\ INFESTATION ia eae ee ke nerINFESTATION by Adam Robitel An original screenplay March 3, 2009 “Evil lives in all of us" Robitel Media Works 2405 34th ST. Unit 34 Santa Monica, CA. 90405 Adam.Robitel@gmail.com 323.899.3957 WGA Registered 1317115INT, BEDROOM - NIGHT PUSH into the grate of a heating vent. A FLY appears, walks the grate silently. MUFFLED WHIMPERS off screen. The room is dark. MAN snaps awake from a terrible dream, looks around the room, sensing a presence. A clock ticks, pounding in his ear. This is SALVATORE “BUDDY” SIGNORELLI, (50), homicide detective, dry drunk, father. His wife, PAMELA (40s), stirs but doesn't wake. Buddy unlocks top draw of bureau, takes his 40 Caliber Glock pistol in hand... INT. ALLISON’S BEDROOM ~ CONTINUOUS Buddy creaks open the bedroom door. His daughter, ALLISON (13), sleeps soundly... INT. JOEY'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Buddy finds JOEY, his 5 year old, flipped upside down in his bed. Buddy stuffs his Glock into his waistline, and gingerly turns Joey around, kisses his forehead. INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS In the kitchen we get a better look at Buddy. Bags under eyes, dark complexion, tattoos on his back belie his misspent youth. He finds the BACK DOOR OPEN. Buddy turns, sees SABLE, the family's black lab, look up with her tail between her legs. BUDDY Thought you were supposed to guard the place? Buddy shuts the door, startles! Joey is standing behind it. JOEY I’m scared Daddy. BUDDY (picks him up) Shhhh. There’s nothing to be scared of honey. What are you doing up? You should be asleep guy. As they leave the room.JOBY (0.8.) You too. INT. CROWN VIC - DAWN Buddy’s unmarked crown vic comes to a stop in front of a cadre of POLICE VANS, blocking the highway with the marsh on the other side. His partner of twenty years, ALAN MIGGS, black, 50s, dumps three packets of sugar into coffee, passes to Buddy. MIGcs You look like shit. BUDDY Not sleeping. MIGGS Yeah? (beat) This will help. c'mon. EXT. LYNN MARSH - CONTINUOUS Buddy, Miggs, walk between ANIMAL CONTROL VANS, a makeshift blockade so that traffic can't see what both hardened homicide detectives now stare at in utter horror: Dead dogs... impaled on stakes... in a crude circle... Flies BUZZ. Doberman, Rottweiler, French poodle, its white hair now matted with dry blood. Most disturbing is the Golden Retriever. A YOUNG COP gags, as a bubble of spittle falls from the Golden's mouth. A wiry man steps out from willow plants, FRED NIVEN (60s) occult expert. Fred carries the weight of the world with a smile. The cops don’t like him. FRED NIVEN This is what occultists call an “Invocation Circle“. (reveal high angle: 9 dead dogs strange web pattern drawn into the sand) Ah, the number is not a mistake. 9 is considered an insult to the holy trinity. It’s an inversion of 6, mark of the beast.Buddy kneels next to the Doberman. A railroad spike has entered its rectum, shoots straight out its mouth. BUDDY That's a bunch of new testament bull shit! 666 was numeric code for Nero, so the Jews could bitch about the emperor without getting their heads cut off. Niven is impressed by the Detective’s knowledge. FRED NIVEN I’m just trying to give you some context for the ritual, detective. Help establish motive. Miggs spots a WOMAN hunched over one of the dogs. It looks like she’s touching its head. Mrces And I’m going to give your wife some context for the evidence she’s contaminating. Hey, sticky fingers. Look, but don’t touch! She turns- ruddy skin, keen intelligence, ELAINE NIVEN 60s. ELAINE NIVEN It's the beginning of a prayer. Typically the beginning of a malediction, or curse, like the opening of the door. Buddy’s hand SNAPS away from the dog’s collar. Mrees Buddy? Sup? MAGGOTS swarming the Doberman’s mouth. Buddy places his cell phone in the crook of his neck. BUDDY It's my neighbor's dog. Thing never used to shut up. (into phone) Pam... I want you to keep Sable inside. Don’t let her in the yard. (annoyed) Let her go down cellar. Buddy motions to Miggs. The NEWS VANS are arriving. Miggs is already moving towards them, they can’t photograph this.As he walks towards the shoulder of the road, Buddy finds faint TREAD MARKS, yells to a BURLY COP. BUDDY Hey, Pasquale! Got treads here. Might want to have these rocket scientists move their vehicles off our fucking evidence! EXT. BOSTON PRECINCT HOUSE - CONTINUOUS Establish a worn, 13 story brick police station sandwiched between newer office buildings. INT, PRECINCT HOUSE - CAPTAIN’S OFFICE - DAY CAPTAIN ANDREW KIRKPATRICK (60's), devout Irish Catholic, steeples hands together. A long moment. Buddy and Miggs sit in chairs opposite his immaculate desk. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK The Globe is calling it an “animal holocaust”. (adjusts FAMILY PICTURES on his desk) Little dramatic if you ask me. (moves to window) As senior detectives, you two set the tone for how the guys will react to the Nivens. They may be a little unorthodox, but they wouldn't be teaching FBI cadets at Qauntico if they didn't know their stuff. Mrces You bring them in when you're letting go of cops left and right. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK Alan, the Nivens are old friends of mine and they’re doing this as a personal favor to me. Mrces How much you paying them? CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK They are here consulting for a few days.Mrces We've had two straight pay cuts. Now we’re talking about ceding benefits... A LATINO JANITOR tries to come in with a broom and barrel. Buddy abruptly pushes him out the door. BUDDY Not now, huh? Come back later. Janitor scuttles away, embarrassed. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK (cuts Miggs off) Detective Miggs, we’re all hurting here, case you hadn’t noticed. I need your alignment on this. All the tenets of detective work change with occult crime. As it is, B.P.D. is enduring the highest homicide rates in it’s history. Something is happening here. We’re in over our heads. Now go home to your wives. Miggs sighs. Buddy looks distant, away from here. INT. LONGVIEW APARTMENTS - APARTMENT 9 - NIGHT Elderly hands cracking spaghetti. Establish a tidy, assisted living APARTMENT, double beds, matching crucifix. IN THE KITCHEN Push in towards the back of the ELDERLY WOMAN'S, cotton white hair. She HEARS the front door of the apartment OPEN. ELDERLY WOMAN (without turning) It's too cold for you to be out running. MAN (0.S.) It’s too warm in here for you to be cooking pasta, ma. ELDERLY WOMAN Touche. We see the imperceptible form of a person head into the bathroom, which is at the opposite end, behind the woman.Phone rings. We follow the woman into the living room. Reveal BIRTHDAY BALLOONS and painted banner: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL”. The woman sits, bathroom door framed directly behind her. She picks up the phone. ELDERLY WOMAN (into phone) Hello? Long beat. Finally, we hear someone EXHALE. STRANGER (ON PHONE) Your son's dead Marie, died of the faggot disease. (hissing) SSessssssssit's time for you to join him. Sssssssssssit's time for you to join him, (rapid hissing) Join us, Join us, Get the gun. Get the gun. Get the gun. Get the gun. Marie slams phone down, It RINGS. Marie hesitates, lifts receiver to her ear. Behind her, the bathroom door slowly starts to open, by itself. On phone WE HEAR the chirpy recorded GREETING of a Sports Rifle store. Marie holds down the receiver, hanging up. She lifts receiver, this time her friend Gloria, thick Boston accent. GLORIA (ON PHONE) What are you doing? INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS on the stove, marinara froths and looks like blood. Gloria’s voice has broken Marie's trance. She stares at the open bathroom door, the shower running. MARIE (into phone) I’m... I'm baking a cake. GLORIA (ON PHONE) You're cooking? (beat) Lookout. MARIE (into phone) very funny.GLORIA (ON PHONE) Where's your visiting nurse? MARIE (into phone) She's late. She's usually a very prompt girl. GLORIA (ON PHONE) Heard from your son? MARIE (into phone) He doesn’t call. GLORIA (ON PHONE) Tettssk. (beat) Did you hear Mary Fitzpatrick passed away on Sunday night? MARIE Oh no. Didn’t know she was ill. GLORIA (ON PHONE) Died in her sleep. That’s the best way. Come down to the center, play some Rummy. MARIE (into phone) Cards? You know I don't play cards. GLORIA (ON PHONE) You shouldn't be alone today. MARIE (into phone) Nu. 0. (looking at party setup) ) I've got too much to do Gloria. Too much to do. I'm very busy. INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS FOLLOW: Marie as she creeps towards the open bathroom door. The shower curtain is closed, obscuring whoever's bebind it. Marie takes a deep breath, snaps