Laura Branigan is touring again, and she got me tickets. ALEX (quietly to Stone) She’s a singer... STONE (to Delores) “Gloria” and “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?” Right? DELORES (delighted) Right! She HOLDS OUT HER RIGHT HAND LIKE A FIST. STONE DOES THE SAME AND THEY BUMP FISTS TOGETHER TRIUMPHANTLY. Now Alex can only LOOK ON IN AMAZEMENT. STONE (to Alex) She got a lot of airplay back in ’82 and ’83. Alex just SMILES and SHAKES HER HEAD. ALEX Well, I guess we have to be going now. We’ll see you later….. Gwen. DELORES Sure, thanks for coming. Or should I say _Merci Beaucoup?_ STONE Good luck, Gwen. DELORES Yeah, You too. INT. THE HOSPITAL CORRIDOR Alex and Stone step back outside the room again. STONE Does she seem okay to you? ALEX Why? What do you mean? STONE Is she the same way she used to be? ALEX Well, I didn’t know her all that well, but she seems the same. I saw her with her family yesterday and they were trading old family stories left and right. What’s this all about? STONE I don’t know. That accent she had when she was speaking French. It just reminded me of another girl I once knew. Her name was Gwen too. ALEX It’s not an uncommon name. Brenda has a sister named Gwen. STONE It’s nothing I guess. ALEX So who was this other Gwen? An old flame, maybe? STONE No. Someone I ran across in my work. She came to a bad end, I’m afraid. ALEX Oh, that’s too bad. But maybe she did better in the afterlife. Or maybe she’ll get reincarnated. STONE No. No second chance for her, I’m afraid. ALEX Now, don’t you go thinking that way. (a beat, lightly) I happen to believe that there’s a second chance out there for everyone – if they just have the courage to find it. Stone find himself SMILING at Alex’s thought – almost believing it in spite of himself. Then, the two of them begin to WALK DOWN THE CORRIDOR back home as we: FADE TO BLACK