open the shower curtain. The tub is full of steaming water. Marie struggles to reach the plug with her fingers, finally reaches it. Tub starts to gurgle, emptying.Marie washes her face in the sink. Dabs her eyes with towel. Wipes steam away from mirror. A MAN STANDING IN HER TUB! Skeletal, lesions covering his entire body. When he speaks, we recognize the voice from before. MICHAEL It's so warm down here Mom. The man lurches at Marie. She grabs the shower curtain, in a frenzy, each plastic ring explodes in a quick succession. She hits her head on the tub with a dull THWACK! UPSET DOG OWNER (V.0.) It’s been two fucking days. You/re telling me you don’t have any leads? Nothing? No names. No ideas? INT. PRECINCT HOUSE - BOOKING CUBICLES ~ DAY A female ADMITTANCE OFFICER, listens sympathetically from behind plexiglass security wall. UPSET DOG OWNER CON’T I’ve had that dog longer than my kids. He’s part of our family. (turns to leave) Your level of incompetence is breathtaking. ADMITTANCE OFFICER (softly) I’m sorry, Mr. Jacobi. We are trying the best we can. UPSET DOG OWNER Sometimes your best isn’t good enough. INT. PRECINCT HOUSE ~ LECTURE ROOM - DAY FRED NIVEN This is not a random act of violence. This community was chosen for a reason. The effect is to create emotional devastation, to spark anger and outrage.Somber room, somber cops. On the walls, a corkboard with colored PUSH PINS highlighting troubled occult crime areas, and pictures of the DOGS over each abduction site. GUTIERREZ, a young Lieutenant filled with bravado, jokes. GUITIEREZ Gives new meaning to “hotdog on a stick”. Few laughs. Niven looks at Buddy and Miggs self-consciously. FRED NIVEN This ritual suggests highly organized offenders working in good coordination. Prepping of the circle takes at least two hours without any cover. There was supposed to be a cruiser up and down the two way at least twice an hour... GUITIEREZ They was at Dunking Donuts getting Coolatas. Buddy kicks back of Guitierez’s chair, hard. BUDDY You want to make detective? start acting your age, not your shoe size. (tor group) This isn't a bunch of Goth Punks getting drunk and listening to Marilyn Manson. Any behaviorist will tell you this type of overt cruelty to animals is training ground for homicide. ELAINE NIVEN Thank you detective. Indeed, unlike random animal mutilation... (slide changes to random farm animal mutilation, mostly goats, sheep) +s:which tend to be a generic offering, this is a hostile, specific act of hatred. The ritual itself has meaning.10. MIccs (quietly, to Buddy) Most of them were lifted from Shirley Ave... BUDDY And down towards Mc Mackin Field... MIGcs Your neighborhood. BUDDY Yep. (beat) Found our back gate’s lock had been busted open. Good thing Sable was inside. MIGGS Aint that a bitch? Trying to steal a cop’s dog. INT. BUDDY’S HOUSE - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT ANGLE: The heating vent. Two more flies appear. Buddy SNAPS AWAKE. He turns to the clock. 3:05 AM, again. His eyes trace the ceiling, and a strange spidery WATER STAIN. INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER Buddy finds the door open again. Strange. Locks both bolts, then the chain. INT. CELLAR STAIRS ~ MOMENTS LATER Buddy opens the cellar door. A dog leash CLINKING. Sable arrives at the base of the stairs. Buddy smiles faintly. CUT TO: INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - MORNING Buddy knocks on the bathroom door. ALLISON (V.0.) Hold on, damn it! T just got in here. INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUSi. Pamela washes a pile of dishes, staring absently at the back yard. At the table, Joey eats Count Chocula, Sable asleep under his feet. ANGLE: Television. A wary REPORTER stands in front of chain link fence, a worn down CHURCH behind it. REPORTER (ON TELEVISION) Authorities suggest a correlation between the total collapse of the economy, distrust of those in power, and the crime wave sweeping the greater Boston Area. Revere, Dorchester, Lynn... PAMELA Shut it off. No T.V. at breakfast. Joey tries the remote, but it isn’t working. INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY — CONTINUOUS Buddy, worn suit and gun holster, removes a vent and pulls out a pack of cigarettes from a hidden carton, hides them in his duffle bag. Knocks on bathroom door again. Allison opens annoyed, makeup caked to her face, 13 going on 30. ALLISON What is it, Salvatore? BUDDY Did you leave the back door open last night? ALLISON No, I was in. BUDDY You lying to me? ALLISON Why would I lie? A beat. Buddy studies her. BUDDY 1 don't want you walking home anymore. Get a ride with Sara's father. And don’t argue with me, I’m not in the mood. Get a ride or lose your cell phone. And take off that makeup, you look like a Puerto Rican whore.12. ALLISON Jesus, someone needs a meeting! (slams door) INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER Buddy passes Pam at the sink. PAMELA What's in the duffel Bud? Pam goes to reach for his bag. Buddy intercepts her with an aggressive kiss; it’s deep and hungry. Finally, he pulls back, snaps gum. BUDDY Nicorette. Pam wants to push it, but doesn’t. Her eyes rake his gun in holster. she hates his job. PAMELA Buddy, the news. It’s getting worse, isn’t it? Joey frustrated with remote, UNPLUGS Television. BUDDY Lock up. Keep Sable inside. PAMELA Yeah. We love you too. Buddy steps out into the cold, down the rickety steps, breathing a sigh of relief. RECOVERING ADDICT (V.0.) I've got everything today because of my sobriety... INT. SCHOOL ROOM - AA MEETING - MORNING Buddy sits among RECOVERING ADDICTS in a circle. An ASIAN GUY in a suit prattles. Group seems bored but empathetic. RECOVERING ADDICT «..A beautiful baby, wife who depends on me. A plum job, when everyone I know is losing there's, and Still...The voices. (MORE)13. RECOVERING ADDICT (cont'd) The parade inside my head tells me I'm worthless - a worthless hack fucking lawyer who should shoot some H because I've earned it! (others nod) stick it in. slide down the pole. (beat) Where does it come from? Where do my thoughts come form? The NEBBISH MODERATOR'S timer beeps... MODERATOR Ah, Alex, that's time.. The group looks to Buddy. His Cell phone shrieks. BUDDY (standing) Pass. EXT. ABANDONED CHURCH - DAY Buddy and Miggs huddled under an umbrella, shiver down a brick sided ALLEY, past crime scene CORDON. Buddy stops short, stares up at the enormous spires of the GOTHIC CHURCH. MIGGS You okay? Buddy fixates on the stain glass window of st. Michael, expelling a demon from heaven. MIGGS I know you ain't set foot ina church in a long time. Do you some gocd to say a confession. BUDDY Forgive me father for I have sinned. It’s been twenty years since I’ve believed your bull shit. mrees (partly playing) Ooh, careful man, He’s listening. INT. ABANDONED CHURCH - MAIN HALL - MOMENTS LATER Both detectives pass COPS in rain slickers, taking questions from a Latino GROUNDS KEEPER sputtering in’ Spanish. Plywood covers holes in STAIN GLASSED WINDOWS. A draft causes HOWLING sounds. The hanging Gothic lights sway eerily.1a. Wind also plays tricks in the pipe organ creating discordant notes. FORENSIC TEAMS snap pictures of a streak of blood, down the main aisle. Detectives join the Nivens and several UNIFORMED COPS, huddled dead center of the church. LY, GUITIEREZ (tor Buddy/Miggs) Grounds keeper saw some kind of utility truck with a decal on the side pull away as he arrived this morning. Didn't catch the license plate. Found the back door busted open. Followed the happy trail of blood and found her... cUr TO: LATINO GROUNDS KEEPER (spastic) Aye, mucho sangre, y el cuerpo como un puerco... BACK TO: Elaine sees Buddy, Miggs, looking around. They follow her subtle shift in gaze upwards, towards the chancel arch above the altar MIGGS God Almighty. Close: GAPING LIPS frozen in a scream. WIDER: A young Hispanic WOMAN, maggots swarming the body, hanging upside down, arms splayed wide. Both hands are missing. Her body is hanging a few feet in front of church’s center crucifix, which is inverted above the main altar. Her body ebbs, like curing meat. FRED NIVEN The inverted cross is a perversion of Christ, classic Satanic provocation. What's up is down. It's an act of defiance to God. Of spiritual war. Annoyed by the lecture, Buddy moves past Niven onto the altar. Opens the tabernacle, reacts to the horrendous ODOR inside, but is perplexed by'the simple serving of EUCHARIST WAFERS sitting there. The GROWL of a SCISSOR LIFT being wheeled into place.1s. INT. ON SCISSOR LIFT - AFTERNOON Miggs, Buddy, Guitierez, and Forensic Photographer, KATE HU (20'S), surgeon's masks, rising past dust motes. Buddy grips the sides of the scissor lift as if his life depends on it. MIGes Hold on tight. KATE HU Is fearless Detective Signorelli afraid of heights? BUDDY I’m fine. (beat) Long as I only look up. As they rise, the sound of the body CREAKING and the SLITHERING MAGGOTS grows louder. They arrive, Buddy inhales sharply; this is high up. He double takes the victim’s face. MIGGs Recognize her? BUDDY No. But he isn’t so sure. Buddy’s flashlight trains down her blood caked legs, the maggots, glints off... BUDDY Slaughter house hooks. (beam traces thick tow rope up and over the exposed beam) How the fuck did they get her up here? Miccs Maybe they can fly. Buddy’s flashlight moves past the victim, to the suspended inverted cross, behind her. Kate’s camera flashes. BUDDY Same railroad spikes used with the dogs. Looks like they tried to stake her by the hands. Fred Niven from ground below offers:16. FRED NIVEN Didn't do their homework. Crucifixion has to happen at the wrist and ankle bones, or... Buddy’s flashlight catches the pulpy gore on the spikes, remainders of her hands, feet. BUDDY That happens. Buddy crooks his head for a moment, looking at the woman's face. Blood falls from her haunches... INT. ALTAR - CONTINUOUS It splatters on the pulpit. This draws Fred to the gilded BIBLE. Niven fishes bifocals out of pocket, reads. FRED NIVEN “Behold, rancid is the spoils of meat, Lord of the Flies shall infest him with fear and he shall know his name” Revelation 18 -2- 25 (beat) More “Nero” code, I suppose. ON SCISSOR LIFT, Buddy repositions the lift around the body to get a better look at the hooks. His flashlight beam shows etched name: Wulder. Says to Miggs, who takes notes. BUDDY We should case the North End. see if any of the butcheries are missing their stainless steel slaughter hooks. Aren’t cheap. GUITIERE (gags) God. She stinks. BUDDY Don't worry. You never get used to it. Buddy hears a slight gurgling coming from the victim's open mouth. Crouches. Uses a medical FORCEPS to part the lips. The mouth gasps and a BLOODY OBJECT DISLODGES, falls forty feet, slaps on the floor. All eyes rivet on the object. Elaine kneels, medical forceps in hand, turns it around.a7. ELAINE NIVEN It’s a dental retainer. Buddy screams, startling everyone in church. BUDDY Hey, keep your hands off my God- damned evidence! Fred is about to defend her when she grabs his arm. ELAINE NIVEN Don't, He’s not well. EXT. ABANDONED CHURCH - FRONT STEPS - LATER The rain has subsided, leaving a dark, rumbling sky. Cops in SLICKERS, maintain a police barrier. Buddy and Miggs pour out. of the Church, rattled, careful down the stairs. Buddy lights a cigarette, coughs deep in his chest. The church is framed high, looming above them. MIGGS Picked it up again? BUDDY Never put it down. MIGGS Yeah, well, what do they say? You're as sick as your secrets, man. An elderly priest, FATHER FASBINDER, and a few plainclothes NUNS are allowed through the barricade. Meet the men at the base of the stairs. FATHER FASBINDER (clears throat) We're holding marathon masses in the old rectory chapel, until the new church is built. Also a donation drive for the girl; Hope to know her identity soon. This is a puny act by small men. We won't let the poison of a few break our parish's spirit. Mrces That's good father. Fasbinder looks at Buddy, who averts his gaze.18. FATHER FASBINDER Salvatore. You’re a sight for sore eyes. Buddy is uncomfortable around the priest. He uses rain soaked fingers to snuff cigarette, puts it in his pocket. BUDDY Too bad it’s under these circumstances. FATHER FASBINDER I want you to know we prayed the Novena at the morning mass yesterday. In honor of Michael. BUDDY You guys really came around. It’s only been 19 years. FATHER PASBINDER Yes, well... (softly) Things do change. It’s good to see you Sal. I do hope you come back some time. Door’s always open. Say, how's your mother? BUDDY I’ll give her your best. Buddy heads towards his Crown Vic. FATHER FASBINDER (embarrassed) Let's arrange for some food for the men. MIGGS Something tells me these boys ain’t hungry, Father. INT. BUDDY’S HOUSE - BACK DOOR ~ NIGHT Buddy finds back door ajar again. All lights on in the house. Uneasiness hangs in the air lixe a fog.19. INT. - TOP OF CELLAR STAIRS - CONTINUOUS Sable looking up at Buddy from basement. The one thing left in the world that makes him smile. HAND reaches into frame, startles us. It’s Pamela, harried, carrying load of laundry. BUDDY What do you got all the lights on for? PAMELA Didn't you get my call? The phone was acting weird. Was getting some prank calls, so I was a little freaked out. BUDDY Like what? Pam folds clothes. PAMELA Just some static and hisses. Probably a telemarketer. What do you want for dinner? I didn't start anything yet. INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Buddy holds ringing phone to ear. Pam waits by his side. BUDDY order a pizza or something. (into phone) Hey Guitierez, it’s Signorelli. Listen, do mea favor, wire this number up for a trace. beat) Keep the log on the internal system. (rubs temples) 1 don't need a warrant Lieutenant, it's my number. PAMELA It's probably frigging bill collectors. Allison plays GRAND THEFT AUTO. Joey watches, mesmerized.20. BUDDY What did I tell you about playing that game in front of your brother? ALLISON You bought it for me Salvatore. Buddy waves his hand in front of Joey's face. BUDDY Hey. Learn anything at school? JOEY Joey Rotundo’s dog was killed. He was crying a lot. It was funny. BUDDY It was funny? JOEY Yeah, He’s mean. Tt was funny to see him cry. ON THE SCREEN: Allison blasts a cap in a hooker’s face. PAMELA Listen, Buddy, I spoke to Uncle Ernie. They are light a driver. There’s a school route available. Buddy removes his jacket, holster. BUDDY Pamela, every time my job gets real you expect me to quit. I’m eight years away from my pension. You think I'm going to quit now? You want to get a job, with your nerves? Pamela knows she can't win this argument. PAMELA The furnace is broken again. BUDDY Pamela, would you order some pizza and give me two fucking seconds to breathe? I just got home.21. INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER Buddy reaches into the vent for his cigarettes. The carton is missing. REVERSE from INSIDE VENT: We see his arm flailing about in the darkness. INT. DINING ROOM - LATER Buddy and his family shiver, eating pizza. Finally, Buddy gets up to look at thermostat. Sable follows. PAMELA Told you. Furnace is busted. I’m getting a guy to look at it. INT. CELLAR - MOMENTS LATER Buddy wades through the darkness of this enormous cellar. INT. FURNACE ROOM - LATER Buddy at the huge, industrial furnace, opens pilot window. We see Buddy’s face from inside the pilot window. A SHADOW MOVES BEHIND HIM. He turns. Nothing but a darkened tool bench, row of boxes that read “Christmas Ornaments.” Turns back to the furnace, fastens a VALVE with industrial strength COILS. Wraps the coils three times, flips a breaker switch. The furnace belches a dark cloud of smoke, chugs. Buddy dusts himself off, turns to pick up his tools. We boom as he crouches, move back up with him, BUDDY GASPS!!! The CARDBOARD BOKES are now blocking his exit from the furnace room. SABLE CROUCHES as if she’d just been beaten, Buddy pushes them away, reacts with a start! It’s PAMELA! PAMELA It’s your mother. She's in the hospital. We got to go. INT. NIVEN’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT A fire blazes as the Nivens pour over CRIME SCENE PHOTOS: The church murder, from newer, grislier angles. We land on Elaine on the floor staring gravely at pictures off screen.22. FRED NIVEN It's just an anomaly with the film, Elaine. An exposure problem. CLOSE on the photos. BUDDY at CRIME SCENE with dark shadows around his neck and shoulders, like a malignant cloud. ELAINE NIVEN On two separate rolls, Fred? Not the typical overblown whites of bad exposure? (beat) ) Also the Polaroids? It's strange. They're not on anyone else. Just him. FRED NIVEN All right, before you worry your pretty little head. call the lab. See if they’ll release the medical examiners images as well. (Blaine immediately, moving to phone) Rule out it’s not an issue with the cameras forensics used. Fred zeroes in on one particular image, the shadows around Buddy look like talons. DOCTOR BORNSTEIN (V.0.) She's been in a coma for three days. She’s sustained a serious concussion and some light swelling of the brain. (beat) She'll be groggy. INT. MASS GENERAL - NEUROLOGY WARD - NIGHT Buddy approaches CLOSED PRIVACY CURTAIN. Shadows ebb behind it. Beat. Buddy takes a breath, pulls the curtain away revealing a frail old woman; his mother, turned away towards the empty room. Buddy isn’t quite sure of what to do, looks back at the open door. Forces himself to turn back. His mother's head is wrapped in soiled bandages. Finally he sits, takes her hand. MARIE (head turned away) Takes a head injury for you to visit your mother? (MORE)23. MARTE (cont'd) You wouldn't of known if I died. Would you? (finally turns) Did Gloria call? Who called? (beat) My God you look haggard. Doesn’t she feed you? BUDDY Hi Ma. Marie looks away. MARIE Hi Ma yourself. BUDDY How you feeling? MARIE Hurts all over. BUDDY I'm sorry you fell. MARIE Yeah? Me too. BUDDY The kids are here. You want to see them? Marie turns towards Buddy, anger in her eyes. MARIE Of course I want to see them. I've wanted to see them all year, but you haven't brought them by at all. That wife of yours, so busy not doing anything, couldn't afford to bring them by to see me either? Don't know what I ever did to you people. BUDDY I'm sorry Ma. She doesn't respond. BUDDY I've missed you.MARIE You miss me like a canker sore. suddenly suspicious) Do you need money? Buddy's face reddens. Loosens his collar. BUDDY So how did you fall? You been drinking? (her hard exterior breaks slightly) Were you in the bag, Mother? MARIE I haven't had a drop since your father passed. (under her breath) ) Should ask the same about you. BUDDY Still counting days. MARIE That's a surprise. (softens) Your father would be proud. (tries to sit up, head pounding) Just got light headed is all. Hit my head on the tub. Next thing I know a Spanish girl is jamming a breathing tube down my throat. beat) You still have that job? BUDDY Yeah ma, I'm still a cop. MARIE Wish you'd go back to school and finish your degree. Get a real job. One that doesn't endanger you or your family. It's selfish. BUDDY (bites tongue) I'm going to let you get some rest. We'll come back tomorrow. Buddy moves to leave.25. MARIE Your brother came to visit me. (Buddy freezes at door) Beat you to it. Takes Buddy a second to register this very odd statement. BUDDY What? MARIE He was here earlier. Brought those flowers. He's too skinny, I told him, too skinny. Buddy moves to the a vase of white roses on night stand. There's a tag, but not filled out. BUDDY Ma, who gave you these flowers? MARIE He said he's glad you went back to church, I am too, You'd be a little less, serious, if you believed in something more than yourself. Buddy moves to his mother, eyes glaring with agitation. BUDDY Ma, who gave you those flowers? (gravely serious) Listen to me. Michael is dead. (loud) He's DEAD! (softer) What are you talking about? Something changes in Marie’s eyes. A light goes out. MARIE You think IT don't know that my first-born son is dead? You think I'm stupid? This is news? BUDDY Then who gave you the flowers? MARIE They were here when I woke up. who knows. The Easter Bunny.Buddy’s cell rings. It's Miggs. Marie sighs, shuts her privacy curtain. Buddy steps out of ear shot, under the mounted television. MIGGS (ON PHONE) You ready for this? BUDDY (into phone) Yeah. MIGGS (ON PHONE) The dental retainer... BUDDY (into phone) Uh huh. ABOVE BUDDY: Television TURNS ON. Starts rifling through channels, sound muted. Buddy doesn’t see. MIGGS (ON PHONE) Had a discrete tracking number. The owner, a Ms. Christina Vasquez. Age 33. Resident of Chelsea. Registered Nurse and physical therapist at Long View Apartments. Reported missing for three days. (Buddy looks beyond chilled. Nother’s curtain ebbs) That's your mother's apartment building isn't it? BUDDY (ON PHONE) Yeah. MIGGS (V.0. ON PHONE) Strange. BUDDY (ON PHONE) Yeah. Buddy can’t take his eyes of the mysterious flowers. INT. MEDICAL EXAMINERS ~ AUTOPSY ROOM - MORNING 26. Christina Vasquez’s naked body on the slab, cleaned off, shot from below. We see: swaths of flesh, the handless stumps, but mostly the men’s reactions. Buddy and Fred listen as African American PATHOLOGIST explains:27. PATHOLOGIST She died of de-sanguination. Bled to death from her palms, feet. No hair, no fibers, no prints, nothing. They are professionals. Toxicology found non-lethal levels of chloroform. FRED NIVEN How hard is it to get chloroform? BUDDY Like buying a pack of cigarettes. Too easy. Could never trace it. Pathologist circles table, irrigates a wound with saline. PATHOLOGIST Necrosis had barely started. She'd only been dead for a few hours, which is baffling because the maggots were mature. If I had to guess, they were brought in. BUDDY Brought in? PATHOLOGIST Yeah, you know. Kind of like a prop. Pathologist kneels, pries a piece of flesh from the leg apart revealing a GAPING HOLE. PATHOLOGIST Also, they knew exactly where to hang her. Stuck the hooks clear through the femur, rapped it snug. Not easy to do. (look up) I think it's safe to say one of them has medical knowledge. NIVEN That would be inconsistent with the palms and ankles, which were shredded during the attempt at crucifixion. BUDDY unless it's a statement. some type of perversion of stigmata..28. Niven’s impressed. Buddy’s a quick study. PATHOLOGIST Terrible thing...sixty feet up. Hanging there...those things all over. Watching your life drain out of you. Nothing to do but wait... INT. PRECINCT HOUSE - LAB ~ CONTINUOUS NIGEL (308) technician, ponytail, holds the Eucharist “Wafers” in a sealed biohazard container. Miggs sits on stool, Elaine stands behind him. NIGEL We tested the wafers. Ran a basic smear. Found collagen, elastin, fatty deposits. (beats) In a word... ELAINE Flesh. NIGEL Ah, yeah. (pulls up cross section of cellular material on computer ) Ran DNA tests, matches the Victims. Mrees So what? Are they, cannibals? ELAINE Aren't all Christians? NIGEL (to: Elaine) Oh, those pictures of Detective Signorelli, you asked me to look at? There was a strange corruption on the digital files too. we're having I.T. take a look and see if it’s a virus or software issue... Nigel pulls up the DIGITAL CRIME SCENE photos. We see more strange light anomalies around BUDDY. Swirling, grainy tendrils of shadow and texture, like a SWARM OF INSECTS.29. EXT. MCKINNLEY SCHOOL - BACK PARKING LOT - NIGHT Light SNOW FALLS past sodium vapor lights. The school is a squat brick building, with one center metal door which now OPENS. A MAN (50s) pot marked, thin face, cardigan, carries Thanksgiving decorations passed mud-soaked SUVS. The man turns the ignition of his white Jetta, lets it heat up. At his trunk he starts to load the supplies, a BLACK VAN and DUMPSTER framed behind him. He drops box of supplies. MAN Good one, Colin. He hears WHIMPERING. Turns, sees the BACK OF A WOMAN in a WHEELCHAIR, behind the van, between the school and the dumpster, struggling to navigate around the mud. against his immediate reaction to run, he asks. COLIN Ma'am, do you need some help? Anything I can do? He slowly approaches her. She’s singing something. Her face_ obscured. As he gets closer, he sees that her head is matted, hair thinning, a STRANGE FLY SYMBOL on her scalp. As soon as this registers, he’s pummelled from behind. The van’s door SCREAMS OPEN and he’s thrown in like a rag doll. WOMAN IN WHEELCHAIR The itsey bitsey spider went up the water spout... (standing) Down came the rain and washed the spider out... INT, PRECINCT HOUSE - NIGHT Lobby is SWARMING with activity, as COPS book LOW-LIFES. CRIMINALS stare plaintively from HOLDING CELL BARS. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK (V.0.) Please tell me you have something for me Fred.30. INT. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK’S OFFFICE - CONTINUOUS FRED NIVEN Well, the Bible at Immaculate Church, was open to a page of Revelations. Only one of two references to Beelzebub. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK Beelzebub? FRED NIVEN Yes. Lord of the Flies. MIGcs Like the Devil? FRED NIVEN There’s a lot of debate. Most scholars say he’s on order with the cherubim. Ah, second in command. Guitierez enters, excited, has pictures and analysis from lab. LT, GUITIEREZ The bible page, pathology just told us, was actually created out of a very fine layer of the victim’s skint Fred reads the report, looks at the cross section images of the bible page, the flesh, under magnification. FRED NIVEN Parchment paper. The way old biblical manuscripts were written on animal hide. Beat. Elaine comes to a realization. ELAINE NIVEN This painstaking attention to detail suggests they’re working from some type of ancient text. MIces Yeah, that’s some real deduction skills, right there. BUDDY can you start a profile?a1. FRED NIVEN Not yet. (looks at Blaine) We need something more substantial. MIGcs You need them to commit another murder? Reverse on Kirkpatrick, Buddy and Miggs waiting expectantly for some deep insight from the Nivens. ELAINE NIVEN For now, we should focus on victimology to establish motive. Just like the dogs, Christina Vasquez was chosen for a reason. Miggs gives Kirkpatrick a look. Told you so. INT. PRECINCT HOUSE - HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER The Nivens race to catch up to Miggs, Buddy. ELAINE NIVEN Detective Signorelli. Ms. Vasquez was your mother’s nurse... BUDDY Yeah? She was probably a nurse to a lot of people. ELAINE NIVEN Let me ask you: Have you been experiencing anything strange lately? Out of the ordinary? Buddy looks annoyed. His phone RINGS. It’s the hospital. Buddy steps away. Elaine watches his harried demeanor. ices Vasquez’s girlfriend has agreed to meet us tomorrow. She’s needed a couple of days. FRED NIVEN Understandably. Guitierez approaches, hands Buddy PRINT OUTS of phone logs to his house. Buddy’s eyes race over the page of incoming calls. The same number over and over again: 289-2669.32. BUDDY (ON PHONE) Doc, when did you say my mother was admitted? (looks at phone logs) That's what I thought. 1/11 be there as soon as I can. Buddy hangs up. ELAINE NIVEN Everything okay, detective? BUDDY You want strange? I keep getting phone calls from my mother’s apartment. Over and over again, last three days. Except she’s been in the hospital the whole time. That's strange right? Want to call Rod Serling? INT. MGH - BORNSTEIN’S OFFICE - DUSK PET SCANS on LIGHT BOX. A well kept office overlooking the Charles River. Buddy and Pam stare at the luminescent images of his mother’s frontal cortex. DOCTOR BORNSTEIN (V.0.) Her forgetfulness has been troubling to me. We ran some PET scans. She was disagreeable about it. (they look at Marie’s PET SCANS; snarls of red blotches against the blue of normal brain tissue) We've discovered tangles and plaques in her brain. BUDDY Alzheimers. DOCTOR BORNSTEIN Mid-stage. (beat) I’m sorry. (beat) ) We'll have a full counselling session next Monday. We can discuss pharmaceutical therapies as well.33. BUDDY Okay. The Doctor continues, thoughtfully. DOCTOR BORNSTEIN Mr. Signorelli. People with Alzheimer's can exhibit foul temperaments. Lash out or be (searches for word) irascible. I think this may help explain some of your mother's disposition. Buddy and pam share a deeply pained look. All this time, they thought she was just mean and she’s been sick. DOCTOR BORNSTEIN After her fall and with this diagnosis, I'd strongly argue against letting her live alone. PAMELA I’m going to regret saying this. In fact, I regret it already, but maybe she can move in with us. EXT. SIGNORELLI‘S HOUSE - RAIN GUTTER - NIGHT CLOSE on a line of maggots moving from the body of a DEAD BIRD into a crack under roof’s shingles, like an army. INT. BUDDY’S HOUSE - FRONT DOOR - CONTINUOUS Buddy tries to guide his mother into the house, she navigates with a cane. MARIE I/ll do it. I/11 do it. (looks around the house in total disrepair) What have you done to my house? JOEY (hugging her) Grandma! ALLISON Hello Gram. (to: Buddy) Salvatore.3a. MARIE What's with this Salvatore business? INT, MARIE’S NEW BEDROOM - NIGHT Marie stands looking at the small family room that has been converted into her bedroom. Pamela finishes sheeting the bed; makeshift but cozy. Marie waters her plants, which are all WILTING. MARIE This is a drab, little room. These plants won't get much sun. Pamela struggles with the corner of a sheet. It’s too small for the bed. PAMELA You're welcome to have the whole upstairs apartment, if you want, ma. MARIE What happened to the tenants? Buddy can’t afford not to have tenants up there paying rent. With you not working. PAMELA We're looking for new ones now. MARIE You do realize that I gave Buddy this house without a mortgage. Not one cent owed. And now you've drawn down so much equity you actually owe more than it’s worth. (empties water spout) Eventually they come to collect you know. Pam pulls the corner of the sheet off in anger. Throws the blanket over it. PAMELA Did you take your medications mom? MARIE (swats at fly) In the middle of winter? How disgusting!35. INT. BUDDY’S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Buddy watches a streaming lecture on his laptop. A bearded Professor drones on. COLLEGE PROFESSOR (COMPUTER MONITOR) John Milton described Beelzebub as the ‘infester of fear’ in the epic poem “Paradise Lost”, first published in 1667. Wrote Milton of Beelzebub: “than whom, Satan except, none higher sat or so instigated the world to sin.” Buddy shuts laptop, frustrated. INT. BUDDY’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - 3:05 AM Buddy snaps awake. Same night terror. Pam's light wheezing, not helping. The clock’s red digital numbers blinking: 3:05. Other side of room, Buddy brings his ear to the heating vent on the wall. The dull BUZZING of flies, somewhere in the recesses of the house. INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER Buddy finds the fridge door open, the food sweating. A carton of milk on the floor. It’s been sliced. Milk curdles in a puddle. Buddy mindlessly sops it up with a towel. Closes the fridge door. JOEY STANDING THERE with his toy microphone. JOEY Daddy. (his pj’s are soaked with urine) There’s a man in my room. INT. BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS Buddy wipes Joey down with towel, helps him change. BUDDY “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". You know who said that? JOEY Uh uh.36. BUDDY Franklin D. Roosevelt. JOEY Ewanklin Woosevelt? INT. JOEY’S ROOM - NIGHT Buddy moves through Joey’s toy cluttered room, going through the motions. Joey stands at the door with his microphone. It plays a recorded conversation with an imaginary friend. JOEY (ON MICROPHONE) Is it cold where you are? static hiss) How hot? (listens) Does it hurt? Buddy opens CLOSET, parts clothes. More toys. A Vader doll. BUDDY Nothing here honey. Joey’s not satisfied. INT. MASTER BEDROOM — DAWN Joey sleeps between Pam and Buddy. Buddy does not sleep. DAWN (V.0.) We have the same routine every morning... EXT. VASQUEZ RESIDENCE - CHELSEA, MA - DAY Snow on ground. Miggs, Buddy, approach a well-kept Cape Cod. Several delivered NEWSPAPERS piling on the steps. INT. VASQUEZ LIVING ROOM - DAY DAWN (20's), Christina’s girlfriend, frosted spiky hair, stirs her cup of tea. The house is 4 mess. DAWN (CONT'D) I brew the coffee, she goes out to the steps to get the paper. When she didn't come in I realized there was something wrong. I went outside and she was gone.37. BUDDY Broad daylight? DAWN The whole street was going to work. MIGGS Is there anyone, anyone in her life that might have had a grudge? Some grievance against Christina? DAWN She was one of the kindest people on earth. Everyone thinks that about the person they love. Well this is the truth. She would give you the shirt off her back. And to have left this world in such a graceless, disgusting way. (Buddy passes a tissue, she blows her nose. After a moment) She was very close to your mother. But I’m sure you knew that. From Buddy's face, he didn’t. Dawn gets up dazed, starts to clean. A silent look between detectives, cue to leave. MIGGS (places card on table) If you think of anything else, please call us. Buddy and Miggs at the door. DAWN I got a strange call the day before. A man's voice, pleasant. Asked if Christina was home. What time she worked till. I asked who was calling. A friend. I said, does her friend have a name? He just said “Tootalo” and hung up. (Buddy’s face tremors) I tried to star 69 but it was blocked. INT. CROWN VIC - MOVING SHOT - DAY Buddy is deeply pensive.38. MIccs Talk to me. BUDDY Tootaloo. Stupid phrase. (beat) Recognize it? Miggs shifts in his seat. MIccs No. BUDDY It hit me like a bucket of ice. But I can’t source it. My mind. It’s a total fucking fog. MIGcs Probably from lack of sleep. BUDDY I don’t know. MIGGs Definitely. Beat. They drive in uncomfortable silence for a moment. BUDDY Keep snapping awake, adrenaline surging, like someone’s watching me. I drew my glock, the other day. Walking through my house like fucking Baretta! Ready to shoot at shadows. MIGes Hey. Look on the bright side. You're back living with your mother. They ride in silence for a moment. Street People, strange faces passing in the window’s reflection. INT. KARELLI BUTCHERY - NORTH END - DUSK Buddy, Miggs, follow An ITALIAN FOREMAN with a mullet through a darkened chrome and steel corridor.39. ITALIAN FOREMAN We get a lot of under the table day jobbers. Can pay em like shit, so it's worth it. Even the Mexicans don't like cleaning the gullets, throwing out the guts. They enter an industrial DEEP FREEZER. Foreman turns on fluorescent lights. Tt illuminates a deep FREEZER with SLAUGHTERED COWS hanging from hooks, receding into frame. BUDDY The one you caught red handed. Can you give our artist a description? They move past the slaughtered animals. INTERCUT - Foreman sitting with Police SKETCH ARTIST, drawing a long, thin face with charcoal pencil. ITALIAN FOREMAN (INTERCUT V. 0.) Sure. He was a skinny black dude with dreads. Should have seen him try to get the hair net around it, that shit was comical! My night manager caught him red handed, boosting. Fired him immediately. It was after we let him go, we realized we was missing a bunch of inventory off the floor. MIGGS snaps photos of the HANGING HOOKS, exact replicas from church crime scene. BUDDY Can you get us an itemized list of what was taken? TTALIAN FOREMAN Already faxed in. I can give you his “papers”, with his name and info and shit. But they'll be useless, since they're all made up anyway. Always is with migrants. A draft from somewhere in the freezer, all the carcasses gently ebbing... only Buddy notices. TTALIAN FOREMAN He talked funny, one of those French accents. Dominican or Haitian, or some shit. (MORE)40. ITALIAN FOREMAN (cont'd) Let me know if you find him, would love to have a chat wit him. Artist finishes sketch: a dark, PREDATORY FACE with DREADS Sounds of the industrial freezer transition into whirl of Helicopter rotors... establishing a CRIME SCENE... EXT, MCKINLEY SCHOOL - CRIME SCENE - NIGHT The school is a swarm of activity. one classroom is lit. Rest of school is dark, punctuated by police flashlight BEAMS walking the halls. Across the street, an unruly crowd of ONLOOKERS is held back by sawhorses. The feeling is that with every murder, the public grows more unhinged. INT. MCKINLEY SCHOOL - FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY - NIGHT MOVING: on Buddy, Miggs, as they plod forward, sensing the coming horror. School’s electricity has been cut. A portable GENERATOR provides the power. IN HALLWAY - close now to SCENE OF CRIME - Buddy and Migg's grow weary. A ROOKIE COP, pukes into a barrel. Elaine Niven stands behind him, hands on his back. INT. CLASSROOM ~ CONTINUOUS Portable HALOGEN WORK LIGHTS create eerie pools of light on the classroom ceiling. Buddy notices, more stained marks, similar to ones at home. IN MIDDLE OF ROOM, Old school METAL DESKS, the kinds that flip open to house supplies, in a perfect circle. A few are open, as FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHERS in sanitation MASKS, snap photos. In the center, under sanitation shield, lies SOMETHING... People move in slow, deliberate movements. Fred Niven, is precccupied by the FRENCH PRAYER on the blackboard written in perfectly drawn blood, ironically between the lines of a penmanship handwriting template. We see FLASHES from the CAMERAS, as KATE HU shoots the contents of the 9 desks. Swaths of leathery human flesh: A meaty FOOT on top of American History book. A charred CALF MUSCLE obscured by school papers. A bruised adult MALB ARM, on some kid's trapper keeper. Buddy moves around the various desks to the only one closed.4a. KATE HU (from under mask) Detective. (Buddy’s fingers to the desk) They couldn't fit the full torso, so they cut from sternum down. Buddy opens the desk. A BROWN MALE TORSO, as tight as sardines in a can, wedged into some kid’s desk. Buddy closes it disgusted. A hand drawn sign taped to the desk reads: “JOEY'S DESK” Horrified, Buddy pulls a piece of blood stained paper from the side of desk. Name at the top reads, “Joey Signorelli”. It’s his son’s desk. Miggs excuses himself from the room, getting light-headed. Elaine enters, moves to Fred at the chalkboard. ELAINE NIVEN 9 desks in a circle. The vivisection of the body into 9 parts. FRED NIVEN Help me with this. My French is terrible. ELAINE NIVEN I'm rusty too, I'm afraid. Parties d'un tout, nous invoquons la majesté d'ailes de Serpents (eyes racing over lines) 9 parts of a whole... This is medieval French here Fred, not exactly up on Medieval French... We invoke the majesty of Serpents wings... Dominus Muscarum. Buddy at another CSI INVESTIGATOR’S side. CSI INVESTIGATOR What's the precinct’s most celebrated homicide detective doing out on a night light this? BUDDY My mother keeps telling me I should go back to school. (MORE)42. BUDDY (cont'd) (Buddy pushes back a sanitation barrier on desk, sees a thigh from knee'to hip) ) There’s grille marks. CSI INVESTIGATOR Because they were cooked. BUDDY Cooked? CSI INVESTIGATOR Yeah. They were filleted. Elaine raises her hand, touches Fred’s shoulder, a dreaded realization. Miggs arrives, soiled in sweat. ELAINE NIVEN Fred... This looks like a pact. FRED NIVEN grimly) You're sure? ELAINE NIVEN (argent) ) Positive. 3 stanzas, repeats 3 times. In medieval French, except for the reference to dominus muscarum which is Latin for... FRED NIVEN Lord of the Flies. ELAINE NIVEN This is a pact. They must have knowledge of the Grimoires... FRED NIVEN calm down... (whispers) No one has access to the actual Grimoires. Just that reinvented Black Mass, Anton Levay crap. ELAINE NIVEN Fred, I'm telling you. FRED NIVEN Elaine... ELAINE NIVEN You never used to second guess me.43. FRED NIVEN They're under lock and key at the vatican. From Blaine’s insistent, dead serious stare. ELAINE NIVEN Also means they needed a high priest to perform the rite. FRED NIVEN He's the Marionette. The puppet master pulling the strings. Find him, we bring it down. Over at CIRCLE OF DESKS, Buddy picks up a pair of forceps, kneels, slowly lifts the protective barrier. In the low light, he can see that it's a PIG’S HEAD. On what looks like a large piece of stretched skin, parchment paper. BUDDY There's something in its mouth. CSI OFFICER An apple core. Buddy scoots over to the other side to look at the face. The light is dark. The head, its angle, Almost looks like the head of a swine at a medieval banquet. Blaine, at the bottom of the chalk-board sounding out the French. ELAINE NIVEN Braisé, le cadeau du corps... Braised, the gift of the body, awaken... Ba’ al...eat your meal and begin your work. Fred pulls down on the chain of a hanging US MAP. It starts to SNAPS UP. Miccs Ba’al? ELAINE NIVEN Hebrew. Another name for Beezlebub. FRED NIVEN We need to get on the horn with vitali in Rome.4a. Beat. Miggs, points at what the US map has revealed. The Nivens step back, mouths open like they've seen a ghost. Written in blood on a stretched piece of human skin, crude parchment paper: Salvatore Signorelli (1958-SOON). “Struggle in Anguish” EXT. BACK OF SCHOOL - CONTINUOUS UTILITY MAN snaps the breaker. Classroom’s lights snap on. BUDDY'S POV: The pig's head is actually COLIN’S HEAD!!! Buddy falls back, flailing, screaming, wiping caked blood on the floor with him!!! INT. POLICE CRUISER - LATER Signorelli in passenger side, smoking, wearing green PATHOLOGIST’S PANTS. EXT. CSI TRANSPORT VEHICLE - CONTINUOUS Signorelli’s pants are placed in a plastic EVIDENCE BAG. EXT, SCHOOL - FRONT DOOR - CONTINUOUS Miggs, the Nivens, exit school. Buddy’s cigarette ember burns in cruiser. Cruiser’s radio is wheezing in and out of frequency. Country singer. Static hiss. Country singer. OTHER END of the SCHOOL: Guys in HAZMAT SUITS discretely carry out biohazard bags. The 9 parts. BUDDY'S MEMORY: (1981) Younger Buddy, full head of hair, and his mother in winter coats, watching his BROTHER'S CASKET BE. LOWERED into snow dusted ground. A plainclothes JUSTICE OF THE PEACE performs the service. Next to them, a group of GAY MEN, some pale and gaunt themselves, but strangely upbeat. Buddy watches them suspiciously. JUSTICE OF THE PEACE Death forces us to trust in the Almighty's boundless love. At death we come to the end of human knowledge, human power, and human comfort...45. A MAN steps forward, lets a white rose fall onto closed casket. He turns, locks eyes with Buddy. It’s the same man who's head is now being carried out of the school. MIGGS (V.0.) His name was Colin Fentworth. EXT. SCHOOL - FRONT DOOR - CONTINUOUS MIGGS (CONT'D) He was a friend. (beat) of his brother Michael's. (softly) They were together. Buddy recognized the face immediately from his brother's funeral. ELAINE NIVEN I didn't know he had a brother. FRED ELAINE The priest, Elaine. Michael Signorelli. You knew that. Used to perform mass at Immaculate in the early 80's. ELAINE NIVEN Curiouser and Curiouser.. BUDDY'S MEMORY: His brother Michael performing mass to a packed house. Colin Fentworth in the first pew, dressed in a navy blue suit. They smile at each other. MIGGs He passed away in 82. Kaposi Sacrcoma, complication from AIDS. (beat) Buddy was on the force, two years I think. (beat) He don't talk about it. Ever. Beat. This sinks in like a lead weight. ELAINE NIVEN «+.An ordained priest who contracts HIV...46. MIGGS The church completely divorced themselves from Michael. Excommunicated him. ELAINE NIVEN Yeah, because that’s what Jesus taught. FRED NIVEN It explains his animosity towards the Church. MIGGS Towards everything. (beat) You think this is like some hate crime? Both victims were homosexual? FRED NIVEN I think that’s incidental. This has everything to do with Detective Signorelli. If he’s the target of the ritual, as the literal writing on the wall suggests, it’s him they're after. ROAR OF AN ENGINE. Buddy in the driver’s seat, peels off past. onlookers and EMT TRUCKS. A SPANISH COP yells: SPANISH COP Hey, where the hell is he going with my ride? INT. CRUISER - NIGHT Buddy rounds the corner of his street, panics, sees 2 COP CRUISERS out front of his house, reds flashing. Pops the curb, sandwiches it between the cruisers. EXT. BUDDY’S HOUSE — FRONT DOOR LIGHTS BURN in every window. Buddy nearly trips, racing up the stairs, SABLE BARKING... INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Buddy finds Pamela, the kids, his mother, huddled under blankets like refugees in the living room.47. Captain Kirkpatrick rises from a chair. Pamela drops her blanket, moves to Buddy, unhinged. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK Everything is okay, Buddy. PAMELA We heard people marching around in the upstairs apartment!!! T called 911. I had to. I had to, Buddy. MARIE she’s all nerves. She’s the one that needs medication. BUDDY Why didn't you call me first? PAMELA I called your cell phone. Tt wasn't working! It never works! Sable barking louder. Marie moves down hall, towards her. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK Dispatch called me directly. We’ve swept the place twice. They're still up there. (beat) No one. Not one sign of entry. PAMELA It was like a fucking marching band upstairs! Stomping around. The kids heard it. Your mother heard it. (grabs recorder) Listen for yourself. She rewinds the tape. Presses play. INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS Sable continues to bark at NOTHING, cordoned by gate. MARIE Stop that damn noise! You bad dog! What's wrong with you? (kicking gate) Stop it now. Sable leaps up, jaws ferociously SNAPPING at Marie.48. INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS They all listen to Joey’s recorder. Pamela’s VOICE SCRATCHES: PAMELA (ON TAPE) Is it on? Joey? Put it on. JOBY (ON TAPE) Yeah. The sounds of Marie entering the room. MARIE (ON TAPE) What in blazes is all that racket? Slow PUSH into recorder ending on CLOSE UP We HEAR ambient sounds in the room. The kids, Pam settling. Sable panting, moving around. The sound almost dips to silence, SUDDENLY: A HORRENDOUS CACOPHONY of SOUNDS. Some on lower spectrum. Some extremely high in tonal range. FLESH HITTING METAL. Bleating ANIMAL SOUNDS, whispers, and the unmistakable sound of what is clearly a’ MARCHING BAND. Sounds suddenly stop. cur Tor The group, now including the Nivens and Miggs, staring at the toy recorder disturbed. The kids surround Buddy, distracting him, Blaine discretely passes Pam her card. ELAINE NIVEN call me tomorrow. When we can talk. JOEY It smelled bad Daddy. Like something died. ALLISON Salvatore. What's happening? BUDDY * (pained) don't know. Guitierez and another CoP enter, mag lights in hand GUITIEREZ No one. No signs of entry. No halftime show, neither.49. INT. UPSTAIRS APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS Buddy sweeps the dark apartment with his gun, brimming with tension. Guitierez, Miggs, and another ITALIAN COP follow him from room to room. GUITIEREZ What? You don’t believe me now? Buddy meticulously checks each window's lock, his flashlight grazes the sliding door, the small piece of wood keeping it shut. Finally, Buddy stops in front of the fire place, sees soot marks onthe floor, kneels, the kindling in the fire place is cracked. GUITIEREZ You got to be fucking kidding me, right? They’re Santa Claus now? Buddy shuts the flue. INT, UPSTAIRS APARTMENT - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS Buddy finds Miggs in the kitchen. miccs what is this shit? BUDDY Don’t know, but it’s been showing up on the walls downstairs. Buddy grabs an empty glass jar from cabinet. Scoops some of the gelatinous gunk that’s smeared on the floor into the jar, hands it to the other cop. BUDDY Bring this down to Nigel in the lab, have it analyzed. INT. DOWNSTAIRS LIVING ROOM - LATER The living room has been turned into a WAR ROOM: all the accumulated EVIDENCE, corkboards with victim pictures, Guitierez’s laptop plugged into the PD’s remote server. Kirkpatrick is itching to leave, spooked.50. INT. MARIE‘S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Marie is out cold. Buddy shuts off the light. The windows rattle. Pam waits for Buddy outside the door. Buddy takes her into their bedroom. The kids are watching late night TV on the bed. He pulls Pamela out into the hallway, sits her on a bench, says quietly: BUDDY Listen to me. I don’t want a big dramatic reaction. I neither have the time nor the patience. Someone is after me. You, the kids, could be in danger. PAMELA oh my God, no, please... (long beat.) Jesus, Christ. (starts pounding Buddy in the chest) God damn you! Son of a bitch. BUDDY We have two choices. PAMELA My worst nightmare come true! BUDDY We have two choices. You, the kids, my mother, go to a safe house. Live in a hotel room until this thing gets dealt with. PAMELA, Or, choice two? Cause that one sucks! BUDDY Choice two, we do not forfeit our home. We do not give them the satisfaction of leaving our home. PAMELA And what? Let them kill us in our own beds? (beat) I’m scared Buddy. Buddy pulls her to a window. A DARKENED CRUISER on street.51. BUDDY 24 hour surveillance, You'll have an armed officer inside. PAMELA (enters bedroom, slams door ) Prisoners in our own home. INT. LIVING ROOM - LATE NIGHT Kirkpatrick says quietly to Buddy at the front door. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK We've pulled paper on every person you've ever brought in, focused on violent offenders up for parole or in minimum security prisons. Got all junior detectives making calls to Wardens, Probie Officers, anyone who will answer. (quietly) Buddy. Bring that tape in tomorrow. Have it analyzed in the lab. (long beat) I think you should consider having Father Fassbinder bless this house. BUDDY Don’t know how you made captain being so superstitious. CAPTAIN KIRKPATRICK Don't know how you've gone this far without it. (troubled) We'll get ahead of this, Buddy. cur Tor Even Later. Miggs, Guitierez, The Nivens, have been pouring over the clues so far: pictures of meat hooks, the dogs, evidence bag. Buddy fixates on DIGITAL PHOTO on MONITOR: his name written in blood. Miccs Struggle in anguish... Rest in peace. FRED NIVEN Continues with this theme of inversion, of opposites. (MORE)52. FRED NIVEN (cont'd) We've alerted our contacts in the vatican, they’re researching the prayer, its source. MIGGS Doesn’t make any sense. If they wanted Buddy, why not take him out directly? why all this psychological shit? FRED NIVEN They are trying demoralize him. To break down his will. To punish him. ELAINE NIVEN His mother’s visiting nurse, the person she arguably relied on most in her life. Now Colin Fentworth, his brother’s lover. Buddy winces at the casualness of this comment. Guitierez tears another long computer printout from printer. GUITIEREZ You want motive? I’11 give you motive - 160 people, over the last twenty three years. 23 of which, are lifers. All put away cuz of you. ELAINE NIVEN what does crossed out mean? GUITIEREZ Executed. Thank you state of Texas. Buddy looks at the three crossed out NAMES, executed because of him, Heavy thing to bare. On the sofa, Elaine holding another printout, points at the one name with no information next to it. ELAINE NIVEN Who is Dr. Henri Le Rouche? (beat) There’s no information. (Sable starts to bark furiously in the kitchen) Why isn't he on the grid? Buddy slowly circles behind Blaine. Guitierez at computer: GUITIEREZ He's not in the American penal system. (MORE)53. ELAINE NIVEN (cont'd) Was extradited back to Quebec. (clicks through web portal) I can pull info up on Interpol. Two secs. ELAINE The rap? BUDDY He was an obstetrician. Raped, murdered, at least 3 of his patients. That we know of. (beat) He admitted to murder during a confession to his priest... (sitting, realization building) Michael broke confidentiality and told me. I tailed him every night. for weeks. Watched him slit a girls neck from ear to ear before I could stop him. (beat) It’s not him..., He's dead. Elaine comes around Guitierez, reads from monitor. ELAINE NIVEN Medic during Vietnam War. Obstetrician, but lost his medical license due to malpractice. Imagine that. Amassed a fortune by inventing a type of tourniquet. (getting very excited, this sounds like him) Say's here the good doctor was an Amateur Magician who performed at. birthday parties! (to: Guitierez) How did he die? GUITIEREZ Says he committed suicide. Self-immolation. Three years ago. They are all behind the monitor now, faces in the glare. ELAINE Just a little spontaneous human combustion huh? They all look at each other. Exhausted but fearing Blaine might have a hunch.5a. EXT, PENITENTIARY - SECURITY CHECK POINT - AFTERNOON Buddy drives, Fred in passenger seat. Buddy’s crown vic makes it through security checkpoint. SUPER TITLE: TROIS RIVOIR PENITENTIARY, QUEBEC INT. BUDDY’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Miggs sits on sofa, firearm on side table. He surfs the net on laptop. Pam passes with Laundry. EXT. STREET - COP CRUISER - CONTINUOUS Another COP in a CRUISER yawns, listening to radio. EXT, PENITENTIARY - FRONT DRIVE - AFTERNOON Fred watches as a grim Victorian building looms out of misty rain. Meshed barred windows, razor wire-topped fencing, and security checkpoint, manned by uniformed GUARDS. MONSBIGNEUR ALBAN (V.0.) We kept him in Solitary after he killed his cell mate. INT. PENITENTIARY - LOWER LEVELS - CORRIDOR ~ CONTINUOUS A heavy steal gate CLANGS shut behind them. The BOLT shooting home. They follow MONSEIGNEUR ALBAN, the stern WARDEN (70s) MONSEIGNEUR ALBAN only time he interacted with other prisoners was during clean up. He did kitchen duty, til we realized access to cutlery was probably not the best idea. (down flight of stairs) It’s drafty down here. This must have been important for you to come all this way. INT. BUDDY’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Sounds of FLIES. Miggs traces the sound through the walls, follows it towards an old HEATING UNIT. He brings his ears to the VENT. Thinks he hears WHISPERING. Closes his eyes trying to HEAR. A KNOCK at front door. It’s Blaine Niven. She enters, carrying a small suitcase.55. MIces He'd kill me if he knew I was letting you do this shit! INT. PENITENTIARY - LE ROUCHE’S CELL Buddy, Niven, stand in the small circular cell. A pinprick of light’ from a small CIRCLED WINDOW on the ceiling. MONSEIGNEUR ALBAN (thoroughly enjoys this) The prison fathers called it “The eye of God”. Inmates would sometimes be in seclusion for weeks at a time. That window was the only clue if it was day or night. The technique was thought to purify the soul. over shoulder from corridor) Mostly just pushed them beyond the brink, into madness. BUDDY Can we see his remains? INT. BUDDY’S HOUSE - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS Sables PANTING can be heard from pantry. Pam, paces as Elaine takes notes. PAMELA Lights going on and off by themselves. Things being displaced. Stuff just going missing, then reappearing. ELAINE NIVEN can you give me an example? PAMELA 1/11 put silverware away in the drawer and find it upstairs in Allison's room, under her bed. The smell of something burning. (wipes sweat with paper towel) It’s faint, but it’s in the air right now. In this kitchen. Elaine looks up, locks eyes with Pam.56. ELAINE NIVEN Like sulphur? INT. PENITENTIARY - MORGUE Alban leads Niven, Buddy, into the morgue. Nods to an ORDERLY, hidden behind a surgeons mask. MONSEIGNEUR ALBAN Detective Signorelli, we shared your paranoia about Le Rouche. He was dangerous and filled with guile. But I personally assure you, he is very much dead. THE SQUEAL of a RUSTY SLAB being wheeled out from the refrigerated case. The Orderly labors to pick up a reinforced containment case. INT. BUDDY’S HOUSE - CELLAR - CONTINUOUS Elaine snaps photos of the furnace, Flash illuminates the basement, endless spider webs and creepy corners. PAMELA I had the furnace guy come. Didn't tell Buddy cause he doesn’t like to admit when he can’t fix something. He spent half the morning down here tightening new water valves. He comes down after lunch and they were unscrewed, all over the floor. Lady, you've got a problem, was the last thing he said to me before he left without getting paid. what type of repair man leaves without getting paid? ELAINE NIVEN What's the largest object that’s been moved about? PAMELA Sometimes the sofa will be pulled out from the wall. or kitchen chairs will all be facing out away from the table. ELAINE NIVEN This has been happening for weeks and Buddy won’t even talk about it?57. PAMELA Welcome to my world. Elaine snaps a photo of the cardboard boxes. One has Michael Signorelli's name written on it. INT. BUDDY’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - LATER Elaine at the door, Joey’s microphone in her hand. ELAINE NIVEN Detective Miggs, thanks. I’m heading out. I have all I need. Pam, Allison, and Joey have their coats on. Miggs is preoccupied with the sounds of flies. MIGcs Where you going? PAMELA To the mall, Warden Miggs. Get the kids out of this house. Miggs at the door. Flags the COP in the cruiser. MIccs Hey. Take them to the mall. (beat) Get yourself an orange Julius. INT. PENITENTIARY ~ MORGUE - DUSK Buddy opens biohazard container. A plume of ASHY REMAINS billows up. They step back, let it settle. Inside: mostly cinder, ash, and bone. Buddy fishes around, finds the upper portion of a jawbone. FRED NIVEN You're sure this is all of him? MONSEIGNEUR ALBAN I locked him in his cell at lights out. And I swept him up in the morning. So, unless he can walk through walls... Buddy takes the jaw and starts to take a cast with a portable casting kit.58. BUDDY Are your cells wired to trip, so you know when the doors are opened and closed? MONSBIGNEUR ALBAN This is my prison. I know when every door is opened or closed. FRED NIVEN You know, it’s extremely difficult to set yourself on fire. MONSEIGNEUR ALBAN Not if you douse yourself in butane. In that case, you'll go up like a tinder-box. BUDDY How did he get the gas? MONSBIGNEUR ALBAN Two of the kitchen's portable grills were missing canisters. We found them in his cell. We're not sure how he managed to hide them. INT. LIVING ROOM - HEATING UNIT - CONTINUOUS Miggs at the grate now with a screwdriver. Removes the grill off the old heater. Falls back, a SWARM OF FLIES engulfs him, spilling into the room, the floor, the air. INT. WARDEN’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS A COURIER wheels in Le Rouche’s things, mostly books. 9 GIDEON BIBLES and a thickly bound LEDGER. Niven fingers through a bible. Between the text, Le Rouche’s obsessive chicken scratch, page after page, bible after bible. Niven reads. FRED NIVEN Most people are a cancer. Opportunistic infections, whose soul, “s-o-u-1", purpose is self-want. The moment we are born we are dying. I myself will no longer be inhibited by guilt. © will watch the world drown in its self-wrought tears.59. Buddy opens the ledger, shudders, sees.. MONSEIGNEUR ALBAN It seems he was a bit taken with your work, detective. «+. yellowed NEWSPAPER ARTICLES from the BOSTON GLOBE of his apprehension of Le Rouche, 20 years ago. BUDDY Why would you allow him to collect this shit? Why wouldn’t you monitor him? Or contact me? MONSBIGNEUR LEFULD Unlike the United states, Canada affords its prisoners a modicum of privacy. It is also common for the inmate to fetishize the man who brought them here, took away their lives as they once were. (beat) Be that as it may, Le Rouche is dead. I saw no reason to raise your concern. Buddy flips through the ledger: “Rookie Cop brings down Serial Killer”. Flip. “Delivery Doc’s Chamber of Horrors”. Flip. More ARTICLES on Buddy. His rather prolific detective work through the years, detective cleared of I.A. Probe. NIVEN Well... we've got motive. From beyond the grave. Can we take these? MONSEIGNEUR ALBAN You'll have to sign for them. EXT/INT - NEW HAMPSHIRE - BACK ROADS ~ DUSK Buddy drives, Niven talks to Elaine wearing headset. The cast of Le Rouche’s jaw in a clear bag on DASHBOARD. FRED NIVEN (inte headset) Well, there’s certainly evidence that Mr. Le Rouche had a hard time letting go of resentments. still, it’s a long shot that he’s orchestrating murders from beyond the grave. What did you find?60. ELAINE NIVEN (PHONE) Bursts of telekinetic anomalies. Water stains with no source. I’m telling you Fred, it’s an infestation. I feel the heaviness in every room of that house. Fred looks self-consciously at Buddy, who seems focused on driving. FRED NIVEN (into headset) Okay. We/re going to have to prioritize here. First things first. In the meantime, Father Vitali needs our fax number, he left me a message. He said he’s sourced the ritual. ELAINE NIVEN (ON PHONE) okay, but Fred, I think his family should get out of that house. They should go to a safe house. FRED NIVEN (into phone) You can’t really run from it. ELAINE NIVEN (ON PHONE) It will slow it down, Buy us a few days. FRED NIVEN (ON PHONE) okay. Niven hangs up. After a beat. BUDDY You going to tell me what the fuck you two nut jobs were talking about? SCREECH of a FAX MACHINE... cUr To: INT. NIVEN’S OFFICE - DUSK Fax cover letter printing out. Address from Rome. Official VATICAN SEAL.